Chapter Text
Sora crept as quietly as he could through the winding halls of Yen Sid’s tower. He was halfway convinced that the entire building was constantly shifting, the halls changing and doors leading to different places than they originally started at. That was the only explanation Sora had for his current predicament. He’d been tiptoeing for the better part of an hour now, maybe more. Or perhaps it’d only been several minutes and Sora was just over exaggerating. But honestly at this point he didn’t care. He just wanted out of this labyrinth of a tower.
There was a reason as to why Sora was trying to sneak away in the middle of the night. After his little “disappearing act” when he’d saved Kairi, Sora was under what he’d call “house arrest”. Never mind the fact that this place wasn’t his house and he was technically free to come and go as he pleased, Sora physically couldn’t go anywhere, not without a certain Keyblade Master tailing him like an overbearing bodyguard.
Riku had found him floating in the endless expanse of the Final World. It had been surprising to see Riku there. At first Sora had thought he was a hallucination. But even a figment of his imagination couldn’t conjure up the angry tug on his ear. Riku scolding him just proved that it really was Riku since Sora would never dream about being reprimanded.
After that Sora was taken to Yen Sid’s tower in order to make sure there was no lingering… Effects from what he had just gone through. That had been nearly two weeks ago. And almost every moment of the day Riku was somewhere near Sora. He understood that Riku was worried he’d disappear again, but this was pushing it! Riku didn’t cling to Kairi this much, so why was he so adamant to not leave Sora alone? Didn’t he have anything else to do to occupy his time?
The answer to that seemed like a no, so Sora had been left with no choice but to flee away in the middle of the night. He was going to spend some time far from Riku. Sora needed breathing room and he just wanted to relax! He couldn’t exactly do that here, not with Riku acting the way he was. You’d think he’d find the hypocrisy in his actions on trying to keep Sora from disappearing.
Sora pushed those thoughts aside and instead focused on the task at hand. If he was correct, the door leading outside should be down the next hall. Sora grinned as he rounded the corner and spotted the door to his salvation. He picked up the pace, throwing caution to the wind as he scurried towards the door.
Sora held his breath and only started breathing again when he successfully slipped through the door. He’d made it! He was free!
“Sora?”
Or maybe not.
Sora jumped and whipped around, staring with wide eyes. At the end of the small courtyard that gave way to stairs leading from Yen Sid’s tower was Xion and Roxas. They had been sitting on the steps and had twisted in order to look towards him, both wearing twin looks of confusion.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, Sora slumped against the door. “Oh good, it’s just you two.”
Xion and Roxas had been living at Yen Sid’s tower since they had nowhere else to go. It wasn’t just them either. A few of the former Organization members with no home took to staying here as well. Sora had been delighted to see that they weren’t being shunned because of what they did in the past. To Sora, everyone deserved a second chance, even Organization members.
“What are you doing up so late?” Roxas asked. He pushed up from the steps and turned so he could look at Sora without the strain.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Sora replied with a grin.
Roxas pursed his lips and glanced at Xion. She offered a small smile and stood in order to also face Sora. “Roxas needed to talk about something. I was trying to help him.”
Sora’s smile seemed to deflate a bit at that, “Oh. Is there anything I could do to help?”
The blond shrugged, “Maybe? Honestly it’s kind of my own problem. But don’t worry about it right now. You seem to have more on your mind than I do.”
Laughing, Sora rubbed a hand over his face. “That obvious?”
“Well we have been living here, so we’ve kind of seen how Riku’s being.” Xion inclined her head to Sora and offered a sympathetic smile.
“Ugh! Don’t even get me started!!” Sora groaned, “Riku’s being a total mother hen! And it’s suffocating!!”
Roxas cocked his hip to the side and crossed his arms over his chest. “Is that why you’re running away?”
Sora should’ve been surprised at how easy he’d been to read but he liked to think that Roxas was only able to tell because he’d spent time in Sora’s heart. And if that was the case then there was no point in denying it. So Sora simply shrugged and offered a grin.
“If Riku’s going to try and keep babying me, then I’m going to prove to him that I’m fine and I don’t need constant surveillance.”
Roxas shook his head and chuckled softly, “Just the kind of recklessness I’d expect of you, Sora.” With a nod Roxas moved over to him and clasped a hand to Sora’s shoulder. “Alright then, I’m coming with you.”
“Wait what?!” Both Xion and Sora blurted out simultaneously.
Xion frowned and walked to stand beside Sora and Roxas. She looked towards the blond, “Roxas. Avoiding the problem isn’t going to make it go away…”
“I’m not avoiding the problem. I’m simply giving myself some space to think about it. Maybe I need to take my mind off of it for a bit. And Sora just presented the perfect opportunity.” Roxas stated matter-of-factly.
