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Chapter Text

And so, as it was foretold,

Darkness prevailed…

...And Light expired.

When Sora wakes up, the first thing he sees is the blinding light of Kingdom Hearts against a vastly darkened sky with no star in sight. He cannot tell whether it is because the light of the Heart drowns the light of others, or if it is because there are truly no stars to be seen. The thought of the latter is unsettling and seeds a strange kind of loneliness within Sora’s heart.

He pushes himself to a sitting position and thinks, where is Riku? Then he thinks, where is Kairi? Where is everyone? Frantic, Sora forces himself to his feet, looking around and properly assessing where he has found himself in. He recognizes the damaged edifices on either side of the cracked plaza he’s standing on, and as he walks towards the edge, gazes upon the remnants of what he knows to be Scala Ad Caelum.

Kingdom Hearts’ light surges above him, as though reprimanding, and Sora feels a rush of emotions and pain through his body and heart. Memories flash through his mind – seeing Kairi being struck down, and Sora furious as he confronts Xehanort. He remembers defeating him, remembers all of them winning, and remembers himself determined to find Kairi and bring her back.

He’d used the power of waking to find her barely clinging to life in the world between worlds,, and that’s where the memories end, because the next he remembers is waking up to the sight of Kingdom Hearts.

Sora falls to his knees, staring blankly at the cracked marble floor beneath him. Is this the cost of trying to save a life already slated for dead?

Angry, Sora tries to summon the Kingdom Key, but it does not come to him. He tries another, any of the ones he had gained over the years, each one failing to appear in his hand. He yells in frustration, his sob interrupting it, and tries one more key – Nightmare’s End materializes in his hand, and Sora can’t help but think, what an imperfect name for the situation he’s found himself in.

He points the key to the sky, to Kingdom Hearts, and tries to summon the power of waking, but it does not come and no light shoots from Nightmare’s End. No power sleeps within him, waiting to be woken up. Kingdom Hearts surges once again. Sora stumbles backwards, falling to the ground, and lies down; defeated.

He cries for a very long time.

When Riku wakes, it is to the familiar sound of water crashing upon the shores of Destiny Islands. Seagulls squawk distantly, and the wind playfully rattles the chimes hanging outside his window. He takes a deep breath, imagining and feeling as though he were floating in the ocean water, the water pushing through and around him. Though it had been a while since he’d lived in Destiny Island, the islands seem to still call him home; waiting.

He stands up from the bed to stretch, then makes his way to the open window, and leans his elbows against the windowsill. The curtains flap around him, the breeze greeting him with a fond hello. The winds play at his long hair, the feathery locks dancing past his shoulders. He breathes in, closes his eyes, thinking.

Behind him, a knock, and then a soft voice: “Riku? Are you awake?”

He pushes himself off the sill and looks over his shoulder and smiles fondly at who stands there. Kairi is returning his smile, holding in her arms a sleeping child, and she pushes the door open with her foot and enters carefully, no doubt trying not to wake the child.

“Was Asahi fussing?” Riku asks when Kairi arrives beside him, leaning her back against the window sill. She nods at the other, and Riku ruffles his niece’s hair gently. “Did Nagisa leave? I know she said she had to bring the soccer team to another district for a match today.”

Kairi nods again. “She did, and Sora’s with her, too. She’s still too young to join the team but she did insist that Nagisa bring her along to watch anyway.” In her arms, Asahi coos and shifts, but does not wake. Riku chuckles.

“I’m sorry I missed your mothers last night. Did you tell them I said hello?” Kairi nods at him, and he nods back, glad. “They must have been happier to visit their grandkids anyway.”

Kairi rolls her eyes. “They said they missed you, Riku, and were both sorry they didn’t come earlier.” She pauses, directing her attention to Asahi when she fusses in her arms. Riku watches the child. When she calms down, Kairi looks to him again. “You’ve been so tired lately.”

Riku meets her eyes and he shrugs. “I’ve been traveling a lot. Lot of stuff on my mind.”

He turns his attention to the view outside, leaning on his elbows once more. He doesn’t notice Kairi watching him, nor does he notice her concerned expression. Riku only notices her when she speaks again: “Riku.”

He doesn’t turn to her. “Yeah?”

“Have you been thinking about the future?” She asks and Riku flinches. He looks at her then, and smiles, pointing to the child in her arms.

“Of course I have. I intend to be around for when this one grows up,” He says easily, and Kairi’s stern gaze on him softens, but her concern remains. She nods, holding the child tighter to her chest, and sighs. Riku then says, “I’ve got to leave soon. Namine asked me to help her move to Twilight Town.”

“Oh, did Xion ask her to move in with her already?” Kairi laughs. “It’s about time, honestly.”

“Yeah. About time.”

“Will you come back to Destiny Islands?”

They look at each other, and though Riku doesn’t speak, his silence is enough of an answer for Kairi.

He won't leave until after dinner, after spending time with Kairi’s wife and children. It pains him just as much as it makes him happy to see them all and see them living full lives; A part of his heart aches, but he puts it aside for the meantime, and focuses on spending time them all. He shares stories of Kairi when she was younger to Nagisa, and he plays in the yard with Sora and Asahi. At some point, they ask him to stay longer so they could play with him more.

Something like guilt flashes in Riku’s eyes. He smiles at them, tells them one day, he’ll stay.

Kairi’s mothers come by as well; Riku had nearly forgotten that Kairi was daughter to the mayor, but he does not forget his manners. He bows to her respectfully, and greets her wife, too. They embrace him like a long lost son. They tell him they wish he’d come more and stay longer, and Riku’s smile to them is just a little strained.

Kairi walks with him towards the beach after. They walk down the path from her house, and Kairi reaches for his wrist and pulls him around to face her.

“Are you going to look for him again?”

Riku blanches, and looks away; ashamed. “I think so.”

When he glances up, Kairi’s gaze is downcast. She nods firmly, and does not see him off the rest of the way. She does stop on the path, however, and barely looks over her shoulder.

“I’m not waiting for either of you.” She says. “Good luck, Riku. I’m sorry.”

Riku nods, biting his lip. He waits until she’s gone, then summons his glider and armor, and leaves.

Radiant Garden is, of course, radiant.

Riku’s glider hovers to the central plaza. The gummi ship is parked at one end, with Aeleus and Dilan loading it with various boxes and suitcases. He makes his way towards the ship and hops off his glider as it dematerializes. Aeleus and Dilan glance at him, nod, then return to their work.

Riku summons his armor away and approaches them, about to offer his help with loading the ship when someone crashes into him and holds him in a tight hug. Riku stumbles forward, breathy chuckles escaping him, and he looks over his shoulder to see a grinning Namine, bright and joyous and worlds away from the shy girl she had been a decade ago.

“You’re late! But it’s alright. I had to pack up some last minute boxes any how.” Namine says, stepping back from Riku but taking hold of both his hands. She looks at him closely, noticing signs of exhaustion on his face. “How are you? You were at Destiny Islands before this, right?”

Riku smiles tightly at the mention of Destiny Islands. “I’m well. Kairi said it was about time Xion asked you to move in with her.” He says, to which Namine blushes a bright red to. It’s enough to relax Riku, and he laughs at the reaction.

“Of course she did,” Namine huffs and rolls her eyes. She doesn’t stop smiling, though. “Well anyway, we may as well finish here.”

Riku nods and looks up past Namine, and notices Ienzo. He stands on the other end of the plaza, close to the castle gates. Namine turns to follow his gaze, and grins warmly. She turns briefly back to Riku and lets go of his hands.

“Actually, give me a moment? I’ve still got people to say goodbye to.”

He gives her a small smile and steps back, watching her make her way across the plaza. Ienzo waves at him, and Riku nods at him before turning to help Aeleus and Dilan load up the rest of the boxes. It’s a short enough task - The two guardsmen had managed to load up most of the boxes already, though the three men do joke amongst themselves about the amount of items Namine is bringing.

“How is she fitting all of these into an apartment with Xion?” Riku asks, pushing the last box into the ship’s compartment. Aeleus and Dilan chuckle behind him.

“They’re not getting an apartment, Riku.”

He looks at them both quizzically. “Then what are they getting?”

He finds out when they arrive at Twilight Town and Namine lands the gummi ship at the abandoned mansion outside the town. He gapes at the sight of it, a massive structure under reconstruction, and looks to her incredulously. She only shrugs and tells him that Ansem and Ienzo had pulled some strings for her when she’d asked.

Riku stares at her and follows her out of the gummi ship and to the mansion’s gates. Xion stands there waiting with Isa, Axel, and Roxas beside her. Xion waves excitedly at them both, and laughs brightly when Namine runs towards her and into her arms. Riku follows Namine out, and smiles politely when the others greet him. When he says hello to Axel, he stammers, calling him Lea. He laughs at that, and tells Riku: “Hey man, it’s been years. You can call me Axel.”

They all work together to bring the various boxes into the mansion, and Riku learns that it’s not just Xion and Namine moving in - Roxas and Pence were moving into rooms of their own in the lower level, clearly leaving the upper level to Xion and Namine.

Once they’ve all brought the boxes to their respective rooms, Isa and Axel head home and Xion and Namine leave to spend some time together, leaving Riku with Roxas. They sit together, tired and catching their breaths, in the main foyer of the mansion, and Riku takes this time to really take a look at Roxas.

It’s clear to Riku how much the former-nobody had grown into his own person in the past decade. Though his appearance still looks similar to Ventus, something the two blonds have bonded over and used to their pranking needs before, he’d changed. Happier and being at peace were hardly enough to describe it, Riku thinks, and he continues to stare at the other as he tries to put words to it.

If Roxas notices, he doesn’t seem to care. He turns to Riku with a huff and a grin, his hand brought up to his hair to shake out what sweat and grime had collected while they carried boxes earlier. Riku tries not to grimace. “Want to go into town with me? I’ve got to grab some groceries for tonight. I’m cooking for everyone.”

Riku narrows his eyes at the other. “You cook?” He says, pensive. “Do you wash your hands?”

“‘Do you wash your hands’ he says,” Roxas mocks, rolling his eyes. He shakes his hair with his hand again, watching Riku’s reaction. Riku doesn’t give him the satisfaction. “I work the kitchen at Le Grand Bistrot, so yeah. I cook and I wash my hands, Riku. You want to come or not?”

Riku looks at him for a moment, and nods. He pushes himself off the staircase, throwing Roxas a dirty look when Roxas offers his hand to help him up. The blond laughs, goes to the bathroom and washes his hands. Riku heads to the kitchen to do the same, and then they head out into the town.

It’s late afternoon now, though with the rules of this world, it hardly matters. The sky stays a permanent dusk color, warm hues of orange and hints of the night blue far above. The walk to the town is quick - Twilight Town, after the mansion had been bought out and its repair had begun weeks ago, had made an entrance that led from the forest. The pair walk through, and Riku sighs at the familiar sight of the ever-busy and yet ever-lazy town.

Roxas leads him through the tram commons, up the town, and towards the plaza in front of the station and Riku’s pleasantly surprised to find several stalls set up. As they approach, Riku notices they all sell various ingredients and foods. Some were artisan, some were grown in the fields just outside the buzzing town. Others, Riku realizes, were imported, and he gasps as he spies a stand with paopu fruit.

He approaches and purchases one for himself, and Roxas watches him as he does.

“I heard that if you share one with someone, your destinies are tied together.” Roxas says, and Riku frowns, nodding. Roxas looks at him oddly, and purses his lip into a frown. “I’m sorry, man. Still hurts, huh?”

Riku sighs. “I never tried it with him,” He says, waving the fruit. “I should’ve.”

He follows Roxas away from the stall and they finish gathering ingredients for that evening, and quietly make their way back to the mansion. If there is anything that Riku appreciates about Roxas, it’s that he’s not quite as inquisitive as his other counterparts. If he were, Riku wouldn’t really know what to say to him.

He spends the rest of the afternoon helping Roxas in the kitchen when it’s asked of him. Hayner, Pence, and Olette come later on and join them, offering their own assistance. Isa and Axel return with drinks, and Xion and Namine arrive last, giggling between themselves. Riku smiles when he sees their hands clasped together.

Dinner that evening is full of chatter, as Axel bickers with Hayner and Isa discusses decor with Xion and Namine. Pence, Olette, and Roxas chatter wildly about gaming strategies, and Riku watches all of this. He excuses himself to go to the kitchen, and he finds his purchased paopu fruit in one of the grocery bags, and sighs.

He eats it alone, then rejoins the others.

--

Riku immediately takes to sparring with Terra when he arrives at the Land of Departure the following day. His restlessness shows as he pounds Mirage Split against Ends of the Earth. The blades clang loudly against each other, the metal ringing in Riku’s ears. He pushes off against the blades and flips backwards.

Terra lets out a fighting cry and charges at him. He swings at Riku, who rolls to the side. Terra gestures and casts fira. Riku blocks it, warmth biting at his face. He yells and charges at Terra, aiming his blade against the other’s abdomen. Terra jumps backwards, but Riku swings repeatedly, barely leaving Terra enough time to dodge every swing. Mirage Split hits Terra’s side hard, and the master yells, falling on his side.

Riku stands straight, Mirage Split dematerializing from his grip. He walks over to offer his hand. “You’re hardly a challenge any more, old man.”

Terra takes his hand and stands up, shaking his head. “Or you just got better, is all.” He says. He turns to the students who have been watching, awed by the fighting prowess displayed by the two keyblade masters. “Everyone, you’re dismissed. Sorry to disappoint.”

The group disperses, chuckling and bidding both masters good bye with a chorus of ‘Good night, Master Terra, Master Riku!’ Riku watches them, and turns to Terra, who looks towards the group fondly and proudly still.

“It’s good to know that you can still be a challenge when distracted, Riku,” Terra says, and Riku raises his brow in surprise. Terra looks at him then and presses his hand on his shoulder. “What’s on your mind?”

Riku frowns and lets his gaze fall. He sighs deeply. “I’ve been thinking of looking for him again,” He admits. His chest feels lighter, somewhat. He shrugs. He shakes his head. “I don’t know.”

Terra’s lips curl into a concerned frown and he squeezes the man’s shoulder tighter. “You haven’t moved on.” He comments, though the words sound more like a question to Riku.

“I can’t move on,” is the correction. “I’ve tried.”

Riku lets Terra lead him towards a nearby bench, and he leans against the stone wall behind them. He gazes upwards to the sky, frowns, and closes his eyes. Terra sits down beside him, considering what to say to the other. They sit in silence for a time.

Then: “I wish I knew what to tell you.” Riku looks at Terra, who looks at him with an expression Riku cannot quite understand. He feels as though the other is disapproving, disappointed even. “Riku, I don’t think you should keep chasing after a ghost.”

Riku frowns and looks away, unhappy with the other’s response, but unsure of what he should have expected. He slumps his shoulders against the cold stone. He takes a few sharp breaths, and pushes himself off the bench. Terra holds his arm, and Riku pulls away as he turns to look at him; furious.

Terra’s face is apologetic. He tells him, “Sometimes we overlook the answer we need because we are blinded by our desire for one.”

They stare at each other, and Riku sighs. He stands there, contemplative. “I don’t want to keep living without him, Terra.”

“I know.” A pause. Terra shifts uncomfortably. “The library is always open to you, if you want to take a second look.”

Riku manages a smile at least, and nods. He bows respectfully before turning to enter the Forecourt. Terra watches him go, conflict clearly written on his face.

The library at the Land of Departure is expansive, and contains the only remaining texts and scripts of the Keyblade Masters of their time. Riku knows this space intimately, having spent years of his life pouring through the recorded histories that remain under the careful watch of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. Riku stalks through the aisles of books and scrolls, recalling numerous nights spent there.

He’d spent so much time looking for an answer here, and tonight should be no different. His fingers trace over the spine of one of the books and he sighs. He will not be doing any searching tonight.

He continues through the library to a reading corner by large windows. He spots Aqua sitting there, flipping through a book slowly. She looks up after a moment, her thumb idly flipping the corner of the page she had just finished reading. She smiles at Riku, but the way she looks at him - Aqua knows why he had come.

He bows to her respectfully, to which she responds by gesturing to an open seat near her. “Good evening, Riku.” She says. Riku nods at her and takes his seat, leaning back against the cushion of the chair.

“I think he’s alive, Aqua,” Riku says after a few moments of silence. When he turns his head to look at her, she has a sad smile directed at him. “I already gave up once. I don’t want to do that again.”

Her expression shifts - Thoughtful, Riku thinks, is how he would describe it. She seems to consider him, assessing him even. He falters slightly under her stern gaze, and he looks down. “What does your heart tell you?” She asks, and Riku furrows his brows.

He closes his eyes. “That I need to find him.”

The confidence and surety of his words surprise him and Aqua both; When he looks up at her, her expression has changed. She purses her lips and nods, and her shoulders fall. “I’ll admit that I do not know how to help you.”

Riku’s smile to her is sad and resigned. “You don’t need to.”

She looks at him, confused. But she does not press him, and instead reaches forward with her hand and takes hold of his and squeezes it. He returns the kind gesture, and stands. Aqua watches him as he bows and turns to leave. She calls him.

“Be careful, Riku.” She says. Riku looks over his shoulder. “And may your heart be your guiding key.”

The sentiment is returned with a nod. Riku leaves the library.

He exits the Forecourt and steps into the cool night air, summoning his glider and his armor. He hears someone call his name, and when he turns his head towards the voice, Ventus is sitting at a bench overlooking the cliffs of the Land of Departure. Riku watches through his helmet as Ventus waves him over, patting the seat beside him.

“Sit with me before you go?”

Riku looks at him, then at his glider. It dissipates and so does his armor, and he makes his way over to where Ventus is. He sits down beside him, leaning. Pleased, Ventus leans his on hands against the stone bench and looks upward.

“You know, it’s so weird to see you come and go everywhere. Someone might say you’re lost.”

Riku scoffs. He takes out a box of cigarettes, and gestures to Ventus. “You mind?” The other shakes his head and waves for him to continue. Riku nods, and lights one for himself.

“You’re going to go look for him again, aren’t you?” Ventus asks, smiling at Riku. Riku nods; He tries not to think about how obvious it seems to so many people. He breathes smoke into the air. “That’s good. I think you know what to do this time.”

He looks as though he’d wanted to say more; Riku gets the feeling that whatever remained unsaid didn’t have to be spoken in the first place. He sighs and takes another hit of his cigarette.

“Do you think he’s alright?” Riku asks, exhaling smoke through his lips.

Ventus looks at Riku. “Do you? ”

Riku’s unsure of how to answer that. Ventus chuckles, and looks skyward again. They stay there, gazing until the moon reaches its highest point in the sky. Riku stands to leave, and Ventus watches him. They look at each other, and Ventus grins.

“All your heart, Riku.” He says. “Find him with all of your heart.”

Ventus watches the glider take to the skies, then heads inside the Forecourt.

The trip to Keyblade Graveyard is one Riku has made several times; The vast expanse of abandoned keyblades no longer holds the same dread and grief it once did during the final battle against Organization XIII. Instead, it carries a different sort of grief -- One defined by the loss of the one he loves.

He takes his glider to the summit of the graveyard, where Xehanort summoned Kingdom Hearts and where Sora departed to confront him. He remembers, clearly, how they had all used the power of waking to travel through the Heart and into Scala ad Caelum, where they found Sora raggedly breathing and staring at Xehanort. He had lost. The world had been saved.

Riku turned to leave the summit, guiding his glider towards the gathering of abandoned keyblades. His descent is slow, and he looks at his surroundings, but does not see them.

He remembers that they all returned to the graveyard, everyone relieved save for Sora. Riku remembers bracing his heart and holding his tongue when Sora announced what he had intended to do. Mickey said what Riku could not. Instead, Riku had told Mickey to let Sora go. Neither Sora or Riku had exchanged one look or said one goodbye to each other.

Ten years later, Riku almost wishes they had. Perhaps that would have given him the resolve to move on, but no - The lack of a farewell made Sora’s departure unreal.

At the center of the graveyard stand three blades - To the left, Destiny’s Embrace. The right, Braveheart. At the center, surrounded by wilted flowers and recent, newer ones, with a single wayfinder hanging off the hilt, is the Kingdom Key. Riku walks up to it, and wraps his hand around its grip and pulls it off the ground.

He remembers when this key had appeared - Three days after the battle, in a flash of light. They had all rushed toward the light, and found Kairi nearly dead and barely clinging to life. The Kingdom Key clattered beside her, glowing for a long moment before dulling completely.

Axel had rushed to her side, pulling her into his lap. She looked up at him, tears bursting forth from her eyes, and she clutched at his cloak, burying her face in it. Riku had been the one to ask: “Where is Sora?”

She did not dare look at him, sobbing and mumbling, repeating the same words over and over. “I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Riku stares at the keyblade in his hand. This had been the blade that had pulled Sora out of this world and restored Kairi. This had been the blade that revolted Kairi so much she had denounced the keyblade, vowing never to wield it again. His grip tightens, and he raises it.

Riku takes a stance, pressing his foot forward and digging his heel into the dirt, the other foot planted firmly a step behind him. He takes a deep, careful breath and draws the Kingdom Key backwards, parallel to his pointed, skyward stare. He feels it hum with magic, the strength of his arcana mixed with all the will in his heart waking the key from its long rest.

He yells as he surges the keyblade forward, yelling more as light shoots from it and upwards. The sky shatters, and a hauntingly familiar ring appears in the sky, a large glowing keyhole at its center. Riku turns the blade.

He is engulfed by light.

His vision goes dark.

Chapter Text

Riku’s eyes snap open, sharp pains coursing throughout his body. He heaves on his elbows and grasps for air, head hurting, throbbing, and he winces as the sudden light around him fills his eyes. He whimpers - One hand raised to shield his eyes and the other brought to the side of his head, clutching weakly to will the pain away. He falls to his side, forcing himself to breathe as evenly as he could.

The headache does not cease completely, but through the ache he manages to concentrate enough on his surroundings - White buildings all around, their age showing through patches of wood and plaster and stone. Beneath him, pebbled paths, their surface smoothed over by ages of foot traffic over them.

Riku forces himself to sit, squinting ever more around him. He looks to his hand, curling it into a grip. Mirage Split materializes, and Riku, at least, sighs in relief.

He uses the keyblade as leverage as he tries to stand, but he does so too quickly. His vision blurs, darkens, and he falls forward as he hears a shout nearby.

He wakes to a room bathed in the light of late afternoon, bright but forgiving and lazy. The walls around him are rough and white, decorated with nautical items like seashells, and Riku wonders, briefly, if he had somehow found himself back home in Destiny Islands. A quick glance outside the window disproves him.

A breeze comes in, softly brushing silver hair off his face and waking Riku fully. He’s gentler, this time, when he pushes himself into a sitting position. The blanket covering him falls and Riku notices the various bandages wrapped around him - his abdomen, his arms, his forehead. He winces, feeling the ache of his injuries in full, and sighs sharply.

The door to the room creaks open and a dark-skinned woman enters with a tray of food and what Riku assumes to be medicinal items meant for him. He looks to her, meets her eyes, and she frowns at him -- concern -- then smiles -- relief. Riku shifts uncomfortably.

“You gave me quite the scare, kid,” the woman says, approaching Riku’s side. She sets down the tray on the bedside table and passes him a bowl of rice stew. Riku hesitates a moment, then takes it, nodding his thanks to her. “Do you know what happened to you?”

Riku purses his lips, thinks. He remembers the Graveyard, then light, darkness. “No,” He says, honestly. He doesn’t remember beyond that. “I don’t know.”

The woman frowns at that, but nods anyway. “Well, so long as you don’t do anything reckless for a while. I’ve never seen anyone wake up the way you did just now.”

Riku looks at her, confused. She hums thoughtfully, snapping her fingers.

“You woke up here. The wakin’ birth, kid,” She says kindly. “Anyone who’s from here has woken up here.”

“Oh.” Riku furrows his brows. He shakes his head. “No. I’m from somewhere else. Not here.”

“Oh, a traveler then?” She looks at Riku carefully, considers him. She nods. “Time’s changing. Well, perhaps that explains your injuries better.”

“Where is… here?” Riku then asks, looking outside the window once again. When he turns back to the woman, she’s busying herself with the medical kit.

“Ad Initium,” She says. “Formerly Scala Ad Caelum.”

Riku’s eyes widen at that. He purses his lips and nods. “That’s good to know. And you are?”

“Adren.”

“Thank you, Adren.” He leans back against the headboard. “I’m Riku.”

“Charming. Now, eat your stew while I take a look at your bandages, alright?”

Riku nods and does as he’s told; He keeps his bandaged arm in easy reach for Adren while he busies himself with the stew. There’s a slight shake to his right hand as he raises the spoonful of stew to his lips which disturbs him somewhat, but the tremor eventually stops and he relaxes with a deep breath.

His thoughts wander as Adren continues to work on his injuries; frantic, just a little bit. He’d like to blame his worries on the fact he’d woken up near-to-death in a world he thought familiar, cared for by a woman who doesn’t seem to understand that none of this should be normal in any capacity.

Adren hums loudly beside him, sounding satisfied. Riku looks at her.

“I’d say it’s just a few days of rest and you’ll be ready to get back on your feet!” She says, grinning to the young man. “If you don’t think you’ll be traveling for some time, you’re welcome to my house, alright, kid?”

Riku blinks at her, then squints. “You don’t even know me.”

“Sure I do,” She huffs, gathering her things and standing up. “You’re Riku.”

Something in the surety of her voice eases Riku, and his expression softens towards her. Nodding, Adren turns to leave the room, bidding the other a restful evening.

Riku stops her, saying: “Do you know someone named Sora here?”

“Never heard of that name, no.” Adren looks at him carefully. “Why don’t you go for a walk later, maybe ask around? We’ve got lots of friendly folk here. Just be sure not to go running off too far. I don’t want to find you half-dead in an alley. Be sure to come back after the stars start to fall.” With that, she leaves.

Riku swallows his disappointment and looks out through the window, the day still bright. He finishes his stew quietly, sets it the bowl on the side table, slides further underneath the covers, and wills himself to a nap.

It isn’t a long nap.

He gets up from the bed when the day is coming to an end; the beginnings of twilight blanketing the city outside the window. The faint orange glow of the late afternoon brings Riku’s thoughts to Twilight Town, and a sadness inches its way into his heart as he thinks more of it. He wonders, as he gets up and stretches his aching muscles, if Namine is doing well. Happy, surely; Happier, no doubt, now that she’s sharing more of her life with Xion.

Riku sits on the edge, facing away from the window.

He didn’t say goodbye to Namine, nor did he tell her of his plans to find Sora again. What would she have said, he wonders? Besides Kairi, Namine’s the only one who knows and has seen just how much Sora’s absence - and various absences - has affected him.

Perhaps she would have encouraged him to go.

He looks to the side table, where a necklace with a golden star as its charm rests. Riku feels for his neck, and finding nothing on it, reaches for the necklace. He stares at it in his hands. Sighs. Namine had given this to him not long after her awakening at Radiant Garden.

“The person I made it for isn’t here to receive it,” She’d said to him. “Just as he is not here to see me awake. So, please, take it in his place. I think he would appreciate it.”

He places the necklace around him, tugging the string tight so that the charm stayed close to his  neck. He tucks it under his collar, then finds his cloak. A quick peek outside the bedroom door shows him that Adren is not home. He makes his way outside as the late afternoon turns into evening.

He stays to the shade, walks underneath the low hanging roofs. Riku has his hood up; He’s wary, and for good reason. Scala ad Caelum thrives under a new name, which is enough to cause confusion and worry within him.

He takes in his surroundings - the damaged buildings, the cracked tiles of the pathways. Some newer buildings appear more like huts, their design reminding him of those on Destiny Islands. He tries to find comfort in that familiarity.

Riku walks down a pathway, the sight of docks coming into view. He steadies his breath and walks that way. He stops at a corner. He thinks again.

What would Namine tell him, were she here, in this strange new world?

He can’t think. He needs to keep moving. He takes a deep breath, walks the last few steps and paths towards the docks. The sky has dimmed, now, the deep orange glow fading into the evening blue; dark. Riku looks around the docks, finds no one, and heads to the end of a pier.

He sits. His legs dangle off the pier’s edge. He holds his head with his hands, his palms pressing into his eyes, and he rests his elbows on his knees.

Years ago, in Radiant Garden, just shortly after she awoke, she had asked him to stay for a while. She had then still been wary of Ienzo and Ansem, and though Aeleus and Dilan were nice to her they only seemed to regard her as though she were higher than them. Riku had obliged, understanding; Solitude is an awful thing to go back to.

“Everything is so different,” She’d told him, watching her feet as she placed one foot after another. “I mean, what should I even do?”

He thinks. What did he tell her?

“From here? Just keep looking up.”

It’s then that he sees it, a bright reflection on the dark waters underneath the pier. He had first thought it was the moon, but its shine was too bright and its shape too different. He stares at it, mouth agape, and he turns around. Kingdom Hearts hangs high above, its presence now commanding, as though it had only been waiting for a time to announce itself.

He should feel afraid. So why doesn’t he?

Stars begin to fall from the heart, light and glowing and unlike the dark orbs he had once seen emerge from the Heart in multitudes. The sky brightens with the cascading of stars, all of them bursting towards different directions, different colors.

He wonders if somewhere, Sora is watching this, too.

He rises to his feet slowly, his gaze captured by the grand display of light far above him. The sky brightens with every flash of color that bursts from the Heart that hangs high above the peak of Ad Initium, pulsing gently. With each heartbeat another star or two fall, flying into different directions and landing in a point in the sky, glowing, twinkling.

Namine, he thinks. What would you say to this?

“Riku,” Namine said, and he looked over his shoulder to her. “I think I finally know what this feels like. Having a body, being my own again.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“It’s a lot like learning everything all over again. How to walk, how to run. Even learning how to draw again - It’s so odd.” She gestured with her hands, twirled on one foot. Riku chuckled at her, and waited for her to continue.

“It’s rebirth.”

“Did you see the stars?” Adren asks him when he returns, his cloak held tightly to him. Riku looks up at her, surprised to see her sitting by her dining table with a cup of tea warming her hands. He falters, nods. “It’s beautiful, ain’t it?”

“It is. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He sits down beside her, leaning back. “What is it, exactly? Do you know?”

Adren nods, takes a sip. “Caelum says the Heart is making new worlds. Every new star we see up there in that sky is a bright new world. He said that Ad Initium is the, ah,” She pauses. Riku watches her. “He said, ‘It is the nexus from which all worlds spring.’ I don’t really know. Lately he’s been going on these trips to visit worlds, see what’s out there.”

Riku furrows his brows. He crosses his arms. “Who’s Caelum?”

Adren grins at him, smiling warmly as though Riku had just mentioned an old friend of hers. “Ah, right, I haven’t told you about him yet, have I? Caelum’s sort of our de facto leader, or our guardian, keyblade master-”

“Keyblade master? You have those here?”

“Well, sure. Who else is going to fight off those pesky heartless?” Adren scoffs. She continues: “That boy’s been looking after us and this world for as long as any of us can remember. He’s taught everyone who could how to wield the keyblade, which probably wasn’t so hard, considering this place used to be Scala Ad Caelum.”

Riku nods. “So he- Was he here before any of you?”

Adren nods at him, shrugging. “Everyone’s pretty sure he’s the first one who ever woke up here. Apparently he’d been here since the beginning, but it was years before more of us showed up.”

“Do you know why?”

She laughs, then, shrugging. “If it’s got to do with the Heart, then no. It don’t make a lick of sense, but it is Kingdom Hearts. You just take it and go.”

Riku smiles at that, nodding in agreement. Adren finishes her cup of tea and considers it for a moment before standing up and preparing herself a new one. She offers Riku one, and he nods. May as well.

“Don’t you hold one of those fancy keyblades, too, Riku?” Adren asks as she places the pot on top of the fire to warm the water inside. “I think I saw you holding one before you passed out before.”

“Oh, yeah. I do. Mirage Split.” Riku says as Adren sets the cups down on the table. He smiles. “My friend and I went on this adventure to this realm, once, and earned some keyblades there. The keyblades only ever worked in that world so when we went home we decided to make copies of them for ourselves.”

“Sounds like a good friend.”

“The best.” Riku looks down at the cup, and brings it to his lips for a sip. “Tell me more about Caelum?”

Adren considers him for a moment, then nods. Her smile returns, warm as ever. “He’s nothing like what you should be expecting a leader to be, for one. Leaders - You’d expect them to be stoic, or stern. Have this commanding presence about them that you think, oh, I should listen to them.”

“Caelum’s nothing like that. He’s just as much a boy as the youngest ones we have here. He’s always distracted, and has his head in the clouds. He has responsibilities and he does them well, sure, but sometimes you need to remind him to do them.”

Adren pauses, holding the cup. “But, he’s got this way with people. Can’t really explain it. It’s like he smiles at you and suddenly you’re friends with him whether or not you wanted to in the first place. It’s so - warm.”

Riku scoffs, but not unkindly. He hides a sad smile behind a sip.

“You know, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to go and meet Caelum one of these days, since you travel and all,” Adren hums, tipping her cup towards Riku. “Probably would be worth doing, maybe you could learn a thing or two while you’re here. Maybe he’ll learn something too.”

Riku considers this. “I suppose I should pay my respects. Perhaps I could get permission to browse their records here as well. I’d also like to learn more about the Heart, honestly.”

“Good man.” Adren chuckles. “You stay here until he comes back from one of his adventuring trips he goes on. I suspect you’ll be here a while.”

He shrugs. “Maybe. I can’t stay for too long.”

“How come?”

He sighs. “That friend I told you about. I’m looking for him. He went missing some years ago.”

Adren pauses. She holds her cup tighter and thinks. “Oh. Sora. Then I guess seeing Caelum would help with that all the more, yeah?” Riku nods. “Well, for as long as you’re here, my house is always open to you. You got that?”

Riku blinks at her, and smiles. “I got it.”

Riku finds out Adren has a daughter the next day.

Her name is Elyse, she’s a young kid with an apparent habit of getting into trouble (as displayed by her various bandages), has bright burgundy hair and sky blue eyes, and, as Riku quickly realizes, is selectively mute. When Riku meets her, she’s staring at him cautiously and stays close to Adren, an arm over the elder woman’s legs as though she were shielding him from her.

She turns to her, worried, and whispers something he can’t hear. Adren laughs, kneels down to her eye level, and whispers something back.

“I’m Riku,” Riku says when Elyse looks at him, signing his introduction carefully. The girl looks at him, surprised but pleasantly so, and smiles. She doesn’t sign anything back, but she does wave. She whispers something to Adren before rushing out the door.

“Cute kid, huh?” Adren chuckles. “Good to know you can sign. That’ll help warm her up to you.”

“I learned young.” Riku shrugs on his jacket, looking around the living room. He spots a broom leaning against a wall and goes to take it and sweep Adren’s floors clean. She huffs; Appreciative. “Also helps with my nieces, since one of them is selectively mute, too.”

“Nieces, huh?” Adren smiles, sitting down on a chair comfortably and letting Riku do his voluntary housework.

He nods, sweeping dust into a pile. “Two of them. My friend’s. The younger one, Asahi, she’s five. Very sweet, really quiet. The older one, Sora, she’s about nine now. Gets into all sorts of trouble and insists on her mother to bring her along on every varsity sports game she coaches.”

Adren regards him curiously, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. “Huh. Where do you come from, anyhow?”

“Destiny Islands,” Riku says, smiling. He holds the broom close and rests his chin on the handle. “It’s a small archipelago. Some of the main islands are connected by bridges but everyone knows how to row or sail.”

“Destiny Islands…” Adren repeats. She leans back. “You grew up there, then?”

“I did, with my friend. My nieces, they’re the daughters of another friend of ours - Kairi. Elyse actually reminds me a lot of her when she was younger. Same hair, same eyes.” Riku pauses, then looks to Adren. “Did you adopt her? Elyse, I mean.”

Adren nods, turning her head to glance at the door Elyse had run out through. “I did. She was young, just a babe, when she woke up, and there weren’t a lot of us yet. Certainly not many who would take care of a little girl. So I took her in. Used to be much more wary of people, but opened up eventually, in her own way.”

Riku smiles. “That’s the best thing about being around kids, I think. Being witness to how they grow.”

“Well, you’re damn right.” Adren laughs. She looks at Riku, crossing her arms. “How are you feeling today? I was going to suggest to you that you take a walk to the summit plaza, meet some wielders, see when Caelum comes back from his current trip.”

He doesn’t go; He decides to stay in the lower tier.

He meets Elyse again while out and about on the lower plazas of Ad Initium, quietly asking around and listening for any mention of Sora. His thoughts of his friend were put away, momentarily, when he comes across Elyse, laughing and playing soccer with some other children her age.

She notices him first, pausing momentarily while passing the ball to her teammate and causing the opposing team to steal it. Riku assumes by the glare he receives that she blames him for it, and he smiles sheepishly at her; apologizing. The kids take a break and a few of them approach Riku, asking him if he’d join him for a round or two.

Elyse looks at him expectantly. Riku’s reminded of Kairi, again. Of course he concedes.

He’s not that good at it - Most of what he does for the first round is making passes to the other kids. He’s placed in the team opposing Elyse, which the younger seems to enjoy since she keeps stealing the ball from him and trying to trip him when she could get away with it. Really, all he’s missing from this experience of being quietly bullied by kids half his height is Kairi yelling at him from the sidelines to stop being so easy to take over.

He plays five rounds with the kids, and sits at the end of the plaza where Elyse is berating him through various gestures.

Riku sighs exasperatedly. “You’re going to have to slow down a little bit, I didn’t catch those last few things.”

Elyse squints at him. She signs, slowly, You. Suck. She crosses her arms, looks back at the plaza where some of her friends are calling for her. She looks back to Riku.

He tells her he should get going. She shrugs and tells him the next time he plays with them he should try harder.

She looks over her shoulder as she leaves, signs to him: I’ll wait.

Riku progresses to the middle tier of Ad Initium later that week, trying a different approach to the search for Sora. He quickly learns, however, that it’s not so easy trying to describe the man you’ve carried embarrassingly strong affection for for so long, though, since he always has to stop himself from asking if someone had seen a man with “the eyes the color of the sky and a smile brighter than Kingdom Hearts itself.” It’s a short-lived approach; He quickly goes back to asking for Sora by name.

Still, no luck.

He does meet some of the keyblade wielders of Ad Initium in the middle tier, and is incredibly humbled by how much knowledge they seem to carry. They’re all kind to Riku, and admiring of him when he reveals to them his own status as a keyblade master. He begins wearing his Mark of Mastery, forged for him by Terra, around Ad Initium, and he’s further humbled by the response and awe towards him when others notice it.

He tries his best to ask them: Have you seen a man named Sora? He would introduce himself by name, he always does.

And each time they would apologize and tell him no, they’ve never met anyone by that name.

Their admiration hardly cushions the growing disappointment in his stomach, much less the dread and exhaustion.

