Memories of Destiny Islands

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And so it had gone on, for over two weeks… Kairi trudged on, and shifted the bag to her other shoulder. She was sweating now, the series of hot thoughts not helping with sun and warm winds. After another minute she stopped and let the bag drop to the ground, fed up. She glanced about to make sure no one was around to see, then, concentrating, held her hand in front of her, palm up. After a second, a sphere of ice burst into existence a few centimetres above her hand, throwing of chips as it spun swiftly. She grinned, holding it close to her face. She had convinced Donald to teach her the basic schools of magic, once they had all been convinced to stay for a brief holiday, and by the time they had left he had grudgingly admitted she had an aptitude for it, but the thing that surprised her the most was just how unimaginative he and Sora both were when it came to using any type of magic. She could still remember Sora’s surprise when she had first shown him that blizzard magic could be used for more than hurling chunks of ice at things.

With her other hand she covered the sphere in a tight ball of aero magic, then crushed it to a fine powder. Holding it back, she loosened the coils of aero until it began blasting her with a freezing wind. She sighed, moving her creation around her body, cooling herself. Soon enough she felt refreshed and threw the ball up into the air, releasing the aero altogether. A last remnant of ice dust drifted over her as she hefted her bag again and moved on.

She should have known that it wouldn’t last. She should have known that confiding in Selphie was a huge mistake, but then, she supposed, if she hadn’t everything would have happened differently, and she might still be living in fear even now. She shook her head. Telling Selphie about it has still been stupid. It had been one comment that started it, while she and Selphie had been sitting on her bed, quietly discussing sex positions in somewhat embarrassed, giggled whispers, with Selphie looking nervously out the door every few minutes, expecting Tidus to drop by when he finished blitz practice with Wakka. Somehow, she had let Riku’s name slip out, and the girl had latched onto it in an instant, refusing to let it drop until she caved in and told her everything. Blushing the whole way, she had told, eliciting shocked exclamations from Selphie all the while, then swore the other girl to secrecy about it. It seemed, however, that for Selphie, vows of secrecy didn’t include boyfriends, because somehow Tidus had found out enough to be confused about it, and then, being the tactless, blunt boy he was, had gone and blurted out his confusion to Sora and Riku together, on the beach. She sighed aloud, remembering what had stemmed from that blunder.

She had been walking home from the shops, on this very same road, when it started. Back at the top of the hill, a ripple of energy had made her look out towards the kid’s island, a fading shockwave and the flashes of darkfire, light balls and thunder magic set her to running.

By the time she reached the shore, fear was already taking hold. She could see two figures fighting, and felt her keyblade spring into her hand unbidden. It made her jump; she’d probably never get used to it. She glanced at it for a moment, sighing. So what if it represented Destiny Islands, and so what if it boosted her magical reserves dramatically… it still looked unbelievably unintimidating. A faint cry of pain, and another, snapped her eyes up again. The fighters flew apart, then dived back towards each other. She had to get over there, and fast. She glanced along the shore to the docks where he boat waited. Too slow! There had to be a faster way across, think! She looked at her keyblade again for a moment, then to the water, biting her lip. It was a long way, but she could probably make it. Stepping back from the shore for a few metres, she took a breath, braced herself, and ran. Just as she reached the water, she dived forward, dropping to one knee and stretching her hand out in front of her, close to the water, like a curling player. The water formed a thin sheet of ice under her hand, which melted away again moments after her back foot had crossed it, the force of the magic coasting her forward across the surface at the same speed as her initial dive. About halfway across she began to feel the drain on her energy, and closed her eyes, concentrating. A few seconds later, her hand hit sand and she tumbled forward, rolling to her feet. Looking about quickly, she clapped her hands to her mouth as she saw Sora and Riku properly, her mind putting the pieces together. Riku was moving quickly, faster than her eyes could follow at times. Way to the Dawn spun in his hand, but his left hand gripped his old sword, Soul-eater, as well. His shirt and jeans were torn and burnt in places, and she could see blood where he’d been raked or sliced. His face, when she could see it, was hard and angry.

