Author's Ramble: Hey guys! Sorry I don't feel like posting more of Wonderful Journey... but I do feel like doing a bunch of little one-shots! Most of them involving pineapple for some strange reason... -likes pineapple too much- This is just a little blurb that's cutsie. Nothing all out, though it's actually a bit detailed for me. In fact, as I write these, they will escilate in detail. Sooo... -smirk- Anyways, hope you enjoy!


Because of Pineapple

"You two really scored on the treats, huh?" Riku laughed as he gazed over the supply of candy that lay stretched out before him on Kairi's bed. Sora was stretched out in the bay window; his blue eyes distant as he watched the late afternoon sun slowly threaten to creep down behind the horizon. Kairi sat in her desk chair, spinning around shamelessly as she laughed in pure happiness. She never wanted to stop having days like this with Sora and Riku.

"Yeah," she laughed as she finally came to a halt. "The new confectionary is amazing! There's everything Riku! Sora nearly lost his jaw at the sight of the barrel full of jelly monkeys. It's too bad you didn't come… what was it again that made you have to stay?"

"Just… didn't feel up to it. I'd love to go though," Riku mumbled, but his aqua eyes weren't keeping contact with Kairi's curious sky blue gaze. He'd been thinking…

Kairi raised an eyebrow as she followed Riku's gaze to Sora. Sora had been excited, but once he got to the candy store, something changed in him. The room was suddenly lit with a golden shimmer that made the brightly colored pieces of paper on the bedspread sparkle. The same light caught in Sora's hair and illuminated his face, showing sadness—confusion—that neither friend wanted to see on the young brunette's face.

"He's been real bummed today, Riku," Kairi whispered after she pulled on the older boy's arm to get his attention back to her. "No matter what I did, I couldn't cheer him up. I'm going to go get us some fizzy drinks with the candy, try to make him perk up, okay?"

Riku gave a nod. He usually wasn't the friend who made Sora perk up. Kairi was the best at that. What could be so wrong with the brunette to make him not even crack a smile at Kairi's loving nature? Riku would never say it, but he was always jealous of how Kairi could make Sora do that. The red-haired girl stood up after a bit of tittering from dizziness and left the room to get the drinks. The white door closed with a gentle clickthat left the two boys alone.

Riku moved over to the window with its soft cushioned seating and picked up Sora's stretched out legs so he could sit down too. He set them down on his lap and stared at Sora who was looking down at his gloved hands in an almost nervous manner. "If you're going to be so glum, maybe me and Kairi could take those candies out onto the beach and leave you here to pout," Riku teased as he patted on Sora's legs in a seemingly bored pattern. Sora didn't say anything. "I bet a paopu fruit would go greatwith those coconut creams," he added, and this made Sora's head snap up. But instead of the grin or glare that the silver haired boy had expected, Sora looked at him in an almost frenzied panic.

"Don't," was the only thing the younger boy said before he drew his legs off of Riku's lap and pulled them up to his chest. He hugged them tightly and looked out at the sun and ocean. Sora rocked himself, as if trying to comfort a terrible thought.

"What's wrong, Sora?" Riku asked, his teasing gone and seriousness back. "You made Kairi feel bad the whole time you were at the confectionary. She usually always cheers you up."

"I… I've been having these weird thoughts lately…" Sora stammered, trying to buy time for the inevitable. Realizing this was going to take a bit, Riku bent over Sora, his body leaning against the boy in a way that made the younger squirm as he grabbed a handful of sweets and gave half to Sora as he straightened up.

Sora fumbled at a wrapper and popped the first candy into his mouth. The taste of pineapple over whelmed him and he gagged. He hated pineapple. "Ugh, pineapple," he mumbled, making his friend snicker.

"Here," Riku said, leaning over again and holding out his hand in front of Sora's mouth. "I love pineapple. Come on, give it up so I don't have to deal with all your spit."

