Chapter Text
“Can’t sleep?”
It was a stupid question to ask, for sure, but there he was, standing next to Sora by the window of their shared room in Yen Sid’s tower, holding Sora’s hand and trying not to notice the way it trembled against his.
“Yeah.” Sora laughed, like it was nothing, but the dark circles under his eyes and the looming sickeningly yellow tinge inexplicably creeping over his blue, blue hues said anything but. “Looks like it’s one of those nights, huh.”
“Those nights.” Riku repeated. “Right.”
In the next room, Master Aqua, recovered and most importantly—safe, slept soundly. In a pocket out of time, somewhere far away and yet so close by, Kairi and Lea trained to become Keyblade wielders.
And then there was the two of them. Masters, now, sleepless and lonesome staring up at the aurorae lighting up the space between the worlds that waited on them to save them.
Ever since their first brush with the real Organization, Sora hadn’t been able to sleep properly, always needing someone next to him—a grumpy Kairi, squirming, protesting Donald, a kind, understanding Goofy—he clung onto them like a lifeline, and it broke Riku’s heart to think about what Sora could be going through, after having been so close to turning into a Xehanort like that.
Added with the stress that came from his first failure, the news of an unavoidable war and a history so long ago now repeated, and the threat that any one of his friends could turn into a Xehanort, it was a miracle Sora could even stay smiling.
Though, given the kind of person Sora was, Riku realised maybe that wasn’t such a miracle at all.
They stayed silent for a long time, Sora simply leaning on Riku’s side, breathing deeply and slowly, as if trying to ease himself into sleep. Riku patiently waited for him, simply breathing in time with him, but eventually, Sora gave up with a frustrated huff.
“I can’t do it.” he said in a small voice. “I can’t—I can’t fall asleep. Not tonight.”
“What was it this time?” Riku asked, but Sora shook his head. Riku knew better than to pry.
Instead, he kissed Sora’s hair, and hugged him, letting the brunet melt into his arms with a slightly content, albeit frustrated sigh.
He thought back to a time when they were like this, pressed close to each other, melting into quiet, content sighs and listening to the quiet peace of the universe they swore to protect, and suddenly he remembered the Symphony of Sorcery.
“Hey, remember a while back?” He said, and Sora looked up at him. “We made a promise to go see the Symphony of Sorcery together. When we were Masters.”
Sora looked up at him, and Riku wondered what he saw. Were the aurorae reflecting in his eyes, or did he reflect them? Could Sora trace the lines of light and shadow cast over his face, the line of his jaw?
“Yeah, I do.” Sora replied after a long, long moment. “I remember hugging Nachos, and—” He stopped himself, and relief flooded Riku’s heart when he finally smiled. “Oh, did I mention? I can summon them all now? Here, to the real world?”
“You could?” Riku smiled, lacing their fingers. “That’s amazing, Sora.”
“Everyone was there. Nachos, your Komory Bat, Neku’s Necho Cat…” Sora trailed off, and frowned slightly. “You never told me why you never named your Spirits. Neku’s was named Hikaru, wasn’t it?”
“Because you made him name it, yeah.” Riku chuckled, and Sora smacked his arm lightly, snickering. “I still don’t feel like telling you.” He said, and Sora pouted at him.
“How come? I’m like, the best secret keeper ever!” He said, a heartwarming echo of the past, and Riku laughed fondly, squeezing Sora’s hands in his.
“Donald begs to disagree.”
“Donald’s a grumpy old man.” Sora huffed, “C’mon, tell me!”
“Why don’t we just… head back out to the Symphony of Sorcery?” Riku laughed, and Sora frowned at him. “C’mon, while the night is still early.”
“Well, alright.” Sora shrugged. “I’m still gonna keep pestering you about that, you know.”
“I know you will.” Riku hummed, and summoned his Keyblade to his hand as Sora did with his. Sora looked at it warmly, and Riku felt a flush creeping up to his cheeks. “You, uh, still not used to it?”
“Not really.” Sora shrugged, and leaned up to kiss Riku’s cheek. “It’s just… you’ve come really far, you know. Sometimes I wish you can just see that, and appreciate it.”
Riku pinched Sora’s cheek lightly. “The same goes for you, you know.” He chuckled, “Mister Saviour of the Worlds.”
“Shut up.” Sora blushed, and nudged his Keyblade against Riku’s. “Well, we diving or not?”
“Of course.” Riku chuckled, and summoned a portal.