Moving in and around with him, Sora’s face was burning, more angry than she ever remembered seeing him. A pair of keyblades floated about him, Oath-keeper and Ultima, lashing out at Riku with his every movement and hand gesture. He was hovering off the ground, his outfit glowing a bright white. He spun, both keys raking Riku across the face just as her eyes caught up with him again, throwing the other boy onto his back on the sand. A wall of light struck Sora at the same time, followed by a volley of dark orbs. Riku was back on his feet before the last one had struck, racing back towards the younger boy. Sora didn’t seem as injured as Riku, but she realised his outfit would be hiding it. Her eyes picked out tracks of blood running down both arms, and a serious looking burn on his face. She raced towards them, raising both hands.

They locked weapons, face to face as she cast, Sora grabbing both keys to add his strength to them. Her gravity spell struck a moment later, slamming both of them flat into the sand. Sora’s outfit faded back to its normal colour, and Oath-keeper disappeared. They both began struggling to their feet, Riku digging Soul-eater into the ground for leverage, Sora lifting his blade first and getting up second. They were both growling at each other, probably blaming the other for the spell. Sora shouted.
“How could you do this, Riku!? I thought we were friends! Why would you do this to me? How could you even think of doing that to Kairi!?”
“I love Kairi as much as you do! I would never hurt her! She came to me, you expect me to say no to her!?”
“Liar!!” And they dashed at each other again. Behind them, she could see Tidus and Wakka cowering in terror under the pier. She slammed the boys to the ground again, this time holding the spell so they couldn’t get up. Light it was an effort. Riku managed to raise his head regardless.
“I thought we were friends too, Sora. I thought we trusted each other. I’m telling you it wasn’t rape; me, Riku. But you’d rather defy common sense and believe the confused ramblings of a blitzer with no tact and less than half a brain. You must be stupider than he is, or does our friendship mean so little to you after all?” Under the pier, Tidus was too scared to take immediate offence as Kairi lost her hold on the spell, exhausted, and both boys sprang to their feet, attacking each other again. She could see red stains where they had bled into the sand.
“Stop it!!” She screamed as a last resort. To her relief, both boys came up short, their faces flicking towards her. Riku sagged, almost dropping Soul-eater, and letting Way to the Dawn disappear.
“Tell him, Kairi. Tell him I didn’t force you.” She looked between them, Riku’s hard, defiant gaze, and Sora, the tip of his keyblade dragging in the sand now, his eyes staring at her, still looking so innocent and suddenly uncertain. Her chest felt like it was in a vice. What could she say? She looked back and forth between them again, feeling desperation, panic and despair filling her. Her eyes felt hot as she made herself look directly at Sora. She swallowed, trying to work moisture into her mouth, and managed to softly shake her head.
“Sora…” She could feel tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. “I— I’m sorry, Sora…” The look of pain, betrayal and heart-rending sadness that washed over him was more than she could bear to see, and as tears began to spill from his eyes, she turned away, scrubbing at her own.
“Why, Kairi? Why?” Sora’s voice broke through his tears, but he continued, coming towards her. “Why would you go with him so suddenly?” The anger from before still burned in his voice, over the top of this new despair. “Wasn’t it special for you? Didn’t it… Don’t I mean anything to you at all!? Tell me why!!” She gasped as his last demand came with hands grabbing her roughly by the shoulders and spinning her to face him. Suddenly he staggered to the side, spinning around. She could see Soul-eater sunk deep into his upper arm, the tip protruding from the other side. Riku was holding his left hand gingerly over his middle, while his right was still extended from throwing the blade.
“Get your hands off Kairi, you bastard. Don’t hurt her just because you can’t deal with her wanting more than just you!” Sora wrenched it free and let it fall to the ground, tears still sliding down his face.
“Shut up!!” As he shouted, a bolt of lightning so solid it must have taken every drop of energy he had left struck down at Riku, sending his body rigid and making him scream horribly. After a second it stopped and Riku fell forward to his knees, then onto his hands, his clothes smouldering. “This is your fault!” Sora shouted at him again before turning back to Kairi. She slapped him as hard as her arm would allow. He staggered back, almost falling, the anger replaced with surprise and pain.
“What about you, Sora? This isn’t like you at all.”
“Kairi—” She cut him off.
“No, Sora. You listen. What about you? How could you hurt Riku like this? He hasn’t done anything wrong, and he’s your friend.” Sora looked away, his head dropping. He tried to take a step, then staggered, ending up on his knees.
“Is he… Are you? I don’t know what to think, Kairi.” He was bleeding onto the sand. The injury from Soul-eater seemed to be the last straw. She knelt, hoisting one arm over her shoulder and stood with him. Her eyes fell on Riku, who, instead of getting up had collapsed fully onto the sand. She began to half drag Sora over to him.
“Sora, I love you. I’ve told you that, and you had better believe me. I love Riku too. You should already know that, after everything you’ve both done. I wanted you both, in the end, but I wanted you first, so don’t be upset at Riku, and don’t be upset at me. She lowered him back to the ground as she reached Riku and bent to turn the other boy over. He managed to half-open his eyes, squinting up at her. Calming herself, Kairi took a breath, recalled her keyblade and directed as much healing energy as she could muster at the pair. After another tense moment, they both seemed to recover somewhat and climbed slowly to their feet.

