This is the beginning of a project weeks in the making, it is short, and probably doesn't show the effort put into it, but I am a fan of this story of mine, and I am sharing it with you. I don't expect much hits on this (who reads Kairi/Sora these days anyways?), and even less reviews, but if you've got the time, writing one up would make my day.

So sit back, relax, and try to enjoy this little tale.

I wake up to the sound of my phone wailing nearly unrecognizable Taking Back Sunday. I roll onto my side and glare at the little piece of technology. It jumps around, clattering across my floor. Down the hall I hear my brother grunt loudly and throw something at his door. I sigh heavily and flip open my phone. I don't really need the little picture on the screen to tell me who's calling; it's pretty obvious.

But I spare the clock a glance, four-thirty-seven, a.m.. "Oh god," I groan under my breath and answer the call.

"Hello?" I croak, my eyes are slowly widening, and there's no way in hell I'll be able to go back to sleep now, so this had better be good.

"Kairi?" Riku says breathlessly, I hum a confirmation and Riku lets out a quick breath, "Kairi, Kairi it's raining."

Now, if it had been anyone else, Sora for example, I would grumble something and hang up and try to go back to sleep. But it's Riku so I sigh and decide to humor him, "Really? For how long?" I ask drearily. Riku's smiling, I can hear it in his voice, when he replies; "Three days." He sounds a little wistful and I know he's staring out his bedroom window, itching to get out in the rain.

I stumble out of bed and lurch to my window, it's too early for the sun and everything's a sort of hazy pre-dawn grey. Sure enough, there's a light rain, a bit more prominent than a drizzle, but small enough to be near silent on the ground and whistling leaves.

"Will you come out with me?" Riku asks, in a way that can only be described as earnest. Despite myself I have to bite back a grin at his childish joy. "Not now," I shake my head, "It's too early." I hear Riku move around, probably to find his clock, and then a light, "Oh."

Riku usually gets up early, about five or five thirty, though he's usually late for school, which is amazing since the school is only fifteen minutes away. Riku probably woke up because it was raining, he can smell rain, and reacts to it instantly. He loves rain.

"But how about five thirty?" I offer, if the chance of sleep is completely gone, I might as well enjoy the early-morning rain with Riku. Early mornings are extraordinary in a way, for the both of us. There's something special about creeping around when no one else is around, and seeing the brilliant remains of the sunrise. Late nights have that sort of effect too; in the darkness anything could be out there, but it's only you.

"Okay," Riku damn-near chirps, like the bluebirds shuffling their feathers outside. I shut my phone and run my fingers through my hair. It's getting close to five now, so I only have about fifteen minutes to get ready. A shower is out of the question, it would wake my brother and he would gripe about it for the rest of the week. Besides, the rain's pretty decent about cleaning people up.

So I set about finding clothes. It takes a while for me to search out the school-issued sweater, white with blue trim, and then I snatch an extra pair of socks and some black tights that I stash in my bag. I tiptoe into my kitchen, which is in an odd state of sleep. Instead of the usual bustle of noise, of screaming kettles, popping toast, my grouchy brother, and whoever else has shown up to mooch breakfast, it's deathly silent.

I set up the coffee maker and sit on the counter, watching the rain outside the window. I wonder if Riku's already outside, standing in the middle of the street, his face turned up to the clouds, eyes closed, letting the rain drops sink into his skin. The rain outside is already becoming heavier, and rattles the screen door in a small, impatient way.

Weather in Destiny Island is usually warm and pleasant, but when it rains, it means business. Flowerbeds flood, as do some basements, sidewalks give away to ankle-deep puddles and mudslides occupy anything even resembling a slope. There are winds that snatch away umbrellas and thunderstorms that populate whole nights—when it's rainy season; it's rainy season.

The coffee maker gurgles to a halt and I pour a thermos of the hot liquid and head for the door. My rain boots are long lost to the deep recesses of our storage closet, so I settle for a pair of thick, water-resistant hiking boots that belong to my brother, he's going to be taking the bus anyways, he won't be needing them.

I grab an umbrella, and slip out the door quietly, locking it behind me. The street outside my house is dreary with the presence of rain, and everything is a lifeless grey shade. The rain plinks cheerily off my umbrella as I shuffle down the street, the too-big hiking boots scuffing noisily on the asphalt.