Riku returns to the lower tier, tries to find a semblance of home in playing soccer with Elyse and her friends, and retires to bed that evening with a solemn resolve to try again the next day.

Adren wakes him the next day at daybreak, telling him he’s been requested at the summit by Caelum’s apprentice.

“I thought you went up there already?” She asks him, frowning. Riku shakes his head sheepishly.

“I took my time.”

He sets off immediately after dressing and being given a warm sandwich for breakfast. He makes sure to wear his best clothing - The very same threads he wears when he visits The Land of Departure to spar and be an example to the students there.

Walking up the steps towards the summit and passing those keyblade wielders who reside and bide their time in the middle tier feels very much like walking through the halls at Departure’s Forecourt; Young and wonder-filled eyes watch him curiously and admiringly, thoughts of living up to the same mysterious excellence no doubt running behind their gazes. Riku would sometimes tell the students at Departure that it is hard-earned and difficult, but he always trusts that they will figure that out for themselves.

He takes long, purposeful strides, the appearance of master easily suiting him. His coat, buttoned only at his waist, sways at his knees as he walks, the dark yellow trim flashing with a soft shine. His gold Mark of Mastery sits proudly at his hips, keeping his belt neatly clasped against  dark pants. Namine’s charm dangles at his neck, kept over the high collar of his cropped white turtleneck.

He feels a little more like himself in this outfit, and paired with the curious and awed looks of the remarkably numerous wielders around him, he feels a little bit like he’s home. It’s a good feeling - And one he takes with him as he walks the last few steps to the summit.

Kingdom Hearts hangs high above, but being on the summit, Riku feels intimately close with it. Its light warms his face, almost as though in greeting, though unlike the other night, it feels kinder, gentler. As though it had been waiting a long time to meet him.

His appearance seems to be expected. Immediately he’s approached by a pair of wielders - older, by the looks of it, and certainly senior in skill and experience compared to those in the middle tier of Ad Initium. A quick glance around the plaza tells Riku that most of the senior wielders spend their time here. They take his name, pay their respects to him and his title, and direct him into the west building of the summit plaza.

Riku walks past grand double doors and down a hallway bright with the light reflecting off marble floors. He’s reminded of the Forecourt at Departure, again, and smiles softly at memories of discussing at length various subjects and histories with Aqua in the Forecourt’s halls.

Footsteps sound behind him. Riku turns, poised. His brows raise slightly at the younger man standing before him.

Bright, aqua eyes are looking at him studiously through wispy bangs of dark grey, the rest of his hair pulled back neatly into a long ponytail. Were his hair closer to Riku’s silver, he would appear much like a younger image of Riku.

“You must be Riku.” The young man says as he notices the Mark of Mastery. He bows respectfully, a gesture that Riku returns. “It is an honor, sir.”

“The honor is mine,” Riku says. “I’m glad to find Scala Ad Caelum thriving.”

“Ad Initium,” the other corrects.

“Ad Initium,” Riku clears his throat. “Are you the one who requested me?”

“I am. My name is Mirare - I am one of Caelum’s apprentices. His second, actually.” Mirare gestures towards the hallway, inviting Riku to walk with him. Riku follows. “I’m one of the senior keyblade wielders here on Ad Initium.”

Riku looks at him curiously. “Are you a master yourself?”

Mirare shrugs. “In everything but title. There is only one master - That is Caelum. Officially we call him our Grandmaster, but he doesn’t really like it. Prefers everyone to just call him Caelum. The non-official compromise is master.”

Riku chuckles. “I’ve heard good things about him. Does he know I’m here?”

“He’s a remarkable man.” Mirare grins, then shakes his head. “Many of the younger trainees in the middle tier passed along to me your presence on Ad Initium, so I formally asked for your appearance on the summit. I thought perhaps to confirm you actually being here first. We’ve never met someone of the old tradition before, hence the invitation.”

Riku furrows his brows at that. “Old tradition?”

They turn a corner, ascend a flight of stairs. Mirare nods at Riku. “Your Mark of Mastery. When Caelum refounded Ad Initium, he made use of much of the knowledge left behind by the keyblade masters previously sat here but decided to restructure it, in a way. Our way of life is not so…”

He pauses, cupping his chin as he thinks carefully. Riku watches him.

“Strict?” Mirare tries, shrugging. “It’s why Caelum is our only master and why a lot of us here are very curious about you. With all respect, we thought all those of the old tradition were gone.”

Riku stops walking at that, staring at Mirare. Mirare turns when he notices the other’s lack of footsteps, sees his expression, and looks apologetic.

“Of course, I meant no offense-” Mirare begins, but Riku collects himself and stops him with a wave.

“No, it’s alright. I suppose we should just be relieved that my being here is proof that that is false.” Riku says. He takes another moment to breathe deeply, and Mirare stands patiently a few steps ahead of him.

When Riku rejoins him, Mirare continues: “Really, though. We were under the assumption that no other world existed besides ours, or at least, what ever did exist did not hold life of any kind.”

Riku thinks about that, and nods - It made some sense, at least.

“I also understand you’re searching for someone named Sora?”

“Yes, I am.” Riku looks at Mirare sharply; attentive. “Do you know anything?”

His heart drops when Mirare looks at him apologetically.

“But many of us would like to help however we can, nonetheless,” Mirare quickly amends, smiling. “Caelum’s meant to return to Ad Initium in the next day and I’m sure he would be able to help you in your search for your friend.”

Riku gives him a small smile and a short nod. Mirare looks at him, then at his feet. They walk a few steps before Mirare continues.

“There is something I’d like to ask of you in return for helping finding your friend, however.” His eyes dart from one end of the hallway to the other, then settles on Riku.

Riku looks at Mirare curiously, brow raised and back straightened. “Of course. What can I do?”

Mirare turns to him, meeting his eyes and clutching his hands in fists at his sides. Again Riku is reminded of himself when he was much younger - The same determination set in aquamarine eyes, the same need for something. He looks at Mirare expectantly, and just a little bit nervously.

“What do you know of the power to restore hearts?”

Riku’s eyes widen.

All of Riku’s memories of Scala Ad Caelum begin and end at the final confrontation against Xehanort. He’d done his research, read through the scripts at the Land of Departure, but nothing could have prepared Riku for the opportunity to see the nexus for himself. To be able to walk through its corridors and recognize all the damage that had been done to it and simultaneously be witness to its resilience is almost a holy experience in itself.

His conversation with Mirare earlier that day left him both curious and concerned for the state of Ad Initium - For all the information readily available at their hands, no one (apparently not even this Caelum everyone speaks so highly of) knows a thing about the power of waking. To them, it is more like a theory than it is a practice.

So he asks Mirare if it would be alright for him to spend some time in the library to brush up on material, investigate further on what information about the power of waking was already available to them. Mirare concedes, provides instructions, and reminds him that Caelum would be back soon and that he’s welcome to stay the night in one of the summit’s rooms.

The library at Ad Initium is busy. Riku stands just a few steps inside, but already he is amazed as he watches a team of librarians collecting books -- damaged, by the looks of it -- and carting them off to a large room at one end. Riku assumes that beyond the doors of the room are stationed another team working to restore the chains of memories that had been broken apart by Xehanort’s morbid curiosity. Although, Riku has to wonder -- Do these people know what it is that had broken them to begin with?

Riku ventures further into the library, careful to stay mindful of himself and keep out of the way of the library’s workers walking in and out. He notices a woman, seated primly atop a desk, watching the others and directing some. She clutches a book to her chest as she gives orders and answers questions when asked of her. Riku watches her for a moment and when the woman looks up to notice him, Riku gasps softly.

Though her hair is a dark brown, wild and wavy, and her eyes shine a bright golden hue speckled with green, and though her skin resembles that of wet soil at the banks of a mountainside creek, something about her is familiar. The woman tilts her head, smiles at Riku, and she waves at him to come closer. He does.

“You’re new. I don’t know you.” The woman says, and hops off the table to step closer towards Riku. She squints her eyes at him, leaning forward, as though inspecting him. He nods at her slowly. “Well, I’m Alo. I’m the chief librarian of Ad Initium’s library. It’s very nice to meet you.”

“And you as well,” Riku says slowly, bowing. “My name is Riku.”

Alo repeats his name. “So you’re the old tradition master everyone keeps talking about. I’ll have to remember that,” She says, grinning brightly. “Are you looking for a book? I know the library is a little loud and busy right now, but you’re welcome to borrow something and go upstairs or outside to find a quiet place to read.”

He blanks for a moment, then clears his throat. “Yes. I’d like to read about the history of this place.”

Alo regards him with a bemused look, smiling in a knowing way that almost unsettles Riku. “Ah, culture shock.”

“Sorry?”

“Would you like to read about this place before Kingdom Hearts, or after?” She asks, ignoring Riku.

“Excuse me?”

Her smile widens. “Before or after Kingdom Hearts, Master Riku.”

Frowning slightly and feeling as though he were being made fun of, Riku tries not to huff. He clears his throat instead, then says, “Both. I would also appreciate any texts you have about the power of waking.”

Alo’s already writing in her book where he could find texts about Scala Ad Caelum, but she does pause at the mention of the power of waking. Riku watches as she holds her pencil tighter, looks up at him carefully. She seems to consider something. Her lips purse, and she frowns as she looks back at her book and finishes writing down the whereabouts of Ad Initium’s history.

“Texts about the power of waking are restricted,” She says, her tone apologetic. Riku furrows his brows at her. “We humbly ask that you refrain from speaking of it casually. If you’d still like to read books about it, I’d suggest speaking to Caelum when he returns.”

Alo smiles again, ripping the paper from her book and passing it along to Riku. He looks at it, finds only the few aisles where the historical records are, and nods. “Thank you. I will.”

He looks at her again, carefully. Her smile seems sad and resigned. He thinks of Namine in her white room.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for, Master Riku.”

He tries to smile back. “Thank you.”

Riku picks a book with pages that show signs of its age but kept neatly in a new cover and refreshed bindings. Curiously, he pushes the book open as flat as he can, testing the tautness of the binding. The book holds and, satisfied, Riku begins to flip through the pages to gleam from it what histories it keeps.

The selection he has to pick from is small and limited. The single aisle Alo had directed him to contains only a few shelves’ worth of books - Much of the aisle is empty. The same can be said for much of the aisles in the library, though Riku’s hardly surprised; It seems the act of restoration for the books is a recent development.

He takes the book he picked out and begins to head for the doors of the library, being sure to bid a goodbye to Alo before his departure. The woman looks at him warmly, but Riku does not miss the quick and almost suspicious glance she makes towards the book in his hands.

Riku makes his way for the plaza outside, situating himself at the steps towards the west building and opens the book in his lap. The records are as he’d expected - Tales of Daybreak Town and how its ruins became Scala Ad Caelum.

He’s able to follow the book easily; He knows most, if not all of it, already. Which bothers him so much as to why doesn’t seem to know a thing about Ad Initium. Even in the past ten years, despite no one he knows having seen Scala Ad Caelum again, wouldn’t its existence been made obvious to any of them in some way?

They’d all assumed it was in ruins; A lost world within the Kingdom Hearts that Xehanort summoned.

Yet, Scala Ad Caelum thrives under a new name and a brighter, kinder Kingdom Hearts hangs high above and Riku cannot understand how it is that the peacefulness he feels surround him seems true and genuine.

He hopes that Caelum would be able to answer his questions for him when he returns.

Riku reads through the rest of his book quietly. The day turns into noon, and the sea breeze makes its way to the busy plaza softly. Riku’s often greeted by other senior keyblade wielders - they are kind and respectful and curious, some even sitting down beside him to ask about the old tradition and what life is like for him and what his keyblade looks like.

Mirage Split makes several appearances that afternoon; Enough, in fact, that Riku leaves it materialized to rest beside his legs to save others from having to ask him about it. They still do, but with better questions - Where did it come from? How did you come by it?

He answers them all honestly, sometimes even indulging in epic stories of his various adventures. He makes sure to pick the better ones - The ones about him and Sora, fighting heartless together and growing stronger - and makes absolute certain he doesn’t mention anything that involves Xehanort. Which, unfortunately for much of the wielders who’ve gathered around him now, makes up for most of his stories.

Being able to talk about Sora is a welcome distraction, though. For some time he keeps his mind away from the strangeness of Ad Initium, and it eases his anxious heart much. Mirare joins the crowd at some point, staying close to the front of the crowd and sitting by Riku’s feet. He seems to pay particular attention to Mirage Split resting beside Riku, but Riku doesn’t think much of it.

“Could you tell us a story about Mirage Split?” Someone in the crowd asks, and Riku’s face warms. He nods anyway, smiling, and re-seats himself comfortably.

“I’ll tell you about this particular one - It’s actually a copy of another, but that’s a story for another day.” The youngest wielders around him pout at him, to which Riku only laughs. “Sora, that friend I keep mentioning. We both had just come from a difficult adventure where we earned the original versions of these keyblades.

“These keyblades of ours meant a lot to the both of us, so when we returned from the world where the originals only worked and belonged in, we decided to work at the forge of our master’s tower.

“It was all Sora’s idea - He wanted a keyblade to always remember me by. In all of our adventures, our hearts always forged new keyblades when creating strong connections, and he thought it unfair that neither of us had forged a keyblade based on the other. So he took matters in his own hands.

“The forge at our master’s tower is a little unused, but it had most of the materials he needed to get to work. Growing up he learned a little bit of metalsmithing to make some harpoons for him and his father to fish with, so he knew his way around. I wasn’t so well-versed but I did help where I could - Which was mostly in the material gathering department. Admittedly.” The young wielders laugh at Riku’s sheepishness; He smiles. Mirare watches him carefully; attentive, Riku thinks.

“He worked on the keyblades for such a long time, making sure they were exactly as we both remembered them to be. And when they were done, honestly,” Riku pauses, his eyes gazing far away. “I thought they were perfect. Both of them.”

There are a few sighs; Riku blushes again.

“So we had our keyblades, but they weren’t exactly - Keyblades yet. All keyblades, they’re made powerful by the magic that resides in hearts, it’s not enough to just make one and call it a keyblade. And, honestly, neither of us were exactly sure as to how to go about connecting our hearts to it.

“So we tried a bunch of different things. We sparred with the keyblades. I won a lot, but no results.

“We, ah. We tried sleeping with the keyblades beside us or underneath our pillows. You can imagine what that was like.”

Riku chuckles when the others laugh. Mirare grins, too.

“Then one day we decided to take some time off missions and just go home to the islands we grew up in, hang out at the beach we always played at. In Destiny Islands, there’s a little cave on the island off the main shore where we often played. It was sort-of our place.

“We brought the keyblades there, set them down on the floor and just. Talked to each other. About everything we’d both gone through, promises we made to each other. I,” He pauses, remembering the scene. He’d been so full of emotion that day; Nearly told Sora all of the feelings he held tightly in his chest. He flushes. “I took my keyblade - Mirage Split. Held it in my hands and I told him that I would always protect Sora with all of my heart.

“He promised the same.

“And - The strangest thing happened. The keyblades glowed brightly together and then all of a sudden me and Sora- We just knew that we were holding the same keyblades from our adventure.”

He holds out his hand, and Mirage Split disappears from his side and reappears in his grip in a flash of light. The teal tinted metal grows brilliantly in his hand, shining in such a way that it seemed to be showing itself off, presenting itself to the crowd around Riku. He sighs, smiling, then wills the keyblade away.

“So the takeaway here,” He says, smiling sheepishly at the awed and touched reactions of the wielders around him, “Is that the heart has all these secrets that we don’t even know.”

Mirare escorts him to a room in the east building of the summit when the day begins to dim into night. It’s on one of the highest floors, with a view that overlooks most of the other islands on Ad Initium. Riku thanks Mirare deeply for the hospitality, asks if he could send a runner to tell Adren he won’t be staying at her home, and Mirare agrees.

Riku places a hand on the other’s shoulder before Mirare leaves. He looks at the young man curiously, says, “You didn’t tell me about the book restrictions.”

Mirare frowns and sighs. “I was kind of hoping your status as being both an old traditionist and a master would bypass that.”

Riku chuckles. “Still, a heads up would have been nice. I’ll talk to Caelum about it when he comes.”

Mirare smiles and turns to leave. He stops at the door and looks over his shoulder. “Actually, could I ask for one more thing?”

Riku nods. “Of course.”

Mirare approaches him again. “Could I see Mirage Split?”

Riku obliges, materializing the keyblade easily. It appears in his hand in a bright teal flash, glowing intermittently before settling into its form. Riku holds it out for Mirare, who looks at the other with surprise before gingerly taking the blade in his hands.

Mirage Split glows a little brighter, curiously welcoming the new hands holding it. Mirare steps back and tests the blade’s weight, swinging it a few times, then letting it rest in both of his hands once again. The keyblade glows teal then disappears softly.

“It’s a beautiful blade.” Mirare says quietly, eyes still gazing at where the blade had just been. His brows furrow, then relaxes, and he looks up with a bright grin at Riku. “Thank you, Master Riku.”

Riku returns the smile in full. “Good night, Mirare.”

The following morning isn’t peaceful.

Riku’s woken up by the frantic knocking at his door. Mirare takes his hand when Riku opens it, telling him they need to be at the middle tier immediately.

“What’s happened?”

“A large group of heartless appeared in the middle tier,” Mirare says, summoning armor as they run past the plaza. The senior wielders were already busy fighting off groups of heartless at the summit.

They descend down the steps to the middle plaza, where more heartless are being held off by younger wielders. Some of the seniors had come down to help, but Riku can see why they’d be having trouble.

A Darkside roars at the people around it, crouching low and swinging its arms. It hits a group of the wielders, sending them flying back; One of them lands near Riku’s feet, groaning. Riku crouches, casts Cura on the wielder.

He stands again, summoning both Mirage Split and his armor, and yells for the Darkside’s attention.

The beast raises its chest and pounds it hard before crouching low and slamming its hands into the plaza’s floor. Riku takes his stance and charges forward, casting Thundaga to stun the massive heartless.

He goes for one of its hands, swinging his blade down against it in several successive spins. The beast wails at Riku’s actions, stumbling backward in its falter. It turns to Riku, angrier, and swings at him with its other hand. It hits Riku’s side, sending him flying, but Riku recovers himself and jumps towards the offending hand. He swings with a Firaga-covered blade, leaving dark burns on the Darkside’s fist.

He jumps back to dodge the Darkside’s rage. He looks around quickly for Mirare, sees him fighting off a pair of Water Cores, then focuses back on the Darkside as it recovers. He charges forward and casts Thundaga once again to stun the beast and strikes one of its fists.

The beast roars louder, this time, and opens its other fist to summon an orb of dark energy. Riku frowns, doubles back, but the orb bursts and the energy follows him as he dodges. It pushes him back away from the Darkside, and distracts him enough to give the Heartless an opening.

He braces for a hit that never comes.

Firaga rushes past Riku’s side, hitting the fist aimed for him before it lands. Black and red tinted armor rushes past him in a blur, and two keyblades spin in tandem against the Darkside’s fist. The armor settles into a stance. Caelum.

Riku is staring at an exact copy of Mirage Split and what he knows to be Sora’s Nightmare’s End.

The Darkside wails and rages on, swinging its fists around it. Riku focuses back on it, casting Thundaga as Caelum casts Firaga. Their attacks on the beast synchronize; Riku focuses on one fist as Caelum focuses on another. Soon enough the beast cries out in one last rage, faltering. Caelum and Riku both vault into the air and strike down at the Darkside’s head in a spin.

It disappears. The smaller, remaining heartless around them scatter and disappear back into darkness now that their boss is defeated.

Riku raises Mirage Split and points it towards Caelum. Mirare rushes to Riku’s side, a hand held out to stop him. Another wielder in armor shields Caelum. Gasps can be heard around the plaza.

Riku does not care.

“That keyblade does not belong to you.” He tries to steady his breathing. His armor dissipates. He glares at the man before him. “That keyblade isn’t yours. Who are you?!”

Caelum grips his keyblades tightly, his shoulders dropping. His head lowers. Mirare keeps Riku where he is, the other wielder shields Caelum even more.

“I won’t repeat myself a third time.”

Riku watches as Nightmare’s End fades away slowly, the copy of Mirage Split sheathed onto Caelum’s back. Caelum pushes the wielder in front of him gently, and they back off. They don’t stay far away.

Riku’s eyes narrow as Caelum approaches closer, stopping at Mirage Split’s end. The man’s visor is pointed towards him, as though studying him. He hesitates some, then waves for Mirare to move away as well. The younger man obliges, just as reluctantly as the other wielder.

Caelum and Riku hold each other’s stares for a long moment. Caelum raises his hand, reaching out for Riku, then drops. Caelum’s head lowers.

Black and red armor fades away in a low, red glow. Riku watches wild brown hair, barely tamed in a half ponytail, settle on broad, tanned shoulders. A chain necklace hangs around Caelum’s neck, its weathered and battered crown charm resting at his collarbones. Riku watches as Caelum raises his head slowly, tears flowing down his cheeks, and Riku feels his own eyes well with tears when he meets Sora’s sky-blue eyes.

Mirage Split clatters to the ground, disappearing.

“Sora?”

Chapter Text

Riku steps over Mirage Split’s disappearing form, his head bent to look closer at the man before him. His hand raises, shaking, reaching out, but he takes it back.

“Is it really you, Riku? Do you really know who I am?” Sora asks him. Riku watches as his lips tremble, struggling to form the words through his tears. “Are you really here?”

Riku stares at him, stunned as Sora raises his own hand and places it on Riku’s shoulder. He shakes the taller man, trying to push him to talk. Riku loses his words all the more, his gaze staying on Sora’s face.

“Tell me you know who I am. Say my name again, please, ” His voice cracks, begging. “Tell me it’s really you, Riku.”

Riku brings his hands slowly to Sora’s face, holding him gently. He leans close, aquamarine eyes boring into Sora’s deep blues. Sora’s tears collect in the spaces between Riku’s fingers, some rolling down the backs of his hands.

“Sora.”

Sora’s eyes crinkle, his lips curving upwards slightly.

Riku squeezes his eyes shut, takes a shuddering breath.

“I’m so sorry, ” Riku says, struggling to find his voice. “I shouldn’t have let you go alone, I should have gone with you- I-”

Sora laughs. His arms wrap around Riku and he pulls the other into a tight hug and buries his face in Riku’s chest, muffling his laughter. Riku wraps his own arms around Sora, his hand finding purchase in familiarly wild hair. He’s quiet as he listens to Sora’s soft laughs, the relief interrupted now and then by tearful intakes of air.

He barely hears Sora’s muffled words -- “I think it’s really you.”

Mirare ushers them away from a curious crowd. Riku learns the other wielder’s name - Larae - but she seems to have disappeared in the crowd.

The events happen quickly; Many of the senior wielders separate into smaller groups and travel from one island to the next, making sure the threat of heartless has subsided for the time being. He remembers watching Sora pull away from their embrace for a moment to address his many apprentices; He doesn’t remember what he says.

Even the walk back to the east summit building is hazy; He only remembers Sora’s tear stained face, hunched shoulders and tight fists. He’s alive, he’s in the same room as him. He’s staring at him, but Sora’s pointedly looking elsewhere.

Mirare is quiet as he leaves them, closing the door behind him slowly. When it clicks, sealed, Sora turns to Riku.

“Sora.” Riku says, softly, still disbelieving. The smile he receives is small, but brilliant nonetheless.

“Hi Riku.” Sora says quietly, standing nervously just a few steps away from Riku. He looks down at himself, and when he looks up at Riku again his smile is sheepish. “Could you give me a minute? I need to change.”

Riku blinks. Sora looks at him expectantly for a moment before Riku remembers himself. “Oh. Yeah, of course. I can- I can wait.”

Sora grins, scratching the back of his neck. He stands awkwardly - Both of them do - before he turns and makes his way to his room.

Now back in the present, Riku looks around at his surroundings. Mirare must have ushered them to Sora’s quarters, or his office, one of those- There’s a couch where blankets are gathered in a messy pile, pillows making up the bulk of its shape. Arranged on the floors and on whatever waist-high surface are books and notebooks and loose papers. There’s a kitchenette to one end of the room, where the sink holds a few mugs waiting to be taken care of.

Riku walks around, eyeing the various items placed around the room. The shelves of one particular bookcase display various items- Sea shells, various rocks, gemstones. There appear to be some sketchbooks too, standing together neatly against each other on one of the shelves.

He turns his attention to another side of the room, where a group of tables have been moved near each other to make a large surface. It displays a massive map pieced together by various others. Riku leans close to inspect it, reading the notes and admiring the careful cartography. It only takes him a moment to realize he’s looking at a collection of worlds that Sora’s traveled to.

He reads the dates on the maps, and widens his eyes - This has been a project going on for a few years, now.

Sora reappears from the room he went into, closing the door carefully behind him. Riku looks up at him, blanks again for words when Sora smiles at him.

“Hey.”

Looking at him again, Riku feels as though Sora had grown up as he would have guessed him to- His hair remains untamed, his eyes still bright and blue. His choice of clothes suit him all the more - Earthy and casual. Sora wears an age-worn tank top that Riku suspects he’d cut the sleeves off of and loose pants that gather just below his knees.

There’s a small sense of pride and relief knowing that Sora still wears the crown necklace he’d gifted him when they were just boys on an island with dreams to explore the world.

“You look like you never left Destiny Islands,” Riku says softly, his smile matching his tone.

Sora grins sheepishly, flicking underneath his nose the same way he’s always done.

“You’ve been busy.” Riku then says, carefully. He gestures to the map in front of him. Sora nods.

“Turns out I’ve got a knack for mapmaking,” He says, walking closer. He stands opposite Riku, staying across the table. “Among other things. I’ve had a lot of time to kill.”

“I’ve been spending a lot of time traveling - I think it’s been two years now since I started? The first worlds showed up two years ago, so I just thought to… Go.”

“Not like I could go all the time, though. There’s- There’s still a lot to fix here in Ad Initium, you know, some of the other islands still need repair, and the books in the library need so much taking care of. I had to learn how to bind a broken book a few years ago, it sucks, and-”

“And I have to teach a lot of keyblade wielders, too! We’re in the hundreds now, I think. I have to ask Alo to conduct a census, but she’s busy with the library so I should ask- Larae and Mirare, actually.” He pauses, looks around, and grabs a stray pencil and a piece of paper and writes down a reminder. He folds it and places it in his pocket.

Riku stares at him, amazed and amused. Sora blinks at him.

“Right- Have you met any of them?” He asks. Riku nods.

“I’ve been to the library. Alo does seem very busy. Mirare has been very kind.”

Sora grins, looking very much like a proud parent.

“Alo reminds me a little bit of Namine,” Riku continues, watching Sora carefully. “Mirare reminds me a little bit of me when I was younger.”

Sora’s hand fumbles with the pencil for a moment.

“I should introduce you to Larae,” Sora says, clearing his throat. “She’s Mirare’s sister. She, um. She looks a lot like if Xion and Roxas were the same person.”

Riku doesn’t know if he should feel relieved or not that Sora seems to also find similarities in the people here with the people they know. He looks down at the map. He taps the surface one, twice.

“There’s a girl I met on the lower tier. Elyse,” he says. The pencil spins in between Sora’s fingers.

“Adren’s daughter, yeah.”

“She looks a lot like - “

“- Kairi when she was younger,” Sora says softly. “I know. She’ll probably grow up looking a lot like her, too.”

They’re both quiet for a time. Sora looks up at Riku, and they hold each other’s stares.

Riku catches the unspoken question, smiles reassuringly. “Kairi’s well. She named her first daughter after you.”

“Really?” Sora’s brows raise, and he looks like he’s about to cry. “Her first? She has more?”

Riku thinks of telling him about Kairi’s renouncement of the keyblade, but decides against it. He nods at the other. “Two girls. Sora and Asahi. She went home to Destiny Islands, married Nagisa. She’s from one of the southern islands. She’s a coach for the varsity soccer team in our district.”

Sora seems amused by that detail, and his smile widens into a grin. “Wow. Soccer mom Kairi.”

Riku scoffs. “You have no idea.”

“I’m- I’m really happy for her,” Sora says honestly. He spins the pencil. “What about everyone else?”

Riku crosses his arms and pretends to think, humming. “I don’t know. My memory isn’t that great.”

Sora pouts at him, making him laugh.

“Terra, Aqua, and Ventus have been training more keyblade wielders. The Land of Departure is practically a school now. Namine moved in with Xion at the mansion in Twilight Town - Got it renovated and everything.”

“Roxas moved in there, too, with Pence. I’m pretty sure they’re dating, but if anyone knows for sure it’s Xion and Axel. Roxas cooks, by the way. Really good at it, but I wouldn’t admit that to him even if my life depended on it.”

Sora gapes at him. “Roxas cooks? Does he wash his hands?”

“That’s what I said!” Riku laughs. “Terra and Aqua are engaged, too.”

“And what about the King? Donald, Goofy?” Sora asks.

“The King and Queen are doing well. Thriving,” Riku hums. “Goofy’s son joined the royal guard. Donald and Daisy got married some time ago.”

Sora’s eyes are bright and happy; Riku smiles at the sight of them. He looks down at the map, taps his fingers on the surface.

“How… Are you?” Riku finally asks.

Sora seems to blank for words, staring at Riku as if he hadn’t thought about it for some time. Riku watches his lips purse, watches him shift his weight, watches him look away in deep thought.

“I’m okay,” he says quietly, with little finality. His eyes meet Riku’s again and soften. “I’m doing okay.”

Their morning isn’t uninterrupted, and Riku gets a glimpse at Sora’s life as Caelum.

A knock on the door into Sora’s quarters calls for their attention. Riku opens the door to Mirare and Larae; The latter looks at him warily, unsure of what to make of him. She gives him a stiff bow out of respect, but no more than that.

Mirare, to Riku’s relief, doesn’t seem too bothered by his presence. He gives Riku a wary smile and a short bow.

Larae walks past him and into the room, approaching Sora.

“Master Caelum,” she says, holding out a small stack of papers to him. “I’ve brought our notes from the last trip.”

Sora beams at her and takes the papers. He gives Larae his thanks, tells her he appreciates her hard work. Larae seems to soften. She steps back, looks to Mirare as he walks to them both. He offers Sora a low bow.

“The groups came back moments ago. They’ve confirmed that Ad Initium is clear of Heartless at the moment.”  

“Hey, that’s great!” Sora says, hands clasping at Mirare’s shoulders.

Riku shifts quietly, still standing by the door. Sora glances at him, then to the two young adults in front of him. His smile saddens a little bit as he looks to them, one hand to each of their shoulders.

“Let’s talk, yeah?” He says softly. “Your old man’s got someone to introduce to you properly.”

The two wielders look at Riku.

Mirare speaks up. “I think we should do this with Alo.” Beside him, Larae nods. Neither of them look away.

So they do. They cross the summit plaza to the west building, Larae staying close to Sora’s side while Mirare walks comfortably between Sora and Riku. He glances up at Riku often, always looking as though he were to say something. His lips purse every time and says nothing.

Riku’s in an odd state of his own - He seems to move not of his own accord, feels like he’s only watching himself function. He’s aware of his surroundings, too; So many stares and curious looks are pointed towards him, towards Sora. He’s not sure where to begin dealing with it.

It feels strange; The wielders have taken an entirely different attitude towards him being on Ad Initium. He feels like he’s interrupting.

Out of all things, Kingdom Hearts’ warmth seems to be his only comfort and reassurance.

Alo seems to be expecting them at the library. She sits in her office, tapping her pencil against her book. Her feet bounce nervously as they enter, and she clasps her hands together over them, trying to press down her unease.

She stands up when Mirare closes the door behind him, staring at Sora.

“Are you keeping anything else from us?” She asks, her voice soft and filled with hurt. “We’re not- We’re not children anymore. You can tell us.”

She purses her lips, tries to regain her composure. She looks to Riku, hands still clasped at her waist. She bows low in greeting.

“We don’t mean any offense, Master Riku, your presence here on Ad Initium still honors us, we just,”

“Feel like idiots.” Larae finishes, staring pointedly at Sora. Riku watches him wince.

“Larae.” Sora says sternly; reprimanding. She flinches, looks down. Sora sighs, then gestures to Riku. “Mirare, Alo, you’ve met Riku already. Larae, would you like to introduce yourself?”

She turns to Riku, then, and sighs. She bows low and when she rises to meet Riku’s eyes, she gives him a hard, challenging look. “My name is Larae, first apprentice of Master Caelum.”

Riku begins to introduce himself formally, but Larae continues, interrupting him.

“My brother has spoken highly of you, sir. I wish we had met with different circumstances.”

Riku blinks. Then he smiles, bowing low. “It seems there has been a lot of misunderstanding and unfortunate circumstances.”

They nod at each other. Sora lets out a relieved sigh.

“Well, now that that’s over with!” He says excitedly, gathering the three young adults in his arms. “Riku, I would very much like to introduce you to my prides and joys!”

Larae and Mirare groan; Alo looks exasperated.

“This really should be taken a little more seriously, Master Caelum…” The librarian says, looking up at him. Sora shrugs.

Riku looks Alo curiously. “Are you a wielder, too?”

Sora beams at the question and nudges Alo encouragingly. She grins at Sora, then turns to Riku. She shakes her head. “I’m a witch, sir.”

“A really powerful one. She can cast Blizzaga like it’s nobody’s business.” Sora grins.

“And Larae’s got quick feet and can strike down a Novashadow in one hit. It’s true- I’ve seen her do it.” Larae flicks her nose, her grin far from shy.

“And Mirare over here’s a force of his own, too. He’s got this resilience, this determination, it’s really admirable.” Mirare scratches his cheek, smiling. “He’s got discipline all figured out, this guy.”

Riku chuckles. His eyes meet Mirare’s, and he sees himself in him again.

“And,” Sora looks at Riku, his grin soft. “Larae, Mirare; Alo. This is Riku. He’s an old friend.”

Riku smiles softly.

“And a very dear friend to me.”

“As you are to me, Sora.” Riku says. He clears his throat. “Though I don’t believe that answers Alo’s question.”

Alo nods. “No, it very much does not.” She and her friends pull away from Sora’s embrace and look at him expectantly.

Sora scratches the back of his neck.

“Well, then.” He looks around him, gestures to the various seats in Alo’s office. “Let’s talk.”

They talk for a very long time. The day outside Alo’s window brightens into early afternoon then slowly warms for the late afternoon.

They talk about Kingdom Hearts, about the one Riku knows and the one Sora’s come to know. They talk about the guardians of light, about King Mickey and Donald and Goofy.

Sora hesitates when Riku mentions the power of waking. When Mirare asks, Sora tells him that it’s dangerous, that it has consequences. He says no more.

Riku gets the sense that’s not the first time they’ve spoken about this.

Evening comes. Alo, Mirare, and Larae all look exhausted; Each of them lie back in their seats with faraway looks, processing every information they’d just received from Sora and Riku both.

Larae speaks quietly. “Do we still call you Caelum?”

Sora smiles, tilts his head. Riku watches his hair fall past his shoulders. “Am I still Caelum to you?”

The three young adults blink at that question and look between themselves.

“Yes,” Larae says. “You are.”

“Then you still call me Caelum.” Sora says warmly, earning tired smiles from the three. He stands up, rests his hands on his hips. “It’s been a long day. Why don’t you guys rest?”

Alo yawns after the suggestion, and Mirare stretches his arms when he stands up. Larae slumps in her seat, crossing her arms. Riku hides a smile when he notices her trying to blink away her exhaustion.

Sora rolls his eyes. “Off you guys go.” He says, and Larae nods, frowning. They get up and leave the room one by one, bidding polite goodbyes to Riku as they go.

Riku turns to Sora. “You heading to bed, too?”

“Nah. You?”

Riku purses his lips. He shakes his head. “Not really tired.”

“Oh. Good.” Sora fumbles with his fingers. “Do you- Do you want to hang out? For a little while?”

The words leave Riku’s lips before he even thinks of them. “I’d want nothing more than that.”

Sora beams. “I want to show you my favorite place.”

Sora leads Riku to the roof of the east summit building. They dropped by his quarters before, gathering blankets and pillows. Sora balances cups of tea on a tray as they ascend up to the roof. Riku drops by his room to grab his cigarettes.

They sit at the ledge, legs dangling off the edge as they sit and watch stars burst from Kingdom Hearts. This close to the Heart, each burts illuminates them fully. Riku sneaks a few glances at Sora and feels his heart warm when he gets to see various colors brighten him.

He looks at the cup of tea in his hand, takes a sip, and sets it down on the ground beside him.

“You know,” Riku says, resting his elbows on his knees. “There’s something I still don’t understand.”

Sora looks at him, hums as he sips his tea.

“Why didn’t you try going home?”

Sora looks sad. Riku furrows his brows.

“When I woke up here, the only thing in the sky was Kingdom Hearts.”

Riku understands immediately. He frowns.

Sora bows his head, sighing heavily. “You know, I still don’t know if you’re real or not.”

“I’m really scared that I’ll wake up tomorrow and you won’t be here. I was so happy when the Heart started making worlds and stars started to show, I thought maybe I’d find you or Kairi or Donald and Goofy.”

“But all I see are… People who remind me of people I knew.”

Riku purses his lips.

“Well. I’m here, aren’t I?” He says gently, reaching out to Sora. “And if I’m here then Destiny Islands is, too. We can go back, see Kairi and her family.”

Sora shakes his head.

“No, Riku,” Sora sighs. “I don’t think you get it.”

Riku places his hand on Sora’s arm. “Help me, then.”

There’s a pause; Hesitant.

“I used the power of waking to find Kairi. I don’t remember what happened when I did- If I did- I just remember waking up here.”

“Scala Ad Caelum was in ruins, Riku. Kingdom Hearts?” He gestures, “It was still Xehanort’s Kingdom Hearts. I was sure of it.”

His hand curls into a tight fist. “King Mickey said that overusing the power of waking had a cost, and I thought- I thought I undid everything . You didn’t just die, you just. Stopped existing. ”

His hand drops to his side. He finishes his tea, sets it down. He pulls his blankets tighter around him.

Riku sits closer. Their legs touch.

“Take me on your next trip.” He says. “We’re going to find Destiny Islands, and everyone else. We’ll go home. Things will be just like before.”

Sora doesn’t reply to that, doesn’t even give Riku a smile. He does, at least, lean on the other.

Sora’s hair brushes Riku’s chin as he turns to look up at him. Riku meets his gaze, and they hold each other’s stare.

“Riku,” Sora says slowly, carefully. “Have you thought about the future?”

Riku isn’t sure how to respond. He tries to say something, but he’s at a loss for words; He blanks.

Sora speaks to him the same way Kairi spoke to him when she’d asked him the same thing.

“I have. I had to.” He looks away, resting his head on Riku’s shoulder. “Every single day since I woke up here. I’m responsible for Kingdom Hearts, for Ad Initium, for every star in the sky. I’m responsible for every person that lives here- Larae, Mirare, Alo.”