Sora took it out of his mouth on his own, not wanting to spit into Riku's palm. "But that's gross," he said. "I'm sure there's another pineapple taffy around here…." But before Sora could go digging through the pile, Riku wiggled forward so he was on his hands and knees and nipped the piece of candy out of Sora's fingers with his teeth. "Ew!" Riku smirked.

Sitting back he laughed, "It's not like we haven't done way worse, Sora. I mean we used to bathetogether for crying out loud. If I'm gonna get sick cause of you, it probably won't be because of pineapple taffy."

Sora shrugged, and the look of sadness came back to his face. Riku leaned forward again and rested his hand on Sora's foot. "Now, what have you been thinking about?" he asked, and Sora wanted to melt. No one could ever make Sora feel more all right with all these things going through his head.

"I feel like something's coming for me," the younger boy whispered, his royal blue eyes down cast now as he rested his face in his knees. His body shook with the memory of fear and cold that his dreams had given him. He fell… he always fell… "I mean, it feels so real, and then I'll fall into water and then I'm falling through the sky… or I'm reaching out to you but I can't reach…"

Riku blinked, and then moved closer to Sora. He rested his hands on Sora's narrow shoulders and said firmly, "I won't let anything come after you. And I'll always catch you before you fall." Sora's eyes widened with a gratefulness that made both of their hearts twinge with a very different feeling. Sora pulled his knees down and lurched forward, wrapping his thin arms around Riku's muscular body. At first, Riku stiffened in surprise, but he relaxed soon enough. He wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, and let his face rest in the crook of his neck. Sora was letting Riku's soft hair fan over his face as he held this moment in his arms.

"I've been having some thoughts lately too," Riku whispered in Sora's ear. Sora turned a bit, his face gently brushing against Riku's jaw. He took this to mean he was listening. But there was no way of having this be something Sora could just listen to. There was only one way to say something that couldn't be said. He pulled away slightly; his long bangs covering his eyes as Sora waited. Riku paused, and then turned his head and leaned forward so his lips brushed against Sora's. It was only for the briefest of moments before it was gone. Riku moved back to his side of the window seat and pretended to be looking out thoughtfully at the sea. Really he was waiting with his eyes closed to see what would happen. He grabbed at a random candy and looked down to see it was another pineapple taffy. He popped it in his mouth, trying to think of what to do next.

But he didn't have to worry long.

Sora was over him in a moment, his arm straddling Riku's chest as he leaned down to take another kiss in a much more hurried, urgent manner. Riku's lips parted slightly underneath his kiss, and the brunette took it as an invitation to continue. He slipped his tongue past those lips, and the vibrant taste of pineapple filled his senses as Riku finally began to kiss him back. Sora didn't know why he was doing this, but it felt like they should have done it a long time ago. It felt like what Riku had been thinking was the most obvious thought that had been kept in the dark for a rainy day when they needed to discover this together.

He didn't even mind the pineapple.

Finally Riku broke the kiss, but Sora remained very close to him. The silver haired boy had slipped down and was now stretched out along the seat, staring up at Sora as his chest heaved in the adrenaline of the moment. The sun was sparkling in Riku's hair, making it seem likely to cast rainbows throughout the room. A small bead of sweat rolled down his neck as he stared up at Sora in pure amazement.

"I didn't think…" he breathed.

"I didn't either."

Both broke out into grins that dazzled one another, and they leaned closer, nuzzling noses and giving soft kisses because of the novelty of finding something so warm when both were feeling so cold. Sora laid down against Riku, having lost all thought of anything but him. Riku's arms snaked around his waist as they both turned their heads to gaze out at the sun that was now sinking below the waves.

Deep down, they knew that this would be a brief feeling. That reality and their fears—Sora's fear of the coming of a destiny he did not understand, and Riku's fear of being trapped in a world he had no choice in choosing—were soon going to come crashing back down on them. But a piece of peace was all they needed for now.

Sora leaned over and kissed Riku's jaw gently before whispering into his ear:

"I think I like pineapple."


Author's plead: It doesn't take much to make my day... -points to review button-