I hug my thermos close to my chest and sip the coffee lightly. It's not yet cold outside, it will be by the end of the day, and instead hovers at a mild eighteen degrees or so. As I troop down the road I glance into the dark windows of the houses that watch me go by. Mostly empty living rooms or dark kitchens greet me, but in a couple houses an early riser or two shuffles around watching the weather report on mute.

Finally I come to stand outside Riku's house, a modest whitewashed two-story, like everyone else's houses on the island. Unlike everyone else's houses though, all the lights are on inside. If Riku gets up early, everyone gets up early.

When I knock on the door a droopy-eyed half-dressed albino who's definitely not Riku greets me. He eyes me sleepily and then stumbles back inside with a barely-audible grunt. I assume it means I can enter, because that's what it's meant every other time he answered the door. I shake the rain off my umbrella and close it before dropping it on the floor next to my bag.

I don't have to worry as much about being quiet in Riku's house as I did in my own, and freely let my boots clunk on the floorboards. In the kitchen Riku stands at the counter with his back to me, arranging something.

He turns around at the telltale signs of my approach; no relative of Riku's is awake enough to make so much noise. He's wearing his school uniform very casually, the bright blue khakis are at least one size too big and hang like his favorite cargos, and the white shirt is un-tucked, the top three buttons undone, and the tie no where to be seen. He's also wearing his favorite Adidas, all worn out and torn from walking the worlds.

With a smile tugging at his mouth he hands me an egg and cheese sandwich. It's the kind of breakfast sandwich fast-food joints sell on the mainland; partially melted cheese and poached egg in an English muffin. I feel my stomach grumble noisily at the smell of it. They're my favorite, Riku can make them perfectly; I usually end up splattering egg all over the place.

"I love you," I sigh, and take the offered food gratefully. Riku chuckles, perfectly awake, and pats me on the head like he used to do all the time when we were kids. "I knew you'd skip breakfast," He says, shaking his head in half-serious disappointment.

"No time," I mumble and shrug, "Besides, you would've made me something anyways," I smile, Riku grins good-naturally and turns to pour a cup of coffee, his older brother, still partially dressed stumbles into the kitchen, and stares at the mug in Riku's hand. Without looking up Riku passes it to him and he stumbles off again, cradling the drink like it's his lifeline.

"He's never any use in the morning," Riku remarks dryly, I roll my eyes at Riku. "Not everyone's a morning person," I point out, "You're the only one, actually." Riku shrugs and moves for his door. I notice he looks like he's practically floating. I have to grin at him this time, and follow him, noisily clunking my boots.

Outside, Riku glows, like actually gives off an aura of light. He steps out onto the wet path trailing up from the road and shivers as water sinks in through the flimsy material of his worn-out shoes.

I follow a little less eagerly, my umbrella already open above my head. Riku floats down to the road and as I predicted, stands in the middle of the street and lifts his face to the sky. I pull my sweater down lower and sit on the curb, resting my umbrella on my shoulder and silently watch Riku, munching on my sandwich.

First he stares at the sky and slowly becomes energized, a smile curves his lips up and his bright green eyes sparkle with life, his pale skin flushes with the faint cold of the rain, and his albino hair dampens and sticks to the back of his neck.

He closes his eyes and continues to smile dreamily. He doesn't move; he's good about standing still when he wants to, and just smiles up at the sky with his arms open and fingers spread. I sit with my knees tucked close to my body, and watch raindrops jump off my hiking boots and the ground around me. After a while the sky gets lighter and a few brave birds start to sing.

Mornings always seem so magical with Riku, like the kind of scenes you seen in romantic movies, when the two main characters are having a love scene. It's just like that, only less dramatic.

By now Riku's shirt has become completely soaked and sticks to Riku's skin, his pants also, have started to do the same. I know there are a number of girls in our school that also like the rainy seasons, purely for this reason. Though Riku's my best friend, and will never be more, I can see why a pack of them will follow Riku through the halls, giggling madly the whole time.

"Hey Riku," I call softly, Riku starts a little, and slowly opens his eyes and looks at me. And he's so fucking beautiful. He doesn't say anything and waits for me to continue. "It's almost seven. You have a blitz-ball practice in twenty-minutes." I tell him carefully. Riku blinks once, twice, really slow and then goes, "Oh." Real slow like and then grins.

"Right. Okay," And just like that, Riku isn't the serene, distant person he was seconds ago, and instead normal Riku, only still glowing and smiling like the most wonderful thing had just happened. In actuality, it had for him.

