Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hey, Sora!” 

Sora turned, grinning at his castmate Aqua. “Hey! On your way to meet your partner?” 

Aqua grinned. “Yeah! Heard she’s a famous fashion designer. I can’t wait! Maybe she can design our dresses for a dance?” 

“Only if you two stay in that long!” Sora teased. “So you already know who she is?” 

Aqua shook her head. “Not completely. The producers are really keeping us in the dark. I only know the profession of my partner because Naminé told me. I can make some guesses but…” She trailed off, and Sora nodded in understanding. 

“Same here. All I got out of Naminé was that my partner is an Olympian. Don’t know what sport though.” Sora shrugged while Aqua gave a small grin. 

“You seem to do well with those. You and Elsa got pretty far two years ago!” 

“Yeah! She was a great dancer once she emerged from her shell a bit!” Sora swung his arms to cross them behind his head. “Too bad we lost to you and Terra. How is the big loveable quarterback?” 

Aqua blushed, fumbling with the ring around her finger. “He’s okay. Still a little upset that the doctors say he can’t play anymore. But we’re working through it.” 

Sora’s grin faltered when he remembered Terra’s accident a few months back. “I’m sorry. But it’s great he’s working through it. I bet he’s glad he has you.” 

“Yeah!” Aqua grinned once more and then turned, offering a wave. “Well, see you on the dance floor!” 

“You bet on it!” 

Sora walked down the long hallway, lost in thought. It was the studio’s idea to switch things up this season. Mix in some same-sex partners. But he figured he would still get pared with some female star. With his height, he would look awkward trying to lead another guy through a dance. But he wished he would get the chance to try.

With a sigh, Sora opened the door, expecting to see another gymnast or track and field runner. Or maybe even another figure skater. 

He was not expecting the beautiful person in front of him. 

Their back was to Sora, and he could only see silver hair held up in a bun at the back of the head. Normally Sora would have groaned that he’d be stuck with some old person, but that figure. Those back muscles were amazing. Broad shoulders tapering down into a narrow waist and hips. And the height—

“Um—” Sora coughed, trying to get the person’s attention. 

The person startled, jerking away from what they had been looking at, which Sora realized was an old cast picture for last season. As they turned, Sora felt his face grow hot as the person’s beautiful features came into view. High cheekbones and gorgeous teal eyes that practically glowed.

“Sora?” 

Sora gulped, fighting his blush. A professional! He was a professional! “Yes! Hi! I’m Sora! And you are…? Oh! And your preferred pronouns?” He trailed off with a nervous chuckle. “Sorry, they’ve been keeping us in the dark this year about who our partners are. And I, um… was too busy to watch the Olympics last year.” 

To his surprise, the person’s face turned red, and teal eyes glanced away nervously. “It’s okay. There’s really not much to see there. All my competitions were broadcasted early in the morning here. Time difference and all.” They coughed, apparently regaining their composure. “My name’s Riku. And preferred pronouns are he/him.” 

“It’s nice to meet ya, Riku! My name is Sora, but you already knew that, I guess. And my pronouns are also he/him.” Blush sufficiently contained, Sora held his hand out for Riku to shake.  

The moment their hands touched, a bolt of electricity ran up Sora’s arm and straight to his heart. He glanced up at Riku and knew he had felt it too. Sora powered through it and continued to shake Riku’s hand, still a little in awe at the sensation. He had never felt anything like that before.  

Riku looked away after a moment, a small smile appearing on his face, and he gestured back at the photo. “With training, I can’t say I have had much of a chance to watch this show. My friend works on it, and she called me up last minute to join the cast. As a favor to her.” 

“Your friend? Oh? Do you mean Naminé?” It was Naminé’s job to secure the “stars” and partner them up. Maybe she had heard his secret wish to dance with a guy. 

“Yeah!” Riku’s grin shifted into a smile, and Sora’s heart stopped. 

“Well, I’m glad she called in that favor!” Really, really glad. But that should probably remain a quiet thought for now. 

“Yeah?” Riku hummed. “I can’t say I’ll be a very good partner. I’ve got two left feet.”

“That’s good though! You’ll match my two right feet!” Sora laughed at his own joke, then pulled Riku to the middle of the practice floor. “C’mon. There’s no better time to start than the present.” 

“Woah!” Riku stumbled over his feet, nearly crashing into Sora. “Are you sure? I—” 

“Yeah. Our first dance is a waltz. Might as well see now where I have to start with teaching.” Sora frowned, trying to think of how best to do this. “I think for our competition dances, you should lead. It’ll be easier for spins and twirls. And I know Judge Lottie likes a good twirl. But this is the first year we’re doing same-sex couples, so I’m not sure what the judges will be looking for, but if nothing else, it might be fun to learn for future use with a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend?” He looked up at Riku with a raised eyebrow, surprised when Riku’s mouth fell into a frown. 

“That’s never gonna happen,” Riku said quietly. Then he looked back at Sora. “But I’ll learn anything you want to teach me.” 

Sora tilted his head, not sure what to make of the frown. He knew that he liked Riku’s smile much better than the frown, though. “Well, I think for the competition dances you’ll lead. But for now, in order to see how your rhythm and footwork is, I’ll lead us through a simple waltz.” 

With gentle movements, Sora placed Riku’s hands into the proper positions, one on Sora’s shoulder, the other in his own gentle grip. “Back straight. And relax.” Turning his head, he shouted over at the small smart speaker by his small desk. “Hey, Moogle! Play Waltz of the Flowers, Fantasia version!” 

After a quick “Kupo!” from the device, the soft strains of a harp and horn filtered through the room. Sora closed his eyes. He loved this song, ever since he'd danced to it way back in a kindergarten production of the nutcracker.

Out loud, Sora counted off the music. “And, one, two, three. One, two, three.” He opened his eyes, nodding at Riku. With a tilt of his head as a cue to Riku, Sora began to move. 

He didn’t make wide strides, recognizing the tense muscles in Riku’s back as hesitation. Instead, he continued to count aloud with every step. “One, two, three. One, two, three.” 

When Riku’s gaze shifted downwards, Sora regained his focus with a quick squeeze of his hand. “It’s okay. I got you. You’re safe with me.” 

Riku’s eyes widened, but then that same soft smile broke over his face. “Okay. You lead.” 

Sora laughed. “I already am.” 

While they talked, Sora noticed that Riku’s muscles relaxed, so he continued. “Have you ever tried ballroom dancing before?” 

Riku snorted. “Not much time for dancing with all the training.” 

“Oh yeah! I never asked. What Olympic sport do you do?” 

“Swimming.” Riku shrugged. “It’s really nothing important. Not like track and field or something.” 

It took every ounce of conscious effort to not picture Riku in a pair of those tight speedos Sora had seen Olympic swimmers wear in past years. “S-Swimming huh? That’s cool. You any good?” 

Sora could kick himself if he wasn’t so focused on dancing. You any good? He's a freaking Olympian. Of course he’s good. 

But to his relief, Riku laughed, throwing his head back in merriment. “Maybe. Tell you what, you get me good enough at this to make it past the first round, and I’ll show you exactly how good I am.” 

Sora’s mental count in his head came to an abrupt halt, and it was only years of rote memorization of the moves that kept him moving. “Y-yeah? I’ll believe it when I see it.” 

Soon, they came to the end of the segment Sora had planned to dance too, and he slowed them to a stop. “See? You’re pretty good already. Once you relaxed.” 

Riku grinned. “I guess I just feel comfortable with you.” 

Sora laughed. “I’ve been told I have that effect on people.” 

Riku raised his arms again. “If we’re gonna do it differently for the competition though, shouldn’t I try it the other way?” 

“Sure.” Sora guided him into the arm positions once more, this time with one hand at Sora’s back and the other holding Sora’s. Reaching up, Sora found that Riku’s shoulder was just out of a comfortable reach, but his bicep worked. Sora could feel the muscle below his hand and it sent a shiver through him. “H-Hey, Moogle! Repeat song.” 

As they waited for the song to start once more, Sora caught Riku’s gaze. Suddenly, Riku’s arm tightened, pulling Sora closer until their chests were touching. Sora could feel Riku’s heart hammering in his chest and he knew that his own heart was doing the same. Sora gulped, hoping that his face didn’t resemble a tomato. 

This was shaping up to be an interesting season. 

“So how’s it going?” Kairi asked, leaning on his desk and nearly dislodging his notes for moves and musical cues. “He any good?” 

Sora hummed, flipping through his phone for another song. None of them were right. He wanted to start choreographing today, but if he couldn’t find the right song he wouldn’t get anything done. He sighed, turning back to Kairi’s question. “He’s fine. Needs to relax a bit, but eager to learn. Yours?”

Kairi let out a disgusted noise and rolled her eyes. Sora chuckled at the expression, feeling a bit bad. Kairi thad gotten matched up with some drama queens in the past, and it looked like this year was shaping up to be the same. 

“He’s- He’s— argh!” Throwing her hands up, Kairi took a seat in Sora’s desk chair. “In some ways, he’s eager to learn because he’s so competitive, but in other’s he’s… bull-headed and stubborn and occasionally just plain mean.” 

Sora’s grin quickly shifted into a frown, and he clenched his hand around the pen in his hand. “You want me to talk to him?” 

Kairi shook her head. “No, no. I got it handled. We’re pretty well matched in stubbornness, so he’s not gonna get away with it. He’s— I’ve never met anyone with so much potential be so stubborn about using any of it.” 

“Who is he again?” Sora asked, tilting his head. He wasn’t sure if Kairi had mentioned it or not. 

“Vanitas.” Kairi pulled out her phone quickly to look up the guy’s bio. “He’s a vocalist and lead guitarist in some kind of heavy metal rock group.” 

“And he agreed to ballroom dance?” Sora raised an eyebrow. 

Kairi nodded. “Apparently he met Ventus somewhere when Ven and Roxas traveled to interview the contestants last season. They got into a heated argument, and Ven dared him to try learning ballroom dancing before disparaging about it. And apparently Vanitas does not back down from a dare. Naminé said that he practically demanded a spot in this season.” 

“Well, I guess that means you won’t lose him to disinterest.” Sora had worried about that with his own partner, but Riku was texting him often with questions. 

“Yours is the Olympic Swimmer, right?” Kairi asked, her tone shifting into something more teasing. “Twitter was in an uproar about it when they announced the contestants this morning.” 

“Oh?” Sora had been so focused he hadn’t had a chance to check Twitter yet. He supposed he should tweet something later. “What are they saying?” 

Kairi pulled her phone out, scrolling through her feed for a few moments before holding it out.

Sora chuckled at the last twitter comment. The Tiddy Detector account had been active every season since he started, and he was pretty sure it was one of his most dedicated fans. “Well, we’ll show them. Riku and I are gonna make it all the way!” 

“So… are you gonna ask Fairy Godmother to make sure his costumes are all skin-tight?” 

Sora's face suddenly felt ten degrees hotter, and he desperately tried to rid his imagination of the pleasant image a shirtless Riku presented. He coughed, turning away from Kairi. “Give me a break, Kairi.” 

He heard her laugh in response. “Sorry! But I’m sure there’s something nice to look at under those shirts.” 

Sora chuckled. “He is… hot. Like, really, really hot. But he’s also sweet. I don’t think he necessarily volunteered as eagerly as Vanitas did to be here, but he’s also willing to learn. I don’t know if we’ll get far, but I think it’ll be fun getting there.” 

“That’s what matters. It’s all about having fun and—” 

“What are you two losers chatting about?” 

Sora startled, hoping the blush was off his face as he turned to glare at the newcomer. “Hi, Larxene.” 

His fellow dancing cast member scoffed. “No need to try and be friendly. This is a competition after all. One that I’ll win.” 

“Didn’t you get paired with that football player? Herc-something?” Kairi asked, skeptical. 

“Hey, if Aqua can get a football player in shape enough to win, so can I!” Larxene spat, glaring in the direction of Aqua’s studio. “Miss goody two shoes. Had to go marry the poor idiot too.” 

“Hey, don’t talk about Terra like that!” Sora exclaimed, clenching his hand around the pen again. He didn’t know what it was about Larxene that got him so riled up. Probably because she always saw the season as a competition and never as something to have fun with. 

“Whatever,” Larxene scoffed, walking out the door as briskly as she had walked through it. “See you on the dance floor kiddos. And your song choices suck, Sora.” 

As they heard her retreating footsteps, Kairi let out a quiet groan. “Tell me again why they’ve kept her on?” 

“She is a fan favorite,” Sora said, repeating the same words Naminé had used when they asked her. Naminé had sounded exactly as thrilled as they had been with Larxene’s continued involvement with the show. “And with Aurora’s promotion to host—” 

“I know,” Kairi sighed, getting up out of her chain. “I should get back to planning. Vanitas is coming back this afternoon to practice and film the introduction snippet.” 

“Oh, Ven is gonna love that. Does he know that Vanitas is here?”

“I’m pretty sure Naminé warned him,” Kairi said, walking towards the door. “Good luck finding a song.” 

Sora waved as she walked away, flipping to another song and closing his eyes. He almost wanted to go with Waltz of the Flowers, but he had used that song last year with Sophie so he knew it would never get approved by the producers. Yen Sid was a stickler for changing things up. 

*Knock! Knock!* 

Sora startled and turned towards the open door to find Riku’s large frame, a small smile on his lips and some kind of athletic traveling bag under his arm. 

“Riku!” Sora ran up to him, pausing just before hugging him. He had really only met the guy once. He supposed hugs were a little too forward. But it honestly felt like he had known Riku forever. 

But then Riku opened his arms for a hug, and Sora eagerly accepted. As Riku’s arms tightened around him Sora caught a whiff of chlorine and he grinned as he pulled back. “Rush through practice?” 

“Coach got pulled away by a family problem. So he told me to take the day off, but I came here instead. Just because I’m not practicing swimming doesn’t mean I can’t practice something .” Riku put his bag down inside the door then looked back at Sora with a mix of hesitation and worry. “If that’s okay?” 

“It’s fine!” Sora quickly assured him, feeling his heart beat faster. It was fine, but Sora would have to get this crush under control. He walked back over to his phone and flipped to another song. “I don’t really have anything to practice right now though. I was still trying to pick a song, so I don’t have much in the way of choreography yet.” 

“Oh?”  Riku pulled a hair tie off his wrist and quickly tied his hair into a bun at the back of his head. “Lots of options?” 

“None of them are right,” Sora said, flipping to the last one on his playlist. He had heard it years ago when he was a kid, but it always felt like something was missing. 

There was a warm touch on his shoulder and when Sora turned, he found Riku holding out his hand. 

“May I have this dance?” 

Sora chuckled. He may not have anything in the way of choreography, but there was no reason not to at least warm up with a quick turn on the dance floor. “Of course.” 

Riku quickly adjusted to a comfortable position, hand around Sora’s waist and arm extended. Sora’s left hand landed on Riku’s right bicep with ease. Sora didn’t even need to count off as Riku started an easy but natural waltz to the music. Not needing to back lead either, Sora allowed his mind to drift a bit, caught up in Riku’s embrace and the music. 

The melody had once seemed like it had been lacking something, but now— Now it was like Sora was hearing it all over again. There was a harmony there, a gentle rhythm that flowed in and out. It almost reminded Sora of the ocean shores he had run on as a child. A rhythm that was easy to drift away with and a heartbeat that was soothing. 

“Hey, don’t fall asleep on me,” Riku’s voice cut through the pleasant fog that had settled on Sora’s brain. 

Sora jerked out of his reverie, realizing that he had started to lean a bit too close to Riku’s chest. He blushed, catching himself before he broke formation and instead looked away. “Sorry. It’s been an exhausting week.” 

“Oh? Because of the choreography?” 

Sora shrugged. “Kinda. Kairi— er, one of the other dancers. She and I are also in charge of choreographing the opening number this week. And we have to teach and practice those with the other dancers. And there’s a bunch of other little things.” Like costume fittings and meetings with producers and managers about future themes and— 

“If you need to nap, I—” 

“I’ll be okay,” Sora promised, already feeling more alert. “I can take it. Anything they throw at me. Whether it be extra routines to memorize or—” 

“Or a swimmer with two left feet?” 

“Hey, you haven’t stepped on my feet once since we started.” Sora laughed, “You just need some practice, and I bet you’ll be dancing circles around me.” 

Riku hummed in acknowledgment, but Sora saw the small smile on his face. Good. Riku needed a boost of confidence.

“Wow! They’re so good already!” 

Startled, Sora backed away from Riku, breaking formation. The voice was unfamiliar and he glanced at the door in surprise. “Who—” 

“Sorry, Sora!” 

His fellow dancer, Anna, waved sheepishly, blocking Sora’s view of the brunette girl behind her until they both stepped into the room. “We were walking by and got distracted by you guys. It was really good! Been practicing that long?” 

“Uh— well—” Sora shrugged. “We’re only warming up actually.” 

Anna chuckled. “Well, that looked almost as polished as the one you performed with Elsa in the finals. I would keep at it!” 

Sora grinned nodding in agreement. For once, the song had felt right. And natural, and perfect and—

“I’m Anna!” Anna introduced herself, distracting Sora from his thoughts. She held her hand out to Riku, who shook it. “This is my partner Olette.” 

“Riku.” 

“I’m sorry for startling you!” Olette said, holding her hand out. “But I was in awe! I don’t know if I’ll be able to compete against you guys.” 

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you into shape!” Anna sounded confident, and Sora couldn’t blame her. Anna had managed to at least place in the top three seven out of the nine seasons she had been on the show. After taking 4 seasons off (including the year Sora and Anna’s sister, Elsa, had nearly won) to tend to her new baby, Anna had thrown herself back into the competition.

Sora smiled at Olette “Anna’s the best out there. If anyone can get you feeling the rhythm, it’s her.” 

Olette looked at least a little reassured, and she grinned at her partner. “I can’t wait!  I’ve been watching the show for years now. I never thought I’d be asked to be on it.” 

Sora tilted his head. “Olette— from Twilight Town right? The host of Twilight Town Today ?” 

Olette blushed. “You’ve heard of me?” 

“Roxas won’t stop talking about you!” Sora exclaimed. “He loved working on your show, and I think when Naminé was looking for suggestions, you were the first one he blurted out.” 

Olette blushed, covering her nervous laugh with her hands. “Thanks! I hope I can live up to his expectations.” 

“Have you met any of the other contestants, Sora?” Anna asked. 

Sora shook his head. “Nah, I’ve only heard about them. Kairi sounds like she has a handful while Aqua’s partner sounds pleasant. She’s Cinderella from Fashion Dreams.”  

“Oh Wow! That’s amazing! I’ve seen a few of the others… Snow White is dancing with a comedian this year,” Anna said, crossing her arms in thought. Some short guy with wild green hair and only one eye. Makes it difficult for coordination, but he’s a good sport. Aladdin is dancing with a children’s writer… Belle something?” 

“I heard Demyx is dancing with that woman who created the mural in downtown Radiant Garden. Rapunzel, right?” Sora was pretty sure that’s what her name was. 

“Yeah! And Xion told me she is dancing with an astronaut! Buzz Lightyear.”  

“Oh, that sounds so cool!” Sora exclaimed, then glanced back at Riku. “Not that swimmers aren’t equally as cool.” 

Riku smirked. “It’s okay if you want to leave me for an astronaut. Maybe he’ll spin you to the moon and back.” 

Sora pouted. “No way, I like dancing with you. But astronauts sound cool, you know? Though I’m not sure how well I could dance in space.” 

“Zero gravity is awful for spins,” Anna said as if she had the experience. Which Sora was fairly sure she did not. 

“Well, well, it looks like a party in here.” 

“Axel!” Sora exclaimed, turning to face the tall redhead. “Is your partner starting practice today too?” 

“Later,” Axel drawled, leaning against the open door frame. “He used to dance in his youth though. Nothing professional, but one of those… debutant things.” 

“Etiquette lessons?” Olette asked. 

Axel nodded, pointing. “That’s it. I take it your Sora’s partner?” 

“Mine actually!” Anna raised her hand. “This is Olette. Riku over there is Sora’s partner.” 

Axel raised an eyebrow. “So, they’re really serious about changing things up. Thought Naveen and I would be the only ones.” 

Sora shook his head. “And Aqua has a female partner as well.” 

“Welp, it’s gonna be an interesting season.” Axel waved as he walked off. “I gotta start planning. We got a charleston first.” 

“Oh! Good luck!” Anna called out then turned to Olette. “We should go as well. Practice a few basic moves.” She pulled Olette away both of them waving at Riku and Sora as they left. 

“You’re all so friendly,” Riku said, sounding a bit in awe. “I thought you guys would be more competitive among yourselves.” 

Sora shrugged. “Some of us are. I do like winning, but if I got angry every time I lost, I’d have no friends here. And if I have no friends, what's the point of me being here. You know?” 

Riku shrugged. “I guess. I’m used to training alone.”  

“You don’t have any friends on the swim team?” Sora asked, offering Riku the seat Kairi had vacated earlier. The Moogle speaker had gone silent since there was nothing left in the playlist. “What about when you’re at swimming competitions?”

“Meets,” Riku corrected, a small smile appearing once more. “And I have a few guys I talk to. There are international meets and stuff outside of the Olympics, so I’ll see them from time to time, but we don’t really talk much outside of competition.” 

Sora leaned back against his desk. “Well, here you don’t have to worry. We’re all competitive but pretty friendly about it. Well… except for Larxene, but ignore her. For the rest of us, it’s mostly just a running joke that whoever wins the mirror ball trophy doesn’t have to pay for drinks afterward.” 

Riku chuckled. “That sounds like a fair competition.” 

A comfortable silence followed that remark, and Sora turned to go back through his phone. “That last song though… did that sound good to you?” 

“The one we danced to?” Riku nodded. “It sounded good. Pleasant— almost familiar. What’s it called?”

Sora pulled up the title. “Dearly Beloved.” 

Riku grinned. “I guess we found our song then.” 

Sora fiddled with the top of the dark grey shirt and red cape, trying to cool off his blushing chest. He always got a little nervous before the first dance. He wanted to show off the best of his partner before the audience and the first round of public voting, and he worried that he hadn’t done enough. And with his terrible luck, he had managed to draw the very last dancing slot this evening. 

“Careful, deary. You’re going to ruin your makeup.” A cool hand pressed a cloth to his forehead, blotting away some of the sweat but careful enough to not dislodge the gold circlet that rested there. 

“Thanks, Fauna,” Sora grinned, happy for the help. 

“Anytime, dear,” Fauna continued to blot up the sweat and touch up his makeup. “Honestly, Fairy might be good at the costume design, but she rarely accounts for the stage lights and makeup.” 

Sora laughed, also wishing that the costume designer, Fairy Godmother, had picked out something lighter for him, instead of this fantasy king regalia. He thought the song and dance were too airy for this full costume, but when Fairy had seen them dance, she said that they reminded her of a pair of fairy tale kings. Setting heavily on Sora’s brow was a gold circlet, nearly hidden in his hair except for the band that crossed his forehead. 

“Good thing we practiced the spins in all this,” Riku said, coming to stand beside him. “And a good thing we didn’t have to do the opening number in all this.” 

Sora turned, admiring the sight Riku made in the grey and blue costume Fairy had put him in. His own gold circlet peeked out from strands of silver hair. 

If anyone were to look like a fairy tale king, it would be Riku. 

Sora nodded in response to Riku’s statement. The opening number had gone well, as they introduced all of the celebrities before changing into their costumes for their first dance. 

From their place behind the stage, Sora could hear the finishing strains of Elvis’s “Hound Dog” and the cheers of the audience as they erupted into applause. 

“And that was Naveen and Axel dancing the Charleston.” Aurora’s voice echoed over the applause, amplified by the microphone.

There was another pause before the audience quieted to hear the judge’s comments and scores. 

“So how does this work again?” 

Sora turned to Riku, a little confused. He had told Riku this already but—

He saw Riku fiddling with the sleeves of his shirt and Sora suddenly realized that maybe Riku was just as nervous as he was. 

“The judges give their comments and then the scores,” Sora said, turning to take Riku’s hands so he stopped fiddling with the sleeves. “The audience and public vote as well, but no one will be eliminated this week.”

“That’s good.” 

Sora nodded, squeezing Riku’s hands. “But the scores will let us know who is in the bottom two for next week’s elimination. Next week, we’ll dance again to something different and the judge’s scores and audience votes will eliminate someone from the show.” 

Riku gulped and nodded, squeezing Sora’s hand. “Okay.” 

“It won’t be us,” Sora said with confidence. “I haven’t been eliminated first since my second season.” 

“Oh well, now you’ve cursed us,” Riku laughed. 

“Hey!” 

“Sora! Riku!” Naminé called out. “You’re up next!” 

“Ready?” Sora turned to look Riku in the eyes. 

Riku took a deep breath and nodded. 

They took their spot next to Kristoff, smiling at the cameras as Naminé counted down to the live cameras. As soon as the lights lit up, Kristoff held up his microphone with a large smile. “Thanks, Aurora! And when we come back, Olympian Swimmer Riku will dance the waltz with Sora here on Kingdom Dance Off!” 

Sora politely waved at the camera, watching out of the corner of his eye as Riku did the same. Then the camera lights lowered as the show hit a commercial. 

“Good luck guys!” Kristoff said, patting Sora on the shoulder. 

“Thanks, Kristoff!” Sora waved as he led Riku out onto the dance floor. The audience cheered with their entrance, while the judges largely ignored them, quietly conferring together while the cameras were off. Sora was used to that though. Most of the time the judges tried to keep their reactions authentic, not watching the dress rehearsals or the dancer’s entrance. They were only interested in the dancing. 

“Ready?” Sora asked.

Riku placed his arms in position, his hand on Sora’s waist tightening minutely. “Ready.” 

Soon the lights flickered, indicating that the show had come back from commercial. Naminé had already explained that it would launch right into the introductory snippet to Riku and Sora’s partnership. The snipped was projected onto the tv screens for the audience’s benefit and Sora turned his head to watch as well. 

Ven and Roxas had filmed a recreation of his and Riku’s first meeting, along with a few of the choreographed dance steps they had practiced. Riku and Sora had tried to come up with any similarities between dancing and swimming (there were none that either could think of). Sora thought the finished process was nice and introduced both Riku’s determination and confidence well. 

“And now,” Aurora introduced as the lights came back on for the dancing portion, “Dancing the waltz: Riku and his partner Sora.” 

The slow harp and piano strains of the Dearly Beloved started up. They began the dance in a graceful turn about the floor, an even rise and fall with the music. 

Sora felt some tension beneath his hand in Riku’s arms, and he hoped it didn’t show to the judges. He gracefully avoided Riku stepping on his feet, but he would have to trust that Riku knew the choreography by now and he simply counted in time in his head. 

They glided around the floor. Occasionally their hands would part and they would dance side by side, but it was never long before they came together again. At the swell in the music, Sora spun under Riku’s arm, almost dancing just out of reach before Riku gently tugged him back in. 

They spun around the dancefloor once more, the capes Fairy had crafted for them fanning out behind them. At the next turn, Sora spun away from Riku, both of them performing the waltz steps alone in tandem before Riku reached out and pulled Sora back in by the hand, this time lifting him into the air. The music swelled with the lift, a symphony of violins and piano notes before everything softened once more and Riku gently placed Sora back on the ground. They took one last turn about the dance floor. 

Sora had been focused on mentally counting with the music and smiling at the camera that this was the first time he noticed Riku’s gaze on him. Teal eyes glowed in the studio lights, and Sora felt that gaze intently, feeling his heart rate spike and his face flush in a way that had nothing to do with the stage lights or the dance. 

The music quieted further to just a few soft piano notes. Sora and Riku danced the final steps in place before they finished the dance with one final spin. 

A breath of silence passed before the audience erupted into applause. Sora couldn’t keep the grin off his face, and he leaned in to hug Riku in excitement. 

Riku’s arms immediately wrapped themselves around Sora and tightened, and Sora felt Riku’s heavy breathing in his hair. 

“See!” Sora said, pulling away just enough to catch Riku’s gaze. “I knew you could do it!” 

“Wow!!” Aurora called out, coming to their sides as the audience quieted to hear. “That was certainly a magical waltz.” 

“I couldn’t have done it without Sora’s encouragement,” Riku said, a blush highlighting his cheeks. “He believes in me so much.” 

“Because I know you can do it!” Sora laughed, leaning into Riku’s side. 

“Well, let’s see what the judges have to say!” Aurora turned to the judge’s table. 

Sora glanced over as well, biting his lip. He knew Riku did wonderfully, but this was their first dance. Was it enough? 

“Judge Prudence!” 

Sora wrinkled his nose. Judge Pru was never a fan of his, believing him to be too excitable to pull off a serious ballroom dance. 

“Well, I suppose you were on a beat. I’m just not certain it was the beat.” Prudence’s accented voice rose above the boo’s that erupted from the audience. “Your footwork was a bit sloppy and simple, your shoulders were stiff and—” 

“But you looked amazing !!” 

Sora chuckled at Judge Charlotte’s interruption. She was a relatively new judge, still riding high from her Miss America pageant win two years ago where ballroom dance had been her talent. She was also well known for interrupting Prudence when the elder judge started to nitpick. 

“Oh!” Aurora said, taking the cue to move on from Prudence. “What are your thoughts, Lottie?” 

“Well, the footwork could use a little work, Riku, and it’s clear the nerves got the best of you in the first half. But it’s your first dance,” Lottie giggled. “I’d love to see more from you as you get more comfortable. And that lift—” 

“Lifts are simply not done.” Prudence sniffed in derision. 

“Now, now, Pru, dear,” the third judge, Lumière, said, tapping Pru’s arm gently. “We fudge the rules often. And it was a beautiful lift. Footwork can use work, but it shows wonderful promise. You just need to relax a bit, Riku. But I saw you on the dancefloor and by the second half, I could see it. That minute relaxation as you lost yourself in the dance was excellent. Just hang onto that momentum!” 

Sora grinned. Considering everything, it wasn’t too bad. As long as the scores were good—

“And now the scores!” Aurora announced. 

Sora held his breath. 

“Four.” Prudence held up her sign. 

“Six!” Lumière held up his own. 

“Seven!” Lottie added

Sora let out his breath. It wasn’t great. Not as bad as it could have been. Not as bad as his worst score ever (all fours his third season with a pop singer named Drizella), but not great. 

“A total of seventeen!” Aurora said. “That puts Riku and Sora in our bottom two along with Hercules and Larxene!” 

Sora blinked. Larxene was in the bottom with them? Oh, she wasn't gonna be happy about that.

The audience began to cheer as the rest of the dancers and celebrities came out, flooding the stage, and the exit music swelled. Sora clapped along with the others, Riku doing the same beside him. 

They would have to work harder next week. Sora knew Riku could win this whole thing. He just knew it. 

“If you want to see your favorite dancers, be sure to vote for them. The votes and the judge’s scores from this week and next will decide our first elimination next week! This has been Kingdom Dance Off!” 

Chapter Text

Sora never thought he would find a door imposing. 

But here he was. Standing in front of room 137 at the Port Royal Hotel and Suites in downtown San Fransokyo and nervous about knocking on the door. 

“I have literally never seen you shake this much before doing one of these segments,” Roxas drawled, already filming. “And you already met the guy.” 

“This is…" Different , Sora wanted to say. But at the same time, not? This wasn’t even the first time he had been to this hotel. The producers often paid for the show’s contestants to stay at the hotel during the competition. But this felt different. 

Sora hadn’t ever felt this way about his dance partner before. 

“Oh for— we’re burning film.” Roxas reached over and knocked for Sora, the three consecutive bangs echoing in the hallway. 

“You film on digital,” Sora pointed out. 

“Then save Dusk and Dancer from having to edit out all of your hesitation later,” Roxas said, lifting his camera to his shoulder again. “Riku knows we were coming.” 

‘Yeah but—” Sora cut himself off when he heard footsteps on the other side of the door. Despite his nervousness, he felt a grin take over his face. 

The door slowly opened and Riku’s smile met his own. “Hey. How’s it going?” 

“Great!” Sora’s grin widened. Riku fully opened the door for Sora, and by extension Roxas, to enter. Riku and Roxas nodded politely at each other. 

Sora glanced around the space, finding that Riku was in one of the hotel’s suites, with a small kitchenette and seperate bedroom. The TV in the corner was already on, though the sound was muted. He turned back to grin at Riku.  “So… this week’s theme is movie night.” 

“Yep.” Riku nodded. “And the dance is jive, right? That sounds… hard.”  

Sora laughed. “It’s really fun though! I know you’ll manage it! Luckily the movie and song they assigned us should make for a fun routine.” 

Sora held up the Blu-ray copy of the film Naminé had given him to look over. Even though he had seen the movie plenty of times, and already knew what song they would be dancing to, it was a tradition for him to watch the movie anyway. 

“Oh!” Riku chuckled, brushing stray strands of hair out of his eyes. As he walked closer to look at the movie, Sora saw that Riku had braided his hair today. Several strands were already coming undone, gracefully falling out of the braid. 

Does he sleep with his hair braided? Sora wondered for a brief moment before snapping his attention back to Riku who was looking at the movie intently. 

“ Extremely Goofy Movie ? Not the first one?” 

Sora sighed. “I know, right? But they did the first movie five seasons ago and I guess the audience requested someone do a song from the sequel. So here we are.” 

Riku smirked. “You know, the kid who played in this is also an Olympian now. He received the gold medal in skateboarding.”  

“Wait, really?” Sora looked over the cover. “Max Goof, you mean?” 

Riku nodded. “Yeah. We sat next to each other on the plane to last summer’s Olympics. He’s kinda embarrassed by his dad in this movie. He only did the first one because his dad wanted to do a film with him. He never thought it would be popular enough to warrant a sequel.” 

“That’s so cool though,” Sora grinned. “You ready to watch?” 

“Yeah.”

Riku placed the movie into the Blu-ray player provided by the hotel, and they took their seats on the couch. Roxas sat across from them, careful to keep their reactions in frame, but not the movie itself for copyright reasons. “Just skip to the part you’ll be dancing too.” 

“Aww, but Roxas, then you won’t get our full reactions.” 

“It’s a 2000’s coming of age film, I think the audience is already gonna know your reactions.” 

“Ugh, fine…” Sora skipped the first few scenes until they were in the middle of the movie, where Goofy asked the romantic lead on a date. 

As “Shake Your Groove Thing” came on, Sora grinned when he saw Riku’s shoulders start to twitch to the beat as if his body wanted to dance even if Riku's heart held it in. “So, ‘Shake Your Groove Thing’ is the song.” 

“Are we keeping the, uh, disco theme?” 

Sora chuckled. “Probably. But it’s fine, we can add in some classic disco moves in with the jive choreography. But this will be much faster than our waltz last week.” 

Riku dragged his eyes away from the screen. “Yeah? Hopefully, I can keep up.” 

“You will. We’ll have you dancing around the floor like Goofy by the end of the week.” 

On the screen, Goofy suddenly sank down into the splits and Riku shuddered.

“I’m not doing that though. I don’t think my hips can move like that.” 

Sora threw his head back and giggled. 

As soon as the scene was done, Roxas stood up. Sora paused the movie. “Heading out?” 

Roxas nodded. “Got to meet up with Aqua at Cinderella’s studio in town. Then off to meet up with Snow White and Mike. Then Xion and Buzz at the planetarium…” 

“Sounds like a busy schedule,” Riku noted. “Is it just you filming?” 

Roxas shook his head. “Nah, my cousin Ven does half of it too. Plus the guys back at the studio. But the first weeks are always busy since there’s so many of you guys.” 

“Get some rest later, Roxas,” Sora urged, even though he had the same conversation with his friend every season. He hoped that next season Naminé could convince the studio to hire more cameramen. “We’ll see you tomorrow for practice.” 

Roxas nodded and, with a final wave, left the room, closing the door behind him. Sora got up to head out as well. Usually these visits only lasted as long as it took to film the snippet. He’d watch the rest of the movie at home for background noise as he worked on the choreography and then he’d see Riku in the morn—

“U-um…” 

Sora stopped packing up, turning to look at the source of the sound. 

Riku’s cheeks were red, and he was looking determinedly at the beige carpet for a moment before meeting Sora’s gaze. 

“Do—” Riku stopped for a moment, clearing his throat. “Do you wanna, maybe, watch the rest of the movie? With me?”

“Huh?” Sora tilted his head. As Riku’s words sank in, Sora felt his face flush and he hurriedly looked away, hoping that it didn’t show in the living room lights. “S-Sure!” 

Sora put his jacket and the Blu-ray case back down, taking a seat next to Riku on the couch once more. “Sorry. I’m used to my dance partners having a full schedule themselves.” 

“Well, I have the rest of the day off after the usual 6 am practice , so I don’t have any plans. Perfect for movies.” 

Sora grinned, then reached over to pull his phone out. “As long as you don’t mind me needing to break every once in a while to try out some dance moves.” 

“Deal.” Riku reached for the remote, hesitating before resuming the movie. “Actually… popcorn?” 

“Yes!” Sora nodded eagerly. 

By the time Riku had finished popping the popcorn, Sora had queued the movie up to start at the beginning. “I think up better dance moves if I watch things in order.” 

Riku nodded, pouring the bag into one big bowl and setting it between them. “That’s fair.” 

The movie took a bit longer to watch like this than if they'd sat down and watched it all the way through, because Sora kept pausing it to try out dance moves he thought of while watching, or to test out a move with Riku on the living room carpet. 

By the time the credits rolled, Sora was pretty sure he had the whole two-minute routine choreographed in his head, though he would have to draw it out on paper later. His phone notes were fine for now, but he needed to visually draw out the choreography while it was fresh.  

“Hey, what—” Sora cut himself off, looking over at Riku who had been quiet since the moment when Max and his Dad reconnected after their fight, both ready to take on the bullies in the X-games event. 

Riku’s head was cradled in his hand, his eyes closed and his breathing deep. His braid was now nearly completely undone, his bangs tickling his nose and cheeks. 

Sora breathed out slowly, not wanting to wake up such a beautiful sight. Quietly, he turned the movie off and removed the Blu-ray from the player and returned it to his case. As he placed the case next to his jacket once more, he glanced over at Riku. 

Should he leave? If Riku was really tired— and Sora should head back to the studio… But should he leave a note? Should he wake Riku up? Should he just wait until Riku woke up?

