My first ever Kingdom Hearts fanfic. Also my first ever fluffy fanfic. And I swore to myself that I would only be a rated M writer! *cries* I broke my own promise to myself! Oh well, I like Sora x Riku to be more fluffy than lemony anyway. Enjoy!

Sora, give me my Pocky!"

"Never!"

Sora takes off down the beach, the last chocolate Pocky hanging out his mouth.

"Sora, I'm not playing around!" Riku growls and chases after him.

Kiri peeks her head out of the hut. "What's with all the noise?"

"Sora stole my Pocky!" Riku yells out.

"It's just Pocky," Kiri sighs. "But whatever." Kiri closes the door, leaving Sora and Riku to deal with each other alone.

Riku jumps, tackling Sora to the ground. He grabs the boy's wrists and pins them above his head.

"Why do you always steal my pocky?"

"Why do you always hate me?"

Riku goes silent. He looks down at Sora, green eyes locking with blue. He growls and rolls off the boy, sitting down in the sand.

"You honestly think I hate you?"

"Here." Sora stands and takes the Pocky out of his mouth. He tosses it at Riku and turns away. "If they're that important to you, I'll stop stealing them."

Riku looks down at the Pocky. He growls and grabs it, pushing himself to his feet. He reaches out and grips the boy's shoulder, turning him around. "This isn't about the Pocky!"

"Then what is it about, Riku?" Sora snaps. "You've always had it out for me, ever since we were little kids! What did I ever do to make you hate me?"

Riku growls and pushes Sora hard. "Ansem was right; you understand nothing."

Sora's eyes blaze. He jumps on Riku. They both fall to the beach, Sora landing on top of Riku. He grabs Riku's collar and leans in close. "No, I don't understand. You won't even talk to me anymore, Riku! We used to be friends! Did the darkness take that away, too?"

Riku glares up at the younger boy. "As you can see, Sora, the darkness is gone. What it took away, it gave back."

"Not everything," Sora whispers. He sighs and rolls off Riku, stretching his legs in front of him.

Riku sits up, brushing off his shirt. "What do you mean?"

Sora's eyes grow cold. He stares out at the ocean, watching the waves rush crash against one another. "The darkness is gone, but..."

Riku tilts his head. "But what?"

Sora turns his head, his eyes locking onto Riku's. "Our island is back, but our friendship was lost within the darkness."

Riku stares back at Sora. Riku had spent the last year trapped inside the darkness. He had stumbled around, searching for some sort of hope, some distant light to cling to. But he had found nothing but emptyness. The Kingdom war had turned him into a shell, a heartless being with no reason to live.

Riku had never understood how Sora found the courage to fight against the darkness.

"I was jealous of you."

Sora blinked. "Huh?"

Riku sighed and tilted his head back. He looked up at the sky, wondering why this had all happened in the first place. They used to be best friends, Riku, Sora, and Kiri. But everything was different now.

"Why would the Keyblade choose you?" Riku whispered. "I was the one who wanted to get off this island. You were happy here, Kiri as well. But I...I ruined everything. I brought the darkness here. I was selfish and stupid, and you...you tried to save me. Even when I turned against you, you still fought for my heart. Why?"

Sora looks down. He sees the Pocky clutched in Riku's hand. He reaches out and takes the Pocky. He twirls it between his fingers, looking up at the boy with the silver hair.

"Do you remember that afternoon, Riku? The night before we were supposed to set sail?"

Riku tilts his head to the side. "When we were talking about why we ended up here?"

Sora nodded. He stands, brushing the sand off his jeans. He turns and heads for the small area of land rising out of the ocean.

Riku frowns, pushing himself onto his feet. He follows the boy out of curiosity.

Sora jumps onto the Paopu tree and picks one of the fruit. He sits down on the tree and stares at the fruit.

"And after that?"

"You mean when I threw the Paopu fruit at you?" Riku asks. He jumps onto the tree and sits down beside Sora. "You wanted to share it with Kiri, right?"

Sora sticks the Pocky into his mouth, his eyes still staring at the fruit.

"It wasn't Kiri I wanted to share it with."

Riku raises an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you wanted to share it with Selphie."

Sora shakes his head slowly. "No." He turns his head, his eyes locking onto Riku's. "I wanted to share it with you."

Riku's eyes widen. "...What?"

Sora sighs and looks away, a blush creeping into his cheeks. "We were friends, Riku. But I...I wanted us to be more than that."

Riku's heart begins to race. "You wanted us to be...together?"

Sora nods, his eyes staring down at the fruit in his lap. "I wanted to tell you before, but you joined with the darkness. Besides that, you were interested in Kiri, so I thought..."

"Interested in Kiri? Sora, Kiri's like a sister to me. I threw that fruit at you as a hint, not as a challange for Kiri's heart."

Sora frowns and tilts his head to look at Riku. "Hint?"

