Chapter Text
Riku wakes up to the sun hitting his face; he must’ve forgotten to close the curtains last night. The sun’s warm rays feel very comforting on a chilly morning such as this one. So much so that he struggles to get out of bed and face the literal cold reality of the day. After stretching, he bids his cozy bundle of bedsheets goodbye and quickly gets dressed.
Today, he’ll be returning to the Realm of Darkness, alongside Aqua and Terra.
The thought of going there doesn’t fill him with much comfort. He’s not particularly excited to return to the place he was briefly trapped in when he was younger, but this time he isn’t alone. And, maybe, he’ll find out something related to Sora’s current whereabouts.
Hopefully.
He finds Aqua and Terra in the dining room as usual. The two of them have shown themselves to be early risers, just like Riku. The pair sit beside each other, each of them slightly drowsy from the cold. One of the things Riku has learned in his visit to the Land of Departure is that its vast halls and open spaces don’t really lend themselves to being warmed up by any kind of heating, so he’s always having to stave off its perpetual chill.
Terra notices him first. “Good morning, Riku.” He says.
“Good morning, you two.” Riku replies, yawning.
Aqua offers him a sympathetic smile. “Terra made some coffee if you’d like some.”
Riku mutters a quick “Thanks.” As he slowly makes his way into the neighboring kitchen, he goes through the motions of making himself some breakfast. Once he’s done, he steps back into the dining room and sits across from Aqua and Terra.
He quickly eats his self-indulgent breakfast: a pair of buttered toasts with plenty of sugar sprinkled on top. Alongside the healthier protein bars he’s taken from Terra. Not knowing when he’d be able to return from the expedition into the Realm of Darkness, he wanted to spoil himself a bit.
Speaking of said expedition, Aqua clears her throat and leans closer to him. “Riku, you’ll still be coming with Terra and me into the Realm of Darkness today, right?”
Riku takes a sip of his coffee. “Of course.”
Aqua clasps her hands together, a weary smile on her face. “Alright. I know you’ve already been there a handful of times, but let me go over what we know just in case.” She takes a deep breath, preparing herself. “So, there are various types of Worlds out there, but for my explanation, I’ll only be talking about the three most important ones to us right now.”
Aqua holds up her index finger. “First, there are the Realms of Light, like your home World; Destiny Islands.” She adds her middle finger. “Then there are the Realms Between; the Land of Departure is one of those.” And finally, her ring finger “And lastly, the Realm of Darkness.”
She continues. “By being in a Realm Between, our expeditions into the Realm of Darkness and back are made much easier than if we were in a Realm of Light. Since the Land of Departure is closer to the Realm of Darkness, we can actually create portals to go there by manipulating the Lanes Between.”
“You can create portals?” Riku asks, incredulous.
“Yes, they’re similar to the ones you were able to create; we still need protection from our Keyblade Armor to go through them, but the process of creating them is different. I… wouldn’t know how to teach you, I’m sorry.” Aqua replies with an apologetic look on her face.
Terra, who has been silently listening the whole time, adds, “Me neither. I’m sorry, Riku.”
“That’s… okay.” Riku nods, somewhat disappointed. “Please, continue.”
“Once we portal into the Realm of Darkness, we can’t predict where it is we’ll arrive at. In my time there, the Realm constantly changed and shifted depending on where I was or what I was doing, so no expedition is ever the same.” She adds, gravely. “However, our destination is. In order to easily leave the Realm of Darkness, we have to follow the Light. If we follow it, we’ll eventually cross into a World that’s at the border of the Realm of Darkness and the Realms Between. I haven’t been able to explore it much, but it’s that shoreline where I… Where I fell to Darkness… The beach you fought me in…” Aqua trails off.
“It’s okay, Aqua. I know how it feels.” Riku reassures.
“Sadly, we all do.” Terra says as he places a comforting hand on Aqua’s shoulder.
