Hearts and Spades

When he reached the top of the ladder, Sora was caught by surprise. Tidus pushed him over playfully. It was his way of initiating a duel. Sora took out his weapon again, and defended himself bravely. He quickly turned around, knowing Tidus would attack him from behind, but he didn't see the boy. Instead, the wooden stick hit the top of his head. He fell down once more, and tired from his previous fight, the swimming - or so he would like to think - he surrendered to his friend.

"That was too easy!" complained Tidus. "Is something wrong with you?" He helped the boy to stand up. No hard feelings. Sora really enjoyed competing with Tidus usually. They were about at the same level, and it always was a surprise who would win the next round. The blonde went back to his training, fighting an imaginary enemy, and secretly waiting for Sora to propose another duel.

But Sora was not in the mood. He stared at the papoa tree as if he noticed it for the first time, and remembered how Riku had gracefully stolen one of its fruits. He pictured Riku's face when he gave him the fruit the previous evening, and his face when he asked about it in the hut. Sora felt bad for throwing at away without a thought, again, and decided he would get another one, even though he had no clue what he wanted with it really.

The tree was bent, and it was impossible to simply climb up along the trunk. Sora carefully climbed on top f the almost horizontal trunk. Hugging a tree to the top was one thing, but keeping in balance on top of one was a different story. He walked slowly, progressing step by step towards the top. The trunk was becoming smaller, and it got harder to keep going. The boy reached the part that was bent upwards. Expecting to fall if he went any further, he leaned forward, stretching his arms in hope to reach far enough. But he could not reach the fruits.

He decided to try it differently. The boy held onto the trunk, and tried to crawl towards the tip. His hand slipped, and he ended up hanging from the tree under the amused look of the other boy.

"Need help?" asked Tidus, a little mocking.

Sora grinned. He let go one hand, and reached for the fruits again. He almost had it. He could touch the leaves of one of the yellow sweets, and pulled, but he only managed to rip of a bit of green from it. Riku would have had no trouble with this. Sora reached out once more, grabbing more leaf this time. The plant would not rip, the fruit would not come off. Sora pulled harder. Suddenly, the green sheet ripped in his hand again. Surprised, his hand slipped, and he fell down in the water.

When he surfaced again, he could hear Tidus laughing. "Are you sure you don't need help? You should see your face!"

Sora smiled. Tidus was right, he would not manage this time. Riku was always a step ahead of him. But he would try again, and get one before they left the island.

"Do you know where Kairi is?" he asked.
"I think she's on the other side of the island. She was looking for you earlier" replied Tidus, suddenly serious. "Hey Sora..." he started.
"What is it?" asked the blue eyed boy.
"What do you think of Selphie?"

Sora was speechless for a short while. he thought back of the times where he played with her, when she wanted a close combat, or teased him about his clown looks. He thought back of what just happened, on the beach, the hug.
"I ... like her a lot" He started. " I mean, She's cool, although, quite clumsy isn't she?"
"Yes, quite"
"Anyway, you know she's a good friend to me. Why do you ask?"
"..." Tidus smiled. "No particular reason", he eluded.

Sora shrugged, and swam back to the beach. He wondered if Tidus maybe had feelings for the girl, while he waited a little for his clothes to drip. The stain was not visible anymore, as expected. Sora started walking towards the underground passage and met Wakka on the way.
"I am going to explore that cave with Riku later", he said, pointing at the cave entrance, "Care to join?"
"No thanks, Wakka, I think Kairi wants me to do something for the trip still"
"Oh, ok. If you see Riku, tell his I'm waiting here, will you?"
"Sure" answered Sora.

He stepped onto the wooden catwalk, and left towards the observation point. Wakka and Riku always went on adventures together, on the island. Honestly, Sora felt a little jealous. Although he was invited most of the time to take part in them, he knew that he was much weaker than his two friends, and even though they cared about him and made him feel at ease, he was worried that he might be slowing them down and bothering them. Additionally, they always talked about things he could not understand. They had a whole own world in common, that Sora seem unable to reach into. He really liked Wakka though, and wished he could be closer to him as well. He was like an older brother to him, and when Riku was being cold and mysterious at times, Wakka always gave a warm and welcoming feeling.

Sora had been so caught in is thoughts that he almost fell down the cliff when he reached the other side of the tunnel. From there, he could see Kairi, standing on their boat. He jumped down, and ran to her. She told Sora to get provisions for the trip. The coming day would be the D Day after all. Riku already had done his part, but she did not know where he was.

Sora looked at the list she gave him. He walked off to the small forest across, the beach, and looked for some nice juicy coconuts. He picked up a few, that he brought back to the raft. He decided to fish next, and as he caught some for dinner, he noticed Riku on the coast. He walked past the water source, and filled a can of drink water for Kairi, and climbed up to the gate, i front of which Riku was standing.

