Hearts and Spades

When Sora woke up the next morning, it was still early. He yawned, and turned around, willing to stay in bed some longer. Outside, he could already hear the voices of Tidus and Selphie. He could not hear what they were saying, but their happy laughter came to him like a blessing. He thought of Riku. He had been strange the previous night. Sora wondered if he saw a side of him that was hidden until now. But he was probably just imagining things.

He hear a knock on his door, but no one answered when he asked what it was. Maybe he had not spoken loudly enough. He decided to stand up. He sat in bed for a while, waiting for his sleepy body to regain strength. Blood started flowing through his veins. He started feeling warmer too. He grabbed his clothes, that were still spread over the floor, and put them on hastily.

He opened the front door of the hut. The sun was higher up the sky than he expected. He went out, and started to climb into a palm tree on the beach. He drew his sword, and hit the coconuts. A Ripe yellow one fell down soon.

Back down the tree, he picked up the fruit, and walked to the dock. Three boats were floating there. Selphie was sitting on the edge, as she did every day, staring at the horizon.

"One day..." she whispered. She interrupted her thinking aloud, when she noticed Sora approaching in her back. She smiled at him.

"Slept well? Lazy as usually"

Sora stuck his tongue out. He sat down, and in one hit, cut the coconut in two halves. Milk spilled over his shirt, causing Selphie to giggle.

"Well, I'll go swim a bit later on" mumbled Sora. "Want some?"

Selphie nodded. She sat a bit closer to him, and bit in a piece of food. They stayed silent together for some time. It was Selphie who broke the silence again.

"Do you know about papoa fruits?" She asked

"Yes..." Sighted the boy.

"I would so much like to share a papoa fruit with someone. It's so romantic" she stated, and winked at Sora's blushing face. He wondered for a second if that was meant for him, but then she added:

"If you don't hurry, Riku will share one with Kairi, and you will be too late..."
Sora was struck. How did she mean that? The last days, preparing the departure and the weird dreams had gotten him tired, and everything he thought of was cloudy.

"Who would you share one with?" He asked. The girl did not reply. Instead, she started gazing at the ocean again, towards the little island, where the papoa tree was growing.

When he felt stuffed, he stood up, and asked the girl if she would take the rest of the coconut home. She nodded, yet saying:

"Okay, but only if you can beat me"

"Are you proposing a duel?" asked Sora, teased.

The girl had already ran to the beach with her skipping rope tightened between her hands, ready to strike. Sora jumped down the platform, into the warm sand. He ran towards her, taking his wooden sword out.

"You are too confident, Selphie!" He yelled at her.

He jumped, ready to attack her, but she dodged his move, and the string struck his back.

"I won't hold back" She said, "Come here, I'm waiting for you!"

Sora liked how energetic she was, and despite her not being very strong, she was fast and quite the opponent. But he would not let her win. As she was about to strike again, he stretched out his arm and caught the rope as it came to him. He did not let go, and managed to pull her towards him this way. He briefly let go off her weapon, only to grad her wrist. She struggled, making Sora lose his balance, and he fell. Right on top of her.

They both were panting, after this struggle, and coughing because of the dust cloud their action rose.
"Let's call it a draw" said the brunette with a grin. She raised her arms and hugged Sora. "I'm going to miss you when you leave."

The boy's eyes widened, as he felt the tender bosom of the girl pressed against his torso.
"Yeah, I'm going to miss you too, Selphie" he answered. He sat up abruptly, turning his back to her. He only looked at her from an eye corner, turning his face slightly back.

"Why, you're embarrassed!" she cried, starting to laugh again. "Well, anyway, I'll bring the coconut inside now. Thank you" She added, winking.

Sora did not move, looking at her, walking away. The he stood up, still holding his hands in front of him, and ran into the cold ocean water. It was quite warm actually, but fresh enough to clear his mind of the thoughts he's been having.

Once he was sure it was safe to come out of the water again, he decided to look for the others. He saw Tidus on the small island, training with his stick, and swam towards the ladder.