“I’m responsible for the safety of Ad Initium, so that Elyse doesn’t have to grow up waiting for her friends like Kairi did.”

“I’m responsible for making sure Adren gets to grow old surrounded by the people she loves.”

“This is where I am, now, Riku. I can’t go back home, if it even exists.”

Riku stares at him, mouth agape. He feels his chest hollow.

“And I don’t think you should ask it of me.”

Kingdom Hearts releases the last stars of that evening. The light around Sora and Riku dims to a soft, pale yellow.

“Then,” Riku says. “What do I do?”

Sora’s hand settles on top of Riku’s, holding it tightly. He sits up and looks at him, and it’s then that Riku sees in Sora’s eyes all of the loneliness and growing up that Sora had to do in the past decade.

It’s then that Riku realizes that he’d been stuck at the Graveyard for the past decade, that his heart never left the place that Sora had disappeared from.

“Riku,” Sora says softly. “You’re here now.”

He catches what Sora tries to say.

“At least think about it.”

Riku retreats into his room. He sits himself by the window, stares at Kingdom Hearts. He thinks of the future, of what he wants to do, and where he wants to be.

Kingdom Hearts glows brightly; Comforting.

Alone, now, and left to his own thoughts and shock and resurfaced sadness, Riku cries. He falls asleep at the window as the Heart watches over him.

Riku heads straight to the lower tier the next morning, leaving before the summit plaza becomes busy with activity. He passes Mirare on the way who looks at him curiously, but Riku’s gone before he can ask where he’s going - Or if Sora knew he was going somewhere.

Adren’s surprised to see him at her door. She lets him in, starts the stove to make some tea. Riku sits on one end of her dining table, his head held in his hands.

“Not exactly the reunion you were hoping for, huh?” Adren muses. She sets down a mug in front of Riku. He takes it, takes a sip.

“What are you doing today?” Riku asks instead, looking around her house. Elyse doesn’t seem to be in; She’s likely out and about with her friends, playing. He looks back at Adren.

“Taking the boat out to fish.” She looks at him carefully. “You want to come along?”

Riku nods. “Please.”

“Bless my Heart,” Adren laughs. “You’re avoiding him.”

She takes him to the water, lets him sail for a time. Riku’s thankful for her careful lack of questions, and busies himself around her boat. Adren directs him to her usual spot just outside the group of islands that make up Ad Initium. Riku looks behind them; The main island is far.

He focuses back on the vast waters in front of them.

Casting the nets is an easy and familiar task. He shares with Adren memories of home in Destiny Islands - Summers spent working with fishermen for spare munny, afternoons spent sailing between beaches. Adren watches him as he talks. There’s something distracted about him.

“Do you want to go back?”

Riku pulls on the net and drags the fish into the boat. He hauls the net up, throws the fish on the boat’s floor.

He meets Adren’s eyes.

“I thought I did,” He says honestly, sitting down on the floor. He runs his hand through his hair, pulling it out of his ponytail.  

Adren frowns at him. “But?”

“I can’t go home unless he’s there, it’s not the same without him.” Riku admits, his frustration clear and straining his voice. He holds his head, sighing. “He wants me to stay here with him.”

Adren crosses the boat and sits down beside him. She leans her elbows on her knees, her hands clasped together. “Would that be so bad?”

Riku looks up at her, brows knitted.

“Well, what’s so bad about giving it a shot?” She continues, gesturing. They can see Ad Initium in full from where they sit on the boat. Kingdom Hearts shines in the sky above the summit of the main island. Riku shifts in his seat.

“Think about it,” Adren continues; Riku tries not to groan at hearing those words again. “You spent, what, ten years looking for this man of yours - ”

“Friend.”

“ - Right, and you find out he’s got this whole new life and he’s asking you to be a part of it. Why not give it a shot?”

Riku looks at the summit.

Elyse is at the docks when they return, grinning. She waves excitedly at Riku as they pull up to the docks. She catches the rope Riku throws her, and he smiles as he watches her tie it to the dock.

She pulls him towards one of the lower tier plazas as soon as the fishes have been hauled off the boat. Adren laughs as Elyse runs off, dragging Riku with her.

She and her friends are ecstatic to see him again, eagerly pulling him into a few rounds of soccer. Riku focuses, this time trying to impress Elyse. Her standards seem to have risen since last he’d played with them all, however. She signs taunts to him through each round.

“Oh, for the love of-” Riku grumbles, gritting his teeth.

He aims for the makeshift goal when the ball is passed to him, but he kicks a little too hard and a little too far to the right.

There’s a loud thud as the ball connects with someone’s forehead. Larae yells and falls back, groaning. Elyse is laughing, and so are the rest of her friends. Riku blanches; He rushes to Larae’s side as she sits up, glaring harshly at Riku.

“So much for starting over.” He says, checking on Larae’s forehead. She rolls her eyes and pushes his hand away.

“I’ve taken worse hits,” She huffs.

“Is Sora looking for me?”

“No,” Larae raises her brow at him. “Should he be?”

Elyse runs over to them both before Riku can answer and greets Larae with a grin. She points to the wielder’s head. Larae shrugs.

“I’m good. You’ve seen me deal with worse.” Larae says; Elyse snorts. The young woman looks at Riku, crossing her arms as she stands up. “You and me, in the ring. You up for it, old man?”

Riku studies her. He raises a brow. “Stakes?”

Larae smirks. “Your dignity.”

Beside them, Elyse ooh ’s quietly, snickering.

Riku shrugs at the taunt. He gets up and gestures to Larae.

“Lead the way, then.”

Larae summons her blade and heads to the center of the middle tier plaza, trainees parting in her way as she passes. Riku follows her and summons Mirage Split. Elyse bounces on her feet at the edge of the crowd, eyes sparkling with excitement.

Larae turns and takes her stance. Riku takes his. They don’t circle each other for long; Larae  dashes towards him. Their blades meet with a sharp clang as Riku raises his blade to parry. Riku gasps at the other’s strength and feels himself be pushed back. He shifts, jumps off against their blades and repositions himself.

Larae is more patient, now, having already shown her strength. She’s a brute of a fighter, Riku can tell. He plants his feet, retakes his stance, and charges. Larae swings her blade when he strikes, and they continue into a series of parries.

The crowd surrounding them watches with much interest, some already betting amongst themselves over who might win. Many begin to cheer Larae’s name as others place their bets on Riku.

Larae swings her blade down and Riku dodges to his left. He swings Mirage Split towards her, aiming for her side, but her blade meets his in an awkward parry. Riku smirks at Larae; She frowns and shoves off. They step a few paces back from each other, flourishing their blades before retaking their stances.

She rushes forward and casts Fira. Mirage Split is raised to ward off the spell, the heat from the impact warming Riku’s face. Larae strikes low at Riku’s legs; He falters. His foot twists to regain his balance and their keyblades meet again, the metal ringing harshly in Riku’s ears. Their eyes meet.

Larae grins and swings her leg forward. He feels the impact of her kick hard in his stomach; It sends him backwards and his back hits the plaza floor with a loud thud.

He doesn’t allow himself a moment to think. Larae runs towards him, her keyblade raised and ready to swing down at him. He blocks, still prone, and pushes her off as he jumps to his feet. She comes at him again, yelling.

Mirage Split disappears. Riku spins low, ducking under her swing.

He grabs her wrist and spins behind her, twisting her arm against her back. Mirage Split reappears in his other hand, settled just above her shoulder.

Larae is still. Her blade disappears in a flash of light. She shrugs out of the hold and turns to glare at Riku.

Riku smiles, smug. He raises his brow. “What was that about my dignity?”

Larae laughs.

The crowd has grown and Riku takes a quick look amongst them. They all begin to chatter amongst themselves again, talking about one thing or another. He spots Sora, flushes, and focuses back on Larae. He tries to smile at Larae, lowering his hand. The blade begins to dematerialize, but Larae grabs his wrist.

“We’re not done yet.”

She grabs both his hands and spins low to throw him over her back. Air leaves Riku’s chest as his back hits the hard ground, and he gasps when Larae’s keyblade comes down towards him. He rolls to the side before it hits, gets on his feet and double jumps backwards before Larae can make another hit.

Mirage Split appears in his hand. Riku cocks his head, narrowing his eyes.

“That all you got?”

“Why?” Larae scoffs, dragging her keyblade behind her as she approaches Riku. “You getting tired?”

She runs; Sparks fly from the ground.

Riku braces himself as Larae double jumps into the air, keyblade raised and ready. Her blade erupts in flames, she spins as she comes down.

Shards of ice erupt from Mirage Split as Larae’s flame-covered keyblade comes down. Steam rushes into the air from the impact of opposing elements. Larae is forced to jump backwards, landing on her knee.

Riku flourishes his keyblade and lets it rest on his shoulder.

“Okay. Fine.” Larae huffs indignantly as she gets back on her feet. Her keyblade disappears and she crosses her arms. “I’ll win next time. Just you wait.”

Riku chuckles. Larae grins and walks closer to Riku. She bows low.

“I learned a lot, sir,” She says as she straightens. “Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure, Larae. Really.”

She smirks. “I hope you stick around.”

Riku’s eyebrows raise.

He looks at the crowd. Elyse is ecstatic, Mirare amazed.

Sora’s looking at him with warmth. He smiles at Riku, giving him a thumbs up. Riku turns back to Larae, face flushed. He blinks at her. Blinks at the crowd around him. He looks again in Sora’s direction, who’s begun to make his way through a parting crowd towards him.

Riku runs off before Sora reaches him.

Elyse finds him at her home, sitting on the bed that Adren had let him sleep in. He has his forehead resting on one hand and the bridge of his nose pinched between the fingers of his other. She hops on the bed, testing its bounce behind Riku. She snickers, watching his hair rise and fall with every jump.

Riku lies down; Elyse hops around him. She stops for a moment, signs to him: Are you hiding?

He groans. “Yeah.”

She hops over his stomach, then turns to him. Why?

Riku thinks for a moment, remembering his conversation with Adren. He gestures slowly, asking her if she can imagine him living here, on Ad Initium.

She drops into a sitting position beside him, resting her cheeks on her hands as she thinks. She hums, looks at him and squints. Finally, she shrugs, and signs: If you wanted to, yeah.

She then grins at him, and continues to gesture. She tells him that if he were to stay, she could help him get better at soccer, and he could help Adren with fishing. She tells him that he could have apprentices of his own and teach them cool moves like the ones he and Larae were doing earlier.

She makes a big gesture, telling him he could travel the world from here, because Ad Initium is where everything starts which means that all roads to other exciting worlds start here.

She then points at Riku and then to herself, and signs to him: If you stayed, you’d be like my big brother. She tells him she’d really like that, because she’s never had a big brother before.

Then she stops, thinking once again. Riku asks her what she’s thinking about.

She points to him. You have to really, really want it, though.  

Riku blinks. He looks up at the ceiling.

He imagines settling into Ad Initium’s way of life, teaching his own apprentices while having all of Scala Ad Caelum’s secrets available to him. He imagines traveling alongside Mirare, sparring with Larae, casting with Alo.

He imagines warm days spent on the water, sailing on his own boat beside Adren’s, the two of them casting nets and hauling fish back to shore.

He imagines a new life with Sora.

He’s not sure what he should be imagining, but he does humor the idea of being around him, of being by his side. To wake up and just know that he’s nearby and that he wouldn’t have to wonder at all if he were okay.

It all feels closer to what he wants.

When he turns back to Elyse, she’s looking at him expectantly.

“I think I really, really do.”

She grins.

Then what are you still hiding for?

He finds Mirare and Alo sitting together by a window. Mirare tells Riku that Sora’s spending the evening on the rooftop of the east building - His usual routine, he adds.

Alo looks at him curiously, and smiles.

“You’ve avoided him all day, haven’t you?” She asks, her smile cheeky.

Mirare scoffs. “Figures. He spends all this time asking around for him and the second he finds him, he runs off freaking out about it.”

Riku flushes, staring between the two two of them

Alo points outside the window. “He’s probably waiting for you.”

Riku sighs. “Thanks you two,” He says, and turns to leave the hallway. He makes it halfway when Mirare calls for him.

“I want a turn fighting you.” He says.

Riku smiles at him. “I’ll do you something better. I’ll actually teach you a thing or two.”

“That had better be a promise.”

Riku finds Sora sleeping on the rooftop, his back flat against the floor and face illuminated by the gentle light of Kingdom Hearts. He stirs when Riku comes to his side, propping Sora’s head with his hand gently as he settles a pillow underneath him.

“That can’t be good for you,” Riku says quietly. Sora snorts.

“Your fault for making me wait for you. What time is it?”

Riku lies down beside him, resting his hands over his stomach. “Pretty late, I think. The stars haven’t fallen yet, though.”

Sora yawns. “So it isn’t midnight yet.”

They look at the night sky. Above them the worlds twinkle and shine with light of their own. They fill the sky like spilled glitter over a dark canvas, brushed out in all directions and gathered together in some areas. It’s more stars than either of them have ever seen, even back on Destiny Islands.

Kingdom Hearts begins to pulse gently, announcing the countdown to starfall.

Sora turns his head and looks towards Riku. He rolls to his side and rests his head on his arm. Riku looks at him.

“Where were you today?” Sora asks.

“Lower tier.” Riku rolls to his side, mirroring Sora. His cheek rests on the back of his hand. He reaches out for Sora with his other hand, his fingers brushing lightly at Sora’s messy fringe. “I went fishing with Adren, played with Elyse. Sparred with Larae in the middle tier.”

Sora grins. “I saw. Were you showing off?”

Riku blushes. “I asked Elyse if she could imagine me staying here.” He says instead.

Sora snickers. “Yeah? What’d she say?”

“She said she could, but I’d have to really want to be here.”

Sora shifts. He purses his lips.

“Do you?”

Sora relaxes at the soft smile Riku gives him. He watches as Riku pushes himself up, sitting. He leans his weight on his hands behind him, gazing upwards. Kingdom Heart pulses softly, preparing new worlds to its glowing heartbeat.

“Do you remember when we made Mirage Split and Nightmare’s End?” Riku asks. He looks at Sora, who nods. “Do you remember what I promised you?”

Sora scoffs, pushing himself up to a sitting position as well. He pushes his chest out, places a fist against it. “‘Sora, no matter what, no matter when, no matter where, I’ll be there to protect you with all of my heart.’ ”

Riku laughs, shoving the other by his shoulder. “I don’t sound like that.”

“Sometimes you do!” Sora quips, punching Riku’s arm lightly. “What’s got you thinking about that? That was so long ago. We were kids.”

“Says the one who has a copy of my keyblade to match his.” Riku deadpans. Sora flushes. Riku smirks. “But you’re right. We were kids. We were different people.”

“Sora… We were happy back then, weren’t we?”

The question catches Sora off guard. He looks at Riku incredulously; Brows furrowed, lips parted just so.

“The happiest.” Sora says quietly, looking away and scratching underneath his nose. “The happiest I think I ever was.”

Riku’s stare at him is full of longing; sorrow. He reaches his hand out to Sora, offering. Sora takes it, and they squeeze each other’s hands.

“I think I want to stay - I do,” Riku says gently, eyes focused on their hands. Slowly, his fingers intertwine with Sora’s. “But I need to ask you if you think we could both be happy here.”

“I think,” Sora says carefully, his thumb brushing over Riku’s. “I think we have a chance to be.”

Riku smiles. He brings Sora’s hand to his lips and brushes his knuckles with a gentle kiss.

“So, say I do stay,” He continues. “What then?”

Sora snorts at the affection, and pulls Riku’s hand towards him. The action makes Riku follow; He falls close to Sora.

“You  wouldn’t have to be three floors up, for one.” Sora huffs, pressing their hands to his chest.

“You didn’t waste time asking me to move in with you,” Riku chuckles. “Your place wouldn’t be so messy.”

“I think it adds charm, thanks.” He pauses. Riku catches the glance to his lips; They both flush. “And I was thinking you could help train the younger wielders. You kind of got their attention already, anyway.”

“Jealous?” Riku asks, teasing.

Sora rolls his eyes, scoffs. “Hardly. It’ll be nice to split the attention.”

Riku leans back, taking his hand and Sora’s to him. Sora fumbles a little bit as Riku pulls him, and scoffs when Riku catches him. He leans his head on Riku’s chest.

“Of course you steal my move and make it better,” He grumbles. “Bastard.”

Sora’s eyes close and his smile widens as he feels Riku’s laugh in his chest.

“I was thinking of apprenticing Mirare,” Riku continues, pressing his lips to Sora’s hand once again.

Sora looks at him curiously. “I’m sure he’d like that, but he hardly needs apprenticing. He’s practically a master.”

Riku shrugs. “I don’t think he’d agree with that sentiment.”

They look at each other. Riku presses another kiss to Sora’s hand and lets go. Sora smiles and lies down, and Riku does the same.

Kingdom Hearts glows brighter, its pulse more rapid now. It would only be a few more moments before starfall, and the two of them would be surrounded by the bursting lights of another innumerable amount of stars.

Riku sighs quietly. Sitting here, seeing this rebirth - Everything feels so new.

He feels Sora’s hand searching for his. Their fingers intertwine when the Heart bursts with new worlds, bathing the two keyblade masters in varying hues and colors.

“Riku,” Sora says, squeezing the other’s hand. “What about us?”

Riku turns his head to look at him. Sora’s eyes stay glued to the show above them. “What do you mean?”

“What happens after tonight?” He goes on. “Are we picking up where we left off, or are we starting something new?”

Riku lets his gaze wander back to the starfall. His sight follows the tails of different stars, and he watches a few of them to their destination in the night sky. By the end of tonight, by the end of starfall, they will be looking at a new sky - The same one as yesterday’s, and yet changed still.

He squeezes Sora’s hand back.

“Both.” He says with confidence. He doesn’t have to look over to know that Sora’s grinning.

They watch the sky tint from red to blue to yellow to more; It brightens in every color imaginable. Fireworks could hardly compare to this sight, and Riku feels lucky to have the chance to watch something like this.

He turns his head, looks at Sora.

He feels luckier knowing he gets to experience this with him.

Sora looks at him, smiling. “Hey, Riku.”

Riku rolls over, gets on his elbow.

“When I asked you to think about the future, did you actually?”

He leans over Sora, thinking. He nods.

“What did you see in your future? What did you want?”

Riku’s lips curve into the softest of smiles. His free hand cups Sora’s cheek, his fingers then tracing his jaw. Sora lets him.

“You, Sora.”

Sora’s lips part slightly when Riku leans closer. He’s the one who closes the distance between them.

Stars fall all around the two, but Riku falls further than any of them.

Sora walks Riku to his room. Their goodnights to each other are short but sweet.

Riku watches Sora walk down the hallway towards the stairs. He calls for him. Sora looks over his shoulder, clutching tightly at the blankets and pillows in his arms.

“Can I stay the night?”

Sora laughs.

“What, you couldn’t wait one more?”

Riku laughs with him as he runs over.

“Of course not.” He says, taking some of the pillows from Sora’s arms. “I don’t want to wait any longer.”

Chapter Text

Sora is falling.

Through a dark void, where black reaches and surrounds him in full. He opens his eyes to this empty, dark sky, falling above and below and to all directions. He twists, reaching out for something, and light shines in front of him - and behind. His chest gets heavier, and he feels himself be pulled down towards the source of light behind- below? him.

He tries calling for Riku, but he can barely choke out a sound - Darkness rushes past his lips and down his throat, and Sora’s hands fly to his neck as he tries to breathe. He wants to cry out. He cannot.

Sora’s vision blurs momentarily as the two lights brighten at the same time, illuminating more of his surroundings. Sora’s eyes widen as a body emerges from the darkness.

Kairi? A necklace floats just off her chest, tethered to her neck by a thin chain. Its pearlescent gem reflects the shines of both sources of light.

He stops falling; Whatever force that had been dragging him leads him to Kairi. He feels thankful - He is. He reaches out.

The Kingdom Key emerges from his hand, glowing with the same determination in his heart. He takes Kairi’s hands and wraps her fingers around the handle of the blade. There is a quiet, soundless prayer; A wish. Sora looks at Kairi sadly. For some reason, he feels this may be the last time he sees her.

Something pulls him with a surge, the air in his lungs escaping him. He’s taken away from Kairi, and Kairi is taken away from him. They’re each pulled towards different sources of light, and Sora fights- He reaches for Kairi, cries out for her but nothing comes past his lips.

He doesn’t want to go. He doesn’t want to go.

Her eyes open slowly; faraway, not really here.

The two lights brighten in a thunderous boom.

Kairi’s eyes widen and turn fierce when she finally sees Sora. Her lips move, she’s calling for him, and she reaches the Kingdom Key forward.

The lights explode, this time illuminating their surroundings fully. Two skies, one reflecting the other, neither one above or below the other. Sora is pulled to one sky and Kairi to the other.

The skies shatter.

He wakes up to a softly burning oil lamp hanging above him, his dream immediately scattering into a haze. Sora pushes himself to a sitting position and rubs his temples, trying to remember the dream that had set his heart racing and wake him.

When it’s clear to him that he isn’t likely to remember, he gives up and looks around him. He is inside a tent surrounded by notebooks opened flat and loose pieces of paper strewn around him and covered in sketches and calculations. A map, pieced together by smaller maps, sits beside him, various rocks and pebbles placed atop as weight.

Sora gets up and makes his way outside of the tent, smiling brightly when he finds Larae tending to a frying pan set atop a low burning campfire. At his presence the young woman grins and waves.

“Morning, Caelum.” She says to him. Sora chuckles and sits down beside her, watching her work on their breakfast. “Any last minute sightseeing you want to do before we head home?”

Sora shakes his head, yawning. He runs his hand through his hair and scratches the back of his neck. “Nah. I can’t wait to sleep on a real bed.”

Larae snorts. “This world’s really pretty,” she says, looking outwards. “I hope it gets a name soon.”

Sora follows her gaze, looks at their surroundings.

The world they visited this time lies far to the east of Ad Initium’s borders. They had flown above crystal blue waters and beaches with sand sun-kissed and warm.

Where they sit now is at the peak of a seaside mountain; It must have been a volcano, once, Sora had said when they arrived. When Larae had asked why, he’d pointed out the way the mountain caved in upon itself like a large crater. It was filled with water- A lake, now, with a smaller volcano rising from its center.

Larae saw what he meant, and was awed.

“Maybe when we visit again it’ll be filled with people,” Sora says, gesturing to the high rising fields and hills behind them, opposite their view of the lake. “It’ll be a real wonder to see, for sure.”

Larae nods. “The mountains on the islands up north stretch so high, and the smaller islands to the south I think will see a lot of sea-faring people.”

Sora stares at her, grinning. “You really like traveling, huh?”

She shrugs. “Well, yeah. I like the adventure. We fight heartless sometimes, I get to see new places. Plus it’s really cool when I bring back some cool souvenirs for Alo.” Sora raises a brow at her. “And Mirare!”

Sora laughs and leaves it alone, and they sit together in companionable silence as Larae finishes preparing their breakfast. They talk a little more as they eat, sharing observations and impressions of this world. Larae tells him she really likes the weird monkey-looking animal they’d found somewhere on the southern islands. When Sora tells her she can’t bring one home because it would disturb the world order, Larae laughs and chucks a spoon at him.

They gather their things and take down their tents. Their gliders hover low, weighed down just slightly by the various packs loaded to their sides. Larae loads up the last of her things and turns to Sora, hands on her hips and her grin bright.

“Ready to head home?”

Home is a set of island mountain tops with old buildings glittering in the shine of Kingdom Hearts.

Ad Initium comes into view as Sora and Larae emerge from a light portal, surging forward as it closes behind them. The main island stands proudly with life; Many of its homes have been painted over in various colors - bright blues and reds and yellows. It makes it look like a pile of gems resting atop a crystalline sea. Kingdom Hearts, shining as brilliantly as ever, crowns the main island, shining down on it as though a blessing.

Larae guides her glider low, racing over the water. Sora follows her, trailing her and laughing as the sea water flies from Larae’s glider skirting its surface. The two weave through the high rising waves that try to catch them and pass the fishing boats whose fishermen cheer their greetings at the two wielders.

Larae dips the side of her glider into the water and its surface kicks up water and sprays behind her. Sora swerves the playful attack and speeds up when he recovers, immediately coming up beside Larae. They make eye contact; They laugh.

Her glider rushes forward, racing towards the docks. Sora doesn’t chase her, instead just follows, shaking his head. He watches her fondly as she settles her glider on the plaza by the docks, children coming up to her with excited welcomes.

Something like nostalgia aches in his chest as he looks at her warmly. He guides his glider near hers, and greets those who come to him. But his eyes don’t stray from Larae, and a thought hits him.

Larae looks at him, waving. Sora feels pride swell in his chest.

Sora makes his way to his forge on the middle tier after he settles his items down in his office. He takes his time lighting the fire and arranging his tools, examining the things around him. A number of unfinished keyblades stand propped to one wall, none of them carrying keychains to define them. A few shelves display some of his smaller projects - Metal shaped into stars, flowers, sea shells amongst others.

He stretches after opening a few windows, bathing the forge with light. He smiles at the few projects he has that catch the shine from outside.

Sora’s in the middle of stretching his arms upwards when the forge door opens with a quiet creak, and he turns, grinning immediately at who he sees.

“Riku!” He exclaims, releasing his arms from their stretch and runs over to Riku, embracing him.

Riku chuckles and catches Sora. “I thought I’d find you here.” His thumb brushes over Sora’s cheek, gently. “How was your trip?”

Sora shrugs, swaying with Riku a little bit before letting go. He rests his hands on his hips and turns back to his forge, arranging his workspace again as he readies for a few hours of work. “Pretty good. We went to a world about southeast of Ad Initium. Seems really new, not a lot of life there yet besides some weird looking monkeys.”

Riku hums thoughtfully, then looks around the forge. He spots the unfinished keyblades, then turns to Sora once again. “What are you working on?”

“Oh,” Sora grins. He looks to the keyblades, walks over, and carefully picks one out. He brings it to his worktable and settles it on top. He gestures for Riku to come closer. “You’ll like this.”

Curious, Riku approaches the table. Sora watches him, anticipating.

Riku gasps softly in awe, then sighs with a kind of nostalgic sadness. Sora smiles softly, a little sad himself.

The keyblade that rests on the table surface shines with a soft amber glow, the tinted metal reminiscent of summer days bridging into fall. Its bow is curved into an elegant heart, and curls where it meets the shaft. Metal flowers, their tints ranging from soft pinks and yellows to bright reds and orange, are welded along the length of the keyblade, gathering the most at the end where the bit will be.

“It’s beautiful,” Riku says quietly, his fingers brushing along the unfinished keyblade. “It’s inspired by Destiny’s Embrace, isn’t it?”

Sora nods, standing on the other side of the table. “I was thinking of making the bit the shape of a paopu star. Maybe a wayfinder.”

Riku sighs, again, and picks up the keyblade by its handle. He lets it rest on both of his hands.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you,” He begins to say. Sora looks at him curiously, head tilted to the side. “Kairi denounced the keyblade.”

Sora purses his lips. He nods; Somehow, he isn’t at all surprised by this. Riku watches him with a nervous, expectant expression; He’s trying to read Sora’s thoughts. Sora scratches the back of his neck.

“She deserved a lot better than what we gave her, huh?” He says, trying to smile. The smile that Riku gives him is equal parts relieved and sad. “I hope she’s happier.”

“She is,” Riku says, surety in his voice. The confidence is refreshing. “She had to find it for herself, I think, and she did.”

Sora averts his eyes, staring past Riku. A memory tries  comes to him, but it is vague and hazy and unclear. He sighs.

“I just wish she didn’t get constantly pulled away from us,” He says honestly. “It should have been the three of us from the start, fighting together. That’s what I wanted.”

“I know,” Riku says quietly, frowning. “But even then, I think she wanted something else. Something you and I couldn’t give her.”

Sora smiles sadly, gazing down at the keyblade.

“I guess we just all grew up.”

Riku places the blade back on the table gently, and Sora watches him sigh heavily.

“There’s something else I’ve been meaning to do. I have something I need to return to you,” Riku says. Sora raises a brow, his hands resting on his hips. Riku clears his throat. “Ah - It’s better to just show you.”

Sora watches as Riku raises his hand towards Sora, his fingers curling into a grip. Light stretches out from his palm like slow moving vines, reaching out and straightening into the shape of a keyblade. It glows soft, blinking as though it were waking up, and settles into the familiar form of the Kingdom Key.

Sora’s eyes widen, staring at it with his mouth agape.

“How did you…”

“It’s what led me to you. I think it wanted to find you, too.” Riku says quietly. Sora reaches out to take the keyblade.

It glows bright as though in recognition, then disappears in a blink.

“Uh.”

“Um.”

The two masters curl their hands, each trying to summon the Kingdom Key. Riku frowns, scratching his cheek.

“No, it’s definitely with you,” He says, letting his hand fall to his side. “Maybe it needs time to get used to you again. It wasn’t being used for a long time.”

“You’re probably right, know-it-all.” Sora snorts, shrugging away his concern. “Thank you. It means a lot.”

Riku nods. He reaches over the table to take Sora’s hand, and brings it to his lips for a soft kiss. “I have to go see Alo about the library. We’re going to start reading through the texts about the power of waking.”

Sora pouts at him. “I still don’t feel totally comfortable with that.”

Riku squeezes his hand reassuringly, holding it now with both of his. “I know, and that’s why I’m overseeing the project personally. I really believe it’s important that they learn about it, Sora. We’ll teach them what you and I wish we had known. I promise.”

Sora can’t help but give Riku a small smile. He scoffs, scratching underneath his nose with his free hand. “Fine. Send a runner if you start missing me.”

Riku laughs. “Then you’d hardly get any work done.”

They part and Sora walks Riku to the forge door. Riku leans down for a quick parting kiss, and Sora leans on the frame of the door as he watches Riku leave.

He looks like he had settled into life on Ad Initium fully. He’d set aside his formal cloak long ago, preferring instead to wear a yellow linen shirt, unbuttoned over his cropped turtleneck. Of what clothes he still wears, many of them have taken a softly weathered quality, free of the posh formality that surrounded Riku when he first appeared on Ad Initium.

He reminds Sora greatly of a younger, happier Riku, wielding wooden swords and chasing down imaginary monsters down the length of a small coastal beach.

Sora places a hand over his lips, trying to hide a smile as he watches Riku disappear into a crowd.

As he turns back into the forge, leaving the door open behind him, he wonders if Riku is happy here. He hopes he is.

Sora works in the forge into evening. Most of his time is spent sculpting flowers out of thin strips of metal. He had begun work on the bit for the keyblade, drafting metal into the shape of a wayfinder with paopu fruits layered on each side. He sets the piece carefully on top of the keyblade, humming thoughtfully as he plans the rest of the design.

He leans over the table, twirling a sculpted flower between his fingers as he looks at the keyblade. It’s coming together, slowly becoming its own. He imagines gifting the blade to Kairi, and chuckles softly at the idea - It would never come to be, of course.

He tries not to think too sadly as he places the flower down on the keyblade.

He steps back and admires his handiwork, looking closely every now and then to inspect details and flaws. It would be a while before the keyblade is finished - He’s putting a lot of care and thought into it. Like many of the keyblades in his forge, it’s only tinted metal and intricate design; Artisan work.

But he’s hoped to make a few keyblades into fully realized ones, like the time he and Riku had recreated Mirage Split and Nightmare’s End. As his hand brushes lightly at the keyblade inspired by Kairi’s, he hopes that this one has potential.

He imagines for it a realization bathed in warm light, like the bittersweet mornings as summer becomes fall. He imagines red and warm yellow mixing into orange, hints of pink bursting through. He imagines a soft kind of magic, one defined by love and nostalgia, but also a promise - The kind of promise that guarantees protection and safety through faith alone.

Sora steps away from the table and calls it a day. He goes to sit down by the window, leaning back into a chair as his exhaustion finally creeps into him. His head leans against the frame of the window, the ocean breeze outside a welcome contrast against the warmth inside the forge. He takes a few deep breaths, closes his eyes.

He thinks of the Kingdom Key.

It is strange to feel its old, old warmth in his chest again. He knows the specific magic that defines it; Even after over ten years, he knows it intimately. He defines it with strength, determination - Youth, even. Youth especially. This is the keyblade that defined much of his teenage years, that had stayed with him as he grew from a young boy in Destiny Islands to a barely-young adult who often had to shoulder the weight of the world.

Funny. That old warmth that used to strengthen him so much and fill him with pride now feels a little like a burden.

Perhaps that is just the age. His hand presses flat against his chest and he closes his eyes, focusing once again on the warmth of the Kingdom Key. It hums, softly and quietly and sleepily, inside his heart, and he welcomes it.

The breeze outside brushes his face, gently encouraging Sora to stand up. The heat of the forge seems to push him as well, warming him with a kind of confidence. Hand still pressed to his chest, Sora takes a deep breath and gathers the resolve to try and summon the Kingdom Key.

Sora takes a careful stance. He reaches his hand forward and calls for the familiar keyblade.

Light emerges from his hand slowly, almost warily. It reaches outward as though testing the space around it. Sora thinks it feels curious, as though it were wondering about the place it has been summoned into. He encourages the magic quietly, wordlessly, welcoming it to the world he’d cultivated.

He thinks to the keyblade: You could protect this place.

The glow solidifies into the Kingdom Key, the thrum of its magic warm in Sora’s hand. He smiles softly at it, greeting the blade gently with his heart. Its response is a soft glow, a slow - Hello.

He holds the blade with both of his hands, his fingers gently brushing the battle-worn metal of the keyblade.

The keyblade fades away, and there’s anxiousness in his heart where the Kingdom Key rests.

The streets are lit with the light of lamp posts when Sora leaves his forge. The middle tier is still busy this time of day, which surprises Sora - The plaza he walks into still hosts a group of keyblade wielders.

Sora approaches slowly, watching curiously as the group works through a routine of exercises. Their blades swing in tandem with each other, their fighting cries synchronized. As Sora walks closer, he spots Mirare at the front, leading the group through the routine with a renewed discipline that Sora knows Riku instilled in him.

A warm chuckle leaves his chest. He crosses his arms and greets the wielders warmly.

Mirare stands at attention and calls to the group behind him, who follow him and greet Sora warmly. They all relax immediately, their keyblades disappearing in bright flashes of light. Mirare grins up at Sora.

“Drills, huh?” Sora says, impressed at the diligence of Riku’s trainees. “Looks like Riku’s been working you hard.”

There’s a chorus of playful complaints and agreements, to which Sora laughs at warmly. Mirare rolls his eyes, but does nod.

“You should see the morning exercises,” Mirare scoffs, crossing his arms. “This is a break in comparison.”

That doesn’t surprise Sora at all, snorting at the very idea of Riku shouting directions at groups of trainees early in the morning.

“Maybe I’ll join tomorrow.” He says, to which Mirare looks at him with doubt; He knows better. Sora will be sleeping in or, if not, will be lying in bed until he passes the threshold between relaxing and guilt. “Or not, sheesh. Where’s your sister?”

Mirare laughs softly, nodding towards one of the paths leading to the summit plaza. “She’s being her usual self.”

“Oh. Who’d she challenge today?”

“Your man.” Mirare smirks when Sora sputters, surprised.

“Shit, okay, you guys have been doing that way too often lately.” Sora pouts, shaking his head. Mirare only snorts. “Let up a little bit, would you?”

“You make it so easy, Caelum. Too easy.” Mirare says, then turns to the wielders behind him. He dismisses them, and they all give him a chorus of thank yous and goodnights. He looks back at Sora. “Apparently they’re tied one to one right now.”

Sora’s pride shows. “Well, it’s only a matter of time until she wins.”

Mirare ooh’s beside him. “Oh, I am so telling on you. He’ll really appreciate the vote of confidence.”

Sora raises a brow at him. “As opposed to Larae’s reaction if I supported him? I think I can take it.”

Mirare chuckles. “Well, we might as well see who wins.” He says, and they share another amused look before making their way up to the summit.

They arrive near the end of their final round, just in time for them to witness Riku misstep and Larae taking full advantage of it. She swipes at Riku’s feet with incredible speed, a thin layer of Blizzara crystallizing underneath him. Riku yells as he slips and falls backwards, his back hitting the plaza floor with a resounding thud.

Larae’s keyblade hovers by his neck for a moment before she whoops with absolute joy over her victory. Sora exclaims with excitement from where he stands, running over and hopping over Riku’s defeated frame to catch his apprentice in a hug. He spins her as Riku huffs, offended, on the floor.

“Told you I’d win.” Larae snickers, her hands on her hips as she looks at Riku with a smug expression. Sora laughs and turns to his partner to help him up.

“Looks like you’re starting to suck.” Sora teases. Riku rolls his eyes at him, nudging his arm playfully.

“No,” Riku says, brushing bits of ice from his pants. He turns to Larae with a proud smile. “She just got really good.”

Larae grins at the compliment, brushing the tip of her nose. “Yeah, well. Thanks.”

Mirare comes up, then, standing beside Riku and congratulating Larae from where he stands. The siblings fist bump, sharing a quiet look of pride between them two.

Riku turns to Mirare. “How were drills?”

“Good,” Mirare says to Riku, turning to him. He grins. “At this rate everyone will be able to beat you.” He’s met with a playful punch to his side, him and Riku laughing.

Sora smiles at them, then turns his attention to Larae. She hums. “I’ll need you tomorrow. We’ll compare notes and update the maps. Usual stuff.”

Larae nods, already excited.

“Yes sir!” She turns to Mirare and they both leave, saying something about running off to save Alo before she falls asleep on her desk. Riku and Sora watch them as they go; fond.

“So… I take it you’re free now?” Sora says, turning to Riku with a hopeful grin.

“Actually, not yet.” Riku says, looking at the other apologetically. Sora blinks - It’s getting late and starfall would only be two hours from now. “Got a few things I need to do first.”

Sora’s disappointment is barely masked. He nods at the other. Riku frowns, scratching the back of his neck.

“Hey, I’ll make it up to you in an hour. It won’t take long and it’ll be worth it. Honest.”

Sora can’t help smiling at Riku’s expression. He nods, promising he’ll wait for him at the rooftop.

Sora heads to the rooftop, arranging pillows and blankets when he arrives. It’s a familiar action, now - almost routine, if not already. He and Riku have been spending time on the rooftop after long days of work, or in Sora’s case, a long trip’s worth. They stay until starfall ends, talking and catching up and sharing little moments experienced through the day.

He nudges a pillow into place with his foot, and steps back to admire his handiwork. The nest of pillows and blankets looks perfectly messy and candid. He grins.

He turns and approaches the edge of the rooftop, trying to find Riku on the plaza or even get a glimpse of him on the other tiers of the main island. He doesn’t see him or his glider, and Sora retreats to the pile with a pout.

He taps his foot. He thinks of the Kingdom Key.

Sora moves away from the pile and faces Kingdom Hearts. He reaches his hand out and takes a deep breath, closing his eyes as he searches for the familiar warmth of his first keyblade. It hums deep in his heart, its old arcana greeting him quietly.