Sora let out a cheer, slinging his arm around Roxas’ neck and pulling him close. “Alright! Two runaways!” He paused, glancing at Xion and seeming to smile wider. He extended a hand to her, “We could always use one more.”
“Three musketeers?” Roxas mirrored Sora in extending his hand to Xion.
She looked between the two, apprehension clear on her face. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. On her exhale Xion opened her eyes, resolve written clearly in the way she smiled.
With a laugh Xion took both of their hands, “Three musketeers it is.”
“Yes! Then if we’re the musketeers, we’ve got to say the oath!” Sora declared excitedly.
Roxas glanced behind them towards Yen Sid’s tower, frowning slightly. “Maybe we should wait till we’re away from here? We don’t want to get caught escaping.”
Sora let out a hiss and winced, clearly forgetting the goal of his mission in all the excitement of getting two more companions. He nodded, slinging his free arm around Xion’s shoulder and herding the two of them towards the stairs.
“Let’s go! I’ve got the perfect world in mind for us to run to!”
Xion blinked, “Oh? Where to?”
“It’s a secret!”
The trio laughed, somehow managing to get down the stairs without injury. As they went, Sora hummed a nameless tune and swayed the three of them from side to side. His enthusiasm had increased greatly thanks to Xion and Roxas. He’d been a little disappointed that he’d be running away alone, but it wasn’t like he could ask anyone to join him! They’d either scold him for his childish actions or try and get him to confront Riku about it. And Sora wasn’t really in the mood to talk to Riku about what he was doing. But then again maybe he was being like Roxas. The blond seemed to be avoiding something as well, taking this little “trip” to get his mind off of it. Maybe Sora’s spontaneous decision could help the both of them come to a conclusion on what they needed to do.
“So, did you at least leave a note so Riku wouldn’t think you were kidnapped?” Roxas asked once they reached one of the two Gummi Ships parked in the wide cobblestone courtyard.
Sora grimaced, that being enough of an answer for Xion and Roxas. They laughed, Roxas reaching up in order to ruffle Sora’s hair. It was an act that reminded Sora of Axel, the tall redhead often ruffling the hair of those shorter than him. Which was a lot of people since he was so freakishly tall.
“Ok. How about we call King Mickey? He’s bound to be the most understanding of you needing space.”
“And he’s probably the first person Riku will go to when he finds you gone.” Xion added.
Sora climbed up the ramp leading to the ship, pressing his hand against a panel to the side. It let out a beep and opened, the lights in the small ship turning on. “Do I really have to?”
Roxas quirked a brow, “We could always leave Riku a message then.”
The brunet was quick to whip around, bright blue eyes wide. He shook his head fiercely, hands coming up to wave in protest as well. “No way! Riku’s a really light sleeper!! If we message him now and say I’m running away, he’ll practically jump out a window just to get here faster!”
If it was any other person being told that, they might doubt it. But this was Xion and Roxas. They knew firsthand how single-minded and protective Riku could be when it came to Sora. He was a force to be reckoned with, especially when Sora and his safety were a factor.
Xion sighed and placed her hands on her hips. With a tilt of her head she looked back to the tower. “Then we’ll just message the King. But we can do that once we’re away from Yen Sid’s tower. At least that way we have a head start if Riku tries to follow?”
Sora instantly brightened and he nodded his head. “Yeah! Come and sit down and I’ll prepare for takeoff!”
Once Sora had disappeared inside the ship, Roxas reached out and took Xion’s arm. He leaned close, “I’ll distract Sora while you send a message to Axel. I don’t want to rely on Riku being rational enough to actually message Mickey in order to ask where Sora is.”
Xion blinked but nodded in understanding. With that Roxas smiled and patted her shoulder, following Sora into the ship. Xion quickly slipped out her Gummi Phone, debating what to say for several moments before typing out a quick message and sending it to Axel.
Sora had waited till everyone was strapped in before preparing for takeoff. There was no quiet way to fly a Gummi Ship, not unless it was designed to be silent. But the bright red and yellow ship was anything but silent. It rumbled to life and Sora held his breath the entire time. He could only hope Riku’s room was far enough away that he couldn’t hear the ship leaving.
It seemed the trio were all apprehensive at being caught. They collectively let out a sigh the moment they were floating in the colourful cosmos. Sora let go of the tight grip he had on the controls and slumped in his chair.
“Step one down,” He exhaled shakily.
“Next is the King.” Xion said, sounding just as breathless.
Sora grunted and dug into his pocket for his phone. He managed to yank it out with only a minor struggle. Then it was a few more seconds of navigating before Sora had a call to the King. At this point Xion and Roxas had unbuckled from their seats and were now standing on either side of Sora’s.
The phone connected with a click, Mickey’s familiar face filling the screen. He looked slightly confused at the call, though a smile still pulled at the corners of his mouth.
“Sora?”