They dove together, hand in hand, and when they landed in Yen Sid’s study, they were met with the two portals to their own versions of the world, and their Sound Ideas still dancing together, playing that calming heartbeat of a song that played in their hearts when they tried to dance. Riku and Sora shared warm smiles, and still hand in hand, headed over to Riku’s portal.
“Shall we?” Riku asked, and Sora laughed.
“I thought you’d never ask.” He replied, and the both of them touched the pages, letting the light envelop them like a warm, kind embrace.
Sora opened his eyes to find a dark forest illuminated with beautiful, blooming flowers. Tall, tall grass and bell-like little flower buds glowing with a kind, gentle blue-green light surrounded the place, and tiny little firefly lights swirled in lazy, peaceful infinity-loops over their heads. The music began to play in their ears, and with the swell of instruments in his mind filling up his heart, it took his breath away in a gasp of amazement.
“It’s… beautiful.” Sora breathed, letting Riku pull him along by his hand, taking it all in with amazement. “My side was pretty, but this side—this side, it’s… it’s so like you.” He squeezed Riku’s hand, and affection swelled in this heart.
This time, after all, when he squeezed Riku’s hand, Riku could feel it, and he squeezed back.
“It’s so… beautiful. The most beautiful view I’ve ever seen.”
“Are you saying I’m beautiful?” Riku chuckled, and Sora looked up at him, only realising that Riku had never taken his eyes off him. “Because with the view right now, I’d like to disagree.”
Sora laughed at that, and Riku kissed his temple, gently leading him onwards.
“C’mon, there’s more where that came from.” He said, and Sora nodded, following him along.
As they came to a field of blooming, glowing flowers cutting a path through the darkness to another forest far ahead of them, they were suddenly swarmed by their Dream Eaters, crooning in delight.
Komory Bat, especially, dove straight for Riku’s face, screeching affectionately as it cuddled him, muffling Riku’s laughter in its soft pastel yellow fur.
“Sora, Sora! I’ve missed you too, buddy.”
Sora stopped, looking up from Nachos to blink at him as Riku was pounced on by more of their Dream Eaters, especially the ones he made.
“I’ve missed you all!” Riku laughed, “I’ve missed you so much!”
“Did he just…” Sora breathed, and looked back down at Nachos. “Did he… did he call all his Spirits Sora?”
Nachos nodded, and cocked its head, as if telling him ‘I was wondering when you’d notice.’
Sora stifled his laughter behind his hand, and tried calling out to one of Riku’s Spirits.
“Komory Bat!” He called, and the bat, now having been booted from Riku’s face, looked at him witheringly. “C’mon, Sora! Over here!”
As if finally relieved Sora called it by its name, Komory Bat lit up, and hurried over to him, snuggling close to his face as it had done with Riku, crooning in delight. Sora let it stay there, waiting until Riku’s Spirits finally calmed down enough to let Riku face Sora, breathless and flushed, a wide smile on his face.
“I… I hadn’t realised how much I missed them.” He said, suddenly sheepish, and he straightened himself up, scratching his cheek.
“They missed you a lot.” Sora nodded, making his way over to him, and Komory Bat latched onto Riku again. “Sora, Sora, and all the other Soras you made.”
Riku’s cheeks turned bright red at that, and Sora’s grin widened when he hid his face behind his hands. He was practically steaming with embarrassment, and Sora burst out in laughter when Riku let out a muffled shout into his hands.
“You heard.”
“Of course I did.” Sora chuckled, “Jeez, is that why you didn’t want to tell me?” He asked, gently prying Riku’s hands away from his face, and the older teen looked at him witheringly.
“It’s embarrassing.” He mumbled, and Sora snickered again. “Sora.”
In unison, almost a dozen Spirits perked up and looked at him, including the Komory Bat resting on his head. Sora laughed harder, and Riku groaned, kissing him suddenly to shut him up. Still, Sora was giggling against his lips as the brunet pulled him closer, and Riku couldn’t help but start laughing, too.
Sora’s smile was contagious. His laughter, like music to his ears. There was no way he couldn’t smile around him.
(The suffering and pain he went through over a year ago was in the past now. Sora loved him, he always had, and he always will. Those days of self-loathing and self-harm and bitter, bitter tears and blood on his hands in front of sterile white pods while the light of his life slept soundly were over. The suffering was over.)
“Did you name them all after me because you missed me?” Sora hummed when they both calmed down.
Riku tenderly cupped his cheek in his hand, and smiled. “I did.” he said softly, stroking Sora’s cheek with his thumb, and he was glad to feel it warm like his own. Sora’s skin was darker than his, his blush a little more subdued than the bright red on his pale face, but Riku could feel it—the blush that told him Sora was just as affected by all this as he was.
