I'm so hot, I'm literally on fire!

It took him a bit but once he was finished with the carving he stepped back to look at it. It looked…bad. There was nothing he could really think to do to make it any better. He was never good at art, especially on a wall. Kairi and Riku had been the ones to make the better doodles. He sighed and tried to make it better. Absently he added hearts around the two of them and smiled. When he was finished he realized that Roy would be seeing it and tried to get rid of his markings, to no avail. He looked back at Roy, suddenly pretty red and went over to him and saw four people. Roy had drawn the both of them, and Leon and Zack, the two people they each looked up to. Roy had drawn something so much more precious while all he had down was draw them and hearts. He was such an idiot. “Roy…I love it.”

Roy’s face went red at the comment and he looked to the sand below him. “It’s...really not that great.” He solely stood up and brushed off his backside where he had been sitting, tossing the rock beside the wall. “Their just stick figures.” He didn’t know why he was feeling so shy for some reason, but he was. 

He turned to look at Sora’s work, his face somehow burning darker as he took it in. Was it bad that he was going to originally draw something like that as well? “I don’t know what you’re talking about, yours is way better.” He got up close to it, resting a hand on the white marks. Smile growing as he took it in. “I think you captures my hair pretty well.” He stood a back up and ran a hand through his hair with a short laugh. Eventually he made his way back to Sora’s side, holding his hand much like the picture.

Sora seemed to come out of his haze of memories as Roy kept tossing around a stone. He stood up and walked over to him, hands on Roy’s shoulder as he looked over him to the blank rock wall. “Roy these were kids drawings. Only two other people know this place and obviously no one has come in a long time.”

Sora shrugged and let go of Roy, finding his own stone. “How about this, we each make something for each other, alright? I’ll do mine on that wall. No peeking okay!” He hurried to the other end of the secret place and found a nice spot and got to work on his carving. Sora’s skill as an artist hadn’t improved much, despite the years. He was carving two people holding hands, him and Roy though it was very crude; Sora’s crazy hair being the distinguishing feature between them.

Roy watched Sora go to work on his carving though he couldn’t see what he was doing. He sighed to himself and sat down in front of the wall he picked out, staring at it for quite some time. A drawing for Sora... Where was he even going to start. 

Well, he actually started drawing a stick figure of Zack first oddly enough. Then himself and Sora standing next to him. He finished doodling in Leon beside Sora before he took a peek backwards. He was unable to help watching the other for a bit. He looked so passionate about what he was working on and it was kinda cute. 

They were all here, the drawing of the chocobo, the weird ones that even he couldn’t remember what they were. Some even sorta looked like Donald and Goofy yet he didn’t recall ever meeting them as a child. That would be for some time later to think of. Right now his eyes were focused on one particular drawing on the wall.He walked towards it until he was touching it, touching where he had carved in the paopu fruit to Kairi and saw her carving to him. He remembered how happy he had been the first time he saw that, thinking they’d have a chance together. While he still cared for her, he knew this drawing didn’t have the same meaning anymore. “No, I didn’t make all of these. Some are by Riku and some are by Kairi.” He stayed where he was, crouching by the carving but was looking at Roy. Even though it was his secret spot, Roy didn’t look out of place here, but then again Roy never looked out of place anywhere with him. “Would you…wanna make a carving too?”

Roy watched as Sora waked up to a specific carving. His eyes settled on Sora’s somewhat blank expression. He almost hadn’t heard him, he was staring a bit too much. “Hmm?” He looked around the room and rubbed the back of his head. “I’m not really the best artist.” He admitted. “I wouldn’t even know where to start or what to do.”

He looked around for a moment and found a blank spot on the far wall. He picked up a half buried stone and tossed it in his hand a few times. “I feel like I’d just ruin it.” He chuckled lightly.