The keyblade stems from his hand, as slowly as before. Something about it feels hesitant, and it fills Sora with worry. He tries not to think too much on it, but he does - What if he’d been kept away from the keyblade for too long?

He is relieved, nonetheless, when it forms fully and shines under the light of Kingdom Hearts.

He attempts to flourish the blade, but it disappears mid-swing; Unwilling.

He’s stunned. Then, a frustrated sigh escapes him. “Fuck.”

“Language, Sora,” Riku laughs, his glider coming up the side of the rooftop. He leans his hands on his seat, smiles warmly.

Sora tries not to notice the way Kingdom Hearts illuminates Riku as it glows behind him. He tries not to notice the soft glow of Riku’s hair, silver strands looking a little bit like starlight. He tries, but, oh, he does.

“Oh. Fuck.” Sora says dumbly, staring. “I mean- Shit- Wow, fuck, sorry- I’m gay?”

“How convenient, so am I. ” Riku says with a bemused drawl. “Sorry to make you wait.”

His frustrations momentarily forgotten, Sora turns fully to Riku and fakes his annoyance as he crosses his arms over his chest. “What took you?”

“I’ll show you.” Riku grins, and pulls up a basket from the side of his glider that Sora can’t see.

He hops off the glider, landing firmly on his feet and delicately holding the basket in his hands. Sora walks over, arms still crossed, but his curiosity is peaked and shows on his face. Smirking, Riku kneels down and pulls the basket open, presenting the other with a varied array of sweets and baked goods in small containers.

“Happy six months?” Riku says, looking up at Sora.

The laugh that leaves Sora is loud and infectious as it rings across the rooftop. It reaches Riku and lights his face up, his smirk growing into a fond smile.

“Has it been six months? It feels so much shorter.”

“In that case, happy six months or less. Here’s to more.” Riku says, shrugging. He rises and presses a kiss to Sora’s forehead when he comes to him with an embrace. “What got you frustrated?”

Sora pouts. “The Kingdom Key,” he says honestly. Riku’s hand finds purchase in his hair, running through thick brown locks reassuringly. “I can summon it but I don’t think I can get it to stay.”

“Give it some time. I’m sure it’ll come around.” He says gently, and Sora smiles because he believes him. Riku gestures to the basket. “Take a look.”

Sora makes for it, carefully taking out the containers and peeking into them. His face lights up with each cover pulled back, and Riku can only watch him with a soft smile.

“Is that strawberry shortcake?” Sora gasps softly, gazing inside one of the containers.

Riku looks smug. “Of course.”

They spend the rest of that evening feasting on sweets and sharing stories. Starfall showers them with light, beautiful as ever. When Riku cheekily mentions Mirare telling him about Sora’s lack of confidence in him, Sora steals away the shortcake before it’s kept from him.

Morning comes in the soft light of dawn filtering through lazily hung curtains that sway lightly with a faint ocean breeze.

Sora stirs awake when he feels Riku slowly get up out of bed to ready himself for the day. This is routine; A kind of ritual that Sora often misses when he’s away travelling.

A lazy eye peeks out from soft linen covers, watching as Riku goes through his morning routine. He brushes his hair, detangling last night’s sleep from silver strands. He places his necklace over his neck, the memory and comfort of Namine and the confidence of his Mark of Mastery resting by his collarbones. He’s opting for a loose linen shirt today, buttoned up to just below his collar and the sleeves rolled up just so. Sora knows it’s to combat the heat, but he’ll never stop teasing Riku over the idea that he’s showing off.

He notices Sora awake as he brushes his hair over his shoulder, and smiles. “Good morning, sunshine. Sleep okay?”

He chuckles when Sora grumbles and buries himself under the covers, hiding. He mumbles an affirmative, to which Riku rolls his eyes to.

There’s a thoughtful pause. “What about during your trip?”

Sora recalls the strange nightmare he can’t remember. He pretends to yawn, rolling over. “Pretty alright, yeah.”

He can’t trick Riku. Sora feels the bed dip beside him and Riku gently places his hand on Sora’s cheek, quietly asking for the other to look at him. He does.

“You know you can tell me, right? It’s kind of my job to make sure you sleep alright.”

“Dude,” Sora snorts, his hand placed softly on top of Riku’s. “You are so cheesy.”

That earns him a laugh from Riku, at least. The concern in Riku’s eyes doesn’t leave, but he knows when to leave things alone and Sora appreciates that. He takes Riku’s hand, presses a kiss on his palm, and holds it tight.

Riku gives him a final look that says to reach out when he needs to.

“So what’s the plan today?” Sora says, diverting Riku’s attention from him. The other sighs, lying down fully on the bed.

“Morning drills start in half an hour, and then I’ll be spending most of today working from the library. Everyone should have gotten their assignments already, so if everything goes well, I’ll have a pretty easy day.”

Sora hums, impressed.

“Sounds busy.” He says, his fingers playing with the corner of the blanket. “I’ll be updating maps with Larae today, but if that finishes early I might head to the forge or take a walk.”

Sora sits up, curls his fingers in Riku’s hair. Riku’s eyes close, relaxed by the affection. “Sorry for taking it easy. I know you picked up a lot of what should be my responsibility.”

“You just came back from a long trip, makes sense that you would take it easy.” Riku says, humming softly as Sora presses his fingers against his head. “I can take care of things. You take your time.”

There’s a quiet pause, a time where partners just sit and enjoy each other’s company. Riku’s head rests against Sora’s legs, smiling softly as Sora continues to play with his hair. When he stops, Riku looks up, attentive.

“This suits you.” Sora says quietly. “The whole being a master thing, leading people. It suits you.”

Riku frowns slightly. “It suits you, too, you know.” He replies. “They love you, love how you’ve protected them. I’m just good at formality.”

“And morning drills.”

“And morning drills.” Riku scoffs. He looks out the window. “I should head out soon before they think to ditch.”

Sora smiles. Riku sits up.

“Thank you,” he tells him. Riku raises a brow. “For staying. For living here, with me.”

Riku softens at that, and reaches out to take Sora’s hand. Sora doesn’t miss the hesitation in the action; He knows it’s because Riku misses home. Misses Kairi, Namine. His- Their nieces. He knows Riku would rather be back in Destiny Islands.

“I wasn’t happy back home because you weren’t there.” He tells Sora. It feels like a gentle reminder. “If this is where you really want to be, then who am I to try and convince you otherwise?”

There’s a quiet pause. Sora tries to chuckle.

“Besides,” Sora says, his voice quiet. “Thinking about it, it’s not like we know how to go back.”

Riku brings Sora’s hand to his lips for a soft kiss.

“You still haven’t found any of the worlds we’ve been to?”

Sora shakes his head. “I told you. It’s like they don’t exist.”

Riku considers this. He sighs.

“Do you think it has to do with the power of waking?” Sora asks, careful.

Riku nods. “It’s how I found you. But it doesn’t explain why you haven’t found any of the worlds we know at all.”

“To be fair, there are a lot of worlds out there,” Sora chuckles. “I’d have to grow old here to even visit a small fraction of them, not to mention Kingdom Hearts is still making new ones.”

Riku looks at him strangely. “Do you?”

“What?”

“Want to grow old here. Do you want that?”

Sora has to think about that. He glances at the ceiling, humming. When he turns back to Riku, he says: “If you’re here, then yes. I do.”

Sora lies in bed for another hour, two, after Riku leaves. He rolls in the sheets, lazily staring at nothing in particular and everything in view. Birds perch at the open window by the bed, chirping a sweet good morning to the keyblade master.

He breathes slowly, lazily, then pushes himself up to his knees and crosses his arms over the windowsill. Outside is bright, and he can hear the fighting cries of Riku’s trainees as they work through the end of their routine.

He takes that to mean he should start his, so he pushes himself off the sill and plos back down on the bed. Another breath, two, and he rolls off, stumbling to his feet unceremoniously. He yawns loudly while he makes his way to his and Riku’s shared dresser. He finds one of his loose pants, one of the many that taper under his knee. He picks out a shirt, is almost sure it’s Riku’s when he puts it on, and shrugs. Riku won’t mind.

Dressed now, he walks to the bathroom and splashes cool water on his face. He sighs, hangs his head, and shakes the sleep away from his head. When he looks up to see himself in the mirror, he grins; Bright.

He then goes to the kitchen, hums a bouncy tune as he prepares a cup of tea, and when it’s prepared he sits by a window that overlooks the summit plaza. He catches sight of Riku, who seems to notice Sora’s gaze immediately. They wave at each other, and Sora snickers when Mirare smacks Riku’s back with his keyblade, regaining his attention.

Sora leans back into his chair, drinks his tea quietly. He looks at the apartment, sees the parts that are his and the parts that are Riku’s and the parts that belong to them both.

Sora wouldn’t mind growing old here, living this peaceful day-to-day. He’s tired, he has been for several years. For a decade, in fact.

He deserves rest.

Sora’s in his office organizing his notes and shelving and unshelving notebooks and books. He leaves some discarded on various surfaces pressed flat on their covers, weighed down by random items. He doesn’t remember where that one rock came from, but he’s glad it’s serving some purpose.

He hums another bouncy tune as he skims the contents of some notebook he had filled up with notes and sketches months ago - He checks the date. It would have been completed just three months ago. He keeps the book in his arm and goes to search for another, his thumb flipping through pages of various tomes and stacks of loose paper.

There’s a rap at the door and an excited voice accompanies it. Sora laughs when Larae announces herself, her confidence coming through the heavy wooden door without much trouble.

Larae comes to his office carrying lunch and a heavy pack filled with notebooks and rolled up maps barely held together by varying lengths of string and ribbons. She grins as she pushes the door open with her foot, waving the bag of food in her hand gently, excitedly.

“Master Caelum!” She exclaims, dropping her bag on the floor and approaching a mostly-empty table.

The contents of the bag spills over the floor, but Sora doesn’t mind. He steps over it as though familiar with it, and peeks over Larae’s shoulder as she takes out their lunch. He raises a brow.

“Is that a fruit tart?” He asks, and Larae nods. “Do we get to eat that now?”

“Of course not, our actual lunch is gonna be a little healthier. I brought tofu. Anyway, yes, it is a fruit tart, and there’s a very good reason I brought it with me.”

Sora quirks an eyebrow, already reaching out for the tart. Larae frowns and smacks his hand away.

“Alright, I’ll bite. What’s up?”

Larae takes a deep breath. She takes the tart and holds it towards Sora.

“I want to start traveling on my own.” She says, “As in, without you.”

Sora’s surprised - Not by the request itself, but by the apparent need to ask at all. His brows furrow. “That’s all?”

Larae looks affronted. “What do you mean that’s all?”

“Well, I mean, there’s no problem with that at all. I just don’t understand why you need to ask like I was going to say no.”

Larae pouts. She scratches her cheek nervously and pushes the tart into Sora’s hands. “It’s going to sound sort of stupid.”

Sora smiles. “Nah. Try me.”

“Well,” Larae starts, crossing her arms. “It’s just that it’s always been you and me going on the trips. The ones that go really far, you know? You have people visit places we’ve already been to, but you and I get the fun stuff. You and me, we go out into the real unknown.”

“That’s our thing, you know? I wanted to make sure you were okay with me wanting to do it alone. Just for a while.”

Sora can’t stop his smile from turning into a grin. He sets the tart down on the table and pulls Larae into a tight hug. She smiles at him, relieved, and starts taking out the rest of their lunch.

“Besides,” She continues, retaking Sora’s attention as he helps set the table. “I figure, you know, one day you’re going to want to relax a bit and spend all your free time holding hands with Master Riku. You’re going to want to spend the rest of your life with him. I think you already do.”

Sora flushes, but doesn’t disagree with her. She snickers.

“So, I was musing about that, you know? You’re going to leave all of this to me and Mirare and Alo. Maybe you’ll move to another island, I don’t know what you want to do. Mirare’s already learned so much in the few months he’s been training under Riku. Alo, too, and now that the library’s restoration is almost done she’ll have more time to get even stronger in her own way.”

“And me? I,” She pauses. Sora watches her carefully, watches as she thinks over her words. “I want to live up to you, but I also can’t stay being your apprentice, learning in your shadow. I have to be my own person, too.”

Larae turns to him fully, her expression bright with a kind of determination Sora has seen before. A surety of self so strong it could create another heart.

Briefly, he wonders if Xion and Roxas are doing okay, in the world he can’t seem to find. Briefly, because he buries the memories of them and of home and tries to stop the tears that well in his eyes. He can’t take this, he can’t take how much of this life seems to want to torment him, remind him of a world he used to love and cherish and where he thought he belonged.

Larae misunderstands his tears and her hands fly to Sora’s shoulders. “Aw, come on, old man. I knew you were the sentimental type, but I didn’t think you’d be so torn over me wanting to grow up a little bit.”

Sora laughs, hiding his sorrow behind his hands, his tears welling in the grooves of his palm. He takes a moment to catch his breath, and he raises his eyes to look at the ceiling to try and will away the wet sting of tears.

“I am so proud of you,” He says, finally looking at Larae. She smiles brightly, looking every bit like the person she wants to be - Herself. “I have always been proud of you.”

He pulls her into another embrace. “I am so happy,” He says quietly, “That you’ve become the person you are.”

Sora watches her leave hours later, promising her he’ll see her off before she leaves for her next trip - her own trip - the next week. As she runs off, her bag hanging off her shoulders and the leftover tart sitting in her hands, she calls over her shoulder.

“You should take a break!”

She’s gone, her figure disappearing into a crowd of wielders.

Sora turns to look at his office, messy as ever and crowded with pile of books and scrolls and odd knicknacks. He stands by the threshold, his hand resting against the frame the door; He’s thinking. Entertaining, rather, the idea of a break.

He turns to leave the office, closing the door behind him with a satisfying click.

It’s too late in the day to head to the forge; The day has progressed into a lazy afternoon, warm with the heat of summer. Many people have found shelter underneath the shade of rooftops and small lemon trees, others hiding within buildings and resting their heads on windowsills, hoping to catch a breeze to chill them.

Sora smiles, waving at people who greet him as he walks by. He turns into a quiet alley way, weaving through Ad Initium until he passes the middle tier, then the lower tier. He emerges from somewhere near the docks, and looks outwards.

Boats line up at the dock, many of them returning home after a long day’s worth of work. Sora stays to the path, walking atop old mosaic pathways, watching as the armada of fishing boats find their places, one by one, a pieces in the puzzle that makes up Ad Initium’s way of life.

He finds a post and leans on it with crossed arms, eyes searching for one boat in particular. It comes, the last, as it always seems to be, and docks close to him. Sora grins, bright, expectant, waiting.

Adren steps out of the boat, hauling her catch for the day on to the wooden docks. She looks up at Sora, as though she already knew he was there, and waves at him.

Sora jogs over as Adren passes along her catch to other fishermen. They haul the day’s catch over to Adren’s storage, where she’ll have other sort through it for her.

The elder woman catches Sora in an embrace when he comes, and chuckles warmly at him. Sora melts in her arms like a son who has been away a long time, and with the way Adren looks at him, she must think of it the same way.

“First your boyfriend and now you,” Adren laughs, the sound coming from deep in her chest. Sora steps back and looks at her, grinning. For all his height problems with others, he does find a cheeky sort of solace in knowing he surpasses Adren’s petite form. “You’d think I adopted the both of you. I may as well have!”

She pinches Sora’s cheek affectionately, to which the younger man laughs.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around. It’s busy on the summit.”

Adren huffs. “Excuses, excuses. Riku makes time to visit Elyse, at least. She’s been asking about you, you know.”

Sora falters. “Has she, really?” He says quietly, then shakes his head and looks at Adren with the most innocent look he could muster. “I’ll say hello to her soon enough. Can I ask you for advice?”

Adren rolls her eyes. “Seems to be what I’m good for around you idiots, so sure.”

She gestures for Sora to follow her, and he does. She leads him out of the docks and they begin making their way through the lower tier. Sora walks a pace behind her, his arms folded behind his head. Adren looks at him, brow raised.

“Well?”

Sora purses his lips. “Should I stay in Ad Initium?”

Adren’s laugh is loud. “Oh, bless my heart, you and Riku really are made for each other,” She sighs, wiping an imaginary tear from her eyes. “You know I had this exact same conversation with him six months ago?”

Sora raises a brow. “When he was hiding from me?”

“That very day, yes!” They both laugh. “So what’s got you thinking of staying in Ad Initium more?”

“Larae wants to start traveling on her own, which I think is great, and she suggested I stay here and relax, you know, take an actual break from leaving all the time and coming back to my responsibilities here.” He sighs. “I mean it wouldn’t be a real break, I’d be splitting the work with Riku still, but it’s still less than before since he thinks I should take a break, too, and I don’t know.”

Adren whistles. “Well, I think you’ve earned it. A break.”

“Do you really think so?” He mumbles, scratching his cheek.

The look Adren gives him is a gentle reprimand; A mother telling her son to stop with the nonsense. “You’ve looked after this place for ten years, five of which you spent on your own. You’ve done nothing but work hard and now we have this home that we’re all proud to live in and be a part of.”

Sora can’t help his smile.

“Whatever makes you think you haven’t earned it?” She huffs, hands on her hips. “Besides, you get to spend more time with Riku. Isn’t that something you want? You’re the one who asked him to stay here, after all.”

He purses his lips, thinks of how Riku feels about Ad Initium. “I just feel a little guilty.”

They stop walking, and Adren shakes her head at Sora. “You know what would be nice? You visiting again. You can do that if you took a break.”

Sora hums thoughtfully.

“You’d get to wake up to Riku more.”

He blushes; Adren laughs.

“In fact, you’d get to sleep in more, too.”

He covers his face, feeling a little mortified that he’s so predictable.

“And,” Adren grins, a finger raised to make her final point. “I can make you more of those fruit tarts. Who do you think Riku and Larae went to for those, hm?”

Sora rolls his eyes, laughing.

“Well. I guess I’m sold.”

Riku’s exhausted from the day, apologizing sleepily to Sora when they both go to their apartment instead of the rooftop. Sora tells him, fondly, that the rooftop is just a rooftop and he’s happier to spend time with Riku wherever. There’s a sleepy kiss, haphazardly planted on the corner of Sora’s lips instead of its intended target, and Sora laughs as his dearly beloved falls to the bed and begins to sleep.

Sora sits beside Riku, legs folded underneath him and hand brushing along Riku’s hair. Wisps of silver curl around his fingers. He stays until Riku’s breathing becomes even, until he starts dreaming.

Sora slips out of their shared home quietly, making his way to the rooftop, where he sits where their blankets would be.

Kingdom Hearts glows brightly, greeting him with the faintest blink.

“I guess you’ll be seeing even more of me again.”

The Heart doesn’t respond, and Sora frowns. He rests his arms across his knees, thinking, then lies flat on the floor. He stares at the sky above, glittering with the light of new worlds. It’s past starfall, now - Long past it.

He remembers when the sky had been a blank canvas of dark black, with no star in sight. He remembers when this rooftop had seen worse days, its edges crumbling and debris scattered all over it. He used to have a makeshift tent somewhere here, made of scraps of wood and cement and housed only him and Nightmare’s End.

The summit plaza used to be empty, ringing only with echos of his own voice, tired and sad and defeated. It used to be dull, used to be a broken gem trying still to glitter under the bright light of Kingdom Hearts.

He should be proud of how much Ad Initium has changed - How much more colorful it has become, how much life has taken root in its many homes. Whatever was left of his and Xehanort’s final confrontation lay only in the small cracks along Ad Initium’s many paths and roads, but even these have taken new significance. It is not proof of fragility - Rather, it is proof of Ad Initium’s durability.

Sora should be proud - And he is, for the most part.

Seeing ghosts of himself, of his friends - It is unsettling, and it feels a lot like a cruel joke.

Kingdom Hearts seems to hum.

“How much longer,” He says quietly, his voice young and scared and very, very tired. “How much longer will you trap me here?”

Chapter Text

Sora’s office on the summit isn’t at all spared from the uncomfortable heat of summer, but its altitude does provide a gentle chill every other moment or so. Even so, Sora has thrown open all of the windows, has his door propped open with a stack of books, and even casted Blizzard into the air - all in a feeble attempt to fend off the heat.

He and Larae have been working on new charts in preparation for her trip, drawing new maps and rolling up old ones. She had decided sometime earlier in the general direction of her solo quest - North, she’d told Sora, to which he had no argument for. Unexplored worlds were plenty in every and any direction, he’s certain he would have been alright if she had left the decision up to chance.

“How long do you need to plan provisions for?” Sora asks absentmindedly, eyes lazily going over pages of an old notebook they had shared some months ago. He turns the page as Larae makes a thoughtful sound. There’s a rustle of papers, some clattering of books hitting the floor.

Sora snorts and gets on his elbows, looking over at Larae’s direction. She’s digging through a pile of notebooks, looking for what he knows is her datebook.

She holds it up, grinning, waving it at a page - “Three weeks. I need provisions for three weeks.”

Sora chuckles, rolling his eyes and lying back down. “I’ll send a runner to start gathering tomorrow. Unless you want to go yourself?”

He hears Larae try to step over a stack of books - It falls, and so does she. Without much grace, either. Sora doesn’t turn to look at her, only snickers to himself as he continues reading notes.

“You’re right. I’ll send a runner.”

“You’re such a dirtbag, Caelum,” Larae snorts. There’s a grunt, then a sound of defeat. She’ll be lying down for a while until she remembers the next thing she needs to do.

“I doubt that.”

Larae huffs. “You’re going to miss this, you know. You’re going to be up here reading old notes and sketching over old maps and start asking Mirare or Alo when I’ll be coming back even though you have your own datebook to reference.”

“Mhmm,” Sora hums. “Hey, while you’re still here, you mind casting Blizzard again? It’s getting warm.”

The spell hits him, instead, and Sora laughs as he jolts up into a sitting position, shaking the bits of ice from his hair.

Larae is right, though - About missing her. He realizes it when he sees her off later that week, idly standing by the docks and feeling his skin prickle under the intense daylight. It’s awful how hot it gets in Ad Initium this time of the year - Even with all of his hair up high in a tight ponytail, secured by a lengthy ribbon, sweat still beads at the base of his neck and threatens to run down his back. Even Destiny Islands’ summers were far kinder than this - He supposes that the added heat is Kingdom Hearts’ fault.

Larae is busy loading her glider, the packs strapped neatly against the sides of the vehicle. Sora watches, Larae’s helmet held securely in his hands, and remembers - He’s definitely going to miss her.

“Bet you’re really regretting bullying me last week, huh, Caelum?” Larae says, smug, as she fastens another pack to the glider. She turns to him, blue eyes sharp and teasing, and Sora rolls his eyes, shaking his head.

“I am not getting an empty nest syndrome, Lar.” He huffs, spinning the red and gold helmet in his hands. “I’ve still got your brother and Alo. If they decide they want to start traveling, well, who knows. Maybe. ”

Larae rolls her eyes at him, and goes back to securing her bags. Sora taps at her helmet, thinking. He doesn’t think about anything in particular - In truth nothing really comes to mind. He stands there, waiting for Larae to finish checking and double checking her provisions, and he thinks, he waits. He wonders.

A little part of him wonders if Larae will keep an eye out for any worlds that have islands, a set of islands - Or a tree with fruits the shape of stars. Like he had asked her to.

He tries not to dwell on the idea.

Larae is in front of him, bouncing on her feet and leaning as she tries to catch Sora’s eyes. Startled, he looks at her, nearly dropping her helmet. She catches it, grinning, and pokes Sora’s chest.

“Empty nest syndrome,” She sings, and Sora chuckles.

“You just want me to say I’m going to miss you.”

“Sorry - What was that? I couldn’t quite catch it.”

Larae dodges a shove from Sora, but lets him catch her in a quick embrace. He doesn’t hug her for long - The heat from the armor is killing him and he’s sweaty enough as it is - but he does hold her at arm's length, hands resting at her pauldrons.

“I’m going to miss you, Larae. And I know you’re going to make me proud.”

“That took you long enough.” Larae’s grin is cheeky and victorious. “You’re so sentimental, Caelum. Seriously.”

“I should probably tone it down a bit, huh?”

Larae gasps at him; She shakes her head, punches him lightly in the abdomen. “Nah, not at all. Wearing your heart on your sleeve is what makes you, Caelum.”

He smiles softly at that. He gestures to her helmet, and she looks at it contemplatively.

“Remember the first time I summoned my armor, how proud you were back then?” She says, offering the helmet to him. Sora blinks, surprised, and his smile grows as he takes the helmet in his hands again.

“And you call me sentimental.”

Larae steps closer, angling her head for Sora to place the helmet over her. Sora’s careful as he places it on her, chuckling when her hands come up to assist him just so. He secures the helm and steps back, admiring the red and gold armor. He looks at her carefully, then darts his gaze away, clearing his throat.

Larae laughs, loud and boisterous - “Are you crying? ”

Sora waves her off, shoving lightly at her shoulders until she catches her breath and calms down. Her visor turns towards him, and Sora can see a little bit of himself reflected.

“Hey,” Larae’s voice says. “Be sure to get some rest, alright? You really do deserve it.”

“I can’t really rest, you know - I still have to split some responsibilities with Riku. I still have to take care of you guys.”

Larae shakes her head. She places her hand on Sora’s shoulder, squeezing tightly. “No, Caelum, let us take care of you.”

Sora blinks at that, pausing at the very delivery of Larae’s words. He sighs, chuckling, and pokes the forehead of the helmet in front of him. He hears Larae’s muffled laughter underneath. He scratches the back of his neck.

“Hard pass.” He says, sighing heavily. “Sorry you’ve got to see your old man like this.”

He guesses Larae rolls her eyes, because her visor follows the movement. He snorts. “First of all, you’re like, twenty-seven, twenty-eight at most. Second of all, I’ll be back before you know it, and I’ll let you know if I’ve found another island world or not. Meanwhile, you’ll get to relax - finally - and hang out at the forge. It’ll be like a vacation. I’ll bring you back some cool rocks.”

He guesses that Larae smiles underneath - Her tone seems to suggest just as much. She turns to her glider and hops on, summoning her keyblade. She hesitates a moment, then turns to Sora.

“You mind doing the honors?” She asks, gesturing towards the sky with her blade, and Sora nods, pride welling in his chest.

Nightmare’s End materializes in his hand, glowing as he points it upwards. He takes a stance, takes a deep breath, and surges the blade forward as light shoots from its end, calling forth a light portal high in the sky. Sora stares at it for a moment, and Larae’s glider hums to life. He looks at her, laughing as the glider makes one turn around him then speeds off - Up, up, up, disappearing into the light.

He waves as the portal closes, the light shimmering away softly.

Life on Ad Initium resumes.

He lingers on the docks of Ad Initium a breath longer, trying to will away the heat of the summer. After realizing no power in the universe would call away the heat, Sora, defeated, moves elsewhere - He is, after all, expected at Adren’s home after he see Larae off. He takes the side streets and the alleys, the places covered in shade and safe from the daylight, and weaves through the lower tier.

The path is familiar; He’s made it several times, over and over. He knows this place like the back of his hand, as he should. And he’s glad for it, too; Another minute under the scorching daylight and he might just give up on the rest of the day.

Soon enough, Adren’s home comes into view - A small building painted over with a bright red color. The stone around the windows have remained pristine and white through the years, but he remembers when it had all been nothing more than rubble; Cracks in the exterior, a failing interior, the likes.

A blur of burgundy by the first floor window, and then the face of a beaming eight-year-old. Elyse’s shoulders are hunched, pushed up by her hands resting on the rough window sill. She’s grinning at Sora, her eyes twinkling with an excitement he hadn’t seen in her in quite some time.

A little bit of guilt worms its way into his heart as he steps out from the shade and into the light; He waves sheepishly at her as he comes closer. There’s a falter to his step, a weakness in his smile, but Elyse is too excited to see him to notice that.

Riku shows up at the window, then, resting his elbows on either side of Elyse and resting his chin atop her head. She makes a sound - of annoyance or of amusement, Sora isn’t sure, but he does step closer and get on his toes to give Riku a peck on the lips in greeting.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

Elyse makes sound of annoyance.

Sora laughs, turning his attention to Elyse and pressing a kiss to her forehead. She grins, satisfied, and laughs as Sora pinches her cheeks lightly. “Hey to you, too. Sorry I haven’t been around.”

Elyse jumps off the window sill and dismisses Sora with a wave. She signs after, saying that it’s alright as long as he doesn’t keep her waiting any more.

Sora bites his lip and laughs sheepishly while Riku scoffs. Riku ruffles Elyse’s hair and gestures for Sora to come in to the house. Elyse continues signing - Riku and I made pancakes for the three of us to share!

“Oh, pancakes sound great right now,” Sora hums as he turns from the window and makes for the door. Riku holds it open for him and they share another kiss before Elyse has any time to complain to either of them. “Adren’s not home?”

Elyse shakes her head.

“Left early to fish. It’s just been me and Elyse all morning,” Riku says, smiling as Elyse runs towards Sora and takes his hands, spinning him around her. “El, why don’t you tell Sora what you’ve got planned for us today?”

The young girl lets go, nearly making Sora trip over himself. Riku’s quick to catch him and the two of them laugh. She waits for them to place their attention back to her, clapping her hands when the two take a moment too long in each other’s arms.

She gestures to the table and the two follow, taking their seats as Elyse gets on one of the chairs and starts signing quickly - Sora is amused as he watches, reading Elyse’s gestures and discerning from them that he’ll be having a busy day playing soccer with Elyse and her friends in the lower tier plaza and that once the day cools in the late afternoon the three of them will be searching out seashells on one of the beaches on the other side of the island.

Elyse stands proudly on her chair, hands on her hips and looking at the two wielders expectantly. Riku raises a brow at Sora, who leans back into his chair and hums thoughtfully.

He takes a bite out of one of his pancakes as Elyse and Riku both wait for a response. When he swallows, he grins at them both and giving them a thumbs up.

“Elyse, I would have no one else plan the first day of my vacation.”

Beside him, Riku snorts and begins eating his own stack of pancakes. Elyse beams , nearly tripping off the chair in her excitement.

“I only have on request, though --” Sora hums, waving a fork in Elyse’s direction. She looks at him, stilling in her seat and taking on a serious expression. Sora tries not to laugh when Riku stifles a chuckle. “I want, as much as possible, to be in the shade. The daylight today is awful. ”

He thinks his skin has been burnt all over.

Which might not be so far from the truth, as so much of it stings in that specific way only summer can cause one’s skin to sting. The sting isn’t even all that bad, which is what makes Riku’s amusement over Sora’s dilemma stronger. With Sora being an islander, his skin is, to some degree, used to this kind of harsh treatment after being in broad daylight during summer.

Though, considering it is still Sora’s vacation, and the first day of it, he justifies that a few whines and complaints are allowed of him.

Soccer had been an ordeal on its own - Sora’s sure he’ll be waking up to some new scrapes and bruises on his legs in the next few days. His hand brushes over his knee, pressing lightly and testing the pain. When he winces, he throws Riku a deep frown - Though judging by Riku’s amused expression, it must look more like a pout.

“The two of you are monsters when it comes to soccer!” He exclaims, gesturing towards Riku and Elyse - who had, up until this point, been busy kicking sand around looking for seashells buried underneath. “Riku, especially! Since when? ”

His partner merely grins, pointing towards Elyse with his thumb. “Elyse taught me. What do you think I do when I’m not on the summit?”

Sora blanks. He purses his lips. Then: “Sleep?”

“That’s what you do, Sora.”

Sora huffs, turning his attention to Elyse. She grins at him, signs that he’s just a sore loser, then promptly goes back to finding shells. She moves further down, closer to the water, toeing the cool water as it rushes past her feet.

Sora listens for that - The familiar crash of water hitting the beach, simultaneously soft and loud. It’s a relaxing sound, and one that he lets himself get carried away by. It’s enough to help him forget about the stinging on his bare shoulders, though admittedly it is not enough to keep him from stealing glances at Riku - sitting eyes closed and one hand pressed into the sand behind him to keep him propped up.

Time and time again, glance after glance, Sora feels his smile curve higher. This feels like home. He wonders if Riku feels the same way.

“You’re really bad at subtlety, you know.” Riku says, eyes still closed and breeze still brushing at his hair. Sora stammers, scoffs, and looks away pointedly when Riku turns to him with a smile. “How are you feeling?”

Sora huffs, but he considers the question for a moment. He squints at nothing in particular. “You know when a Darkside disappears for a second and all of a sudden it shows up beneath you and uppercuts you? Like that.”

Riku laughs quietly, shaking his head. “That’s high praise for a little kid.”

Sora scoffs. “It had better be.” He rolls his shoulders, bites his lip at the slight sting. “Is she getting seashells for a wayfinder?”

He turns to Riku, watches him shrug sheepishly. “She asked about the charm Namine made me. I figured I may as well teach her how to make one.”

Sora nods, humming thoughtfully. He looks back at Elyse, and his gaze continues on to observe the rest of the beach they’ve found themselves in. It’s a small one, with sand more like crushed gravel, grey and nothing at all like the white sands of Destiny Islands. The view is a little crowded, too - In the immediate distance Sora can see another island, identical to the main one. Just a little further than that lies another. From here, he can count three or four other islands, all of them similar in appearance to Ad Initium’s center. His eyes trail the sky cars that connect the various islands, their cables catching the shine of Kingdom Hearts.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, focusing on the familiar sound of seagulls calling and the water hitting the shore. He imagines himself at fourteen, spending an afternoon after school kicking up white sand as the blue-green seawater crashes onto the shore. He imagines lying down, Kairi to his left and Riku to his right, their backs resting against the sand as the day dims into late afternoon and early evening.

He imagines the sky at Destiny Islands - The stars, the constellations he grew up knowing.

But when Sora opens his eyes, and sees a different sky, with unnamed constellations and multitudes of unexplored worlds.

He looks at Riku, his own gaze pointed upwards in quiet observation. Sora smiles at him, bites his lip.

Then: “I asked Larae to keep an eye out for any island worlds. Bonus points if they’re archipelagos.”

It’s enough to pull Riku out of his reverie. He turns to Sora, surprise evident in the rise of his eyebrows. “Oh?”

Sora nods, but doesn’t continue. He turns his head and looks for Elyse, who’s still busy gathering seashells for her wayfinder. Riku shifts and moves closer, covering Sora’s hand in his own. Sora receives a gentle squeeze, and he understands the genuine gratitude behind it.

“How is the library?” Sora asks instead, glancing back at Riku.

Riku’s smile is brilliant; proud. Sora wonders if it’s possible to fall in love a second time.

“It’s getting there. Alo and I set up a team to start reading the texts about the power of waking.” Riku says, thoughtful. “So far we haven’t learned anything you and I wouldn’t already know, but we just got started. So.”

Sora yawns. “Well. Let me know if that changes.” He scratches his cheek.

Riku nods; A little stiff, but Sora doesn’t think too much on it.

“Today was good,” Sora says, disturbing the silence between them. “I’m glad I got to spend it with you and Elyse.”

He spies Riku’s smile, soft and reassured, and Sora relaxes.

The kitchen sees Sora and Riku together, making meals and sharing them. It becomes a little bit of an event - Mirare and Alo come around often, sometimes bringing their own meals to share. Sometimes Elyse and Adren drop in, also, bringing with them tarts and shortcakes that brighten Sora’s smile.

Sometimes Riku cooks, and sometimes it is Sora. Sometimes they have the others help out, but most of the time it is only them both, working with and around each other in their small kitchen in their cozy apartment high on the summit of Ad Initium. They adopt a sort of rhythm to the way they work; Upbeat and joyous, two lovers dancing around each other’s footsteps.

Riku should count himself lucky that Sora’s got a natural talent for it.

Lunch eventually grows into a sort of family event as Mirare and Alo and Elyse and Adren join them - Sometimes altogether, sometimes not. Whichever the case, they’re always welcome to drop by and squeeze into their apartment when it smells like good food and cheer.

Today they’ve set up plates for five although only Alo and Mirare come by to join them; Sora pretends to serve Larae, placing a generous and imaginary serving on her plate. Alo laughs at the gesture, saying something about how it’d be a funny story to tell her upon her return. Mirare adds after: “It’s funny because she doesn’t have stuff like this to eat right now.”

Riku laughs, but not without swiping at Mirare’s head, scolding him to be a little kinder to his sister.

“Oh, like you’re any better!” Mirare says, rubbing his head and faking the pain of Riku’s weak smack. “Don’t you have a sister that you bully constantly? Namine?”

“Not my sister, and it’s not bullying if she’s worse to me.”

Riku then rolls his eyes and focuses back on the kitchen, pointedly ignoring Mirare’s further quips. Alo chuckles, and stands to join Riku when he calls for her to help him. Sora snorts and settles down at the table. He pokes at Mirare.

“He told you about Namine, huh?” He asks, and Mirare nods. Sora smiles.

“He talks about her all the time, I feel like I know her already.”

Sora raises a brow at him, and parts his lips to speak - He knows Namine, knows lots about her. But Mirare continues, unnoticing: “Riku told me she’s an artist, now. Has had a lot of gallery shows in Radiant Garden and Twilight Town.”

Sora purses his lips, pausing. He hadn’t known that. “Really?”

“Yeah! I wish I could see her paintings or something. Riku says she does a lot of series. I think her latest one had something to do with time?” He shrugs. “He’s also mentioned lots of other things.”

Sora smiles. “How about your apprenticeship under him? Tell me about that.”

At that, Mirare brightens. He taps the surface of the table, saying: “It’s really great. He’s been showing me how to use magic more effectively during combat. Says he learned a lot of that from his master - Aqua?”

Sora purses his lips again. “He did?”

“Yeah! He trained under her for a while, wanted to learn more about being a keyblade master despite already being one. Kinda like me, minus the whole title thing. He told me about it during one of his speeches about the importance of always being eager to learn something new. He has a lot of speeches. I really should bring a notebook around.”

Sora snorts at that, though he doesn’t disagree. “Did he tell you anything else?’

Mirare leans back into his chair, cupping his chin as he thinks the question over. “He told me a lot about this place called the Land of Departure. He taught a lot of students there - He never took an official apprentice, apparently, not until me, but he did visit often to spar with the masters already there for demos.”

Sora leans on the table with his elbows, listening.

“He told me how the Land of Departure is almost like Ad Initium? In the sense that that’s where he goes to learn about the keyblade master of your pasts. I asked him to describe the place to me, once,” Mirare continues. He smiles at the memory, and Sora leans a little closer - Curious. Maybe a little more so than usual.

“He told me it’s smaller than Ad Initium, and that most of its buildings stand on cliffs. There’s this castle- The Forecourt?”

Sora nods. “It’s really cool.”

“Yeah! And it houses maybe under a hundred keyblade wielders. Of course we have more but Riku said that for the Land of Departure, a hundred was a lot.”

