Naminé and Roxas had come out earlier, and were leaning against the railing, watching the ship's phosphorescent wake.  She was staying on course, just shy of the reefs to the south, and Kairi stretched luxuriously. This was her favorite watch, the last night watch to dawn; the sky was full of stars and just a sliver of a crescent moon, the cool wind was comfortable and fairly steady, and it was mostly quiet, this far out from the main body of the Islands.

Behind her, the eastern horizon was just lightening, the faintest stars already fading from view. The last western island was in sight ahead; the town island had gone out of sight days ago, and once they left this island, they'd be out of the Islands altogether, into uncharted waters.  It had been both easier and harder than she'd thought to leave;  easier to leave her family, harder to get some extra money together and do extra work on the ship.

"I used to think the ocean was always cold and dark," Naminé said, turning to face her. "But this always changes."

"Do you mean that beach Sora and Riku talked about?"

"Mm-hm." Naminé tilted her head to stare up at the stars. "There weren't any stars there either. This is much better." She turned back to watch the slowly brightening horizon. The wind was just starting to shift and Kairi kept a close eye on their heading until Riku, rumpled and smelling of sex, came up with tea and sliced fruit for breakfast; Sora, showered and less rumpled, came up a bit later and took the helm.  Kairi went down and logged her watch;  Riku washed the dishes and went to clean up.

The other good thing about that watch was that there was plenty of daylight afterward, even if she wanted a nap; most of the time she didn't, and read or worked. Or let Naminé borrow her body to draw, because her Other couldn't manifest solidly enough to hold her colored pencils or her sketchbook. Staccato bursts of water came from the shower as Riku washed up.

Do you think Sora's plan is going to work? Naminé sketched quickly and lightly, waves and offshore rocks and two vaguely human figures.

I don't know. Kairi watched the figures turn into a mer-man on the rock and a mermaid floating on her back, and Naminé sketched the merman into a different pose so she could put a sitar in his hands. The noise in the shower stopped. If they're there, and if those old stories were true, maybe. The light suggested dusk and clouds scattered on the horizon a faded storm. Riku, vigorously toweling his hair, walked past them from the head back to his and Sora's berth.

Mm. Naminé flipped to a clean page and began to sketch Riku. It'll be nice to be real.

You like drawing Riku.

Naminé seemed a little embarrassed. I do, she admitted.  You like it when I draw Sora or Roxas.

Oh.  Well, I do, Kairi admitted. Roxas didn't talk to her very much, but he seemed friendly enough when he did.

Naminé smiled, finishing her sketch and drawing in a little background. He thinks you're all right.  She closed up and put her pencils away, letting Kairi sweep up the cabin and toss the debris overboard, then work on navigation studies until they reached the last island.

They stopped to escape the worst heat of the day and pick fruits and vegetables; most were too ripe for anything but eating out of hand, until the juice ran down their faces and arms, and they took a long swim to clean themselves up.  This last western island was covered with ruins. Nobody remembered who built them, or why, but they looked like the oldest buildings in the town, like Riku's parents' house or the town hall, and they'd had gardens that had overrun the island.

There wasn't much left here; the place had been picked clean of anything that could be carried away years ago. They explored inward from the coast anyway, the buildings thick-walled stone with much smaller windows than anything else on the Islands, fairly cool inside, with small oddly-arranged rooms; a few had broken stairs leading up, but the floors there had given way a long time ago. Well into the ruins they found a climbable building with a tall intact wall, and clambered up to get an overview. It must have been a cramped place, whenever people lived there; maybe that was why it had been abandoned.

Can I draw?

Sure, Kairi said, pulling out the well-wrapped sketchpad and pencils.

It always felt odd when Naminé borrowed her body like that, muscles moving just a little differently, from posture and movement to drawing, like clothing where nothing fit quite right. She'd said it was about the same for her, everything just off somehow, but for Kairi it was easy to get back to normal. Not so for her Other, who was humming happily as she sketched the ruins, lightly at first, correcting lines and adjusting angles. Usually she preferred to draw people, not things or places, but the ruins took shape and dimension even before she sketched in the overgrowth. She frowned in concentration, trying to get the coloring and shading just right, tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth a bit as she worked, adding shadows and details.  Kairi couldn't draw anything more than stick figures;  she was always fascinated by the way things emerged into coherent images when Naminé drew.

Such a strange place, Naminé said, deciding her drawing was acceptable, closing her sketchbook and putting away her pencils. All crowded together.

It's not a very big island, Kairi pointed out. But then, why settle here at all, even temporarily?

Naminé shrugged. I don't know. It doesn't feel like your town, though.

Sora, dozing nearby, yawned and stretched suddenly, waking up Riku, who'd been leaning on him. "Time to go," Sora said. "If all those stories are right, the border's not far past this island."

Riku nodded, and Naminé ceded control back to Kairi as they hurried back through the ruins to their ship.