The three of them stood like that, looking at their feet, subdued and unsure what to say or do, until at last Riku spoke.
“Look at us. We’re letting something as small as this tear us apart, when Xehanort, Malificent, a legion of their lackeys and worlds of darkness and destruction couldn’t manage it.” Sora looked up at him, then grinned weakly, scrubbing at his eyes. He pointed at Riku’s belt buckle.
“A small thing, huh? Well, I don’t know about you, Riku, but…” the other boy raised an eyebrow and summoned Way to the Dawn. Sora flinched, summoning his own keyblade, still Ultima. Riku laughed.
“So much bigger and fancier. Compensating for anything, Sora?”
“The bigger the Keyblade, the bigger the—”
“Ego? Yeah, tell me about it.” Kairi couldn’t help but smirk as Riku laughed again. Sora scowled for a moment, but it broke into a grin after a few seconds. Eventually they all looked at each other again. Kairi put her hands behind her back.
“So, what now then?” Seriousness returned. Riku and Sora looked at each other, then to her. Riku spoke first.
“You have to choose, Kairi.” She looked back and forth, torn. The tightness returned to her chest and she looked down. Her eyes fell on Way to the Dawn and she looked up again.
“You hypocrite, Riku. I heard that you were told the same thing once, and you didn’t exactly listen, did you?” I don’t want to choose one of you; I don’t want to have to say no to one of you. Why can’t we just be three? Why does it need to be two and one?” This time her look was almost pleading, flicking between them. Sora and Riku looked at each other. The angry charge cooled between them, now that everything was said and out, it seemed.
“What do you think, Sora?” Riku’s voice was lighter than she had expected. He almost sounded amused. Sora shrugged.
“I just want to be with Kairi. If that means I have to share, then…” He paused for a moment, reaching a final decision before answering. “Fine.” Riku nodded.
“I feel the same. Do you want to give it a try?” Sora nodded in return, and so they had agreed to try, keeping their situation as secret as they could. At least, after they had convinced Tidus and Wakka that it was safe to come out, that was.

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Author's Note: There are two versions of Chapter 5 here, in case folk didn't read my opening note. The alternate version contains a previously omitted sequence that I've since re-written slightly, though am still not altogether pleased with. Please do give me your comments and feedback if you can spare the time, they'll be most appreciated.