Riku hasn’t told him about that either - He had assumed there’d been some new trainees, but to think there was enough to bring life back on Departure wasn’t something he had imagined. Sora hums thoughtfully. The last he remembers of the Land of Departure, Aqua had pulled it from the realm of darkness, and its halls were wide and empty.

“Must be different now…” Sora muses quietly. He shakes his head, pulls himself out of his own thoughts, and focuses back on Mirare.

“He told me a little bit about Destiny Islands, too,” Mirare says, resting his cheek on his palm. “You grew up there, didn’t you? What was that like?”

Sora hums. He scratches his cheek and sits back. “Well, it’s island life, so it really isn’t all that different from here. But it’s not as busy either- We didn’t have a lot of tall buildings, everything’s a little more spaced out. Ad Initium is a lot crowded in comparison.”

Mirare taps the table. “He said there’s a huge town center now, with a mall and everything.”

Sora leans into his chair and turns his head towards the kitchen, calling: “Since when did Destiny Islands get a town center?”

Riku looks over his shoulder, brows furrowed as he thinks. “Five years now?”

Sora frowns. Where was he five years ago?

“Huh. I guess I missed out on a lot of things back home.”

Riku keeps his focus on the stove. Alo chirps in: “Oh, Caelum! You should come see the library soon now that you’re free. Master Riku’s been such a huge help and most of our books have been repaired and the shelves are all nearly full!”

Sora brightens at that. “I’ll drop by soon.”

Alo nods. “I think you’d be very impressed. So much has changed since Riku decided to stay, it’s exciting.”

“It really has been,” Mirare adds, grinning when Riku seems to blush at their compliments. “Soon enough you guys will both be able to retire and relax and leave everything to us.”

Sora purses his lips, but doesn’t say anything.

Alo continues: “Besides, Master Riku’s been training us so well these past few months, I feel like we’re all going to be ready to take on your responsibilities soon enough.”

Mirare nods. “Larae would probably agree, too. I think before long we’ll all be taking care of Ad Initium for you, Caelum.”

Sora frowns. “Are you guys really so set on taking leadership already?”

Mirare flushes, and Alo chuckles sheepishly. Riku looks over his shoulder, looking between Alo and Mirare.

Mirare raises his hands defensively. “We just want to make sure we’re ready for when it happens! We don’t actually want to take it from you guys or anything.”

“Oh, good. I was worried you were going to stage a coup.” Riku says dryly. Sora snickers.

“A coop?”

“A coup, Mirare.” Alo says gently. Mirare blanks, then understands.

“Oh.” Mirare clears his throat. He turns to Sora, his cheeks a deep red. “I knew that. We wouldn’t do that.”

Riku and Sora both laugh at Mirare’s expense.

Sora seeks out the forge.

It calls him home - Has called him home several times. The heat inside embraces him and offers him a kindness that the summer weather outside does not. There’s a soft breeze that brushes him whenever he’s by a window, and it greets him with a comfort and a reminder that here, here he is alright.

The keyblade born of Kairi’s memory sits atop his main work table and is the focus of most of Sora’s attention. He works on it day in and out, loses hours to it. There are entire bouquets of flowers towards one end of the table, tinted metal curled into petals. Some bits are hammered and shaped into small stars, tinted in bright yellows.

Sora spends hours arranging them on the keyblade, welding and stepping back and arranging and welding again.

Riku comes by sometimes - He folds his arms over the window sill where he peeks in and asks for a kiss. Sora has laughed at him for the action more than once, teased him for trying too hard to be his knight in shining armor. His laugh is loud and boisterous when Riku eventually comes by fully suited in summoned armor, silver and tinted blue glimmering at the light outside the forge.

“You are ridiculous. ” Sora tells him, pressing a kiss to the visor. It disperses away in a slow fade of light, revealing Riku’s soft grin beneath. Sora’s day brightens immediately.

“I am only doing my very best for my charge. Which happens to be you.” Riku leans his head on his palm, grin widening when Sora places another kiss on his cheek. “Still working on the keyblade?”

Sora nods an affirmative, pressing another kiss. Riku hums.

“Still enjoying your vacation?”

Another kiss; Another affirmative.

“How are you?”

Sora pauses, blinking at his partner. “I’m doing alright. Seeing you is good.” He leans on the window sill, thinking. “Why?”

“Just wanted to check in with you.” Riku says honestly, scratching his cheek. “It’s really good to see you relax. You look comfortable.”

“Feels like I’m home.” Sora smiles. Riku purses his lips. There’s an awkward pause.

Riku taps the window sill and pushes himself off. He takes Sora’s hand and presses a kiss to it, smiling when Sora chuckles at the affection.

“We’re progressing a little more on the research,” Riku says, clasping Sora’s hand in his. “Alo has some thoughts but she wants to read a little more before she shares them with me.”

Sora focuses on the way his hand fits in Riku’s. Like how it feels like it will find no other home.

“Well, I look forward to hearing what she has to say for sure.” Sora says carefully, smiling at Riku who only nods. Stiffly. “I’ll see you later?”

A kiss to Sora’s knuckles. “Of course.”

Sora calls Riku’s attention as he walks away, armor fading away in soft lights. Riku turns, looks over his shoulder, and Sora exclaims: “I love you.”

Riku grins, and Sora’s sure he’ll tease him about its lopsidedness. “I love you, too.”

The day progresses, and afternoon allows some reprieve for the summer heat. The breeze is kinder, cooler, and Sora finds himself sitting in the empty alley outside his forge, humming quietly.

He taps absentmindedly at his chest, thinking. He takes a breath of air, two, rhythmically tapping over and over, running thoughts through his head as he stares at nothing in particular. He thinks of his latest keyblade, the warmth of the Kingdom Key, of Nightmare’s End, the heat of summer, and his latest keyblade, again. Another hum, another in take of air. Tap, tap, tap. Kairi’s memory, Kingdom Key, Nightmare’s End, summer, Kairi again.

It’s almost finished - the amber keyblade, decorated with twelve bouquets worth of sculpted flowers. He’d given it a paopu fruit shaped bit, made out of steel and plated with gold. He didn’t give it a keychain - He never gives his forged keyblades keychains, but he does leave a hole for one in each of them. It’s always the last thing he does - He considers it a wish.

He wants for this keyblade to be warm, to comfort, to be fierce, to be its own. Just like Kairi. Just like how he remembers.

He squints, tries to focus on something through the door of his forge. He eyes the amber glow of the keyblade, the light hitting it and reflecting off with a certain fiery shine. He feels like he’s remembering something. Something important. Something about Kairi.

“Taking a break, Master Caelum?”

Sora blinks, startled, and looks up at Mirare. The boy grins at him, bent over with one hand on a knee and another holding out a picnic basket. Sora takes a moment to look between him and the basket, then lets a grin spread across his face.

“Special delivery from Riku, I’m guessing?”

Mirare snorts. “Yeah. He said he’d come down himself but he’s busy with research and so is Alo and, well. It’s too hot to lead exercises right now and I’d rather play messenger than catch up on my own reading.”

Sora snorts. He pats down the space beside him and Mirare settles down, placing the basket between them both. Sora watches him as he does, reminded strongly of a younger Riku. Perhaps a little more open, more sure of himself than Riku was at that age, but there’s something in the way Mirare cares about others that brings back old memories.

There was a time when Mirare’s resemblance to Riku haunted him deeply - And there are days still when it does. Some worse than other, some not. Mirare’s resemblance had been one of those imitations that broke his heart the hardest.

The same turquoise eyes, reminiscent of water crashing down on a beach. The ocean that stretches beyond the world’s borders.

Mirare’s voice cuts through his thoughts gently. “Do I really look like him when he was, you know. Younger?”

Yes, is the first thing Sora thinks. But he hesitates at the thought; There’s something different now. A memory of Riku but it stops there - As though a line had been cut and the ocean had been divided. Two different people, two sets of experiences. Which Sora is thankful for - He knows if any of his kids had experienced the same things he and Riku and the others did when they were younger, well.

He’d feel a little like a failed master.

Sora scoffs. He looks at Mirare. “If your hair was silver instead of a dark grey and wasn’t tied up, yeah. I’d say you were mirror images of each other.”

He watches as Mirare smiles sheepishly, reaching for the back of his head to pull his hair out of its usual loose knot. Sora chuckles as Mirare ruffles his hair and rearranges his bangs, and when he looks up at Sora the latter can only think of home, of Destiny Islands, of promises made at the edge of a beach.

He reaches up and messes with Mirare’s hair, laughing when the younger makes sounds of protests.

“Just as long as you remember you’re still your own person, Mir.”

Mirare snorts. “You know, I remember a few years ago you told me that I reminded you of someone. I was always curious as to who that was. I’m glad I got to meet Riku.”

Sora looks at him, brow raised. Mirare continues: “I just feel like I know the kind of person I want to be now that I’ve met him and trained under him.”

He nudges Mirare’s shoulder lightly. “Yeah? And what kind of person would that be?”

“Someone who has the strength to protect what matters.” Mirare says quietly, then snorts. “Or whatever Riku keeps saying. Still haven’t quite perfected my imitation of him yet.”

Sora laughs, shaking his head. “He does say that a lot, doesn’t he?” He says, and Mirare nods, hiding a snicker behind his hand.

“I mean I do mean it, it’s just that - He’s so dramatic. ” Mirare wheezes. He clears his throat, falls into a fit of giggling, then finally catches his breath.

Sora watches him, his lips curved into a bemused smirk. He looks back through the door of the forge, thoughtful.

A snort. “Anyway, what are you working on? Any new keyblades?”

“One.” Sora gets up and Mirare follows him when he gestures towards the forge, bringing the basket with him. “I’ll show you.”

And he does. Mirare’s delighted, and trades the basket for the keyblade on the table. He tests the weight and balance of the keyblade and admiring the careful tint of metal and the delicate sculpt of its shape. He taps the side of the shaft, a thoughtful huh escaping his lips. Sora grins.

“This is practically a club. ” Mirare says, looking at Sora warily.

“The person I based this one on hits hard. ”

“They seem pretty strong, then.”

A laugh. “One of the strongest women I’ve ever met.”

“Well, it’s pretty.” Mirare sets the keyblade down and looks at the other keyblades propped against the wall. “Hey, do you still have the Mirage Split copy?”

Sora glances at the keyblades, thinks. He’d forgotten about it, actually. He moves towards the wall and carefully picks through them, and hums when he finds the copy towards the back. He holds it up, stares at it.

It’s seen some changes since Riku’s return - No longer a perfect copy, as it had found its own distinguishing traits. He hadn’t taken it out to other worlds or even to spar at all since Riku’s return - It stayed in his forge, quiet and unused. He should bring it out again, but he already had Riku with him.

Sora looks at Mirare, turns the blade in his hand and reaches it towards the younger - the handle facing Mirare.

Mirare raises a brow.

“You always did like this one.” Sora says, and Mirare flushes, sheepishly looking away. “Do you want it?”

Mirare wraps his hand around the handle carefully, hesitantly. He purses his lips, smiles, and takes it. Sora’s fingers curl as the weight leaves his hands.

“No, it’s -” Mirare says quietly. Sora watches him carefully, watches for the tell-tale signs of hesitation. Mirare smiles - strained and just a little forced. “Nah, Caelum. It’s cool. It’s still your keyblade.”

“If you’re sure.”

Mirare purses his lips. He points out the door. “I should get to reading.” He says, grinning, before returning the copy to Sora.

There’s something thoughtful in the way Sora watches after Mirare as he leaves the forge. He looks down at the keyblade in his hands, hums, and sets it on his worktable.

Sora jolts awake, gasping for air.

Riku’s hand finds Sora’s back in moments, soothingly rubbing circles as Sora catches his breath and evens his breathing. He furrows his brows, places a hand to his forehead, and shakes his head.

“What’s wrong?” Riku asks quietly, leaning closer and pulling Sora into a hug. The way Riku’s silver hair tickles Sora’s nose as he nestles his face against Riku’s shoulder offers a kind comfort. “Bad dream?”

“I don’t know.” Eyes squeeze shut. “I think it’s a dream I’ve had before. Something about - Kairi? And falling. But we were falling in different directions.”

Riku’s embrace gets tighter and Sora sighs. His eyes open, slowly, staring at the shadows under Riku’s jaw. He shifts as the two of them move to lie back down, Riku’s fingers combing through Sora’s hair soothingly. Sora’s eyes gaze out the window.

“Want to talk about it?”

Sora doesn’t reply immediately. He bites his lip, trying to remember pieces of the dream.

“I just… Remember her and the sky shattering.”

Sora shakes his head, curling closer into Riku. The blankets are pulled over them both, gently, and Sora smiles when he feels Riku tuck them securely around him. He looks up at his partner, who only shrugs, mouthing something about how he knows it makes Sora feel better. Neither of them go back to sleep yet.

The sound of water is loud even from this high up the island. Sora closes his eyes and focuses on that faint sound of water moving, and imagines himself being pulled. Pushed. Pulled. The sway of his body as the slow-moving water surrounds him and guides him, wordlessly bringing him somewhere new and unknown and far away.

He remembers Destiny Islands when he’s young, spending afternoons floating just off the beach with his arms outstretched. He’d trusted the water to neither pull him away or under, trusted the way the light filtered through his closed eyes and making everything a faint red.

Sora opens his eyes, sees Riku’s curious and worried expression, and gives him a small smile.

“You know what’s weird?”

Riku raises a brow. “What?”

“It just occurred to me how much I don’t remember,” Sora sighs. “About how I got here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that.” A shrug. “All I remember is… Seeing Kairi. And then I woke up here. No Kingdom Key, no power of waking, just Kingdom Hearts and a sore back.”

Riku pauses; Sora looks at him, humming. “You lost the power of waking? You didn’t tell me that.”

“Oh. I thought I did.” Sora shifts closer, averting his eyes. “Pretty sure losing it and getting stuck here was the price I had to pay and all.”

There’s a silence that lasts too long. Sora looks up nervously; Riku purses his lips. “I can still use it.”

Both hesitate. Sora frowns. He gets on his elbows and looks at Riku harshly. The other bites his lip. “No. Don’t even think about trying it.”

“But we could go home -- ”

“And leave Ad Initium? We have responsibilities. We don’t even know if Destiny Islands even exists.” Sora sighs. He sits up and leans on his knees. “And I can’t just leave Ad Initium to Mirare and Larae.”

Riku pushes himself up, sits by Sora. “You can, though. You’ve heard the way they talk about taking responsibility, Sora-”

“They’re too young, Riku!” Sora snaps, glaring over his shoulder at a frozen Riku. “They’re kids. I’m not leaving an entire world on the shoulders of children. They’re barely older than we were when we had to save the world three times over.”

The Kingdom Key burns in his chest. Sora stops, memories of chasing after Riku and begging him to come home flooding his thoughts. There’s something ironic in that, something he might think about later, but harsh words of how Riku should know better than anyone why they couldn’t just leave burdens on children hang at the tip of Sora’s tongue, threatening to come pass his lips. But they don’t, and Sora only looks at Riku sadly.

He doesn’t need to be told.

“I’m sorry,” Riku says quietly. “I’m being selfish.”

Sora turns to face him. He sighs.

“I wanted to go home once. Things are just different.” He says quietly. “We have a life here. Can we take care of that?”

Sora tries to catch Riku’s eyes, but they seem so far away. So distant. But he nods, which Sora takes some relief in.

“Riku. That doesn’t mean that maybe one day, if it really is possible, I’ll still say no. It’s just,” Sora sighs, bows his head. “Just not right now.”

Riku nods again. Sora lies down and tugs the other down with him. There’s another murmured apology, weak and quiet, and Sora hushes it away.

He’s not sure which of them falls asleep first.

The forge is the first place he goes to the second he wakes, dresses, and steps out of the apartment. There’s breakfast leftover on the table, no doubt Riku’s quiet way of apologizing for last night. Sora had only taken a little bit of it before ignoring the rest, still too bothered by the evening before to really care for the entire plate.

He’s rushing through the plazas, the streets - People greet him as they always have and Sora returns with polite grins and sometimes even stops for a chat. It’s practice, routine. It has been for quite some time.

This is how it has been for years, and Sora isn’t so keen to wonder when his genuine desire to be near others and connect his heart with theirs turned into something else. Perhaps another day; Today he’s too racked with thoughts of home and guilt and anger over Riku wanting to be home.

What he said, about how he wanted to go home once wasn’t true- Or at least, wasn’t accurate. Home is all he thinks of. Running the length of the beach, visiting the various worlds he’s been to. He wants to see the same stars, see his friends. He wants to live the rest of his life on a comfortable beachfront house with Riku, waking up to him moving around the room as the seagulls call and the water crashes on the shore.

But Sora, now, is a sky divided. He belongs to this new world just as much as he belongs to the old world, and who is he to demand that same fate of Riku?

The forge’s walls are around him before he registers it. Sora blinks, looks around, finds the seat by his work table and sits there. His hands hold his head, fingers rubbing at his temples.

He’s restless.

He is, and he knows it. Perhaps the first few days had been restful but the longer he’s taken to trying to relax the more he’s been thinking. It’s not a good feeling. His thoughts crowd and he can’t focus and sometimes they revolve around a single idea- Millions of tangents circling one idea and it’s a lot. It’s too much.

He’s been distracted lately by thoughts of Destiny Islands, thoughts of wanting to see how much it has changed in his absence. He’s distracted by thoughts of leaving Ad Initium, of leaving it to Mirare and Alo and Larae. But always he stamps these ideas down with the reminder that he can’t. That he has to watch over Kingdom Hearts, over his kids, over the people who live here.

The Kingdom Key hums quietly in his chest. Sora huffs. “Funny how that works. I trade one burden for another.”

The keyblade warms his chest, as though amused. Sora frowns and ignores it.

“I’ve been spending too much time in here,” Sora mumbles, giving the forge a quick look. The Kingdom Key seems to agree. “And you’ve been spending too much time in there. Why won’t you let me hold you for longer than a second?”

His chest cools. Sora frowns.

“Figures.”

That’s the other thing. The Kingdom Key refuses him, yet still resides in him. He’ll summon it, and it’ll glow and warm the grip of his hands, as though observing its surroundings. And then that would be it- It would disappear in a flash of light, temperamental and refusing to reappear for a time.

He doesn’t dwell on it. He tries not to - Nightmare’s End sits comfortable in his hand and offers him a comfort that the Kingdom Key cannot. Some days the latter is a heavier weight than he remembers; knows. On those days Sora only holds it tighter. He clings to it.

Sora rubs his temples, hisses out a sigh. He’ll only feel worse if he stays any longer, and even if he wanted to he can’t add on to Kairi’s keyblade like this. It would just add faults to the memory, make it less than perfect. He can’t do it to the memory of her.

Sora presses his hands flat to the table. His fingers drum the surface. His eyes dart around the forge. He gets up, takes Kairi’s keyblade and straps it to his back. He glances at the copy of Mirage Split, purses his lips, and leaves it atop the work table. The forge door opens and closes and locks in a blur, and Sora makes his way to the middle tier plazas.

People start greeting him as soon as he enters the busier streets, and he does his best to still his breathing and focus. He asks about their days, how they have been. He knows their names and their faces, has memorized their lives and when they woke. This is his home, the place he has to protect. He knows it better than the back of his hand.

There’s a tug on his pants. Sora looks down, prepared to greet a child with another memorized name, but he’s stunned when he sees Elyse. Bright, smiling, and a touch worried.

She signs to him: You’re not feeling too good, are you?

Sora smiles, sighs. He shakes his head no, and Elyse frowns at him. She holds her hand out and Sora takes it, gingerly.

She leads him to a quieter part of the plaza. When she stops and turns to him, she gestures to the keyblade still strapped to Sora’s back. Teach me , she signs.

Sora’s hesitation is hardly masked, but he doesn’t refuse her. He summons Nightmare’s End as he pulls Kairi’s keyblade from his back and reaches it over to Elyse.

The keyblade simultaneously looks right and wrong in her hands; It’s a little big for her, and he imagines the weight keeps making it slip out and force her to readjust her grip. But even so, she holds it with the same tenacity as Kairi held Destiny’s Embrace, and perhaps that should comfort Sora.

It doesn’t. All he sees is Kairi.

Sora goes through a few easy routines, walking Elyse through basic parries and attacks. He directs her, calls her aims, and she follows studiously, completely focused on him.

It should have been him, Riku, and Kairi from the beginning, fighting together.

Elyse progresses quickly, her grip on the keyblade more comfortable. It’s quick learning for only an hour’s worth of basic drills, and Sora suggests a break. But Elyse is stubborn, and demands they continue.

There’s a moment when their eyes meet, and Sora understands why she’s doing this. She’s peculiar like that - Able to read Sora’s feelings and knowing when he needs a proper distraction. Being Ad Initium’s master does not always suit him, and she knows this. It’s an unnerving ability of hers that made him avoid her for so long in the first place.

He takes a deep breath, holds Nightmare’s End tighter. Elyse’s parries are strong; hard-hitting. She glares at him like she’s daring him to let out his frustrations.

But he can’t do that- Not to Elyse. Not to Kairi.

But it doesn’t take long until he starts to falter, until his grip on Nightmare’s End starts to loosen. Elyse watches closely when Sora starts taking deeper breaths, gasping, unwilling fall into his emotions; Flooding as they are.

He wants to go home. He wants to feel whole, to have Kairi down the street and Riku in the morning. He wants to leave Ad Initium, to leave the feeling of being trapped to a world he gave too much of himself to.

Elyse kneels down beside him. Signs to him:

What are you so afraid of?

And that is what breaks him- The confrontation of a ghost of his past asking his deepest fear.

Is it not obvious? Perhaps not to anyone born on Ad Initium, but certainly Riku must have noticed. Noticed the way he’d deflect the idea of going home, his hot and cold attitude towards the prospect of it. His near-desperate need to make sure Ad Initium is safe and sound and free of danger.

He’s afraid of losing his life, of failing those he cares about. He’s afraid of trying to find home and finding it to be in ruins, that the Riku who’s come to him is nothing more than a near-perfect copy gifted to him by a glowing Heart with a dark humor. He’s afraid that if he leaves Ad Initium, Mirare and Alo and Larae and Elyse will disappear in his wake- Memories that scatter into pieces until all that’s left is empty space.

He had lost a world once. He cannot deign to lose another.

So he falls to his knees, burying the palms of his hands into his eyes as he cries, tears warm in his hands. He feels Elyse’s arms wrap around him, gentle and kind and understanding in the way children can only understand the pains of adults.

There is a sudden cry. The Kingdom Key burns his chest. Elyse’s arms freeze around Sora.

The hurried clicking and murmurs of shadows floods their surroundings. Sora snaps his eyes open, eyes darting around his surroundings as heartless gather.

Keyblade wielders are quick to get to action, some focusing on the growing number of heartless as others guide civilians away. But they’re too far away from Elyse and Sora, and heartless have gathered around them both, providing no exit.

Elyse clings tighter to Sora, her fingers digging into his skin. He turns to her, eyes wide and scared. His hands are shaking. He takes Kairi’s keyblade, wraps Elyse’s hands tightly around its handle.

“The forge.”

Elyse nods, her eyes taking on a determination Sora wishes he could muster.

“We’ll be safe in the forge.” He says, weakly; More for himself than for Elyse.

Sora thinks he’s keeping Elyse safe; Nightmare’s End strikes at incoming heartless automatically, magic being cast from his will as though by instinct. But it’s Elyse who guides him, who tugs at his wrist, guiding him to the forge.

This is his fault, somehow. He can feel it. Each attack on Ad Initium, each raid, each boss - It must be connected to him.

Fighting the heartless is a blur and a work of muscle memory. He’s stunned at one point, staring out from the alley and at the plaza - There’s so many of them. Shadows growing larger by the second. The wielders he had trained and guided himself are taking care of them - Fighting with confident breaths. He knows they can take care of this. Yet the guilt adds on.

He searches for silver hair, for two pairs of turquoise eyes. Mirare and Riku not being here yet means the summit has their own share of heartless to deal with.

The Kingdom Key burns inside his chest; Reprimanding.

He understands a little bit of why it had been refusing him; He’s harboring too much negativity. He’s not the same soul that it had chosen a lifetime ago.

There’s a shriek behind him. Elyse. Sora turns, Nightmare’s End ready to strike, but a larger heartless gets to him first. It shrieks, shadowed claws digging into his arms. Sora falls to the ground, his back bruising on pavement. He is stunned; Scared. There’s too much happening. This isn’t like him.

Elyse yells, but Sora can’t see her past the face of the heartless that’s taken hold of him. There’s a flash of light, an amber glow radiating behind the shrieking heartless. It screams as it’s struck, and when it dissipates into a dark cloud, he sees Elyse wide eyed and scared, Kairi’s keyblade now hers.

Sora stares at her. She mouths to him: Forge .

It’s still further down the street, still some ways away. Sora doesn’t remember getting to his feet, but he’s moving along, Elyse tugging at his hand and her keyblade held tightly in her other hand. The keychain looks like a wayfinder. Something about that feels ironic.

Heartless crowd the street. There’s so many. Elyse shouldn’t be fighting this. Why isn’t he helping her? Why can’t he protect, like he always done, like he’s promised to?

His arms ache.

The swarm grows; There’s a deep growl. Singular. Loud. A heavy stomp. Elyse freezes and so does Sora. The ground tremors slightly, large footsteps making their way closer to him and Elyse both. A Darkside?

“Sora!”

Riku rushes past, a blur of silver and blue armor charging at the beast. Mirage Split hits its side, striking with a bright flash of light. He casts Thundaga. It isn’t stunned; Just angered. The Darkside roars, its claws swiping at Riku, but it hits nearby structures instead. Walls crumble and fall, and through all this Sora can only watch.

His arms feel heavy.

The beast goes into a rage, pounding its fists on the ground and causing tremors. Riku jumps high into the air, and blurs as he comes down to strike the Darkside’s head. But Mirage Split never meets its target - The Darkside disappears, sinking into the ground like a darkened pool. The darkness growls as Riku’s keyblade hits the floor, and up comes the Darkside’s fist; It uppercuts Riku and sends him high into the air.

The Darkside re-emerges, grabs hold of silver and blue armor, and slams Riku’s body into the ground.

“No -” No, no, no. “ No -- “

The Darkside turns to him, beady eyes trained on him. Elyse stands in front of Sora, shielding him with her keyblade. Sora summons Nightmare’s End, anger filling him, and he pushes past Elyse and charges at the beast.

But his arms are heavy and his strike is weak, and the Darkside grabs him with a mutated laugh, its chest heaving with a dark humor. It lifts Sora, gripping him tightly. Elyse is yelling, running to the Darkside and striking at him with untrained and unyielding rage. But it’s nothing to this beast’s might, and ignores her cries.

He begs for the Kingdom Key to come to him, to forgive his fears and his age.

It doesn’t appear in his hand; Its warmth leaves him, drawn out of his chest and leaves him burning. There’s a bright flash of light, he hears Elyse crying. The hand that holds him is struck, releasing him from a crushing grip.

Sora doesn’t remember much before he passes out.

But he knows that the Kingdom Key has chosen someone else.

Larae strikes his Darkside down, an old key finding a home in her hands.

Sunset on the Islands.

Sora leans on the palms of his hands, breathing in the sea-salt air of home. The breeze blows gently through his hair, his bangs tickling his nose slightly. He takes a deep breath and opens his eyes carefully. The sea stretches far, the ocean farther.

Kairi is farther up their shared tree, carefully picking out three paopu fruits. When she comes back down, she sits beside Sora, settling the star-shaped fruits between them.

“Why’s Riku all alone?” Sora says, peeking over his shoulder and past Kairi. She follows his gaze as she settles down.

“He said he needed some time alone.” She says, shrugging. She looks at Sora. “We should leave him be, I think. We’ll all share the fruit together when he comes up to join us.”

Sora snorts, picking up one of the fruits and turning it in his hands.

“You know this is all just superstition, right?” He says to her, waving the fruit. Kairi pouts at him, swatting at his shoulder. “I’m serious! I don’t need a fruit to make sure I stay with the two of you.”

“That’s not the point, airhead,” Kairi huffs. A smile plays at her lips nonetheless. “We’re not kids anymore. We’re not going to get another chance to act like kids, especially after tomorrow.”

Sora falters slightly. He looks away, his eyes settling on the amber glow of the sunset. “Come on, Kairi. You know I’m a roll with the punches kinda guy.”

Kairi frowns beside him. “It’s not wrong to worry about the future, you know.”

Sora scoffs weakly.

“Really, Sora. Have you thought at all about where we’d all be once we win? I know I’m moving back here. Maybe I’ll finally ask Selphie on a date, see where that goes. Ventus and Aqua are going to start training wielders on Land of Departure. Axel is probably gonna get a place in Twilight Town.” She continues, then grins slyly. “You and Riku could get serious.”

She’s met with a roll of Sora’s eyes, but she doesn’t miss the flush he tries to hide.

“You’re the worst, Kairi. The most awful person around.”

Kairi kicks Sora’s leg lightly, and they both laugh. They both spare a glance towards Riku, who meets their gazes and waves. They watch him get up.

“Here he comes,” Kairi hums. She turns to Sora, eyes wide. “Quick, act cool. You can’t let him know you’ve been in love with him since kindergarten. Oh wait, you already did that.”

Sora swats at her, laughing. “Would you stop that?”

“Absolutely not!”

They grin. He sighs. He leans on his hands again, stares out while they wait for Riku together. The silent stretches only a short time, because Kairi speaks again - Gentler, and maybe a touch sadder.

“Things are going to change for all of us, Sora. I just want to be sure that I’ll be a part of yours and Riku’s lives no matter what.”

“You guys getting sappy without me?” Riku’s voice calls, and the two look over their shoulders as he walks down the bridge. Sora purses his lips.

“Kairi wants us to share paopu fruits, so yeah. The usual.”

Riku snorts, looks at Kairi fondly. “You know you’re already stuck with us, right? No matter what.” He looks at the three fruits on the tree as he gets closer, and folds his arms as he leans on the trunk. “Besides, you’re only supposed to share one, break it into pieces. It doesn’t work if the three of us each have our own.”

Kairi rolls her eyes, throwing her hands in the air. “Fine! Fine, I see how it is. You guys just don’t want to humor the girl who moved here.” Sora and Riku laugh at her, nudging at her side as she swats at them. “You two are the worst best friends a girl could have.”

“Nah.”

“No way.”

Riku takes one of the fruits and hops on the trunk. He distributes the rest to his friends. “We may as well eat these, though. Don’t want them to go to waste.”

Sora nods, breaking his open easily. Kairi does the same, and so does Riku. It’s sweet.

“Hey, both of you,” Kairi says, eyes still gazing on the amber sea in front of them. “Whatever happens, I want the two of you to know you’ll always be in my heart.”

Her eyes lower. Riku and Sora look at her, watching.

“We grew up together, but I think most of our growing up has been away from each other. At least, that’s how it was for me. And that’s okay, things happen, none of us can really change all the weird stuff that’s happened, you know?”

“But even so… After tomorrow, I have this feeling that we’re all going to find our own paths in life. And I need to make sure… I need to make sure you both know that no matter what, you will always be a part of mine.”

Sora and Riku share a glance. They place their arms around Kairi, embracing her.

Then, Sora: “We’re not going anywhere, Kairi. Promise.”

Chapter Text

Voices. Soft, faraway; Drowned out or muffled, he cannot yet tell. He cannot make the words, cannot quite discern what they are saying, but he can recognize the voices.

A heartbeat. Simultaneously surrounding him and coming from within him. Slow, steady; Dib-dib. Dib-dib. Dib-dib.

Then, light. It is a faint white light, glowing from somewhere beneath his drifting body. It colors his dark pants, his skin, his hair lightly. It brightens as - and this, Sora realizes belatedly - he drifts lower, drifts closer to the source. Sora’s feet meet a surface, gently, as though he were being placed down carefully. There is a brush of air against his back, helping him to his feet.

He takes a deep breath, watches as the soft white surface beneath him transforms; flocks of doves taking flight around him before hurrying away. Fading.

Ah, this.

He has not seen this in some time.

“Curaga can only do so much, we can only help his body the rest of the way.” Alo sighs, pressing her fingers into her temples. She takes a few deep breaths, keeps her eyes averted from Mirare and Larae both, and sighs. “Riku, too. We’ll keep them both in the largest room at the infirmary.”

Alo spies a chair, sits down on it and rubs her temples some more. Mirare watches her, concern on his face, before turning to look at the two cots in the room.

It had been some hours since the raid had been dealt with. Most had left with only minor injuries; Riku and Caelum both had been hit the hardest, though none of them could figure out why. The Darkside - Darksides, rather, seemed to have focused on the two masters, like they were targeted.

Mirare and Riku had been dealing with the heartless on the summit plaza when a Darkside appeared. Riku had defeated it just fine, but something was said - Something about how Caelum was in danger. Mirare had been too busy fighting to have asked why, and besides. Riku had rushed off before he had a chance to.

And now, here he is, wrapped in bandages and covered in scratches that faintly follow the grooves of his armor. Mirare frowns, takes a deep breath, looks to his sister.

Larae is staring at Caelum. Not quite as wounded as Riku, but Alo had said that his arms would be bruised for quite some time. Curaga had stopped any long lasting injuries from setting, but the rest of the healing process would still take some time.

She flexes her hands; Open, close. Open, close - tight, curling into a crushing fist.

Larae’s sigh is more of a hiss, and she avoids Mirare and Alo’s worried looks at her. Her eyes burn; sting. She blinks away whatever tears threaten to break, to roll down her cheeks and fall from her chin. A stiff nod.

“We have responsibilities.” Larae says, the words feeling stolen. Her voice is hard and there is a tremble to her lips. If Mirare and Alo have noticed, they’ve chosen not to react. “I’ll gather volunteers, start patrols. There are always smaller groups after a huge raid.”

She looks to Mirare; Mirare nods at her.

“I’ll start organizing repair teams. We’ll focus on the middle tier for now.” He says.

The siblings turn to Alo, who has her hands pressed against each other, a contemplative look on her face. Her thumbs press against pursed lips. She looks at the other two. “I can’t be the one to tend to Riku and Caelum. I’ll get our best volunteers for them.”

Larae raises a brow. “What will you do?”

“I need to continue with research,” Alo says. Her eyes turn to Sora. “I have this feeling… I need to.”

When she looks up again at Larae and Mirare, they look uncomfortable. But they don’t voice their discomfort; They only nod.

Larae summons the Kingdom Key. She steadies her voice. “Okay. Let’s get to work.”

Sora’s footsteps echo underneath him; Tentative, careful. He watches his feet as he makes one step after another, slowly making his way towards the center of the station. The blue glass beneath him shines, iridescent hues of blues as he moves further into the station.

He’s smaller. Younger, really, is the correct term for it. He’s not quite at the age he was when he had first seen a station - A quick glance at the clothes he’s wearing tells him that he’s at the age he was just before he had woken up on Ad Initium. Or, Scala Ad Caelum. The name change was later that year. Whatever. Semantics.

“So, what are my choices today?” Sora calls out. He receives no answer, but he knows that someone, something is listening.

He turns on his heel, a quick little spin; Outstretched arms addressing an audience.

There is a gentle push of wind against his side, causing him to lose balance on his foot. He catches himself, his head turning in the direction of the wind.

His station undergoes a change.

The image of his younger self on the stained glass dissipates slowly, leaving the station in small shimmering lights. The image of the Kingdom Key in his hand disappears first, then his body. His shoes dissolve into yellow flickers of light, and as more of him disappears, reds, whites.

Sora watches, lips parted, as this happens, watches until he disappears, until all that is left on the station are the halos that hold those that are dear to him.

Strange; There are more halos now, Sora realizes. The new ones all hold images of the people he holds closest to him on Ad Initium: Mirare, Larae, Alo, Adren, Elyse. Sora feels as though their images should crowd the station, but they all fit fine. Something about that detail comforts Sora. He always did have a spacious heart.

There is another gentle push of wind. Sora doesn’t stumble or lose his balance. The wind brushes his hair, brushes his bare shoulders; It tells him -

You’ve grown.

The wind blows low, brushing past Sora’s ankles.

A new image of him forms on the station; Older, worn. Sora bites back a scoff, watching lights dance across the surface of the station to settle into this new image of him.

He’s lying down the middle, arms crossed over his chest and holding Nightmare’s End by its hilt and pointing it down. His eyes are closed, his lips resting in a soft smile - They’re parted some, as though he were exhaling in his sleep. His brown hair brushes down his neck, the ends wisping at his collarbone; The bangs cover much of his face, framing him and sharpening what soft features he actually has.

The lights dance across his image’s chest, forming a mirror where Nightmare’s End’s handle is. Sora feels the find push lightly as his back, and he steps forward. One, two tentative steps, then he makes the rest of the way.

The mirror shows him as he knows himself.

He presses his hand to the surface of the mirror.

The wind pushes him through.

“Oh, Elyse, you’re here.”

Elyse looks up from where she sits. She’s on the wide window sill of the infirmary room, a mass of seashells piled across from her. She smiles wearily, a hand raised to greet Alo.

“It’ll be a while still before either of them wake up. Are you making charms?” Alo says as she pushing the door open further with her foot, shuffling in with a stack of books in her arms. She looks up; Elyse signs yes. Asks her what she’s working on.

“Researching something,” Alo replies, though her voice takes on its own weary tone. She sets her books down gently on the floor by Elyse’s window sill. “Did you know that heartless are born of the darkness in people's’ hearts? You’ll have to start learning about this stuff soon, you know, what with your fancy new keyblade and all.”

She tries to smile, and so does Elyse.

Elyse looks away contemplatively for a moment, then turns back to Alo with hands raised. She signs to Alo to explain some more.

Alo purses her lips. “When people feel a lot of negativity, they hold a lot of darkness. Doubts, weariness, fears - Having a lot of that and holding it in can make heartless.”

The door opens, then, and Alo and Elyse look up.

Mirare shuffles in. He glances at Caelum and Riku, biting back a sigh, then offers Elyse and Alo a tired smile of his own. He has a stack of papers tucked underneath his arm, and the fading shimmer from his other hand hints that he had just been holding his keyblade.

“Hey, you two. Any updates on sleeping beauties one and two?” Alo and Elyse shake their heads; No. Mirare nods stiffly. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. Alo, I have those reports you asked for. Every confirmed heartless seen during the raid.”

Elyse folds her legs, quietly listening. Alo and Mirare go over the reports, flipping through them carefully.

Alo frowns. “There was a different kind of Darkside at the raid?”

“Yeah,” Mirare nods. “The one Larae took down. Acted differently.”

Alo squints at the report. “It says here it went straight to Caelum when it appeared on the middle plaza, like it knew where to find him.”

Elyse shuffles off her window sill, tugs on Mirare’s shirt when she comes to his side. Her hands raise hesitantly, her lips downturned in a pout as she thinks over what to say. Then: I was there, too.

“That’s right,” Mirare hums, getting to his knees to meet Elyse’s eye level. She smiles. “You want to help add to the report, El?”