When Roy finally caught up to him, Sora took his hand and pulled him around and past a shack and a waterfall. For a moment he thought about jumping into the tiny little pond with Roy, but not yet. They still had lots to do. Instead he brought him over to a very heavily covered bush. No one had been here in awhile it seemed. He let go of Roy and bent down, getting on his hands and knees. “I hope I still fit” He said as he pushed the bush aside and crawled into the secret place. When he finally could stand he looked around and for a moment just stood there. All the drawings, all the time he spent in here and it was fading away. The drawings were so much paler then he remembered.

Roy’s eyes were focused on anything and everything as they walked along. At least until Sora let go of his hand. His eyes moved from the luscious scenery to his friend who was now shimming himself into a opening. He bent down behind Sora, examining the entrance. A bit of a worried expression crossed his face. He was a little bigger than Sora, not by much, but just a bit.

Once Sora was through he crawled in after him, having to wiggle a bit to get himself through, but he eventually made it. He slowly stood up, brushing off his knees and glancing around the actually rather spacious area. “Woah...” He looked around with wide eyes. “Did you draw all these?”

Sora laughed a bit at how silly Roy was being. He shrugged him off his shoulders and then took his jacket off and ran off the beach and onto the wooden boardwalk that led up to the main area of the island. The wood was hot, having soaked up the suns rays and burned his feet a little. “Well, c’mon! Leave your sneakers there. We don’t need shoes on the beach.”

Roy looked down at his feet and pulled off his shoes. He tossed them next to Sora’s and took off running after him, taking in the sights of the trees. The boardwalk burned, but he hadn’t noticed the pain with how much he was looking at everything. He noticed how far he was lagging behind and picked up his pace, almost running into Sora’s back again. 

“This place is so cool.” He was still in complete awe. 

Sora really didn’t have much time to react before Roy was out of the ship and running around. It was kinda cute how much he looked like a kid right then. It made him want to join him and so he started to take his sneakers off and socks and then ran out to meet him, his feet sinking into the sand. He missed this. “It kinda is, isn’t it?” Sora looked around at his old playground. It looked untouched, as if none of what had happened was real in this place. It showed nothing of that horrible past, just happiness. “Do you …wanna see my secret place?”

     “Secret place?” Roy looked back and met eyes with Sore. He looked so good in the sunlight. The way it reflected off his tan skin, and how his bright blue eyes popped against his thick brown bangs. He never got this view of Sora in Radiant Garden. It took him a moment to stop staring before he nodded.

     “Yeah sure.” He walked over and put an arm around Sora’s shoulders, pointing in front of them. “Lead the way captain!”

Sora was asleep in a few minutes. When the ship was close to the island a little alarm went off and woke him up. It wasn’t too loud which was good. Maybe Roy wouldn’t wake up. The nap had done him some good though. He felt in a slightly better mood. When he looked out the window he saw how close they were and turned auto pilot off. He took the controls and easily landed it on the little island he once used to run off too. It would be a nice to show Roy the island and maybe even the secret place first. “We’re here.”

     “Hmmm?” Roy groaned and looked around, squinting his eyes. The sun was pouring in so brightly from the front window that it made it a bit hard to see. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, his vision slowly coming back to him as he got a good look at the island. His eyes lit up when he seen the long expanse of sand and water before him. “Wow.” He whispered and stood up. He was like a kid in a candy store and when he was finally able to get out he jumped down onto the sand, feeling his shoes sink slightly into it. 

     “This is incredible!” He held up a hand to shade his eyes from the sun. It smelt so nice, and the sound of waves lapping up onto the shoreline were soothing. The suns rays licking his skin as he took a walk down to the waters edge, not even waiting for Sora to follow him. He was so entranced by everything else around him.

“Hm?”  Roy was silent for a bit and Sora tried to figure out why. He was looking at Roy now, watching him. He noticed the way Roy’s eyes seemed to sparkle and reflect the stars so beautiful. His blue eyes were like mini galaxies he could loose himself in. The darker sky made his hair a deeper shade of red and he sort of liked it. Roy was beautiful and Sora felt pretty special to have someone like him. Of course that wasn’t the reason why he loved Roy. Roy was kind to him, never questioned anything and went along with any plan he could think of. He never judged him or ever made him feel sad. In fact, Roy always seemed to want to make him smile. “I care about you too, Roy. You’re my best friend.” Though he wanted more, Sora would be fine with that. Roy was being sweet again. He was offering himself as a confidant and for now Sora wouldn’t ask for more. “Mind if I take a little nap? I’m a bit stressed out from this morning.”

