Author's Note: Thanks to those who've been reading and reviewing. (: I really appreciate it.

Oh, and by the way, I'm going to make some shit up. Haha. Roxas is going to be Sora's brother, just so you guys know and don't raise a brow when you're reading it.

Also, this chapter is a bit short. Phailllll.

Please read and review for this chapter, as well! Love you guys. (;

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As I walked down the stairs towards the front door, I wondered what going to Sora's house would have in store. We'd probably just sit there and watch TV, like usual. Only, Sora wouldn't really watch it as much as he would stare at a speck of dust on the screen and study it like the human race depended on it to survive. If he ignored me or stared at anything for too long, I was going to flip out and attack him, and beat this new, awkward Sora out of him so the old, weird Sora could come back. But…regardless of whether or not I beat him to a pulp, I would just be glad to see my best friend again and spend time with him, like we used to.

"Riku? Where are you going?" my mother asked, the newspaper that she was reading making a loud sound as she closed it. Her black eyebrows rose delicately behind her thick framed glasses and her green-blue eyes zeroed in on me. Despite her intense eye contact, her thin lips were curved in a quaint smile, like she knew where I was going, though she just wanted to be sure.

"Sora's," I said softly as I opened the front door. A draft of cool air crept in and pushed back my hair, tickling my shoulders in the slightest.

"You haven't been there in a while," she added before she crossed her arms above her messy newspaper, the gust reaching her and playing with her black-and-gray hair. I got my silver hair from her side, from her father in specific. At least I didn't have to worry about going gray later in life. It started some decent conversations, too. "You two doing okay?" The way she spoke of us was like she assumed we were a couple. It made a flush of embarrassment, and slight frustration and longing, rise on my normally barely-colored cheeks time and time again—and she knew that. There was always a teasing curl in her lips when she spoke of us, together.

"Sora's just being a little weird," I sighed and lightly leaned my weight against the door. From my spot, I peered down the street and studied Sora's house. It looked lonely in the center of his somewhat large yard, the sun shining down from the setting sky and casting a warm glow on it, as if to call someone, anyone over there.

I could also see, faintly though, the shore of our island. So many of my fondest memories were made there with Sora—and Tidus, and Wakka, and Selphie. Destiny Island was the perfect spot to sit and relax and just eat ice cream, or play in the water, or lay on the beach for numerous hours to catch up on sleep.

I hadn't been there in forever, and it was sad to see it off in the distance, looking equally as sad and lonely as Sora's home.

"Weird? How so? Sora could get weirder?" teased my mother. She knew just how weird Sora could be after he had spent the night at our house a few times. He'd eat everything and anything; he'd laugh really loud and playfully get defensive a lot; he'd talk about all of these weird alternate universes that existed inside his head. But she liked Sora, so she never really minded just how weird he was, or could be.

"Just…weird," I huffed. "I don't really know how to explain it."

Weirder than normal; that's all I know, I thought.

"Oh well…tell his mother I said 'hello', alright?" she mumbled, and then she picked the paper back up. I guessed that she was giving up on trying to shrink me. Back when she was young and single, she was studying to be a shrink—but then she met my father and they had me, so she had to halt her learning. When I was old enough to go to school all day and be by myself sometimes, she went back to school—but she never went back to get her license to become a shrink.

Instead she became a pharmacist, since the hours weren't so demanding and she could work at the pharmacies close by. It was probably my fault that she changed her major (mainly because she only took jobs near the places that I spent most of my time at), and I knew she almost regretted not getting her license. Seeing as she tried to shrink me time and time again.

"Alright." With that I stepped outside and closed the door quietly behind me. I shoved my hands into my pockets and slowly began trekking to Sora's house, all the while staring at lonely Destiny Island. I could see and hear the cerulean waves loudly crashing against the golden, sun-kissed sand, and I could smell the looming and lulling scent of ocean water and assorted tropical plants. Faintly I could see figures moving on the beach, two of them. They ran and they played together, being loud and generally happy. They looked familiar but I couldn't place their body types—they didn't look like Tidus, or Wakka or anyone else that typically hung out at Destiny Island. Had someone else taken a liking to our island?

Then I realized it was just a memory of Sora and I playing there. The laughter blended into the sound of lapping waves and the images vanished into thin air.

I missed Sora, and I missed Destiny Island. Later I'd ask Sora if he wanted to go to Destiny Island with me, and just hang out there and lay on the beach like old times.