"Hey, ready to leave?" asked the silver haired boy.
"I'm still gathering supplies"
"I'm long done with my part" bragged Rik with a wink. "So, what do you want to call our ship? I think highwind sounds great! What about you?"
"Me? Let me think..." answered Sora. He stared at Kairi ad the boat, further on the sea side. "What about, Pegasus?" he finally said.
"Pegasus?" asked Riku with a grin, "Why Pegasus?"
"It's... because Pegasus is a link between the sky and the earth, in a way... and..." Could he say, he has silver hair, just like you? But Riku started laughing, not giving him a chance to say anything else.
"Pegasus? Really? I like Highwind better. Let's do a race. The winner names the boat." he decided.
"If I win.... I want to be the captain" said Sora, firmly.
"Hey guys, are you going to compete again?" screamed Kairi from the other end of the beach. "I am jury!" She said, while getting in position.
"Haha, if I win, i get to share a papoa fruit with Wakka. Ok? The winner shares a Papoa fruit with Wakka!" concluded Riku.
Kairi started the countdown. Go!

Sora was still confused by what Riku said. "Hey wait!" He yelled, seeing his friend taking a large advance on him already. He started running as well, over the bridge, jumping to the mossy floor on the there side of the lagoon. He jumped down the edge onto the beach, seeing Riku already climb up the hill in front of him. He was catching up a little, and both reached the star tree simultaneously. Sora's hand met Riku's. For a split second, time stopped. Their eyes met. Their hearts beat. They both moved on, pushing off on the wall to jump onto the palm tree tops. Both hopped over a few, Sora again, slightly behind. Riku landed swiftly on the platform, and ran further to the finishing line.

Sora on the other hand, barely made it to the ground, and caught the edge of the rocks before falling all the way down. He performed a salto to get back on his feet, but it was too late. Riku already had reached the destination, and was standing next to Kairi, talking with her, and looking in Sora's direction, to see when he'd arrive. The boy dashed towards them, knowing it was a waste of energy anyway. When he finally arrived there, Riku glanced at him and smiled.

"And so, let the boat be adoubed Highwind." And Kairi clapped her hands.

Sora stared at Riku, heartbroken. He did not understand. First of all, why would he not share a papoa fruit with Kairi, like Selphie said. Second, why Wakka? You could only share one fruit wasn't it? Then the destinies of the persons intertwined. Would Sora have wanted to share the fruit with the man he considered like his brother? That also was not it. Then what?

"Want another race?"

Seeing his darkened face, Riku grabbed Sora by the waist, and pulled him close to him, against his side. He patted his head, flattening Sora's hair, and said, "Are you offended? Is it because of the papoa fruit? That was just a joke." Sora looked up at him. He still had those cold eyes, but his expression was somewhat softer than usually, caring in his own special way. It made him feel somewhat uncomfortable, and backed away from his friend's firm grip.

"Talking about Wakka... He's waiting for you to explore the cave, i think..." mumbled Sora.

"Oh right, i almost forgot", said Riku, already starting to go. He paused. Kairi was gone again. He turned around and said. "You're not mad at me, are you?" Sora shook his head. Riku smiled. Then he turned again, and walked through the door.

Sora went on gathering supplies. He even found an egg. His mind was filled with nostalgic thoughts. Some years ago, when Kairi had arrived on the island, things were different, they all were careless children. But now things had changed. There were the dreams, and those mixed feelings he had for both of his best friends. They had gotten closer each passing year, and something had linked them together. Maybe this desire to leave the island and discover other worlds.

When gathering mushrooms, the last thing on his list, Sora entered the cave in which he knew Wakka and Sora had disappeared. He did not find them anywhere, but did discover what remaining food he needed. On the wall, he saw carved, drawings from his childhood. A picture of him and Kairi. He remembered how he felt when they made that picture. They spend the afternoon hiding there, when they had to do some chores, and had spent the time alone drawing those pictures on all walls. Then, they had lied there together, in each others arms, until Riku found them, and told them to go back to the village. These feelings mixed with his current obsession for papoa fruit sharing. He knew it was childish, and maybe stupid, but he realised that he never wanted to be separated from her. He picked up a stone on the floor, and added a detail tot eh picture. He drew him arms, with which he offered a fruit to Kairi's picture.

When he was satisfied with his art, he remembered he had to gather the food for the trip. Just when he picked up the mushrooms, he was surprised by a man, standing behind him. He looked mysterious and a little scary. In fact, very scary. Sora did not understand what he said about doors and gates opening. Keys and knowledge. The only thing he agreed with, was that he did not understand. The silhouette said that he could not understand, because he had no knowledge. He was ready to accept that as a fact. Yet he argued that he would understand, by traveling through the worlds, and gain what knowledge he needed. The man told him it was a lost cause, an vanished.

Sora walked back out of the cave, not knowing what to think of that encounter.