Aqua takes another deep breath. “Thank you, you two.” She gives both of them a small smile and continues her explanation. “Once… Once we arrive at that shoreline, we can portal back using the Lanes Between into the Land of Departure. So, essentially, once we arrive in the Realm of Darkness, we search for fallen Worlds, and if we can’t find any, we make our way to the shoreline.”
“Have you found any fallen Worlds?” Riku asks, curious.
“No. Which is a good thing, but, without any fallen Worlds, we haven’t been able to get any hints towards Sora’s whereabouts.” Aqua frowns. “We’ve also made attempts at mapping out the Realm of Darkness, in case anyone gets… Trapped in there again, but we haven’t been able to arrive at anything other than ‘Follow the Light and hope for the best’.” She says, frustrated. “I want to make it so nobody ever has to go through what I went through ever again, but I think mapping an ever-shifting World is an impossible task.”
Riku leans forward, pensive. “What about making a record of the Heartless there?”
“We’ve actually been working on that recently, but we haven’t made much progress.” Terra replies, then turns to look at Aqua. “Aqua, you have the reports in your room, right?”
“Yes. Though only my entries on the Shadows and Neoshadows are complete.” Aqua says while leaning on the table with her elbow, her blue hair covering part of her face.
“Were you guys able to learn anything?” Riku inquires.
“Yes, actually.” Terra chimes in.
“Oh?”
“You know when Shadows slip into the ground, slithering past any of your attacks?” Terra says while dragging the palm of his hand across the table, similar to how a Shadow would move while in the state he’s referring to.
“Ugh, yeah. They’re impossible to reach that way.”
“You can actually pull them out of that state by casting Water magic. Aqua showed it to me a while back.” Terra says with a smile on his face. “After a little experimenting, we found out the same thing works on Neoshadows.”
“That’s amazing!” Riku exclaims. “They won’t be able to overwhelm us with their sheer numbers now that we know their weakness.”
“Thank you, Riku.” Aqua says with a genuine smile on her face.
The trio continue their discussion, trading information on what they know about certain Heartless, until Naminé and Ventus finally arrive at the dining room, stomachs rumbling and sleepy looks on their faces.
After catching up with Ventus and Naminé, the group of three gets ready for their expedition into the Realm of Darkness. Voices echo in the spacious throne room.
“If you three aren’t back in over a week, I’ll come to your rescue!” Ventus smiles.
“Thanks, Ven.” Terra replies as he pats him on the head, messing up his hair slightly.
“Don’t forget I can always call the group back at Twilight Town for help.” Naminé reminds, somewhat anxiously.
“I won’t, but I don’t think Roxas would ever let me live it down if I ended up needing him to rescue me.” Riku smirks as he jokes. “But I promise to be careful.” He says while looking her in the eyes.
Naminé smiles back.
“Everyone got their food and water?” Terra asks.
Aqua and Riku nod.
“I don’t know when we’ll be back, but you two take care of yourselves as well.” Aqua says as she activates her Keyblade Armor, Light and metal enveloping her form. Terra follows her lead and activates his own. She summons her Keyblade and carefully opens a portal into the Realm of Darkness. Where it will place them, nobody knows.
Aqua briefly looks back at the Land of Departure and grips her Keyblade, hard. After a beat, she makes her way through the portal, her cape billowing.
Terra gives one last wave to Ventus and Naminé before he, too, steps through the portal.
Riku feels somewhat out of place without Keyblade Armor of his own, but he follows the pair nonetheless. Not before promising to be back and giving Naminé a reassuring smile.
And they’re gone.
With a sudden jolt, Ventus moves closer to Naminé. “So! What would you like to do while we wait for them to come back, Naminé?”
“I… I don’t know. I was going to grab something to eat for lunch, actually. But after that, I have no idea.” Naminé replies as she wanders into the kitchen.
“Oh, right! Lunch! Uh… I don’t know how to cook; I think I’m just gonna grab some snacks.” Ventus says as he follows Naminé into the kitchen in order to audibly scavenge through the cabinets. “Cool, we’ve got potato chips!” He holds up his findings triumphantly. “Do you want some, Naminé?”
