Meeting

The first time Riku meets Sora, it is a dark and grey afternoon. Despite his parents' warnings, Riku still insists on the fact that it's good enough weather to out to play since there is a big enough patch in the sky to make a pair of pants for a sailor (admitted, it is a very small sailor, but his parents don't need to know that). He remembers having read about it somewhere in a book. He has told this to Tidus and the others, but they just laughed at him. He had to beat them up afterwards. He is, after all, seven years old and should be respected.

He goes to the dock and contemplates going into the secret hole underneath the tree, but decides that maybe he'll save it for next time when he can drag Tidus or Wakka with him. He thinks it would make a good joke. He knows that they are both scared to go in there, but he isn't. He just hasn't gone in because he doesn't want to.

Movement in the trees catches his eyes and it isn't long before a small monkey-like figure (in both appearance and smell, Riku thinks distastefully) cannonballs its way into the small pool where a waterfall ends with a loud shriek that makes Riku covers his ears. The figure looks up and Riku is surprised to see a small boy with dark brown hair. Even more amazingly is the fact that his hair springs back up as it wins the battle with the weight and pressure of the water. It grins up at him, baring all his teeth except for one in the corner that has been lost.

Riku shakes his head at him and frowns, telling him that it's too cold to be out and it's not good enough weather to be playing, and is he lost? The boy looks around, then shakes his head and shrugs nonchalantly. Infuriated, Riku sighs and takes the boy by his hand and pulls him out of the pool. The boy makes no protest. He makes no sound until Riku asks him who he is, for lack of conversation and for fear that maybe he is crying or dead. At the question, the boy chatters uncontrollably, telling him his name is Sora, he's six years old, that his tooth came out when he accidentally ran into a tree (Riku snorts at this and says he doesn't find this hard to believe) and all sorts of other useless things, like what his favourite colour is, that he likes cake and worms, but not together, mind you and other things Riku doesn't want to know but can't help but remember.

When they finally reach Sora's house, the sky is dark and the lights are dimming on. Riku thinks that it might not have taken them so long to get there if Sora had just been able to walk in a straight line without getting distracted. He recognizes the neighbourhood and is surprised to find that his house is extremely close to Sora's. Sora's parents come out and quickly start to fuss about him. He is being dragged back into the house, much to Riku's amusement, when he turns around and yells: "Thanks a lot, mister!"

Riku scowls, and then remembers he did not tell Sora his name. He puts one hand on his hip and cups his mouth with the other one, shouting back: "It's not "mister", stupid! It's Riku!"

Sora grins as he is pulled into the house and the door shuts behind him. Riku turns around and heads back towards his home, feeling much less energetic than he did when he began the day. He decides that being with a perpetually happy person for too long is a trying task and reminds himself to handle Sora in small doses only.

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A/N: In case anyone's wondering (especially since this is such an obscure reference), having a patch of sky big enough to make a sailor's pants means that it's good enough weather to go out and play. It was in a book that I used to read as a kid by Enid Blyton. And just as an extra side note, SORA IS CRAZY HARD TO WRITE. He's either completely stupid, or he's completely stupid AND completely uke-type and I grew out of the lame girly, pathetic uke-type a long time ago. I just hope I can make him out right.