--

I was about six when I moved to Destiny Island, and within days I was already losing my memories of my home world to the warm, bright sunny days that ruled the islands. Riku and Sora had introduced themselves to me about a week after I had finished unpacking the few things I had. And then, four days later, Riku disappeared.

Sora and I were hiding from the rain in the secret cave, scraping at the walls with some pointed rocks, huddling far from the holes in the cave's roof where rain water just poured.

"Where's Riku anyways?" I asked curiously, Sora blinked at me dubiously, then he grinned that goofy little grin of his that still makes me smile, and said; "Riku likes the rain, he can stand out in the rain for hours, he doesn't care how wet he gets," Sora spoke with a lisp because he was lacking his front teeth and his breath whistled out through the gap noisily.

"Uh," I said, and furrowed my brow, "Why?"

Sora shook his spiky head, "You just have to see him. He actually grins, like, like… he just won the whole series of 9th Wonder comics!" Sora exclaimed, I remained doubtful for a long time. Most people are, you just can't explain how Riku reacts to the rain. You have to see it, and even then you might not get it. It's a gift from heaven to him.

So when Selphie asks me why I look so tired I just shrug and sigh lightly,

"Its raining," I say simply, "Riku called me over." Though Riku only calls me or Sora when it rains to share the dawn with him, Tidus, Wakka and Selphie all know well of this. Many, many times Sora and I have lurched around exhausted, while Riku floats around dripping wet beaming at the world around him.

Selphie laughs and twirls her umbrella above her head, shedding raindrops all around, "I wish I could see the rain with him," She says, a little wistfully. I snort and shake my head, "Trust me, you don't." Selphie laughs again, and then directs the conversation back towards our Plane Geometry homework.

Stomping footsteps and the thick smell of chlorine alerts me to Tidus's presence. Practice must be over, and Selphie and I turn out attention to the blond boy glowering around the rainy front yard of the school.

"How was practice?" Selphie chirps, Tidus sighs heavily. Tidus has always loved blitz-ball; he claims that one day, he'll be a star player on a professional team. He may very well; he's surprisingly amazing at it.

"Riku," Tidus sighs, "Is so distracted he ruined the whole practice," Selphie and I look at each other and smother smiles. "Where is he now?" Selphie asks. Tidus gestures vaguely over his shoulder at the squat building that houses the school's pool. On top of the low building I can just make out Riku sitting with his legs dangling over the edge.

I roll my eyes and smile, Selphie giggles helplessly. "He's only on time when it's raining," Tidus gripes, "And then he's so distracted there's no point to him even showing up."

I shrug, "Well, it's Riku," The two consider this for a beat then nod in agreement. Riku will always be Riku, and has never tried to be otherwise. As much as I'd like to think the Riku with cold eyes and hate-filled words wasn't Riku, it was. It is. Riku has always been himself, no matter what. I sigh forlornly and the school bell shrieks it's first warning.

Somehow, I just know Riku's not coming inside for a very long time.

--

Since a frightening thunder-storm is occupying the sky tonight, Sora and I rent some 1960 horror films and camp out in my basement with a two liter bottle of Sunny-D, popcorn, and partially-stale Easter chocolate. We didn't invite Riku, there was no point, all he wants to do tonight is sleep out on his front yard, and that's all he's going to do.

"What do you think of Riku?" Sora asks me as we sit through the opening credits. I peek out of the corner of my eye at Sora, munching on a handful of popcorn. He's allowed to stay over late since his house is only five minutes from mine, twenty if he swings by Riku's on his way home, which I know he will. His mom is really easy on him, as long as he comes home before three a.m. and does about twenty-five chores a week, he can do whatever he wants.

"Everything," I answer simply, re-directing my attention to the movie as the credits start to trail off. Out of the corner of my eye I see Sora pause and then crack into a big grin before a bolt of lighting scissors across the TV screen and outside thunder roars. We squeal like children and grip each other with barely concealed mirth. Holding our breath we wait for the villain to speak.

This has happened countless times before, and will continue to happen until we run out of old horror films to watch, and that time is a long way off. We've watched some old Japanese ones, though those were mostly talk, and a couple bloody Spanish ones. Though we can both handle the modern horror flicks with all their blood and gore, the old movies are so much better.