“No, thank you… I think I’m going to try and cook something for myself.” Naminé declines Ventus’s offer as she too scours through the kitchen cabinets. “Found some spaghetti… Should be easy enough; I think I remember how to make some…” She says more to herself than to Ventus.
“Ooh, spaghetti!” Ventus exclaims as he raids the fridge for butter and mayonnaise, stopping only to grab four loaves of bread.
“What are you… Um… Making…?” Naminé asks as she puts water on the stovetop to boil, somewhat intimidated by Ventus’s kitchen shenanigans.
“Sandwiches.” He simply replies as he spreads butter and mayonnaise on the loaves of bread and then hurriedly puts the potato chips on top. “Don’t tell Aqua I ate this, by the way.” He finishes preparing his ‘lunch’ by placing the bread on top of the potato chips and pressing down to a satisfying ‘crunch.’
“I won’t,” Naminé chuckles.
“Wan’ shome?” Ventus asks with his mouth full.
“No, I think that’d make me sick.” Naminé places her hand on her stomach, feeling as if she has to protect it from what Ventus has made for himself.
The water is finally brought to a boil, and Naminé delicately places the spaghetti in the pot.
“You’re not gonna snap them in half?” Ventus looks over Naminé’s shoulder as she cooks.
“Why would I?” Naminé looks back at him, a bit taken aback.
“Just curious. Terra always does, and it drives Aqua crazy. It’s really funny.” Ventus chuckles as he thinks back on that particular memory. Naminé joins him.
Once her spaghetti is done boiling, she decides to go the easy route and just add cheese and butter to it. She and Ventus eat together as he tells her even more silly stories.
The Realm of Darkness is eerily still, as always. Save for the pulsing veins of light in the walls, there is no movement. No wind, no noise, no smell, nothing.
The group gets their bearings, looking around at the maze-like passageways below and above them. It takes Riku a bit longer to adjust to the new environment, startling when Aqua places a hand on his shoulder, asking if he’s alright.
“Yeah. I’m fine.” He replies, summoning his Keyblade after he sees Aqua and Terra do the same.
“Do you sense anything, Aqua?” Terra asks, his words slightly muffled by his Keyblade Armor.
Aqua stands still for a few moments, sensing the changes around her. She shakes her head. “No. I don’t think any Worlds have fallen in the month we were away.” She walks forward, examining the pulsating veins. “The pulse is weak; we’re far away from the border.” She says.
Riku feels out of his depth already. “What do you mean?”
“See these veins?” Aqua rests her armored hand on one of them. “They pulsate faster the closer we are to the Light.”
“I see.” Riku nods.
“It’ll probably take us a few hours to get out; we should hurry.” Aqua begins to lead the way forwards until she turns around and directs her gaze towards Riku; he can see her resolve through her armor’s visor. “Remember, Riku, time flows differently in here. The deeper you are, the more disconnected you are from the other Realms. We could have already been gone for hours or a fraction of a second; I can never tell.”
“Alright, let’s get going then.” Riku hurries behind her, Terra quietly bringing up the rear.
After a few minutes, the trio of Keyblade Wielders encounter their first major bump in the road: Heartless.
“Careful. I see some Flame Cores, Water Cores, and some Flutterings.” Aqua says as she gets into a battle-ready stance. “Sneaking past them in our Keyblade Armor is out of the question, so we have no choice but to fight.” She turns towards Riku. “Riku, you cover Terra and I with spells. The Flame Cores are weak to Water and Blizzard, while the Water Cores are weak to Fire.” She orders.
Riku protests. “But I can fight close range—”
“Let us protect you.” Terra counters.
Riku takes a deep breath and nods, accepting his role.
“I’m approaching them, Terra, with me.” Aqua commands.
It’s bizarre seeing her like this, Riku thinks to himself. But at the same time, it’s understandable. The once patient and kind Keyblade Master is firm and commanding in the Realm of Darkness, adopting a rigidity necessary to take charge in such an unforgiving World.