Sora hesitated over his jacket, not sure what to do.

Biting his lip, he grabbed his phone, texting the one person he trusted to give him good advice. 

Sora glanced back at Riku. He really would get a crick in his neck if he slept like that… 

Taking a deep breath, Sora walked back over to Riku, reaching out and gently tapping his shoulder. “Riku… Riku?” 

“Mmm…” Riku groaned, eyes fluttering open, glancing around the room before landing on Sora. 

Sora felt his heart skip a beat. Riku was—

“Sora…” Riku breathed out, looking at Sora like that. So soft. Like Sora meant something. Like he was important.

But then wakefulness came back into Riku and he shook his head. Sora lowered his hand, quickly backing away. “I’m sorry—” 

“No, I’m… sorry. I didn’t realize I—” Riku chuckled, covering his face with his hands. “Did I snore?” 

Sora grinned, feeling more at ease about waking Riku up, and swiftly putting the soft look out of mind. “No. I just wanted to wake you before you slept through lunch!” 

Riku laughed. “Well, thanks. I suppose I should go work on—” 

A ring tone pierced the air. Riku flinched and reached into his back pocket. His mouth turned down when he saw the name and quickly picked up. “Hey, coach.” 

Sora hummed, slipping his jacket on as Riku talked with his coach, the words not quite heated, but not exactly casual either. 

“Yeah, I know practice is— I know. But this is important too. I’m not gonna— Coach Triton, the qualifiers are a year away. I can train for them and do this. I’ve made a commitment. I’m sticking to it.” 

His coach finally seemed to take that as an answer, and Riku hung up with a sigh. “Sorry… Coach wants me to come in to review my last swim session. And he wants to talk about my training schedule again to make sure that my new… hobby… isn’t interfering.” 

“Is he—” Sora bit his lip. He could tell from that tone that Riku’s coach probably wasn’t exactly happy about it. “I mean. We have Olympians on all the time, but if he’s giving you trouble over this—” 

“He… thinks I should throw the competition so I can get back to my ‘normal’ practice routine.” 

“Oh…” Sora looked down. 

“But I’m not going to. I’m not giving up just because dancing isn’t… exactly what I’m meant for, I—” 

“You’re meant for this!” Sora reassured him. “I know it. I can feel it. You just need training and practice and you’d be really, really good. You can be both, you know. Swimming and dance…. Isn’t there a sport for that?” 

Riku chuckled. “Yes, but I don’t think my coach would appreciate me switching to synchronized swimming this late into my career. He just believes that each day of practice matters. And he really doesn’t like change. So this whole dancing thing just has him a bit frazzled. He’ll get over it.” 

Sora frowned, hesitating for only a moment before reaching up to gently touch Riku’s arm. “Okay… but make sure you get some rest too. Burnout is a thing… I’d hate to see you fall…” 

“I won’t.” 

Sora looked for a moment longer, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow for practice?” 

“Yeah!” 

Sora grinned, turning towards the door and waving. “Make sure you bring your dancing shoes so we can jive!” 

“...and one two three up four, five up six. One two three up fou— ow!” 

“Sorry!” Riku quickly removed his foot from where it had stepped on Sora’s. “I—” 

“You’re fine!!” Sora quickly reassured him. It hadn’t hurt, he had just been startled. “Let’s take a breather, okay?” 

“Yeah…” Riku nodded walking over to Sora’s desk to grab the water bottle he had placed there earlier. “So… how bad is it?” 

“You’re not bad.” Sora knew he was pouting, but it really did bother him a bit when Riku’s confidence wavered. Riku could be really, really good, but his confidence—

“Okay, then how—”

Riku’s question was cut off by a shout that echoed down the hallway. The words were indistinct but the angry tone was clear. Instantly, Sora was on his feet, running towards the studio door. It sounded like—

He had barely opened the door when Kairi ran into his studio, breathing heavily, eyes red with unshed tears. Sora wrapped an arm around her shoulders in support. 

“What’s wrong? Did he hurt you? Do I need to—”

Kairi quickly shook her head, still holding back her tears. “No, no. It’s okay. I just… He got frustrated, and I lost my temper and—” She choked on a quiet sob. “He called me a bad teacher, and I just—” 

Sora tightened his grip, running a hand down her back soothingly. “It’s okay. You’re a great teacher. All your partners have said that. You know that—”

“I know. But I can’t get through to him and I—” She took a deep breath, pulling away. 

“Go sit by my desk and drink some water okay?” Sora gestured her over to where Riku stood. Riku had already grabbed another bottle of water from where Sora kept them under his desk, as well as an energy bar. He held them out to Kairi and shakily, Kairi stepped forward, taking the items with a small smile. 

“Thank you.” 

“I always feel better after I eat,” Riku said, smiling back. “Emotions take up a lot of energy.” 

Kairi breathed out a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a sigh. “That’s true.”

Sora grinned at them before he turned towards the door. “I’ll be right back.”

“Sora, don’t—” Kairi protested. 

“I’m just gonna ask him what the hell his problem is. If he can’t handle this, he should leave.”

He gently pulled away and marched down the hall, fully intent on giving Vanitas a piece of his mind. No one made his best friend cry and got away with it.

He found the young man still in Kairi’s studio, fists clenched and shaking, while his head was bowed to the ground. 

Though Sora’s protective instinct made him want to start shouting what the hell Vanitas was thinking, the sudden hitched breath the came from the other man stopped the words in Sora’s throat. 

Was Vanitas crying?

His anger cooled a bit and instead, Sora knocked on the door to let Vanitas know he was there. “Hey, man. Making your partner cry is kinda not cool.” 

“Shut up.” 

“Kairi’s a good teacher,” Sora pushed walking into the studio. “She works really, really hard to make sure that the best you is presented to the judges and the audience, if you—” 

“I just hate this song!” 

Sora paused, tilting his head. “The song? So…. you yelled at Kairi over a stupid song?! We can change the song, just tell the producers and—” 

“I don’t want to change it, I just hate it.” 

Sora bit his lip. Vanitas wasn’t making any sense. “Okay. Can we— here…” Sora grabbed one of Kairi’s desk chairs, offering it to Vanitas while he took the other one. “Okay. Now… tell me why you hate a song but don’t want to change it.” 

Vanitas still refused to look at him. “She already choreographed to it. It would be stupid to change it now.” 

“We can work the choreography into a new song. Is that it?”

After a moment of hesitation, Vanitas shook his head. “I— I want to dance to this song. I just— The lyrics—” 

Lyrics? Sora tilted his head. “You’re dancing to ‘This Is Me’ right? From that circus movie?”

“Yeah… that line. The whole… “This is me” vibe. I— I said that once to someone I trusted. Kinda. It didn’t work out well.” 

“Oh…” 

Finally, Vanitas looked up at him, gold eyes practically glowing with unshed tears and emotion. “Wouldn’t it piss you off? To hear those words sung in a triumph instead of the pain you remember them in? To hear someone else proud to say it?” 

The words hit Sora like a brick. He had never really experienced that. He had always been proud of who he was, and had the love and support of those around him for it. Butif Vanitas had never had that…

“I… I suppose. Yeah. If I had a painful connection with those words, I might be upset. But… I also think that’s why that song was made. To show that you are proud to be you. No matter what others say.” Sora tried to smile. “You can be you, Vanitas. I’m sorry if someone ever said that you couldn’t be. They were wrong, and you can show them how wrong they were.” 

“We can still change the song though. If that’s what you want.”

Sora turned to find Kairi and Riku hovering near the door. Kairi stepped a bit closer, continuing. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or frustrated. Just like I don’t want to be yelled at. But you have to tell me when something makes you uncomfortable. Before you reach the point where—” 

“I’m sorry,” Vanitas said, letting out a deep sigh as if the words pained him. “I… have anger issues. I should have told you, I’m just—” he shrugged.

Kairi stepped a bit closer. “What can I do to help you with that? Do you need more food breaks? Or just breaks? Deep breathing when we’re stretching? Or—” 

“I… have a cat.” Vanitas’s face began to turn red. “She’s my support cat. She helps me distract my temper, and I can only keep her if I have my anger under control.” 

“Oh! We can bring her into the studio! Is she trained to not walk under our feet?”

Vanitas nodded. “I take her to band practice with me. And to shows.” 

“Bring her in,” Sora encouraged. “Do you have someone to call to bring her in now?” 

Vanitas hesitated for a long moment but nodded, reaching into his pocket and drawing out his phone, tapping out a message for someone. 

“I’ll go tell Naminé that we have a guest coming,” Kairi offered, already heading out the door. 

Sora grinned, then turned back to Vanitas. “Do anything like that again and—” 

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt your girlfriend.” 

Sora groaned quietly. “We’re not like that. She’s my best friend and I’ve known her since we were kids. Kairi’s tough. If you do something like this again, she won’t run away. She does that once if she’s upset but keep pissing her off, she will fight back. And I’ll be right there with her.”

Vanitas looked up at him for a moment longer, then nodded. “Fine.” 

Sora nodded as well in agreement, then waited with Vanitas until Kairi returned. After checking with her that she really was okay to continue to practice with Vanitas until the cat arrived, Sora walked with Riku back to his studio, keeping the door propped open, just in case. 

“Sorry… I guess that was—” 

“You're really kind.” 

“Huh?” Sora turned to Riku. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean… you were clearly ready to yell at Vanitas. But then you got him to bring his cat to the studio instead. Is that… normal for you? To just… let go of your anger?” 

“Huh?” Sora tilted his head again. “I… guess? I just… don’t see the point of holding grudges. I guess if someone makes me really, really mad. But… I don’t—” 

“That’s amazing.” 

Sora felt his face heat up at Riku’s words. “It’s really not. Roxas says I’m a pushover and—” 

“Trust me. It’s amazing,” Riku smiled softly, before looking away, smile fading a bit. “Not everyone can do that. Just let go of a grudge. I couldn’t when I was younger.” 

Sora frowned, reaching out to lay a hand on Riku’s arm. “But you’re older now. You shouldn’t hold your younger self to some silly standard. You can’t change who you were back then. You can only be who you are right now.”

“Yeah?” Riku turned back, the smile returning to his face. “Good… you wouldn’t have liked me back then.” 

“Nuh-uh! We would have been best friends. And then we would have grown together,” Sora grinned. “Like Max and PJ in the Goofy Movie. We would have been a team.” 

Riku’s gaze softened somewhat, and he looked away, simply nodding in agreement. 

Sora bit his lip, wondering if he should say more, but in the end, he couldn’t think of anything else. His emotions were all over the place, filling him with an energy that he could usually only dance out. 

So he did that, instead. 

“So… uh… practice?” Sora chuckled nervously, going over to the dance notes and reviewing them. “I think we have the first minute down. You ready to move on to the next section?”

“Yeah.”

The night of the second dance was even harder than the first. This was the first night of elimination. He and Riku had already been in the bottom two pairs. Along with Larxene and Hercules… which meant—

“We’ll be okay.”

Riku's hand came up to Sora’s shoulder,  and Sora felt some of the tension in his muscles relax. “Yeah. You think?”

“You got me to jive and convinced me to wear this costume. I’m pretty sure you can do anything.” 

Sora turned with a big grin on his face, poking Riku in the chest, right where the deep ‘V’ of his pink shirt came to a point, framed on either side by the stark white fabric of the disco suit Fairy Godmother had to have dragged out of the 70s via a time machine. “It takes two, remember? You can do anything too, including jiving our way to victory.” 

Riku laughed quietly. He raised his hand to try and hide his smile, but Sora caught it anyway. He felt another inch of tension disappear. 

He and Riku could do this.

“Already counting your victories before the dancing has even started?” Larxene drawled, slinking over in her skin-tight black jumpsuit, her short blond hair teased into something resembling a 1980s hairstyle. “Better start packing your bags now, you’re leaving tonight.” 

“Hey… I wouldn’t be too sure,” another voice cut in, a tone of apology in his words. “We were working up into the last minute to get the steps down…” 

Larxene turned on her partner. “You were working up until the last minute. How hard is it to get a simple cha-cha down?!” 

“Larxene—” Sora started to admonish, but his coworker already marched away, her tall heels barely slowing her down. He turned instead to her partner. “I’m sorry you have to deal with—” 

“It’s okay,” the guy grinned, exposing perfect pearly white teeth, nearly a juxtaposition to the “bad boy” image his costume put off. “She’s not terrible, but very competitive.” 

“Yeah…” Sora sighed. 

“Anyway, I didn’t get to introduce myself last week. Name’s Hercules, but call me Herc for short.” 

“Nice to meet ya, Herc.” Sora grinned holding his hand out. “I’m Sora. And this is my dance partner, Riku.”

Hercules shook Sora’s hand then turned to Riku. “Oh! The other athlete? Olympian right? That’s amazing!” 

Riku blushed but held his own hand out to shake. “Yeah, swimming. Not as popular as football. What team do you play for?”

“The Mount Olympus Hydras!” Herc grinned. “We won the Superbowl last year. But I always wanted to be an Olympian. I wish I had stayed with wrestling in college.” 

“Football is pretty cool though!” Sora reassured him. “Have you met Aqua? Her husband is a retired football player too.” 

“Yeah!” Hercules nodded. “Actually, Naminé brought in Terra to practice one day when I was having problems learning from Larxene. Tried to show me what worked for him when he was on the show.” 

“That’s good,” Riku said. "I’m just glad I’m not the only athlete. How do you work dance practice around your football practices?”

Sora grinned as the two made small talk, glancing around at the other contestants. Kairi was leading the dance troupe through an introduction routine. Sora and Larxenewere both excused so they could dance first since they were in the bottom two last week. Sora was a little sad; movie night routines were always fun. 

If they got past eliminations this week though… then next week—

“When we come back, It’s Riku and Sora with the jive!” Aurora’s voice echoed through the prepping area backstage.  

Sora felt Riku step back up to his side. “Ready?” 

Sora nodded. "You?” 

“Yeah.” Riku nodded. 

“Good luck!” Hercules said, then winced. “Or well… break a leg? Or is that only theater?” 

Sora chuckled. “That’ll work! Thanks! Good luck to you guys too!” 

“Hey,” Kristoff ran up. “You guys ready?”

Sora nodded and together, he and Riku took to the stage, standing in the spot Naminé had directed them to during rehearsals. Soon the studio lights lit up the stage as the show came back from commercial. 

“Welcome back to Kingdom Dance Off!” Aurora said. “Before Riku and Sora begin our night with a lively jive inspired by a tune from An Extremely Goofy Movie, let’s take a look at their week of practice!” 

Sora stared up at Riku as the clips played on the TV, watching more for his reactions. The slight quirk of his lips when he mentioned the splits during their movie watch, the sharp intake of air in a suppressed chuckle at some further teasing from Sora at a moment filmed later into practice. Sora averted his gaze, the staring feeling a little too intimate. 

He absently straightened out his shirt, light green and with a v-neck just as deep as Riku’s, ending in the middle of the chest between his pectorals. He imagined that his “Sora’s Tiddy Detector” fan twitter account was going nuts about now, and he suppressed a chuckle. 

“Hm?” 

Sora looked up at Riku’s soft questioning sound, shaking his head with a grin. “I’ll tell you later.” 

The clips ended and the announcer’s voice boomed around the studio. 

“And now, dancing the jive: Riku and his partner, Sora!” 

As soon as the music began, Sora immediately lost himself in the catchy beat, dancing down the stairs between the stage and the dance floor. He turned and bent at the waist, beckoning for Riku to join him. 

“Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah yeah!”

With a grin that seemed more natural then it had been during practice, Riku jumped off the stage, landing right next to Sora. They joined their hands as they danced across the floor, rocking their steps to the beat. 

Riku’s footwork was a little hesitant at first, and he didn’t lift his knees, but as soon as they linked together, he seemed to regain his steps. Together they danced for a count to the center of the floor, then unlined once more, Sora spinning under Riku’s arm, then spinning Riku around as well. Once they reached the center, the lights changed into a disco-like atmosphere, an actual mirror ball spinning around and lighting up the dance floor and the audience. 

Sora couldn’t stop smiling even if he wanted to. The jive was so fun, and this element of disco had made it all the more exciting. In unison, he and Riku danced to “the bus stop” steps that Sora had Riku practice for ages until he could do them just right. Then, after turning, they performed the quintessential “disco finger” move, their hips rocking to the beat as they pointing their finger up and down. 

“There’s nothing more
that I’d rather do
than take the floor and dance with you.”

Riku took both of Sora’s hands, spinning them both around the floor like a top. Sora nearly lost himself in the movement, getting a bit dizzy, but they pulled out of it and finished the dance with another linked turn around the floor, fast-paced and ending with Riku dipping Sora so low he felt the top of his spiky hair brush the dance floor. 

The audience erupted into applause.

Unable to hold back a laugh, Sora relaxed into Riku’s grip, trusting his partner to not let him fall. Never one to disappoint, Riku pulled Sora out of the dip, mouth open in his own chuckle. 

“You did great!” Sora shouted over the crowd. “You did amazing!” 

Riku continued to laugh, wrapping his arms around Sora in an excited hug. Sora could feel Riku’s pounding heart, against his own, and he wrapped his own arms around Riku, hugging back just as tightly. 

“Wow! That was electric!” Aurora’s voice was close as she walked up to them. “Quite a way to start the night!!”

“I didn’t think I could move that fast outside a swimming pool,” Riku said, breathing heavily between chuckles. “But that was fun.” 

“Well, your excitement certainly showed through. That dance lit up the floor!” 

Sora laughed, still high on adrenaline.

Soon the judges motioned that they were ready to give out their comments, Prudence first. 

“There may have been a few more… untraditional moves. But jive is an untraditional dance. And the moves were performed adequately.” 

“More like radically! Oh, wait… that’s more 90s slang isn’t it?” Charlotte LaBeouf looked up in thought while Prudence ignored her co-judge. 

“The moves were adequate, and the energy was consistent throughout. Your footwork at the beginning was a little… less than ideal,” Prudence’s tone was a little nicer than last week’s, so Sora thought he might have been making progress with her. 

“There’s plenty of room for improvement. If you make it through, I expect to see leaps of improvement next week,” Prudence ended and Sora felt his heart sink once more.

“Stop being so picky, Pru,” Lumière laughed and clasped his fellow judge’s shoulder. “That was an excellent jive. Especially towards the end. The energy and excitement! I’m pretty sure this whole audience would have joined in and danced the night away!” 

“Oh, I could feel my toes tapping just watching you two!” Charlotte gushed. “I just think you two are great. Such chemistry on the dance floor!” 

Sora felt his face redden at Charlotte’s observation, hoping it wouldn’t be obvious in the stage lights. But the idea that he had “chemistry” with Riku, at least on the dance floor… 

It made his heart flutter a bit. 

“And now the scores!” Aurora gestured back at the judges’ table. 

“6!” Lumière held up his sign. 

“5,” Prudence said.

“7!” Charlotte exclaimed, waving her own sign. 

Sora breathed out a sigh of relief. An 18. Two points better than last week. If their votes were good, then they might actually squeak by. 

But they would have to do better. Still, Riku was learning, and Sora thought he was doing great. 

Maybe it’s me that’s failing, Sora thought. Was it his routine? Was he getting stale? Was he—

“18 isn’t bad!” Riku said as they walked over to the area where they could view their fellow contestants’ dances. Larxene and Hercules were up next, already going through a pre-dance interview with Kristoff. 

“Yeah.” Sora bit his lip. Maybe Riku would have done better with a different partner. 

He was so lost in his thoughts that he missed the video snippet of Larxene and Herc’s practice, but the sudden lively music echoing around the studio turned his attention back to the dance floor. 

“ I got chills, they’re multiplyin’, and I’m losing control”

Sora frowned at the dance routine Larxene had come up with. It looked to be centered around keeping Hercules from moving around too much, as he mostly rocked back in forth in a stiff but on beat cha-cha. Larxene danced around him, more or less, pulling the Olympic wrestler around to the next set of moves. 

Their strained smiles were evident; Larxene looking like she was in pain while Hercules’ was nervous. Sora felt a little bad for him. 

“You’re the one that I want! (you are the one I want) ooh, ooh, oooh, honey! You’re the one that I want!” 

Their dance ended with Hercules picking Larxene up in a lift, though neither partner looked happy about it. 

Their lack of enthusiasm was reflected in their scores, Prudence giving them an abysmal 3, while Lumière and Charlotte being kinder with a 5 and a 6. A total of fourteen. 

Sora carefully avoided looking at Larxene’s face as she marched her way to where Sora and Riku stood to watch, followed by a sheepish Hercules. Though it was for naught as Larxene shoved her way past Sora, hissing in his ear, “We still got more votes than you.” 

Sora rolled his eyes. “Nobody knows that Larxene. Not even the judges or Aurora and Kristoff. Not until later…” 

“It’s obvious though. I’m consistently in the final five, while you bounce around the rankings. This year’s clearly gonna be a low for you.” 

With that, she stomped off, heading for the mini-fridge with water and snacks in the back of the viewing area. She’d probably hide there for the rest of the night until the results were announced. Like a bear in her den. 

Sora sighed, then startled when he felt Riku’s arms wrap around him in a hug. 

“I’m sorry if my dancing makes us leave the competition.”

Hurriedly, Sora shook his head. “It won’t! Don’t worry about it okay? If we do leave, it’ll be just as much my fault for not coming up with the right routine.”

“But Larxene—” 

“Doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She’s been in the bottom as much as we all have. She just chooses not to remember those times. Selective memory I think.” Sora shrugged it off. 

Next to them, Hercules let out a sigh. “I tried, I really—” 

“And it showed,” Sora promised. “It really did. We could all see it. Larxene just— It’s really gonna come down to the votes!” 

Hercules gave them a warm smile and took a seat in one of the chairs just as the lights came back on and the music started for Mike and Snow White’s waltz to “Sixteen going on Seventeen” from The Sound of Music. 

Sora tried not to think about the results that would come later that evening, focusing on watching his fellow dancers instead. He loved movie night as the audience really got into it, and the set designers really went all out. Fairy loved dressing them all in costumes reminiscent of the movies they were dancing to. Mike and Snow White in fancy 1930s outfits, while Aqua and Cinderella’s long sequined formfitting dresses were perfect for their dramatic tango. The set designers really must have pulled in a favor to get a real DeLorean car for Buzz and Xion to climb out of when they danced to “The Power of Love”. 

The show cut to a long commercial break after Anna and Olette’s foxtrot to “9 to 5”. As soon as the studio lights went down to signify commercial, Anna practically sprinted over to Sora, jumping over seats until she could sit next to him. Her partner walked over as well, trying to hide a laugh behind a gloved hand. 

“Sora!” Anna exclaimed as she settled into her seat. “Did you see on Twitter?”

“Huh?” Sora shook his head. “You know I keep my phone on my desk during filming.” 

Anna sighed and shook her head. “You miss out on so much though…” She reached under the seat pulling out a phone she must have stashed there earlier. “Kairi showed me backstage, you’re gonna love it.” 

Sora tilted his head as Anna quickly pulled up her Twitter feed, only having to scroll through it for a moment before she found what she was looking for: 

Sora covered his mouth as he laughed. The studio lights came back up, so Anna quickly hid her phone in her lap as they clapped for Belle and Aladdin. As soon as their clip from practice week started, Sora leaned over to Anna. “Why do you guys love that Twitter so much?” 

“It’s hilarious! I mean, we all have our weird fans, but your weird fan seems genuinely nice. Their live reactions to the show are always fun to read.” Anna responded. "I wonder who they are?”

Sora chuckled in response. “Probably just a random fan on the show.”

 “Who’s a fan?” Riku asked, looking over Sora’s shoulder. Sora grinned and showed him the tweet and the replies. 

Riku quietly chuckled as well. "Riku’s Tiddy Detector?”

“The Sora one is really nice,” Sora assured him. “And is one of my biggest supporters. It’s a little silly, but I—”

“I think it’s awesome.” Riku laughed, hiding his face in Sora’s shoulder. “You deserve all the fans.”

Sora chuckled even as he felt himself blush once more from Riku’s close proximity. “So do you? Do you have lots of fans in your Olympic career?” 

“A few…” Riku trailed off, but before Sora could ask more, the audience erupted in applause and Sora’s attention was drawn back to the dance floor where Belle and Aladdin were finishing up. 

Evidently their routine had been a crowd-pleaser, and Sora felt bad he had missed it. 

 He caught the next routine though. Naveen and Axel’s waltz to “If I Only Had a Brain” had the audience practically rolling out of their seats in laughter. Naveen was dressed as the scarecrow, while Axel played the part of the tin man. With Naveen practically flopping over the ground but staying in rhythm and Axel freezing up now and then from “rust” it was a well-executed and hilarious dance that earned them a score of 27, the highest of the season so far. 

Performing last were Vanitas and Kairi. Sora bit his lip as their video snippet ran on the projection screens. Roxas and Ven had heard about Van’s outburst during practice but were kind enough to not try and recreate that moment, interviewing Kairi and Vanitas about it instead. Vanitas was quiet but surprisingly honest about his anger issues, and working through them. The audience awwed when his cat jumped up on his lap, pressing her face into his hand for attention. Even Sora had to let out a quiet coo at the adorable image. 

He wondered if they had ended up changing songs after all, as Kairi had been quiet about the whole thing leading up to the performance.

The opening strains of music came through the speakers:

“I am not a stranger to the dark
Hide away, they say
'cause we don’t want your broken parts.”

“They stuck with it!” Sora whispered, excited that Vanitas was able to work with the song. 

The dance was clearly about Vanitas coming out of his shell, expressing himself for he was. Despite his misgivings about the guy, Sora could appreciate the effort.

The song quickened into the pace needed for a quick step. Vanitas and Kairi hopped and skipped across the floor, their footwork excellent. Kairi’s smile was genuine and even Vanitas’s expression had softened to where it looked like he was having fun. 

“I’m not scared to be seen, I make no apologies. This is me!” 

The dance ended with both Kairi and Vanitas breathing heavily, but with smiles on their faces. 

“Wow, wow!” Aurora said, walking up to them. "What a wonderful statement!” 

“I… I’m glad Kairi got me to stick with the song,” Vanitas admitted, looking a little red under the stage lights. 

“You did great!” Kairi said, evidently proud of her partner. 

They both had. Even judge Prudence admitted that there were very few flaws in the footwork, they received a score of 27, tying with Naveen and Axel for the night and were safe from elimination. 

“And after this quick break, we’ll see who in our bottom three are safe, and who is eliminated.” 

Sora swallowed around his dry throat, already standing up as Naminé ran over to motion to him and Riku, Hercules and Larxene, as well as Mike and Snow White. 

Riku squeezed his hand in support as they made their way to the elimination stage. “Whatever happens, I’m glad I got to spend this time with you.”

Sora looked up at him, feeling his heart swell with anticipation and a little affection. Did that mean that Riku just liked spending time with him? 

That was good… right?

Sora smiled back. “Me too!” 

He heard Larxene scoff behind him but Sora tried to ignore it. 

All too soon the lights came back on. 

“Welcome back to Kingdom Dance Off,” Kristoff spoke clearly into his microphone, the camera focused on him. “Tonight, ten contestants danced around the stage, but now we are eliminating one pair from this competition. Our bottom three stand here now. Were your votes enough to keep them in the competition?”

The cameras moved to focus on Aurora now as she stood just off to the side of the three dance couples. “The first ones safe this week are….” 

Sora felt his heart pound in anticipation. 

“Mike and his partner Snow White!” 

Mike let out a loud cheer and hugged Snow tightly. Snow was cheering in excitement even as Kristoff ushered them off stage. 

Sora felt Riku’s arm around his shoulders, his hand a comforting weight. 

“And now our first elimination of the season. The first couple with the lowest combined scores and votes and will be leaving the competition is…” 

Sora could barely hear anything over the pounding of his heart. Or maybe it was Riku’s heart. Sora thought he could feel Riku’s hand tremble as it gripped Sora’s shoulder tighter. 

 “Hercules and Larxene.” 

The audience gasped in surprise and even Sora was a little shocked, despite the wave of elation that ran through him. 

He and Riku had done it! They made it past the first round of elimination!!

“Sora!” 

Sora was pulled into a tight hug, which he returned eagerly, not caring too much about appearances and knowing the camera was probably on Larxene and Hercules right now anyway. They had done it! It felt like a second chance (or maybe a third chance). Sora knew that he and Riku could do it. They would have to practice hard and often, but making it past the first round was amazing. 

To their side, he saw Kristoff ushering them off stage as Aurora talked with Hercules and Larxene about leaving the competition. As soon as they entered the viewing area with the rest of the competitors, Kairi was the first to congratulate them, hugging Sora rightly before breaking away to do the same to Riku. 

“You guys were amazing. No matter what Prudence says. That was an amazing jive!!” 

“Thanks, Kairi!” 

“I definitely wanted to join in with you!” Anna added, a statement quickly echoed around the other professional dancers. 

Sora laughed in excitement, ecstatic that he would still be able to dance with Riku for at least one more week. 

“Don’t get too comfortable.” 

Sora’s laughter died and he turned to Larxene. “You did great too Larxene. I’m sure it was super clo—”

“Don’t get too comfortable,” Larxene reiterated. “It was super close. The judges just took pity on that lackluster jive and outdated moves. You’ll be next.” 

With that last line, she marched off set. Sora saw one of the other studio cameramen go after her. 

Sora bit his lip, never expecting Larxene to take the loss this hard. He wondered if there was something else affecting her. 

Whatever it was, he hoped she would feel better soon. 

The studio lights began to dim as the overhead lights came on and the audience began to file out. The other contestants began to make for the dressing room to change, Sora and Riku trailing behind. 

“So… what’s on the agenda for next week?” Riku asked, squeezing Sora’s hand once more. 

Sora instantly brightened, all thoughts of Larxene’s anger gone. “My favorite week! You’re gonna love it!”

“Oh?” 

“Yep! And make sure you have room in your schedule for a very special trip. We’re going to Disneyland!”

Chapter Text

“And here we’ll have the competitors come out, clap to the music, while we go this way to introduce the judges and— Sora are you even listening to me?” 

“I’m listening!” Sora dragged his eyes away from the display of Mickey Mouse ear merchandise. One of them was a full pirate hat, with the mouse ears peeking out over the brim. It took every ounce of fortitude within him to not run over and try them on. There would be time for shopping later. “I’m just, uh—” 

Kairi let out a sigh. “Go get your ears. I know we won’t get anything done until you do…” 

Sora grinned sheepishly but ran to the wall of Mickey hats and headbands, snatching up the pirate hat immediately. He glanced at some of the others, wondering which one Riku might like. Blue fabric caught his eye, and he spotted a mouse-eared headband with fabric wrapped around it to look like a pirate bandana, complete with a skull and crossbones. Excitedly, Sora picked that one up as well. 

“Do you think Vanitas would wear one?” Kairi asked, walking over to check out some of the Minnie ears, settling on a gold pair with tiny red roses. 

Sora hummed, “I dunno… But I bet he would wear some Figaro Cat ears!” He pointed to another headband. 

Kairi hid a laugh behind her hand. They might get lost in his hair, but we can try it!” She reached to grab the cat ears. 

“You guys getting your ears, too?” 

Sora looked back at Aqua as she reached over his head to a pair of Minnie ears with a light blue bow. She had already placed her vintage pair on her head, the classic red bow with white polka dots. Aqua said that she had gotten them when she first visited Disneyland years ago, and Sora loved the fact that she wore them for every Disneyland visit.

“Yeah! Are you picking out a pair for Cinderella?” 

Aqua nodded. “She’s never been here before. I can’t wait to show her around!!” 

Kairi grinned. “Neither has Vanitas. Ven and Roxas dragged him over to Splash Mountain first thing to literally get his feet wet.” 

“And they didn’t invite me?!” Sora pouted. He loved going on Splash Mountain. 

“You promised to help me choreograph the opening number,” Kairi reminded him. 

“Oh yeah.” Sora exhaled a loud sigh and turned his pout on Kairi. “But… Splash Mountain, Kairi…” 

Kairi chuckled, flicking a finger against his forehead. “Those baby blues stopped working on me a long time ago, and you know it. Besides, the line to Splash Mountain always fills up fast, and don’t you have someone to meet over by your favorite ride?” 

“Oh yeah!” Sora quickly checked his watch. “I— Kairi, it’s already 10 and—” 

“Go.” Kairi practically pushed him to the registers. “We were practically done anyway. Go have fun, Captain Sora.” 

Sora sent her a grin and ran to the cashier’s desk, quickly paying for his two pairs of ears before dashing out the door and down to New Orleans Square. 

He spared a look at the line for the Haunted Mansion (maybe later) before spotting the queue for the ride he had to go on first. 

Along with a very welcome sight next to the entrance. Riku was leaning against a low brick wall, his sunglasses on top of his head, his hair pulled up in a ponytail. He was looking at his phone, a small grin on his face. 

“Hey!” Sora called out, raising a hand to wave in excitement. 

Riku raised his head, his mouth widening into a full smile. “Hey!” 

Sora ran the last few steps to Riku’s side, holding out the Mickey ears he bought. “Here! A present!” 

Riku blinked at the offering for a moment before laughing, taking the ears from Sora’s hand. “For me?” 

“Yeah!” Sora took the other pair of ears, placing them on his head. “I thought it was fitting for our song!” 

“Oh?” Riku placed the ears on his head. After doing so, Sora thought he became even cuter. 

“Is that why you had me meet you here?” 

“Huh?” Sora blinked, distracted by the way Riku adjusted the ears so his bangs still fell naturally into his face. He was so cute— Sora shook his head. He had to focus. “Oh! Yeah! So, have you seen the Pirates of the Caribbean movie?

“Maybe…” Riku smirked, “But perhaps I’ll be reminded after the ride?”

“Yeah!” 

Without thinking, Sora grabbed Riku’s hand, dragging him into the queue. Luckily, they hit it at just the right time, barely spending twenty minutes in line before boarding a boat. Due to the families ahead and behind them, they were able to get a boat all to themselves. 

“Keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times!” The ride’s pirate voice recording announced.

“Let’s set sail!” Sora called out at the same time their boat started to move. Beside him, Riku chuckled. 

“I take it you like this ride?” 

Sora nodded, leaning in to whisper. “It’s my favorite! I have to go every time I’m here.”

“You seem like the kid who played pirates when you were young.” 

“You know it!” Sora turned to Riku. Even in the dim light, Riku’s hair seemed to glow with its own special radiance, making him look ethereal. Swallowing around a suddenly dry throat, Sora quickly looked away, glad it was too dark for Riku to see his blush. “I was always the pirate captain.” 

“Hmm… Then I guess we would have been rival captains.” 

Sora glanced back, finding Riku grinning at him in jest. “Nah. We would have just taken turns.” 

They floated gently down the watery track, the smell of slightly stale water and smoke permeating the air. The smell always brought Sora back to his island home; long summer days rowing a boat over to the play island. Coming home to beachside fire cookouts — Sora could almost look up and imagine the stars above them. 

He suppressed a shiver. This quiet part of the ride always made him a bit homesick, and the sudden chill of air conditioning seemed to add to the odd feeling. 

He felt a warmth around his shoulders and he realized that Riku had wrapped an arm around him. Sora looked up at him in surprise. 

“Wouldn’t want you to catch a cold in the middle of the competition.” 

Sora felt his face heat up, even as a smile slipped out, and he scooted a little bit closer so Riku didn’t have to reach as far. “Yeah. That would be silly.” 

They began to hear the sound of the ride’s main theme echo through the tunnel. Sora began to sing the lyrics under his breath, knowing it was a little childish but unable to help himself. 

“....ho, a pirate's life for me… We pillage, we plunder—”

Another voice joined his own, just as soft. 

“We rifle and loot, drink up me hearties yo ho!” 

Sora turned, finding Riku softly singing the same lyrics. With a burst of confidence, Sora sang just a bit louder, his voice joined by Riku’s. 

“We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot
Drink up me 'hearties, yo ho!”

Sora laughed and leaned into Riku’s side. This was fun. He’d never had a partner join him on this ride. 

They continued the ride, singing the theme song as the scenes played out. Sora loved the action of the ship battle, the roar of cannon fire always igniting a sense of adventure in him. He turned to look at Riku, eager to share his excitement and was not disappointed. Riku’s face practically glowed with child-like wonder as he took in all of the animatronics and effects. 

When they got off the ride, Sora grinned and nudged Riku’s elbow. “First time here?” 

“It’s been… a very long time,” Riku admitted, raising a hand to rub the back of his head, mussing his ponytail. “I think my parents brought me here when I was… ten maybe? It was after I won my first junior swim competition, but before—” Riku cut himself off, a frown crossing his features. 

Sora blinked, wondering what was wrong. But he also didn’t want to push Riku. He tried to focus on the first part of that statement. “So, you’ve been swimming competitively since you were ten ?” 

Riku nodded. “Yeah. After that, my parents spent money on a professional swim coach and training. I didn’t have time for… kid stuff anymore.” 

Sora frowned, stopping them in their tracks. Other parkgoers milled around them as Sora stared up at Riku. “You can have time now. Just because you grew up doesn’t mean you have to stop liking kid stuff.” 

Riku appeared to think about that, turning to Sora with a bright smile. “Like you?” 

Sora nodded, glad that Riku understood. “C’mon! Let’s check out the gift shop while we wait for Roxas or Ven to show up and film the intro snippet. I want to see if they have this new t-shirt I spotted online!” 

The shop next door was out of those particular shirts, much to Sora’s dismay, but they did have a new collection of mugs that Sora was eager to look at. He was just comparing two and about to ask Riku’s opinion when he felt something poke at his back. 

Turning, he saw the point of a plastic sword and Riku’s teasing grin. 

“It appears you’ve stolen me treasure, Captain Sora.” Riku’s thick pirate accent was comical, even as he poked the sword into Sora’s chest. “I’m afraid I’ll have to ask ye for it back.” 

Sora’s face hurt with how big his smile was, and he quickly put the mugs back on the shelf. Glancing around, he spotted another barrel full of toy swords. He picked out one, quickly taking a step back and crossing swords with Riku. 

“You’ll have to fight me for it, Captain Riku.” 

“Boys!” a female voice called out and Sora turned, finding the store’s cast member glaring at them. “Please pay for your swords and take it outside.” 

Sora chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. He felt Riku take his sword. 

