Disclaimer: Me no can has KH rights. D:
I know it's short, but I'm sure you'll like it!

Uncontainable

It's not like I have anything to lose…
I know he feels the same…
So why am I holding back?

It's time to do something.

- -

Fireflies flickered buoyantly around Riku, increasing steadily in number and brilliance, as he was led closer and closer toward his and Sora's beach. The foliage showed no sign of thinning, but the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves slowly grew stronger, signaling to Riku that he would soon be able to remove his sandals and sink into the powdery, white sand of the Eastern Beach.

It was a marvelous sensation, the feeling of Sora's mildly calloused hands wrapped securely around his wrist. To his surprise, Riku didn't feel any sort of lingering awkwardness that he'd been experiencing almost all summer behind the gesture. The only feelings coming from Sora were comfort and excitement.

"We're here."

Riku looked up to see an ocean of stars floating lazily about him in midair. If it hadn't been for the fact that he knew they were fireflies, he would have sworn the universe had sent its celestial beings down to grace himself and Sora with their presence.

"How did you know it'd be so beautiful?" Riku whispered, still awestruck.

Sora grinned, his eyes following individual fireflies for only a few seconds at a time before switching to another one. "Just a lucky guess," he murmured.

Riku watched in a disconnected daze as Sora let go of his arms and raised both his hands up a few inches before his face like he was trying to cup water in his hands. Surprisingly, a single firefly bobbed over toward his friend and continued hovering in the space just before his face. Light from the tiny bug illuminated the brunet's face in a glow so unearthly Riku felt like he was gazing upon the face a tranquil sylph or angel.

The firefly slowly hovered closer toward Sora's face, bumping against his lips twice, and then sped off toward the ocean. Sora giggled and lowered his hands, turning to Riku with a truly serene smile on his face for the first time all summer. With a small grin, he pulled Riku toward him and then seated them both on the ground beneath the not-so-barren paopu tree. Encouraged, Riku got up from his seat and rearranged himself behind Sora so that he was between his best friend and the tree's smooth trunk.

"Hey, Riku?" The silveret hmm-ed a response and pulled Sora into his lap and against his chest. "Do you remember when we used to catch these guys in jars and release them in our rooms?"

"Sora, we only did that once," Riku deadpanned.

The brunet giggled and leaned back with a sigh so that he could see Riku's face. "Yeah, but it was a great one time, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was. Do you remember how your mom freaked out about all the bugs in the morning?"

Riku closed his eyes and leaned back. Yeah, he could remember. They were a few years younger and Sora's room had just been painted to reflect the scene of their beach, so the two boys had decided to go out and catch fireflies to release in the room so they could sleep among stars. The end result had been breathtaking. Sora had even gotten a mosquito net put around his bed for the occasion, so that him and Riku could cuddle and watch the bugs without fear of them flying into their faces or into their mouths.

'It's like we're sleeping in an ocean of stars,' Sora had told him. 'It's like we're sleeping in paradise.'

Riku's face softened at the memory of his Sora had clung onto him all through that night. When he had awoken the next morning, he even been able to watch the sun rise while his angel Sora had been curled up on his chest, breathing softly as Riku subconsciously stroked his fingers through his hair until Sora's mother had burst into the room, frantic.

"Yup." Sora smiled and slipped Riku's arms around himself, enjoying the feeling of his friend's muscular body engulfing his own in a soft warmth. "She freaked out and wanted to check if we'd swallowed any in our sleep."

Sora giggled and closed his eyes thoughtfully. "It was beautiful, though, wasn't it?"

The couple shared a quiet laugh as they both turned to watch the ocean pick little bits of sand off the shores and simultaneously deposit more grains into the powdery beach. A cooling breeze blew through, causing Riku's hair to flit over and tickle Sora's face. The brunet giggled and nuzzled back closer toward Riku's body.

Riku's eyes slid shut as he rested his head atop Sora's crown of cinnamon spikes and inhaled the scent of coconut and crème. Nothing he knew could ever compare to this. The sound of the ocean waves lapping at the sand beneath his toes, the leaves of the paopu brushing up against one another like sighs, the feel of Sora's body against his and the way the light of the fireflies made him seem like an ethereal entity as they bathed him in pure, natural light… Nothing, truly, could ever compare.

"Sora…" he breathed, half out of wanting to speak to the brunet, half out of pure happiness.

"Hm?" the brunet replied in a hum. Uncertainty leaked into Riku's body when the question that had been nagging in the back of his mind since they got to his beach suddenly sprang forth to his lips.

"A-Are you…"

But Sora didn't need to hear it all – he already knew.

"Yes," he smiled, pulling Riku's arms tightly around his shoulders. "Yes, I am."

With contented smiles upon their lips, the couple turned their faces toward the heavens. Above them, the chubby blue paopu looked like it was almost ready to drop off the tree as moonlight glistened off its deep sapphire skin, ripe and ready for the picking.

'Our paopu…' Riku thought absentmindedly. 'That one's for us.'

They're finally gonna give it a shot! This story is so close to the end, I could cry. Actually, I think you guys might cry, because the second-to-last chapters is sure to be a tear-jerker.
Also, I'd like to apologize for the short length of this chapter. There was no realy smooth way to transition into the next event without a chapter break, so I ended up with an unbearably short chapter.

For every review, Riku and Sora get another 'squee moment'.

Bisous, Minikimii

P.S. It's my birthday.