Aqua runs in and casts a Thundara spell, alerting the Heartless to her presence but dazing them, especially the Flutterings. Terra follows her and begins relentlessly attacking them with slow but hard-hitting swings. Aqua’s fighting style is still as graceful as ever, but she’s moving with a fluidity that Riku’s never seen in their spars. Riku can only describe her movements as elegant yet efficient. Terra, meanwhile, is all strength and power; he finishes off what Aqua begins, and slowly but surely the Heartless decrease in number. It’s fascinating to watch two Keyblade Wielders with opposite ways of wielding their Keyblades be in perfect harmony with each other.
“Riku, now!” Aqua calls out to him as the Water Cores start summoning their shields and the Flame Cores begin to blitz all over the place.
“I’m on it!” He replies as he casts Firaga in quick succession; the flames make short work of the Water Cores’s shields, letting Aqua and Terra quickly finish them off. Knowing that that’s taken care of, Riku quickly focuses in on the Fire Cores, casting homing Waterga spells on them, their speed not enough to outrun his magic.
The elemental cores have been defeated, but the Flutterings remain. “They’re about to touch the ground!” Terra warns.
Wanting to feel more useful, Riku runs in and fires off a massive Thundaza, defeating them in one fell swoop, or so he thinks. The Grand Magic spell takes it out of him, though, and in his panting state he’s unable to dodge the sole remaining Fluttering that’s spinning his way towards him. Before it can hit him, however, Aqua finishes it off with a flick of her Keyblade.
“Riku! Be more careful!” She yells before quickly asking. “Are you alright?”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Riku replies, somewhat shaken.
Aqua stands still, as if considering something. “Riku, trade places with me. I’ll cover you and Terra.”
“What? But I—”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Aqua reassures. “You’re better at close-range combat; that’s a fact. Let me handle the spellcasting. I… misjudged the situation.”
“O-Oh, alright.” Riku nods as Aqua walks away, leading the way once more.
Terra walks up to him and explains, “Sorry, Aqua can get overprotective like that when we’re here. It’s happened with Ven before.”
“That’s alright, I understand.” Riku replies.
Days pass in the Land of Departure, and Naminé can’t help but worry. She tries to busy herself by following Ventus around, hoping that his calm demeanor would rub off on her, but it doesn’t work. She’s just as worried as ever.
Naminé watches from the castle’s steps as Ventus goes through his morning exercises and notices that he’s obviously slacking off; she giggles to herself about it instead of calling him out, though.
Ventus groans. “Ugh. It’s not the same by myself. And it’s so cold!” He complains as he puts away his Keyblade and jogs towards Naminé.
“Are you done for the day?” Naminé asks.
“Yeah, it’s just… I can’t focus when I’m training by myself.” Ventus explains. “Thanks for keeping me company, though.”
“It’s no problem.” Naminé says as she stands up from sitting on the cold stone steps. “What… were you thinking of doing?”
“Hmm…” Ventus thinks as he tilts to the side and suddenly snaps back upright. “We could play Command Board; it’s a board game.”
“Oh! I’d love to play it.” Naminé replies excitedly. “You do have all the pieces, right?”
“Sure do! Come on, follow me!” Ventus beckons.
He leads the way through the empty halls until they finally arrive at his room. “I think last time I saw it, it was under my bed…” He trails off as he lies on the ground to check. “Yup! Found it!”
Before Naminé can say anything, Ventus is speeding off towards the dining room. “Come on, this way!” He shouts, already halfway across the hallway.
Naminé has to jog to catch up to him. By the time she makes it to the dining room, Ventus has already set up everything: the board, the dice, the pieces, and the cards. She sits down across from him, ready to play as he explains the rules.
Riku has been wandering the Realm of Darkness, picking off Heartless here and there, with Aqua and Terra for what feels like hours. They’re definitely close to their destination, though. The veins are pulsating much faster, and he can see a Light off in the distance.
