Pearls and Seashells

Chapter 1

Riku stared at the sea, sitting down on the warm sand, thinking. He tried hard to remember why he had such an attachment to the sea, and why he wanted to spend time here. For as long as he could remember, he would always come here, even if he hated to go in. There wasn't much he remembered when he was a kid, and his parents told him different things than the one he did remember. Faint memories, but they were there.

Riku felt like there was someone he wanted to see, someone he needed to talk to, to apologize to for some reason. He brought his knees to his chest, resting his chin on them as he stared at the calm blue sparkling sea water.

"Hey, I knew you'd be here," a girl's voice was heard.

Riku looked up to turn, and smiled as he saw a redhaired girl with a bright smile on her face. She sat down next to him, and stared at the sea with him. Riku turned back, not really minding the company. In fact, he needed someone right now, someone to talk to.

"Hey, Kairi."

"What are you doing?" she asked, turning to him.

Riku shrugged, and looked down to start drawing patterns on the sand. He didn't know how to say what he felt, fearing that it might all be only him, or if it's real, that they might not let him come back again. It seemed that if the person was real, they were trying to seperate them. Riku wondered why, all he remembered was bright shining sky blue eyes, but also that they held so much pain and sadness.

With a sigh, and a shrug, Riku finally answered his friend.

"Nothing."

Kairi frowned, and also started playing with the sand. She knew something was on his mind, but she didn't want to force him to talk. It would only upset him, or confuse him. Kairi didn't want to pressure him into talking just yet if he wasn't ready, but she was curious about it.

"Oh."

Kairi turned back to face forward, not knowing what else to say. There was an awkward silence after. She really wanted to ask him about what had him so frustrated, but didn't exactly know how to phrase it and she didn't want him to get mad at her. After a while, Riku sighed, and stood up. He brushed his pants to get rid of the sand, then turned to her.

"I'm leaving now. Let's go back, okay?" Riku asked her, and helped her up.

"Y-yeah, but I have a question," Kairi asked, running behind him as he started walking ahead without her.

"Yeah?"

Kairi caught up with him, and walked slowly next to him with her hands behind her back. She turned to look at Riku, but he didn't even turn to her. With a sigh, she stood in front of him and then pointed at the sea.

"Why do you always come here?" she asked bluntly, and her face didn't show any expression. "What's so great about it? You almost drowned one time, why still come?"

Riku stopped when she blocked his way, and rolled his eyes. He still didn't know how to swim, but that had happened when he was younger and hadn't gone into the ocean ever since. He just wouldn't ever tell Kairi or anyone else why he tried to go in despite everyone's warnings.

He knew Kairi didn't mean any harm with her question, but the way she phrased it was what bothered him a bit. She realized what she said and how she said it, and was quick to start apologizing.

"It's fine," he said in a whisper, then turned his head back to where they had just been sitting at. "I don't know, Kairi. I just like being here. I have a feeling I met someone that was hurt, and I feel the need to see them again for some reason. Look, even I don't understand what I feel, and I can't put into words."

"But by the sea?" she asked, tilting her head. "I mean, I haven't been here long, but I know that people rarely come here."

Riku shook his head, and moved to walk past her. Kairi looked towards the place he had been looking at, and saw that he had drawn a young boy with spiky hair but the water ran over it and the sand was going back with it, ruining Riku's work. She frowned, then followed to walk behind him once again. Like last time, her answer for a few minutes was only silence. When they reached the far end of the island, Riku sat the porch of his house.

Kairi sat next to him, still waiting for an answer. Riku started talking, but it was a completly different thing than what she thought he would say.

"Kairi, don't you ever feel like you met someone but then feel like they were just your imagination?" Riku asked suddenly, surprising Kairi with the different subject.

It was a hard question, she didn't know how to answer that.

"I don't think so. Why?" she asked, then realized what he meant. "You mean that person. I'm sure you'll get to meet them, I'm sure they're around here."

"I hope." He frowned, and crossed his arms. "I think I do remember that we did something to him. All I remember what that this man was arguing with my dad, but I don't know why?"

Kairi nodded, placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Riku turned to her, and gave her a small smile.

"I remember hearing the word merman and mermaids a lot, but when I asked about them and if they were real, they told me they weren't," Riku continued, "so I always believed that. But what if that person was a merman? My dad always had a fascination with them, and anything different."

"Did he talk a lot about finding one?" Kairi asked, interested since Riku rarely spoke about this.

She felt like they were never close enough to talk about Riku's past, and why always distanced himself away. Of course, that reason was still a mystery to her but she wouldn't pry.

"Actually, yeah. A lot," Riku responded, running his fingers through his long hair out of habit, "and I think he met that same man I told you about. There's just a bit gap between that, and when we got back. I don't remember anything."

"Riku-"

A loud splash interrupted her, and they both turned to the sound. There was nothing, but Riku could've sworn he saw dark blue scales shine under the sunlight for a few quick seconds. Before anything else was said, Riku's stomach growled, making Kairi laugh and Riku embarrassed.

"Okay, enough laughing, Kairi," Riku muttered, and stood up. "I missed breakfast, you can't blame me."

"I'm sorry," Kairi apologized, but still let out a few small giggles. "Let's go inside. I'm sure my mom convinced yours to make at least a few snacks."

At that, Riku brightned up, and grinned. "Let's eat then."

They went inside, Riku almost running inside for the food, something that was quite out of character for him. Kairi followed at a slower pace, glancing at some of the rocks and trees near them that hid part of the shore. After a few seconds, she didn't see anything and went inside.

As soon as the door closed, someone with spiky light brown hair and bright warm sky blue eyes peeked from besides the rock he was hiding behind. He let out a long sigh of relief, and frowned as he kept looking at the house. When he didn't find anything of interest, he went back into the water silently.

He heard everything Riku had said, and he didn't know how to feel anymore.