“C’mon. Do you really think they’ll let us fight with them outside?” 

Sora tilted his head in confusion, watching as Riku took the swords to the cast member, who looked surprised for a moment but led him to the cashier’s desk to check out. Sora waited, still a little confused, but followed Riku out the door. 

The park wasn’t as crowded as usual, probably due to the weekday the studio had picked to film. As such, it was easy to find a relatively clear area. 

Riku passed Sora his sword back with a grin, then stepped a few paces away before turning, holding his own sword out once more. “Well, pirate? You gonna give me back my treasure?” 

Sora grinned, holding his own sword out till it touched Riku’s, slapping it lightly. A warning. “What was it I have stolen? Gold? Jewels?” 

“Ahh, something much more precious than that.” Riku tapped his own sword against Sora’s, stepping to the left. Sora matched his steps. They circled each other, their swords crossed. 

“Then what have I stolen?” Sora asked. 

But Riku merely grinned, choosing to thrust with his sword instead. Sora dodged it easily, parrying the strike with a block he had seen in the pirate movies. 

Surprisingly, it worked. Sora swung his own sword at Riku. The sparring match began. 

Sora couldn’t keep the grin off his face, even as he focused on Riku’s strikes. It was just like when he was little and played pirates by practicing the moves he had seen in plays and movies, only now he had someone to practice against. And it seemed Riku had studied the same movies. A step here, a thrust there. Riku met him move for move. 

“Well, it seems we’re a match for each other,” Sora grinned. “So, I guess we’ll just be locked in combat forever?” 

“Or you could surrender.” Riku grinned, thrusting again and putting Sora on the defensive this time. “C’mon, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that.” 

Sora gritted his teeth, managing to use his weight to push Riku back. “Get real. Look at which one of us is winning?” 

Riku laughed, a truly joyous sound. He swung again, but Sora was ready, blocking quickly. Their swords locked, and Sora pulled. Somehow, he managed to dislodge Riku’s sword with his own. He grabbed the handle quickly, pointing both swords at Riku’s chest. “Guess I get to keep whatever it is you think I stole.” 

Riku smirked. “Not fair.” 

“Pirate,” Sora answered Riku’s smirk with one of his own, holding the position for a moment longer before his laughter bubbled up, unable to hold onto the serious tone. He lowered the toy swords as he giggled, one arm crossing his stomach as it began to ache. But he still couldn't stop laughing. He heard Riku echoing his breathless giggles, which only made Sora chuckle louder. 

Around them, Sora heard applause and cheers. With a grin and another breathless chuckle, he waved at the audience that had gathered for their impromptu sword fight. 

He hadn’t had that much fun in forever. 

“Please tell me you got all that.” 

“I got it! I got it!” 

Sora blinked. “Huh? Oh! Roxas! Ven!” 

“Hey, Sora.” Ven grinned as he took the camera off his shoulder. “When did you start to choreograph fights?” 

“Huh?” Sora looked down at the swords in his hands. “Oh! No, no. that was just… spur of the moment.” 

“Impressive,” Roxas raised an eyebrow. “You should include that in your dance.” 

“But it wasn’t really… dancing.” Riku pointed out, walking up to the two cameramen as well. 

Ven shrugged. “Fighting’s sort of like dancing. I’m sure Sora could fit it in. Besides, I think that was the most comfortable I’ve seen you all season.” He gestured to Riku. 

Riku blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I… used to practice swordplay a lot when I was younger. Usually, when I wasn’t at swim practice or in our own pool, I could be found in the yard with a stick for a sword.” 

Sora grinned, handing Riku’s sword back. “Same here.” 

Riku smiled back at him, and Sora felt his heart stutter. He suddenly wasn’t sure he would be able to get through the rest of this competition without falling in love with Riku completely. 

Sora lost himself in Riku’s eyes ( so many shades of green) before Roxas coughed into his hand, dragging Sora back to reality. 

“Anyway,” Roxas said, staring at Sora with an unreadable expression. “Did you tell Riku what song you’d be dancing to yet?” 

“Oh!” How could Sora have forgotten?! “I, uh…” 

Roxas shook his head, putting his camera onto his shoulder. “Well, I suppose it’s better late than never.” 

Ven chuckled, grabbing his camera. “Ready?” 

Sora grinned sheepishly, turning to Riku. “Well, I’m sure you could guess by the, uh… ears!” Sora pointed to his hat, which had managed to stay on throughout the fight. “This week, we’re dancing to a song from the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.” 

Riku chuckled. “My favorite Disney movies!” 

“Mine too!” Sora gestured back at the ride. “We’re gonna be dancing the Paso Doble to the main theme actually.” 

Riku tilted his head. “You mean, the ‘yo ho, yo ho’ bit?” 

Sora laughed. “No, no. The instrumental theme from the movie. You know, the one that goes, dadada DA, dadada DA…” Sora continued to hum the melody until he saw Riku nodding his head, understanding what he meant. 

“Sounds like it’s gonna be an interesting song to dance to.” 

“It will be.” Sora glanced down at his sword. “But I think I know how to bring a little bit of fun into the choreography.” 

Ven was right after all — sword fighting was a little like dancing…

After Roxas and Ven filmed what they needed to, Sora turned to Riku. “You gotta go train soon, right?” 

After their practice session last week, Riku had forwarded his training schedule, just so Sora would have it on hand and could help schedule dance practice around it, including making sure Riku took it easy on rest days. 

Riku checked his watch. “Not for another hour… I guess, if you want, we could go on one more ride?” 

Sora grinned, swinging his arms behind his head. “Please. You’re with a Disneyland expert. I’m sure I can time it perfectly so we can go on at least two rides.”

He held out his hand and Riku eagerly took it. 

They ended up managing three rides. And if Riku was a little bit late to his afternoon weight lifting session, well, they could always blame traffic. 

“So…” Aqua hummed as she secured the snaps on her voluminous tulle skirt, the layers of royal blue and silver fabric gently cascading around her like a cloud. Fairy Godmother always loved designing the costumes for the Disney Night opening number. It was the only time they filmed the opening dance long before the official competition night. “Did you enjoy your date?”

Sora froze where his fingers had been knotting his bowtie. “It wasn’t a date.” 

“That’s not what Ven said.” 

“Yeah, well… Ven doesn’t—” Sora sighed, remembering how Riku had smiled yesterday. The way that it made Sora feel like he was dancing on air. “Is it that obvious?” 

“Yes,” Kairi said, coming up to Sora’s other side and using his mirror to check her hair. Her own tulle skirt of soft pink brushed against Sora’s legs. “It’s that obvious.” 

“You might as well just admit it out loud,” Xion added. 

It seemed like tonight would be ‘tease Sora about his crush’ night. 

“I— He’s just… really, really nice.” Sora kept his voice quiet, so the other contestants wouldn’t overhear. He didn’t want everyone to know. “He’s kinda quiet, at first, but he has this dry sense of humor that’s really funny. And he teases me, but it never feels mean. And he’s—” 

“Handsome?” Kairi teased, pushing his hands away so she could straighten his bowtie. 

Under her fingers, Sora’s felt his chest and neck heat up, and he avoided her gaze. “Well… yeah. But I mean—” 

“It’s okay if you find him attractive,” Aqua reassured him, straightening out some of the spikes of his hair and reinforcing the points with a light spritz of hairspray. “You can find him cute and charming.” 

Sora chuckled shakily, relaxing as they continued to both tease and reassure him. “Yeah. He’s hot. He makes me feel safe.” His grin turned to a frown. “But— fretin— fratan—er—”

“Fraternizing?” Xion offered and Sora nodded quickly. 

“Yeah, that. That’s looked down upon right? Between dance partners. I mean, it’s not good for the show or it shows favoritism or—” 

“They can’t stop how you feel.” Aqua twirled her ring around her finger. “Terra and I… we didn’t really start dating while on the show. But the feelings were there. No one can stop those. And no one should.” 

Kairi smoothed Sora’s bowtie one last time, before stepping away. “I’ve never seen you get this flustered over a crush.” 

“I’ve never felt this way about anyone,” Sora admitted. “I mean, I don’t even know if he likes me back—” 

“He does.” All three answered at once. 

Sora blinked for a moment before a nervous giggle bubbled up. “We’ll see.”

“It’ll be okay Sora,” Kairi reassured him, patting his shoulder. “We’re gonna get lined up. See you in five!” 

“Right!” 

The three girls ran off, and Sora hummed, putting his shoes on and tieing them carefully. This whole opening would have to be done in one take and he definitely would never hear the end of it if he tripped out of his shoes. Again. 

Humming the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song under his chest, he tightened his laces, listening to the other dancers get ready around him. 

“Damn, you’re infuriating on the best days, but in love, you’re absolutely insufferable.” 

Sora gasped, looking up at Larxene who stared down at him with a look that could freeze a person in their tracks. She wore a sour expression as well as the pale yellow ball gown of a backup dancer now that she was out of the competition. Sora often wondered about the practice of keeping the professional dancers on as back up dancers for the remainder of the season, but he had to admit the steady paycheck was nice. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s so obvious it’s aggravating. Your little puppy eyes when you look at him. The way you hang off of him. It’s so annoying. I’m surprised he even puts up with it.” 

Sora gritted his teeth and stood up. “Let’s get in line. We’re starting soon.” 

“The producers may have had a soft spot for Aqua, but she could hide her emotions better,” Larxene continued, following him as he tried to leave. “You wear them on your sleeve. Do you really think they’re gonna let you continue competing? You’ll ruin the whole competition with your stupid silly crush.” 

“Enough, Larxene!” Sora shouted, leveling the woman with a glare. Taking a deep breath, he tried to control his temper. Larxene always— “There is nothing between Riku and me right now besides friendship. Maybe one that will last beyond the competition. But that is our business. Not yours.” 

“It’ll be my business if the producers find out,” Larxene covered a giggle with the back of her hand. “Riku would need a new partner, wouldn’t he? Maybe one who would stand a chance at winning.” 

With that, she brushed past him, leaving Sora speechless and concerned. Was that a threat? Or a—

“C’mon, Sora!” Lea clapped Sora’s shoulder, startling him from his thoughts. “Let’s head out and do this!”

Sora shook his head, deciding to ignore Larxene for now. “Yeah! Who’s ready to dance to ‘It’s a Small World?’” 

“I’m ready to dance just to get it out of my head.” Demyx, one of the newest male dancers to their roster, stretched his arms over his head. “It’s totally messing me up every time I practice with the guitar.” 

Sora chuckled. “Sorry… but it’s what the producers wanted.” 

“I know,” Axel and Demyx said. 

Together, the three of them lined up on the pavilion with the other professional male dancer, Aladdin. Across the pavilion, the professional female dancers Kairi, Anna, Xion, Aqua, and Snow White lined up as well, all looking like fairy tale princesses. After checking that they were all there, Sora and Kairi sent a sign to Roxas, who conveyed the signal to Ven for the camera and Naminé for music. 

Lights illuminated the pavilion, bright in the evening moonlight. Around the pavilion, the park’s attendees were roped off, though still close enough to see and hear. 

Soon, Sora heard a shout from Roxas as they started filming, then Aurora’s voice rang out. 

“Welcome to one of Kingdom Dance Off’s most anticipated events: Disney night!” 

A slowed-down instrumental version of “It’s a Small World” started, and Sora started off, dancing over to Kairi’s side of the pavilion and offering his hand. Kairi took it and they swiftly quick-stepped their way down towards Ven’s camera, smiling brightly. The other dancers followed them as the backup, filling the pavilion with movement. 

After a few stanzas and turns around the pavilion, the beat picked up and Sora pulled away from Kairi. He danced towards a corner, backflipping to finish off his steps, clapping as the others finished their part of the routine.

"And now our judges!" Kristoff called out.

Lumière, Prudence, and Charlotte walked down the pavilion, waving to the audience of park-goers. 

"And our competitors!"

That was his cue. Sora stepped to the beat as he led Roxas's camera over to where they had lined up the male participants still in the competition:  Mike, Naveen, Buzz, and Vanitas, with Riku at the end. They were all dressed in simple white suit jackets and black pants. Sora caught Riku’s smile and returned it, holding his hand out for a high five. Riku didn’t leave him hanging. 

Together, Sora, the rest of the male professional dancers, and the male contestants clapped to the beat as Kairi and the female professionals introduced the female competitors:  Cinderella, Olette, Belle, and Rapunzel, all dressed in white and gold cocktail gowns. 

The beat shifted again, even faster as the professional dancers met in the middle for a group routine, quickly spinning and jumping to the beat of the song. The dance was loosely based on a cha-cha, though Sora and Kairi had made sure to leave room for all the professionals to put their own flair on it. 

The music swelled to a crescendo as the dancers came together for one last quickstep around the pavilion, ending with their hands pointing at the sky. They held the pose for two seconds until the director called cut and the lights dimmed. Everyone erupted into applause, including the park attendees. 

The celebrity competitors stepped out to join their professional dance partners for some last-minute interview schedules and filming. Sora felt his grin brighten as Riku walked up, cutting a very nice figure in the white suit. 

“That was a nice dance,” Riku said, “When do we get to do that?” 

“Maybe later in the season, if the producers decide upon it.” Sora ran a hand through his hair, forgetting about the hairspray and nearly getting his hand stuck. He grinned sheepishly at Riku’s chuckle. “Anyway, we gotta get past this week first. You’ve been working on that move I showed you?” 

“Yep.” Riku backed up a few steps before stepping forward with a bit of force, raising his arms up and out dramatically, as if he had a cape behind him. “Like that?” 

“Not bad!” Sora encouraged. “This is gonna be our best dance yet!” 

Riku grinned, holding out his hand. Around them, the pavilion’s speakers began to play soft music, one that Sora recognized as the ending theme to a recent movie release. 

“That’s not the only thing I’ve been practicing…” 

Sora grinned and took Riku’s hand, letting the taller man lead them around in a waltz. 

A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you’re fast asleep

“Can I tell you a secret?” Riku whispered. 

Sora nodded. “I’m, like, the best secret-keeper in the world.” 

Riku laughed loudly, his grip on Sora’s waist tightening. “Well… I may have asked one of the park attendants to play this song as soon as the filming was done. I watched this movie on a long-distance flight and loved this song… I thought you might—” 

“I love it too,” Sora admitted. “I like what it says. That dreams are wishes…” 

“Yeah…” Riku agreed, voice quiet. 

They fell into a comfortable silence as they glided across the pavilion. It was only after movement out of the corner of his eye that Sora realized others were dancing with them. Aqua and Cinderella were gracefully twirling around them, while Kairi and Xion were spinning together, their fluffy skirts looking like flowers in the wind. 

Xion’s astronaut partner, Buzz was talking to someone dressed in plaid and cowboy boots near the roped off audience section. A few feet away, Snow White and her celebrity partner, Mike, were dancing on the sidelines, also practicing their steps, while Aladdin and his celebrity partner, Belle were talking quietly somewhere in the crowd. Vanitas had disappeared into the crowd, as had Naveen and Axel. Anna, her husband Kristoff, and her partner Olette were quietly talking to Namine, though Sora noticed Olette's gaze occasionally drifting over to Kairi. 

What was that about? 

Sora felt Riku’s hand tighten around his own and he brought his attention back to Riku, getting lost in green eyes once more. 

Too soon, the music ended and Sora broke away with a blush. “Y-You have been practicing! That was really good!” 

“Thanks!” Riku grinned, “I have a great teacher.” 

“Oh goodness, I haven’t had this much fun in ages!” 

Sora turned, finding Aqua’s partner, Cinderella, catching her breath. “Aqua said you’ve never been here before.”

“I’m afraid not… My parents had planned to bring me when I was a little girl, but, well… And my stepmother brought her two daughters here on a few occasions. I had so wished to go too, but there was never any money for it…” Cinderella sighed wistfully, and Aqua laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“The good thing about Disneyland is that it’s made for the child in every adult.” Aqua’s voice was gentle. “So it never matters how old you are on your first visit.” 

“Or your 100th!” Sora added. 

“Well, that’s good!” Cinderella smiled back at them. “I plan on making several more memories here with my husband… and one day with our children. But I am glad I got to experience it first with this show.” 

“We’re glad too,” Aqua said. “And we can bring some of that child-like wonder to our dance, okay?” 

Cinderella nodded, and the two walked off, waving back at Sora and Riku. 

“They’ll bring the wonder,” Sora said, turning to Riku with a grin. “But we’ll bring the excitement. Right?” 

Riku nodded. “We are pirates, after all.” 

Sora really liked the costume Fairy had designed for him. Everything about it, from the tricorn hat to the patchwork leather jacket, was perfect and he was tempted to ask if he could wear it again for Halloween. 

Or just because. 

“Aren’t you gonna make yourself sick spinning like that?” 

“Huh?” Sora stopped turning and felt the ends of the leather jacket settle just above his knees. He glanced over at Vanitas, undisturbed by his glare. “Oh. No, not really. A good dancer knows how to spin without getting dizzy.” 

Vanitas visibly huffed and looked away. He looked a little awkward in his formal blue suit, his hair a little more tamed than usual. In contrast, the hairdressers worked to make Sora’s hair even wilder than usual. 

“How did your practice go?” Sora asked, “Is your cat—” 

“She helps,” Vanitas said, sticking his hands into the suit’s pockets. “She usually just sleeps on Kairi’s desk though.” 

“She’s super cute when she does it though,” Kairi said, walking up to them. The yellow ballgown she wore didn’t quite match her complexion, but she definitely looked the part of a princess. “You ready? We’re up next after Axel and Naveen.” 

“Of course,” Vanitas grunted, though his eyes looked a little nervous. 

“You’ll do great!” Sora encouraged, waving at them as they walked away to the dance floor. He could hear the music of “Trashin’ the Camp”. He would have to watch the taped show later to see the contemporary dance Axel had choreographed. He had seen their costumes earlier — or rather, the lack of costume. Sora could only dream of looking that good shirtless. 

“Hey, can you, uh—” 

Sora turned, his mouth feeling dry as he took in Riku’s costume. Instead of the pirate captain costume that Fairy had designed for Sora, Riku’s outfit looked more like one of the crew, with cropped pants and a billowy ivory-colored shirt that was half unbuttoned, exposing a long line of creamy white chest. A sash cinched Riku’s waist and he held another in his hand, raising it up to his head to tie around his hair. 

“The hairdressers had it perfect earlier,” Riku muttered as he tried to warp the sash around his head. “But then Snow accidentally knocked into me with her umbrella and—” 

“I got it,” Sora reassured him. “Just bend down a little.” 

Riku did as asked and Sora quickly tied the sash back on. It nestled perfectly in Riku’s hair, which had been left loose, only adding to the swashbuckling pirate ensemble. 

Sora tapped Riku’s shoulder when he finished. “You, uh, you look really good.” 

Riku’s cheeks glowed in a blush and he chuckled. “You look good too. Captain. ”

All of the blood in Sora’s body must have rushed to his face as he felt it heat up. He really hoped Fairy would let him keep the costume. 

Together they headed out to the waiting area by the dance floor, watching as Naveen and Axel landed their final pose, much to the audience’s delight. 

“And that was Naveen and Axel dancing contemporary to Tarzan’s ‘Trashin’ the Camp’,” Aurora announced. “A wild ride indeed! Now we turn to the judges for the scores.” 

The judges gave absolutely fantastic reviews, eventually revealing a score of 28, one of the highest of the season so far. Naveen and Axel certainly looked thrilled with it, and Sora remembered that they had scored low last week. 

He bit his lip. He and Riku would also have to do well this week if they stood a chance of staying in. But Sora was confident. This dance. This dance would be the one to win them all over. This would be a turning point. 

He knew it. 

As Aurora led Axel and Naveen off to the post-dance waiting area, the cameras shifted to Kristoff who waved towards where Vanitas and Kairi waited. “When we come back, it’s Vanitas and Kairi with a waltz to ‘Evermore’!” 

The stage lights dimmed as the show went to commercial. Kairi and Vanitas stepped on stage to get into their ready poses as the music would start as soon as the commercials ended. 

“You ready?” Sora asked, tapping Riku’s hand. 

Riku reached out and tapped back. “I’m fine. I think this will be our best dance yet.” 

“You know it.” 

The stage lights came back on and the music swelled for Kairi and Vanitas’s waltz, the first stanzas of “Evermore” crooning over the speakers. 

“I was the one who had it all
I was the master of my fate”

Vanitas was hesitant in his steps but gained confidence when he and Kairi joined at the center and turned around the floor. Kairi’s dress fluttered around her ankles at every turn. 

“Hey, you guys look great,” a quiet voice whispered beside Sora. 

Sora turned, finding Kristoff waiting for them, microphone ready. “Thanks… though you know it’s all Fairy Godmother.” 

Kristoff laughed quietly. “Yeah. Anna hasn’t stopped twirling in her dress either. You guys ready?” 

Sora and Riku both nodded. As Kairi and Vanitas finished up their waltz, Kristoff led them to the waiting area to prepare for a pre-dance interview. 

The music swelled to the final moment as Vanitas lifted Kairi in the air, ending the song on that move. They held it for a moment before Vanitas gently brought Kairi back to the ground. Kairi hugged her partner in excitement as the audience applauded. Vanitas awkwardly returned the hug. 

Sora was distracted from hearing the judges’ comments though, as a few hairstylists came up to do some last-minute work on his hair, rearranging his hat and pinning it in place as best they could. They pinned Riku’s scarf to his hair as well. By the time they were done, Sora barely heard the score as it was announced to the audiences’ applause (an admirable 26). 

The cameras turned towards them as Kristoff raised his microphone. 

“Up next: Riku and Sora will dance the Paso Doble to the musical theme of Pirates of the Caribbean. ” Kristoff turned to Sora. “Now, I heard there might be a bit of a swashbuckling surprise for the audience, right?”

Sora laughed while Riku answered.

“I think we’re gonna pillage the whole show and take all the treasure back to our ship.” 

“Oh no!” Kristoff raised his hands up in a surrender gesture. “Well, maybe we’ll get a sneak peek at that surprise from our clips of last week’s practice.”

The lights dimmed as the video went up. Sora and Riku took their spots on the dance floor as the audience saw Sora telling Riku of their song, as well as the bits of the impromptu sword fight that Ven and Roxas were able to catch. All too soon though, the lights came back on and the music started. 

Sora kept count in his head as Riku stepped forward, landing on his foot with a harsh beat and raising his arms dramatically as if demanding the seas to obey his command. Sora rushed forward, meeting him. They locked arms and turned quickly to the beat before Riku took his hand, leading Sora across the dance floor. The steps were quick and fast, especially with the beat of the music, but they’d had so much fun practicing that the steps were second nature. 

When they reached the corner, two stagehands were there to toss Sora a dulled sword prop. Riku caught one as well. They faced each other, crossing their swords. After a beat, they stepped in time to the music, their swords clashing against each other. 

Ven and Roxas were right. The steps from their sword fight adapted easily to the steps of the Paso Doble. Riku lunged and Sora parried as they danced and fought their way back to the center of the floor. Sora gained the upper hand, knocking Riku’s sword away. But, as choreographed, Riku twisted under his blade and grabbed Sora around the waist, pulling him in. 

The captain subdued by the first mate, Sora thought. He hoped it wouldn’t be seen as too… over the top or romantic. He hadn’t meant it to be romantic. But—

But he did love Riku’s hand on his waist.  And the way Riku was staring at him… 

Sora nearly missed the cue to relax his body as Riku twisted him out, gripping both of Sora’s wrists. Sora relaxed, nearly sitting on the ground, but not quite. Riku spun, the centrifugal force lifting Sora’s feet off the ground. Then, in a move that Riku made look effortless, Riku lifted Sora back to his feet, and they resumed the closed Paso Doble position, hands outstretched and turned around the dance floor once more. No longer a captain and first mate fighting, but a team ready to take on the seven seas. 

The music ended on a high, both Sora and Riku breathing heavily. But Sora also couldn’t contain his smile. It was so wide it nearly hurt his face, but the pain was worth it to see the mirth in Riku’s eyes. 

The roar of the audience’s applause was nearly deafening, Aurora’s remarks of excitement lost in the noise. After a long moment the audience settled down so Aurora could speak clearly. 

“Well, I think that was a clear audience favorite tonight! And that sword fight! Wow! Do either of you have professional training?”

Riku chuckled and shook his head. “Nah. We were just having fun with it.” 

Sora nodded in agreement. “The swordfight at Disneyland was spontaneous, and it was fun to have Riku’s help in choreographing another fight for tonight.” 

“Well, we’ll see if it helped your scores! Judges?” 

Sora took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. He and Riku did great. He knew it. 

“Well, it was certainly… unorthodox,” Prudence began, evidently searching for the appropriate words. “But I will admit it was… technically adequate and… perhaps a bit amusing.” 

“I think that’s the closest to having fun I’ve ever seen you,” Lumière said. “That was amazing. Adding in an element of theatre in time with the moves and the aggression on the dance floor. I was not looking at two dancers, but two pirates locked in combat. An amazing display!!” 

“Oh gosh, I couldn’t have said it better,” Charlotte called out. “That was simply ah-mazing. You two definitely became pirates out on the dance floor. I thought I was watching a movie or something!” 

“And the scores?” Aurora prompted.

“10!” Charlotte called. 

Sora released the breath he was holding. A 10? Already? That was—

“10!” Lumière shouted as well. 

Sora gasped in surprise. Two tens?! Then—

“9.” Prudence held her sign up. 

Sora still felt his heart soar. A 9 from Prudence was amazing and their total was—

“A total of 29!” Aurora exclaimed. “The highest of the season so far. And this means that you two are definitely safe from elimination tonight. Congratulations!” 

Riku turned to Sora, wrapping his arms around him and nearly lifting him up in a hug. Sora laughed in joy and excitement, hugging back just as tightly. 

They were definitely through to next week! And had gotten a near-perfect score! It was more than he had dreamed of. He knew they were good! This dance would go down as one of his favorites ever. 

Sora barely paid attention as he and Riku were led off the dance floor and into the post-dance waiting area. 

“That was amazing!!” Kairi exclaimed as soon as the cameras and microphones were turned away from them and onto Olette and Anna for their quickstep. 

“Are you sure you guys don’t have prior training in stage fighting?” Demyx asked. He was looking a little hot in the mad hatter outfit he had danced in. “That was seriously next level.” 

“We were just… in tune with each other.” Sora tried to explain it, but the words failed him. The fight choreography had come easy, he and Riku just practicing moves until something felt right. “I guess it was just the right timing and all.” 

“Well, whatever it was it was amazing” Kairi assured him, pulling out her phone. “But I think you guys broke Twitter.” 

“Oh no.” Sora laughed as he caught the first tweet Kairi pulled up. The comments under it were equally as shocked and amazed as his castmates were. 

They shared a quiet laugh as Anna and Olette danced, the sounds of one of the new songs from Broadway’s Newsies echoing through the studio until the song ended with Anna and Olette racing towards the stage with newspaper props in their hands. Their scores were nothing to scoff at — a total of 24 —before another set of dancers took the stage. 

Though Sora knew he and Riku were safe this week, there was still a mixture of trepidation creeping up as the dancers finished two by two. After Olette and Anna were Mike and Snow White. Mike, unfortunately, forgot a few steps, leading to a lower score, but the energy overall was nice and the audience loved clapping along to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. 

Xion and Buzz had just as much fun performing a quick step to the cantina song in Star Wars. Last were Aqua and Cinderella dancing the foxtrot to the pop remix of Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo. They did fulfill their idea of bringing magic and wonder to the dance floor and received a 28 for their efforts. 

As the partners up for elimination were announced, Sora breathed a sigh of relief. Even with Aurora’s announcement earlier, he was always on edge in case of a surprise announcement. This week Mike and Snow White, as well as Demyx and Rapunzel, were in the bottom two, but in the end, it was Mike and Snow White who were eliminated. 

As the lights dimmed, signaling the end of the broadcast, Riku wrapped his arm around Sora’s waist. 

“Another week down.” 

Sora nodded. “Five more to go. We can do this together.” 

“Yeah.” Riku tightened his arm for a moment before pulling away. Sora struggled to not sigh in disappointment at the loss of warmth. 

He hoped that they would make it through the next five weeks. After meeting Riku, dancing with him, Sora wasn’t sure how he could dance in the background. He loved his place in the show, but...

He just found that he may like being with Riku even more. 

Chapter Text

“And one, two, quick-and-step, three, four, quick-and-step.” Sora nodded along to the beat as Riku landed the steps with much more ease than he’d done anything else so far. “Great job!” 

Riku laughed. “It’s been easier to think of the steps like a coordinated sword fight.” 

He raised his arm for Sora to twirl under as they reached the end of the choreographed section Sora had been teaching him. Sora ended on a pose, ready for the next section. He took another step, but a loud growl from his stomach stopped him in his tracks. He heard Riku chuckle behind him. 

“How about a snack break first? Then we’ll get started on the next section.” 

Sora smiled, wrapping a hand around his stomach as it growled again. “Probably a good idea. I got mini-pretzels and apples!” 

“I have peanuts and cheese. Wanna share?” 

“Of course!” Sora turned to his Moogle speaker. “Okay, Moogle! Pause music!”

The speaker stopped blasting “L'apprenti sorcier” by Paul Dukas as Sora hopped up onto his desk, reaching over to snag the pretzels and a sliced apple from the edge of his desk. Riku pulled his own snacks from his bag, taking a seat in Sora’s chair. 

Sora held out an apple slice. “Apple for some cheese?” 

Riku chuckled, holding out a piece of white cheddar. “Here.”  

Sora grinned, taking the cheddar with his free hand, holding the apple slice out for Riku to take. Instead of picking it up though, Riku took the apple slice into his mouth, his lips barely brushing against the tips of Sora’s fingers. 

Sora felt his face heat up, and he let go of the apple slice. Riku caught his eye as he slowly chewed. 

Swallowing around a suddenly dry throat, Sora quickly ate his own cheese, wondering if it was too soon to offer Riku another apple. Or maybe he could try to eat the cheese like that… Or maybe… 

“Meow.” 

Sora startled, nearly falling off the desk when something warm and fluffy brushed against his thigh. Riku caught his arm before he fell completely over, and Sora regained his balance. Taking a deep breath, Sora turned to the fluffy creature, seeing a pair of blue eyes stare at him with aloof interest before turning to the cheese Sora still held in his hand. 

A cat?

“Oh, hello little, uh, guy?” Sora pulled the cheese square into quarters, offering a small piece to the cat. “Girl?” 

The cat, predictably, ignored him. It gently took the cheese from Sora’s hand, gobbling it up before rubbing its head against Sora’s hand, evidently asking for more cheese. Then it rolled over on its back. 

Sora hesitated, remembering the scratches he got the last time he tried to pet a cat’s belly, so he stuck to petting the cat’s head and ears. “I’m not falling for that trick, uh, oh! You’re a girl, aren’t you?” 

The cat meowed and rolled back over, leaning into Sora’s hand for more pets. 

“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to have more treats,” Sora murmured, petting the sweet cat behind the ears. “Though I do wonder where you came from.” 

Once the cat realized that Sora was not giving her more cheese, she turned her sights to Riku instead, leaping into his lap and meowing piteously. 

Riku looked down at the cat, who meowed as if she hadn’t eaten all day, as if the whole world was against her and Riku was her last chance of some morsel of food. 

Riku caved. He tore off a slightly bigger piece from his square of cheese and offered it to the cat who took it eagerly. Sora giggled. 

“Didn’t take you for such a sap.” 

Riku chuckled, raising both hands to pet the cat, scratching gently behind her ears. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for big pleading blue eyes.” 

A laugh from behind him startled Sora and he turned around quickly, finding Vanitas leaning against the doorframe, his loose red shirt soaked in sweat. Kairi stood just behind him, also looking a little worn out, but happy as she held her phone out to capture a few photos of the cat soaking up Riku’s attention. 

“Riku being a sucker for big blue eyes was obvious way before the cat came in,” Kairi said, laughing as she put her phone away. “Sorry for the interruption.” 

“Nah, we were just having snack time,” Sora said. He raised his hand, offering the cat a small bit of apple as well. “Is this your cat, Vanitas?” 

The cat showed no interest in the apple, her attention following Sora’s other hand where he held the rest of the cheese.

“Yeah. She’s usually pretty well behaved but will do anything for cheese.” Vanitas walked over and picked his cat up. “Which you’re not supposed to have a lot of, you floof. The vet said—” 

Vanitas’s admonishment was interrupted by his cat meowing another piteous cry. Vanitas sighed, petting behind her ears. “No… stop being dramatic.” 

Sora laughed, reaching over to gently pet one of the cat’s little toes. “What’s her name?”

“...Floofina,” Vanitas mumbled, hiding his blush in Floofina’s fur. “Floof for short. I didn’t name her. A friend did. She was all fur when she was little.” 

“She’s cute,” Riku said, reaching over to pet her as well. “And still very fluffy.” 

“Do you have any pets, Riku?” Kairi asked, taking a seat next to Sora on the desk. 

Riku shook his head. “Nah, my current apartment isn’t pet-friendly. I want one someday though. I never got to have one growing up… unless you count the Tamagotchi I had when I was twelve… which, uh…” 

Riku trailed off with a nervous chuckle and Sora could guess what had happened to the digital pet. He laughed as well, covering his mouth with his hand. “Well, I don’t have one either, though I really want a dog. My cousin rescues dogs and I used to help him back in high school. Oh! And the executive producer brings his dog in sometimes. Pluto’s really sweet if a little hyper.” 

Riku laughed, too. “Sounds like a handful.” 

Sora nodded, sharing another slice of apple with Riku. “He is, but he just has a lot of energy he has to burn off.” 

“So, kind of like you then?” Riku teased, easily tossing Sora some cheese in exchange. 

Sora grinned, barely paying attention to Kairi’s giggles next to him. 

“How’s your practice going?” Kairi asked.  

Sora shrugged, dragging his eyes away from where Riku was biting into his apple slice. “Much better now that we picked a song. There isn’t that much classical music you can choreograph a quickstep to. Bad week to be assigned that dance.”

“You’ll do great,” Kairi assured him. “Besides, it can’t be much harder than choreographing a paso doble to Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.” 

“At least it’s got the drama.” Sora laughed, popping an apple slice into his mouth. 

Kairi and Vanitas stayed a moment longer, Floofina trying to beg for another bite of cheese before they resumed their separate practices. As soon as Sora and Riku were done with their snacks,  Sora turned the music back on. 

“Ready?” 

At Riku’s nod, Sora showed off the rest of the choreography. They managed to fit in a few more hours of practice before Riku’s cell phone alarm beeped, indicating that it was almost time for him to head to the gym for weight training with his coach. Riku quickly ran over, pressing the button to turn the alarm off.

“We’ve got about fifteen minutes, right? Want to run through all of it at least once before you go?” Sora asked. 

“Yeah!” 

“Oh, are you two still practicing?”

Sora turned to the door. “Oh, hi Snow! Yeah, we’re just running through it one last time before Riku leaves.”

“Oh! Can I watch?” 

“Sure!” Sora turned to Riku with a nervous smile. “Er. If it’s okay with you.” 

Riku chuckled quietly but nodded. “Of course. As long as she doesn’t expect a five-star performance.” 

“Oh! I don’t expect anything,” Snow White hurriedly assured them, taking a seat in Sora’s desk chair. “I just love Sora’s choreography.” 

Sora felt his face heat up, but he didn’t respond as the music repeated. 

He barely had to count off as Riku started the opening steps, first dancing solo to the opening notes before extending a hand out to Sora and they did the next part together, their hands linked. With a quick spin, Sora twirled into Riku’s arms and they danced across the floor, their steps fast and light, just as they should be for a quick step. The music had inspired Sora to add in a lot of twirls, and they took turns spinning under each other's arm, Riku only catching himself on his feet once or twice. As they got to the newer choreography, Riku started to miss a few more steps, but it was okay. They continued to the end, much to Snow’s delight.   

“Oh, that’s simply amazing! I love the spins. They’re perfectly timed to the twirls of music!” Snow clapped her hands. “Oh… but Riku, I do have one suggestion, if I may?” 

Riku nodded, and Snow White walked over, her steps light as always. She stood in front of him, extending her arm. 

“On that spin about 45 seconds in, where you twirl Sora out? If you extend your hand just a bit more. With your wrist like…” She turned as Riku mirrored the position she had been holding. She placed a gentle hand on his arm, extending it just a bit more. “Just like that. A little more extension in your movements would work well in a dance like this. Like you’re reaching out for Sora if he dances too far away. You gotta bring him back, you know.” 

Sora laughed. “I’d never dance too far away though…” 

“I hope not,” Riku said, his eyes meeting Sora’s. 

Snow White giggled. “Well, I’m sure he won’t. Anyway, I think the judges would appreciate a bit more extension of your arm. You’ll be more fluid with your movements.”

Riku nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

Another phone chime rang through the air and Riku ran towards his duffel bag. “I’m sorry, I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow, Sora?” 

“Of course,” Sora waved, his face splitting into a wide smile as Riku ran out the door. 

“Oh, you’re definitely not dancing away anytime soon,” Snow White laughed, her own smile wide and genuine. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so smitten. Kairi was right, it is quite obvious.”

Sora knew his face was red before she finished her sentence. “Snow… c’mon. It’s just—” 

“It’s not just anything,” Snow White insisted, taking his hand and leading him out the door of his studio, closing it behind them. “You have a connection with him. We’ve all seen it since your first dance, and it’s only become more obvious…” 

“It’s… Don’t you think it’s too soon to feel something like that?”

Snow White hummed, placing her finger on her chin. “Well… it’s not necessarily like you love him. Though, I do think you feel strongly for him. But… I also think that you can make a connection in an instant. I always thought that your prince would come someday, Sora. And now he’s here! Don’t let him get away!” 

Sora thought of Riku’s look before he left. That soft one that made Sora feel important. “I don’t intend to. Not if I can help it.” He gestured at their joined hands. “But, uh… where are we going?”

“Oh!” Snow White’s hand shot to her mouth. “Did I forget to mention? Axel ordered tacos for everyone since Naveen has never tried them before. It’s just the usual crowd and Naveen. I meant to invite Riku too since he was still here, but he ran out so suddenly…”

“It’s okay. He had to get to swim practice. He has—” Sora was cut off when his phone rang. Frowning, he reached into his pocket, pulling it out and staring at the unfamiliar number. He recognized Atlantica’s area code… but who would call him here? “Oh… you go on ahead Snow, I’ll be there in a minute. Break room, right?”