“Alright everyone, let’s take a ten-minute break.” Aqua says as she removes her helmet and grabs her water bottle to take a few sips from it.
“Now? Aren’t we getting close?” Riku asks, leaning against the rock wall.
“Exactly, there could be something waiting for us at the shoreline.” Aqua explains. “We should take this chance to rest.”
Terra takes out a few protein bars and tosses them to Riku and Aqua as he bites into his own. “We’ve had encounters with Demon Towers there before.”
Riku nods. “I get it, so have I.” He carefully chews his protein bar before asking. “Have you guys figured out any of its weaknesses?”
“No, sadly.” Aqua looks down, regretfully. “We just need to be careful.”
“It’s okay; hopefully we can pick off a few of the Shadows with Water spells like you two showed me earlier.” Riku replies.
“Yeah, hopefully.” Aqua smiles somewhat haggardly.
The three continue to eat in silence. However, as opposed to earlier, there’s actually some movement in the Realm of Darkness. A large Light glows off in the distance, and Riku swears he can feel a light breeze and hear the distant call of the waves. Riku stands up and has a closer look at the World around him, and it feels familiar. He concludes that the Realm of Darkness must not shift that much when in close proximity to the Light.
However, the brightest Light can often cast the deepest, most painful Darkness.
Riku blinks, and he feels like he’s lost his footing; it feels like he’s falling into quicksand. He can hear Aqua and Terra call out to him, but he can’t see them, not anymore.
He’s falling.
He opens his eyes, and at first, he can’t see anything. He can only hear distant laughter and rolling waves. It… It sounds familiar. It sounds like Sora. “Sora! It’s me, Riku! Can you hear me!?” He desperately calls out, but the laughter only grows more distant.
He feels people calling out to him, but he so desperately wants to chase after Sora.
So he does.
Suddenly, he can see again. It’s blurry and hazy, but he’s back home. He’s back at Destiny Islands. “This… This shouldn’t be possible; the Islands haven’t fallen to Darkness, Aqua would’ve known.” He mumbles to himself.
He hears that echoing laughter once more, and he chases it through the once familiar island he used to play on with Sora and Kairi. He chases it up to the Paopu fruit tree, but the wooden bridge grows longer and longer. “Sora!” He yells but gets no reply.
He thinks he can see his silhouette at the end of the bridge, so he continues running and running. He summons his Keyblade and casts Blizzara at the bridge, creating a long, thin strip of ice, which Riku uses to propel himself forward. It works.
Riku catches up to Sora, but.
It wasn’t really his voice that was laughing. A Neoshadow stands in his place.
Riku flies into a fit of rage and despair. It’s like the Realm of Darkness read his mind for his most desired wish, just to rip it away from him. Riku conjures up all his anger into a dangerous Dark Firaga and incinerates the Neoshadow.
He’s exhausted.
He let his emotions get the better of him.
He’s falling again.
But he doesn’t fall for long; he feels himself getting pulled up off the ground by two sets of hands.
It’s Aqua and Terra; they saved him.
They look weary.
“What… What happened?” He asks, dazed and confused.
“You fell into a Corridor of Darkness, and a Demon Tower ambushed us… I’m sorry we couldn’t get to you faster.” Aqua says with guilt in her voice.
“But, but you still saved me. Thank you.” Riku replies, his voice trembling a bit.
“Did you see anything?” Terra grabs Riku’s water bottle and offers it to him.
Riku grabs it and takes a few sips. “I thought I heard Sora… But it was just a Neoshadow.” He sniffles.
“I’m sorry, Riku. The Realm of Darkness can be very cruel once it knows what you want.” Aqua places a comforting hand on Riku’s shoulder. “It’s made all of us see something at least once, so please don’t feel so bad.”
“I… I won’t.” Riku sobs lightly as Aqua and Terra pull him into a hug.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Terra offers with a smile.
Riku nods and follows Terra’s lead as they finally make it to the shoreline.