Riku clears his throat and looks into Sora's eyes. "I was too afraid to come out and tell you how I felt, so I thought that giving the fruit might...enlighten you."

"Wait, you...you wanted to share it with me?" Sora blushes.

Riku runs a hand through his hair nervously. "Well...yeah. I mean, I always sort of liked you, but I never thought you'd actually feel the same."

"But you hate me..."

"I've never hated you, Sora," Riku says firmly. "I was jealous, but I never hated you. In fact, I...I fell in love with you."

Sora's eyes widen.

Riku blushes deeply. "T-that might be a little bit of an exageration, but - "

The Pocky is flung onto the ground. Sora pounces, knocking Riku down onto the tree. He kisses the older boy passionately, trying to put all his feelings into the kiss.

Riku moans and wraps his arms around Sora. He closes his eyes and kisses back just as passionately, his tongue mingling with the boy's.

After a minute or two, Sora pulls away, his face flushed and his eyes glazed over.

Riku lays on the tree, panting heavily.

"I saved you because I loved you, Riku," Sora whispers. "I've always loved you. But you...If you felt the same, then why did you run from me?"

Riku sits up. "I ran because I was afraid. Your light terrified me, Sora. I'd never felt this way about anyone."

"But why the darkness?"

Riku looked down. "I wanted to escape this island, escape my feelings. The darkness was the only thing I could turn to."

Sora reaches out and takes Riku's hand in his. "Riku..."

Riku turns his face away. A tightness had settled in his chest, and it was threatening to consume him.

"The darkness made me stronger, but it never gave me what I wanted. I was trying so hard to ignore my feelings, but...somehow...the darkness only made them more intense."

Sora leans in closer, his face inches from Riku's. "You don't have to run anymore, Riku. Please, just trust me."

Riku sighs and closes his eyes. "How? How can you love me, Sora? I turned on you. I...I tried to kill you!"

"No," Sora whispers. "The darkness tried to kill you. It was corrupting you, Riku, making you do things your heart didn't want."

"But I'm not the same as I was before! This war has changed me!"

"The war changed everyone." Sora pulls away and looks down at the Paopu fruit. "Before the war, I was just a clueless brat. But now I worry. What if the darkness comes back? What if it takes you and Kiri away from me again?"

"You don't understand. The darkness changed my heart!"

"It changed mine, too," Sora says firmly. "Losing you and Kiri was the worst thing that's ever happened to me. But I wasn't going to give up. I loved you too much to let you go so easily."

Riku's lips tilted in a soft smile. "There's still one little problem."

Sora frowns. "What problem?"

Riku grabs the Paopu fruit off Sora's lap. He flips it around in his hands, a smirk creeping onto his face. "Are you actually going to share this, or just steal it away like the Pocky?"

Sora laughs, his stomach fluttering happily. He gives Riku one of his cheesy grins and grabs one side of the fruit. "Well, this is a pretty big fruit. I couldn't eat all this by myself, right?"

Riku chuckles. "Then how about it? We both take a bite on the count of three."

Sora nods, smiling. "One."

"Two."

They both smile, shouting out the last number. "Three!"

Sora bites down on his half, the juice bursting into his mouth.

Riku rips a piece off and chews it happily, his eyes locked onto Sora.

"I love you," he whispers, leaning in.

"I love you, too," Sora whispers back, closing his eyes as Riku kisses him softly.

Riku smirks and pushes Sora off the tree.

"Gah!" Sora splashes into the ocean. He bobs to the surface, spitting out the salty water. "Hey!"

Riku laughs and dives into the ocean. He pops up beside Sora and jumps on him, pushing the boy under the water.

"You stole my Pocky!" he laughs. "This is my payback!"

Sora kicks to the surface, flinging his wet hair out of his face. He looks at Riku, watching him laugh.

Riku notices Sora's silence and his laughter slowly dies.

"What's wrong?"

Sora smiles and shakes his head. "I was just wondering...How are we going to tell Kiri?"

Riku frowns. "Yeah..."

"There's no need to tell me anything now."

Riku and Sora gasp, startled. They look up and see Kiri standing on the tree, her hands on her hips.

"It got quite out here. I came to make sure Sora hadn't killed you."

"Kill me?" Riku smirks. "Oh, come on, Kiri! Sora wouldn't stand a chance against me now."

Sora's eyes flicker towards Riku. "Really?"

Riku runs a hand through his wet hair. "I could take you down with one hand tied behind my back."

"And here we go again," Kiri sighs. She rolls her eyes and jumps down from the tree. She lands softly in the sand. "Boys! They say they love each other, but all they do is fight! Could you two at least keep it down? Me and Selphie are trying to get a nap in before lunch."

"Race you to the shore!" Sora takes off for the shore, kicking water into Riku's face as he passes.

"That's cheating!"

"All's fair in love and war!"

Riku laughs and swims after Sora.

Everyone has a light of their own. It is your decision on who you share it with.

THE END