“When you say it so seriously like that, my mind starts going places.” Sora laughed nervously, opting to bury his face in Riku’s chest, as if to hide his own embarrassment from him.
“What kind of places?” Riku asked, and Sora squirmed in his hold.
“Like… like starting a future together.” He mumbled. “Maybe a family. A home?”
Riku felt his ears burning, now.
“O-oh.” He stammered, and Sora pulled away, unable to meet his gaze, though their hands were still laced together.
Embarrassed, but wholeheartedly accepting. Shy, but adoring and loving.
“That’s… um.”
“It sounds stupid, I know,” Sora began, but Riku shook his head.
“That sounds like a wonderful idea.” He said, and Sora blinked up at him. “After all of this is over, Sora. You, and me—we can keep travelling. We can see all the worlds out there. We can settle down, or not—we could visit Kairi at home or at Radiant Garden, train our own pupils—” He pursed his lips, unable to continue with the way Sora was looking up at him with such wonder. “I—I’m getting ahead of myself. There’s still Xehanort, a-and the Organization—”
“Riku,” Sora kissed him gently, and when he pulled away, he was smiling. “Don’t think twice. Just go for it.”
Riku laughed deliriously, shaking his head before pulling Sora into a hug.
“I’m sorry, I just—I, uh,” He stammered, “You’re only everything I’ve ever dreamed of. You’re that precious to me. I can’t ask you for all that—you’re not just important to me, you’re important to everyone.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Sora laughed softly, “Did you really think I could say no to you?”
There was something overwhelming about the way Sora’s voice sounded so breathless. So warm and content, and it felt like something swelling in Riku’s heart, some spilling from his eyes.
“Sora, I…” Riku couldn’t say it. Not yet, probably not any time soon. Instead he kissed him again, and Sora smiled against his lips, as if telling him it was alright.
Sora loved him.
Love, after all, was something that could wait. For however long it could be.
It could be for a year, weeping in front of a white lotus that would never bloom, it could be ten years, small hands holding smaller hands and nicked wooden swords, dreaming of adventures beyond the stifling seas that bordered them like tall, imposing walls of a fortress.
A lifetime, with someone like Sora. Riku didn’t know if he deserved it, but he did know he wanted it.
He wanted that lifetime, he yearned for it—but for now, it wasn’t a decision only he would make.
“Hey, Riku.” Sora said, when they parted, “Let’s dance.”
“Yeah.” Riku sniffled softly, and let Sora take his hand, letting Sora’s other hand snake to his waist this time, shivering slightly as Sora’s hand gently pressed against his side.
“It was here, right?” He murmured, “Where Xemnas hit you.”
“Yeah.” Riku nodded, holding onto Sora’s shoulder, and slid it up to his neck. “I know what you’re gonna say.”
“Riku—”
“It’s okay. It’s always been okay.” He said, kissing Sora’s forehead, and the brunet sighed. “You probably don’t remember this, but on your 15th birthday, I made you a promise.”
“A… promise?”
“I said…” he took a shuddering breath, and the memory of angry, shallow scars on the inside of his arm stung phantom scratches like a burning brand. “I owed you my life. I promised to give it to you, until the day you don’t need me anymore.”
At the time, he knew it was coming—he knew, someday, Sora would no longer need him the way he used to, and at the time, there was peace inside him at the thought of it.
But now, Sora in his arms, his smile pressed against his lips, living, breathing, loving him—
He didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to let go.
“I’ll always need you, silly.” Sora huffed, “Like I’ll always need my friends. I’ll always need you.”
The two of them looked down at their feet, listened to the ebb and flow of the music around them, and felt the wind kissing their skin, tousling their hair. Their Dream Eaters left them a wide berth to move around in, and Sora smiled fondly.
“You ready?” Sora asked, and Riku smiled, weak with tender emotion.
“Always.” He said, and together, they began to dance. A slow, comfortable sway into a waltz in time to a song that went beyond the music that played in Riku’s side of the Symphony of Sorcery—the song that played when their Sound Ideas merged together, and set Mickey free.
It was perfect, absolutely perfect, and Sora knew, that even if Namine came in and rearranged everything in his heart, there was no way she could tamper with this. This memory, of warm, tender comfort and love—this was kept safe under lock and key, and he was never going to let this go.
He was never going to let Riku go, not ever, not again.
They came to a stop with Sora’s head resting against Riku’s shoulders, lethargy and exhaustion finally caught up to him, the calm tenderness of their moment together enough to finally get him to relax, and sleep again.