By two o'clock we've thoroughly depleted our movie stock, and Sora helps me neaten up the basement before heading for home. I decide to walk him partway, to Riku's house so I can check up on him. My brother, Reno, wouldn't care too much for this, but he's not awake, so he's not going to know.

In our small town there's about a two percent chance of me being jumped walking back home alone, but still Sora nibbles his bottom lip worriedly before giving in when I show no signs of agreeing to stay at home.

As we walk quietly through the relentless rain, watching the lightning light up patches of heavy menacing clouds, the only sound but for the thunder seems to be the light pounding sound of the rain on our umbrellas.

As we walk I eye the shadows nervously. I can't help it; it's partially from the horror films, and partially the fact that I know what they can become. I wonder how Sora can stand walking home on nights like this.

"It's alright," Sora reassures me, catching me eying a long, twisted, shadow cast by a nearby tree, "There's nothing to worry about, Kairi," I nibble the inside of my lip and try not to think too much about what might come from the shadows.

"I know but…" I move closer to Sora and wrap my arm around his. It comforts me enough to expel my fears so that I can enjoy the rest of that walk, shivering whenever the lighting spikes the clouds, reminding me of different movies scenes.

We arrive at Riku's house after fifteen minutes and, sure enough, sprawled out on the lawn is Riku, rolled onto his side so he won't drown on the rain. Immediately Sora and I burst out into laughter. Riku detests looking any less than perfect, and pointedly avoids scenarios involving him sprawled unconscious on his side. But, really, even now, especially now, with his pale hair plastered to his face, his rumpled clothes completely soaked, he still looks beautiful.

His eyes are closed gently, and his lips are slightly open, the corners of his mouth tucked into a faint smile that gives his whole face the peaceful look of a sleeping child. Though he certainly is sprawled, the artless ways his limbs are positioned look natural and the way his clothes have leeched onto his skin makes it so much easier to see how limber and muscled he is.

No matter what, Riku cannot look imperfect. He's like a fucking angel.

I sigh heavily at Riku's stupidity, he hadn't thought to grab a blanket, jacket or even extra sweater, and will probably catch his death of cold. I drop my umbrella and pull my Banff sweater over my head and bend down to put it on Riku.

Sora stands over me, shielding me from the rain with his umbrella as I unbutton Riku's shirt and pull it off, and use the sleeve of my sweater to dry him off before pulling my sweater down his arms and over his head. Riku doesn't even wake up. He's usually a light sleeper, waking at the faintest creak.

But the rain's calming effect on Riku extends to his sleep and he sleeps sounder than even Sora, and when Sora sleeps, he sleeps. So all Riku does is whisper something to the grass and shift in his dreams. I have to smile at how silly he looks, curled up asleep, my sweater hardly stretching down his stomach.

"Riku's so stupid," Sora, mumbles, kneeling next to me as I pick up my umbrella again. I sigh lightly and nod in agreement. Sora places his umbrella on the ground by Riku, shielding most of him from the rain. We stand, stretching out our legs."Wish I could get a picture of this…" Sora jokes, smiling widely. I chuckle, "There's always next time," I tell him, holding my umbrella between us, shielding Sora from the rain as well, trying not to shiver in the cold.

Sora looks at me and we're close enough to kiss. But neither of us moves. I see Sora's Adam's apple bob as he swallows and I try not to get absorbed by his bright blue eyes. Riku breathes slowly and evenly into the space between us.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Sora says; it comes out like a question, though he didn't mean it to. I nod, "Yeah." Still, neither of us makes as if to leave. A breeze scatters water off of a tree and pelts down on the umbrella. Sora leans in a bit, and hesitates a moment before pressing his forehead against mine. He closes his eyes for a moment, letting out a small sigh. I breathe in his breath, and the smell of popcorn and mint. His eyelids peel back and his bright, bright blue eyes stare intently at me, sending a lightening bolt down my spine.

I'm the first to move, a quick, though hesitant, step back. I smile, and feel my cheeks flush warm. I open my mouth a little, trying to figure out words to say, and then turn and walk back down the street, hugging the stem of my umbrella close to my chest. After a moment there's the sound of mud squishing behind me, and I look back to see Sora sprawled out on his back next to Riku, hands clasped behind his head.

Above them, looking so comfortable even in the cold rain, small patches of sky peek through the clouds show swathes of stars, of far-off worlds, smiling down at their saviors. I grin as Sora's audible snore drifts my way, and continue home.