     A smile painted Roy’s face and he nodded slightly. “Go ahead.” He still wanted to ask what happened, but left it alone. Hopefully a nap would put Sora’s head at ease. He continued to look up at the stars, pointing out all the constellations to himself. Or at lest the ones his dad taught him.

     He felt a bit weird for glancing over at Sora every now and again, watching his chest rise and fall. Silently admiring his hair or his skin. He was so...handsome...that didn’t sound to creepy did it. Honestly as time passed Roy felt his eyes get heavy, and eventually he too fell asleep

“Yeah I’d feel bad if you got burned on my watch.” He looked down at their hands for a moment before smiling and looking back up at the stars. “Yeah I feel a bit better. I think it’s thanks to you.” With that he gave Roy’s hand a squeeze. “We’ll be there in a little while. For now we can just stay like this and watch the stars.”

     Roy let his eyes drift to the stars above them. “Well. I don’t know what I helped with, but i’m glad you’re feeling better.” He returned the squeeze and let his eyes close. He wouldn’t have been too shocked if Sora could feel his heartbeat through his hand. He was just so...happy, to be here like this.

     “Sora...” He spoke up. ‘I like you.’ The words echoed in his mind for a bit. Like... Of corse he liked Sora. He always liked Sora. Sora was his best friend. That would honestly be a stupid thing to say. If he didn’t like Sora he wouldn’t be here. They wouldn’t be friends. So, what was the next step above that, love? He’d heard the concept tossed around quite a bit. He knew Zack loved Aerith, and he knew his father had loved his mother. Sure he loved Sora in the platonic sense, again, best friends. But what was it? As a concept, how would he know if he felt it. And why did he have the urge to say it. Uhg, this is why he needed Zack around. He just didn’t understand any of it. Feeling this way about someone was such a foreign concept that it prevented him from even forming words. He just sat there like a mute for a good five minuets.

     “I... care about you.” There, those were better words, for now. “I’m always here for you if you aren’t feeling yourself.”

He couldn’t help the laughter that left him as he watched Roy struggle with the seat. It was a soft laugh and he looked back up once Roy was settled.“Anyway, that’s pretty mushy to me Roy.” He kept his eyes on the stars. It was so beautiful as the lights passed them by. His hand reached over to grab at Roy’s and held his hand. “I think you might look a bit odd with a tan. I like how you look now.” To be honest, Sora wondered if his freckles he liked so much would fade with a tan or if they’d get darker.

     Roy looked down at the hand reaching out for his and allowed it to be taken. “Think so?” Roy frowned and looked at himself, he couldn’t really picture it. “I dunno, I guess I’d probably burn a lot easier than I would tan. I was always told I had fair skin.” He half laughed and lightly swung their arms between the gap between the seat. “I’d rather not look like a lobster. I already have enough red on the top of my head as it is.”

     Eventually his eyes glanced up towards the stars. It was such a peaceful sight. “You feeling better? You didn’t seem yourself when we took off.” His eyes went back to Sora.

“You….you dummy.” Sora looked away from him and lowered the back of his seat. He leaned back until he was laying on the chair and looking up at the stars. It was dark in the ship now, they were in space. One of the last rennovations that Sora had done was add the viewing window on the top of the ship. It was so he could lay down and see the stars. “Since when are you the one who says all the mushy stuff? I thought that was my job..” He curled up as he laid on the comfy seat, pulling his legs in tight. “And this isn’t a tan. This is my skin tone…I get darker at the beach.”