Alo kneels down as well, and Elyse takes a deep breath as she remembers the events. She begins signing, walking the two through the events - How the heartless began to swarm the plaza, how Caelum had given her the unrealized keyblade, how they ran towards the forge for safety.

Alo frowns some. “Did you notice anything different about the Darkside?”

Elyse folds her hands together, thinks. She only tells Alo and Mirare that it only wanted Caelum.

Then, she raises a finger; A thought. She tells them that when she found Caelum, he’d been unlike himself. Like he was unwell, sad. Scared.

She continues, telling them that the monsters appeared when she had asked Caelum what it was he was so afraid of.

Alo purses her lips. Stands up, heads to her books. Mirare looks thoughtful. Elyse bites her lip.

She asks them, was it something she said?

Sora stumbled forward, barely able to catch himself on his feet. A soft breeze helps him up, pushing gently at his chest; A kind force helping him to his feet once again. Sora thinks he should feel annoyed, but he welcomes the help wholeheartedly.

He looks at his hands, looks down at his clothes. The calloused palms, the worn hems; Earned from his years at Ad Initium. He plays with the hem for a little bit, then the breeze nudges him slightly. It brushes his cheeks, guiding him to look in the direction it’s blowing to.

Sora turns his head, watching as a screen forms, a memory frozen into an image. Sora steps towards it, squinting at the memory. It begins to move as he comes closer, and Sora’s lips part in a gasp as he realizes what it’s of.

It’s him, waking up on the ruins of Scala Ad Caelum.

Sora frowns, watching his past self failing to summon the Kingdom Key, failing to call on the power of waking.

“Why are you showing me this?”

There is no response. Naturally.

The memory continues, flashing forward some days.

Sora left the summit in the first month. He had moved to the lower tier, found a house barely intact - But it had a roof and sure, one of its walls desperately needed repair, but he was alone on a collection of islands. It would have served him well.

Sora lowers his eyes. It had served him well. And still does - It’s the same home that housed Adren and Elyse. Houses.

The screen flashes some more, leading Sora through even more of his time in Ad Initium. He watches as he’d taken up fishing, carpentry; He fashioned himself a boat, caught his own meals. He survived, struggled into making a new life for himself.

It was later in that first year that he found himself in the dusty old library on the summit, walls crumbling and bookcases toppled over each other. Nightmare’s End sat in his hand, more a source of comfort than a means of defense - Some heartless had appeared, but small ones. As far as Sora had been concerned, there was nothing of immediate threat to his life at the time.

He was alone.

Sora sits on the surface of the station, folding his legs underneath him. The screen continues.

He walked through the library, carefully stepping over piles of ruined books. One had caught his eye - It sat atop a pile of others, its cover and binding battered but still secure enough to keep its contents safe. It caught the light of Kingdom Hearts in the metal lock that kept it secure, and had Sora known better then, he might have guessed the Heart had led him to it.

A soft breeze through his hair. Sora snorts.

The book had been about the age of fairytales; A collection of children’s stories, written by the first leaders of the Dandelions. It spoke of the Foretellers, their faith in Kingdom Hearts.

But there had been one particular story that bothered Sora when he had read it - The story of the Master of Masters, who had influenced so much of the world, built it from the bottom up, and left it to figure itself out with too-specific instructions with too-vague explanations.

It had been after that day that Sora had given Scala Ad Caelum a new name: Ad Initium.

“Riku’s healing well,” Mirare observes, a sigh of relief leaving his lips. “He should wake up soon enough.”

He turns to his work, laid on top of a makeshift table he had brought in some days earlier. He’s sorting through reports, assigning volunteers to teams and sending them out to do repairs. The raid had damaged more than the main island - There were islanders from the adjacent islands who had sent word of their own damages. No reports of other Darksides, though, which Mirare considers fortunate.

“That’s good to know.” Larae says, pacing on the other side of the room, beside Caelum’s bed. “Caelum’s injuries have mostly gone, but the medics said no one knows when he’ll wake up.”

She looks to her hand, summons her old keyblade. It appears for only a brief moment, the light flashing around her hand and solidifying into the Kingdom Key. She frowns.

“I don’t think this is an ordinary kind of sleep,” Alo says, then, from where she sits by the window sill. Her pile of books has grown, now accompanied also by piles of loose paper and filled notebooks. Larae looks at her, a brow raised. “It’s definitely got something to do with his heart.”

Mirare looks over his shoulder. “There aren’t any instructions about the power of waking, are there?”

“There are some, but it’s risky, and we still only know so little.” Alo says. She looks sternly at Larae and Mirare both, already knowing their thoughts. The two look away, sheepish. “I don’t think Caelum is in any danger of not waking up - The medics have been telling me that he’s been twitching, moving. Sometimes he says things in his sleep.”

Larae looks at Caelum, sighing. “I’ve heard the same. I guess he’s still fighting, whatever he’s doing in there.”

Mirare turns back to his work, stares at it, then leans back into his chair. His eyes drift towards Riku. He watches his chest rise and fall, slow and steady. “I don’t get why Caelum didn’t tell us about the power of waking. He kept it under lock and key for so long.”

Alo sighs. “He must have had good reason to. We know he was scared of it.”

“Right.” Mirare frowns.

Then, Larae: “We’ll just have to take care of things until they wake up, then.”

The three of them fall into contemplative silence for a moment. Larae takes a deep breath, willing the Kingdom Key away. Alo returns to her books. Mirare looks at the papers on his table.

Then, Alo, gently: “What do you guys know of the age of fairytales?”

Larae looks up from where she stands, her brow raised. Mirare only hums from his seat.

“You’ll have to be a little more specific about that,” Larae says. “We know about the Foretellers, the different groups of keyblade wielders. The first Keyblade War, and the Dandelions.”

Alo squints at the book in her lap; Old, worn. A metal lock unclasped to reveal its contents. The light of Kingdom Hearts outside illuminates the pages some, the inked words highlighted. “What about the Master of Masters?”

Mirare looks over his shoulder, then, thoughtful. “Only mentions of him. He was the first wielder, the one who guided the Foretellers, but that’s all.”

Larae nods.

Alo frowns. “Well, there’s more.”

Elyse had been the first to wake up on Ad Initium.

Sora remembers that day well; He had, up until her awakening, dreams and nightmares of Kairi. They had all been fueled by a desire to see her safe and sound; alive and well.

It felt like a sick joke when he found Elyse, standing in the middle of the lower tier plaza, young and stumbling over her feet still. He’d recognized her hair, the bright blue of her eyes when she turned to him, and the soft smile that called for the name hanging on Sora’s lips. But he never spoke, too stunned by the very image of her.

She waved to him; He waved back.

He introduced himself carefully, kneeling down to meet her eyes. “Hi, I’m Sora.”

She didn’t introduce herself - She couldn’t. Sora realized she didn’t want to use her voice.

They went to the summit together, they rummaged through the piles of books, and found one on sign language. They learned it together, practicing over meals. Sometimes they would practice whenever Sora would take a break from doing repairs on the houses on the lower tier.

They came across a book about other fairytales, and it was there that they came across the name Elyse. She had seemed to excited about it, pointing to it and then to herself. Sora understood immediately.

“Hello, Elyse.” He had said, relieved.

Eventually more hearts awakened, and Elyse would be their welcoming party, introducing herself and signing her name before leading the people to Sora.

The first time Sora found someone on his own, it was a middle aged woman with dark skin and wisps of grey hair mixing with black. She smiled kindly at Sora, introduced herself as Adren, and when she asked for Sora’s name, he paused.

“Caelum,” he said. “My name is Caelum.”

Adren had become a kind of mother to him; A woman he knew he could trust anything and anyone to. So, it came to no surprise when he eventually introduced Elyse to Adren, explained to them that he needed to go back to the summit, that he had responsibilities he needed to take on and that he could no longer live on the lower tier.

It was years later that Adren asked when and where Elyse had been born and Sora told his only lie to her: That Elyse had awoken sometime near Adren’s own awakening. Elyse had been too young to remember the when’s and where’s.

Perhaps he still feels a twinge of guilt, knowing that he was relieved he didn’t have to care after the girl who looked so much like Kairi.

—

Larae finds Alo changing the wraps around Caelum’s arms when she comes in during the late afternoon. Alo looks up briefly, and they both smile at each other.

“Taking a break?” Larae asks, willing away her keyblade as she comes to Caelum’s bed and sits down beside Alo.

“Sort of,” Alo says, turning back to Caelum’s bandages. She snips off the end, rolls up the remainder, and rests the roll on her lap. “I’ve just been thinking about everything. Needed to get my hands busy so I could focus on something, otherwise my head would just be… swimming.”

Larae nods, pressing a hand to Alo’s back. “How about someone to bounce ideas off of?” She’s met with a soft smile.

Alo’s shoulders relax, she looks out the window. “The Darkside you fought, I think it was born from a darkness in Caelum’s heart. But it must have been a particularly strong darkness for that Darkside to be the way it was.”

Larae crosses her arms. The two stand up and move to the window sill, leaning on it. Caelum continues to sleep. “Darkness can grow inside someone’s heart.” She says.

“That’s the thing. Caelum’s been harboring this darkness for so long - But why? What caused it in the first place?” Alo pinches the bridge of her nose. “We won’t know until he wakes up.”

“Could it have something to do with Riku?”

Alo shrugs. “It has to. But it’s bigger than that, it’s more than just Riku. Maybe it’s got to do with his life before Ad Initium. Maybe it’s Ad Initium, too. Even -- “

“ -- Us.” Larae scoffs, looking down sadly. “Do you ever wonder who we remind him of? From his previous life?”

Alo shifts, nods. Then she freezes, her eyes widening. “The Master of Masters - I read that he held a certain influence over the world. Like he designed it, made it the way it was. Caelum was the first person to wake up, the person who made Ad Initium the way it is today. What if he has the same influence over the world, similar to the way the Master of Masters did?”

Larae stares at her. She turns to Caelum, watches the way his chest rises and falls. “Could he?”

“It’s not out of the question, at least, right?”

Larae begrudgingly shakes her head. She stands up, moves to the other side of the room.

Most of Riku’s bandages have been taken off. One stays wrapped over his forehead, but most of what’s left are around his abdomen. There are few wounds, things she knows will scar in the shape of his armor. She crosses her arms, stares.

Her chest hums softly, a soft warmth spreading across. It makes Larae pause, makes her feel recognition, worry. The warmth spreads and comes to her hand, and the Kingdom Key forms itself. Its heat in Larae’s grip seems to urge her hand forward, and Larae does so - Letting the keyblade rest beside Riku, by his own hand.

It stays there for a time. Larae moves, taking Riku’s hand gently and placing it over the keyblade’s handle. The keyblade glows - sadly, Larae thinks. Then it disappears, its warmth reappearing in Larae’s chest.

Riku’s hand twitches. His head moves. His breathing hitches.

Behind Larae, Alo gasps. Larae steps away, saying something about finding Mirare. She’s gone in moments, the door closing behind her.

Riku’s eyes open, slowly, blinking. His head turns, registers the room and recognizes Alo.

“Where is Sora?” He says quietly. Alo rushes to his side, checking his condition. Riku turns his head, sees the end of a bed mostly obscured by a curtain. “Is Sora there?”

“Yes, Riku. That’s him. He’s okay,” Alo says gently. Riku’s eyes don’t move. “You’ve been asleep for a while.”

Riku frowns. “How long?”

“A few weeks.”

Riku nods, sighing. He lets himself rest on the bed, lets himself fall into the pillow. Alo stands and moves to the door. She peeks out, and when she closes it again she turns to Riku and tells him she’s asked for food for him.

Larae comes back soon after, a frantic Mirare stumbling in after her.

Riku smiles softly. “Hey, kid.”

Sora stands up from his seat, brushing dirt  off his pants. He looks around him as the screen dissolves, his lips pursed into a tight line. There is a breeze by his ankles and he looks up to its direction, finding another screen solidifying.

It is five years into his stay on Ad Initium, on the day of Larae and Mirare’s awakenings. There is a tug on his chest, calling him forward. He walks to the screen, watches. Watches as Larae and Mirare opened their eyes for the first time.

Larae’s eyes had been so empty, so devoid of emotion. Pale blue eyes staring endlessly at nothing, registering nothing. She had looked at Sora, not quite curious yet certainly not disinterested.

“Hey,” Sora said softly, his hand outstretched towards her. She looked at it, then looked back at him. “Hey there, hi. I’m Caelum. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Caelum,” Larae said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. She ran her hand through her hair, thinking, and when she pulled it away it stayed messy. She pointed at him, repeating his name. Sora nodded, smiling wearily. “Caelum. My name is Larae.”

“It’s good to meet you.” Sora said softly, straining to smile.

Beside her, Mirare opened his eyes, blinking as the light poured into his vision. He stood up abruptly, eyes darting from one point to another. His long dark hair brushed his shoulders as he turned, assessing their surroundings. He finally looked at Larae, squinted at Caelum, and stood closer to the former.

Sora waved at him, but Mirare kept his glare. “Hi. Name’s Caelum. What’s yours?”

Mirare seemed to evaluate him. Larae stared at him, her head cocked. “Mirare,” he said after some time. “This is my sister.”

“Brother,” Larae hummed. She took Mirare’s hand then turned to Caelum.

Keyblades spawned in their free hands. The siblings looked at them, surprised by their presence. Sora bit his lip, straightening his posture and scratching the back of his neck. He turned away, staring at the slowly-rebuilding buildings on the summit plaza. How to deal with this.

He sighed.

He sighs.

“How long has he been asleep?” Riku asks Alo one evening, his eyes drifting once again to the bed still obscured by a curtain. Mirare scribbles something beside him. “People keep avoiding telling me.”

Alo sighs, sharing a look with Mirare before she turns to Riku. “It’s been over two weeks since the raid.”

“And he’s still sleeping?” Riku asks, sighing. He squeezes his eyes shut, thinks. Mirare looks up. “I have to dive to his heart.”

“ - No, ” is Alo’s immediate response.

“You’re not in any condition to do anything, Riku,” Mirare adds, carefully. Riku parts his lips to argue, but Mirare is right. “He’ll be okay.”

Riku sights and settles back into his bed. “Have you guys been taking care of Ad Initium this whole time?”

Mirare scoffs, picks up the reports on his table and waves them. Alo taps on her pile of books.

“Pretty much,” Alo hums. “Larae’s leading patrols right now. Situation isn’t so dire, but there’ve been some smaller groups of heartless on the lower tier. Pretty sure they’ll stick around until you and Caelum get back on your feet.”

Mirare nods, scribbling on his notes once again. “Everyone’s been worried about you two.”

Riku nods. “I’m proud of you guys. I’m sure Sora will be, too.”

They all share quiet smiles before the two go back to work. Riku sighs quietly, pressing a hand to his chest. The soft warmth of Mirage Split greets him where his hand meets his chest, growing warmer as he takes a deep breath.

Alo chimes in from her seat on the window sill - “Riku, since you’re awake, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”

Riku lets his hand rest by his side. He turns to Alo. “Let’s hear it.”

She closes the book she’s reading and stands up, settling the book on the sill. She takes her notebook and walks over to sit beside Riku, opening the notebook in her lap before turning to him. Then: “I need you to tell me about after the final battle against Xehanort, what you remember.”

Riku blinks. His lips part, then purse. He furrows his brows and thinks carefully.

“We had dealt with the darkened Heart at the Graveyard, and it began to close on our side,” Riku said. Alo begins writing down his words. “We had used the power of waking to reach him on the other side.”

“The other side - It was Scala Ad Caelum, wasn’t it? It was here?”

Riku squints. “Yes. But we stopped Kingdom Hearts. Life continued.”

Mirare looks up, then, looking at Alo curiously. “What are you trying to get at, Alo?”

There’s a knock on the door; Elyse peeks her head in and grins when she sees Riku. She runs over, climbing over the side of the bed and sitting by Riku. Riku smiles, raising his fist for a bump with the young girl. Alo stands and returns to her work, Mirare and Riku staring after her.

Sora had found Alo in the center of the summit, staring up at the bright Heart that hovered far above in the sky. She had her hands clasped together in front of her, her gaze unmoving. Sora approached her carefully, standing beside her.

“It’s so pretty,” Alo said with a soft sigh. She rocked on the heels of her feet once, twice, then looked at Sora. “I’m sorry. My name is Alo. Who are you?”

“Caelum,” Sora said, smiling. He offered her his hands, and she took them. Sora’s brows raised; She was so warm, so full of light. There was immeasurable magic in her, he could tell. His hands squeezed hers. “What do you think of the heart?”

Alo hummed thoughtfully, her gaze returning to settle on Kingdom Hearts. “It feels so full of… Life. Like it could burst at any moment.”

Sora made a thoughtful sound, crossing his arms as he looked up at the Heart. Strange - He only ever felt like the Heart was waiting. For what, he didn’t know.

He glanced at the girl, at the dark, thick, and wavy hair that she kept over her shoulder.

She stood there, too, when the stars fell for the first time three years later. Like she had known, like she had waited.

The window sill Alo sits at allows her to view Kingdom Hearts - Larae knows this, and knows that’s why she often finds Alo staring outside, her gaze upwards.

Larae glances over at the other side of the room, finding Riku asleep and Mirare bent over his work - likely napping, too. She smiles at them, turns to Caelum’s bed and pulls back the curtain that obscures him. He’s still asleep, but he’s been doing better lately. Most of his bandages have gone; His bruises remain, but the care given to him had helped with those as well. She lets the curtain fall, looks up at Alo, and moves to stand beside her.

Alo barely notices her presence until Larae nudges her side gently, smiling when Alo turns to look at her. She’s startled.

“Mind taking a look at my bandages?” Larae asks, leaning towards Alo with an outstretched hand. It’s freshly wrapped, and Alo pouts at Larae when she realizes this. Larae laughs when Alo swats her hand away, focusing back on the open book in her lap. Larae leans on the wall beside her, crossing her arms and looking over Alo’s shoulder. “Any progress on research?”

“Lots. Some things aren’t adding up, but,” Alo hums. “Things about Caelum are starting to make sense, in this really weird, convoluted way.”

“Do I get to hear about it?”

Alo huffs, shaking her head. “Not yet. I’d rather wait until he wakes up. I have a feeling it won’t be long before he does.”

Larae looks at Alo strangely, then nods. “You always did have a knack for that.”

Sora lies on his back as the screen dissolves. No other screen replaces it for a time. He sighs, staring at the endless nothing above him.

Then, words - In his head, quiet and soundless:

Ten years, you served.

Hundreds of screens form, surrounding the station with memories and flashes of Ad Initium through the decade. Sora blinks, pushes himself to sit, and watches an image of the main island go from ruins to what it is today - A brilliant gem, a place worth of its position as the nexus of the worlds.

There is something that draws the air from his lungs, a soft sigh as he watches himself rebuild houses, teach others to fish. The day they had learned how to make paint, and began to color the too-white walls of what had once been Scala Ad Caelum. Larae splattering paint over Mirare, Alo shrieking when her dress is smattered with blue. Elyse, young and bright, laughing as she presses a red-colored hand print to a wall.

There are some memories he doesn’t recognize - Things he either didn’t see from his own eyes or was there for. He furrows his brows at them, then:

“Whose memories are these?”

Do you not know? You gave it life, influenced it with your memories.

Then, a screen appears before him, panning out to a view of Ad Initium in full - Its numerous islands, the shining Kingdom Hearts above it. His chest warms, a fading flicker of the warmth he knows to be the Kingdom Key.

It is nearby, he realizes, though he cannot summon it. It is no longer his.

You’ve protected the Nexus for so long. Leave it to capable hands.

Sora hesitates, closing his hands into fists. He shakes his head stubbornly. No - He couldn’t. He couldn’t possibly forgive himself to leave it to his kids. They aren’t ready. He believes this.

The words stop for a moment, and Sora feels a brush of air against his cheek. It directs his gaze to another screen - Another memory that does not belong to him. He squints at the screen, watching as -

It splits into four screens.

Adren is in the first, hauling fishing nets onto the docks and guiding other fishers through their own tasks. The screen flickers, showing her walking through the evening market, chatting with the locals of the lower tier as they trade fish for other goods. Fruits, sweets, artisan goods.

The second screen is Alo finishing the rebuilding of the library. She slots in the last repaired book into its place in a bookcase, and he watches her as she steps back. There is a wide smile on her face, a brightness that glows with pride. The screen flickers, then, and she’s in the plaza, training with other mages, Blizzara bursting from her fingertips as though it were second nature.

The third screen shows Mirare training the younger wielders, leading them through exercises and freely giving his encouragement. He walks through the groups as they practice their routine. The screen flickers - He’s adjusting the stances and the postures of younger wielders. Another flicker - Young wielders gathering around him on the steps of the middle tier, listening intently as he reads stories from the age of fairytales.

The fourth screen flashes with the bright blue sky above Ad Initium. Larae’s glider zooms across the screen as it pans out to reveal more gliders, all of them making stops at each island on Ad Initium. Sora watches as Larae greets the locals of each island, watches as she leads her groups of wielders through unique alleys and streets, keeping the safety and peace of Ad Initium.

Do you see?

The screens freeze and form into one each other, a blur of images until all that is left is bright, bright white.

It fades slowly, settling into an image of Elyse at twilight.

She’s sitting with her back to Sora, the orange glow of the sky blurring the edge of her silhouette. The keyblade he had given her sits in her lap, catching the low light of the late afternoon. Its shine is beautiful, Sora thinks, and it reminds him of a promise.

Slowly, Elyse’s hand raises as the first stars begin to appear in the sky. Her hand reaches up, reaches for one, reaching for something.

The image fades into flurries of dull yellows and orange, but the screen does not fade away.

A different sunset, a different scene.

You asked before, how long your entrapment is intended for.

Riku, Kairi, and Sora on a paopu tree, their backs to the viewer. Paopu fruits being distributed between them, laughter; A promise.

That is your choice to make, now.

The room is empty save for Riku and Sora.

Riku throws his feet over the side of the bed, feeling the cool floor underneath him. He pushes himself up gently, carefully - He has not done this yet, has not even mentioned wanting to to the others. But he desperately needs to see Sora, to be sure that yes, he is alright.

He walks with one hand pressed against the wall, stumbling slightly over his feet as he makes his way to the opposite end of the room where Sora’s obscured bed lies.

His hand is hesitant when he reaches the curtain. He takes a deep breath, steadies himself on his two feet, and pulls it back.

“Hi, Sora,” Riku whispers at Sora’s sleeping form. He sits down, the bed dipping slightly with his weight. “Hi.”

Sora’s only response is the even breathing of deep slumber.

Riku reaches forward with his hand, his fingers caressing Sora’s cheek with the faintest touch. His bangs are pushed away softly, falling past his cheeks. Riku smiles, letting his thumb press lightly against Sora’s jaw before drawing his hand back slowly.

He places his hand on Sora’s, instead. One, and then the other. He interlocks his fingers with Sora’s, and his other hand comes to cover them. He’s gentle, careful as he raises Sora’s hand. He lowers his face, his lips barely brushing over Sora’s curled fingers.

The kiss is more like a prayer.

Riku closes his eyes shut, feels tears burn his eyes. He presses another kiss, and would press another but instead he holds Sora’s hand to his forehead. The tears fall from his eyes, leaving darkened circles on his clothes. His weeping is stifled, his breathing hitched.

There is an apology, somewhere there.

Mirage Split hums in his chest, as though it were weeping with him.

Riku never notices the quiet, quiet creak of the door opening just a crack, a said pair of a child’s eyes watching. The door closes, and Riku is none the wiser.

There are two screens before him.

An image of Ad Initium on one, a sunset on Destiny Island on the other.

Sora stands at the center of his station, where the image of him holds tightly at Nightmare’s End. He looks down at himself, looks at the halos around his head. The Kingdom Key has gone but Nightmare’s End is a soft heat in his chest, nostalgic. Quiet. Waiting.

Sora looks up at the never-ending abyss, hoping to will guidance from the voiceless words. But no guidance comes, and Sora wonders if that in itself should be his answer.

He already knows his choice.

He has been afraid of it for too long, and he can’t quite remember when it was that happened.

But nevertheless, he’s free to make it now.

Another shuddered breath, a closed fist that makes one, two thumps on his chest. Nightmare’s End’s warmth grows, encouraging.

He looks between the two screens, smiling at the image of Ad Initium. He steps forward, his footsteps sure and - light. He feels lighter, feels as though he is walking on air. The station brightens into white light beneath, and there is the flutter of doves.

Sora presses his hand against the screen of home.

Of sunsets at Destiny Islands, of a promise to have lives be forever intertwined.

Sora’s eyes flutter open, light flooding into his vision as he wakes. Someone is holding his hand tightly, and Sora realizes who by the shine of his silver hair.

He smiles softly, sadly, and draws his hand back to free it from its hold. But he does not take it back - He presses his hand instead to Riku’s cheeks. Riku stares at him, his teal eyes shining with fresh tears. Sora brushes a few away with his thumb.

“Hey, you’re really pretty. Did you know that?” Sora says, his own lip trembling. “You should be my boyfriend.”

Riku’s laugh is choked by his crying. His hand wipes away some of his tears, shaking his head. “That’s not funny, Sora.”

They look at each other. Sora pulls Riku to him.

Riku falls forward, they catch each other in a tight embrace, arms wrapping carefully around each other. Riku does not stop crying, and Sora starts to. Their weeping is mixed with broken laughter - relief? Happiness? Overflowing love for each other, perhaps.

Riku pulls back, his arms still wrapped gently around Sora. There is a moment where Sora observes Riku, where he feels young again, promising Riku the world and home above it all. It is the same moment where Riku observes Sora, and remembers the promise he had made to protect Sora with all of his heart.

Perhaps they are thinking of the same memory - Young and in love, forged keyblades glowing with the arcana of their hearts, promises made in the cavern they had claimed in their youth.

Sora glances at Riku’s lips. He reaches forward, and perhaps Riku must have looked at Sora’s own lips, because he meets Sora in the middle.

Chapter Text

Alo has dreams of death.

She does not dream of her own death, but rather the deaths of people she both recognizes and does not recognizes. Faces similar to those she has grown with, lived with. But there are two faces she knows well in these dreams, their faces contoured by the darkness that immediately swallows them.

Alo suspects that there is truth to the deaths she dreams of, that they are not merely born of her anxieties and worries but that they are messages sent to her from the Heart above. Messages meant to convey an answer, a missing piece to her loosely-put together theory—

That Sora and Riku belong to a worldline where these deaths do not occur.

Which seems oddly and unfairly obvious, but it explains the difference Riku sees in their skies, the very existence of Kingdom Hearts. It explains, too, the quiet worries that lie behind Caelum’s eyes; Like he seems to know something no one else does, not even Riku.

Alo sighs deeply, brushing her dark, wavy hair over her one shoulder as she thinks. So much for full transparency; Honesty.

Her notes are sprawled across her desk, various scraps of paper scribbled over with ideas and theories and such. At the center of her organized mess sits the book she had found in Caelum’s private storage; Strips of paper mark various places and pages in the book, pages and sections important to her curious investigation into Caelum and Riku’s situation.

There’s much to guess at, but of what she has learned, only the separate worldlines seems to be clear.

That does not sit well with her.

Riku takes Sora’s hands in his, his eyes focusing on the way their fingers intertwine.

“Tell me about home,” Sora says, his voice cutting into the wordless worry that had begun to take root in Riku’s mind.

Riku blinks at the other, his words registering slowly. He mouths, carefully, “Home?”

Sora nods easily. “Yeah. Tell me about home. I don’t ask you often enough.”

“You,” Riku hesitates. “You tend not to, at all, actually.”

“I know, so let me change that. Tell me about home.” Sora grins. “I want to know how good Roxas is at cooking.”

Riku rolls his eyes at that, leaning on his elbow as he rests against the side of the bed. Sora grins, a little show of triumph, and it’s enough to ease Riku as he begins describing the lives that Sora had missed out on while he was here, tending to the new world of Ad Initium.

He had brushed over some things in that first conversation they had shared, a day after Riku had finally found Sora and they caught up best they could. But through the past months Sora had avoided hearing anything about home, dodging the topic expertly, and Riku quickly caught on that the very idea of home had changed, somewhat, for Sora. So he didn’t mention much before.

But now? Now he could go on and on about what’s changed.

Land of Departure, Riku tells Sora, has seen the most change in the past decade - There are plenty of students there, hailing from various worlds and backgrounds. The numbers hardly compare to Ad Initium’s own community of wielders, but Riku says that in its defence, the world’s light is, in its own time, healing.

“Have there been bequeathment ceremonies?” Sora asks curiously, fingers intertwining with Riku’s.

“Yes,” Riku tells him, smiling. “Many.”

He continues into talking of King Mickey and the goings on in his castle - Sora recalls Riku mentioning Goofy’s son once before, as well as Donald’s marriage. Riku does not miss the way Sora’s eyes dull sadly at knowing he had missed that ceremony, but it’s quickly replaced by the shine of genuine happiness at knowing Donald has moved on, has settled into life at home.

“Namine studied under him for a time, you know,” Riku says. Sora quirks his brow, intrigued. “Donald was so happy to teach her magic. Considers her as his daughter, but you’d have to force that confession out of him.”

Sora’s laugh makes Riku grin.

Riku’s thumb brushes over Sora’s knuckles as he continues - Twilight Town’s gotten larger. Riku tells Sora, honestly, that it is only a town in name; The place itself has grown into a sizeable city, with a skyline that catches the world’s eternal sunset glow like fresh coal in a low fire.

“What are you, a poet?” Sora scoffs, nudging Riku lightly, making the other snort. There’s a twinge of pink along his nose, and Sora grins smugly.

“Come off it,” Riku says as his only retort.

“It’s cute.”

The twinge of pink grows, and Riku covers his face with his free hand, sighing as Sora laughs freely.

“And Roxas, Xion?” Sora says, settling back into his pillows, hand still holding Riku’s other. “How are they?”

Riku takes a deep breath, tell him - He describes Roxas’ cooking in full, playfully using his words to elicit humored smiles from Sora. He mentions how Roxas has come into his own person, own image - His hair is darker, now. He keeps the hair shaved in a soft fade towards his neck, which, really, is the only way to properly distinguish him from Ventus on the rare day people still struggle to distinguish them.

Xion’s undercut is choppy and messy, but it suits her, Riku says. She splits her time between the Land of Departure and Twilight Town, training younger wielders and sometimes when she’s at Departure and dazzling the Twilight Town residents with her bmx when she’s at the city’s new skate park.

“They got a skate park?” Sora gasps. “Seriously?”

Riku laughs. “Yeah, you should have seen Roxas and Ventus when it finally opened.”

“Ventus skates?”

Riku shrugs. “Yeah. His glider is a board. Turns out he’s the one you and Roxas got it from,” He hums. “Between you and me, though, I think Roxas is the better skater. His tricks are untouchable.”

Sora nods, gazing away as he thinks. There’s a bit of hesitation when he finally says: “Tell me about Destiny Islands.”

Riku tries not to show his own hesitation to the question. He hadn’t realized he’d been wanting to avoid that topic in particular when Sora began asking about their friends, their worlds. Not because he didn’t want to upset Sora in any way; Rather, he’s only unsure of how to describe Destiny Islands as it is, now.

Still, he continues. He tells Sora about the town center that had grown into a larger plaza, complete with its own commercial district just beside it. He tells Sora about how more people have moved inland, where they are, and how there are much more tourists now that King Mickey’s been pushing for inter-world transportation.

At some point, inevitably, the topic of Kairi comes up.

“Why did she name her kid after me?” Sora asks, quietly.

Riku isn’t sure how to answer him. Not in a way that avoids how Kairi truly believed Sora had passed. So he settles for a white lie covered in a truth: “She’s got a smile as bright as yours.”

Sora doesn’t seem convinced, but he accepts it anyway. They share a look, and Riku knows Sora understands, to some degree, what Riku didn’t want to say. Sora holds Riku’s hand tighter; Reassuring. Riku takes a deep breath.

“So,” Sora continues, his easy-going tone pulling Riku away from solemn thoughts. “How did Kairi meet Nagisa?”

That memory easily makes Riku scoff and laugh. “Oh,” He snickers. “You’ll like this.”

“Can I bounce some ideas off you?”

Larae looks up from her seat in Alo’s study, pages of reports in her hands, fingers flipping through them slowly. She makes an affirmative sound at Alo, who is sitting at her desk with that same old book in her hands. The cover is worn, its unlocked claps shining oddly.

“These fairytales, the ones I had you read,” Alo says, “Did they seem too…”

“Eerie?”

Alo glances Larae’s way. She nods. “They read to me more as stories adapted into fairytales. Like someone witnessed them and wrote them down a certain way.”

Larae leans into her seat, thinks. “There was a page missing, wasn’t there?”

“There is, yes.” Alo flips through the book, settling towards the end. “But there are lots of inserts, too. About the Dandelions. And about the Master of Masters. I feel like they’re written by someone else, though.”

“The thing is, I’m pretty sure whoever wrote these inserts didn’t think too highly of the Master. There’s a lot of doubt and distrust, but there’s something they say in particular that got me thinking - ‘The Master of Masters left behind specific instructions before he left the world, and it were these instructions that made sure the world’s design was left undisturbed.’”

“Caelum isn’t, you know, him though.” Larae furrows her brows.

“No, but you can’t ignore the similarities,” Alo says. Her eyes gaze past the book in her hands, thinking. “Do you ever wonder who we remind him of? Like how Mirare looks like Master Riku.”

“Didn’t I ask you this same thing a while ago?” Larae laughs. Alo flushes, squinting.

”Oh, that’s right.” She says, sheepish. 

Larae smiles and shifts in her seat, turning her attention again to her reports. “I’ve thought about it, but I don’t want to be concerned about it.” Alo looks up, watches how Larae shrugs. “I’m my own person. Caelum knows that.”

Alo smiles. She figures that whoever it was in Caelums memories that found pieces of themselves in Larae, they must have had an incredibly strong sense of self. An identity forged through will alone. Her eyes lower, back to the book she’s reading, and she returns to penning notes.

Sora needs to stop calling them kids, but he keeps to the term wholeheartedly. Never will there be a time when he doesn’t refer to Larae, Mirare, Alo, and Elyse collectively as his kids. It was only the work of a week before Riku had picked up on the term, too, with as much affection as Sora often says it with.

The kids all come in later that day along with Adren, after his proper awakening and the long conversation about home that he had with Riku. A nurse had come to take a look at him, to assess if he were alright. And he is; Not quite fully healed, but he has little to no issues. Sora only knows this: That his heart is heavy with a decision he’s made deep, deep in the dive of his heart.

Larae strides in, her eyes glued to Sora. Had Sora the time, he might have teased her for her rigidness, for the certain shine in her eye that hinted at tears, but her arms are around him before he gets a word out. Then her arms are joined by Mirare’s, and then Alo’s, and he can only peek through them to see a glimpse of Adren walking in as well. He thinks he sees relief in her expression.

The hug lasts forever. Sora’s heart hurts, because he knows this is something he will miss.

They pull away slowly and Sora nearly reaches for them as they retreat, the connection made between all of their hearts lasting only a moment. He lets his hands fall to his sides, clutching around the linen sheets.

“We’re so glad you’re okay.” Alo says, taking Riku’s seat when he stands up and moves to lean against the window. “Riku was going to dive, try to wake you up. I insisted you needed to wake up yourself.”

“Was she right?” Larae asks, glancing apologetically at Alo before looking at Sora once again.

Sora purses his lips. “I think so, yeah.” He looks over at Riku; He’s already told him. After the talk of home, he’d told him.

It was Riku who had quietly told Sora that he needed to tell the kids. If not the whole experience, that he at least came to a decision by the end of it.

Sora takes a deep breath.

“What’s wrong, Caelum?” Mirare asks.

Sora looks ahead; He meets Elyse’s curious eyes. His heart hurts.

“I have to leave Ad Initium,” he says quietly, eyes lowering to the fold of his hands together atop his lap. Everyone shifts, for one reason or another.

The air settles, eventually.

“We know,” says Alo’s voice, gentle and kind and understanding.

Sora furrows his brows, and his head begins to turn to look at Riku, an accusation in his eyes, but Larae stops him. Her hand is warm on his shoulder; Burning, even. The Kingdom Key.

Mirare stands, too, effectively blocking much of Riku’s image from Sora.

“There’s more in those restricted texts than we anticipated,” Mirare says. “Not just about the power of waking, but… Things that we’re sure had to do with you, too.”

“You’ve known, haven’t you? This entire time, you knew you weren’t really part of this world.” Larae continues. Her hand doesn’t burn anymore, but it is still warm.

Sora is quiet.

Because they are right. He doesn’t understand it, he never quite understood Kingdom Hearts or the entirety of the knowledge carried by the wielders before him. But he has known things, understood some, and acknowledged most in the past decade.

“Caelum,” Adren then says, stepping closer to the bed. Sora looks up at her. “You know I don’t understand a damn thing about the Heart, but even to me it’s clear as day.”

Sora watches as Adren sits down at the end, watches as Adren places a hand to Elyse’s back. There’s no thoughtful silence; There isn’t a need for one. They’ve all come to understand, through their own ways.

“You were meant to bring life to this world, Caelum. You took its name, protected it and molded it with all of your heart,” Adren says, dark grey eyes now looking at Sora. “But you were never meant to give your life up to it.”

There’s a quiet shuffle, careful - Sora directs his eyes upward in Riku’s way and frowns as Riku walks carefully towards the door. Adren looks behind her, reaches out to stop him, and he stands frigid in everyone’s attention. Mirare comes up to his side, a kind hand pressed to his shoulder.

“I shouldn’t be here,” is what Riku says, awkward. He looks between the kids, Adren, and Sora, and then to his feet. “I’m not really a part of this.”

“But you are,” Larae says, turning from where she stands by Sora. “Caelum has been so much happier since you’ve come. Imagine how much happier he’d be when you bring him home.”

Riku frowns. He looks briefly at Mirare, who nods reassuringly at him.

“That’s why the Heart let you through, Riku,” says Alo. He and Sora turn to her, quizzical. She holds her hands on her lap, her shoulders stiff. “You’re here because you’re Caelum’s way home.”

“And,” Mirare cuts in, frowning a little at his friends. He turns to Riku, looks up at him, and there is a brief moment when Riku wonders if the other has grown taller in the past few months. “And because you’re just as much a part of this family as anyone else. So don’t say you’re not a part of this, because every single one of us in here will disagree.”

Riku rubs his forehead, sighing. He nods, straightens, and looks at Alo. “What do you mean, the Heart let me through?”

She falters, looking at Riku and then to Sora. She turns to Larae, who nods at her encouragingly.

“There is a book I found, that details a lot of events from the age of fairytales,” She begins, and Sora’s eyes widen slightly. “And there are inserts talking about the Heart, about the Master of Masters, the Dandelions.”