Snow White nodded and continued down the corridor while Sora answered the phone. “Hello? This is Sora?”

“Sora. I’m glad I caught you.”

“Uh… yes.” Sora’s frown deepened. “And you are—”

“His coach. King Triton. We’ve spoken over email...” 

Instantly, Sora felt his spine straighten. “Oh! Sir! Yes, of course. Sorry. I didn’t recognize the number…” 

A noise came over the phone that sounded like a cross between a scoff and a sigh. “I’ve been trying to call Riku, but it’s going to voicemail.” 

Sora felt his heart drop. “Oh… he just left a few minutes ago. I’m sure he’s in the car on his way to practice.”

“I see…” 

Sora swallowed around his dry throat, wondering if King Triton could hear his hammering heartbeat through the phone line. “I-is that all?” 

“No.” 

“Oh! Y-yes, of course. What else can I help you with?” Taking a deep breath, Sora tried to calm his heart and nerves. This was just Riku’s coach. It wasn't like he was his father. 

But then again, Riku didn’t really talk about his parents much. Only his coach. So that kind of meant that maybe King Triton was like a father to Riku. Right? Maybe Sora should ask Riku about this…

“About Riku’s… dance practice schedule.” Triton took an audible breath over the phone. “I just want to make sure Riku isn’t overexerting himself with this.” 

“Of course,” Sora thought for a moment. “I can send over my practice schedule and you can adjust Riku’s as needed… and the dancing mostly makes up for any cardio he had been doing.”

Triton audibly scoffed at that, and Sora felt a wave of frustration well up. He was used to people scoffing at his chosen profession, never seeing the work he put into it. He could usually ignore it, but for Riku’s coach to pass judgment on something Riku found joy in… 

“Sir, er, Coach, or, uh… Mister Triton,” Sora took a deep breath, trying to find his resolve.  “Ballroom dancing is a sport. I mean, it’s not in the Olympics, but I think it should be! I have to train and push my body to the limit to execute a technically perfect routine. And Riku is really, really good at it too. I-I know that you… Or, rather, I think that Riku might not appreciate you, er—” 

“You’re passionate about this.” 

Sora stopped rambling, not sure how to respond to that. “I… yes, I am.” 

“That’s… good.” Triton sighed over the phone. “Very well. I suppose I am… over-cautious about his training.”

“I’m sure you have good reasons,” Sora reassured, still not sure what to say. “He’s a very… great swimmer, er, I mean— He’s amazing!” 

Sora may have spent a few days watching YouTube videos of every swim meet he could find where Riku competed. And if he paused a few times when the camera lingered over Riku in his competition speedo and wet from the pool water, well…

That was between him and his computer. 

Sora took a deep breath, trying to restrain his blush before continuing. “Riku’s an excellent athlete, no matter the sport. And I think he’s smart to know how much he’s working out here.” 

Triton was quiet for a long time before he spoke again. “Very well.”

There was a click as Triton hung up suddenly, and Sora pulled the phone away from his ear. “Well, that’s rude. He could have at least said goodbye.” 

Frowning as he put his phone away, Sora had the feeling that Coach Triton didn’t like him exactly, but may respect him a bit. Which was a start, he supposed. 

As Sora walked down the hallway, he heard the sounds of the other professional dancers talking in the break room. He hurried his steps, following the delicious smell of tacos and the sound of guitar strings. 

Sliding in, Sora grinned at the sight of Miguel, the delivery boy from the restaurant. “Hey kid, still working on that song?” 

Miguel turned to Sora with a large smile. “Yeah. Making music is just as hard as dancing to it.” 

“I believe it!” Naveen said, drumming a beat on the table in time to Miguel’s cords. “This is great though! And this... The taco? Magnifique!” 

“They really don’t have tacos where you’re from?” Anna asked, already halfway through her own taco. Given the number of wrappers beside her, it must have been her third or fourth. “And your wife is a chef.” 

“Tiana specializes in créole and french cuisine…” Naveen said, taking another bite of his taco. “Very different, though now I shall have to ask her why she has been hiding these from me.” 

“Possibly because you’re about to eat us out of our usual order…” Axel said, tipping the now empty box of tacos over to reveal that there were only two tacos left.

Kairi quickly picked them up, passing them to Sora who smiled gratefully. 

“I can go get more!” Miguel offered, already swinging his old guitar behind his back. “You guys are Grandpa Héctor’s best customers after all. I’ll be back soon!” 

Sora waved as he ran past. “We’ll be here!” 

Naveen grinned. “Good. I think I can eat a few more!” 

Axel groaned. “Good thing we’ve been practicing our salsa all day; burned off enough energy…” 

Sora chuckled, digging into his own taco. He would be sure to order some for Riku later. Miguel’s grandfather made some of the best Mexican food this close to the studio. If Riku stuck around after the show, maybe they could meet up for lunch dates.

Sora blinked at that thought. Or not lunch dates. They didn’t have to be ‘dates’ at all, they could be— 

“Oh, there’s that look again…” Aqua teased, poking Sora’s cheek. 

Sora shook his head. “Huh? What look?”

“Your ‘mooning over Riku look’,” Axel added, smirking. 

“Huh?” Demyx looked over, peering at Sora’s face. “He has a specific look for that? I thought that was just his face.” 

“Nah, Sora has a very special Riku face.” Anna giggled. 

“Just like Riku has his very special Sora look,” Kairi said with a smile. 

Sora groaned quietly, hiding his red face in his taco wrapper. “C’mon guys, can’t we talk about someone else for a moment?” 

He looked around, finding everyone grinning at him, but he missed the one voice and face that would have been filled with scorn at the topic of his relationship with Riku. “Where’s Larxene?”

“Oh,” Snow White said, looking down. “I invited her to come. But she said she didn’t want to…  Well, she didn’t say anything nice.” 

Aqua sighed. “That sounds like her.” 

Sora frowned. “How has she been with you in the backup group?” 

Snow White shrugged. “We were supposed to choreograph the opening number together, but she keeps ignoring my attempts to meet with her. Instead, she called me a—  a loser and a silly little girl because I went out last week and...” 

Tears formed in Snow White’s eyes as she trailed off, and Aqua hugged her friend. Anna and Xion walked over to support her as well, Xion patting her arm gently, while Anna pulled out a handkerchief. 

Aladdin sighed. “She’s been getting worse. Every year. Last season she made it to the top three so we didn’t have to worry about it, but the year before—” 

“I was on break that year,” Anna said. “Sora sent me some updates, but what happened, exactly?” 

Aladdin shrugged. “She picked a fight with the security team when she left. They weren’t gonna let her back, not even as back up. But her boyfriend at the time…” 

“They weren’t dating,” Demyx said. “Marluxia told me that later.” 

“Well, her friend then, Marluxia, he’s a… manager of some sort. I dunno, but he managed to convince the producers to keep her on. Makes it hell for us though.” 

“I don’t want to think she’s that bad,” Snow murmured, wiping her tears away. “She’s just a little lost right now. I think she wants to move on from the show, but she’s not sure where to go from here. And she’s never won a season so…” 

“So she thinks that the world is against her,” Aqua said with a sigh, hugging Snow tightly. “We’ll find a way to get through to her. Promise. But if she gives you trouble with the backup dancers, you’ll tell us, right?” 

“Of course. And next week there will be someone else there with me, right?” 

“Yeah!” Sora grinned. “We’ll get through this season together. No matter what!” 

“You’re getting really good at this!” Sora exclaimed as Riku twirled him to the ending pose. 

“I told you, I have an excellent teacher.” Riku gently tugged and Sora spun back towards him and landed in a closed position. Sora placed his hand back on Riku’s bicep, feeling the muscle flex with the smallest of movements. “An excellent teacher with great choreography.” 

Sora laughed, feeling his face heat up. “Well, I have an amazing student. One who listens.” 

Riku’s eyes held a fondness in them that Sora still wasn’t sure he deserved. Why did Riku look at him like that? Were the others right? Did Riku have a special ‘Sora’ look?

“...to go to lunch?” 

Sora shook his head, realizing that Riku had been talking to him. ‘Huh? Sorry. I uh… got lost in thought.” 

Riku chuckled. “I heard your stomach growl. Did you want to go get lunch or something?” 

“Uh… sure!” Sora walked over to his desk. “Hey Moogle, pause music!” 

The little speaker by his desk turned off as Sora grabbed his wallet. “Any place in mind?” 

“I saw a food truck selling sandwiches on my way in from swim practice this morning.”

“Sounds good!” 

Sora locked the studio door behind them. The hallway was filled with the sounds of others practicing, most with their doors closed. As they passed by Aladdin’s studio, the sounds of Travilosky’s “Nutcracker Suite” filtered through the open door as Aladdin and Belle practiced their contemporary. Xion was helping Buzz master their Charleston routine, while in the next room over, Demyx and Rapunzel were in the middle of discussing improvements to their choreography, the upbeat tune of “Rhapsody in Blue” playing through the open door. Aqua’s door was closed, but Sora could hear the soft melody of what sounded like “Swan Lake”. Sora really couldn’t wait to see that performance. He remembered that Aqua had asked the producers for permission to use ballet moves in their freestyle. Apparently, Cinderella had also taken ballet lessons as a child, and Aqua hoped to use that to their advantage. 

Anna’s studio was closed, the lights off, as was Axel’s. Sora guessed they were either out to lunch or would be practicing later.  

They left the studio and stepped out into the bright sunlight. Riku led the way to the food truck, which was parked just down the street. Several customers were already lined up, Sora and Riku stepping up to the end of the queue. 

“I’ll get it,” Riku said, pulling out his wallet. 

‘Oh, you don't have to.”

“I want to,” Riku assured him. 

Sora met Riku’s gaze before looking away shyly. “Well, if you insist.” 

They ordered and took their sandwiches over to a nearby bench. Sora quickly dug into his roast beef with lettuce and tomato while Riku ate his portobello and mozzarella a little more delicately. Sora watched as Riku was quick to catch any of his sandwich fillings that tried to escape, finding the motions cute. 

Riku caught him looking and laughed. “What? I just don’t like wasting food.” 

Sora smiled. “No, it’s… it’s cute…” 

Riku grinned back, meeting his gaze for a moment before returning to his food. “So… I’ve been wondering— er, it’s just, you know so much about me now I wanted to know, uh, a bit more about you?”

Sora chuckled. It was rare for Riku to stumble over his words so much. “What do you want to know? I'm an open book!” 

“Why did you get into dancing?” 

Sora hummed at the question. He hadn’t ever been asked that before. “Well… Honestly, I’ve always danced at home and stuff… but I never got into ballroom dancing until Kairi asked me to be her partner for these cotillion classes…” 

“Cotillion?” 

“Like… classes on manners and stuff. Kairi’s mother and father went through them when they were younger and thought Kairi should do ‘em too. Kairi didn't want to do them alone, so I went with her.”

“Oh, so you learned manners?”

Sora laughed. “Yeah, and how to brush my hair.” 

“I can see that lesson didn’t stick,” Riku teased, ruffling Sora’s hair. 

“Hey!” Sora couldn’t hold back his smile as he tried to dodge away from Riku’s hand. “Well, the one thing that did stick was the ballroom dancing stuff. Kairi and I couldn’t get enough of it. We pretty much danced through high school and college. Usually in the school’s musicals, but sometimes in professional competitions.” 

“Ahh… and then you ended up in the show?” 

Sora laughed. “That took a number of years of dancing professionally on- and off-Broadway, in ballroom dancing competitions… we both started out as backup dancers here until the show went from eight competitors a season to ten. We tried out and got bumped up at the same time nearly six seasons ago now. About four years.” 

“That’s a long time,” Riku said. “What would you do if you ever had to take a break from the show?”

Sora opened his mouth to respond but found that he had no answer. What would he do? There were always broadway shows and theme parks… He had done those before becoming a regular on the show. “Dance at the theme parks, I suppose… Or I could go back to Broadway, or choreograph for movies, or…” 

Sora trailed off with a shrug. He could go do all that, but there was something about teaching that he really liked too.

He heard Riku hum next to him in thought, then felt a comforting hand in his hair again. Turning, he looked up at Riku’s thoughtful face. “What are you going to do? When you can’t swim professionally anymore.” 

“Teach.” 

Sora blinked at the ready answer. “What, like… school? What grade? Or do you mean college? Or…” 

Riku laughed. “Nah. My degree is in sports medicine and physical therapy. I want to open a gym with a pool. Teach low contact exercises like swimming and stuff…” He nudged Sora’s side. “You know, ballroom dancing would be a good exercise too… you should come help me.” 

“Oh yeah?” Sora laughed. “Our only clients would be either rich people or old people.”

“Of course! They’ll be rich old people who will give us all their money so we can donate it back to children’s PE and art programs. It’s all part of my master plan.” 

Sora threw his head back, his laughter making his stomach hurt and his sandwich long forgotten. “W-well, thanks for including me in your master plan.” 

“Obviously. Without you, the whole plan falls apart.” 

Sora met Riku’s gaze. Despite the teasing nature of their conversation, Sora also saw the sincerity in those eyes and his laughter died off. Riku really meant it. To go work… with him. For some reason, that thought settled any confusion and discomfort he had felt earlier at the thought of what he would do after he retired from professional dancing. “I’d… You’ll have to pay me well. I doubt you can cover a professional dancer’s salary.” 

“I’ll find a way to make it worth your while.” Riku’s voice was both teasing and serious. Sora wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, though the words did make him blush as he hurried to finish his sandwich. 

He could think of a few things Riku could do that would make Sora forgo any monetary compensation. Spending an hour each day just talking to him would more than cover Sora’s happiness. 

Sora hummed “L'apprenti sorcier” to himself as he made dinner, putting the broccoli and peppers in the oven to roast and turning the stove on to start his chicken. He preferred simpler meals on the night before the live show. They helped settle his nerves. 

Sora danced around the kitchen, sometimes practicing his dance steps, but mostly because it was more fun to twirl to the spice rack than to walk to it. And he was always careful of any pots and pans on the stove. 

*Ding!* 

His phone lit up with an incoming text message. 

Sora felt his mouth dry and his appetite vanish. A new partner? Just because of this?  It was just him and Riku teasing each other. But the writer had clearly taken it as a romantic interlude, given the headline. The producers wouldn’t fire him over this… right? 

Furious, both at the writer and Larxene, Sora texted back a simple: “Didn’t think you were one to read the trashy tabloids, Larxene. You know they’ll do anything for a buck.” 

He quickly muted any further incoming texts from her. Biting his lip, Sora pulled up Riku’s phone number, finger hovering over the call button. Should he warn Riku? Would this affect his Olympic career? 

Taking a deep breath, Sora tried to relax and stop panicking. 

Think rationally. 

Taking another breath, Sora pulled up the article again. It really was from one of the trashy supermarket tabloids, but the picture was crisp, showing Riku teasing him, hand in his hair, and a smile on both their faces. The writing was entirely speculation though. 

Sora took another breath, still unsettled but feeling better. Larxene was blowing this out of proportion. Or maybe this was Larxene’s awful attempt at teasing. Either way, he shouldn’t worry about it now. Not right before the live shows. 

The discomfort stayed with him all night though, even as he ate his dinner without really tasting it and crawled into bed a little after 8. He wasn’t sure he even slept. But he was at the studio promptly at 8 am, downing his second cup of coffee for the day. He barely blinked as Fairy Godmother handed him the costume for the opening number, a simple black suit and white gloves, and he waved off her concerns for the bags under his eyes. They would be easily covered up with makeup later. 

Their dress rehearsal of the opening number woke him up a little bit more and helped get rid of the lingering discomfort. He had successfully managed to push down his thoughts about the article a little until he stumbled into Riku later. 

“Woah,” Sora shouted as he ran face-first into Riku’s back. “Sorry. I didn’t see—” 

He cut himself off when he caught the headline of the article on Riku’s phone: “ Love ignites on the dance floor?” 

Sora groaned, covering Riku’s phone with his hand. “Don’t read that! Tabloid writers are always trying to make stuff up. But us dating is ridiculous, right?” 

Sora tried to laugh but trailed off when Riku looked at him strangely. 

“Is it?” 

Heat spread through Sora’s face. “No! Er… Yes? I mean…” Sora took a deep breath trying to collect his thoughts. 

“I’m not upset by the article. If that’s what you’re worried about.” Riku’s voice was quiet. “One of my college friends sent it to me and asked if it was true. I just said that I had made a very good friend on set. That’s all.” 

Sora breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh… Good. I mean, yes! We’re friends.” 

“And it’s not really the business of a tabloid if we’re more than that or not.” 

Riku’s voice again had that odd quality, an emotion that Sora couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t anger, but it wasn’t quite sad either. Resignation might have covered it… but Sora thought Riku sounded rather hopeful as well. 

“Riku… do you—” 

“Sora, Riku!” Kairi called out. “You’re up first for rehearsals! C’mon! Fairy Godmother is waiting!” 

Sora blinked, pulling back from Riku a bit. “Uh… we… we should go.” 

“Yes,” Riku agreed, placing his bag on the floor of the studio and leading the way out the door and down to the costume department. 

Sora blinks in confusion. Was Riku angry with him now? Or frustrated or… 

Shaking his head, Sora tried to clear his thoughts. He couldn’t think of it right now. They had a competition to win. 

He hurried to catch up, finding Riku already admiring the costume Fairy had put together. It reminded Sora of the simple suit he was wearing for the opening number, but fancier. The color was a dark royal blue and it had what looked like stars embroidered throughout. “You’ll look like a night sky.”

“Wait until you see yours!” Riku said, nearly bouncing on his feet as Fairy pulled it out as well. 

It was a matching suit, but in a deep red with gold stitching. Sora gasped. “Oh Fairy, it’s gorgeous!” 

Fairy Godmother chuckled lightly. “Well, you know I always take inspiration from the music and your choreography. This is sure to be a magical performance.” 

“Sora!” Naminé ran in, adjusting her headset and clutching her clipboard to her chest. “Sora, you’re up next okay?” 

Sora nodded. “We’ll be right there, Naminé!” 

He and Riku headed to the changing rooms to quickly put on the costumes. When they emerged, Fairy checked them both to make sure the suits fitted properly, then sent them to the dance floor. 

Kristoff was there, discussing interview questions and announcements with Naminé while Aurora was going over other notes with a few producers. Sora recognized the short stature and slightly protruding ears of the show’s Executive Producer. “Mickey!” 

Mickey looked over. “Sora! You’ve been doing great this year!” 

Sora grinned. “Thanks! Are you here to watch dress rehearsals?” 

“Uh-huh!” Mickey glanced behind Sora. “Oh! This must be your partner!” 

Sora nodded. “Yeah! Riku, meet our Executive Producer, Mickey Mouse! Mickey, this is Riku!” 

Riku held out his hand, shaking Mickey’s. “It’s very nice to meet you.” 

“Likewise! You two were great last week! Minnie couldn’t stop talking about it.” 

“Well, this week is gonna be just as great,” Sora exclaimed. “I just know it!” 

“Well, I can’t wait to see it!” 

“C’mon, Sora, Riku!” Naminé motioned them over to Kristoff. 

Sora waved at Mickey and led Riku over to where Naminé and Kristoff were still discussing something. 

“Tonight we’re going to interview you with Kristoff right after Aqua and Cinderella’s dance,” Naminé said as they walked over. “Then we’ll go into your intro video before we break for commercial. You’ll be dancing first as soon as we get back, okay?” 

Sora and Riku nodded. Naminé then motioned for them to get into their starting positions. They started in the corner of the dance floor, ready for the music. 

The piano and strings started first, a crescendo of magic as Riku danced first, followed by Sora. Then the horns came in, a lively march as Sora and Riku danced across the floor, their steps quick. Riku twirled Sora under his arm and they broke apart to dance separately. Riku had clearly been practicing, his moves relaxed enough to be memorized, but not careless or lazy. Sora also spotted a smile on Riku’s face, and he felt his own mouth split into a wide grin, thrilled that Riku was loving their dance. 

Sora had been so focused on the music and watching Riku enjoy himself that he didn’t hear it until it was too late. 

“Woah boy!” 

“Pluto, no!” 

“Woof! Woof!” 

Sora turned quickly, finding Mickey’s large yellow lab sprint towards him. Sora held his arms out to try and calm him down, but as soon as Pluto hit the dance floor, he lost his traction on the smooth surface, unable to stop in time. Pluto crashed into Sora and sent them both sprawling to the ground. Sora’s right knee hit the dance floor hard before the rest of his body followed suit. With a pained howl, Pluto landed mostly on top of him. 

“Pluto!” 

“Sora!” 

Sora groaned, sitting up as much as he could with Pluto half on his back. He turned towards the dog. “I’m glad to see you too, big guy. But maybe you’re not cut out for dancing.” 

Pluto barked out a small “woof” of agreement and moved off of Sora, his paws still sliding across the floor. Trying to steady himself, he placed his paw on Sora’s knee, the one that had hit the ground. 

Pain shot up Sora’s leg and he hissed, instinctively drawing the knee closer to his chest. 

“Sora!” 

Sora looked up at Riku’s concerned expression. “I’m fine! Probably just a light bruise.” 

Mickey managed to grab Pluto and pull him off of Sora. Taking Riku’s hand, Sora tried to get to his feet, but as soon as he put pressure on his knee, he felt another sharp pain travel up his leg. He gasped and doubled over. 

Riku’s arms circled his waist, helping him remain upright. “You’re okay. How about we sit down for a minute?”

Sora nodded. He started to walk towards a nearby seat. To his surprise, he suddenly found himself hoisted in the air as Riku carried him bridal style across the dance floor. Sora wrapped his arms around Riku’s neck to steady himself. It was only the twinge in his knee that prevented him from fully enjoying the moment. 

Naminé quickly grabbed a chair for Sora, as well as another one to sit across from him so he could raise his damaged leg. “Do you think you sprained it?”

Sora shook his head. “No, I think it’s just bruised but—” 

“Let me take a look at it!” Another voice called out loudly, this one brash and nasally.

The show’s medic, Donald, marched up to the chair and immediately put pressure on Sora’s knee. With a gasp, Sora lurched forward. “Donald!” 

“It’s definitely bruised.” 

“Obviously!” 

“Don’t interrupt me when I’m trying to heal you!” Donald reached into his first aid kit and pulled out an ice pack, placing it on the bruise. Immediately, relief shot through Sora’s leg. “The question is if it’s a minor contusion or a bigger one.”

Sora shook his head. “I’m sure it’s minor. I’ll probably be able to dance by tonight.” 

Donald hummed, which was never a good sign. 

“Donald!” 

“Look, I’m not saying that you’re out of the competition, but…”  

Immediately, Sora felt his heart drop. “But?”

“If you dance on this knee tonight and it ends up being something worse? You could definitely injure it further and be out for the rest of the season. If not longer.” 

Sora swallowed around his dry throat. 

“But the show is tonight,” Riku pointed out. “If Sora can’t dance then…”

“I can dance!” Sora reassured him. “I can! It’s just a minor bruise or…” He trailed off as Riku placed his hands on Sora’s shoulders. 

“You can’t push yourself. The medic is right. If you push yourself on your knee tonight, you could end up worsening it and I’ll be out a partner for the rest of the season. I don’t want that. Do you?”

Sora looked into Riku’s green eyes. Slowly, the panic began to fade and his heart rate calmed. Taking a deep breath, Sora shook his head. “No… I wanna dance with you.” 

Riku chuckled softly, reaching up to push Sora’s bangs out of his eyes. “I want to dance with you too. And that means you can’t injure yourself further.” 

Sora grinned, nodding his head. “Okay.” 

Naminé coughed. “Riku… since your dress rehearsal was, uh, interrupted, do you mind if we take a moment to discuss something else? For next week, should you make it through.”

Riku glanced over at Naminé, before looking back at Sora.

“I’ll be okay,” Sora reassured him. 

Riku nodded then followed Naminé to another part of the studio. 

“We’ll need a dance partner for Riku tonight though,” Mickey said, keeping a tight hold of Pluto.

One of the other producers, Fauna, held a finger to her lips. “Well… I suppose we could ask one of the professional dancers already out. But the choreography—”

“I can do it, Miss Fauna!” 

Sora whipped his head around. “What are you doing here?!”

Larxene glared at him. “I still work here, you know.”

Quickly, she turned back to Fauna, a fake smile firmly in place. “I was watching behind the scenes. I think I can learn Sora’s choreography quickly if the judges are willing to take that into account when we dance.” 

“Oh… well…” Fauna wrung her hands together. “If you’re sure, dear.”

“I’m sure.” Larxene’s false grin turned almost friendly. “Sora and I have been working together for years. It won’t be a problem. If Sora’s injury is worse than we think, I can certainly take over as well…”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, dearie,” another producer, Merrywether spoke up. “We’ll make sure a doctor takes a look at Sora’s knee to be sure, but we’ll take it one day at a time. You can fill in for him tonight. We’ll tell Riku about it later. For now, though, Sora, do you have your choreography notes?” 

“Yes, they’re in my studio.” 

“Oh good. I’m sure Donald can find a wheelchair and Goofy will wheel you down so you can get them.”

“Merryweather, I’m fine.”

“We’ll not risk it,” Merryweather was firm. “You’re certainly one of our best, Sora, and I’d hate to lose you because we pushed you too much. Let Goofy wheel you down there.”

Sora sighed and nodded. “Okay.” 

Merryweather turned back to Fauna and Mickey, discussing further changes as Aurora called the next dancers, Aqua and Cinderella, forward to perform their dress rehearsal. They both looked great in their white leotards and knee-length tulle skirts. 

“Probably don’t need to bother with the choreography sheet,” Larxene muttered, leaning in close so she wouldn’t be overheard. “That choreography was so simple a child could figure it out.”

“Shut up, Larxene,” Sora sighed, rearranging the ice pack so it wouldn’t burn his skin. “It’s not about complexity, but about perfection.”

“Whatever.” Larxene rolled her eyes. “When they see how much better the dancing chemistry is between Riku and me, I’m sure you won’t have to worry about it anymore.” 

Sora’s heart thudded in his chest as his heart rate spiked. 

Larxene giggled, knowing her words affected him, and walked away. “Let me know when you get the choreography. I’m gonna go tell Fairy that she needs to find a matching dress for me to wear. Something that just shows how perfect Riku and I look together.” 

Sora clenched his fist, feeling his nails prick into his skin. They wouldn’t. Merryweather said this would be temporary. 

“Woof…” 

Sora glanced over, finding a very sad Pluto looking at him. Grinning, Sora patted his thigh lightly. After a quick glance up at Mickey, who nodded. Pluto walked to the end of his leash and placed his head on Sora’s leg, his tail wagging slightly. Chuckling quietly, Sora scratched behind Pluto’s ears. “I don’t blame you, boy. I know you get excited sometimes. Probably managed to break your lead again, huh? All this excitement and people dancing?”

“Woof! Woof!” Pluto placed his paw on Sora’s thigh, trying to get closer to scratch. Sora gasped in pain but managed to rearrange the paw so it wasn’t right on his thigh muscle. He continued to scratch Pluto’s ears and neck, listening to the jingle of Pluto’s dog tags. 

Wait a moment…

Frowning, Sora inspected Pluto’s collar. Usually when Pluto broke away from his leash, it was because Mickey hadn’t attached it to his collar correctly before tying his lead someplace where Pluto could observe everyone but not interfere. If Mickey attached the clip to the weaker split ring that held his dog tags though, Pluto could easily break away in his excitement.

The split ring was still intact though, and there was no evidence in the collar or the lead that indicated Pluto broke either one of those either. 

Sora looked into Pluto’s dark eyes, knowing he wouldn’t get an answer. “Did someone let you off your leash? Huh, boy?”

Pluto merely barked in response, finally alerting Mickey to the fact that Pluto had gotten away again. With a sheepish grin, Mickey pulled the dog off of Sora, leading him away. “I am so sorry about this Sora. I’ll make sure Pluto stays in the office next time.”

“It’s okay, Mickey,” Sora said, still wondering if the accident really was just an accident. It was no secret that Pluto loved to get pets from him. Out of all the dancers, Pluto would probably run towards Sora first every time. 

“Gawrsh, what-cha thinking bout, Sora?” 

Sora jerked his head up, finding the head of security, Goofy, smiling down at him. “Hey, Goofy. I’m not… really thinking of anything except that I hope this knee thing doesn’t take me out for the season.”

“Me too,” Goofy agreed, then helped Sora into the wheelchair Donald had scrounged up. Goofy pushed the chair back to Sora’s studio. 

The rest of the day passed in a blur. The producers told Riku about the change, though Sora didn’t know what Riku’s reaction to that was as Riku was quickly pulled away for makeup and some small costume adjustments. Sora called out that he’d see him after his dance, then made his way to the break room. His bruise was already heeling, his suspicions of a slight contusion practically confirmed, but he understood Donald’s precaution. Their usual doctor didn’t have an appointment open until first thing in the morning, so Sora would have to stay off it until then. Hopefully, he would be back to dancing within a few days. Kairi had already promised to practice with Riku until Sora could safely do so, while Sora would focus on choreography. 

For tonight though, Sora would sit in the seats reserved for the dancers after they completed their routines. He tried to look at the bright side: at least tonight he would get to see everyone’s dance and cheer for them. 

“It’s gonna be okay,” Kristoff said as he helped Sora get settled in his seat, his knee still elevated. Kristoff handed over another ice pack, this one looking homemade with thick plaid fabric and filled with fresh ice. “My family has our share of bumps and bruises. Anna suggested I let you borrow one of our ice packs.”

Sora grinned. “Thanks, Kristoff…. Still wish I was out there though.”

“Yeah.” Kristoff nodded. “Next week though. For sure!” 

Sora found Kristoff’s optimism catching and he watched as the man ran over to his start position, ready to interview Kairi and Vanitas as soon as they got their scores. Soon, the lights came on and the beginning strains of the opening number started. They had pulled one of the backup dancers to the front to cover Sora’s position. Sora itched to join, the foot on his non-damage leg tapping to the beat. Larxene was there as well, a large smile on her face, completely sure with herself. 

Sora shook his head in disgust, and instead focused on watching the dance from this side of the stage. 

Soon after, Aurora announced the judges as they entered, and after everyone had settled, the introductory video for Vanitas and Kairi started up. Sora couldn’t hold in a laugh when they started the video with some soft flowery music before blasting into one of Vanitas’s rock concerts, changing the tune of the whole video. The entire thing showed off how different Vanitas and Kairi were. 

They managed to dance completely in tune though, from the first dramatic notes of a hard rock reimagining of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. Vanitas wore a costume consisting of a zipped up black leather jacket and burgundy red pants and shirt, while Kairi looked equally as rebellious in a mostly black dress, though when she spun, Sora saw that it was lined in red silk. There wasn’t a smile on either of their faces, which added to the complete dramatic nature of the dance. They met and twirled around each other, their movements fierce, but not like Sora and Riku’s choreography last week where they had been pirates locked in battle. Vanitas and Kairi were dancing to defend themselves against the world. It was a beautiful dance and a technically perfect one too. 

The judges must have thought so as well, as they received a high mark of 27. Kairi lept up into the air with a smile, breaking the rebellious character that she played on the dance floor. Even Vanitas looked pleased, a small smile on his face. 

As soon as the camera’s shifted to Aqua and Cinderella lining up for their own dance, Kairi ran over, hugging Sora tightly. 

‘Ack! Kairi! Choking! Not breathing!” 

“Sorry!” Kairi backed off a little. “It’s just, I’m so sorry you have to sit out tonight.”

Sora shrugged. “It’s okay. My knee’s already feeling better… I just hope that…” he trailed off with a shrug. 

Vanitas sat next to him. “Hope that what?” 

Sora avoided their gaze. It felt stupid to say it out loud. “Hope that Larxene doesn’t replace me permanently. Especially if she does dance better with Riku.” 

When both Vanitas and Kairi were silent for a long time, Sora chanced a glance up at them, finding twin incredulous looks. “What?”

“That’s not gonna happen,” Kairi said.

“Riku wouldn’t let that happen,” Vanitas added. “I'm surprised he even let it happen this week.” 

Sora tilted his head. “Huh, what does that mean?” 

Vanitas opened his mouth to answer, but Aurora’s voice cut him off. 

“And now, dancing freestyle to Swan Lake: Cinderella and her partner, Aqua!” 

The three of them stayed quiet throughout Cinderella and Aqua’s ballet-inspired routine. They certainly looked the part, pure white skirts floating around them like feathers on a swan. They moved gracefully across the floor, occasionally coming together so Aqua could lift Cinderella in the air. 

During the song’s crescendo, Aqua went up on pointe, spinning like a top as Cinderella twirled around her before they both collapsed to the ground. 

Sora clapped with the rest of the crowd. Kairi raised her fingers to her lips to give a high pitched whistle of appreciation. 

The judges enjoyed the dance as well, granting a high score of 29. 

Sora turned to where Kristoff would be getting ready for his interview with Riku and Larxene, but to his confusion, no one was there. The lights went down as the show went to commercial, and Sora felt his heart drop in concern. What was going on? 

“Sora!” Aqua called as she ran up to the “After Dance” seating area. “Hey, how’s your knee?”

“It’s fine,” Sora continued to turn in his chair as best as he could. “Where’s Riku?” 

“He really, really loves you, huh.”

Sora whipped around, wincing as the movement shifted his knee. “Larxene?! What are you doing here? Where’s Riku? You gotta go get ready to dance.”

Larxene scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I don’t gotta do anything. Just ask your boyfriend.” 

“What are you talk—” 

The studio lights rose as they came back from commercial, and Aurora’s voice rang out through the studio. 

“Our next pair of dancers, Riku and Sora, were to perform next. Unfortunately, due to an accident on the dance floor earlier today, Sora is unable to perform. Riku has elected to show the judges a previously taped unfinished performance.” 

“What?!” Sora tried to get up out of his seat, looking for Riku. On the screen, their intro video played: a cute series of scenes from their practices over the past week. Afterward, the video shifted to their dress rehearsal performance. 

“Who was taping?” Sora asked aloud. 

“We were testing camera angles earlier.” 

For the second time that night, Sora jumped, tilting his head back to see Roxas next to him, camera ready to film. “Roxas!” 

“Shh, the judges are watching your performance,” Roxas shrugged. “Anyway, Riku wasn’t exactly… thrilled to dance with Larxene.”

“He said he’d dance with Sora or not at all,” Larxene spat, turning abruptly to ignore all of them, her mermaid style red dress flaring out around her. 

“Well, yeah, that too,” Roxas shrugged. “So when we figured that we caught a majority of your practice in dress rehearsal earlier, we decided to cut that and show it to the judges instead. You guys were nearly done anyway.”

Distractedly, Sora nodded, turning back to the screen where the dance was just finishing up, he and Riku dancing separately on the dance floor. Through the speakers, Sora could hear the muffled shouts of Pluto’s name and the dog running onto the dance floor. The video cut just before Sora went down, though it was obvious what the end result was going to be. 

Sora turned back to Roxas. “But then… where’s Riku?”

“Sora!” 

Riku came running across the dance floor, hopping over the barrier between the floor and the “After Dance” seating area. “Sora! Sorry, I thought you were backstage. I wanted to tell you…”

“Uugh,” Larxene scoffed. “Someone put me out of my misery…”

“That can be arranged,” Aqua said, already walking over to Larxene to keep her quiet. 

“Riku?” Sora asked, reaching out to place a hand on Riku’s shoulder. “Why did you—”

“We started this thing together. It didn’t feel right. Dancing with someone else. I only want to dance with you.” 

Larxene made another gagging sound though it was quickly cut off by a sharp squeal of pain. Aqua must have elbowed her. 

Sora started to reply, but then Roxas shouted. “Sora, Riku! Here, quickly!”

Riku helped Sora stand and they moved in front of Roxas’ camera. Kristoff appeared next to them as well. 

“Well, guys, even in dress rehearsal that was quite some dance. So, Sora, I heard the dog took you out for the count this week.” 

Sora grinned. “Yeah, Pluto crashed right into me. Luckily it was just some minor bruising, and I should be okay to dance next week. Sorry that I let Riku down this week.” 

“It wouldn’t have been the same without you,” Riku assured him. 

“Well, let’s see what the judges say!”

They switched over to the camera focused on the judges, and Lumière spoke first this time.

“Well, it is certainly a disappointment that we could not see that live. Hopefully, should you make it through, perhaps we can make arrangements to see it next week? It certainly showed promise and much improvement from you, Riku.”

“Indeed,” Prudence added. “Your movements were much more relaxed and poised, and your confidence in your dancing is growing. There’s just… something holding you back from that final push into true control over your movements.”

“For once I agree, with Pru,” Charlotte, waved at the screen. “Not that it wasn’t great. It would have been an amazing dance live, but there’s just something, Riku. Something holding you back and I’d love to see every ounce of emotion you have within you shown through your dance. Leave nothing behind, and express everything in your movements.” 

Riku nodded, evidently taking those words to heart. Sora swallowed, ready for the scores. He felt Riku’s hand squeeze his waist lightly. 

“8!”

“7!”

“8!”

Sora gasped. A 23? That wasn’t bad considering they hadn’t performed live! He leaned into Riku’s embrace, feeling his heart lighten. 

“Don’t worry,” Riku murmured in his ear. “I meant what I said. I never want to dance with anyone but you.” 

Sora could feel his heart hammer in his chest as he pulled away. “Well, hopefully, you’ll never have to worry about that then.” 

For the rest of the performances, Riku sat next to Sora. They watched as Aladdin and Belle performed their contemporary, while Axel and Naveen danced a crazy cha-cha to a song Sora didn’t recognize. What took most of Sora’s attention was the garish pants they wore. Bright yellow and orange with layers of fringe all the way down. The outfits matched the dance and their crazed grins, so Sora supposed it was alright. 

Demyx and Rapunzel’s jazz routine to "Rhapsody in Blue" had the whole audience clapping, while Buzz and Xion’s charleston was a huge hit as well. Olette and Anna received the second high score of the night for their foxtrot. 

But then, it was time for eliminations, and this time all of the contestants would have to stand to hear if they were safe or out. 