     “Dummy?” Roy chuckled. “You were the one who thought you could just up and leave without telling me.” He grinned and looked up at the viewing window. “It’s not mushy, it’s just the truth. You’re my best friend Sora. I just...like to go where you go.” A faint blush painted his face as he looked at his chair. He tried to figure out how to make it lean back like Sora’s, and when he finally did he zipped backwards with a yelp, most of his weight having been pushed down on the top of the seat. 

     “Well...a tan, you get what I mean.” He should have been looking up at the stars, but honestly he was a bit more preoccupied with looking at the one beside him. He looked...really pretty in that lighting. Oh crap. His heart was doing that weird backflip thing again and he honestly wished he could get a hold of Zack right now.

“You…were going to miss seeing me that much?” Sora had to press auto pilot at that. Roy was, Roy was going to really miss him if he was gone. It made that familiar feeling come back and this time he didn’t hid the attraction and love he felt for Roy. Maybe Leon was right. Maybe he was just missing things because he kept thinking about the what ifs. He was really going to have to apologize to him later, regardless of what happened.

     “Well yeah.” He smiled and looked over at him. “We hang out almost every day. It...would get lonely.” He admitted. “That and...I know how hard it is for you to talk about home so I figured I’d make sure you were ok while being here.” That was a lie. Well, a half lie. It wasn’t really a reason, his whole reason for going with was because that’s where Sora was going, but it made his reason sound a little less...creepy in his mind.

     “And like I said, I’ve never been to a beach before. Maybe I can get a tan like yours. I think I’d look good with one.”

Sora had even overheard Zack and felt a bit bad for the Guard Captain. In his anger he sounded genuinely worried. The brunette wondered if Roy had even picked that up with all the loud talking. He had purposely taken off a bit faster though to stop from hearing the worried tone. “Yeah, you should be able to send him a text.” He looked over at Roy and frowned as it started to get darker around them. “You really worried him you know.”

     Roy stayed quiet as he looked to his phone, rubbing the screen on his shorts. “Yeah, I know.” He sighed and rubbed at his forehead. In hindsight he probably should have said something, but he didn’t. “I just wanted to come with. I didn’t really...” He thought for a moment. Why did he even come with?

     “I guess I just didn’t really want to be unable to see you for the next few days.” He shrugged, looking out at space. He soon picked up his phone, sending Zack a quick message.

Sora just rolled his eyes as they took off. He knew that Roy’s phone would cut off in a few minutes once they left the space of Radiant Garden. Zack was back in Radiant Garden and fuming over Roy being missing. He had panicked for a bit over not being able to find him. When he heard the others calm voice his anger just got worse. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU?!? YOU HAD ME SO WORRIED!! I HAVE THE WHOLE GUARD LOOKING! I THOUGHT SOMETHING HAPPENED!! WHERE ARE YOU?!? ARE YOU OKAY?!?”

     Roy jumped when Zack shouted into the phone. He expected him to be mad, but not that mad. “I uhh...I’m with Sora.” He held the phone back and smacked his forehead in his hand. He had his lie already planned out but he couldn’t lie to Zack. “Yes I’m fine. Look I’ll text you later. Were just about to leave orbit so the call’s gonna cut. Sorry. -”      At that point it cut. He looked down to his phone and sighed. “Well, there went the lie I’d thought up.” He looked down at his phone. “You think I can still send him a text and have it send when we land?” He glanced to Sora.

“It’s just a lot of water and sand. I don’t live in the nice part of town..well…lived.” He sighed and started the gummi ship up. He wished that Roy was in the seat behind him instead of next but he guessed it couldn’t be helped. Looking at the map of the worlds he set a course to Destiny Islands. “I’m….see I told you, you’d get in trouble. You should answer it.”

     Roy playfully stuck his tongue out at Sora and leaned back in his chair, thinking about how he was going to answer this call. what exactly was his story going to be. His grandfather got sick and he had to go back to Traverse Town to see him? Yeah that would probably work as something. “Well, here goes.” He shrugged and answered the phone. “Zack?”