Maybe I would get around to begging him to share a paupu like I had wanted to do since I was thirteen—almost four years ago. At the time, I wanted to share one with him so we'd always be best friends, but as of two years ago, I decided that I wanted to share one with him so that, maybe, we would fall in love some way, some how.

I sighed sadly and stopped to see where I was, since I kept walking as I thought about Destiny Island. By the looks of it, I had passed Sora's house, since I was surrounded by a bunch of houses that I didn't really remember. Sure, they looked somewhat familiar because I was still in the same neighborhood (which I had lived in since birth, partically), but they weren't like my neighbors' houses, or Sora's neighbors' houses. So I looked around and noticed that Destiny Island was a great deal closer than it had been a few moments ago. I could even see the sand being redistributed by the playful waves.

Finally I found Sora's lonely house behind me and to my right. Another gentle flush rose on my cheeks and made its presence known. How embarrassing was that? Walking aimlessly passed Sora's house, my intended destination, because I was too busy thinking about the past and an island. Lightly I scolded myself as I walked back to Sora's house and down the walkway.

At the wood and glass door I range the bell, my hands still in my pockets. I bit my lip and rocked from my heel to the tip of my toes, eager to (really) see Sora and his family again for the first time in what felt like forever.

After a second or two, someone grumbled from behind the door and turned the knob. Then, lo and behold, there was Sora! He looked like a mess, though. His brown spiky hair was spiked up and out in all the wrong directions, his turquoise eyes were distant and bored and the bags underneath his eyes were even more prominent than I remembered them being.

He was still beautiful, though. No matter how messy and tired he looked. I didn't think Sora knew how to be anything but attractive, even when he wasn't trying.

"Hey," he said softly, his voice lacking his normal enthusiasm, like it did on the phone. He stepped out of the doorway and let me inside before closing the door behind me.

"What's up?" I asked him, slipping my shoes off next to the front door. The house smelled like amazing food like always, but it lacked that freshly cleaned smell that it usually had. Most of the time it just smelled like Sora's shampoo. Too bad it didn't look like Sora had showered lately, so that smell would just be a fragment of my imagination for now.

"Nothing, at all," he said miserably, his hands in his pockets as well. "So…what do you wanna do?" The tone of his voice was so…monotone. It made my nose twitch a little, since I wasn't accustomed to it. Where was his liveliness? Where was his loudness? More than ever I missed his incessant laughter and his crazy, half-baked antics.

"I was thinking that we could watch TV," I suggested, "or something like that. Maybe go down to Destiny Island? I haven't been there in a while, and I could use a good swim." Hopefully Sora wouldn't shoot down my last offer. I really wanted to go to Destiny Island—but with him. We didn't even have to swim; we could just wade and talk. Hell, we could just wade! I didn't really care.

"Uh…whatever you wanna do is fine with me." Sora nodded a few times and began for the stairwell leading upstairs. I gave him a quizzical look and I stayed where I was. Before I could ask where he was going he muttered, "Gonna get my stuff. I'll be right back."

"Alright." Once Sora was out of sight, I looked around and studied the hallway that I had been in numerous times. Everything looked the same, just like I remembered it being; like I had been over just yesterday. Not that I expected anything to change much, but Sora's father liked to remodel rooms time and time again just for the hell of it. He had a really creative side—must have been where Sora got his ideas from. I smiled as I thought about it, trailing my eyes over the teal walls and the wooden table against the wall. Above it was a large mirror surrounded by a black rustic frame, and below it rested a few magazines, discarded mail, a vase of beautiful purple tulips and picture frame.

The picture was of the whole family, Sora's father and his mother, Sora himself and then Sora's little brother, Roxas. They all looked so happy, bearing full-blown smiles showcasing white teeth. Sora looked especially happy. His face said nothing but pleasant things and his eyes looked like they had been sparkling when the picture was taken. He was so handsome…so lively…so Sora.

"Ready?" Sora called from the stairs. I looked up to meet his eyes, noticing that he had put on his shoes and grabbed a few towels. "Did you bring your trunks?"

"Nah…I'll swim in my boxers," I replied and felt my ears burn hot. If this had been a few years ago, it wouldn't have made me flush like it did now, but considering I had a major crush on Sora, I was a tad self conscious. Even though I didn't have to be. Frankly, I had a great body.

"You sure? I can lend you a pair of mine." That made me flush harder. My ears felt like they were going to burn away and ooze down my shoulder, or something.

"Yeah, I'm sure," I answered after a pause and a nibble at my lower lip.

"Then I won't bring mine, either," he mumbled, more to himself than anything, as he threw something (his trunks, I presumed) from underneath his towel and into the doorway of his room.