“Riku, I’m—” Sora’s words blurred into a yawn, and Riku laughed fondly, gently picking Sora up in his arms. “I’m gonna… sleepy.”
“I know,” he said, kissing Sora’s forehead. “Don’t worry. I’ll get us back.”
“Mm… thanks.” Sora clung onto him, and finally fell asleep, smiling softly.
Riku watched him sleep for a moment, and nodded to himself, walking back the way they came, and tailed by all their friends in the Sleeping Realm. Before he left, Nachos whined pitifully, and he laughed, petting Nachos as best as he could before letting the Meow Wow lick Sora’s hand, tutting when it got too violent and Sora began to stir.
Komory Bat pulled Nachos back with a sort-of salute to Riku, and he gave it a smile.
“I’ll see you again, Sora.” he said, and the Komory Bat hissed happily. “Take care of everyone for me.”
It bounced up and down in acknowledgement, and Riku went through the portal.
“So, you got him to sleep, huh?” Kairi asked quietly, smiling as Sora cuddled closer to Riku unconsciously. Riku nodded, pulling their blanket over Sora and himself, and looked up at her.
“How’s your training going?”
“I set a bit of Lea on fire today.” She said, grinning, and Riku chuckled.
“Attagirl.” He said, and the two of them shared a quiet laugh together while Sora snored quietly.
After a while, they sobered up, and Kairi looked down at her skirt, her hands balling into fists in the fabric.
“Hey, Riku?” She asked, and he hummed. “You’ve… read the Xehanort Reports, haven’t you?”
Riku knew what those are—Master Aqua had them with her when they brought her back, and he went through them after the whole fiasco with the Hundred Acre Wood and the young Xehanort. He frowned, and nodded. “Yeah. Why’d you ask?”
“I’ve read them too.” She said gingerly, rubbing her arm, “Well, some bits of it. Lea had the other half.”
“Huh.”
“That’s… that’s not the point, though.” Kairi looked at him worriedly. “You’ve read that part about opening the door to Kingdom Hearts, right? About what happens after?”
Riku pursed his lips. “I have.” He said, and looked down at Sora, still peacefully sleeping by his side. “Kairi, you don’t think—”
“There’s no other way to it.” She said, “It wouldn’t make sense for anyone else to do it.” her eyes were sad, and she looked at Sora with an expression Riku was sure he was making on his own face. “Not you, not me. But Sora—Sora would open that door.”
“If not Xehanort, then he will.” Riku continued, stroking Sora’s palm with his thumb.
Kairi’s expression tightened. “Is there really no way to avoid this war from happening? Can’t we just—I dunno,” she made abortive gestures with her hands, “Break the stupid Keyblade or—or—Master Aqua’s done it before, right?”
“I don’t know, Kairi.” Riku sighed. “I wish I knew, but I just… don’t.”
She rubbed her arm awkwardly, and peered at him.
“Can I have a hug?” She asked gingerly, and Riku nodded, letting her come around the other side of the bed to hug her one-armed, and she sighed into the crook of his neck. “Riku, I’m so scared. I’m really, really scared.”
“Me too.” Riku admitted, and Kairi squeezed him tighter. “I… I don’t want to let go. Of you. Of him.”
“It’s gonna happen, isn’t it.” Kairi’s voice quivered. “It’s… going to happen. And we won’t be able to stop it.”
“Not if I can help it.” Riku said, and Kairi pulled away from him to look into his face.
“I’m not losing you, too.” She said, and he took her hand and squeezed it.
“You won’t. We’re not losing each other. Not this time.”
Kairi smiled back at him worriedly, and he shook his head. “C’mon. Let’s all just go to sleep together.”
“Sure you wouldn’t want me interrupting you lovebirds?” She giggled, and Riku rolled his eyes.
“Hey, we love you too, okay?” He said, scooting over and gently maneuvering Sora to sleep between him and Kairi as she climbed in. “Tuck yourself in. Can’t exactly reach you.”
“Aww, your Sora bias is showing.” Kairi teased, sticking her tongue out at him when Riku pulled a face at her, and she dissolved into giggles, gently waking Sora up. Immediately, she sobered up, but Sora smiled up at her. “Oh, sorry I woke you up.”
“Nah, still sleepy.” Sora mumbled, and cuddled her as well. “Night, guys.”
Kairi and Riku shared warm a warm smile, and the both of them kissed Sora’s temples.
“Goodnight, Sora.” They said, and together, they all settled down to sleep.