“You told me, once, when I asked, that you traveled through the Heart to find Caelum then, so it must mean that it was through our Heart that you found Caelum this time. But in your world, Kingdom Hearts was closed; gone. Ours still shines.”

She pauses, bites her lip. “But you’re not from this world. This - This worldline,” she says carefully. “Which means our Heart had to have opened a way for you to come to Ad Initium, to let you in. Like a bridge.”

She pinches the bridge of her nose. “You know, I had a entire presentation all planned out to explain all of this, and yet!”

That, at least, eases much of the tension in the room. Sora laughs, sighing and leaning into his pillows. Riku chuckles, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Go on, then. May as well.” He says, and beside him Mirare grins too.

Alo rolls her eyes as Larae grins at her, a snicker clearly stamped down. Adren looks confused, and Elyse has her brows knitted, pouting.

“The point is,” Alo sighs, gesturing. “The Master of Masters did not stay in the world he built, so there had to have been a way out for him, too.”

Riku crosses his arms, looking at Sora. “The power of waking.”  

Mirare joins in, looking at Sora. “Caelum has done what the Heart wanted him to do; protect this world and the people in it until it could protect itself.”

Larae scoffs. “And that he deserves to be happy in the worldline he belongs in.” She looks away, briefly, a sad sigh leaving her lips. “He deserves to be with the people he loves, and that’s not with us.”

Sora looks her way, about to argue, and Larae raises a finger to hush him. “Which isn’t to say you don’t love us, because you do. But you won’t be happy staying here, is the point.”

Elyse huffs. Adren claps her hands together.

“Did we get all of it out, everyone? How about some cakes, yeah?”

They move Sora to his apartments on the east summit building under strict instructions to rest - properly rest - but all through the evening after he’s moved he’s restless.

It feels like his mind is swimming, pieces of memories flooding back to him and the wave of guilt and fear hitting him with full force, drawing him under the water. He tries his best to stay away from curling up in bed, knowing that staying stationary under a mass of blankets meant to comfort him will do anything but.

Riku is quietly shuffling around; He has a limp on his leg. It’s slight, and he does a decent job at hiding it, but Sora’s need for distraction paired with knowing the limp is there only makes him want to worry over it, over him. Reprimand him, too, maybe. Insist he needs to rest far more than Sora does.

He holds his tongue, and instead sits on one of their comfier chairs, wrapping a throw blanket around him. Riku joins him shortly after fixing them both a drink.

“Should we have this?” Sora asks, but doesn’t refuse the drink. Riku shrugs.

“You don’t have to, but I need one,” He says simply. He closes his eyes as he tips the glass back, hissing a sigh once the drink’s gone down his throat. Sora watches him, snorts, and drinks his own glass.

“You should be in bed.”

“You shouldn’t be on that limp.”

Riku concedes, chuckling.

“I love you,” Riku says, teal eyes directed firmly towards Sora. “I love you. You know that.”

Sora doesn’t falter. “I know. And I love you, too.” He sighs, chuckling bitterly under his breath. “But, to be honest, I imagined us differently.”

“Me too.” Riku scratches the back of his neck. “But I still love this, what we have. It’s not a fairytale, but it’s happy.”

“It could be happier.” Sora keeps his eyes on Riku’s. “We could be happier. If we go home.”

Riku falters then, looking away briefly. He looks at Sora nervously. “I don’t want you to think that I feel like I won. I don’t think I was correct, at all, in wanting to go home.”

Sora smiles. He understands, and there’s nothing to forgive, any how. “You tried, Riku. I know you tried to be happy here with me, but my time here is up. So it’s okay, you don’t have to feel guilty about that.”

Riku takes a deep breath. He sighs.

“I love you, Riku.” Sora says again. “I love you, and I cannot wait to go home with you. I can’t wait to see everyone again, I can’t wait to finally be home and be near you and Kairi.”

“Do you still think it isn’t real? That we’re all gone?”

Sora shakes his head. “No.” He looks away, thinking. “The book Alo mentioned, with the fairytales. I found that book, I kept it. It was the book that made me understand my role here.”

“So you knew about the worldline?” Riku furrows his brows.

“I understood it differently,” Sora admits. A thought comes to him. “Although. Do you remember dying  at the Graveyard?”

Riku sits up straight, brows furrowed. He doesn’t answer, but Sora knows; He has vague memories of it, too. He remembers more than the other guardians, he’s sure, however. He tugs his blanket tighter. Riku looks away, clenching his fists around his knees.

“There was a demon tower.” He says, and that’s it.

“You died trying to protect me.” He says slowly, carving the words with his voice. “I watched that twice. The second time around, I brought you back.”

Riku crosses his arms, looking away. Sora joins his silence, sighing.

“Do you remember how Kairi had been taken away?” Sora asks, “Swept up and held tightly. She wasn’t swallowed, not like you and I had - Just. Taken away.”

Riku furrows his brows, knitting them. “Don’t think too hard on it. I know that’s not a good memory for you.”

Sora’s eyes lower. He breathes a quiet yeah, then stands up and heads into the bedroom; Contemplative. Riku watches after him, thinks he should follow and comfort, but Sora closes the bedroom door quietly behind him and Riku understands immediately.

Elyse fumbles with the seashells on the desk, a quiet hum bouncing along the air as she works. There’s an unfinished star in her hand, three points waiting to be joined with another two with bright red cord.

There’s a knock on her bedroom door, six raps in a rhythm against the burgundy painted wood, and in comes Sora as Elyse looks over her shoulder. She grins, her smile wide and toothy, and she hops off her chair and bounds over to throw her arms around the other.

“Hey, you,” Sora says, ruffling the girl’s hair. “What are you up to?”

Elyse hums thoughtfully then pushes against Sora, leading him out of the room. Sora laughs as he’s ushered out, hands raised and his eyes closed. He peeks one open, a smile playing at his lips.

“I can’t know? Is it a surprise?”

Elyse grins, nods. Once Sora’s effectively and definitively ushered out, she closes the door behind her and looks up. Her look towards him is inquisitive and expectant, and she asks him why he’s over.

In response, Sora gestures outside the house and makes a wave of his dominant hand; Nightmare’s End materializes in a soft blink of light, and Elyse gasps excitedly at this. She makes the gesture for heart, then moves her hand as though she were unsheathing a blade from her chest.

“Well, yeah,” Sora says, nodding. “Larae told me she’d been showing you the basics. I was hoping I could see how you’re coming along with it.”

Her grin seems to grow wider - Brighter, even, and it pulls a laugh from Sora’s heavy chest. Elyse rushes past him and out the door of her home, and Sora has to jog after her and into Ad Initium’s streets.

The lower tier plazas are quiet in the lazy summer haze of Ad initium; Compared to the middle tiers and the summit plaza, it is more humble and speaks more of the locals of Ad Initium who aren’t able to wield the keyblade.

Elyse runs to the center of the near empty plaza, repeating her gesture for keyblade and as she does, a bright yellow light mixed with pink hues is drawn from her chest. The keyblade Sora had forged and watched over materializes, glittering with the strength of Elyse’s youthful heart.

Though surely her readied stance could partially be due to her youth and general inexperience, Larae’s influence is clear and there is, again, that fearsome determination that reminds Sora so much of Kairi. Though usually a painful reminder, Sora feels a little more at peace seeing this sight.

He holds Nightmare’s End tightly, readying himself to block whatever attack Elyse comes at him with. He’s surprised - Pleasantly so, mind - when her keyblade comes down on his a second later, her attack swift even incredibly hard hitting despite herself. Sora staggers backward, surprised, and when Elyse grins at him proudly he barks a laugh - Of course she would be so strong, how had he not expected that of her to begin with?

They spar under the warm light of Kingdom Hearts in the summer, Sora attentively giving her pointers and encouraging her where she deserves it. She’s happy - Incredibly happy, Sora finds, and a part of his chest lightens just so when he realizes this.

He wonders if this is what letting go is supposed to feel like. He wonders if this is just what it means to be able to move on.

Elyse lets her keyblade dissipate with a flourish, and Sora has to smile at how well she has taken to the fancier aspects of wielding keyblades. He notes, with much respect and much endearment, how charismatic and full of personality her gestures are when regarding her keyblade.

Curiously, as he lets Nightmare’s End return to his heart, he gestures towards her and asks: “What do you call it?”

He had never named the keyblade - he makes a point not to, knowing that the naming of keyblades is an intimate and personal experience.

Elyse grins, proud; She makes the gesture for promise, then follows with the gesture of possession, and finishes the sign with the gesture for faith.

“Faith’s Promise,” Sora says, thoughtful. He thinks there is something poetic in its contrast against Destiny’s Embrace; It is fitting. He smiles, a teasing sparkle in his eyes. “What is it promising?”

The way Elyse’s eyes twinkle when she signs to him that it promises her to always be with Sora reminds him so much of an older promise; He’s taken aback for a moment, and wonders if ever the world’s cruel humor would ever cease.

He smiles despite the sadness behind his eyes, and tells Elyse that Faith’s Promise is a beautiful name.

“Will I ever know what that surprise is?” Sora asks Elyse before leaving her at her doorstep later on. Elyse smiles, nods, telling him eventually, but not now. He’d have to wait. He smiles and shrugs, bidding her a goodnight with a ruffle of her hair.

The walk back home, back up the summit is quiet and lonely, save for the occasional burst of a star falling from Kingdom Hearts.

Sora looks up, squinting at the Heart high in the sky, and notices for the first time how much dimmer it has become, how the stars that now dot the sky no longer need to compete with the Heart for ownership of the skies. So many promises run through his mind as he notes this; Promises of staying, promises of leading, promises of leaving.

A heavy sigh leaves his chest. He is not surprised in the least, just sad.

He makes his way home quietly, slipping into the apartment with ease. Riku is asleep in the plush seat beside the couch, his head bent in a way that Sora knows will leave him aching if he stays that way for much longer. There is a thought that comes to him; Another promise he’s reminded of. To protect and love and to be ever at Riku’s side, just as Riku had promised the same to him.

Riku is a heavier sleeper when he is exhausted, so he barely stirs when Sora gently pulls the taller man’s frame into his arms. The difference in their height poses an obvious difficulty, but Sora manages regardless, feeling a little bit of pride swell in his chest knowing that had this been a lifetime ago, before he had learned to shoulder the weight of a new worldline, he would have never been able to do this.

Riku is settled into the bed, a blanket tucked around him and a pillow carefully placed under his head to support his neck. Sora sits down beside him, brushing lightly at the stray strands of hair that lie on Riku’s cheek. Promises, promises.

“I love you,” Sora says to him, smiling. “I love you, I love you, I love you.” He repeats, voice growing ever softer as his fingers continues to brush along Riku’s hair.

He settles into the bed behind Riku, curling up beside him and curling his arms carefully around the other’s waist.

“You looked for me everywhere.” Sora murmurs, relieved knowing that his beloved is fast asleep. There is a follow up to that, silent and wordless; A promise to never again force either of them into a position to search endlessly, desperately.

Promises, promises. It is the faith of those who make such promises see them to completion.

“These notes aren’t signed,” Alo says, exasperated. “None of them are. Not even the book has any indication of who its owner was.”

“Does it matter?” Larae asks, sorting through a pile of inserts Alo had taken from the book. She squints at one, and finding nothing of note returns it to the pile and retrieves a different one. Alo throws her a pointed look, to which Larae ignores, but there is a quirk of her lip.

“Crazy idea,” Mirare chimes in, then, walking over to Alo’s desk and flipping through the book in question, “But what if we try dating it?”

Alo squints at him then, and he raises his hands defensively - “Right. You probably would have tried that already.”

“It’s just… Old.” Alo sighs, looking down at the inserts she has piled before her. She picks one up, reads its contents, and furrows her brows. “All I can get from any of these is that they had to have known the Master of Masters personally. Every mention of him is so full of criticism and doubt.”

Mirare taps on the desk, thinking. He turns to Larae as she turns to him.

“Maybe it’s a Foreteller?” Larae suggests.

Alo bites her lip. “There’s not enough information to rule it out, it’s just that,” She frowns. “I thought the Foretellers revered the Master of Masters. Would they have really doubted him so much?”

Mirare shrugs. “Their notes keep describing unclear motivations, a strange negligence for the world. Something about being too vague and secretive. I’d doubt that guy, too, yeah.”

Alo cannot argue with that, at least. All three of them would understand, to some degree; Caelum has kept his own share of secrets. But still they do not doubt him - They only wish he would be far more forthcoming with the truths he is so afraid of.

Nonetheless, Alo leans back into her chair and taps her chin thoughtfully. Larae watches her carefully, and briefly looks outside the window before turning back to her once again, humming.

“Have you been having other dreams?” Larae asks. Alo looks up, surprised by the question. Mirare continues to flip through the book, though it is clear he is still carefully listening.

“No,” Alo says. Then she frowns. “Yes?”

Mirare looks up curiously. “Besides the one with people dying?”

“Besides that one, yes. They’re not so much dreams, they’re more of - Feelings I wake up with.” She meets Larae’s eyes, who only continues to watch her carefully; Patient for Alo to continue. “I think Kingdom Hearts is going to close, soon.”

The other two have nothing to say to that; They only continue to stare.

Alo scratches her cheek. “It’s either we figure all of this out and Caelum and Riku leave before it closes, or we don’t figure all of this out and they leave anyway.”

“Then,” Larae says, looking outside the window. Her voice is hard. “We figure out our priorities.”

Mirare nods. “I’d rather they go home regardless of how much we understand.” He purses his lips. “We could theorize all we want, take guesses in the dark, but if our time really is running out, then isn’t it more important to make sure Caelum can go home in peace? Make as many memories with him as possible before that last goodbye?”

“That isn’t to say we want to dismiss your interest in this, though, Alo,” Larae adds in, looking apologetic towards Alo. “We know how much understanding this means to you. But if we’re running out of time, then I’d rather have Riku and Caelum go home while they can rather than be kept here because we want to give them a full story that we’re really only grasping at.”

Alo frowns at them both. She agrees, but she cannot voice that - Not really.

She pushes herself up from her seat, stands abruptly and excuses herself from her own office. “I need to think,” she says simply, and Larae and Mirare only nod quietly, making no effort to stop her.

She walks out of the office, out of the library, walks into the crisp morning air. The summit plaza echoes with her footsteps on the tiles, and she makes her way to the center of the plaza, pacing back and forth before stopping, finally. Her eyes drift up, upwards, staring at the dim shape of Kingdom Hearts high above her.

She thinks about the notes, racks through her head of anything important she might have read. Secrecy, vagueness - None of that helps. Perhaps the missing page? No - That had been alluded to be related to a traitor. There was a note on that. Perhaps the Foretellers themselves? Still no; They’re all shrouded in a strange mystery. Must be something else. Has to be something else -

The Dandelions?

Alo presses her hands against her head, thinking. Who were the Dandelions? Keyblade wielders specifically chosen to ensure the survival of light. The notes said that they had to travel to a new world; Perhaps they were forced to travel to a completely new worldline, just as Caelum had been forced to. To ensure the survival of light - The survival of the world.

Yet, Alo remains frustrated. There is a piece missing. Something incredibly important. Inter-worldline travel is what she cannot understand, cannot grasp. Something is connecting Caelum’s worldline to this worldline, allowing Kingdom Hearts to act as a bridge between them.

There is a tug on her skirt. Alo looks down and finds Elyse, bright as ever and grinning widely.

“Good morning, Elyse.” Alo greets. Elyse smiles, returning the greeting before adding that she’s off to go find Larae for her training. Alo nods, staring dumbly at Elyse’s retreating form as she makes her way to the library.

Alo squints. There is a woman Riku and Caelum have often mentioned; A woman with dark burgundy hair and bright blue eyes. A princess by destiny’s design and a warrior of her own volition. She’d guessed at who she was in Alo’s dreams of deaths - The woman who had been taken away from the field by a swarm of Heartless. Away, away.

“But how?” Alo asks the Heart above her, but she receives no response. "Why?"

Chapter Text

Life tries to resume normally on Ad Initium, but the eventual departure hangs in the air quietly; patiently. It is a strange, suffocating feeling, permeating through the various thoughts of the peoples of the world. Everyone seems to know, and no one seems to know how to approach it. So they don’t; Not really.

It might say something of Sora’s influence on Ad Initium to have so many people adopt that ‘roll with the punches’ kind of mentality, to deal with things as they come. It makes for quite a spectacle, on the right time.

Riku is perhaps the only person truly capable of seeing how much Sora makes up the way of life for the world; How much he sees all of Sora in every person, every building. He tells a little bit of this to Alo, in the late summer haze, as the year slowly bridges into fall.

“Caelum seems to be the kind of man who is always dearly missed.” Alo says, fond.

“He is,” Riku chuckles.

“I can’t imagine how you must have felt, Riku.”

There is a pause. Riku looks sheepish, his faraway look humored. “I guess you’ll know soon enough.” He shakes his head, and turns to look around their surroundings.

The summit plaza, too, has changed with the news of Sora’s eventual departure from Ad Initium. Where once it might have been unbearably bright, its proximity to Kingdom Hearts at its peak making the summit glow, it has now taken on a different magical feeling.

The Heart has dimmed ever more; Alo has spoken of her connection to the Heart, predicted that it would be gone before the end of the year. That, paired with Sora’s eventual exit, becomes a catalyst of sorts.

Perhaps it is fitting that the summit no longer glows with the light of Kingdom Hearts, instead colored slightly with the bright blues of the sky above. Riku muses that once the Heart has closed for good, in its wake will be a summit glittering with the reflection of the heavens. What better stage for Sora to leave from, he wonders?

Riku continues to gaze on the summit, thinking. Alo observes him, curiously peeking at the books he carries in his arms. They’re older books, written by various keyblade wielders of Scala Ad Caelum, historians who have made the effort to pen down the cultural traditions of those who held seats here. Alo hums thoughtfully; she wants to ask, but there is something else on her mind.

“Can I ask you something?” She says, and Riku looks at her with a quirked brow. “About the Graveyard.”

Riku looks at her carefully, then nods. “The deaths?”

“So frank,” Alo sighs, but nods nonetheless. “Did Mirare tell you about my dreams?”

He shrugs. “Larae did. She cares a lot about you.” He smiles a little at that, a knowing curve to it. Alo flushes only a moment, then Riku looks away. “Better to ask me about it than Sora. It’s difficult for him to talk about.”

Alo nods. “I wanted to ask you about Kairi, your friend. In my dreams I keep seeing her being taken away.”

“Yeah. She wasn’t swallowed like the rest of us. Of what I remember… the demon tower held on to her, carried her as it disappeared through the swarm. I assume to Xehanort. Why do you ask?”

“I have a feeling she has something to do with you being here.”

Riku scoffs. “I doubt it. She didn’t want me to leave, you know. To find Sora.” He looks at Alo sadly. “When he disappeared, I think a part of her disappeared too. She denounced her keyblade, sought out a different life. When she found out I was going to try and find Sora again she told me she wasn’t going to wait for either of us to come home.”

“Do you believe that?”

Riku takes a moment to think carefully. “I believe that she loves us both, but I wouldn’t ever ask her to wait for us. Not again. She deserves far better than Sora and I could ever give her.”

Alo smiles sadly. She nods, taking a deep breath. “Why would she be valuable to Xehanort, though?”

“She’s a Princess of Heart.” Riku says, and when Alo raises a brow at him he continues - “I suppose you might not have many texts on them. There are certain people who are selected to protect the light of Kingdom Hearts, people who have hearts of pure light, devoid of any darkness.”

He taps Alo’s forehead, grinning.

“You know, sort of like you.”

Alo laughs, shaking her head. “No, I couldn’t be.”

They don’t touch on that further. Alo hums thoughtfully beside Riku, her gaze pointed at nowhere in particular. “What’s so valuable about them?”

“Together they are a way to summon Kingdom Hearts.” Riku says, then looks pensive. He cups his chin, tapping it with his finger.

Then, Alo: “Did he find all the Princesses?”

Riku takes a long time to respond. “I don’t know.”

Seeking Larae out is a more difficult task than Sora had imagined. In the few months that passed since the Darkside raid, Larae had taken to becoming a driving leader of Ad Initium, alongside Mirare and Alo both. Though, where the latter two were able to spend much of their time at home on the summit, Larae is often hopping from one island to the next, her glider a common sight in the sky above Ad Initium.

It is only by pure luck and chance that Sora runs into Larae as she’s leaving her own apartment on the summit. She’s startled by him, as he is by her, but they grin warmly at each other and fall into a tight embrace in greeting.

“Busy today?”

Larae purses her lips. “Not until this afternoon. Want to hang out?”

And of course Sora says yes. The two of them head out of the summit’s residential quarters and towards Sora’s forge, settling into the cool space where the fire is unlit and the breeze blows through the open windows.

They don’t talk for a few minutes, sitting together in comfortable silence. Goodbyes might be appropriate, but it’s still too soon for that.

There is something else, however, on Sora’s mind.

“Can I see the Kingdom Key?” He asks.

Larae summons it with no flourish, holding out her hand as the light stems from her grip and solidifies into the old key. Sora smiles at it, reaches out, and the warmth of his key is a kind greeting.

Larae looks like she has questions, but she doesn’t ask them. Sora sighs sadly.

“This wasn’t supposed to be mine at first, you know,” he tells her, and she looks surprised.

“Really?”

“It was given to Riku first. It became mine because…” He trails quietly, unsure if he should be sharing that. “Things happened. And it’s stayed with me for a long time.”

Larae stares down at the keyblade. “I’m sorry I took it from you.”

“No, I’m sorry it became yours.” Sora says quickly, shaking his head. “This is a heavy responsibility, Larae. This isn’t just a legacy, this is the key meant to protect light.”

She looks up, her eyes meeting his, and Sora could cry at the youthful soul that she is. The guilt he had felt months ago swells up again; He never wanted Larae to take on this responsibility so early in her life. Yet, clearly, there are things the Heart does that may never change.

He breathes a heavy, heavy sigh.

“Do you doubt me?”

Sora looks up, gasping softly. “No,” He says. “Never, not once.”

Larae smiles, nodding. “I know. And I know I’m too young for this, for all of it.”

Sora shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

“But I learned from the best, Caelum.” She pauses. “Sora. You can leave it to me.”

She moves her hand as though to reach out for the Kingdom Key, but Sora tightens his hold on it, reluctant. He looks at Larae wearily, apologetically, but the gentleness in her eyes speaks only of understanding. He sighs again, looking down at the keyblade in his hand.

Its warmth is different now; Familiar all the more and yet taking on something new. It burns, still, but not like a reprimanding flame it was when he had gotten it back all those months ago. It is now more like a fire burning low in the hearth of a fireplace - one shaped like Larae’s heart.

He raises the keyblade, his other hand reaching over towards Larae with his palm up. He looks at her expectantly, smiles kindly when she looks at him with a curious look.

Then, her expression changes, and she understands.

Her posture straightens, her hand now finding its place in Sora’s. Sora squeezes her hand carefully before bringing it over his hand that holds the Kingdom Key.

“In your hand, take this key,” Sora says, quiet. Larae furrows her brows.

“Master Caelum - “

“I’m trying to make this official, Larae,” He laughs. He lets go of the keyblade, watches as Larae takes over its weight. “From one heart to another, I trust this key to you. Protect the light and protect this world I built, and trust in the hearts that make it.”

Larae remains quiet, a tear rolling down her cheek.

There is a beat where both their hearts seem to drum in their ears, the rhythm comforting.

“I’m going to miss you,” Larae says, her voice thick with emotion. The Kingdom Key disappears into soft flurries of light, her hands free to catch her face as she bows over and weeps. “I didn’t think it would be this difficult, I didn’t know it would be so real.”

Sora feels his heart clench; He reaches over, pulls Larae into a tight hug. “I didn’t think I would ever have to leave you, I’m so sorry, Lar.”

She shakes her head against his shoulder, her body shuddering as she struggles to force the words out of her. “I don’t - I’m scared that I won’t know who I am without you. That I’m nothing without you.”

“Which isn’t- It isn’t true, I can do this, Caelum. I know I can. I just don’t know what I’d do when I have to start coming home and you won’t be there.”

Not for the first time, Sora feels his heart break. He holds Larae tighter.

He has no words; He’s not sure what to say. He’s never been good at these kinds of goodbyes - The kinds where he knows there is no return, no eventual ‘hello’ to follow after.

I’m sorry, he thinks, pressing a weak hand to Larae’s hair.

Alo seeks Elyse out later that day, questions on her mind. But she does not go to ask - She needs a kind of comfort, a child’s nonchalance. And besides, Elyse had insisted for help making charms for everyone, and how could anyone say no to Elyse’s bright blue eyes?

Ocean that they are, so full of childlike innocence. It is refreshing to be near, especially when surrounded by the current climate of Caelum’s eventual departure.

Alo announces her arrival with a casual knock to Elyse and Adren’s home, then walks in to the familiar space and makes for Elyse’s room. The bedroom door opens before Alo gets there, and, oh?

Oceans they are not; The familiar blue has changed somehow, looking more like the stormy clouds above Ad Initium in the height of summer.

She makes no comment, thinking it may just be a trick of the light. A smile forms on Alo’s face as she kneels down, gesturing her hello to Elyse.

There is a single finished charm on Elyse’s desk when Alo looks up. It is pink and blue, held together by a single red cord, and Alo swears it has a shine it should not have.

Mirare lies down on the cool tiles of the plaza, breathing heavily. His keyblade clatters beside him and dissipates into small hurried lights, twinkling away. Riku walks over, laughing, and offers his hand to help the younger up.

Grinning, Mirare takes the help, and takes a deep breath as he huffs up to his feet.

“I almost got you that time,” Mirare says. “Close enough is good enough in my book.”

Riku snorts, playfully punching Mirare’s shoulder. “Just beat your sister when I’ve gone. You get one over her, you get one over me.”

Mirare laughs weakly. He clears his throat, looking away briefly and resting his hands on his hips.

Riku smiles, patting his shoulder. “You’re a great apprentice, you know. I couldn’t have asked for a better first apprentice.”

Mirare wheezes, his face flushed as he waves off the affection. He scratches the back of his neck, smiling lopsidedly despite his heavy sigh.

“What, you don’t think I was a good enough teacher?” Riku asks, and Mirare stammers again, shaking his head.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just going to be weird without you guys.” He rolls his shoulders, thinking. “I’m not like Larae or Alo. Larae’s like superwoman, and we’ve all always known Alo has some kind of connection to Kingdom Hearts, whatever it is. I just pick up the stuff they don’t want to do.”

“Is that how you feel?” Riku frowns. “Like you’re ordinary compared to them?”

Mirare thinks. “Not ordinary. Just,” He shrugs. “Just that I have to work harder. So I appreciate it, you know? What you’ve been teaching me this past, what, almost a year now?”

Riku stays quiet, cupping his chin and thinking. He turns on his heel and gestures for Mirare to follow, and Mirare does so dutifully. He’s undoubtedly curious, questions coming up in his head as Riku leads him through the summit plaza and into the apartments.

Sora and Riku’s shared space is still messy and organized, though it’s clear there have been attempts to clean it and empty it. Mirare hums, looking over the room.

Riku rummages through some things and finds something wrapped in cloth. Mirare hums questioningly, raising a brow at Riku as the other turns around and gives him a smile.

He doesn’t reach the item over, though, and leads Mirare out of the apartments and towards the rooftop.

“Sora told me how you felt about this,” Riku says, though Mirare still isn’t sure what he means. “I was going to wait a little longer to do this, but I think it’s better to do it now. Sit down with me.”

He gestures to the edge of the roof, overlooking the plaza. Mirare sits down and Riku settles beside him, placing the item on his lap carefully.

Then, he unwraps the cloth and Mirare gasps at the familiar sight of the Mirage Split replica. There are some changes to it - embellishments changed or replaced to give the keyblade its own identity.

Riku takes the keyblade and holds it up, admiring it fondly before reaching it over towards Mirare.

“Have you ever done a bequeathment ceremony?” He asks, and Mirare squeaks out a quiet no. He shakes his head, giddy and excited, and Riku laughs. “I’ve only ever done one, on the receiving end. Terra performed it for me because I told him I wanted the strength to protect what matters.”

Mirare smiles softly. He looks at the keyblade, admires it, then scratches his cheek. “But, why me?”

Riku snorts. “You said it yourself. You work harder to try to fit in. I’m telling you now, as your master, that you don’t have to.”

Mirare snorts.

“Consider this the last and most important lesson I can give you.” Riku then says, and offers the handle of the keyblade to Mirare. “For this keyblade to be fully realized, it needs a strong heart. One like yours.”

Riku purses his lips.

“What is it you want, Mirare? As a keyblade wielder?”

Mirare doesn’t hesitate. He smiles, puffs his chest, and with a mocking, deepened voice, he says: “The strength to protect what matters. To belong.”

Riku’s smile is soft and humored, and he rolls his eyes. “Then listen carefully,” he says. “The keyblade is not the source of that strength, just a manifestation of it. It takes a strong heart to make a strong keyblade.”

He takes Mirare’s hand, leads it to the handle of the keyblade. Mirare holds the keyblade tightly, taking deep breaths. Neither man moves; Staring down at the forged metal.

“In your hand, take this key,” Riku says. “So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you will one day be.”

He takes a deep breath, pauses. The metal glows slightly under the light of Kingdom Hearts, but there is no mistaking the newfound warmth that comes from it. Mirare gasps, looking up to a grinning Riku. He continues.

“A Heart divides us and calls me home, so I leave you this lesson for a strength you must earn alone. A strength that you already have, so long as you champion those you love.”

Riku lets go, allowing Mirare full ownership of the keyblade. There’s a weight to the forged keyblade, one that Mirare fumbles with for a moment. But the keyblade does not slip out of his hands, eventually settling as Mirare’s fingers curl into a more confident grip; One befitting a long-time wielder such as he.

He smiles, his awed gaze watching as the keyblade transforms in his hands. The metal glows into pure light, engulfing its shape. Riku leans back on his hands as he watches, a fond smile on his face contrasting against the look of amazement covering Mirare’s.

Eventually the light changes from white to an array of soft blues, reflecting the sky above. It works, changing in waves, until finally it settles back into a dimming fade. Mirare sighs, youthfully and dreamily, and there in his hands is a new keyblade, born of his own heart and wishes.

“You know, I thought it was pretty cool when I got my first keyblade, but this is something else entirely.” Mirare says, chuckling.

He holds the keyblade up, turning it in his hand and admiring the way the blue tinted metal catches the light. He grins as he raises it up, watching as it reflects the sky and catches images of the passing clouds.

“A Sky Divided,” he says suddenly. Riku looks at him, a brow raised.

“Its name?”

“Yeah.”

Riku smiles. “It’s a good name.”

“Elyse, I have to get going soon. There’s much to do tomorrow and I need to sleep early,” Alo says. A yawn escapes her as she stretches.

Elyse blinks at her and looks out the window, and gasps softly at the fading light of the day. When she turns back to Alo, there is an apologetic look to her face and she signs her apology, to which Alo only laughs softly at.

“No need to feel bad. We did good work today,” She says and gestures to the various charms before them both. Elyse smiles, shrugging sheepishly and agreeing with a gesture of her hands.

Then, she hesitates. Alo watches her eyes, still suspiciously different from what she remembers, and then Elyse asks something that makes Alo squint her eyes.

“Yes, I dream sometimes,” Alo says, slow and careful. “Why? What have you been dreaming?”

Elyse puts her hands in her lap, thinking carefully. One hand rises to tuck her hair behind her ear, and when she looks up at Alo again her hands fly into a series of gestures.

By the end of her story, one that narrates being in a body that is not hers, seeing six other people with pure bright light pouring from their chests, Alo thinks she understands. She knows she understands.

She pulls a worried Elyse into her arms, whispering comforts into her hair. Elyse sighs weakly, and pulls back, taking Alo’s hands in hers and gesturing her thanks that way.

She goes home, a dim charm clutched in her hand. Alo does not sleep that night, her thought racing in various directions.

In her room, just beside the window, the old book of fairytales sits and catches the light of Kingdom Hearts. A year ago, it would shine with the light of starfall, but starfall had ceased to be months ago. Alo stares at the book, holding her blankets close, and sighs.

The book is in her hands before she registers her actions; Alo sits by her desk, and a flick of her finger wills a weak Fira to light the candles in her room. She opens the book carefully, reading once more the fairytales she has now committed to memory several times over. The ink that holds these stories down on aging paper glimmers in the light, bright orange in one angle and a faint blue in another.

Alo reads. She reads for a long time, picking out inserts and examining them, but she learns nothing new. She suspects she won’t.

Her eyes drift to where she has placed Elyse’s charm on her desk. This one is made of yellow seashells, tied together with a bright orange cord. It’s unlike the charm she had seen Elyse hold tightly, carefully, with a love she knows is for Caelum and Riku both.

Alo reaches for the charm, turning it over a few times in her hands, and wonders about Elyse.

What was that RIku had said about Kairi, when Caelum had disappeared and gotten trapped in the new worldline?

When he disappeared, I think a part of her disappeared too.

Alo frowns. She taps her chin once, twice.

A surge of light from her window; The candle fires going out. Alo gasps, her vision blurring - Bright, bright, bright light.

Her hands are not hers; Clothes pink instead of her usual faded yellows. She is not moving her body - It moves despite her, and that perhaps is what terrifies Alo the most.

She staggers forward, vision hazy and unclear. There are six other people before her, bodies limp and chests pointed towards a singular point in the sky above them. The body that Alo inhibits gasps, and then there is a surge of pain.

Alo watches through someone else’s eyes as light surges from her chest, joining at the point in the sky with the six other beams of light. The skies open, darken, and comes down a familiar sight that Alo knows well - But she has never felt fear of it before. Not until this.

Kingdom Hearts lowers, dim and menacing. Darkness bursts out of it like meteors, reaching far past the horizon of what Alo can see.

She’s pulled back to her desk. The candles are lit, the book is closed. Outside, Kingdom Hearts grows dimmer.

She covers her lips as she gasps. She feels tears that are not her own well her eyes and roll down her cheek.

Her bed provides comfort and refuge.

“Do you miss it?”

Sora looks up from where he sits, his elbows resting on his knees as his feet dangle off the edge of the rooftop. He smiles fondly at Riku, and pats the space beside him. Riku sits down and stays close, his hand resting behind Sora as he leans against the other gently.

“You mean starfall?” Sora hums, looking up. “A little bit. It was a pretty sight.”

Riku nods quietly. He looks up, observes the Heart.

“I gave Mirare the keyblade,” He says, at the same time Sora tells him, “I talked to Larae about the Kingdom Key.”

The two of them blink at each other and laugh, shaking their heads.

“Did Mirare name it?” Sora asks, and Riku nods. When Sora looks over, he catches sight of Riku’s pride in his apprentice; Warm and full of admiration, respect.

“A Sky Divided, he said.”

“Oh, that’s a great name.”

“Isn’t it?”

They fall quiet for a moment. Sora reaches over and takes Riku’s other hand, curling their fingers together. Riku smiles and pulls their hands close to his lips, kissing gently at Sora’s fingers as the other snorts and rolls his eyes.

“How is Larae?” He asks Sora. There is a flash of sadness behind Sora’s blue eyes, and Riku squeezes his hand reassuringly, encouragingly.

“She’s doing great. Better than I can take credit for, honestly.” He says quietly. He leans into Riku, sighing. “I need you to be honest with me.”

“I always am.”

“Do you think I put too much of myself into this world?”

Riku shifts uncomfortably, thinking.

“I just - It’s just that I see a part of me in every direction I look.”

“Trust me, I know,” Riku sighs. He pulls Sora close, embracing him with one arm. “But I don’t think it’s too much. Ad Initium reflects who you are, and it will be your shining legacy.”

Sora smiles a little.

“Larae cried because she was terrified of the idea of coming home and not finding me.” He tells Riku, running a hand through his hair and pulling his locks free of the tight band that keeps it. “I didn’t know what to say. I just cried with her.”

There is another beat of silence; Kingdom Hearts pulses softly above them. No star falls.

Riku takes that moment to look at Sora, observe him as he’s bathed in the starlight above them. He hasn’t changed at all, Riku thinks. There is the same slightly upturned button nose, the same dark hair that frames his face. Somewhere there, too, is the same unbidden love for others; The kind that allows so many hearts to connect with his.

Of course, Riku thinks, smiling. Of course Sora is seen in so much of Ad Initium. His heart makes up a large part of the world; If ever Ad Initium slept, so much of Sora’s own memories would appear in its dreams.

Still.

“Having a memory of you isn’t the same as having you around,” Riku says, quiet, his heart hurting for Larae. For Mirare, Alo, Adren. For Elyse, especially.

“Will they be okay?”

“Without a doubt, Sora.” Riku’s eyes lower. “And I’m not just saying that. If there’s anyone who could build a world as beautiful and as strong as Ad Initium, it’d be you.”

They fall into silence again. When Sora looks at him, blue eyes searching and full of sorrow, Riku feels his breath hitch.

“Were you okay?” He asks, squeezing Riku’s fingers. “Ten years, Riku. What were you doing for ten years?”

And he nearly laughs - Out of bitterness, maybe out of sadness, but the sound doesn’t come. Only a choked sob as he remembers the ten years he can barely remember.

He isn’t sure where to start; How to start, even, explaining the complete loss he had felt when Kairi’s return announced Sora’s disappearance. For a while he had burned, wanting desperately to find Sora. But months had turned to a year, and he eventually tried to settle.

He’d walk down the islet with Kairi. Talked until the sun had set. They had cried together, arms embracing the other and tears staining each other’s clothes. They had memories of Sora, and it was with much effort that they tried to live with that.

But it’s as Riku had said - Having the memory of him hardly compares to having him around.

But he believes it will be different for the kids. A part of Riku, selfish and needy for Sora to be home, mocks him for the very idea, but the truth of the matter is that at least the kids will be allowed their goodbyes. Their closure. The departure for them will feel real, will be real, and years down the lane they will find peace in themselves, and preserve the legacy of Sora’s life as Caelum.

So, he just tells Sora, once his breath returns and the tears finish rolling down his cheek: “It was shit. It was difficult.”

He smiles, staring down at the summit plaza, far below them.

“But I think I made it out alright. Things work out sometimes.” He scratches the back of his neck. “I didn’t move back home like Kairi did. Stayed at Departure for a while, then in the Kingdom. King Mickey knighted me, actually- I was in the Crownsguard for a little bit, alongside Goofy.”

The lighthearted change in the topic relaxes both of them a little bit. Sora nudges him on, cheek resting still on Riku’s shoulder.

He smiles.

“I stayed for two years, then went back to Departure. Trained under Aqua and retested for my mastery, and honestly? Her test made Yen Sid’s look like a walk in the park. I was dying when I finished, but I was proud. I felt like I properly earned it. Being a master.

“They asked me to stay, help train future wielders. Since the battle there have been more, and we’d go and find them. I didn’t take an apprentice, not until Mirare, but I did teach a few just to help around the Forecourt.

“And then I… Left, again.”