Riku helped Sora to the stage, holding him tightly even though Sora insisted he could stand on his own. With his heart hammering in his chest, Sora waited as Aurora opened the envelope that contained the names of who was out. 

“And tonight, the pairing that will be leaving us is…”

Sora breathed. They scored well, but would it be enough?

“No one!” Aurora shouted. 

Sora’s eyes widened. What?

“Due to Sora’s injury, the judges felt it wasn’t fair to let anyone leave this week. So you are all safe,” Aurora turned away from the contestants and back to the camera. “But this does mean that next week will be our first ever double eliminations. Who will stay and who will go? Be sure to vote for your favorites at our website or call our toll free number at—”

Sora tuned out the rest as Riku’s arms wrapped around him. “We made it. We’re safe!” 

Sora still couldn’t quite believe it, but he nodded into Riku’s chest. “Yeah. We made it. I still can’t believe you took that chance.” 

“I’m not done dancing with you yet,” Riku said, his voice almost muffled in Sora’s shoulder. 

Sora tightened his arms. He wasn’t done dancing with Riku yet either. They would have to make next week’s dance their best yet. 

Chapter Text

“Okay, okay,” Sora laughed as he kicked his feet in the cool water, leaning back on his hands. The water felt nice as he sat at the edge of the pool. Yesterday was his last day of ‘light activity’ on his ankle, and he received a clean bill of health from both the doctor and Donald this morning.  Riku sat down next to him, slipping his own feet into the chlorinated water. Reigning in his laughter, Sora turned to Riku. “So when did you first learn to swim?”

“Hmm…” Riku tapped a finger to his chin, his own feet making small waves in the water. 

Sora struggled not to notice that Riku’s thigh muscles shifted with the movement. Riku was wearing a pair of loose black swim trunks and no shirt, so Sora had been distracted all day. 

“Probably when I fell into the family pool,” Riku finally answered. 

“What?!” Sora’s eyes widened. “How old were you?”

‘Like, one or two maybe,” Riku shrugged. “My dad got me out quickly, but Mom swears I was already paddling my way to the surface. They enrolled me in toddler swim lessons soon after. It just grew from there…” 

“Oh,” Sora said. “And that’s not a memorable year for you?”

Riku laughed. “It’s not like that! I’ve just… been swimming for as long as I can remember.”

Sora sighed. They’d have to find something for Riku’s most memorable year. Roxas and Ven would be by in a half hour to film something for the rehearsal video, and they had picked the pool as a backdrop presuming that Riku would choose something to do with his swim career.

“What’s your most memorable year?”

“Huh?” Sora startled at Riku’s question, and he sat up a bit to think about it. “Uh… well. Probably the year I moved up to head dancer on this program. I always loved choreographing and teaching some of the younger backup dancers. So when they needed another male dancer in the professional line up, I jumped at the chance. My first partner was pretty good too, this young socialite named Alice. We only made it to week 5, but it was the first chance I ever had to do something I loved and get recognized for it as an individual. It… gave me a much-needed confidence boost.”

“I’m glad,” Riku said, kicking his feet up higher and nearly splashing them both with pool water. “You definitely deserved that chance.”

Sora laughed. “You didn’t even know me back then.” 

“I can tell… I’m sure you were always an amazing dancer.” 

Sora felt his face heat up and he ducked his head, glad that he was wearing a t-shirt along with his swim trunks so it could hide the redness in his chest. Riku was so sweet and kind, Sora wondered how people didn’t half fall in love with him all the time. 

Coughing into his fist to try and hide his blush for a moment longer, Sora turned back to Riku. “What about your first year of professional competition?” 

Riku stared at the water for a long time, kicking his feet absently. 

Just as Sora was about to take the question back, or try and laugh it off, Riku sighed deeply. 

“I don’t… like thinking about that first year too much.” 

“Oh…” Sora frowned, tilting his head. He felt there was a story there, but he supposed it would be rude to ask. Especially since Riku just said he didn’t like thinking about it. 

But it appeared that Riku did want to talk about it.

“My first swim coach… before Coach Triton, I mean. She was my high school coach and she… pushed a little too hard.” In the water, Riku’s feet kicked harder, agitating the water. “It was constant swim practice; no time for school or friends. It was never about… competing against myself for a better time, but only about winning.”

“Seriously?” Sora felt bad for Riku. “What did you do?”

Riku shrugged. “I didn’t do anything. I thought that was how I needed to be in order to be stronger than everyone else. So I focused on winning, on being not just better, but the best. I…” Riku trailed off with a self-deprecating chuckle. “I was honestly a brat. I told you that you wouldn’t have liked me at that age.”

“That’s not true!” Sora leaned closer so his arm brushed against Riku’s. “I would have just made sure that you got to rest and stuff. I would have told that mean coach to back off.” 

Riku laughed, this time in earnest. “I would have loved to see that. She was mean. Sometimes I swore she could breathe fire with her critique.” 

Sora puffed out his chest. “Then Sir Sora would have swooped in to slay the dragon!”

Riku’s feet finally stilled as he threw his head back in laughter. “My hero!” 

Sora grinned, glad that he could get Riku to smile again. 

“So,” Sora said, kicking his legs again. “How did you start training under Coach Triton?”

Riku breathed deeply, trying to calm his laughter. “Oh, it’s not a big deal. He lived nearby and had come out to recruit one or two seniors for the college he worked for at the time. He was going to meet with Maleficent — my coach — in her office and spotted me practicing late… It had been a rough week and I was just finishing up but I… almost fell asleep in the pool. He noticed and got me out. Asked me all sorts of questions about my training schedule.”

Riku began moving his feet again under the water, but slower so there were only small ripples. “I don’t know what he said to Maleficent, but he called my parents that weekend and offered to coach me for free. He used words like “overworked” and “burn out,” eventually convincing them that it would be best. For the rest of my high school career, I trained under him. And then when I started qualifying for national and international competitions, he remained my swim coach. I have other coaches for weight training and cardio, but he still… makes sure that I don’t overwork myself.”

Sora hummed in acknowledgment, remembering the weekly emails to Riku’s coach about their dance schedule. “Yeah, I know.” 

Riku laughed once more. “He means well, he’s just a little…” 

When Riku trailed off without saying anything, Sora laughed. “Yeah. I… get that, I suppose.” 

They stared out at the nearly empty pool for a moment longer. It was a slow day, only a few members of the public coming in for exercise, one of them finishing up, leaving two lanes next to each other open. Sora grinned, turning to Riku. “Race you!”

“Huh?”

But Sora was already standing up, taking off his shirt and tossing it near his bag. Studiously ignoring the feel of Riku’s eyes on him, Sora quickly walked to the end of a swimming lane. He jumped into the water, a little shocked at the cool temperature but adjusting quickly. He heard a second splash as he emerged for air and found Riku treading water next to him, long hair tied up in a messy wet bun, and a bright grin on his face.

“Technically, you’re supposed to start a race out of the pool.”

Sora rolled his eyes. “Okay, well, this is now an unsanctioned swim race. But I’m still gonna win!”

Riku laughed, doubling over in glee. “If you say so. What are the rules?” 

“Um… freestyle stroke, there and back? First one to reach the wall back here wins.” Sora grinned, grabbing the ledge and pulling his feet flat against the side of the pool, scrunching up his body as much as possible to get a better start. “Ready?”

“Are you?”

“Okay, we go on my count. 3… 2… 1, GO!” Sora pushed off the wall.

He glided through the water, then began to swim in earnest, instinct from his years growing up near the ocean taking over. He reached as far as possible with his strokes, kicking as fast as he could. 

He reached the end of the lane, pressing his hand against the wall and turning. He caught a glimpse of Riku just ahead of him, gliding through the water like a fish. Or maybe a merman. Sora paused, just for a moment to watch, before the competitive spirit caught up with him and he dove back in the water, his swimming much noisier than Riku’s graceful strokes. 

He touched the start of the lane, breathing a bit heavy. Glancing over at Riku, he was unsurprised to find an amused smirk on his face. “What?” 

“Nothing. you’re just… enthusiastic when you swim.”

Sora chuckled. “You mean noisy. Are you sure you’re not part mermaid or something?”

Riku covered a smile with his hand. “Or something.” 

They laughed for a moment longer before Riku pushed some of the wet hair that escaped his ponytail out of his eyes. Sora suddenly remembered something he had noticed while watching videos of Riku’s win at the Olympics. “Oh yeah. Can I ask something?”

Riku tilted his head but nodded. 

“What’s with the hair? I mean in all your swim meets, you always have short hair, but right now—”

“Oh…” Riku scratched his head for a second. “It’s really not a big deal, but usually I grow it out before major competitions. In theory, hair creates natural drag in the water, so if I train with it, and then cut it before a meet and wear a swim cap, I can shave milliseconds off my time. I wax off most of my body hair too.” 

Sora couldn’t help it. He glanced at Riku’s chest, spotting several faint curls of chest hair. “Oh.” 

Riku laughed again, though Sora spotted a red blush trailing down his neck and chest. “I know, it’s a bit strange. But it’s become a ritual for me at this point. Almost like a good luck charm.”

Sora grinned, relieved that Riku didn’t find his staring off-putting. “That’s cool. I can’t wait to see that on TV during the next Olympics.” 

Riku grinned, moving a bit closer to the lane divider. “Why wait? The next national swim meet is just a few months after the end of this show. I could get you tickets. Maybe you’ll be my new lucky charm.” 

Sora’s smile widened at the idea. “I’d like that.” 

“Hey, Riku! Have you seen Dad— Oh!”

Sora startled, turning to spot a teenage girl walking up to them, sporting a bright green and purple swimsuit and her red hair tied back away from her face. 

“Hi, Ariel,” Riku said, placing a hand on Sora’s shoulder. “This is Sora, from—” 

“From Kingdom Dance Off !” Ariel exclaimed, jumping a little on the balls of her feet. “I know! I’ve been voting for you since you started in the professional line up. I was so thrilled when Riku said you were his partner! I just know you two will win. You’re the best!” 

Sora blushed, chuckling and rubbing the back of his head. “Uh, well, we’re gonna do our best But thank you!” 

Ariel grinned and jumped into the lane next to Riku, disappearing under the water for a moment. When she emerged, she was still smiling, looking a little star-struck. “Dancing looks like so much fun. I wish I could dance too.” 

“Along with your singing lessons and diving lessons?” 

Sora turned around, finding a very tall man with a long but neatly trimmed grey beard and a bright yellow baseball cap walking towards them, a stern look on his face. 

Next to Riku, Ariel sighed. “But Daddy, Riku can dance. Why can’t I?” 

“Riku is an adult. Not a young lady attending school, who leads her after school cultural studies club, attends singing lessons weekly, has nightly swim practice, and starts diving lessons with a new coach in a week.” Her father let out a sigh of his own, matching his daughter’s. “I know you want to do all these things, Ariel. But you also need time to be a teenager.” 

Ariel frowned but nodded. 

The man, who had to be Coach Triton, turned to Riku. “Now, since you’re both just talking, perhaps Riku wouldn’t mind helping Ariel warm up with a quick race?”

“Uh, no problem.” Riku got into position by the side of the pool. 

“Very good. Ariel needs to practice her backstroke. So four laps, there and back. Ready…. Go!” With a short blow from the coach’s whistle, they were off, both of them gracefully gliding through the water before starting a quick but elegant backstroke. 

Sora grinned as he watched them race. As soon as Riku and Ariel reached the other end and turned to start back, Sora saw two familiar heads of blond hair near the pool entrance. Ven and Roxas had arrived. Frowning, Sora started to get out of the pool to greet them. They still hadn’t figured out Riku’s memorable moment, but maybe they could film some stuff here anyway. Riku looked amazing when he was relaxed and in the water. 

As he hefted himself over the edge of the pool, a hand reached out to help him. Gratefully, Sora took it and he was quickly hauled to his feet. He grinned up at Coach Triton in thanks and shook some of the water from his hair before he started to walk over to his bag to get his towel. 

“I may not understand this dancing thing,” Triton started, stopping Sora in his tracks. “But I do recognize that he’s happier than I’ve seen him in a very long time. Even when he won more gold medals at the Olympics than anyone else on the team, his smile has never been bigger than when he is with you.” 

Sora felt his neck and chest grow hot under Triton’s stare and he quickly averted his gaze. “Well, dancing can bring out the best in people. Maybe he just needed it to relax a bit.”

“Perhaps.” 

Sora waited a moment longer, but when the coach didn’t say anything else, he hurried back over to his bag, taking his towel out and drying off. What did Triton mean by that? 

He tried to put it out of his mind as he greeted Ven and Roxas by the door, helping them figure out where to best set up their equipment so it wouldn’t get wet. They eventually decided to film it up in the audience stands, with the pool behind Riku as he talked. Sora waved as they started setting up. 

“They’re getting settled then?” Riku asked as he walked up, gently placing a hand on Sora’s shoulder. 

Sora looked up at him and nodded. “Yeah. Is over there okay? We wanted to get the pool in the background. They also wanted to film a few segments of your swimming. Even if you don’t know what your most memorable year is, swimming has still been a huge part of your life.”

“Yeah, of course. Do you want to do another race?” Riku winked. “I’ll even go easy on you this time.” 

Sora pouted. “No need to go easy! I was just getting warmed up last time. I’ll totally win!” 

Riku chuckled, the hand on Sora’s shoulder squeezing a bit. Sora’s pout turned into a small smile at the contact. He remembered what Triton had said, about Riku looking like he was happier. Sora was glad that he could witness this happier Riku, though he was sure he would have liked Riku at any point in his life. 

“Oh, and Ariel helped me pick a song,” Riku said. “To symbolize my most memorable year. I hope it’ll work for the dance this week.”

“Let me know what it is when I get a moment to write it down. I can listen to it and let you know,” Sora said.

Riku nodded. “Sounds good. Now… uh… Ariel was hoping to get your autograph while I was filming with Roxas and Ven. Maybe even a few pictures…” He pointed just behind Sora. 

Sora turned, seeing Ariel waving and excitedly pointing to her phone. Next to her, he saw Coach Triton pinching the bridge of his nose. Sora chuckled nervously. 

“Okay… but I’m holding you to that rematch. As soon as you’re done filming!” 

“You’re on,” Riku promised, a smirk on his face, but his eyes gentle and kind. 

Sora watched for a moment as Riku turned and walked to the filming area. He really was quite beautiful, and every week, Sora was falling more and more in love with him. 

He just wondered if Riku felt even a fraction of the same way about him. 

Sora frowned, humming the melody of Riku’s chosen song to himself, getting familiar with its rhythm and melody. He tried to not focus on the lyrics too much. 

He felt an ache in his chest worsen a bit when he thought of them.

“Oh you're the music in the dark
And you’re the sound on my guitar
Wherever you go, I’ll go wherever you go ”

“Okay, Moogle. Off.” Sora said and the music instantly cut out. 

A love song . Riku had chosen a love song to represent his most memorable year. A year that he wouldn’t even share with Sora. Riku only told Sora that it was “a secret.”  

Sora tried to shake it off. So what if Riku chose a love song? Sora could be a professional about this. So what if Riku may have been in love with someone else at one time? He was single now. This person must not have ever noticed Riku’s beautiful eyes, and soft hair… and his strength… and kindness. Or the way he laughed when Sora said something funny. Or the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. Or— 

“That’s a nice song.” 

Sora jumped into the air, placing a hand over his racing heart. “Aqua! That— You scared me!” 

“Oops.” Aqua didn’t look very apologetic. “So what’s got you all tense?”

Sora groaned. “The memorable year choreography. Riku chose a love song.” 

“Okay, and?”

“And… and—” Sora cut himself off with another groan, placing his head on his desk. “And I don’t know.”

His response came out mumbled as he stared at the woodgrain in the desk. He heard Aqua’s heels clip against the floor as she walked closer, then felt a gentle hand in his hair. 

“It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

Sora sighed, tilting slightly so he wasn’t head first in the desk’s maple finish. “I know, but what if—”

“People’s memorable years change all the time. You remember what Terra’s was, right?”

Sora furrowed his brow in thought. “ We are the champions , right?”

“Right. Because back then, that’s what it was. But now, he says that if he could do it over, he’d pick Hero .”

“Your last dance?” Sora glanced up at Aqua’s blue eyes. “Why—?”

“Because it wasn’t until later when he figured out that meeting me was his most memorable year so far. And that dance… that was when he realized he was in love with me.”

“Oh…” Sora crossed his arms with a sigh. “Well… I suppose you’re right.” 

“You suppose?” Aqua teased, ruffling his hair lightly. “In any case, just choreograph the song how you feel it should be. If Riku has a problem with it, you guys can talk about it then. But there’s no reason to get so worked up over it now.” 

Sora hummed. Aqua had a point, he could choreograph to the music as he saw it, and Riku would probably stop if something didn’t seem right. 

It still made his heart do a funny little drop in his chest though. 

Sora groaned, not sure what to say and eager to change the subject. “How’s your dance with Cinderella going? A waltz right?”

Aqua nodded. “Yeah. To ‘Lavender’s Blue’. Apparently it was a song her mother sang to her when she was young.” 

“Oh… that’s nice!” 

Sora lifted his head from the table in thought. Everyone was upping their game this week. He and Riku should too. Especially since they didn’t even dance last week and would be performing last week’s and this week’s dances in the upcoming show. No matter what he was feeling, he had to make Riku look good. He had to be a professional!

So why was the choreography brain just not working today?

“What’s with the long face?”

“Riku!” Sora shot out of his seat, knocking the chair to the ground in his shock. Aqua raised a hand to cover her giggle as Sora tried to calm his racing heart. That was the second time today someone had snuck upon him. “What… what brings you here?” 

“Practice?” Riku laid his bag by the door. “It’s 11.” 

“Oh! Is it?” Sora looked at the clock, finding that it was indeed, 11 on the dot. “Oh… sorry. I guess I lost track of time. I don’t uh... “ Sora trailed off, scratching the back of his neck. Professional. He could be professional. 

“I’ll see you later, Sora,” Aqua said, waving as she left the room. 

Sora waved in return then turned back to Riku. “Sorry, my brain has just been… Anyway. I’m sorry, but I don’t have any choreography yet for this week's dance. I usually try to have it before now, but—” 

“That’s okay,” Riku shrugged, walking up and taking both of Sora’s hands, leading him away from his desk and onto the dance floor. “You usually start with basics anyway, right? What if today we focus on the basics, and tomorrow we can start on choreography. Maybe those cobwebs in your brain just need to be shaken up a little.” 

Despite his new resolve to be more professional, Sora felt his heart melting and he let a wide smile slip through. “Yeah. Maybe.” 

Taking a deep breath, Sora stepped closer to Riku, until there was barely a breath of space between them. “So, the samba is a little different. You kind of lead with your hips as well as your feet.” 

Riku looked down. “I’m not sure my hips can lead. My feet barely do the job.”

“Your feet are fine,” Sora laughed, grabbing Riku’s hands and placing them on his own hips. Riku’s hands were warm through the thin fabric of Sora’s workout pants. “Just feel how I move mine, okay? It’s all about rhythm.” 

Riku tightened his grip and nodded. Sora turned to his speaker. “Okay, Moogle! Play ‘Wherever you go’ by Jonas Blue!” 

The music started back up, and Sora started to move his hips to the rhythm. Riku’s hands tightened a bit as Sora began to move his feet slightly as well, pushing Riku back towards the windows. Their hips crashed together as Riku stumbled, but after that, he began to get the rhythm and slowly started to move his hips as well. Sora grinned, gently taking Riku’s hands in his so he could hold them out to the sides as they continued to move and sway their hips.

“See? You’re a natural!”

Riku chuckled. “Not nearly as good as you. Well, I’m sure it helps to have a prominent as—” Riku suddenly cut off with blush, and Sora frowned. 

“Prominent what?” 

“Erh… nothing!” Riku chuckled nervously, pulling away to wipe a hand over his face. “Anyway. So what got you stuck on the choreography? 

Sora hummed, listening as the song continued to play. 

I took all my armor off, on, off, on, off
My love used to be tainted
Do you know you saved me?
I'm ready to say, yeah-yeah

“It’s just… the words are kind of. Love song-esque?” 

Riku seemed to freeze, but the halt of movement was so subtle Sora thought it might be a trick of the light. “Yeah?”

“Oh.” Sora frowned, not sure how to phrase the rest of his question. “Er… how, uh, romantic should the choreography be? To go along with why your year is so memorable?” 

To his surprise, Riku seemed to have to think about it, crossing his arms and raising one hand to his chin. “Uh, well… It should be fun. I suppose. Like… like making a connection you didn’t expect when you meet someone the first time. Could you choreograph something like… that?”

Sora blinked. Was that all? A connection? He thought back to the first time he met Riku. That instant his heart started to beat double-time and the first time they danced. The connection they had shared instantly. 

“Yeah. I think I can work with that.” 

He was a professional after all. 

Sora threw himself into his work to distract himself from the question of who Riku’s dance was for. Choreographing came easily once he had the inspiration. That first meeting, the feeling in his heart. 

He just hoped it wouldn’t be too obvious to everyone else. 

“You guys ready?” Roxas asked as he walked past, a camera on his shoulder for the next shot. On the dance floor, Buzz and Xion were getting their scores (a low but not disappointing total score of 24). Shifting his shoulder to relieve the weight for a moment, Roxas turned back to Sora. “You guys are up after Aqua and Cinderella.” 

“Yeah,” Sora nodded. Then he tapped Roxas’s shoulder. “Hey, do you know… Er, Riku’s memorable year. You saw our rehearsal… do you think it, uh, it’s good? Showcases that?” 

The look Roxas gave him made Sora feel silly for even asking the question. 

“Trust me, Sora. You have nothing to worry about.” 

He left before Sora could ask him to elaborate, leaving Sora to ponder that answer on his own. 

Was that good then? Sora knew he choreographed a damn good dance, and Riku never mentioned if it seemed off. They practiced for hours, getting every move exactly right. Sora knew this would be their best dance yet. It would show off all of Riku’s skills and moves. Not to mention his muscles as Fairy Godmother went with a rather… revealing costume for this week. 

“It’s so cold back here,” Riku murmured as his arms snaked around Sora’s waist and held him close. 

Sora’s breath hitched at the contact, and he resisted leaning back into the embrace and into Riku’s bare chest. He didn’t see how Riku was cold when he felt like a furnace. 

“I’m sure we can find you a shirt until we go on,” Sora pointed out. 

Riku’s arms tightened. “But you’re so warm…” 

Outwardly, Sora chuckled even as he wasn’t sure what this meant. Was Riku only playing around? Or did he like him or— 

“When we come back, it’s Vanitas and Kairi dancing the jive to ‘I’m still standing’!” 

Kristoff’s voice rang through the backstage area, filled with dancers getting ready. Rapunzel and Demyx were on after Vanitas and Kairi. Rapunzel looked like a living embodiment of a rainbow in her dress. 

Sora and Riku had already performed their dance from last week, and the producers had ensured they would go last this week so they had plenty of time to change. Though… Riku didn’t have much of a costume to change into. Sora’s own outfit was a loose button-up shirt. Neither were really traditional for a samba, but everyone said they looked good during dress rehearsals earlier. 

“Break a leg, guys!” Aqua said as she passed by, the beads on her dress, a cascade of iridescent blue shimmer, rustling softly. Cinderella followed in a similar beaded dress of light blue sparkle and shine. 

“You too!” 

The lights soon came back on, and Sora was able to catch glimpses of Vanitas and Kairi’s dance. Vanitas had really loosened up since his second-week dance; his jive with Kairi was the most fun and relaxed dance Sora had seen him do all season. He easily swung Kairi around the floor and kept up with the quick steps and moves. Sora was a little too far away to see clearly, but he was pretty sure there was even a smile on Vanitas’s face. 

“He looks happy,” Riku murmured into Sora’s hair, and Sora nodded in agreement. 

The judges must have been happy with the dance as well, giving Vanitas and Kairi the high total score of 27. The camera immediately shifted over to Kristoff where he was interviewing Aqua and Cinderella and then introducing their rehearsal video. 

Riku squeezed Sora’s waist for a moment before pulling away. “You ready? We’re up next.” 

“Of course.” Sora looked back with a grin. “Are you?” 

“Yeah.” Riku grinned back, but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. 

Sora felt his own smile slip. “What’s wrong? Nervous?” 

“Uh… yeah. I guess. For the rehearsal video.” 

“Rehearsal video?” Sora realized that it would reveal Riku’s most memorable year. The secret he had been keeping from Sora. “Oh? Do I get to know what your most memorable year is then? I can keep it a secret! I’m, like, the best secret-keeper in the world!” 

Instantly, Riku’s nervous energy dissipated, and he threw his head back in laughter. “I’m sure. But you’ll find out soon enough.” 

“Hmm.” Sora tried to stare Riku down but broke off into his own nervous giggles instead. “I just hope it was a good year.” 

“Yeah. Best year of my life.” 

“Then I look forward to hearing about it!” 

Aqua and Cinderella finished up their lovely waltz, also receiving high scores from the judges. The show then cut to a quick commercial break and Kristoff motioned for Riku and Sora to join him on stage. 

Sora grinned, about to step up onto the floor, but Riku grabbed his hand, holding him back. 

“Wait… before we go out there. I just wanted to say…” Riku trailed off, looking away from Sora for a moment. “Thank you. For teaching me all this stuff.” 

Sora tilted his head, feeling like Riku wanted to say more, but when nothing else came, Sora nodded. “Of course. It’s my job.” 

Riku grinned, though again the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Right. Of course.” 

Sora frowned but pulled Riku towards the camera. 

The stage lights came back on as soon as they reached Kristoff. 

“Welcome back to Kingdom Dance Off! Here we are with Riku and his partner, Sora, who are about to grace our stage with a Samba danced to ‘Wherever You Go’ by Jonas Blue. How have you guys prepared for this dance?” 

“Well, Sora tried to show me how to move my hips,” Riku chuckled. “I guess we’ll see tonight how well that went.” 

“You’re great!” Sora encouraged him. “They’ll see!”

“Well, before we see you guys, we’ll check out your rehearsal video.” 

Sora looked up at the screen, feeling a little nervous now that the answer to his question would finally be answered. 

The video began with Riku talking a bit about his swimming career, showing a few shots of the race he and Sora did after his interview at the pool. Sora laughed as Riku’s skill in the water was evident in comparison to his own splash-filled movements. 

“So,” Roxas’s voice came through off-screen as the focus of the video returned to Riku. “Was the year you won your first Olympic gold your most memorable year?” 

The Riku on-screen smiled a little sardonically. “You know, if you had asked me that five weeks ago, I might have said yes, for lack of anything else to say. Sora asked me that earlier too… but it wasn’t really until today I realized that… it’s not. I’ve loved every moment I had at the Olympics, but if you were to ask me years from now, I would have to say that this year was probably my most memorable.”

“Oh? Why?” 

On screen, Riku’s gaze shifted, focusing on something behind the camera. With a start, Sora realized that Riku must have been looking at him. When Sora had been signing an autograph for Ariel. 

“I met someone who has become very special to me. He showed me that life isn’t about the next meet or the next tournament. That it was about trying your best and attempting new things. Being on this show and meeting Sora, that is my most memorable experience. I’ll never forget this. I’ll…” Riku trailed off, returning his focus to the camera. “I’ll never forget him. So, thanks, Sora. For making this my most memorable year.” 

The screen went dark, and Sora shot his head back to look at Riku. He felt his eyes burning with unshed tears, a million questions on his mind. 

But then the music started. 

Sora didn’t have more time to think about what Riku meant in that rehearsal video. The song’s upbeat and happy tune began to play through the speakers and though it felt like a counter-rhythm to his own heartbeat, Sora let instinct take over. 

He moved with the music as Riku spun him out and back in. They held each other’s hands as they danced across the floor, steps light and quick as their hips shook in a synchronized beat. Riku twirled Sora round and round before pulling him in, Sora’s back to his chest. With practiced steps, they performed two samba rolls in quick succession, Riku guiding Sora’s arm out and back in, both of them leaning back in a smooth motion. Sora felt his heart beat out of his chest as he leaned back, trusting Riku to hold his weight and keep balance. He thought he could hear Riku’s heartbeat as well, hammering away as they continued to dance. 

Sora twirled out and shook his hips, grinning as Riku tried his best to mirror the action. It wasn’t the best, but it was a very good try. 

Sora then spun back into Riku’s arms, crossing over so he leaned back into Riku’s left arm. Quickly, Riku lowered Sora nearly to the ground. Relaxing completely in Riku’s hold, Sora trusted Riku not to drop him. 

My white flag is waving
I'm yours for the taking
I took all my armor off, on, off, on, off

With one hand, Riku raised Sora up and down to the beat of the lyrics “on, off, on, off.” On the next line, You’re the music in the dark, Riku lifted Sora up off the ground in one fluid movement, twirling him around the dance floor for a turn before setting him back on the ground, and they danced to the finish. They held hands and danced around the floor, their steps quick and light once more. Then, on the last line, Riku spun Sora out, ending the choreographed steps. 

I’ll go wherever you go

*RIP!* 

Sora gasped at the sudden breeze he felt on his chest and collar bones. Quickly, he glanced back, finding that Riku’s grip on his hand must have grabbed his shirt as well. The thin fabric ripped right down the front seam, some of the buttons scattering to the dance floor. Thinking fast, Sora quickly took his arm out from the sleeve, spinning out one more time to remove his other arm. Then he held the sleeve close to his waist and spun back in. The movement was fluid enough that it looked like part of the dance as Sora’s ripped shirt wrapped around his waist. 

Sora meant to stop as soon as he hit Riku’s chest, but Riku instead turned, dipping Sora with one arm and staring down at him, breathing heavily. Sora was busy catching his own breath, a flurry of emotions racing through his veins. 

Slowly, as if in their own world, Riku raised Sora back to his feet. Their eyes never left each other, their bare chest nearly touching as they heaved from the intensity of the dance and the tension between them. 

Sora raised a hand, nearly pressing it against Riku’s chest, trying to see if Riku’s heart was beating as fast as his. But he hesitated, finding a question in Riku’s eyes instead. He leaned in closer, their breath mingling. 

“WOW! That dance was amazing!!” 

Sora gasped, jerking out of his reverie, and the spell was broken. The sounds of the audience cheering and Aurora’s voice right next to him came rushing back. His veins flooded with embarrassment as he felt suddenly hot all over, despite his bare chest. Sheepishly grinning, Sora tried to subtly unwrap the shirt from around his waist, but it was firmly stuck, so he settled for self-consciously crossing his arms. Riku wrapped an arm around his back as well, shielding him further. 

The audience was going wild, many of them out of their seats as they cheered. Over at the judges’ table, Charlotte was fanning herself with one of her scorecards, while Lumière’s jaw was practically on the table. Only Prudence looked unfazed. 

Aurora tried to calm the crowd, but they kept cheering as she ushered Riku and Sora closer to the judges’ table to receive their scores. 

“Wow,” Charlotte said into her microphone, her voice carrying over the cries from the audience and finally calming them to take their seats once more. “Wow, wow, wowowwow. WOW.” 

“I think you were impressed, Charlotte,” Lumière said, chuckling as Charlotte continued to fan herself. 

“Wow,” Charlotte said again. 

Lumière laughed and turned to Sora and Riku. “Well, while Charlotte remembers how to speak fluently, I just wanted to say that that dance was fantastic. You moved your hips to the rhythm and you glided across the floor. And that chemistry—” 

“That was the best part!” Charlotte interrupted. 

“Exactement!” Lumière nodded in agreement, slipping into his native French. “You two were in unison! And that move at the end! Was that planned?” 

Sora blushed, chuckling self-consciously as he shook his head. “Uh, no. Wardrobe malfunction. But you know, the show must go on.” 

“I just did what came natural.” 

“And that is what you brought here tonight, Riku. The poise and grace and spontaneity that comes with dancing. Wonderful job, both of you!” Lumière held up two thumbs to signify his praise. 

“Oh, gosh I certainly agree.” Charlotte gushed, unable to contain her excitement. “You two dancing together was, gosh, that was wonderful. I have never seen as much chemistry on the floor as I have tonight. That was hot, sexy, everything a samba should be. Those rolls. You two got those down perfectly. That was amazing!” 

“It was,” Prudence paused to think on her words. “Better than your other performances so far. Technically, it was nearly flawless. But the trust between dance partners was certainly on display here tonight.” 

Sora grinned. That was high, high praise from Prudence. Would this be the night they’d get a perfect score?

“And your scores?” Aurora asked. 

“10!” Lumière called out. 

“10!” Charlotte added. “Though I’d totally give an eleven if I could. Can I do that?” 

“No you cannot,” Prudence reprimanded, then held up her own scorecard. “9.” 

Sora gently released a slightly disappointed sigh. So close to that perfect score!

“Well, that ties with your high score from Disney Night!” Aurora complimented. “Alright, you two. We’ll see you in just a moment for eliminations. When we come back to Kingdom Dance off!” 

The stage lights dimmed. Sora almost reached for his shirt again to try and pull the remnants back on and hide his chest, but then Riku was gently guiding him off stage. Not to the area where the other dancers sat after their performance, but to an area just behind the camera and out of sight of the audience. 

“Listen, Sora. About the rehearsal video—” 

“Did you mean it?!” Sora asked. He had  to know. “About… meeting me making this your most memorable year?” 

In the dimmed studio lights, Sora couldn’t quite make out Riku’s face. But nothing could hide his eyes and the honesty Sora found in them. 

“Yes.” 

Sora gulped around his dry throat. “And… And the song?” 

Riku barked out a surprised laugh that he quickly quieted. “I… It was the song that played in my car when I left practice that first time we met. I just… I remember sitting in the car in the parking lot. Listening to this song. And thinking about how my heart raced when we danced that waltz.” 

Sora gasped, unable to stop his tears. “So… so that song was for me?” 

He thought he had made a mistake, choreographing what many would consider a “love” dance. But Riku said—

“Er, yeah. Wa… Was it too obvious?” 

“I—” Sora frowned. Was it obvious? 

“Yes,” Ven said, interrupted both of them from his spot, adjusting the camera nearby. “It was so obvious that Roxas was sure Sora would figure it out before tonight.” He turned back to the camera. “By the way, you guys got one more minute.” 

Riku pulled Sora a little further into the shadows and away from Ven. “Sora… Sora I—” 

Sora leaned up and covered Riku’s mouth with his own before he could finish. Their lips crashed together, a little awkwardly at first. But then Riku tilted his head and wrapped one arm around Sora’s back, the other buried in Sora’s hair, gently cupping his head. Then the kiss was perfect. Sora raised a hand, this time showing no hesitation as he placed it on Riku’s slightly sweaty pectoral muscle, feeling Riku’s heartbeat race under his palm. 

It was perfect and amazing and everything Sora ever wanted. 

“Ahem?”

And over way too soon. 

Reluctantly and a little dazed, Sora broke away, turning to stare at Ven in confusion. Didn’t he see that Sora was kissing Riku? Wonderful, amazing, handsome Riku?! Why would Ven stop this miracle?

“You guys still have to get through eliminations. And, like, the entire show. No fraternizing with the contestants, Sora.” 

Sora felt his face heat up and he quickly hid it in Riku’s chest. “Oh.” 

He felt more than heard Riku’s nervous laugh. “It’s my fault. I think.” 

Sora shook his head. “No… We, er… We’ll discuss it later. I mean—” 

He was cut off by the announcement over the PA system, letting everyone know that they were less than 10 seconds away from going live once more. Sora grabbed Riku’s arm, dragging him to their spot to wait for eliminations. He could talk with Riku later. About the no fraternizing rules and other things. 

They could talk about everything later. 

Including that kiss.

“Welcome back to Kingdom Dance Off !!” Aurora stated into the microphone. “Tonight is our first double elimination. Your votes and the judges’ scores will determine which contestants and their dance partners will be leaving the show tonight.”

Sora closed his eyes. They hadn’t even really competed last week. Was their rehearsal and their dance this week enough to make up for it? 

If… if they went out though. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about the fraternization rules. 

“This first couple eliminated is… Buzz and Xion.” 

Despite his thoughts about not having to deal with the show rules if he was eliminated, Sora still let out a breath of relief. 

He realized that he still wanted to win. He wanted Riku to win. 

“And our next couple eliminated is... “ 

Sora held his breath, and he felt Riku wrap an arm around his waist in support. 

“... Belle and Aladdin!” 

Sora sighed out another breath of relief, leaning back into Riku’s chest. Another week. They could dance together another week. 

“We’ll be right back with our eliminated contestants, but first, thank you to our other dancers. You’re safe for another week. Next week on Kingdom Dance Off? Date Night!”

Sora swallowed around his suddenly dry throat. He had forgotten next week was date night. 

“Date Night, huh?” Riku grinned down at Sora, and Sora felt all his nervousness suddenly melt away. “Sounds perfect.” 

Sora let out the laugh that had been bubbling up. A nervous chuckle filled with the butterflies that had been in his stomach just moments before. “Yeah… I can’t wait.” 

He had to find the perfect song for Date Night!

Chapter Text

Sora bit his lip as he waited for Riku to arrive, struggling not to glance at the clock every five minutes. 

He couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. 

They hadn’t talked about it after the show, and it seemed weird to bring up over text or phone call. Today would be the first day since the kiss (™) that they would see each other in person, and Sora had been practicing what to say all week.

“Hey Riku, about that kiss…” he said aloud once more into the empty studio, then frowned. “Hi, Riku? So, Riku— Riku, I, uh, argh! This shouldn’t be so hard!” 

Sora gritted his teeth. No matter what went through his head, he could never get past Riku’s name. Just saying it sent the butterflies in his stomach into a tizzy and made him lose all train of thought. Maybe he just needed to keep saying it? To get all the butterflies out of his system? “Riku. Riku! Riiikuuu—”

“Yes?”

Sora screamed and jumped out of his chair, sending it crashing to the floor with a loud bang. Flinching at the noise, Sora turned to the door with a sheepish smile. “Hey, Riku.” 

Still hovering just outside the door frame, Riku was evidently struggling not to grin and laugh, covering his mouth with his hands. “Hey, Sora.” 

The shock wearing off, Sora giggled nervously. “Sorry, you startled me.” 

“I see that.” Riku sat his bag just inside the door, then walked over and picked up Sora’s chair with ease, setting it back on its feet. He glanced down at Sora’s eyes, then quickly averted his gaze. “So… er, I— How’s your day?”