“Let’s go home.” Aqua says as she opens the Lanes Between.
It’s been almost a week since Riku, Aqua, and Terra have been gone, and Naminé is worried sick. It’s become part of her daily routine to sit on the cold floor of the throne room every late afternoon while attempting to draw as she waits for any sign of her friends. Ventus joins her every now and then, pacing back and forth impatiently.
Just as she’s about to give up on waiting for the day, she sees a small shimmer of Light grow larger and larger behind the main throne. “They’re back!” Ventus cheers.
And sure enough, three battle-weary Keyblade Wielders step out from the Lanes Between. She immediately runs towards them. “Welcome back!” She says as she resists the urge to give all three of them a hug.
She notices Riku’s depressed expression and zeroes in on him; “How, how did it go?”
“I… We didn’t find anything… The Realm of Darkness tricked me instead.” Riku replies, too ashamed of himself to look her in the eyes.
Aqua and Terra deactivate their Keyblade Armor as they finish greeting Ventus, who insisted on giving each of them a hug. Terra playfully messes up his hair as usual, causing Aqua to huff and smooth it back. Aqua looks away from their lively reunion as she overhears Riku. “Remember what I told you, Riku. The Realm of Darkness has tricked all of us; please don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“I… Yeah…” He replies noncommittally.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Namine worriedly asks.
“Later, I’m a bit tired right now.” Riku says as he begins to make his way back to his room.
Naminé hesitates to follow him, also wanting to check on Aqua and Terra. She looks back at the two.
“We’ll be okay, Naminé. We’re probably going to head to bed early, too. Go check on him if you need to.” Aqua encourages her while Terra gives her a thumbs-up.
Naminé nods gratefully and makes her way to Riku’s room.
Naminé knocks on his door and is let in by a drained-looking Riku. His room is enveloped in darkness, the lights are off, and he’s in his sleepwear.
“What happened in there?” Naminé asks as she sits down on his bed.
And so Riku tells her. He tells her about how he was sucked into a Corridor of Darkness. How he thought he could hear Sora’s signature laughter in the distance. How he chased and chased after it only to be met by a Neoshadow. And how he failed Aqua and Terra as they had to fend off a Demon Tower by themselves.
Naminé quietly listens to him until he starts berating himself. “Riku, it’s not like that.” She counters.
“I just… I just miss him so much, Naminé.” Riku says as he leans forward, clutching his head with his hands.
“I know.” Naminé places a soothing hand on his back.
The two stay there, not saying much of anything, until Riku starts falling asleep.
When Naminé wakes up the next morning, she finds Riku, Aqua, and Terra working on Aqua’s Heartless reports. She quietly joins them, listening as they recount their previous encounters with the Heartless. She finds that Riku isn’t feeling as gloomy as he was yesterday. He’s focused and precise when explaining that Earth Cores are weak to magic.
“That’s all the Elemental Cores that we know of so far recorded!” Aqua says as she finishes writing down their notes into her report. “You’ve got great observational skills during battle, Riku.” Aqua praises.
“Oh, thanks.” He replies, somewhat awkwardly.
“It’s true.” Terra affirms with a smile.
As Riku scrambles to accept the compliments, Ventus announces his presence in the dining room with a long yawn. “G’mornin’. Can’t believe you guys are awake so early after the expedition.”
“Well, you’re coming with us on the next one.” Aqua tells him. News that he doesn’t receive so well, as he groans as soon as he hears it.
“Relax, we aren’t going back so soon; we’re gonna rest a couple of days.” Terra chuckles.
“Yeah, I need to check on the Wayfinders outside to make sure the rain didn’t damage them.” Aqua explains.
“Wayfinders?” Riku perks up a bit.
“Yeah. They’re charms I made for all of us out of metal and stained glass; you probably saw them outside. We’ve placed them on our Master’s memorial. I know you usually make them out of Thalassa shells, but… I couldn’t find any here, of course.” Aqua rambles eagerly.