Sora looks at Riku curiously, concern in his eyes.

“I was in Radiant Garden for a while. I tried staying in San Fransokyo for a little bit, too. I even tried getting my own ship, sailed the Caribbean. I,” Riku takes a deep breath. “I couldn’t stay anywhere for too long. I couldn’t stand it.”

Sora looks like he’s about to speak, but doesn’t.

“Destiny Islands always called me home, but I couldn’t go back, knowing you weren’t there. I didn’t want to believe you were gone, I refused to.” He looks at Sora, then. “You and I never said goodbye to each other. And, stubborn that it was, I just kept believing it meant you just weren’t there at the time. That you’d come back.”

“Riku…”

Riku shrugs, forcing a smile. “It feels wrong for me to be the one to say it, but however you need to say goodbye, just be sure you do it. Above all else, they need the closure of it.”

The next morning finds Riku and Sora entertaining Larae and Mirare for breakfast. Their apartment has cleared up some more, some items having been donated or given away. The barrenness of the room just adds more to the coming departure, but this morning the four of them do not talk of it, just enjoy the meals being graciously set in front of them.

Alo joins at some point, sleepless eyes catching the attention of Larae. The latter pats the open seat beside her, greets her with a gentle good morning as Mirare says his own hellos. Alo tries to smile, and she does, and she settles down.

Her eyes drift to Sora and Riku, who greet her over their shoulders, busy with a pan of eggs and a pan of bacon respectively.

Alo stares at them, hard; Guilty.

When Larae asks her what’s wrong, there is a moment where Alo wonders if she should share her knowledge.

But, no. This is a secret for her only; A memory only she is allowed to remember.

Chapter Text

It has been said before, noted by those who have ventured past the edges of the main island, that the seat of Ad Initium is much like a pile of glittering gems breaking the surface of the ocean. Ten years since its ruin, the beginning of its rebirth, and Ad Initium has much to show for its growth. Homes once white and pristine have only grown ever colorful, each island tending to sport a common color of its own. The whole world is a treasure; Tended to, cared for, shared.

From this far out, Kingdom Hearts appears smaller - Smaller than just yesterday. Smaller than just last month. Its gradual exit allows for the islands to shine, fully; The final stage of metamorphosis. The emergence of a gentle, beautiful thing.

In Kingdom Heart’s wake will be something new, something good. Something that will, for many years as Sora continues to live in the world he belongs to, will speak of him with everlasting color.

Sora leans back on the seat of his glider, awed by the world he had rebuilt with his calloused hands, his aged heart. His glider hums softly, hovering just above the ocean water and making small waves around him. He takes a deep breath, feels his smile in his chest before it pushes the corners of his lips, tugging his happiness into a wide grin.

Yes, sadness still remains. Goodbyes should never be this hard, but some goodbyes are necessary.

Sora cannot remain forever; He’d like to. A part of him desperately wants to. But this world demands to grow on its own, to stretch its wings and learn its own limits, make its own mistakes - All without Sora’s supervision, attention.

What is that he said, so so long ago?

A real leader knows that destiny is beyond his control - And accepts that.

Sora’s smile softens. Destiny had placed him here, had told him to be the leader Ad Initium needed to be. And he had done so, diligent and accepting.

And now destiny calls to embrace him, to carry him home through the arms of his dearly beloved. For all its unfairness, its cruelty, destiny knows still what others are owed, and it is high time that Sora is given his due.

Today is the day Sora will say goodbye.

It is also the day Sora will have to say - hello.

Festivities are in order; Summer is fast fading and fall approaches in the horizon. With this change in seasons comes a change in the people. The transition is allowing for an acceptance that is grand in scale, so along with the change of seasons is also the acceptance of Sora and Riku’s departure.

Nearly a year ago, the shock that emerged from the truth of Caelum’s life had caused a certain stir amongst the people this world belonged to. But life had continued on, and for a time it seemed like little would change beyond Riku’s influence and teachings. But more than six months later, a new shock had caused waves to crash against the sturdy walls of the island homes: Sora will leave.

Just - Knowing this brought a certain kind of sadness to the world. Some were angry, feeling as though Riku was stealing the beloved leader away. Some felt accepting - What kinder ending is there to the tragedy of Sora’s now-known life than to be able to go home?

Mostly, people felt conflicted. Because yes, as happy as many were to see Sora fall in love again and to go home, they also felt deeply in their hearts as well as Sora’s, that Ad Initium is just as much Sora’s home as the worldline he had come from.

Destiny is cruel, in that way.

But summer was coming to a close, and Kingdom Hearts, too, is making its own farewell. Perhaps it says much more of Sora’s capability as a Keyblade Master that he has taught an entire world how to roll with the punches, how to make light of anything, because -

Because festivities are in order. And if goodbyes must be said, then they will be said with all of their hearts, smiles on their many faces.

Despite the crowd, the festival feels intimate. Music fills the air and dancing shakes the ground. There is good food - The generous bounty of the summer’s fishing, and the grand collection of the crops from less urbanized islands, all make a feast one to enjoy.

There, just off to the side, is a handsome couple - one man with dark blue hair and the other with locks reminiscent of fire - enjoying between them some drinks and some desserts. Running through the center of the summit, a trio of teenagers laughing with glee, swinging each other around, and there is something simultaneously ordinary and wonderful about them. Further into the summit plaza, from where music flows, a musician with a sitar directing the crowd into an upbeat dance.

The lights of keyblades flashing in the air; The cheerful laughter of adults on their nth drink; The boundless joy of the young drumming their feat to the beat of their hearts.

And then - a hush. So quick, so sudden. A gentle brush of air that is disturbed by the speed of a glider. Everyone’s hearts beating as one. Bated breaths and heavy, happy sighs as Caelum’s glider arrives, hovering low at the summit.

Black and red armor fading away in a soft amber light, worn clothes played with by the gentle breeze. Thick brown hair that tickles the back of his neck, few strands caught in the old chain that holds a crown charm.

Nervous, tentative eyes, glancing from one person to another. Lips tight, tight with anxiousness.

How does anyone imagine being surrounded by love? To have one heart pull together the hearts of so, so many.

Sky-blue eyes blurring with the tears of ten years.

Then, from the crowd, Larae.

All at once, everyone smiles. All at once, everyone releases the breath of air they had been holding. Sora is surrounded by so many hearts, and feels them in the embrace of his kid - his kid.

“This is so weird.” Sora tells Larae, hushed. They are walking arm in arm, greeting various keyblade wielders and locals.

Sora stops to speak with as many as possible, and everyone can see the way his grin brightens with every heart he connects with.

“A little bit,” Larae says. She is smiling, looking up to the man she regards as family. “You are so loved. Did you expect anything else?”

Sora, honestly, does not know how to respond to that. So he doesn't - He just looks at Larae softly, snorts. They continue through the festivities, strolling the summit plaza and doing their greetings and unsaid goodbyes. At first, it is Sora leading them both, but at some point it becomes Larae’s role to lead him, showing him the world.

“I am so lucky, Larae. To have watched you grow up the way you have,” He tells her.

Larae scoffs. “I know. I’m lucky, too, to have a -” She purses her lips. Hesitates. Steel blue eyes darting away as words form in her head. “I’m lucky to have had a master like you.”

“Please, call me what I am,” He laughs, nudging her shoulder with his. “Kid.”

“Dad,” she says, after short hesitation, laughing. “Thank you, dad.”

They must have said hello to everyone on the summit by now. The music continues, the sky dims just a fraction. Larae leads Sora to the edge of the summit plaza, at the main path to the middle tier. Banners and streamers hang above them, the breeze blowing through them.

She squeezes his hands, tight.

“I’ll see you later,” she says. Sora nods stiffly. He turns around, walks down the candle lit path.

Destiny Islands does not have cobblestone paths. It has dirt paths, made through years of people walking the same roads. Sora wonders what it will be like to walk down those paths again. He thinks of an old memory, walking to school with his eyes focused on the ground, determinedly keeping one foot after the other.

Each step on smoothed-over stone paths, another memory of Destiny Island’s roads.

He looks up, finding the end.

Mirare grins, waving excitedly, A Sky Divided held proudly in his other hand. There are so many lights behind him, making contours of his frame. Sora stares, observing the way Mirare looks. He’s grown, too. He’s known this - Riku tells him often.

So far from the serious, sullen child he had once been. A young man on his way to being the keyblade master he’d always wanted to be. Sora takes a deep breath, makes those final steps towards Mirare and pulls him into a tight hug.

“Dude, not yet - “ Mirare laughs, patting Sora’s back affectionately. “Not yet. We’ve got time to say all of - that later. Okay?”

Sora ignores him, snorting. “I can’t hug my own son?”

Mirare meets him with a laugh, shaking his head. “Riku literally just - Did the same thing this morning. You guys are so sentimental.”

Sora laughs, shoving the other lightly and messing with his hair - It’s let down tonight, Sora realizes. Looking at him now, properly, he can’t help but laugh at Riku immediately taking to Mirare as his son. But, of course.

Mirare leads him into the plaza, and the festivities continue. There’s an air of freedom here, lacking in the formality that the summit was so full of. There is more dancing, there is more drinks being shared.

Sora actually finds himself pulled into the dancing, warm hands pulling him one direction to the next. Mirare is not far, either, finding his hands intertwined with other men as they all spin in tandem with the music.

For a while, for a very good few minutes, Sora forgets the strange sorrow in the pit of his chest. All in favor of stepping to the beat of summer’s end, to the laughter that rings from everyone’s lips.

Keyblades all manifest as the music swells, and Sora follows. They all throw the blades high, up up up, and the cheer that booms from the massive plaza, that shakes their hearts just as hard as it shakes the ground, is so indescribable and free and fun -

Their keyblades explode, spinning, a grand display of color that surpasses the ethereal, magic beauty of starfall. Every color imaginable bursting above their heads, capturing their delight and their attention, and everyone stands still for a moment, still light on their feet as though they could jump up to reach - And some do, and what follows is a wave of keyblades being re-summoned and thrown and exploding, there is so much laughter, there is so much love, so much to admire in awe -

Sora realizes, belatedly, these are hearts bursting with love and joy and happiness. Oh, he could cry.

Nightmare’s End appears in his hand again, and with a shout Sora throws his keyblade into the air, and it reaches far, slowing slightly as it reaches the apex of its flight, and Sora laughs brightly when the keyblade bursts into shimmering golds and reds and yellows, spinning like a whirlwind of stars, a galaxy of his own shining in a sea of other brilliant hearts like his.

He’s standing at the center of the middle tier plaza, hands palms up as if to catch the lights falling around him, twinkling. He looks around him, curious, grinning when he realizes others are just as entranced and just as enjoyed as he is; High on the life of the world, on the light it is so, so full of.

A hand taps his shoulder. Sora looks over, sees Mirare smiling. “Having fun?”

“Yes,” Sora breathes. “So much.”

He’s breathless.

Mirare laughs, noticing this. He pulls Sora aside by his elbow, sees to it that he catches his breath and gets some water. They’re leaning against the side of some plaza-adjacent home, laughing amongst themselves and reminiscing of Mirare’s youth.

“You’ve opened up a lot,” Sora says. He looks up around them, notices they’re not far from his forge. He remembers their conversation just - months ago? About Mirare studying under Riku, about what he wanted as a wielder. Sora smiles, looking back at the other. “When you were younger, you were so stoic. Who knew you’d be such a - “

“Loser?” A grin.

“A goof, thanks. I’m not an asshole, I wouldn’t call you that.” Sora hums thoughtfully. “Your sister might.”

“Nah, she would.”

A beat, two. People dancing again, arm in arm.

“Do you remember, when you woke on Ad Initium, how protective you were of her?” Sora asks, watching the people dance.

“Mhmm. Yeah.” Mirare says, quiet. Thinking, too. Remembering.

“When I’ve gone - “

“You don’t have to ask.”

“Let me, anyway.” He laughs.

Slow nodding. Mirare sighs, so does Sora. When Sora turns to look at Mirare, there’s a flash of light, and there is A Sky Divided, glimmering.

“I’ve got the strength to protect those who matter,” Mirare says, gentle and soft, but formidable nonetheless. Sora stares. The keyblade dancers throw their blades and again the lights explode; Heartbeats of light. “Riku showed me how to earn it, and now you ask me to use it. I won’t fail you.”

They share a smile. There’s more to be said, but this is enough, for now. Sora looks back at the plaza. The sky has dimmed again, coloring the heavens a dark amber. The stars have begun to come out.

Mirare stands as someone approaches him - Someone sheepish and shy, but Sora’s seen him around a few times, he thinks. They share a smile, he gives Sora a polite, respectful nod. A brush of their fingers together. Oh.

Sora grins. “I should head to the lower tier. I’m sure Adren is waiting for me,” he says, casting the two a sly grin and a wink. Mirare sputters, embarrassed as Sora sneaks away, calling over his shoulder promises to see Mirare later that evening.

Keyblades spin in the air as Sora walks out of the plaza, leisurely going on to the lower tier.

It is - Quieter, here. The music from the higher tiers are carried slightly by the air, but the lower tier plaza is lazy and relaxing, full of the older locals. Fishermen, farmers, artisans - ordinary people with extraordinary hearts. And it is here, in the dimly lit plaza overlooking the ocean that stretches far from Ad Initium’s piers, that Sora finds Adren.

Adren is sitting by the docks, a drink in her hand. Her back is resting against the bench she’s on, strong arms stretched over; One hand taps at the wood to the faint beat of the music from the higher tiers. She looks over her shoulder, smiles and waves at him to come over.

Sora walks over, hands stuffed into his pockets. There’s a drink waiting for him beside her.

“Crazy party, huh?” Adren says, tipping her glass to the bright lights on the higher tiers. Sora looks over, smiles at the scene.

“You should have seen the middle tier,” Sora chuckles. He takes the seat beside Adren, takes the drink, and leans back into the bench. “This is nice.”

“It is.”

“Also kind of surreal.”

Beside him, Adren smiles as she takes a sip.

Here, it is… Quiet. The faint music aside, the most that could be heard are the faint sounds of hushed conversations. A laugh here and there. The crash of waves hitting the docks, the water a soft roar. The heartbeat in his chest, in his ears.

Steady breathing; Too steady. Not his. Sora blinks, looks at Adren - Realizing.

“Surreal,” Adren says quietly, her gaze faraway and somber. “That’s a nice way of putting it.”

“There’s no going back here.” He says. He brings his glass to his lips, tips it back. “And everyone is just, throwing a huge party. No one wants to think about it. I have to think about it.”

“I’m thinking about it,” Adren cuts, serious. “You’re leaving the kids to me, too. The same way you’re leaving Elyse to me. I don’t mind it, they’re like my own kids, too, but. Shit, Caelum. It’s going to be different.”

Sora looks at her. He opens his mouth, tries to say something, but Adren shakes her head, waving her drink at him.

“Don’t bother. Genuinely don’t want to hear it.”

He nods, stiff.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do, once you’re back there?”

“Sort of.” He admits, taking another sip before leaning his elbows on his knees. He stares at the water, stares at the stars reflected on the surface. “I want a house by the beach. Nothing big - More like a small cottage than anything. Might get a cat. Dog, too.”

Adren snorts, shaking her head.

“I, ah.” He takes a deep, shuddering breath. “Kind of want to get therapy, but I’m not sure how to go about talking about the fact I was in another worldline for ten years. Pretty sure no professional has… training for that.”

That, at least, earns him a laugh. Adren purses her lips, shaking her head at him.

“Yeah, no,” She says; It sounds like a wheeze. “Definitely nothing for that.”

They fall into silence. Sora finishes his drink and stares at the empty glass.

“Please tell me what you feel, Adren.”

A heavy sigh. Crash of waves. A seagull from somewhere.

“That’s just the thing,” Adren says, after a long, long silence. “I don’t know how I feel. I feel like… A part of me has been ready for this, but now that - Now that it’s really happening. It’s surreal.”

The sky has dipped, now; The stars are fully out, twinkling. Adren finishes her drink, leaves the glass beside her. She crosses her arms, sits up straight, and looks at Sora.

They stare at each other.

“You won’t be here come morning.” It’s not a question. “You won’t be back here. Ever.”

Sora flinches, frowning.

“But you won’t die. You’re getting the life you’ve deserved. It is costing you more than you know, perhaps has costed you more than you ever will know. But come tomorrow morning, I’ll see that sunrise and I’ll realize - You’ll be on your way to being happy. Really, truly happy.”

She smiles.

“Do you understand how much I am looking forward to that?”

He blinks.

“You do me one favor, one promise, Caelum. You promise me that you get that cabin, that you get that cat and that dog. You promise me that you’ll take care of Riku, that you let him take care of you.” Her breath shudders. “You hear me?”

Sora nods, swallowing the air.

“I do.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah.”

They nod.

“I should get going,” Sora says. He stands up. “Will I see you later?”

Adren smiles, nodding. She stands up, too, pulling Sora into a tight hug. “You will, kid.”

He gives her one final look, sad, then he smiles. Turns to leave. Walk back up the path to the summit.

He’s taking the side roads, now, making sure to avoid the plazas. He doesn’t need to go back anyway - Mirare, by now, should be at the summit. Larae will have found Alo and Elyse. Riku is - Where is Riku? Sora belatedly wonders. He hasn’t seen him at all tonight - Last he’d seen him, they woke up together, arms circled around each other’s waists.

Breakfast, together. A final look at their apartment, barren and empty save for the bed they share. Shared.

Riku’s old clothes laid out, the garbs befitting that of a Keyblade Master from the halls of the Forecourt. It had been a long time since he had put it on, and it had showed - Sora had watched this morning, observed the way Riku took his time putting on layer after layer.

“We’re going home.” Riku had said, disbelievingly.

And Sora, from the comforts of his blankets, curled up and smiling at his lover, had nodded, grinning - “We are.”

Then Sora had dressed, had excused himself, citing that he needed his time to tour the world on his own, make his own goodbyes. Riku had not protested - he’d been encouraging, actually, in that quiet, gentle way that was so - him.

They’d parted with a kiss and whispers of seeing each other later that day, during the festival.

Yet Sora hadn’t seen him, yet. He wonders if he is okay. He hopes so.

The walk is… long. He doesn’t remember it being like this. He’s also taking his time - He’s realizing, now, this is the last time he’ll see the city like this. Bathed in the light of stars, happy. His fingers graze the rough walls as he walks higher. There are spots where he can see the views in full, and those are the places he lets himself linger at.

Wordless feelings bubble in his chest, things he does not have the energy to speak. So they stay, pressed behind lips, locked away in his mind.

He passes the middle tier plaza; The music is slower. Quieter. There are some lights in homes nearby; Some have begun to call it a night. To sleep, anticipating the dawn. Sora feels a certain - Pain in his chest. Something like a shortness of breath. A deep seated worry that needs more than a night’s rest to be rid of.

The forge is nearby. Sora looks up, figures he has time yet, and makes a quick detour.

He hesitates at the door, stops at the threshold. He can’t will himself past it, one foot inside and the other adamantly outside. There’s nothing to see, anyway; The forge hasn’t changed much. Personal items had been taken out, given away. The keyblades remain, stacked against each other on the wall, standing. Some sculpted flowers lie on the table, catching the lights outside.

Sora steps back. Closes the door. Whispers a goodbye, and resumes his walk to the summit.

Not long now, he thinks. Just a few more steps, past a few more houses.

“Caelum?”

Sora looks up, startled. Alo smiles at him, Elyse beside her and holding her hand. They wave at him; hello. Alo kneels down, whispers something to Elyse and the young girl nods, signing a quick promise to see Sora later, and she’s off, running the rest of the way to the summit plaza.

She stops a few steps ahead, turns to look at Sora and rushes to him. She pulls a charm from her pocket, pink and blue and held together by a single red cord, and she pushes it into Sora’s hands, grinning. Then, she runs off.

Sora smiles in her wake. Turns around to look at Alo and - she’s nervous. Hands held tightly together. A sad look on her face. Conflict.

“Sad to see me off?” Sora grins, grasping at an attempt to lighten the mood. It does not work.

Alo takes a deep breath, walks forward and places her hands atop his hand that holds Elyse’s charm. Slowly, his fingers unfurl and the charm reveals itself, and Sora notices now that it is glowing. He guesses it’s a trick of the light - After all, all of Ad Initium is alight with the life of the festival.

“Reunite with her safely,” Alo says, gentle. Something about the way she speaks feels as though she isn’t speaking to - him. “Your heart is so, so strong.”

Sora isn’t sure what to say. He tilts his head one way, looking at Alo carefully. She is tired; her hair unkempt. There is a heaviness to the way she carries her shoulders, as though something is weighing her down. Sora holds the charm tightly, pockets it, and retakes Alo’s hands and encourages her to look at him proper.

“Are you okay?” He asks, and Alo smiles. Resigned.

“Scared.” She says as an admission, nodding. “I’m not sure what to expect. Kingdom Hearts is fading, and tomorrow you will be gone.”

“There’s nothing to expect. Life will go on.” Sora smiles. He presses his hands to Alo’s shoulders, squeezes them reassuringly.

She nods, smiling. She looks at him and there is that shine, so strangely reminiscent of Kingdom Hearts’ magic. A twinkle to her eyes that has not faded since her awakening.

Sora takes a step back, offers Alo his arm, and she takes it. They both take a deep breath, and proceed to the summit.

The crowd parts as they arrive, and at the center of the plaza is a stage. Or what should pass for a stage - It is a small platform, decorated with flowers native to the islands. It is lit with the shine of Kingdom Hearts’ remaining magic, as if to say - Here. Come here.

The heart begins to pulse. Gentle, gentle; Weak.

Larae from the side, approaching to offer her own arm to Alo. Alo pulls away from Sora and joins her.

Mirare from the side opposite, hands held behind him. He’s smiling brightly at Sora, and Sora watches him as he extends one hand towards the stage.

Sora looks, and, oh - there is Elyse, walking onto the platform, pulling Riku behind her.

Riku meets Sora’s eyes, and Sora thinks - Oh .

He loves him.

He loves him and it hurts; Hurts in the way ten years can multiply loneliness. Hurts in the way the he knows the extreme feelings of loss Riku must have felt. Hurts in the way he is so, so thankful that Riku has tried over and over again to make him happy. Does he know, Sora thinks, that he’s thankful for it?

He makes his strides forward, gaze unwavering. Riku waits for him.

Sora is beautiful, Riku thinks. The way he has grown into himself, into the man he has become, is beautiful and wonderful. There is a surety in his eyes as he makes his way to the stage that Riku cannot describe; There are no words that can aptly describe it.

Ten years can change a man. Ten years can damage a man. But ten years could not extinguish the heart that resides inside Sora, that makes Sora - He is a haven personified, a heaven to all who meet him.

Riku watches as Sora approaches, and he thinks - Oh.

He has always loved him, and always will.

Across worldlines, his heart will forever yearn for him. And he will offer himself to be Sora’s home, always, every day.

There is a speech when they come together at the platform. There is a lot of crying. Keyblades are thrust into the air, bursting like fireworks. Goodbyes are said.

But not yet.

Not yet.

The rooftop is an intimate setting; There is a small table set up for some cakes, some slices of fruit. There are candles all around, lit all at the same time by Alo’s will. Larae and Mirare enter the space, each of them carrying piles of blankets and pillows. Adren is looking over the cakes with Elyse, arranging and rearranging them. Alo hovering by them, setting more candles where she sees fit.

Sora and Riku, hands intertwined, legs dangling over the edge of the rooftop. Below them the last of the crowds, heading home after the festival’s end.

Something heavy in their chests. The heaviest of their goodbyes. Waiting to be said.

Mirare takes a seat beside Riku, Larae beside Sora. Elyse throws her arms around Sora, leaning against his back and resting her chin on his shoulder, grinning. Alo sits beside Larae, eyes watching Riku and Sora carefully. Adren comes not long after, balancing plates of cake in her hands, distributing the slices to each of them.

They talk well into the night.

They cry on each other’s shoulders.

Their hearts burn, together.

And above them, the Heart waits. Its glow upon them is apologetic.

“I leave everything to you,” Sora says as he stands up. Nightmare’s End appears in his hand slowly. His grip tightens. He continues to speak. “I hope that you forgive me for leaving like this.”

Beside him, Riku stands as well. Mirage Split snaps into his hands, the light of his heart shimmering, falling gently on the rooftop floor. “Thank you, all of you, for letting me be a part of this family.”

The kids stare at them, at a loss for words. They have shared all they could.

Elyse stands next, drawing her keyblade from her chest. The light reflects off her face, coloring her with the colors of the sunset.

Larae summons the Kingdom Key, her grip on the old key tight. Mirare summons A Sky Divided, and he stares at the blade. There are heavy sighs.

Adren stands by the table with the cakes, arms crossed and eyes trained on Sora and Riku both.

Alo takes a deep breath, closing her eyes and begging her heart to stay still. She purses her lips, raises to her feet, and when she opens her eyes again she is staring at Kingdom Hearts, dim and small and fading away.

The sky is… Getting brighter. Dawn is soon. She steps forward to the edge of the rooftop and calls the Heart higher, and it listens. It rises, the growing distance making it smaller in their eyes. She raises her hands as they glow, bright, with a strong white light.

Riku holds Sora’s hand tightly as he raises his keyblade, pointing it towards the heart. Between both of their hands, leaving impressions in their skin, is Elyse’s charm. Warm, reminiscent of a home that is not so far away.

Larae and Mirare, too, raise their keyblades, aiming for the Heart. Elyse copies them, the light of her heart charging Faith’s Promise with a soft glow.

Sora is the last to raise his keyblade, but not out of hesitation. He first looks at everyone, committing their faces to his memory so that he may never forget who they are, so that he can dream of them while he is a worldline away.

His eyes meet Adren’s, who smiles at him sadly. “Good luck,” she mouths. And Sora takes that.

He raises his blade; No power of awakening comes. But he is alright with this; No longer does it bother him.

The way the sky shatters is hauntingly beautiful. Kingdom Hearts seems to slam into the sky, and from it stems the cracks that reach far and wide; Jagged lines glowing white at the universe breaks open to make way for a bridge. At the center of Kingdom Hearts, the image of a keyhole on a rotating disc.

Dawn makes its way to the sky, tinting the cracks a sentimental orange hue.

Sora and Riku both make the mistake of looking behind them as the light takes them and pulls them away.

Their vision goes white.

All they feel is each other’s tight embrace, and Elyse’s charm keeping them safe.

Chapter Text

It’s like waking up from a dream.

The sky above is a gradient of pinks and orange, a sun setting to let the stars take ownership of the sky. There is the faint call of seagulls, and there is the crash of ocean waves hitting the shore.

There is, also, a tearful sob, choked and surprised. The quiet chime of a keyblade being summoned away.

Beside him, a cough; heavy and filled with water. A painful groan and the shuffle of sand and clothes as Riku gets up to his elbows, heaving.

Sora turns his head to him, half lidded and tired. His chest is simultaneously heavy and light, taken over by the relief of being alive and the pain of what it took to be here.

Again, again that sob. It draws Sora’s attention, and through his hazy gaze he imagines he sees a woman with dark burgundy hair, tears in her eyes a contrast against the anger he feels coming from her. More shuffling of sand. A call of his and Riku’s names.

His eyes are tired. He goes to sleep.

“A year, Riku. You were gone an entire year.”

“I know - I know. I’m sorry.”

“My children were asking about you. They kept asking me when you were coming home.”

“I - “

“Do you know how terrifying it is, the idea of losing you too ?”

Heartbeats drumming against the walls. Sad, painful. The beat of silence.

After forever: “Is it really him?”

Yes, Sora wants to say. Call from beyond the door that separates them.

But he’s so tired. So tired.

He wakes up properly in the middle of the night, restless.

The room around him is nothing like the rooms he had seen and slept in on Ad Initium. There are printed pictures, there are lights strewn around. Modern technology he has not quite seen in some time. By a window, humming softly, is an air conditioning unit. Sora blinks at it, remembering how much he had grown accustomed to using Blizzard just to fend off the heat.

Even the bedding is different. Cotton mixed with something else, Sora wants to say. Nothing like the mass of linen bed sheets back in Ad Initium. He touches the fabric gently, examining it. He’s not sure what conclusion to draw from it.

Outside the sky is dark, glittering with stars Sora recognizes from his childhood. His breath hitches in his throat. He half expects to see Kingdom Hearts if he turns his head just right, finds the right angle, but no. Just old constellations with names he can barely remember. No heart, no starfall.

Standing up is a strange endeavor to take on. He nearly trips over the blanket, but catches himself in time to avoid making a noise, to avoid waking anyone up -

But, oh. The door is creaking open.

Sora looks up, gasps as Kairi gasps.

Her hands are shaking, rattling the doorknob and it seems so loud against the silence of the late evening.

And then she is smiling, grinning, tears welling in her eyes and her mouth moves and she’s saying hello and Sora is crying, because his cheeks are wet and warm and he’s stumbling forward, catching Kairi into a tight hug. He doesn’t want to let go. He doesn’t, for a long time.

“You have - kids.” Sora says, looking around the empty kitchen. Riku is sleeping in the living room, snoring lightly. He expects a pair of youthful voices yelling down the stairs, but they don’t. “And a wife.”

“I do,” Kairi says, and she sounds happy about it. There’s a fondness that Sora understands. He smiles. “I asked Nagisa to bring the kids with her to her parent’s for a while. I,” She hesitates. “I had something I needed to do, first.”

“Oh.” Sora nods. He glances at Riku, then at Kairi. “Can I meet them?”

“That’s a given, Sora.” Kairi laughs. “They’ll be so thrilled, finding out they have another uncle now.”

Silence. Kairi working the stove. Sora taps the table once, twice. Tilts his head.

“I had kids, too. Where I was. At first they weren’t, and then they were. It was - They were more like my apprentices, first, and then they sort of became my family.”

When he looks up, Kairi is looking at him strangely. Examining him, he’d guess. The scrutiny is uncomfortable. Eventually she turns back to the stove and Sora is left to fiddle with his thumbs.

“When do you want to meet them?” She asks, gently. “I know this has to be a lot for you.”

“The sooner the better,” Sora says, quickly. “And everyone else too. Is that okay?”

Kairi freezes. “Don’t you want to settle in more?”

“No, I,” Sora purses his lips. He looks down, ashamed. “I don’t want to wait anymore.”

Kairi sets breakfast on the table with a stilted, “Okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kairi dismisses him with a shrug, smiling. “Go wake Riku up, we should eat.”

Things get easier by the end of the week. Mostly because Kairi and Sora argue one morning, because Sora had been exasperated over Kairi dancing around him and he’d said something along the lines of give me a break - Which, in retrospect, was not the right thing to say, because she had countered with bringing up the fact she’s always in some impossible position when it comes to him and Riku, and where was the latter?

He’d been quiet, unable to speak over the others, because he understood perfectly how each of them felt and the other two know he’d tried his best. He always has. That’s who Riku is, essentially.

It takes Sora storming off towards the beach and Kairi slamming her bedroom door behind her and Riku, awkward, sitting in the living room, before they all reconvene. Say their sorries. All of it.

They go to the islet off shore, Kairi maneuvering the sailboat with little need for help from the other two. Riku’s got a cooler of drinks by his feet, and Sora’s at the front, legs dangling as he waits to step on the familiar beach.

They haul the cooler to the old paopu tree - More have started growing near it, and its age has begun to show, too. But it’s still there, despite the years, and Sora can’t help the laugh that escapes him when he climbs up towards the fruits and picks one fruit out.

He settles down on the tree, smiling at the others as they watch him.

This time, they do it properly.

“When can we see him?”

“Is he okay?”

“Is it really him?”

Riku looks up from Kairi’s gummiphone, staring at the door to the guest bedroom that Sora’s kept himself in. He sees the shadows move underneath the door, shuffling away. He sighs quietly, looks back down at the screen, at the various faces that have crowded through several windows on the small device.

Riku has to run out to find Sora one morning, because he left a note saying he’s going to the graveyard and it takes all of one minute for Riku to realize Sora had meant the graveyard on Destiny Islands, not the world from which he had departed.

His glider had already been summoned, so that’s what he uses to make his way towards the graveyard, and there Sora is. Clutching flowers picked from the side of the road. Standing still in front of a grave. On it, a short epitaph to honor Sora’s mother.

He’s quiet, even when Riku comes up beside him.

“I almost forgot my last name,” Sora laughs, weak and tired. He kneels down and places the flowers in front of the tombstone. “Did you bury her?”

Riku nods. “Kairi and I did, yeah.”

“Thank you.”

Sora finds Elyse’s charm while picking something up from the study for Kairi. It’s sitting beside the old one Kairi had made, and he wonders why it doesn’t have that strange, luminous shine it had when Elyse had gifted it to him.

He hums, thoughtful. Must have been a trick of the light.

He pockets it and goes back to Kairi, her requested item in his hand.

Kairi is decidedly happier, Riku and Sora both observe. Something has settled in her, she seems whole, she seems at peace.

There’s a certain shine in her eye when the two of them ask her for help with finding their own place in Destiny Islands. Turns out Riku’s still got a massive savings account from his few years serving as a knight in Mickey’s kingdom. Sora’s status as ‘assumed dead’ needs to be corrected with a lot of paperwork, and his mother had donated nearly everything to the orphanage on the Islands, so he can’t really help much anyway on that front.

It’s okay. Turns out being a knight is incredibly lucrative.

She finds them a cozy house right by the beach, quiet and private. A little bit of a fixer upper, which Sora loves already. Plus, it’s not far from Kairi’s own house, which makes Riku smile. He can finally fulfill that promise of theirs, to be there for Kairi’s kids as they grow up.

Riku and Sora are busy signing the lease (Riku, mostly, because Sora still has to get his dead or alive status figured out before he can sign anything) when Kairi texts them through Riku’s new phone to be sure to be back by dinner.

Sora catches Riku’s knowing smile. He squints at him, angling his head. “What’s going on?”

“We’ll find out at dinner.” Riku says simply, and finishes signing the lease. Now, they have a home.

There’s a lot of chatter coming from Kairi’s home. The pathway up there carries the sound all too easily, and Sora grows nervous with excitement because he can hear voices of people he hasn’t seen or heard in a decade. A decade.

His hand finds Riku’s, shaking. Riku squeezes back tightly, reassuring him and nodding at him encouragingly.

They come up to the front door. Riku stays one step behind Sora while Sora raises his hand to knock. One, two raps on the door. An immediate hush. Sora can feel - can hear his own heartbeat, the large drumming deafening in his ears.

The door pulls open and he’s staring at a young girl, no older than nine, and it takes all of a few seconds for him to realize that’s Kairi’s eldest daughter. That’s the girl who’d given new life to his name. That’s Sora.

She stares at him, glances quickly at Riku behind him, and she realizes at that moment this must be the new uncle that mom keeps mentioning to her. The one whose name she’d found lying around the house on some old photograph, and decided that was the name she wanted, not the one the orphanage gave her.

“Hi,” they both say at the same time, and there are some chuckling.

Sora looks up, then, looks past his niece as she takes his hand and leads him inside Kairi’s living room and, Heart above.

Everyone is - there. Everyone.

He thinks he should feel like he’s seeing ghosts, but that’s not what this feeling is. It’s so much better.

Xion and Roxas rush up to him, pulling him into a tight embrace and Sora can’t tell if he started crying before the hug or during it. He can feel the way their hearts thrum in recognition of each other, a connection between them that’s theirs and theirs alone.

“We’re so sorry,” Roxas says, pulling away to look at his brother with tearful eyes. “We’re so sorry we stopped looking for you.”

Sora laughs weakly, though it comes out as a sob. “Nah, it’s fine. Not all of you gave up, so. It doesn’t count.”

Ventus joins next, looking at Sora with a certain gaze that suggests knowing something far older than he looks and is, and he wraps his arms around the other as Roxas and Xion step away.

“It’s so good to see you,” Ventus says, quiet, and Sora can’t stop the next rush of tears. “I’m so glad you made it back okay.”

Then there are Aqua and Terra, sharing their own welcomes. Sora catches sight of the wedding rings they both wear, and he congratulates them. Mickey is there, too, along with Minnie, and Sora greets them as tearfully as anyone but has to ask where Goofy and Donald are.

He’s answered by tight hugs coming from behind him, his two companions both scolding and crying at him for his absence, as if he were only gone a week and not over ten years. It’s nice, honestly; Makes Sora feel younger than he actually is.

At one point Donald scolds him for having missed his wedding - “You were going to be one of my best men,” he says, squawking. “I had an entire outfit made for you.”

Goofy just laughs and tells Sora he’ll have to introduce him to his son Max when he decides to go visit the Kingdom. And Sora promises he will, but not quite yet. He’s tired of traveling for now. No one comments on that, but there is a quiet acknowledgment of it.

Axel and Isa are there, setting up the table. Namine comes a little late, Ienzo trailing behind her as she runs to Sora and spins him in a tight hug. She is so ecstatic he’s here, and tells him as much, and Sora’s too stunned by how much grace and elegance she carries herself with that all he can really say is - “I thought Kairi’s the princess between you two?”

And, really, that’s all it takes for the mood to carry on into something sweeter and cheerful.

There are fruit tarts, too. And that’s the cherry on top.

Dinner turns into late night drinks turns into people beginning to shuffle out, saying they’ll be in a hotel at the plaza nearby or just crashing on Kairi and Nagisa’s couch. It’s an amusing affair, and one that warms Sora’s heart and eases the pain of having had to trade one family for another.

Somehow, he knows his kids are doing alright. Grieving, maybe, but no doubt they’ve picked up on his love for sleepovers - The more impromptu, the better.

He and Riku each have Kairi’s daughters in their arms, the children having fallen asleep a long time ago. Nagisa had greeted Sora, told him she’d heard so much about him and that she’s glad she’ll get a chance to get to know him. But now she, too, is passed out, sharing one of the couches with an equally inebriated and slumbering Terra, and, really, it shouldn’t be as funny a sight as it is, but it is.

Kairi’s leading them to the kids bedroom - A simple affair of two beds, one for Sora and the other for Asahi, and Riku and Sora deposit them both to their respective beds.

“You still like to paint on walls, huh?” Sora says, noticing the decorated walls in the bedroom. Kairi looks at him, startled, then looks at the walls with a fond smile.

“Yeah. Kept having dreams and sketching this place. Figured I’d use it for a mural for the kids. Close the door when you guys leave, okay? I’m going to check on Nagisa.” And with that, she leaves.

Riku stares after her, then looks at Sora, whose eyes are set on the wall facing the beds.

It’s unmistakable, what the mural looks like - A towering island, the sun shining behind it, making the colorful buildings look like a pile of gems and precious stones atop the surface of the ocean.

Sora looks at Riku, smiling. “Wanna drag your old mattress to the new house?”

Riku scoffs. “Yeah.”

Then, after a beat of silence. “Let’s go home, Sora.”

Chapter Text

Hi. It's me again. If you're still subscribed to this story, it may interest you that I'm rewriting it.