Sora blinked. “It’s fine. You?”

“Good, good…” Riku nodded, one hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck. 

Sora swallowed around his dry throat. Now or never, he supposed. 

“Ri—”

“Sor—” 

They both stopped when they realized they had spoken at the same time. Sora chuckled. “You first?” 

Riku grinned back, before averting his eyes again. “Yeah, um… After, after this show is done… I’ll be moving.”

Sora felt his heart drop. “Moving? I mean, out of your hotel right? But yeah, your apartment is only an hour or so away, near the—” 

“Out near the Bay area, yeah.” Riku agreed. “I had actually been looking at apartments closer to here — the studio I mean.”

“Really?” Some of the dread in Sora’s heart lessened. “Why?”

Riku laughed, finally meeting Sora’s gaze as he reached up to gently brush Sora’s bangs aside. “You have to ask?” 

Sora felt his face heat up, and this time it was him who looked away bashfully. “Riku, I—” 

“But now I have to move across the country. To Atlantica.” 

The words died on Sora’s lips. Atlantica was thousands of miles away. “What? Why?!” 

Riku sighed. “Coach Triton’s daughter — one of the older ones, I mean. Something happened and she needs her family. They’re all super close, so Coach Triton and Ariel are flying out at the end of the week to be with her. He also took a job out there so he could stay for a while. Ariel’s angry too and wants to stay, but…” Riku trailed off with a shrug. 

“Why do you have to go?” 

Riku sighed. “I’ve never been far from my coaches, especially Triton. And with the International Swim Competition early next year and training for the next Olympics… Coach thought it would be better if I moved out there as well to train, and I—” 

Sora’s heart broke when he heard Riku’s breath catch, and he quickly wrapped his arms around Riku as best he could. “It’s okay. Moving can be scary, I understand that.” 

Riku buried his face in Sora’s shoulder, shaking his head. “Moving doesn’t scare me. I’ve done it before. I just— I never had something I wanted to hang on to so bad.” 

Sora almost opened his mouth to ask what that was, but then he felt Riku’s hands curl into his shirt, clinging tight, and Sora realized who it was Riku wanted to hold onto. 

Sora felt tears come to his own eyes but he stubbornly refused to let them fall. “It’s okay, Riku. We can still be—” 

The word “friends” died in his throat. He wanted to be more than friends. 

But would they have time to establish anything? With the “no fraternization” rule… it would be near impossible to start something. And he didn’t know if their bond could stand up against such a long distance. 

Instead of saying any of that. Sora clutched Riku’s shirt tightly, understanding the feeling of not wanting to let go. 

Eventually, Sora let out a sigh. “We’ll just have to make the best of the time we have left. However, we can’t—” 

Riku sighed. “I know. I re-read the contract Naminé sent me. No fraternization right? No kissing, flirting—” 

“And definitely no dating,” Sora finished with a sigh. “But I—” 

“I know,” Riku said, kissing Sora briefly on the forehead. “I would ask you out in a heartbeat if I could.” 

Sora giggled, then pulled away, trying to bring some levity back into the dance studio. “I guess it’s a good thing it’s date night this week then?” 

Slowly, some of the light returned to Riku’s features. “Right. We’ll just… I want to make the most of the time I have left here. So that means making it all the way to the finals, right?” 

Sora nodded in agreement. “Right. And to do that, I have our song for this week.” 

“What is it?” 

“‘So Close’. From the movie Enchanted.” 

Riku’s brow furrowed. “Isn’t that another Disney movie? But we already had Disney night.” 

Sora chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. It had taken him ages to convince Naminé, and therefore the producers, to let him dance this with Riku. It was one of his personal favorites. “Well, they wanted to use this at Disney night, but, uh, you know. So they gave it to us this week! Is that okay?” 

“Sure!” Riku leaned against Sora’s desk. “The dance style is contemporary, right? How is that different from the other dance styles?” 

“Contemporary can be a little bit of everything,” Sora explained. “I was thinking we could definitely make use of your upper body strength for some lifts.” 

As they practiced some lifts and Sora began to choreograph the dance in his head, the tension from their earlier conversation began to ease. As long as Sora focused on work and dance, he didn’t feel like the thought of Riku leaving was dragging him down. He could do this. If he wanted to hold on to Riku for as long as possible, he would have to make sure Riku made it to the finals. 

They managed to start some of the beginning steps of their dance before Riku left for weight training and Sora was left to his own thoughts, sketching out the rest of the choreography and wondering what to do about his feelings. Without Riku here with him, the doubt and sadness began to creep in a bit.

“Sora?”

Sora yelped, leaping out of his chair for the second time that day. His chair tumbled to the ground with a crash.  

“Why is everyone so set on giving me a heart attack?” he grumbled, turning to face Anna’s giggling face in the doorway, her hands trying to hide her smile. “Hey, Anna. How can I help ya?” 

Anna’s smile was huge when she lowered her hands. “Can you help me teach something to Olette? We’re working on our cha-cha, and I don’t think I’m explaining something right.” 

Sora grinned, feigning hesitation. “Well, I don’t think I’m supposed to help the competition…” 

“Sora,” Anna laughed. “I’ll owe you one!” 

“Oh alright…” Sora chuckled, righting his chair once more and walking out his studio door, turning off the lights as he did so. “The cha-cha huh? What’s the song?” 

“‘True To Your Heart.’” 

“Oh, that’s a good one!” 

They made their way down to Anna’s dance studio where Olette was finishing up a snack. 

“Hey, Sora!” 

“Hey!” Sora walked into the room. “So Anna said you were having problems understanding the cha-cha?” 

Strangely, Olette blushed. “Uh, yeah. Kinda. Um… If the cha-cha was a pretty girl and wanted to go on a date, where would the cha-cha like to go?” 

Sora blinked, but the question still made no sense. “Um, Is this, like, uh— Do you need to understand the cha-cha to do the cha-cha?” 

Olette’s blush darkened. “Well, sorta…”

Behind him, Sora heard Anna giggle. 

“I told you he doesn’t do subtlety,” Anna said, still laughing. “Or hints. Best to ask outright.”

“Oh, well,” Olette took a deep breath. “Er, are you and Kairi. Um… You’re friends right?”

“What?” Sora furrowed his brow in confusion. “Yeah! We’ve known each other since childhood.” 

“Oh, okay good!” Olette nodded to herself. “Uh, is Kairi, um… Issheseeinganyone?”

It took a moment for Sora to understand the question, but once he did, his eyes widened. “Wait, you… like Kairi?” 

He had noticed the stares from the sidelines occasionally, but he… 

Well, Riku tended to distract him from thinking too much about it.

Olette’s blush was truly taking over her face now. “It’s ridiculous, right? I know it is, though Anna said it wasn’t.” 

“It’s not!” Anna reassured her, walking over to stand at her side. 

Olette either didn’t hear or didn’t listen. “I mean, I don’t know if she’s even attracted to women, much less me, but if she is, she’s so pretty! And nice to talk to! And funny and sweet. And I’m, well, me and I don’t even know what she likes but I want to know and I—” 

Sora cautiously raised his hands, placing them on Olette’s shoulders gently. “Hey, it’s okay! Kairi would love to go on a date with you! You’re so sweet and fun! It’s just, um the rules say—” 

“I know,” Olette said, finally lowering her hands. “The no fraternization thing. Which is fine. I mean, I know I won’t make it to the end, but I wanted to stay in San Fransokyo for a few weeks. I’m hoping, that, maybe she’ll consider a date with me? At some point?” 

Olette looked up at Sora hopefully. 

“I can’t answer for her,” Sora said. “But I think she would love a date.” 

“Really?” Olette cautioned a smile. “I’m sorry for encouraging Anna to lie on my behalf.” 

Sora grinned. “It’s okay! I guess I can get why you’d be nervous. I just didn’t realize you had feelings for Kairi.” 

Olette blushed again. “Really? I thought I was being super obvious.” 

“I, uh—” 

“You weren’t that obvious,” Anna said. “But I think Sora’s crush on Riku blinded all his other senses.” 

Now it was Sora’s turn to blush. “Hey… that’s not—” 

“Oh right,” Olette giggled. “Last week’s almost kiss!” 

Sora almost opened his mouth to admit that he got a real kiss by the end of the night, but quickly closed it. He didn’t think either Anna or Olette would say anything to the producers, but he kind of wanted to keep it a secret for now. “Uh.. yeah. It was all part of the dance.” 

“Uh-huh,” both women chimed, giggling at the echo. 

“Anyway, uh…” Sora rubbed the back of his head. “Actually, I think better when I dance, so…” 

He extended his hand out to Olette, who took it. Anna started the music on her CD player, the beginning strains of “True To Your Heart” playing over the speakers. Sora started an easy cha-cha movement, his thoughts instantly clearing in the rhythm. 

“Kairi’s pretty easy going,” Sora said, spinning Olette under his arm. “But, if you really want to impress her, she loves walks around the beach and those carnival games on the boardwalk. She’ll probably get competitive, but if you can handle that, you and Kairi are on the right path.” 

Olette smiled shyly. “You really think I have a chance?” 

Nodding, Sora spun Olette out, where she was easily caught by Anna, and they switched to their own cha-cha moves. “I think you got it. Both the cha-cha and the date. You just have to try.” 

Olette laughed and nodded. “Okay! And you have a chance with Riku, too! He’s totally smitten!” 

Sora blushed, trying to hide it with a smile. 

He observed their dance for a moment, Olette shaky but competent in the moves. Then he waved as he left, not necessarily wanting to go back to his own office, but wanting to clear his thoughts. 

As he walked around the studio, Sora hummed to himself, skipping to the beat now and then. It wasn’t until he got to the end of the hall that he realized he had been humming “Dearly beloved”: the first song he and Riku had danced to. Had that really only been a little over five weeks ago? It seemed so much longer. 

It felt like he had known Riku his whole life.

Which was silly. He knew this, and yet—

*Ding!*

Sora stopped when he heard the text tone of his gummiphone. Pulling it out, he couldn’t stop the grin that spread out over his face. Riku. 

Sora paused in his typing, not sure what he wanted to say. 

As he thought, he heard the distinctive strains of a familiar and nostalgic tune echo down the hallway. He put his phone down, following the sound down to the door of Kairi’s studio. Knocking, he heard Kairi call out, “Come in!” 

Sora entered, surprised to find two dark-haired people dancing in the middle of the room. “Xion?” 

The woman turned, surprise evident on her face, and as soon as she did so, Sora recognized that it was Kairi. 

“Woah!” Sora chuckled. “Is that a wig? Man, Kairi, you look just like—” 

Kairi sighed, taking the wig off and revealing her red hair once more. “I know. Xion said the same thing when she saw it. Fairy Godmother said we could have been twins.” 

“Yeah, no kidding.” Sora took a seat in a chair by the door. “So how’s your dance going? Tango right? To… was that Addams Family?” 

“Yeah. The dance version from the film,” Vanitas said. “I’m not sure I can pull off a Gomez Addams character though.” 

Sora grinned. “It’ll be fine! How’s the tango part going?” 

“It’s fine,” Vanitas grumbled, stretching his shoulder muscles. “I don’t like how close we have to be though.” 

“I promise I don’t have cooties,” Kairi teased, pulling up another chair so she could sit as well. “How is it going with you guys, Sora?” 

“It’s… it’s,” Sora groaned in exasperation, turning his eyes towards the ground. When Riku was here and they were practicing, he could ignore the swirl of emotions. “The dance itself is fine, probably. We worked on lifts and turns today and he’s great, it’s just… he’s— he’ll be moving to Atlantica at the end of the season and I—” 

“Oh, Sora.” 

Sora felt Kairi’s warm embrace and he leaned into it on instinct. “I don’t want to lose him, Kairi.” 

“You won't,” she reassured him. “It’s a move to a different city, not to the moon. You can still see him.” 

“Yeah, but,” Sora sighed, every negative thought spilling out. “Between his practices and my schedule here, and the producers are already talking about celebrities for next season and they wanted to do a special around the holidays. And then there are the off-season shows around here and his meets and—” 

“So? Take a break.” 

Sora looked up at Vanitas. “Huh?”

Vanitas sighed, reaching down and picking his cat, Floofina, up off the floor. He gently scratched behind her ears for a moment before depositing her into Sora’s lap. Sora scrambled to carefully hold his sudden armful of cat but found her purring to be soothing as she nuzzled into him. 

“Even my manager is constantly going on about the need for breaks and relaxation,” Vanitas said, crossing his arms. “Kairi mentioned you guys moved up to main dancers a few seasons ago right? So… aren’t you both due for a break soon?” 

“Sora more so than I,” Kairi said, reaching over to pet Vanitas’s cat as well. “Sor, you’ve been working nonstop since we got this position. I think Naminé and Mickey will understand if you want a short break. You can follow Riku. Or maybe he’ll work it out where he can stay. But don’t let this show ruin your chance at happiness. This show is a career stepping stone. Love is forever.” 

Sora sighed, running a hand down Floof’s back. “I know.” 

Kairi’s hand joined his. “It’s gonna be a change—” 

“God, even now that you know you’re in love you’re annoying.” 

Sora jerked at Larxene’s voice, nearly dropping Floofina in his shock. He readjusted his grip on the cat, though found it more and more difficult as Floofina arched her back at the newcomer, hissing as her claws came out. 

“Oh, that’s cute, kitty .” Larxene rolled her eyes, holding up her hand and revealing freshly manicured nails that ended in a sharp point. “Call me back when you’ve got some real claws.” 

Gently, Sora placed Floofina back to the floor where she instantly ran to her owner. Vanitas glared at Larxene, picking his cat up and attempting to comfort her. 

“What do you want, Larxene?” 

“Oh, nothing… just wanted to know how far you and Riku went after that dance of yours last week. All the gossip sites are talking about it,” Larxene said. She smirked over at Sora who sighed and looked away. 

“You’re just looking for something to give to the gossip sites.” Kairi placed her hands on her hips, glaring at Larxene. “Haven’t you done enough damage? Sora and Riku—” 

“Are just ‘so cute’ and ‘ in sync’ and this season’s best power couple, blah, blah, blah.” Larxene waved her hand dismissively. “Believe it or not, kiddos, I didn’t actually come here to start a fight. Or gossip.” 

“Then what did you come here for?” 

“Why, to give our favorite little lovebird some advice before I make my dramatic season finale exit.” 

Sora looked up at Larxene in shock. “You’re leaving the show?” 

“Obviously.” Larxene rolled her eyes, then seemed to deflate, as if all her hot air finally left her and she sighed. “Look. Clearly, I’m not happy here. And sometimes I can come across as a little irritated.” 

“A little?” Vanitas grumbled, still soothing his cat.

“Alright, sometimes I’m a bitch.” Larxene crossed her arms. “Point is, I don’t think I can go any farther in this show than I already have. So I’m moving on at the end of the season. Marluxia got us a job on one of the cruise lines that depart from San Fransokyo. He’ll be managing guest entertainment while I—” 

“Will hopefully not be the entertainment,” Kairi said. 

Larxene glared. “I’ll be part of the dance crew on the ship. Theater shows and stuff.” 

“That sounds fun,” Sora said. “No competition too, so you’ll—” 

“Hopefully not be so much of a bitch.” Larxene sighed. “Anyway, just wanted to pass on to the mister lovebird here that if you stand a chance of hiding your little tryst, you should avoid being so you out in public. Or under the stands during the live shows.” 

Sora felt his face heat up. “How did you…” 

“When you have dirt on all the stagehands, kiddo, they’ll tell you anything.” 

With that piece of advice, Larxene left as swiftly as she appeared. 

“Well, she’s a… a…” Kairi trailed off, at a loss for words. Sora just nodded in agreement. 

“She’s still a bitch,’ Vanitas muttered, Floofina meowing in agreement.

Sora burst out in a round of chuckles, the tension in the room easing up. 

He watched Kairi and Vanitas practice their tango routine, snapping on the beat when the music called for it. In the back of his mind, he also thought about Vanitas and Kairi’s advice about taking a break, even on Larxene’s advice of keeping everything on the down-low. 

Why couldn’t his life be easy?

“Don’t worry about holding me so tightly. I trust that you won’t let me fall.”

Riku breathed deeply, then relaxed his grip a bit. 

Sora furrowed his brow, tensing his muscles to better help balance the lift. “Okay, and one, two, three turn, two, two, three, turn… and drop me now.”

Riku did as asked on the beat, turning as he held Sora over his head before flipping Sora to the left so Sora’s legs crossed Riku’s chest to his left side and landed on the floor just behind Riku’s feet. Sora’s hand slid down Riku’s left arm until just their palms connected. With a twist, Riku ducked under their intertwined hands and faced Sora, his right hand reaching out to gently press against Sora’s face. 

Sora waited a breath for the music to move onto the next section before he grinned broadly. “That’s it! I knew you’d get it!!” 

Riku smiled as well, his hand pressing a little harder against Sora’s cheek, brushing a hand just under Sora’s eye. “I—” 

“And cut!” Roxas called out, a little more loudly than usual. 

Sora glared at him, but Roxas just glared back before smirking.

“You guys can go back to flirting with each other later.” 

Sora’s face felt hot and he quickly avoided Roxas’s knowing gaze. “We were not flirting. It’s part of the dance!” 

“Uh-huh,” Roxas chuckled. “Right. Anyway. I think that covers it for the rehearsal video.” 

Sora heard Riku laugh beside him, and he couldn’t hold back a small chuckle of his own. “Okay, Roxas. Let us know if you need anything else!” 

“You know I will,” Roxas said as he packed up his camera. “And don’t worry, I won’t let anyone know about the flirting.” 

“It’s not flirting!” Sora insisted, but Roxas ignored him and walked out the door. 

“It is, kinda, flirting,” Riku pointed out, placing a hand on Sora’s cheek once more. “I want to flirt.” 

Sora leaned into Riku’s hand. “I want to flirt too.” 

“You could smile and I’d be smitten,” Riku murmured, leaning in close. 

Despite the cheesiness of that line, Sora found himself smiling anyway, pulling away with a chuckle. “C’mon. We still got that part in the middle to finalize. I think we got a good thing going, but you have to get just a bit more height on your jump.” 

Riku ducked his head with a grumble, his silver hair cascading over his shoulders. “You’re lucky you're cute. I don’t put in nearly this much work for anyone else.” 

Sora giggled, poking Riku’s chest. “Your gold medals say otherwise.” 

Together, they worked through the choreography Sora had planned for the rest of the song. It would be their longest dance routine yet, but Sora also felt it would be their best. He always loved choreographing contemporary dances as he felt that it gave them more freedom to emote the music through dance. And this one was no exception. Though originally composed as a waltz, the flow of the music and the lyrics lent themselves very well to a contemporary piece. 

Plus, it lent itself to the emotions that Sora was feeling as the season came up on its final few weeks. 

They managed to run through the entire song before Riku had to leave for swim practice. It was still a little shaky, but they had two full days of rehearsals to really nail those lifts and Riku’s jumps and spins. 

Before he left, Riku raised Sora’s right hand, placing a gentle kiss on his knuckles. With a soft smile, Riku glanced back up into Sora’s eyes. “I've always wanted to do that.” 

Sora felt his face heat up, and he quickly moved his hand so he was cradling Riku’s instead, bringing Riku’s own hand up for a kiss on smooth fingers. “Me too.” 

They shared another smile before Riku’s phone rang, probably with a call from a coach, and Riku left the studio. 

Sora’s heart felt like it would burst out of his chest as he watched Riku leave. How could he contain these emotions? How could anyone? He felt like they would explode out anyway. 

With a sigh, Sora returned to his desk, making notes for what they would have to practice more of tomorrow and ideas for Fairy Godmother on costume design. 

And if he ended up doodling little hearts with R&S in them, well, no one would see his notes anyway. 

He doodled until he heard the faint strumming of guitar strings down the hallway. Sora’s ears perked up. It didn’t sound like it came from a speaker box.

Out of curiosity, he followed the sounds down the hallway until he came to Aqua’s studio. Inside, he spied Cinderella sitting in a chair near the door, clapping along to a cheery tune. Demyx was near the door as well, strumming on his guitar. A movement towards the back of the room revealed Aqua dancing with a tall man who looked familiar. 

“Terra?” Sora whispered, hoping that he didn’t disturb their dance. Cinderella spotted him and motioned him inside with a smile. Sora leaned just inside the door frame, watching the dance play out. 

He suddenly recognized it as the dance from their wedding, a slow but fun foxtrot choreographed to a piece composed by Demyx as a wedding present. Evidently they had continued to practice and even add on to the dance, as Sora recognized a few new moves woven in. A lift as Aqua spread her arms wide before Terra lowered her gently, then Terra ducking under Aqua’s arm to lead her from behind. It was quite beautiful. 

Sora realized that this could be him and Riku one day. Maybe… Though maybe Riku wouldn’t want to dance again after the season ended. 

Part of him almost thought that if Riku moved to Atlantica, he’d forget all about Sora. But Sora tried to push that thought down. Every action Riku has done showed that Sora meant just as much to him as he did to Sora. 

So why was this doubt holding him back? 

Eventually, though, the song ended, the lack of music interrupting Sora’s thoughts and Aqua noticed her other guest. “Oh! Sora, hi!” 

“Hey, Sora!” Terra said, walking over and bypassing Sora’s offer of a handshake to give Sora a hug instead. 

Sora laughed as Terra’s hug lifted him up into the air. He and Terra had gotten along well in the season Terra competed, and he always liked it when the former quarterback visited Aqua in the studio. “What are you doing here?” 

“Besides visiting my wife and her partner?” Terra grinned. “Demyx offered to play the song that Aqua and I danced to at our wedding. Cinderella wanted to see it.” 

“That was simply beautiful!” Cinderella cheered. “Oh, Aqua, thank you so much for showing me. I understand what you mean for our dance now. I’ll be sure to practice that at home! It was nice to see you Sora. Demyx.” 

Cinderella gathered up her coat and purse, giving Sora and Demyx a wave as she left. 

“Thanks for playing for us Demyx,” Aqua said, coming over to stand at Terra’s side. “I know you’re busy as well with your own choreography.” 

“Huh?” Sora turned to stare at Demyx, suddenly realizing that the guitarist was still in the competition with his partner Rapunzel. “Oh yeah! You’re doing the, uh, jazz this week? Right?” 

“Oh don’t try to hide that you forgot all about us,” Demyz groaned, rolling his eyes. 

“I didn’t! Uh, I mean—” Sora searched for an excuse but Demyx waved him off. 

“It’s fine. You’ve been busy with your own dance partner. Kairi says that you rarely take your eyes off of him.” 

Sora’s face grew hot and he averted his gaze. “Anyway, how is your dance routine going?” 

Demyx shrugged. “It’s fine technically. I think it’s gonna come down to the audience scores this week. So I’m sure we won’t be in much longer.” 

“Don’t say that!” Sora encouraged. “I’m sure—” 

“You really don’t check Twitter that much, do you?” Demyx sighed, pulling out his phone. “You and Riku have quite possibly the biggest fanbase. And it’s not even just your usual fans and whatever fans Riku has from his swim career. You guys have reliably been drawing in new viewers week after week.” 

Sora glanced down at the phone, watching as Demyx scrolled through a Twitter feed full of support for him and Riku. “Really?” 

“Yep.” Demyx nodded. “Some of it probably came out of that article from a few weeks back. The one that indicated you and Riku might be a thing, but a lot of it is just because you and Riku have good chemistry. More than Raps and I have. And that’s okay. You guys were really good last week.” 

“Thanks,” Sora said.

Demyx grinned and gave him a brief hug before heading out the door, leaving Sora with Aqua and Terra.

“So how is your dance going?” Aqua asked. “Roxas said it looked very emotional from what little he saw.” 

Sora huffed. “He kept saying we were flirting.” 

“And were you?” 

“It was part of the dance!” Sora protested, then looked down. “Okay, maybe a little. But—” 

“It’s hard not to flirt a little when dancing,” Terra said. “Aqua and I flirted a lot.” 

“Terra,” Aqua laughed. “We didn’t flirt that much.” 

“But I wanted to.” 

“I wanted to, too,” Aqua agreed and they shared a brief kiss. 

“How did you two do it?!” Sora blurted out, wanting to know. He was a fool to not come to Aqua sooner. She was the only one who had gone through something similar. “How did you guys manage to not break the no fraternization rule?” 

“Uhhh,” Terra’s face turned red, and he studiously looked everywhere but Sora. 

“Well,” Aqua put a hand to her mouth. “Technically… we did break it.” 

Sora’s jaw dropped. “What, but you said—” 

“We didn’t officially start dating until after the show… but the feelings were there. And Terra—” 

“I’d stay after practice to help her clean up or something. Or walk her home.” Terra’s voice was quiet. “Anything to stay close to her. It was the little things you know? When no one else was around, the rules didn’t matter as much.” 

Aqua hummed in agreement, then turned to Sora. “You and Riku… you kissed. Didn’t you? After last week’s show?” 

Sora looked away. “Did Larxene—” 

‘No, though I’m not surprised she knew. But you two had a… glow about you during eliminations. And that’s great! I’m glad your crush was returned.” 

“But?” Sora asked. There had to be a but.

“But, as Terra said,” Aqua began.“When other people are around, the rules matter a little more. The way we were able to contain it publically is because we did have those little moments in private. Nothing… explicit. But just the small stuff.” 

Sora crossed his arms in thought. “The small stuff?” 

Aqua smiled in sympathy. “Yeah, small stuff. Anyway, we’d better get going. We have dinner reservations. I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

Sora nodded and waved as they left, going back to his own studio lost in thought. 

Aqua’s advice followed him all the way home and echoed through his mind as he chopped vegetables for dinner. The small things? 

All the sweet words Riku murmured to him — were those small enough? They felt huge at the moment, but maybe they could survive on that. 

Knock! Knock!

Sora jumped for the fourth time that evening. He hadn’t been expecting company. 

He crossed to his apartment’s front door, opening it slowly. He was met first with a bouquet of a dozen red roses and white lilies. He gasped, instinctively reaching up to take the flowers from the grip of the man holding them. Sora glanced up, finding Riku’s face nervously staring back at him. 

“Er, I texted Naminé. She let me know where you, uh, live. I hope this isn’t, um—” 

Sora couldn't help it. A series of giggles bubbled over and he quickly ushered Riku inside. “You could have just asked. I don’t mind you stopping by. What’s the occasion?” 

“I wanted to surprise you. I just… um—” Riku held out his other hand, gripping a copy of Enchanted tightly. “The last time we danced to a movie song, we watched the movie. I figured, you know, I know we already choreographed it and it’s probably silly now but uh—” 

“Do you want to watch the movie with me?” Sora asked, guessing at what Riku wanted to say. 

“Yes!” Riku’s voice went up an octave before he seemed to compose himself. “I mean, uh. Yeah. If you want to. As friends of course. Since we’re not supposed to— I mean, only if you want to.” 

“I do,” Sora nodded, finding it charming how Riku could be super sappy and smooth one moment, and tripping over his words the next. He wondered if it was because the studio was a familiar setting, while essentially asking Sora out on a not- date in his own home was more nerve-wracking. “I’ll make the popcorn?” 

“Yeah! And I’ll, uh—” 

“Just make yourself comfortable,” Sora encouraged, leading Riku to the TV room. “I’ll be right there.” 

He quickly put the flowers in a vase and the chopped vegetables in a storage container for later before he put a bag of popcorn in the microwave. As he listened to the popcorn pop, Sora tried to get over his own butterflies. Riku sought him out. Wanted to surprise him with flowers and a movie. 

It was so sweet. Was this like one of those little things Aqua mentioned?

Soon enough, he settled next to Riku as they started the movie, the popcorn cradled between them. However, the events of the day slowly caught up to Sora and he found himself drifting, his eyes drooping until the last thing he remembered were the opening strains of Giselle singing “How does she know you love her?” 

Sora came back to wakefulness slowly, warm and content, and pressed up against something firm. Distantly he became aware of the opening notes to “So Close” playing through the TV screen. He also became aware of a hum underneath his ear, the exact same melody as the song in the movie. Sora felt a hand move across his shoulder, a comforting gesture. 

He glanced up, finding Riku’s gaze firmly on the TV. He was beautiful, the lamplight filtering through silver strands, illuminating pale skin. Sora breathed in deeply. Somehow, even though Riku spent hours in a swimming pool, he never smelled like one. Instead, he smelled like the ocean and fresh air. Like the beach Sora used to dance on when he was little. 

Overcome with emotion, Sora leaned up, slowly, as to not startle Riku. Then he placed his lips on Riku’s cheek in a gentle kiss. Riku turned to stare at him, his gaze heated. 

Sora licked his lips, shaking with both anticipation and desire. 

Slowly, Riku closed the distance, his lips pressing gently to Sora’s. This was different from their heated and hurried kiss under the stands at the studio. This was soft, Riku’s hand coming up to rest just behind Sora’s head. Sora raised his own hand, curling it in the fabric of Riku’s sleeve. They broke away for a half-second to breathe before leaning back in again, the kiss growing more passionate as Riku’s free hand wrapped around Sora’s waist. Eyes squeezing shut, Sora whined in the back of his throat, wanting this moment to last forever. 

But, eventually, it had to end. 

Riku’s phone rang and they jerked apart. Sora hoped that Riku could ignore it, but as soon as the ringtone faded away, it started up once more. 

With a sigh, Riku answered his phone. “Hi, yeah. I’m just hanging out with a friend. No no, I remember. I’m leaving here as soon as we finish the movie. I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

With that Riku hung up with another deep sigh and leaned against the back of the couch. Hesitantly, Sora leaned in for a hug, doing so with more confidence when Riku reached out to wrap an arm around his shoulders once more. 

“Your coach?” Sora asked, nuzzling into Riku’s side. It was so warm and comfortable. 

Riku nodded. “Reminding me to call the moving company and end my apartment lease.” 

“Oh,” Sora frowned. He felt Riku’s arm tighten around him. 

“We’ll take our time finishing the movie,” Riku said, glancing at Sora before kissing his forehead. He pulled back with a grin. “You slept through more than half of it. You wanna rewind?” 

Sora grinned, settling into Riku’s side like he belonged there. “Sure!” 

Sora bounced on the balls of his feet, not sure why he was so nervous this time around. He and Riku had this. They had been practicing as much as time would allow. Their connection was strong. 

Well… definitely stronger when others weren’t looking. 

But—

“Stop bouncing, we’ll be great.” 

Arms wrapped around Sora’s waist and pulled him against a warm chest. 

Instantly, the nervous energy dissipated and Sora relaxed into Riku’s embrace. “Yeah… You ready? We’re up next.” 

“Yep.” Riku gave one last squeeze before pulling away, shifting forward so he could stand next to Sora, crossing his arms. His royal blue long sleeve shirt pulled against his biceps and shoulders, highlighting them perfectly. The shirt wasn’t so tight that Riku couldn’t move and perform the stunts in their dance, but it did hug all of Riku’s muscles nicely. His black pants barely brushed the floor when he walked. 

With his bare feet and hair left down but braided off his face, Riku looked comfortable. 

Sora’s own outfit was similar, with a sleeveless wine-red shirt and grey pants. After last week’s wardrobe malfunction, Fairy Godmother made sure that Sora wouldn’t be put into the same situation again. Not that Sora minded ending up shirtless on stage, just not the surprise of it. 

Though he noticed that the shirt had a deep v-neck. 

They were performing near the end of the show, after Olette and Anna but before Vanitas and Kairi. Right now Olette and Anna were about halfway through their cha-cha, their steps quick and sharp, though Sora could see Olette looking a little stiff every once in a while, her hips not quite moving on the beat. But she also looked like she was having fun, which was the important thing. 

“You guys ready?” Naminé asked as she ran up. 

Sora nodded. “Yeah. We’ll meet up with Kristoff in the corner of the dance floor when Olette and Anna are getting their scores, right?” 

Naminé hummed, double-checking against the schedule on the clipboard. “Yep. And then Vanitas and Kairi and then we’re done for the week. And I can sleep.” 

Riku frowned. “You okay Nam? They’re not running you ragged right? Not like—” 

Naminé shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Thanks, Riku. It’s nothing like the Organization’s way of running things. It’s just been a busy week of preparing for the semi-finals and finals and managing promotional materials and declining comments on you and Sora—” 

Naminé suddenly cut herself off, blushing, and Sora felt his heart drop. 

“You haven’t been… Have reporters been asking about Riku and me?” 

Naminé looked down on her clipboard. “We’re always brushing off comments about whether our dancers are entering relationships with their celebrity partners. You know that. We dealt with it a lot when Aqua and Terra danced. But, yes, there has been an uptick in those calls since last week.” 

“Ever since I, uh, confessed?” Riku asked, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Yes… and no.” Naminé sighed. “We wouldn’t have let that part air on TV if we thought there would be negative feedback. Or we would have framed it differently. But to us, and the producers, Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather, your confession was just a natural evolution of you guys’ partnership. Whether it’s romantic or platonic, that’s up to you guys. But you just naturally work well together. Of course reporters are gonna ask questions.” 

Sora bit his lip, before coming out to ask a question that had been burning in his mind for a while. This was terrible timing, but it seemed so pressing now that Naminé was talking about it. “And… if it were romantic?” 

Naminé stared at them for a long moment, before a small smile graced her features. “Officially, we’d prefer if you would refrain from entering a relationship while competing. To prevent the idea of any sort of favoritism or unprofessionalism. Or fallout if things don’t work out. But… Personally, I don’t think you and Riku are like that. As I said, your partnership is constantly evolving, and it’s something that both the producers and the audience have been watching with rapt attention. However you two decide to define your relationship, that’s up to you, just… try to keep it out of the public eye. Until either Riku is eliminated or the season is done.” 

Sora opened his mouth to ask another question, but the audience cheers distracted him, and he realized his chance was gone. Instead, he nodded. 

Naminé looked at them for a moment longer with a slight smile and then ran off, probably to go find Vanitas and Kairi. 

Sora felt a warmth surround his right hand, and he glanced down, finding Riku grasping it tightly. 

“Ready?” 

“Yeah.” 

They held hands until the cameras turned on them. The interview with Kristoff was a blur, and Sora barely remembered his answers, only remembering Riku’s laugh when he recounted an incident where Sora started laughing during a lift when Riku touched a ticklish spot. Sora belatedly joined in on the chuckles before they screen turned on to show their rehearsal video. 

As the video played, Sora and Riku took their places on the dance floor, about an arm’s length apart and reaching for each other. 

The music began as soon as the rehearsal ended, a slow piano scale that led right into lyrics that resonated in Sora’s heart. Slowly, Sora stepped into Riku’s embrace, their arms wrapping around each other and Sora pushing their foreheads together. Then, together, they swayed before spinning out and dancing a few steps reminiscent of a waltz. 

You’re in my arms
And all the world is calm
The music playing on for only two
So close together
And when I’m with you
So close to feeling alive

Riku pulled Sora back in, spinning him under Riku’s outstretched arm. Then, with barely any effort, Riku lifted Sora into the air. Sora threw his head back with a broad smile towards the audience. A subtle shift in Riku’s hold allowed Sora to flip all the way around, ending by standing in front of Riku, his back to Riku’s chest. Riku wrapped a hand around Sora’s waist and they continued in a waltz-like dance. Eventually, Sora spun back around to wrap his arms around Riku’s shoulders, gripping tight. 

And now, forever, I know
All that I wanted
To hold you so close

At the start of the next verse, Riku spun and Sora’s feet left the floor. Riku’s hand came up to steady him. As the verse reached its middle, Riku stopped and Sora tucked his feet so they slipped under Riku’s outstretched arm. With an easy and graceful move, Sora was once again upright, this time back to back with Riku. Sora reached back with his left hand, finding Riku’s right. Together, they spun under their arms and ended up face to face. 

Now you’re beside me
And look how far we come
So far, we are so close. 

The music broke out into a joyous instrumental section, and they broke out into an equally joyous dance, with multiple leaps, spins, and lifts. Sometimes they’d dance with joined hands, other times they’d be separate, but never out of sync. 

During one particularly exuberant segment of music, Sora ducked down while Riku stood a few feet behind him. With a running start, Riku leaped over Sora’s crouched form, tucking his body into a roll and landing on his feet. He continued the movement with a one-handed front flip. Twisting his body, Riku landed facing Sora, arms out and waiting. 

Sora couldn’t hold back his grin. He had been surprised when Riku admitted that he could do that, and wasted no time incorporating the move into the dance. 

But now was time for the hardest move they had spent hours perfecting. Sora leaped up from his position at a dead run, headed straight for Riku’s arms. Perfectly timed at the next burst of music, Sora leaped into Riku’s arms, letting the force of his run propel them into a spin. He curled his body up so Riku was cradling him close to his chest. 

The instrumental music calmed into something more reflective, and Riku gently placed Sora down. Sora spun out of Riku’s arms for a moment, their hands remaining connected. 

Oh how can I face the faceless days?
If I should lose you now?

With a gentle but firm jerk, Sora was back in Riku’s arms, lifted into the air in the same move that they had demonstrated in the rehearsal video. Riku spun once before dropping Sora gently and helped him control his descent to the floor. As soon as Sora landed, Riku spun and they finished their dance. 

So close to reaching
That famous happy end
Almost believing
This one’s not pretend.

Riku stepped close to Sora, and this time it was Sora’s turn to wrap his arms around Riku’s waist, spinning quickly. Riku arched his back out, his feet coming up slightly so Sora could lift him off the ground for another spin before gently placing him back on the ground. 

The joyous music calmed even more. 

L et's go on dreaming
For we know we are
So close, so close
And still so far

As the song reached its end, Sora and Riku’s movements slowed and Sora spun under Riku’s outstretched arm one last time. The music began to fade out its final note. Sora backed away slowly, his hand sliding out of Riku’s grip until the last possible moment. Their hands disconnected just as the song ended and they were left in the same position they had started in, reaching for each other. 

The audience erupted into applause. Sora couldn’t hold back his elated laugh, and Riku immediately rushed to him, wrapping his arms around Sora’s waist and spinning them both around. 

“Woah, woah, woah!” Aurora laughed as Riku slowed down, and let Sora’s feet reach the floor once more. They stood side by side to listen to Aurora’s remarks. “That was impressive! All those lifts and spins! I’m sure you must have practiced those for a while!” 