“Oh, those!” Riku says with recognition on his face. “I could bring you some Thalassa shells next time I visit, if you’d like.”
“That’d be wonderful, thank you, Riku.” Aqua beams. She gets up from her seat at the table and begins making her way outside. “Well, I better get started.”
“Can I come with you?” Riku asks.
“Of course! You can come too if you want, Naminé.” She replies while looking at the young girl who had been following the conversation with interest.
Naminé smiles.
“Just let me get some supplies from my room first; I’ll meet you outside.” Aqua promises.
“Here we are.” Aqua says, while looking at her Master’s memorial, a somber smile on her face. She kneels on the ground and offers a prayer. Naminé and Riku follow her example. “Thank you, you two.” She trails off for a second before turning back to face the memorial. “Please excuse me, Master.” She says as she removes the Wayfinders and places them on a blanket on the ground.
“Taking care of them is fairly simple; I just need to apply a coating of this chemical.” She says while holding up a simple small bottle. “While avoiding the stained glass.”
Aqua takes out a thin brush and dips it in the substance and begins to spread it over the Wayfinders’s metallic outlines. A little bit gets on the stained glass, but she just wipes it off with a small piece of cloth. “Now, I just need to wait a bit, and then I flip them over and repeat the process!”
“How often do you do this, Aqua?” Naminé asks.
Aqua thinks. “About once every two months, it’s not that bad.”
“They’re very beautiful.” Riku says.
“Thank you.” Aqua smiles. “I could make you two some day… What color would you want them to be?”
Riku takes a moment to consider his answer. “Well, my favorite color growing up was yellow, so yellow probably.” He answers. “What about you, Naminé?” He turns to face his friend.
“White… As a base, and then I’d like to be able to add splashes of different colors to it.” Naminé replies.
“Oh, wow, Naminé, that’s a wonderful idea. I’m pretty sure I can pull that off… You’d be the one to add the colors, of course.” Aqua can already picture the end result in her mind.
“Thanks.” Naminé says somewhat shyly. After a moment, she asks Riku “Out of curiosity, what do you think the others would like?”
“Well… Sora’s would have to be red, and Kairi’s would be pink or lilac.”
“I could do alternating colors, or I could try my hand at making a gradient…” Aqua says, deep in thought.
“How much Munny do you wanna bet that Roxas would want his to be black and white?” Riku jokes as he looks at Naminé.
Naminé chuckles. “Well, if we’re going to talk about everyone in Twilight Town, then I think Sora and Lea are going to have to fight for that red Wayfinder.”
“They’ll have to learn to share, then. I can’t invent new colors for them to use.” Aqua joins in, laughing as she flips over the Wayfinders and applies the chemical on the other side.
The three continue talking until the Wayfinders dry completely, and Aqua places them back on the memorial. As she does so, Terra and Ventus come walking down the nearby stairs.
“Hey, everyone. I’m here to check if Ventus has been slacking or not.” Terra says, summoning his Keyblade.
“Uh oh.” Naminé says at a volume only Riku can hear, and he lets out a soft laugh.
Terra and Ventus spar, and Terra wipes the floor with him. He’s clearly been slacking. “Okay, Ven, no more skipping out on expeditions. Next time, I’m staying behind with Naminé.
“Aw, man.” Ventus complains.
“Come on, Ven, it won’t be so bad; we have Riku with us.” Aqua tells him.
“I know, I just liked hanging out with Naminé.” He grumbles.
“I’ll still be here when you come back.” Naminé reassures him.
“Okay! That’s a promise!” He says, and Naminé nods.
The rest of the month passes quickly. The expeditions into the Realm of Darkness each take roughly a little less than a week, but they only feel like less than a day for those in the Realm of Darkness.
Someone always stays behind with Naminé, though. She really appreciates the gesture; it’d be really lonely in the Land of Departure without that.
The second expedition she spends with Terra, who actually ends up drawing alongside her, sketching out whatever new wood carving projects he wants to work on. While he’s much quieter than Ventus, Naminé really appreciates having someone to talk to about drawing. He even shows her how he’s made some of the furniture in Ventus’s room or some of the decorations she spotted on the shelves of the dining room.