“Hello your majesty!” Sora grinned, relaxing slightly at the sight of his friend. “Ok so before anything, I just want to say that I’m fine and that nothing’s wrong. Well nothing life threatening anyways.”
Mickey laughed and his smile widened, “While I’m glad nothing serious is wrong, I’m still a little worried. It’s rather late at Yen Sid’s tower, isn’t it?”
Sora nodded, “Yeah. But I had to call you because I needed someone to know that I wasn’t kidnapped.” At the King’s concerned face, Sora was quick to scramble for an explanation. “I’m running away! But not like permanently! I’ll still have my Gummi Phone on me in case you need to contact me! But I really just needed to get away from Riku! He’s acting like I’ll disappear at any moment if he isn’t with me!”
Mickey took a moment to process this. “So your solution to this is to… Disappear?”
“Yes!”
Roxas rolled his eyes and smacked his forehead, groaning. He leaned down and shoved himself into Sora’s space so he could be seen on screen.
Mickey seemed surprised at his appearance, “Roxas?”
Roxas offered a nod, “Hello your majesty. I know what Sora’s doing is reckless and clearly shows he hasn’t thought things through,” Roxas ignored the indignant yell from Sora, momentarily shoving his face out of the way so he was the sole focus. “But you don’t have to worry. Xion and I will be accompanying Sora to make sure he stays out of trouble.”
Mickey seemed concerned still, yet he wasn’t able to respond before Sora was shoving back at Roxas. The two pushed at each other, bickering incessantly like children. They didn’t even seem to notice Xion taking the Gummi Phone from Sora’s hand. She smiled apologetically at the King, momentarily glancing at the two wrestling boys for a moment.
“Don’t worry, I promise to keep an eye on them. And I’ll send updates as well through my own phone. And if not me then Roxas or Sora will.” She smiled warmly, the gesture returned by Mickey.
“Well alright. But make sure to call if something goes wrong. Does Sora know the spell Donald uses to keep the order?”
Xion blinked, glancing at Sora and Roxas. “Sora? Do you know how to keep the order like Donald does?”
The two stopped elbowing each other, two sets of blue eyes focusing on Xion. They had a handful of the other’s hair in their grips and had been in the middle of shoving at each other’s face, but Xion’s question put a pause in their match.
Sora’s brows furrowed and he let out a long sound of thought. “Nnnn… Yes?”
Xion didn’t seem fully convinced and from a glance, neither did Mickey. She offered a small smile to the King, “It’s ok, I remember it. I’ll make sure to keep the order wherever we go.”
“Well alright. Please be as careful as you can be!”
“We will!” The three of them said simultaneously.
With that Mickey hung up, leaving the ship in silence. Xion offered Sora his phone back and he stuffed it into his pocket. Roxas and Sora no longer seemed interested in wrestling with each other, Roxas instead casually leaning against Sora’s chair with his arms crossed over his chest.
Xion bit back a sigh, smiling warmly at the two. Seeing them able to interact side-by-side always managed to make her happy. It showed that they really were two different people, just as her and Sora were two different people. She and Roxas may be connected to Sora unlike any other, but that didn’t mean they weren’t their own people. And times like these really highlighted that.
“So…” Xion started, smiling wider at the curious looks she received. “What is this “oath” we have to say?”
Sora’s face lit up in a brilliant grin and he stuck out his hand so that his palm was facing towards the ground. “It’s something I learned from a world I went to! The musketeers are a group of guards that fight for justice! They have an oath that they go by and it’s something I really admire!”
Roxas smiled, reaching out and placing his hand over Sora’s. Xion followed suit, putting her hand over Roxas’. The two of them then looked at Sora for further explanation.
“Ok! After we have our hands in place, one of us will say “all for one” and then all three of us will say “and one for all”! Then we throw our hands up in the air!”
Roxas grinned and let out a small laugh. “I can see why you like their oath. It’s a good one.”
Xion nodded, “I agree. Could I do the honors?”
At the nod she received, Xion smiled wider and looked down at their hands. She took a deep breath, “All for one…”
“And one for all!” The three of them cheered, their hands flying into the air. Their laughter rang around the ship, causing it to hum with power. With their little group oath now solidified, Xion and Roxas returned to their seats.
Roxas leaned back in his chair, kicking his feet up so they were hanging over the arm. “Alright Sora. Where to now?”
Jumping up from his seat, Sora held out his hand. Starlight appeared in a shower of light, perfectly emulating its name. Sora had taken to using this Keyblade far more ever since the fight in the Keyblade Graveyard. For him it was a reminder of the help he had received and the strength of the past. He wielded it to honor those that had fallen.
Sora pointed the Keyblade forward, a beam shooting from the tip and a swirling blue portal opening up in front of them. With a grin Sora dissipated his Keyblade and sat back down.
He took the controls and shoved them forward, his excitement dripping through his voice. “Let’s go!”