Riku nodded. “I was a little afraid of dropping Sora.” 

“I told you I trust you!” Sora reassured him, leaning into Riku’s side. 

“I know. So I definitely didn’t want to drop you.” 

“And that lift at the end,” Aurora said. “The one where it was Sora lifting Riku. That was… I mean, not that Riku’s is, uh—” 

Sora laughed before Aurora stuttered too much. Her face was already turning red. “Yeah, there’s a size difference, but c’mon Aurora! You know me. I can lift anyone. That spin with Riku was no problem. Just something we wanted to try.” 

“Well, I think you succeeded,” Aurora proclaimed, then turned to the judges. “And now our judges! Charlotte?” 

“That was amazing !!!” Charlotte proclaimed, rubbing under her eyes with the back of her hand. “Those lifts and spins!! But it wasn’t just an acrobatic routine, that was a dance and it told a story and it was so moving and captivating!” 

“Couldn’t have put it better myself,” Lumière said, looking like he was close to tears himself. “Care and love were put into every movement. Your lifts were so graceful, Riku. And that spin in the end when you were lifted, the extension of your body was perfect. I don’t think anyone could have asked for better.” 

“Indeed,” Prudence said, delicately dabbing under her eyes with a handkerchief. “The story you told through dance was truly moving. Very beautiful.” 

“Well, those sound like some positive comments and the scores?” 

“10!” Charlotte held up her sign, still wiping under her eyes. 

“10!” Lumière said, holding up his own sign. 

“10!” Prudence shouted, holding up her number without hesitation. 

Sora’s eyes widened. Riku instantly pulled him into another bone-crushing hug that lifted him from the floor. They had done it! They got a perfect score!

“Your first perfect score this season!” Aurora proclaimed. “Amazing!! That should certainly help your scores and audience votes tonight!” 

Sora nodded and together, he and Riku walked over to the viewing area where Aqua, Cinderella, Demyx, Rapunzel, Axel, Naveen, Olette, and Anna were cheering loudly. As soon as Sora and Riku stepped inside, Aqua pulled Sora into a hug. 

“Good job! You deserved that perfect score. I’m pretty sure even Pru would have given you an eleven if she could.” 

Sora felt his face heat up. “I’m sure it wasn’t—”

“You were amazing,” Anna said, pulling Sora in for a second hug when Aqua pulled away. “You and Riku, of course.” She stepped away and pulled Riku into his own hug after a moment of hesitation. “That was so amazing.”

“Dunno how we’re all gonna win after that .” Axel grinned, reaching out to ruffle Sora’s hair. 

Sora laughed. “C’mon, guys. We all have an equal chance.” 

“Uh-huh…” Aqua chuckled. 

They all turned back to the dance floor as Kristoff introduced Vanitas and Kairi’s rehearsal video. 

Remembering the conversation he’d had with Olette earlier that week, Sora paid attention to Olette, watching as she hurried to the front of the viewing area, her eyes rapt on Kairi as she and Vanitas took their places. 

Kairi’s arm extended out, looking every bit the Morticia Addams with her long black wig and full-length black dress. Vanitas standing right behind her, dressed in a dark black suit with a red shirt underneath the suit jacket. 

The music started. It was slow at first as Vanitas mimicked kissing up Kairi’s arm before she raised her other hand up to stop him and then the music suddenly burst into a dramatic instrumental version of The Addams Family theme song. Vanitas seemed to have gotten over his fear of catching Kairi cooties as he held her close, if not with quite the same tenderness that Riku would hold Sora during a dance. 

At one point they danced close to the contestants’ viewing area and Vanitas spun Kairi out towards them, right in front of Olette. When Kairi was within an arm’s length, she reached with her left hand, gently stroking Olette’s cheek. 

The audience oohed in appreciation of the nod to the movie, and Sora thought for sure Olette was going to swoon. As it was, he noticed both Aqua and Anna reach out to steady Olette so she could watch the rest of the dance. 

Vanitas pulled Kairi back in and she spun as fast as she could back towards him. They finished out their dance, ending with Vanitas dipping Kairi, her left arm extending over her head and her head tipped back dramatically.

The audience burst into applause once more as Vanitas helped Kairi regain her balance and righted her self. 

Sora barely paid attention to the judges’ remarks or scores, watching as Oletted fanned herself in an attempt to get her blush under control.

“What are you looking at?” Riku whispered in his ear, sending a shiver down Sora’s spine. 

“Olette. She has a crush on Kairi,” Sora murmured back. 

“And?” 

“Well.” Sora shrugged. “I just hadn’t, uh, noticed? Did you?” 

Riku hesitated for a moment before nodding. “We talked about it about last week when you and Kairi were dancing the opening number at last week’s “Most Memorable Year” Night. But yeah, I had noticed that she had a huge crush. It was, uh… kinda easy to spot the longing. Especially when I was dealing with my own.” 

“Oh?” Sora looked back then it suddenly dawned on him. “Oh. You mean you were, uh, pining? For me?”

Riku chuckled, wrapping a hand around Sora’s waist and squeezing gently. “You really are kinda dense, aren’t you?” 

Sora pouted. “I am not!” 

Riku’s laughter grew a little louder, but not so loud it would have been caught by the cameras. “Don’t worry. It’s really cute.” 

Sora felt his face heat up. He liked it when Riku called him cute, though he hoped he wouldn’t blush every time it happened. 

Vanitas and Kairi received an excellent score of 28 then the show cut to commercial one last time before the night’s elimination. 

The contestants and their professional dancers all took their places on the stage. Riku stood behind Sora, hugging him in comfort as the lights came back on. 

“And now, we must say goodbye to yet another contestant,” Aurora began. “Every week these eliminations get harder, but the judges’ scores and viewer votes have spoken. This week, the couple going home is…” 

Sora squeezed his eyes shut. Eliminations were always hard to hear, especially this late in the game. These guys were all his friends now, he’d hate to say goodbye!

He’d especially hate to say goodbye to Riku. If they were eliminated tonight then—

“Olette and Anna!” 

Sora felt a wave of relief rush through him. Another week. He’d have Riku here for another week. 

They were quickly ushered off stage so Kristoff could exchange a few remarks with Olette and Anna before the show ended. 

As soon as they were away from the cameras, Riku took Sora’s hand. “Another week down. We can do this!” 

Sora squeezed Riku’s hand. “Yeah!” 

Though now his usual excitement was replaced with a bit of dread. Now it would be a countdown. Just one, maybe two more weeks until Riku left. And then—

“Hey,” Riku said, placing a hand under Sora’s chin and lifting it so their eyes met. “No matter what happens. Whether I go home next week, or we win this whole thing, I just want you to know that I want to make this work. I don’t care if I have to fly back here every weekend, or Skype with you every night, or talk with you using an underwater microphone during swim practice. I am going to do everything I can to make this work. No matter what.” 

Sora looked into teal eyes and found nothing but sincerity there. Slowly, his insecurity melted away and he smiled. 

“Or I can fly out to visit you, or even…” Sora trailed off before bringing up the break idea that Vanitas had suggested. It would require serious thought. 

Riku leaned in and gently kissed Sora’s forehead. 

“Whatever we do, we can figure it out together.”

“Wow, that sounded almost like a wedding vow,” Kairi’s voice teased. 

Sora turned, always feeling his face heat up. “Give me a break, Kairi.” 

She giggled, reaching up to remove her wig with some struggle as she had to undo all of the clips keeping it in place. “Seriously though, I know you guys can make it work. Even with the no fraternization thing. Good thing that only applies to contestants currently in the competition.” 

“Uh… speaking of that.” 

Sora looked just behind Kairi, finding Olette standing there, wringing her hands a bit before she took a deep breath and gained confidence. Kairi turned around as well. 

“Kairi. I, uh—” Olette sighed, her hand squeezing into a fist before she nodded to herself. “Would you like to go on a date with me?” 

Sora couldn’t see Kairi’s expression, but he figured she might have looked a little shocked. But then her whole body language relaxed and she took a step forward, capturing Olette’s hands with her own. 

“Yes!” Kairi said, squeezing Olette’s hands. “Of course! That would be lovely!” 

Olette’s face turned even redder but soon a huge grin came across it. “Really?!” 

“Yeah!” Kairi reached around to hug Olette. After a moment of hesitation, Olette hugged back. 

Sora just barely held back a cheer, figuring it wouldn’t do to embarrass Olette further. He would get to tease Kairi later anyway. 

Sora felt Riku’s warmth behind him, relaxing when Riku’s face nuzzled into his hair. 

“I suppose I could throw this whole competition so I could officially take you out on a date sooner.”

Sora gasped, turning around. “Would… would you really do that?” 

Riku frowned. “Honestly? No. Maybe if you asked me to. But I’m too competitive to give up now. Not when I think we actually have a chance of winning.” 

Sora grinned, relieved. “Yeah! Next stop: semi-finals!” 

Chapter Text

If Sora knew kissing Riku was gonna feel this good , he would have done it weeks ago. Victory in the competition may taste sweet, but Riku tasted sweeter. Riku’s right hand was buried in Sora’s hair, his left hand curled around Sora’s hip. 

“Ahem?” 

Sora gasped, jumping away at Naminé’s cough. Heat rising to his cheeks, he turned, rubbing the back of his head. “Uh… hey Naminé.” 

Naminé chuckled, hiding her amusement behind her hand. “Hey, Sora. How are things going here?” 

“Uhh…” Sora turned his head, wondering if his blush was obvious. “Good… good… we were uh— Gonna work on the, uh—” 

“The tango?” Naminé suggested. “That is your dance for the “something new” portion.” 

“Yeah! That’s it!” Sora grinned. “That’s exactly what we were gonna do.”  

“Did you pick music yet?” Naminé asked, hefting up her clipboard and reaching into her hair to pull out a spare pen. Her hair immediately fell out of its artful bun. 

Suddenly, Sora heard Riku laugh beside him. Looking over, he saw Riku’s face light up with mirth at a joke only he knew. Sora enjoyed seeing that amusement, even if he didn’t understand the laughter. Namine looked confused as well. 

Struggling to control his giggles, Riku hid his smile with his hand (though he couldn’t hide the smile in his eyes). “Did you ever have another accident with a pen like back in high school? I think it was in history class.” 

Naminé blinked in confusion for a moment before letting out a quiet laugh. “No. Thankfully pen explosions are a rare occurrence. Though you’d think I would have learned from the experience!” 

Sora perked up. “Wait, you had a pen explode in your hair? And you two knew each other in high school?!” 

Naminé nodded. “I had to spend a week with a giant blue spot in my hair before I could get to the hairdressers to sort it out. Riku and I had a lot of classes together.” 

“Thankfully,” Riku said. “You helped me through a lot of them.” 

“Mostly literature and art history,” Naminé said. “Symbolism was your downfall for a while till you got the hang of it.” 

Sora chuckled, glad to hear of something else from Riku’s childhood. “I’m sure you have lots of stories.” 

Hiding a grin with her clipboard, Naminé hummed. “I may have a few. But I’m not sure how many Riku would want me to tell…” 

Riku groaned. “You have the memory of an elephant. I’m pretty sure you remember some embarrassing things I’ve forgotten about.” 

Sora laughed, Naminé’s giggle joining his own. Riku’s face reddened as he rubbed the back of his head. 

Naminé sobered first. “Anyway, high school stories aside, I actually came in here to tell you something else. The judges have decided upon your ‘Something Old’ dance. And music. And if you’ll just let me know what your song is for the tango…?”

“Believer,” Sora said. “By Imagine Dragons.” 

“Oh, I like that one!” Naminé exclaimed, writing it down. “Now for your ‘Something Old’...”

Sora grinned nervously. He always dreaded the ‘Something Old’ segment. The judges always picked what dance they wanted to see from a contestant again. And they would have a judge mentor in practice for a few days to give them tips to improve. 

Sora always felt like it was a test he never studied for. 

“You’ll be dancing the jive again, and your judge mentor asked for you specifically.”

“Oh?” Sora hoped his voice didn’t break. “And who is it?”  

Another voice spoke up. “Me.” 

Sora swallowed around his dry throat and smiled nervously, already recognizing that voice. Slowly, he turned towards the door. “Judge Prudence? But usually you—” 

“Usually I take on one of our female contestants,” Prudence acknowledged. “And not to worry, I’ll also be working with Rapunzel and Demyx this week, though I believe that you two are the fan favorites.”

“I’m sure it’s anyone’s game,” Riku said, walking up to place a hand on Sora’s shoulder in solidarity. 

“I’m sure.” Prudence cupped her hands together. “Now… it has been a while since I’ve jived so I’m a little out of practice, but let's review your previous attempt before we get started.” 

By the middle of practice, Sora wondered just how ‘out of practice’ Judge Prudence was as she hit every jive step with ease. She ran through their new routine with them, a jive set to Elvis’s “Burning Love,” and then made them run through it again, calling out when Riku missed a step or didn’t quite hit the beat correctly. 

“Lift your arm up higher!” Prudence called out, clapping her hands. “And move your hips! Feel the music.” 

“I’d much rather be feeling my boyfriend,” Riku muttered. 

Sora burst into startled chuckles, breaking the rhythm so he could pull away and hide his red face. 

“Sora!” Prudence chided, clapping her hands again. Sora always pictured that if Prudence had some sort of cane she’d be banging it on the floor in protest like the dance instructors in movies. As it was, she marched over to them, and Sora’s laughter quickly subsided. 

“Sorry… I just… Got a case of the giggles.” Sora took a deep breath, breaking into a nervous grin. “I’ll, uh—” 

“Maybe we just need a break for a few minutes,” Riku suggested. “Just so we can catch our breath.” 

Prudence looked skeptical but finally nodded. “Five minutes.” 

Sora took another deep breath as Prudence walked away, then glanced up at Riku, hoping his face wasn’t as red as it felt. 

“Boyfriend?” he whispered. 

Riku’s own face pinkened and he looked away. “Well… yeah. I mean, I know we haven’t had a real date yet, but in my head, I kinda thought—” 

“I like the sound of that,” Sora reassured him. “We just… hadn’t talked about it yet. But I like it. My boyfriend, Riku.” 

Riku’s face pinkened more, but his eyes stared at Sora with so much emotion that Sora couldn’t help but lean in and kiss his cheek. With Prudence right there, it felt weird to do more, but he made a mental note to give Riku several kisses later. 

“It is quite interesting.” 

Sora jerked his head up at Prudence’s voice. “Huh? Uh—” 

“The connection that can form on the dance floor,” Prudence continued, ignoring Sora’s embarrassment. “I had a dance partner once, the Duke of… well… I’ve actually forgotten what he was Duke of now. But, we had wonderful chemistry on the dance floor, matched each other step for step.” 

“And off the dance floor?” Riku asked. 

Prudence waved her hand. “We couldn’t stand each other. We tried courting, but we just weren’t compatible without the thrill of music and dance. But if we see each other at a ball or gala, we will still take to the dance floor for another turn.” 

“Judge Prudence?” Naminé’s quiet voice came from the door. “Do you have a moment? I just need to discuss the filming schedule for Demyx and Rapunzel…” 

“Of course, dear,” Prudence said. She walked over to the door to talk with Naminé out in the hallway. 

So Prudence only dances with the Duke on the dance floor? Is that what it’ll be like for Riku and me? Sora thought, though he tried to push the thought down. He and Riku had fun on and off the dance floor. Getting lunch or when they were watching movies—

But what if it was the competition that kept them together? Or?

A large, warm hand on his shoulder instantly calmed those thoughts and he looked up at Riku. Riku leaned down and pressed their foreheads together. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. Sora closed his eyes and took comfort in the touch. 

Whatever happened, they would work through it together. As boyfriends. 

“So, the tango,” Sora stretched his arms above his head. “It’s all about controlling your own body…” 

Riku looked down at his feet. “You uh… may need to demonstrate.” 

Sora smirked. He loved demonstrating the tango, and to demonstrate it with Riku was the dream. The tango was so dramatic and slow, and a more mature sexy than the samba from a few weeks ago. “Think you can handle it?” 

Riku’s eyes widened, his lips turning up in a grin. “I hope so…”  

Behind him, Sora heard Roxas groan and mutter something about ‘lovebirds’ and the smirk left his lips. Roxas was filming their practice for the pre-dance video. Sora could only pray that they’d edit out the parts where he and Riku blatantly flirted. 

Professional. He was supposed to be professional.

“Okay, Moogle,” Sora said, turning to the desk to ensure that Moogle heard him. “Play Believer.” 

“Playing Believer, by Imagine Dragons, kupo!” 

“Lead the way,” Riku said, waiting for Sora’s next move. 

Sora grinned and took the lead, helping Riku’s hands into position with their arms outstretched on one side, and Riku’s hand cupping Sora’s bicep on the other. “Now, remember, it’s being really aware of every movement in your body.” 

As the music started up, Sora twisted his hips, feeling the rhythm jolt through every joint. His shoulders popped and his back arched as he led Riku across the dance floor. “Doesn’t this beat just make you want to dance?” 

“It makes me want to watch you dance.” 

Sora laughed, leading Riku through to the end of the verse, their feet rising and falling to the beat. At the last note of the verse, Sora spun Riku and dipped him low to the ground, barely resisting stealing a kiss. “See? It’s more purposeful and rigid than other dances, but no less—”

“No less beautiful,” Riku finished, then bit his lip. “But… I think you should take the lead on this one in the competition as well. You were amazing.” 

Sora felt his face heat up and he lifted Riku to his feet. “I dunno. I mean… if you’ve taken the lead on all our dances so far, it may come across as strange.” 

“Can we at least try?” 

Sora pursed his lips but nodded. “Okay… I can show you the choreography and we can go from there.” 

“Why don’t you guys just switch?” Roxas suggested. 

Sora jerked in surprise, turning so fast his neck twinged. “Excuse me?!” 

Roxas rolled his eyes and sighed. “I meant switch leads.” 

Sora looked back at him. “You know the rules don’t—” 

“Switch?” Riku asked. 

Sighing, Sora explained. “It’s sort of a thing you can do in the middle of the dance: switch leads. But it’s tricky to pull off and make it look natural. And it’s… technically against the rules, but—” 

“You can make it up in showmanship if the dance is really good,” Roxas said, hefting his camera to the other shoulder. 

Furrowing his brow, Riku turned to Roxas. “You seem to know a lot about it.” 

Roxas shrugged one shoulder. “I’ve seen it pulled off before as well. So have you, Sora? Remember when Larxene did it? You can always ask her for tips. She left for the day, but I’m sure she’ll take a phone call.” 

Sora groaned. “Yeah, but… would Larxene even give me tips?” 

Roxas grinned. “You won’t know until you try.” 

Hesitating for a moment longer to try and gather some resolve, Sora walked over to his desk and pulled out his phone. He bit his lip, still wondering if this was even a good idea. 

“If that’s something we can do,” Riku said, “I’d like to try.” 

He came up behind Sora and wrapped his arms around Sora’s waist comfortingly. With that extra bit of strength, Sora pressed on Larxene’s number and brought the phone to his ear. 

It barely rang twice before Larxene answered. 

“What do you want.” 

It didn’t sound like a question. 

“Um.” Sora swallowed. “I… Riku and I. We’re working on our Tango… and, well… uh—” 

“Spit it out Sora, I don’t have all day.” 

“How do you switch leads in the middle of a tango?” Sora blurted out, barely speaking clear enough for Larxene to understand him. 

There was a beat of silence, and then—

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!” Larxene’s laughter was so loud Sora had to hold the phone a foot away from his ear. “You want me to give you tips?!” 

“Larxene…” Sora grumbled. “You’re an amazing dancer. Of course I—” 

“Yes, of course, you would.” Even though he couldn’t see her, Sora could just picture Larxene’s eye roll. “So… what do I get out of it?” 

“I… uh…” Sora struggled to think of something. Larxene never did anything without getting something in return. “I’ll owe you a favor?” 

Larxene hummed in thought. “Anything?” 

“Anything that won’t ruin my career or hurt someone else,” Sora clarified. “Other than that, yes.” 

“Oh, you’re no fun…” Larxene grumbled. “But I guess that’ll do. Now, you listening? Cause I’m only gonna say this once.” 

“Yes!” Sora naturally stood at attention, glancing around for paper to write this down. Thankfully, Riku reached over and grabbed Sora’s choreography notepad and a pen, handing it over. Sora took it gratefully and nodded absently. “Okay, I’m listening.” 

“Good. The easiest way to make the switch? Do it at a point where you two break apart and come back together. You’ll already have to rearrange your hands so a switch would be easy to pull off. But it can come across as a little odd.” 

“Okay…” Sora wrote that down, ideas already flowing. 

“You could also do it after a spin. I presume you’ll be switching from Riku leading to you leading?” 

“Well… yeah, probably. Would make the switch more surprising later on right?” 

“Exactly.” Larxene huffed over the phone. “Try to finish a turn or a spin to where Riku ends up in front of you and lead him from there. By the time you come back into a closed position, it’ll be a surprise to see you in the lead, but it’ll look more purposeful.” 

That sparked an idea in Sora’s head. The music would work well for that. “Thank you, Larxene.” 

“I look forward to seeing if you can even pull it off.” Larxene’s voice was a tad softer, and Sora wondered if maybe she was warming up to him. “Probably not, but at least the result will be hilarious.” 

Or maybe not.

With a groan, Sora hung up the phone. “Well… we can do it. It’ll require reworking the choreography a bit, but—” 

“It’ll be worth it,” Riku said. “Just the surprise we need to push us over into the finals.” 

Sora grinned. “Exactly.” 

With Larxene's advice in hand, Sora reworked the choreography over the next hour. Roxas left to go film Aqua and Cinderella’s practice but promised to come back later and see if they mastered their technique. 

Which… didn’t go as well as Sora had hoped. 

“One, two, three, and come together and— Ow!” 

Riku jerked back, nearly bumping into Sora’s nose. “Sorry! I just—” 

“I know…” Sora said, ignoring the pain in his foot. “I know…” 

It wasn’t coming naturally to either of them. The magic they had felt earlier when Sora took the lead from the beginning was gone and now they were both left fumbling as if it was week one all over again. 

“We’ll get it,” Riku promised. 

Sora grinned up at him. “How about a snack break for now?” 

They headed over to Sora’s desk and pulled out their respective snacks: a granola bar for Sora and an apple for Riku. Settling into a comfortable silence, Sora let his thoughts drift. 

Not for the first time, they drifted over to what Prudence had said earlier in the week. About how some connections were better left on the dance floor. 

“You seem distracted.”

Sora jerked his head up at Riku’s voice. “Oh… I— yeah I guess I am.” 

Scooting in closer, Riku wrapped an arm around Sora’s shoulders. “Penny for your thoughts?” 

Sora giggled. “I think I can afford to give you the whole dollar.” 

Riku grinned and kissed the top of Sora’s head. The small gesture comforted Sora in a way words couldn’t. 

“I just,” Sora began, taking a deep breath. “I keep thinking about what Prudence said. About… connecting with someone only on the dance floor… and, I know it’s silly. But I can’t help but think—” 

“That off the dance floor we’d make an awful couple?” Riku finished. 

“No!” Sora shook his head. “Er… not exactly. I guess I’m just worried about what will happen when we are off the dance floor. I mean… I…” 

Sora trailed off, not sure how to finish that thought. 

Riku hummed, squeezing Sora to him tightly for a moment before stepping away from the desk and extending his hand. “Then I think we should spend a bit more time off the dance floor.” 

Sora tilted his head but took Riku’s hand. “What do you mean?” 

“Wanna go for a walk in the park nearby?” Riku asked. “Just you and me.” 

Sora smiled and nodded. Hand in hand, they walked down the stairs to the main floor of the studio and out into the sunshine. 

The park was just a block away, and Sora felt instantly better as soon as they stepped onto the paved pathway. The trees were tall here, the sunlight filtering through broad leaves and creating nature’s disco ball effect as the lights and shadows danced together. It really was a perfect day to go for a walk, the cool breeze signifying autumn’s approach, but the sunshine of summer still holding on. Sora took several deep breaths, feeling better with each step. 

They had stopped holding hands when they had walked down the street but as soon as they were hidden between the trees, Riku took his hand once more. 

“See… we’re off the dance floor, and I still feel exactly the same way as I did in there. All I want to do is kiss you and hold you and take you out on dates and dedicate every moment of my life to showing you how much I care about you.” Riku squeezed Sora’s hand. “All I want is to see you smile.” 

Tears of happiness sprang to Sora’s eyes. No one had ever said something so romantic to him. Riku was always so honest and sincere, just laying his whole heart out for Sora to witness and love. 

“I…” Sora tried to form words, but how could he ever top that? Instead, he offered Riku a watery smile, unable to contain his joy and love at Riku’s words. 

Riku grinned back. “There it is. Now the world’s a little brighter.”

Laughing, Sora rubbed under his eye, trying to disperse his tears. “I love you so much.” 

It took a moment before he realized what he said. The ‘L’ word… was it too soon to say that? But it was what he felt. And the words flowed out so naturally. 

“I love you too,” Riku said, raising their hands to kiss Sora’s knuckles softly. 

Sora gasped, glancing around. It was just them in their own little world, and the adoration in Riku’s eyes gave him courage. Standing on his tiptoes, Sora pulled Riku in for a deep kiss. He felt Riku’s groan of appreciation, and he quietly moaned in response. Riku’s arms wrapped around his back, his hand warm where it was pressed between Sora’s shoulder blades, and his other hand buried itself deep into Sora’s hair, changing the angle of the kiss just enough to make it perfect . 

Sora placed his hands on Riku’s shoulders, feeling the strong muscle beneath his fingertips. Riku was so amazing and kind and wonderful.

Sora felt that, together, they could do anything. 

With a slight twinge of regret, Sora pulled away. Riku groaned, pulling him in for two more quick kisses, small pecks of lips against his own before he loosened his hold. 

Sora grinned, sure he looked silly with kiss-swollen lips. “I feel like I just… ran a thousand miles or something.” 

“Yeah,” Riku gasped, face flushed. “But I also feel… energized.” 

Sora hummed. “I guess… love does that.” 

“Yeah,” Riku agreed, pressing their foreheads together. “You… You wanna try that move again? I think we can do it now?” 

“You feel it too?” Sora asked, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll count off.” 

They started in a closed position, taking 3 steps down the pathway before Sora started a turn around Riku, stopping just behind him. Taking Riku’s right hand with his own and placing his left on Riku’s hip, they glided across the walking path another three steps before Sora twirled Riku under his arm and they returned to a closed position, this time with Sora in the lead. Another three steps and they were ready to begin the final part of the choreography. 

They had done it! No accidental missteps or off-timing. They had done it smoothly and naturally. Sora had to laugh in excitement, jumping for joy. “We did it!” 

“I told you we’d get it,” Riku said, picking Sora up and twirling around. “We’re gonna win now. I just know it.” 

“You think so?” Sora asked, wrapping his arms around Riku’s neck. Riku nodded, and Sora couldn’t hold back another excited grin. “I think so too!” 

Laughing, they twirled once more under the trees, the lights and shadows dancing with them. 

“Welcome back to Kingdom Dance Off!” Aurora said into the microphone, the audience cheering in the background. “For those just joining in, this is our ‘Something Old, Something New’ special. For our ‘Something Old’ segment the judges have requested participants to revisit a dance they’ve already done while giving feedback and advice. We just saw Naveen and Axel’s revisit of the waltz choreographed to ‘I See Fire,’ before the break. Now, let’s talk to the judges!”

Sora vaguely took note of the critique, compliments, and scores Axel and Naveen received as he adjusted his suspenders. Axel and Naveen had looked good, taking a slower and dramatic waltz around the dance floor and their scores (as well as the audience reaction) were outstanding as well. Biting his lip, Sora fiddled with his suspenders again, flinching when he accidentally snapped them against his chest. 

“Don't hurt yourself,” Riku murmured beside him, reaching out to take Sora’s hand instead. “I’d hate to find a new dance partner at this late hour.” 

Sora grinned, squeezing Riku’s hand and burying his face briefly in a bare biceps, finding it comforting and warm. “Would you really go and find a new dance partner?” 

“Never,” Riku said. “No matter how much I like winning, it’s gotta be with you.” 

Sora sighed happily, cheekily brushing his mouth against Riku’s warm skin before pulling away. “You ready? We’re next.” 

Riku nodded. “We’re gonna win, remember?” 

Sora’s grin grew bigger, nearly hurting his cheeks. Riku always sounded so confident when he said it; a confidence that reflected in his dancing. 

Taking a deep breath, Sora mentally went through their dance again. Two dances in a night were occasionally tricky for contestants, but their dances were different enough that Sora was fairly sure Riku could keep up. They had practiced both in the rehearsals and Riku had done well. 

They could do this.

First was the revisit of their jive routine, then a very quick change of costume before their tango. Their outfits were vastly different from their last jive. This time, Sora was outfitted in long black pants, a black long-sleeved shirt, and red suspenders while Riku was in a sleeveless white shirt and plain dark blue jeans. Sora hadn’t really understood Fairy Godmother’s costuming decision, but she assured him that they looked good together. He couldn’t find himself to be too upset though when he saw Riku’s bare biceps. It was a good look on him. 

“Guys? You’re up now.” 

Sora nodded at Naminé. Together, he and Riku stepped up onto the small platform where Kristoff would interview them before their dance. Kristoff ran up to the podium as well, a little out of breath. 

“Sorry guys. I was just, uh…” 

Sora hid a smile with his hand. “Talking with Anna?” 

“Uh, sure, let’s go with that.” 

Sora doubled over in laughter. With Anna out of the competition, she seemed to be spending her time distracting her husband instead. In the audience, Sora could just make out Olette, here to cheer Kairi on. 

As the cameras began to turn towards them, Sora turned to Riku. “Ready?”

Riku nodded and brushed his hand against Sora’s in support. 

“And now to Kristoff with Riku and his partner, Sora!” 

“Thanks, Aurora.” Kristoff turned his microphone to Riku. “So, how was it working with Judge Prudence this week? Did she put you through the wringer?” 

Riku chuckled. “She’s tough but fair. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more ‘on the beat.’ She put Sora through his paces too.” 

“Impressing Judge Prudence is an achievement in itself,” Sora laughed. “But I think tonight’s dances will do it.” 

“Well, you impressed her last week with that 10. Can you do it again?” 

“We’re gonna give it our best!” Riku exclaimed. 

“Well let’s see how that rehearsal went…” 

The lights dimmed as the cameras cut to the pre-recorded session of Sora and Riku’s practice with Prudence. While the audience watched the footage, Sora and Riku took their places on the stage to begin their routine. 

Soon enough, the lights brightened once more. 

“And now, dancing the jive with his partner Sora, it’s Riku.” 

As the guitar notes started up, they held each other’s hands, turning around each other quickly before Riku let go and leaped off the stage, clearing the four steps with ease. Just as the lyrics started up, Sora leaped off the stage to join him. Riku caught him easily, spinning around quickly before setting Sora to the ground so they could begin dancing in earnest. 

Lord almighty, 
I feel my temperature rising
Higher higher
It’s burning through my soul

They held hands as their dance steps picked up the pace, jumping and kicking their knees up to the rhythm. On the next verse, they ‘accordioned’ in and out, stepping together before Riku turned Sora under his arm and they stepped apart, then their steps repeated. 

Occasionally they turned out into an open position but kept their hands connected as they shimmied across the floor. The dance was fast, and Sora could only catch glimpses of Riku’s face, but he could feel the joy radiating off of him. And that happiness was contagious, the grin on Sora’s face never fading. 

Your kisses lift me higher
Like the sweet song of a choir
You light my morning sky
With burning love

Riku pulled Sora back in until they were chest to chest, their legs nearly intertwining on the dance floor before they held their hands out and took several turning steps around the floor. With another twirl under Riku’s arm, Sora was suddenly in the air, Riku holding him aloft with one arm as he held his other arm out to keep his balance. Before coming back to the ground, Sora spun in Riku’s grip so he was facing the audience. 

Grasping Sora’s waist with one hand and his outstretched arm with the other, Riku led them once more around the dance floor. Elvis’s voice echoed around the studio as the music hit its final notes. 

Cause I’m a hunk, a hunk of burning… Love!

On the last note, Riku flipped Sora back around with a little jump before dipping him low to the ground. 

They held the position for a beat, breathing heavily before the audience erupted into applause. With a laugh, Riku pulled Sora up, wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. 

“Wow!” Aurora called out, walking up to them. “That was incredible!” 

“Thanks!” Riku said into Aurora’s microphone. “I had a lot of fun this week.” 

“It showed! How did Pru’s guidance help you this week with your jive?” 

“Um,” Riku chuckled nervously. “Well, she definitely helped me hit every note. Sora’s choreography really showed off both the dance moves and the music, so I wanted it to be perfect. And I think Judge Prudence helped me achieve that.” 

“Well, I certainly thought so, but let’s hear from the judges! Judge Prudence?” 

“Leagues better than the last time you performed a jive in front of us,” Prudence said, her tone not giving away if she was pleased or not. “Your footwork at the beginning was impeccable and you managed to finish every move before starting the next one.” 

“Your energy remains contagious,” Lumiére added. “There’s something about you two that makes for a great combination and you bring that to the dance floor every week. I hope to see you guys next week!” 

“Oh, I hope so too!” Charlotte fanned herself. “Y’all’s chemistry is absolutely divine . And your kicks and flips and twists… Oh, you took that jive to a whole new level!!” 

“And now, judges, your scores?” 

“10!” Lumiére shouted. 

“10!” Charlotte waved her scorecard in the air. 

Sora bit his lip and crossed his fingers. Did they manage to impress Prudence with their jive this week? Especially after all the advice she had given them?

“10.” Prudence held up her scorecard, though Sora could hardly believe it. 

Another perfect score this dance?

He heard Riku shout in excitement next to him, and Sora’s grin felt like it would overwhelm his face. 

“Another perfect score for this dance!” Aurora said into the microphone, talking more to the audience than to Sora and Riku. “Can you guys repeat that in your tango? Well, we’ll find out soon after this break!” 

The lights dimmed and the show cut to commercial. 

“Good work guys,” Aurora said, her voice much quieter when she wasn’t on camera. “Can’t wait to see your tango. Kairi said you’ve got a surprise for us?” 

Sora winked. “You’ll see.” 

Together, they ran back to costuming to change and to get their makeup and hair refreshed. There would be a few performances before their tango, but that still didn’t leave much time. 

“Sora!” 

Sora looked up from where he was buttoning his pants. “Naminé? What’s up?” 

Naminé ran into the changing room, averting her eyes for a moment before controlling her blush. “Sorry, I didn’t realize—” 

“Naminé, it’s okay. I just gotta put my shirt on… and it’s not like Fairy Godmother left much to the imagination there.” 

Apparently inspired by Sora’s wardrobe malfunction a few weeks ago, Sora’s shirt didn’t button up at all, nor did Riku’s. Instead, the ivory-colored fabric, sparkling with green and light blue, hung open in the front, revealing Sora’s chest. He found that he wasn’t as embarrassed by the notion of baring skin as he might have been earlier. 

Riku made him feel more confident. 

Naminé coughed slightly. “You’ve got that look again.” 

“What look?” 

“The ‘I’m thinking of Riku’ look.” Naminé hid a giggle behind her hand. “Kairi and Xion are right; it’s a good look on you.”

Sora chuckled nervously. “Yeah well… what was it you wanted?” 

“Uh…” Naminé sighed. “It’s— I’ll tell you after your dance.” 

Sora frowned. “Sounds serious…” 

Naminé’s lips turned up in a slight smile. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Besides, you and Riku got this, right?” 

“Definitely,” 

Sora startled at Riku’s voice, and was unable to hold back his smile when he felt Riku’s hand on his shoulder. 

Naminé’s smile brightened, though Sora could still sense some tension behind it. “Break a leg guys!” 

She ran off, leaving Sora wondering what was wrong, but trying to put it out of mind until after their tango. Sora sighed quietly before pulling away, admiring Riku’s outfit. It was similar to his own but black with purple and teal sparkles. 

“Looking good.” 

Riku’s face reddened, but his eyes glanced over Sora’s form in a way that made Sora feel both embarrassed and wanted . “So do you… do we get to keep the costumes afterward?” 

Sora laughed loudly, shaking his head. “Not usually… but I’ll see what I can do.”

They quickly got their hair and makeup freshened up before running back to the ready area to prepare to be called up for their tango. On the dance floor, Aqua and Cinderella were dancing their Something New’ routine: a jive dance to “Can’t Stop Me Now.” 

“Hey,” Kairi came up behind the theme, clapping Sora’s arm. “Good luck guys. Hope to be dancing against you next week.” 

“You too,” Sora said, wrapping an arm around her in a hug. “Where’s Vanitas?” 

Kairi laughed. “Doing his own eyeliner. Apparently, the makeup artist doesn’t do it ‘dramatic’ enough for him.” 

“Oooh.” Sora chuckled. 

“And now, the scores!” 

Sora turned his attention back to the dance floor as Aqua and Cinderella received their scores. Perfect 10’s from the judges, and Sora bit his lip. Between those left in the competition, he figured Aqua and Cinderella would be the clear winners. Aqua was a great teacher and dancer, able to showcase her partner’s abilities. Sora learned a lot from her before coming on to the professional side himself. If her partner wasn’t eliminated early in the competition, Aqua was sure to make the finals. 

Sora hoped that he and Riku could join her there.  

“We’re up,” Riku said, taking Sora’s hand as they met Kristoff for the pre-dance interview for the second time that night. 

“Hey, guys!” Kristoff said with a grin. “Long time no see!” 

Sora chuckled. “This week and next are always our busiest.” 

“No kidding, but the audience loves it. You guys ready?” 

Riku nodded. 

The cameras turned towards them, and the lights came on. 

Showtime. 

“And we’re here with Riku and his partner Sora to discuss their ‘Something New’ routine: the tango! So Riku, how did this dance compare to your earlier jive?” 

Riku laughed. “Well, they’re very different. So this week was a little difficult, essentially trying to learn two dances, but we had fun. Sora’s a really good teacher, and I hope the audience enjoys what we have in store.” 

“Ah yes, I heard a rumor about what you guys have planned. Do you think it’ll cinch your victory?” 

“We’ll have to see, but I hope so!” 