The third expedition, she spends with Aqua. And she quickly learns that Aqua bakes when she’s stressed. She’s the one who worries the most while the others are gone, but Naminé keeps her company no matter how much she frets. As an effort to calm her down, she asks if she could teach her some recipes, and she does. Naminé ends up learning how to bake several types of cookies, muffins, and cakes, as well as some pastries.
And, finally, she spends the fourth expedition with Riku.
Naminé walks up to Riku, bundled up in one of her sweaters. Winter came early, and it snowed the night before, chilling the entire castle to an uncomfortable degree.
“Do you want to try your hand at another snowball fight?” He asks her jokingly as he looks out the window.
Naminé quickly shakes her head no, knowing that they’d never be able to warm themselves back up in the castle.
“Thought so.”
After a moment, Riku says. “Naminé, I’m… I’m thinking of going and checking on the Islands; would you come with me?”
“Sure, I don’t mind. It’s… Not like I have anywhere to go but follow you anyway.” She says self-deprecatingly.
“That’s not true; I could take you back to Twilight Town if you wanted.” Riku reassures her.
“I… Thank you, Riku. Sorry about that.” Naminé apologizes, slightly ashamed of her outburst. “What’s making you want to go back to Destiny Islands anyway?” She asks.
“It’s what I told you before, how I saw the Islands in the Realm of Darkness. I know they haven’t fallen, but I’m still worried. I want to check, and… I don’t want to go alone.” Riku clenches his fists at his sides.
“Let’s go together, then.” Naminé says.
“Thank you.” Riku offers her a small smile.
The day after Aqua, Terra, and Ventus return from their expedition, Riku informs them of his decision to go and check on Destiny Islands.
Aqua understands his decision immediately, as does Terra.
“But Chirithy will be so lonely here without anyone keeping them company during expeditions…” Ventus protests.
“We haven’t even seen them, though.” Riku replies.
“They’re just shy, but they’re here.” Ventus swears.
“Come on, Ven, they can’t stay here forever; besides, they’re always welcome to visit, right?” Aqua says.
“Yeah…” Ventus nods.
“Let me guess, you’ve already packed?” Terra puts a hand on his hip.
“We’re not done, but yes.” Naminé confirms Terra’s guess.
“Let us help you with your stuff when you’re done, then.” Terra smiles.
“Thank you.” Riku says, then ducks out of the dining room to finish packing his things.
Once he and Naminé are finished, they’re ready to say their goodbyes. The sun is already setting, the light reflecting off of the Gummi Ship. Aqua and Terra have already helped them move their bags inside it.
“Thank you two so much for coming.” Aqua says, giving each of them a hug, crunching on the snow as she walks towards them.
“Thank you so much for having us. I’m sorry for messing up earli—”
“Shush.” Aqua interrupts Riku. “I just wasn’t used to the usage of Darkness, and you were caught off guard by the Realm of Darkness’s tricks; don’t apologize, and don’t beat yourself up about it.” She says, sternly.
“I… Alright.” He smiles.
“Promise to keep in touch, alright? We’ll message you.” Terra walks up to the two and places one hand on each of their shoulders.
“We will!” Naminé promises.
“You two have to come back so we can all play Command Board together. We’ll… make some, uh… changes to it so five people can play, so come back, okay?”
Riku chuckles. “We promise, Ven.”
The group finishes saying their goodbyes, and Riku and Naminé climb aboard the Gummi Ship.
“This’ll be another long trip, so feel free to sleep if you want to. Also, it’ll be summer when we get to Destiny Islands, so you won’t need your coat.” Riku says as he presses several different buttons inside the Gummi Ship.
“Okay.” Naminé replies and reclines her seat backwards, still able to see through the window, but before leaning back, she waves goodbye from the window as the figures of Aqua, Terra, and Ventus grow smaller and smaller.