“Great! Let’s see how this week in practice went…” 

The lights dimmed as the video played on screen. Roxas and Ven managed to cut down a shortened version of Sora and Riku struggling with the tango before the idea of a “switch” was brought up (staged later so Sora brought it up instead of Roxas behind the camera). While the video played, Riku and Sora took their places in the middle of the dance floor. 

The music started as soon as the lights went up. Sora arched his back to the beat. Unlike the upbeat steps of the jive, each step of their tango was purposeful. Riku’s steps were grounded as he led Sora around the floor, spinning, and twisting while Sora’s feet easily kept up. They dipped on the beat, their hips close and feet nearly stepping over each other with each step. 

Nearly. 

Just like their heartbeats, their feet were in harmony with each other, never stepping on a toe nor stepping out of line. Each spin, turn, and dip was perfectly executed. 

Sora barely paid attention to the audience or the judges. He only had eyes for Riku’s heated stare and his shy, but sincere smile. 

The beat sped up in the next verse and they spun fast around the floor. On one turn, Sora held tight to Riku as his feet relaxed and Riku spun him in a circle that nearly lifted Sora off the ground. 

I was broken from a young age
Taking my sulking to the masses
Writing my poems for the few
That look at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me

Sora readied himself. It was coming up, the move they had been practicing and practicing. They just had to nail it. 

As the song moved to the chorus, Riku spun Sora under his arm so Sora was now behind him. 

Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Sora took the lead, holding Riku’s waist and his outstretched hand as they turned around the floor. On the next sung note of “pain!” Sora spun Riku around so they were facing each other and Riku’s hand landed on Sora’s shoulder. Somehow the height difference did not matter. Not when Riku was looking at Sora like that. 

With all the trust in the world.

They spun around the dance floor once more before, with a quick step, Sora dipped Riku over his knee. Silver hair brushed against the ballroom floor as the music ended. They held the position for a moment. It was so quiet, Sora thought he could hear a pin drop. 

Then the audience erupted into applause. 

Sora heard someone talking to him, but he could barely hear it over the applause. Instead, he focused on Riku’s joyous smile as they righted themselves back into a standing position. 

They had done it! On the dance floor! 

Riku wrapped his arms around Sora’s waist, lifting him up to spin around, both of them unable to contain their excited laughter.

Eventually, Sora heard Aurora calling his and Riku’s names and they were brought back to reality. Gently, Riku placed Sora back on the ground and they turned to face the judges. 

Charlotte was clearly chomping at the bit to get her commentary in, Lumiére having to practically pull her microphone away so she wouldn’t disrupt Aurora’s comments. Prudence was staring at both of them with a contemplative look. 

“Oh goodness, now that was a surprise!” Aurora said, biting back a laugh of her own. “And your excitement! I take it that it was hard to contain. Switching leads mid-dance is nearly unheard of and you—”

“That was more spectacular than a magnolia in March on a full moon!” Charlotte shouted, managing to grab her microphone. “Can we just skip to the scores?” 

Aurora laughed. “We’ll get there Lottie, but I’m sure Judges Lumiére and Prudence would like to say something first?” 

“Ahem, well, as my fellow judge so eloquently stated, that was rather spectacular. To pull off a switch so flawlessly. But even outside of that, you two… that was quite the tango. Your eyes never left each other. It was like the whole rest of the ballroom faded from existence. Très magnifique!” 

“A switch simply isn’t done,” Prudence said suddenly. 

Sora bit his lip. A few points docked could make or break them for the finals. 

“But… I’m glad to have seen it done tonight. Well danced.” 

Aurora nodded. “And your scores?” 

“10!” Charlotte shouted, waving her scorecard in the air. 

“10!” Lumiére added. 

“A well-deserved 10,” Prudence said, raising her card as well. 

Sora gasped, laughing as Riku spun him around again in excitement. 

“Another excellent perfect score guys!” Aurora said as Naminé indicated a commercial break was coming up. “After the break: Vanitas and his partner Kairi dance the samba followed by Naveen and Axel dancing their 'Something New' routine. And after that… our last night of eliminations before the finals. Who will our final four be? Make sure to get your votes in now. Voting will close in about 20 minutes.”

The cameras cut out and Riku placed Sora on the dance floor once more. “We did it…” he murmured, pushing his forehead to Sora’s.

“We did…” Sora whispered back. “I almost don’t care if we don’t make the finals. That was the best dance of my life.” 

Riku hummed in agreement before pulling away, leading Sora off the dance floor so Vanitas and Kairi could get ready. 

Sora was still riding that perfect score high as the lights came back on. Vanitas and Kairi started their samba, dancing to “Wake Me Up Inside” by Evanescence. A song Sora hadn’t realized could be samba-danced too but Kairi was creative enough to get anything to work. They glided around the dance floor smoothly, and their scores reflected their performance. A near-perfect score of 28. 

As Axel and Naveen took to the dance floor for their ‘Something New’ routine, Sora spotted Namine passing by. “Hey, Naminé. What was it you needed to tell me earlier?” 

“Oh! Right.” Naminé hesitated for a moment before she pulled out her phone. “This isn’t the best time, and I’m so sorry to bring it up now. But there’s been another image circulating online. Same publisher too… if this continues, we might need to pursue a restraining order.” 

“What?” 

Sora took a closer look at the phone. There was a blurry image but Sora recognized the trees from the park he and Riku had visited earlier in the week. And, given the headline, Sora could only presume that the blurry blobs in the middle of the picture were Riku and himself. He could make out his own spiky hair, his arms locked in an embrace with Riku. He then looked back at twitter to the comments:

“Oh… Naminé, we tried to keep it quiet, and I checked! There was no one in the park and—” 

“And the image could be of anyone.” Naminé emphasized the ‘could’ glancing up at Sora’s face. “I mean… it could be Vanitas… or Roxas, or even that other spiky-haired guy from a few years ago. Cloud, remember?” 

Sora nodded, scrolling up through the comments. Most were kind, others disappointed that the competition was turning into a ‘dating show.’ But still… “We really did try, Nam. You know I’d never do anything to bring trouble to the show. If you need me to leave—” 

“No!” Naminé protested, her voice echoed by a deeper one behind Sora. 

Instantly, both of Riku’s arms wrapped around Sora’s waist. Sora sighed, pressing his body to Riku’s and instantly finding comfort. “Riku…” 

“Sora. Don’t leave.” 

Sora hummed but nodded. “I just—” 

“I didn’t bring it up to make you feel bad,” Naminé clarified. “I just… this is the second time this reporter has caught you guys on camera. The picture is too blurry for any reasonable person to say that it’s definitely you.” 

“You knew,” Sora said.

Naminé’s lips turned up in a half-grin. “I’ve known both of you for years. Most people on set would know it was you, but the general public doesn’t. No one is mad at you two for this picture. We’re mad at the reporters because this set of incidents is starting to feel like stalking. Did you guys tell anyone that you were leaving the studio that day?” 

“No…” Sora frowned, biting his lip. “I talked to Larxene maybe about an hour before, but not about leaving the studio to go for a walk.” 

“Hmm…” Naminé put her finger to her lips in thought. “I’ll have Goofy follow up with Larxene. And maybe we’ll review the footage from outside to ensure that it may have just been a chance that paparazzi caught you. The season’s almost done. Hopefully, this will be the last of it.” 

Riku nodded. “Hopefully.” 

She nodded before leaving to finish her final few checks. Sora sighed quietly before pulling away. “Sorry about that… I just—” 

“I told you before,” Riku murmured, drawing Sora close and tilting his head so teal eyes stared into his own. “However we came together, I know that I would never change it for anything. Not for all the internet trolls or paparazzi in the world. I love you.” 

Sora gasped, still not used to hearing those words directed at him. “I love you too.” 

Riku grinned and captured Sora’s lips in a quick kiss before pulling away. “C’mon.”

Sora suddenly realized in the time they spent talking, Naveen and Axel had finished their dance and the judges had given their scores. It was now time for eliminations. 

Riku held his hand as they headed for the dance floor. They all headed to the dance floor; no one was spared on this night. 

“Now, before we announce our final four,” Aurora began. “The producers wanted me to let you guys know that pointwise, there are only 7 points between our highest and lowest scores tonight. It really comes down to those votes guys. Who has our audience chosen to be in the final four?” 

Riku warped his arms around Sora in support as the lights flashed around them in eager anticipation. 

“In no particular order, the first pair of dancers that will appear in our final is…. Vanitas and Kairi!” 

Vanitas actually looked shocked at the announcement, hugging Kairi tightly before they both ran off the dance floor. 

“Joining them in our finals will be… Cinderella and Aqua!” 

“Yay!” Cinderella shouted excitedly as Aqua picked her up and spun her around twice before running off to the sidelines. 

“Our third finalist spot goes to…. Naveen and Axel.”

“Ashidanza!” Naveen exclaimed, high-fiving Axel as they, too, made their way off the dance floor. 

It was down to them and the team of Rapunzel and Demyx. 

Had they done enough? Had their fans voted them through? 

“And now. Our last finalist team who we will see dancing next week is… Riku and Sora!” 

Sora jumped in excitement, Riku joining him. They quickly held hands as they ran off the dance floor so Aurora could talk with Rapunzel and Demyx about their time on the show.

Once out of sight of the cameras and the audience, Riku spun Sora under his arm and dipped him low to the ground, bending over him with a wide playful smirk. “I told you we’d win.” 

Sora laughed, squeezing Riku’s arm lightly. “We haven’t won yet. Still gotta have the whole week to go.” 

Riku’s smirk didn’t fade for a moment. “Yeah, but… we’re gonna win.” 

Sora grinned. He knew from past shows that surprises could still happen down to the last moment. But with Riku smirking at him like that, Sora felt invincible. 

“Remember to vote in our Twitter poll for which dance you would like to see your finalists perform one last time,” Kristoff said as the audience continued to cheer and the credits rolled. “Voting closes in 24 hours so get those votes in soon. You can only vote once per account but it’s not like we can tell how many accounts you have. Vote early, vote often, and goodnight. This has been Kingdom Dance Off!” 

Chapter Text

“Welp, the results are in!” Sora grinned, holding his phone out for Riku to see. Behind him, Sora heard the faint hum of Ven’s camera zooming in so the finale’s audience could “see” the results as well. 

Riku laughed at some of the comments, and then grinned at Sora. “Guess we better practice then, captain.”  

“Aye,” Sora put on his best pirate accent, but mostly ended up laughing at his attempt. “We’ll start practicing that next. But first, what dance did you want to perform as your choice?” 

Riku blushed, rubbing the back of his head. His hair was growing even longer, now reaching mid-back. Sora reached up and ran a hand through it as well, smoothing out the tangled strands. 

“Well…” Riku began, “Honestly if pirates hadn’t won, I would have chosen that, so I’m glad the fans like it… but, if I gotta choose… can we do our first dance again?”

“The waltz?” Sora nodded. “Of course!” 

“Good. Cause I really want to dance that with you again. I mean, I would dance all our dances again, but that one’s special.” 

Sora felt his face heat up even as he grinned. “Yeah!” 

Riku leaned against Sora’s desk. “So… since both dances are repeats, will we be given scores on them? Is it like the ‘Something Old’ or…” 

Sora shook his head, remembering that Riku had never seen the show before participating. “They’ll mostly be for audience engagement and excitement, but the big number we’ll be scored on is the group number at the beginning.” 

“Group number?” Riku’s eyebrows rose. “Like, coordinated with the others?” 

“Yeah! It’s always super fun. We’ll have about a 30-second segment that is all our style, and there are parts at the beginning and end we’ll have to coordinate with the others. Oh! And Naminé said that they managed to coordinate with all the participants that were eliminated earlier and they’ll be making an appearance as well! Kairi, Aqua, Axel, and I will discuss it later.” 

“Sounds like a lot of work.” 

Sora nodded, “It always is, but it’s honestly my favorite group dance every season, even when my partner doesn’t make the finale. For today though, we’ll work on our section.”

“What’s the song?” 

“‘Shut Up and Dance’ by Walk the Moon,” Sora said. “The producers thought it was appropriate.” 

“Definitely.” Riku nodded and held out his hand. “Well, then. Shall we get started?” 

Sora showed what he would need to know and practice for the end choreography first, then they moved on to their section. Ventus stayed for a few minutes to record, then left with a wave, on his way to visit Vanitas and Kairi. 

As soon as he left, Riku yawned deeply, practically sinking into Sora’s side as they took a break by Sora’s desk. 

Sora chuckled, shifting so he could wrap his arm around Riku’s shoulders. “Sleepy?” 

“Been getting things ready for the move,” Riku sighed, sinking even more into Sora’s side. “Leaving notes for the packers, talking with apartment agencies in Atlantica... There’s a three-hour time difference so…” 

“Oh yeah,” Sora sighed. He’d have to keep that in mind when Riku was there and Sora was still here. 

“But it’s okay,” Riku pulled away from Sora’s shoulder and wrapped his arm around Sora’s back. “I’m awake enough to do some more practice. Do we need to change any of our other dances? Switch up choreography or…” 

Beep!

Riku pulled back in surprise at the noise, reaching down to pull his phone out of his pocket. “Sorry, I thought I had it on silent.” 

“Who is it?” Sora leaned in to look over Riku’s shoulder. 

“Ariel,” Riku hummed. “Most days it’s just some silly meme.” 

He pulled up the message. Ariel had sent a text but it wasn’t a meme.

Riku laughed quietly and put the phone away. “She hasn’t stopped asking if you would be moving to Atlantica since she left. I told her you have a job here but we were working it out and— Sora?”

Sora jerked his thoughts out of where they had been drifting. A job in Atlantica? He could… 

Take a break.

Vanitas’s words from weeks ago echoed through Sora’s head. 

“Hey, Sora…” Riku’s voice sounded worried. “Hey, what’s wrong?” 

Sora shook his head, a smile coming to his face. “Nothing. I just… musical choreography is a bit different from ballroom. But I appreciate her thinking of me.” 

Riku hummed, sounding like he didn’t quite believe Sora. 

Sora wasn’t sure if he believed himself. He loved his job… the thought of giving it up, even temporarily—

But Anna had taken a break. So did Axel… Thinking back, Sora realized that nearly every one of the professionals had taken a break at some time or another. They never went far though… Sora would be going to another timezone. 

But… to be with Riku…

It was a lot to think about. 

Sora shook his head, leaning up to gently kiss Riku on the lips before pulling away. “I’ll tell you later. I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” Riku whispered back. 

There was a soft cough at the door. Startled, Sora turned around, finding Naminé standing at the threshold. He opened his mouth to ask why she was there, but she held a finger to her lips quickly, motioning for them to follow her. 

Frowning, Sora got up, Riku at his heels, and they left the dance studio. Naminé led them further down the hallway into Anna’s currently empty studio. Sora glanced back, finding Goofy leading several security guards into his studio, followed by a very angry Donald. 

“Naminé? What’s going—” 

“Oh,” Naminé clutched her head with a quiet groan. “Where to start? Well… you know that newspaper that’s been, for lack of a better term, stalking you guys?”

“Important News Now?” Sora tilted his head. “What about them? I know you said that you were looking into restraining orders or something, but—” 

“And we did. Or well, our lawyers did. But when the police went to serve them… well… The head of the newspaper, Pete, responded by showing us this.” 

Naminé held out her phone, pressing the play button. The video began: a black and white security camera view of what Sora realized was under the audience stands at the studio where they filmed Kingdom Dance Off. There was a moment where Mickey came into view, tying Pluto’s leash to a pole under the stands to keep him out of the way. Pluto looked to be content sitting there. In the corner, Sora could barely make out moving lights and a few dancing feet. 

Me and Riku? He thought. 

Then Larxene came into view. Pluto growled at her, but she merely ignored him and unbuckled his leash from his collar. 

Pluto tilted his head in confusion before he heard something just off-camera. Then he ran towards the dance floor just as the video stopped. 

“That was when I injured my knee.” Sora frowned, remembering back to that week. He remembered thinking it was odd that Pluto hadn’t pulled off his leash, but that it appeared someone had let him off. “So Larxene purposely tried to cause an accident.” 

Naminé nodded with a quiet sigh. “I am so sorry, Sora. If I had any indication that she would do something like that, I— we —would have never let her on the show.” 

“She’s lucky Sora wasn’t hurt worse,” Riku muttered, wrapping his arms around Sora and squeezing tightly. 

“It’s— well, it’s not okay…” It was a lot to process at that moment. Sora knew Larxene didn’t like him that much, but to purposely try and sabotage him… Sora shook his head, trying to focus on one thing at a time. “But what’s with the security guards right now?” 

“Well, I mean… When the producers saw this, Mickey immediately had her taken off the premises. She won’t be appearing in the finale. It’s up to you if you’d like to press assault charges, but she’s definitely banned from being in another production from this studio.” 

Sora frowned, feeling his heart sink. He thought Larxene would change. She said that she was gonna try, but that was after this incident. Maybe she realized she had gone too far. 

“But,” Naminé continued. “Early this morning, I got this from the girl Naminé is staying with. I think it’s Marluxia’s sister, but I’ll have to ask him later.” She held out her phone again, showing a message from a number with no name, but the message was kind and apologetic. 

Giving the phone back to Naminé, Sora frowned. “There’s no reason for her to be sorry. Larxene made her own decisions.” 

Naminé nodded. “I know, I told her as much when I called her, but I guess she, Marluxia, and Larxene have been super close since childhood, so she feels a bit responsible.” 

Sora sighed, remember the last couple of times he had spoken to Larxene. The last time she had been surprisingly helpful in her advice with the tango. The time before that though…  

You should avoid being so you out in public. Or under the stands during the live shows.

Was that what Larxene’s cryptic warnings were about? But why not just come out and tell him? Or tell someone else on the show? 

“She’s not coming back here, is she?” Riku asked, tightening his grip around Sora’s waist. “Because if she does and tries something to jeopardize his safety again, I’ll—” 

Naminé raised her hand. “It’s okay. She actually resigned last week, but after this evidence... As I said, we’re not letting her back for the finale. She will have to come in to get her stuff out of her studio, but that will be with security guards present. It shouldn’t cause an issue. I’ll let you both know when that will be if you’d like to be out of the building. But, Sora, I do need to ask if you’d like to press charges.” 

Sora frowned. “Charges? For what?” 

“You can bring an assault charge against Larxene,” Naminé said. “I talked to our lawyers, and they said that there’s enough evidence to do so. It was enough to ban her from the studio. The newspaper and every reporter from it are currently being served a restraining order. But you can bring your own claims against her as an individual.” 

Sora thought about it for a moment but finally shook his head. “No. I think… the injury didn’t affect my career even though it definitely could have. I would like to give her a second chance. Though, Naminé, if you could? When she comes in to get her stuff, could you tell her that we’re even? She’ll know what I mean.” 

Larxene had asked for a favor, and this was the biggest favor Sora could think of. 

Naminé nodded. “Of course. I wouldn’t have expected anything else from you. The security guards are gonna finish their sweep and destroy whatever listening device Larxene planted. And then I’m gonna personally go down to the newspaper and make sure that whatever recordings they have are also destroyed.” 

It only took a few more moments before Goofy came in, holding up the mangled remains of a tiny microphone.

“We found it, Miss Naminé. And Donald took great joy in stomping it out of existence.”

She giggled. “I’m sure he did. Would you two like to accompany me down to Pete’s newspaper? There might be something more for him to destroy there.” 

“It would be an honor, ma’am!” Goofy bowed politely and walked out, probably to go find Donald. 

Sora turned to Naminé, “Thanks, Naminé.”

Naminé grinned and waved. “ Now you can go back to kissing.” 

“All over it,” Riku said, already leaning in to kiss the top of Sora’s head, then his cheeks, then his nose. 

Sora nearly doubled over in giggles, barely managing to wave goodbye to Naminé as she left. “Riku!” 

Riku laughed as well, still covering Sora in butterfly kisses while keeping him tightly in his arms. “You’re just so cute and wonderful.” 

Sora hummed in response, hiding his face in Riku’s chest. Riku responded by laying soft kisses in Sora’s hair instead, rubbing his back comfortingly. His thoughts drifting once more, Sora thought about how tired he was. Of looking over his shoulder for paparazzi. Of this thing with Larxene, the newspaper. Even though now it was over, for some reason it made Sora even more tired. 

Maybe he really did need that break. 

He thought back to Ariel’s text message, wondering if he’d be able to find her vocal coach’s contact info online. Ask about that choreography job. 

It would be a change. A risk… 

“Hey, wanna get back to practice?” Riku asked. “Even though I didn’t know about it before, I somehow feel even more relieved knowing that there's no listening device in there. Besides, we want to win, right? Gotta get practicing.” 

Riku’s smile lit up his face, and Sora couldn’t help but return it. He took Riku’s hand, and together they walked back to Sora’s studio, ready to practice what would be their final set of routines on the show. 

As Riku’s hand squeezed his own in reassurance and comfort, Sora came to a decision. 

Riku was worth every risk in the world. 

“Okay, everyone!” Naminé called out, headset half off in her hurry and clipboard in hand. “We’ve got ten minutes. Contestants, please take your places,! Professionals, please start heading to the dance floor!” 

Sora reached over and grabbed Riku’s hand. “Ready?” 

“With you? Always.” 

Sora knew the grin on his face was probably a little sappy, but that was okay because at least he and Riku matched. He led Riku to the platform that would rise in the air before the show began, and each contestant had their own platform with their name on it. They would be revealed dramatically when Kristoff announced their names as finalists before being lowered to the dance floor to begin their group dance routine. 

Sora thought it might be a little over the top, but the audience always seemed to like the surprise. 

He stepped back while the stagehands secured Riku in a safety harness that would prevent him from falling off the platform, then he leaned in, pressing their foreheads together. “See you in a bit.” 

“See you…” 

Sora was a little embarrassed he might say something sappy in a minute if he didn’t leave. It wasn’t like Riku was going away forever, just for a few minutes. So instead, he settled for a wave that Riku returned until the platform was completely lifted out of sight. 

“C’mon, Sora. You ready?”

Sora turned to Kairi who had her hand extended. After a deep breath, he took it, following her further out into the dancefloor and centered right in front of Roxas’s camera. Around them, he heard the audience whispers and excitement as he and Kairi got into position.  

“Hey, Sora?” 

Sora looked down at Kairi as the warning lights flashed, lighting up the rhinestones in her short rose gold dress. Twenty seconds left. “Yeah?”

“If this might be our last group dance for a while… let’s make it a happy one, okay?” 

Sora nodded with a grin. Kairi was the only one he had mentioned his plans to. Taking that risk to move to Atlantica. Not even Riku knew yet. But he was so glad she was supportive. “Yeah.” 

“Okay guys,” Naminé called from just behind Roxas. “And… five, four, three, two—” she mouthed “one” quietly as the lights came on and the music started right away. 

On cue, Sora held up his arm as Kairi twirled under it twice before flipping forward, then falling back into Sora’s arms. 

“Don’t you dare look back, keep your eyes on me
I said you’re holding back
She said shut up and dance with me .”  

Behind them, the other professional dancers, Axel, Aqua, as well as Xion, Snow White, Aladdin, Demyx, and Anna started to mirror his and Kairi’s movements as they mostly spun and danced in place; a quick cha-cha/swing hybrid that was always an audience favorite. Kairi spun under Sora’s arms and then Sora spun under Kairi’s. 

The song opening broke out into an extended instrumental segment as Sora, Kairi, and the other professionals clapped to the beat to encourage the audience to do so as Aurora took to the stage, looking radiant in a purple ball gown with elaborate beading. 

“Welcome to the Kingdom Dance Off Finale!” Aurora shouted into her microphone, excitement clear in her voice and on her face. “Please welcome your judges: Charlotte! Prudence! And Lumière!” 

The audience’s cheers grew louder as the judges entered and took their seats. Charlotte’s silver ball gown nearly overwhelmed her but she managed it gracefully, while Prudence’s more conservative navy blue dress somehow made her look more imposing. Lumière had opted for a more colorful look, wearing a bright red suit with what looked like a yellow/orange undershirt and a slim blue tie. 

“And now, please give it up for your finalists!” Kristoff shouted into his microphone from near the judge’s table. He pointed to the ceiling where the platforms were starting to lower. 

“Singer & Songwriter, Vanitas!” 

Vanitas played a bit of air guitar before waving at the audience. 

“Fashion Designer, Cinderella!” 

Cinderella waved and blew kisses to the audience. 

“Host of Top Chef and Renowned Food Critic, Naveen!” 

Sora laughed as Naveen seemed to be having his own dance party on his platform. 

“Olympic Swimmer Gold Medalist, Riku!” 

Sora cheered the loudest as Riku’s platform was lowered. Riku did a mixture of dancing and waving, looking a little nervous with the attention until he caught Sora’s eyes. Then he relaxed and waved a bit more. 

Sora, Kairi, Lea, and Aqua walked over to their respective partners as the platforms lowered all the way, helping to detach them from the harness as the other professionals danced their way through the stage and even up into the audience. 

“And please, don’t forget to give a round of applause for all our contestants!”

As the finalists took their places for the group dance, the camera panned around to where each previous contestant was hidden within the audience. Each eliminated contestant had a second or two to shine with their partners: Xion and Buzz, as well as Snow White and Mike, twirled on the stairs (carefully); Belle and Aladdin performed a short Charleston step on the stage near Kristoff; Demyx twirled Rapunzel out while she laughed, her long hair practically wrapping around her. Olette and Anna had hopped up onto the judge’s table to swing and twirl around each other. 

The only one without his partner was Hercules, and Sora felt a little bad. Herc had understood what happened, of course, and even apologized to Sora and Riku when he arrived during rehearsals that afternoon. Sora could only shrug and express that he hoped Larxene would be happier moving on. 

Instead of dancing with his partner, Hercules lifted two of the extra female professional dancers, one in each arm while they clapped and cheered. Just to the side, Sora spotted the young woman Hercules had introduced as his wife Meg. She rolled her eyes fondly but clapped all the same, a small smile on her face. 

All the cameras then returned their focus to the finalists. It was time for their judged relay to begin. The instrumental cut back to the lyrics. 

“We were victims of the night
The chemical, physical kryptonite.”

Vanitas and Kairi danced first, Kairi twirling under Vanitas’s arm before spinning back in. Their dance swung around each other, breaking apart momentarily to jump up on the beat. Kairi pirouetted back, and Vanitas lifted her in a flip before they swung around each other one last time and ran off the dance floor as Aqua and Cinderella took their place. 

“A backless dress and some beat up sneaks
My discotheque Juliet teenage dream.”

They had gone more jazz with their routine, with a more open form while still holding hands. Cinderella’s short silver dress caught the light just right and she looked like she was just having fun. Aqua also looked amazing in silver as she led Cinderella around the dance floor. They jived to the music, spinning around each other one final time. They joined Vanitas and Kairi in the observation area. 

“She took my arm
I don’t know how it happened.” 

Lea jumped on the dance floor, Naveen following close behind. Their routine borrowed more from the Charleston dances of the 1920s. Sora watched in awe as Naveen's feet seemed to move even faster than Lea’s. They danced through the refrain then spun together to do a closed position swing dance through the instrumental section. Then they twirled off the dance floor. 

Sora exhaled deeply.

It was time. 

“Deep in her eyes
I think I see the future
I realize this is my last chance.”

Riku instantly spun Sora around and into his arms as they danced a quick chacha, Sora’s back to Riku’s front. Sora then jumped back, Riku easily taking his weight and helping him flip over Riku’s shoulder to land behind him. They then danced apart for a minute before coming together, feet intertwined, and then rock-stepped in a circle. They broke apart once more, kicking their feet and dancing a few more steps. 

“Oh don’t you dare look back
Keep your eyes on me
I said you’re holding back
She said shut up and dance with me.”

Everyone joined in on the last refrain of the song, both contestants and professionals. They finished out the song with the group. At the last note, Riku dipped Sora low to the ground. 

There was a beat of silence before the audience erupted into applause. Sora chuckled in relief as Riku pulled him back up and into his arms. Hugging him tightly, Sora took in all the excitement.

“I’m so glad we were paired together,” Sora whispered into Riku’s ear, not even sure if Riku could hear him over the roar of the crowd. 

But, evidently, he could as Sora felt Riku’s lips brush against his temple for a barely-there kiss, then leaning in to whisper in his ear. “Me too…” 

Sora hummed in contentment, tightening his grip around Riku’s shoulders just a little bit more before they had to pull away as Aurora tried to get the audience under control. 

“Okay, everyone! Now, remember to vote for your favorite dancer! For tonight, votes are nearly all that will help your favorite win! The judges will award some bonus points though. Each contestant is ranked by the judges one to four, with first-place receiving three bonus points, second place receiving two, third place receiving three, and fourth place receiving zero.” Aurora turned to the judging table where the judges sat writing down notes and tabulating their bonus points. 

“Judge Charlotte?” 

Charlotte stood up eagerly. “Okay so first of all, I think we need to give another round of applause to all our pros for the choreography on that dance.”

The audience eagerly rushed to comply, cheering and applauding for another long moment before Charlotte continued. 

“And each of our finalists here tonight did really really well. It makes it almost too hard to award these points, but...uh…”

She trailed off, still looking like she needed a moment. 

“Charlotte, my dear, we are on a timer.” Lumière gently prodded. 

“I know, I know!” Charlotte sighed, “You all danced fantastically. Naveen, that Charleston was outstanding! I’m pretty sure you outpaced Lea! And Cinderella! You’re spins and energy! Truly marvelous! Vanitas, your energy was up and you moved fully aware of your space! Fantastic! And Riku.” 

Sora felt Riku tense up a bit but there was no need when Charlotte directed a large smile at him. 

“You have honestly shown the most improvement, as we’ve seen here tonight. Congratulations to all of you. This is so hard, but… Riku and Sora, I give you three points, Cinderella and Aqua, two points, Naveen and Axel, one point and… Oh Vanitas, If I had another point to spare I would!!”

Vanitas shrugged, though Sora could see Kairi tighten her grip on his hand reassuringly.

“Judge Lumière?” 

“Well, I will have to second Charlotte’s positive remarks to the pro dancers. That was an entertaining opening. But on to the relay itself: again, you all did well. Charlotte was correct in that this was hard, but here we go. Riku, the confidence in your dance was there, but there were just a few moments I felt like you could have extended your arm a bit more. Vanitas, there wasn’t a moment of hesitation with you, though occasionally your footwork wasn’t as sharp as it could have been. You attacked the dance with gusto, now we need to work a bit on precision. Cinderella, I pretty much agree with Charlotte there, that was a very good dance. Naveen, though your footwork on that Charleston was amazing, it didn’t quite sync up with Lea’s, so you were always a bit ahead of him.” After consulting his notes one more time, Lumière awarded his points. “Cinderella and Aqua, I award you three points, Vanitas and Kairi, two points. Riku and Sora 1 point, and I’m sorry, Naveen and Lea.” 

With an easy grin, Naveen shrugged and did another quick Charleston move that had the audience laughing. 

“And last, but certainly not least, Judge Prudence.” 

Prudence did not stand up, merely consulted her notes. “Everyone performed adequately, some more adequately than others. As it is the finals, I expect nothing less than perfection. There were some minor infractions from all of you.” 

Short and to the point. Sora squeezed Riku’s hand. Though the audience votes would weigh more this final round, any little bonus point could help. Riku squeezed back before separating their hands and wrapping his arm around Sora’s waist instead to pull him in closer. 

“Cinderella and Aqua: three points. Riku and Sora: two points. Vanitas and Kairi: one point.” 

She didn’t offer any condolences to Naveen and Lea, but she never had done so in the past either, so Sora wasn’t surprised. Instead, he listened as the audience cheered over the results, and Sora could practically hear them all doing the mental math. But Kristoff was already one step ahead. 

“Okay, so that’s eight points to Cinderella and Aqua, six points to Riku and Sora, three to Vanitas and Kairi, and one to Naveen and Axel. But again, tonight it’s your voice that matters.” Kristoff turned to the camera Ven was holding. “We have lines open all night to count your votes. And now; last week we asked all of you on our social media which dance you’d like to see our finalists perform once more. Well, earlier this week, we got the results, and tonight, your favorite dances will be performed live on this dance floor, right after we come back from this commercial break.”

The lights dimmed and Sora took a deep breath, the first one he felt like he was able to take since he and Kairi started the dance nearly 15 minutes ago. 

“C’mon,” Riku said, taking Sora’s hand once more and leading him off the dance floor. “Let’s go change for our pirate fight…” 

“Oh, man the fans chose that for you?” Lea groaned, placing a hand heavily on Sora’s shoulders as they walked to the dressing rooms. “Man, of course, they’d pick the cool fight for you.” 

Sora chuckled. “What did you guys get?” 

“‘If I Only Had a Brain’ from that charming movie about the little girl and her dog, Dodo,” Naveen said with his ever-present grin. 

“You mean Toto?” a feminine voice behind them said. 

Naveen stopped in surprise before turning around, his grin growing impossibly bigger. “Tiana! Mi Frogi!” 

The woman’s mouth frowned, though her eyes remained fond. “I wish you wouldn’t call me that.” 

“Aww, but you are so beautiful, like the golden frogs that grace my homeland…” He leaned in, mouth puckered and after a moment, the woman sighed and kissed him gently. When they pulled away, Naveen kept his arms wrapped around her. “I thought you wouldn’t get here until tomorrow!” 

“Well, Louis is watching the restaurant, and Mama Odie is helping cook, so Momma made sure I made an earlier flight,” Tiana kissed Naveen’s cheek. “Now, you better go get changed, Mr. Scarecrow.” 

“Anything for you, my love!” 

Sora chuckled as Riku led him on to the dressing rooms. Their pirate dance costumes were ready to go, so Sora quickly ducked into a changing room to put it on. They hadn’t updated their dance much, though Sora did add in a few new moves for Riku. More flips to show off his surprising gymnastic abilities. 

Anything to get an audience member to vote just one more time for them…

“Hey, Sora… can you help me tie this? Fairy Godmother is tied up helping Kairi into her wig.” 

“Sure!” Sora flung open the changing room curtain. With a grin, Riku held out the bandana for his hair, and Sora deftly tied it around his head. “There. All ready to go, Master Riku.” 

“Aye aye, Captain Sora!” Riku chuckled. “But you're missing your hat.” 

Sora quickly ran a hand through his hair, finding that he was indeed missing his hat. “Oh shi— It wasn’t with the costume, so where—!” 

“It’s right here, dearie…” 

Sora turned, finding Fairy Godmother holding his hat. She sat it on his head and, with a few tugs and pins, had it firmly in place and tousled his hair. “There we go. A fierce pair of pirates we have here. Oh! But I almost forgot. Since it is the finale, why don’t we go a little bit more daring tonight?” 

She reached down and unbuttoned the top few buttons of Sora’s undershirt. Sora gasped as the top of his collarbone was exposed. “Fairy Godmother?” 

She winked. “Whatever encourages those voters to vote… right?” 

She walked off before Sora could question that statement and he was distracted by Riku’s arm around his waist. 

“I think you look amazing. Can we take the costumes home afterward? I would love to see you in it again.” 

Sora blushed, feeling the warmth travel down his chest. “Riku…” 

Riku laughed, leaning in to kiss Sora’s forehead, careful not to dislodge his hat. “I’m serious. You make a very handsome pirate captain.” 

Sora chuckled, kissing Riku’s cheek in return. “And you a handsome first mate. Now, c’mon. I want to see what Aqua and Cinderella got!” 

They made their way back to the dance floor, catching the tail end of Aqua and Cinderella’s freestyle from a few weeks ago when they had incorporated a lot of ballet movements. The audience loved it and even Sora had to admit that the bit he had seen looked super polished. They were for sure gaining tons of votes tonight. 

Vanitas and Kairi were on next, repeating their dance from date night: their rendition of the Addams Family tango. Sora still couldn't get used to how much Kairi looked like Xion with the dark wig on. He had never noticed the similarities between his two friends before. 

As Vanitas and Kairi reached the final crescendo of their tango, Naminé ushered Sora and Riku onto the waiting deck area where Kristoff was ready to interview them before their dance. 

“So, you guys ready for pirates round two?” 

“I was ready shortly after we completed round one.” Riku’s grin was contagious, and Sora felt his own smile grow in response. 

“How’d you guys feel about the audience choosing this dance as their favorite?” 

“I’m so glad, this was one of my favorites as well!” Riku almost ran a hand through his hair, but remembered his bandana at the last second, so settled for rubbing the back of his neck instead. “Honestly, I was hoping they’d pick this or the one we did for date night.” 

“I’m glad it was this one,” Sora said. “We added a few surprising tricks just for the audience.” 

“Ohh!” Kristoff gestured to the cheering crowd. “Well, I guess they’re looking forward to it!” 

Riku and Sora grinned back as the lights dimmed and the audience both in the studio and at home was shown a video of Riku’s path to reach the finals. Every moment of tension and triumph was highlighted in a clip reel. 

As the clip played, Sora and Riku took their stance, Riku on stage with Sora on the dance floor. 

“And now, dancing the Paso Doble with his partner Sora, it’s Riku.” 

The opening of the sign started up, Sora feeling his heart start to race with it. On stage, Riku took his dramatic stand, challenging Sora with his arms open. Then, with a running leap, Riku jumped off the stage and tumbled forward, landing right in front of Sora. When he stood, they were chest to chest. With a quick move, Riku stole one of the prop swords at Sora’s belt and jumped back. Sora pulled out the other sword and crossed it with Riku’s. 

For the most part, their fight was choreographed the same: a thrust here, a parry there. The difference was that this time when Riku jumped out of Sora’s reach, he added a little twirl in mid-air. They had worked on it for so long that each movement was instinct. 

Then they came together as a team, dancing around the floor dramatically and with purpose. Each movement was grounded and deliberate. Sora barely had to keep time in his head. He trusted Riku to lead, each movement coming so naturally it didn’t feel choreographed at all, just two amazing dancers coming together. By the time they reached the end, where Riku twirled Sora one final time and dipped him nearly to the floor, Sora’s heart was pounding. As Riku lifted him, he placed his hand absently on Riku’s chest, feeling the racing heartbeat just under his palm. 

That was— 

“That was our best run of that yet,” Riku panted in Sora’s ear, sending small shivers down Sora’s spine. 

Still unable to catch his breath, Sora nodded. There was a roaring in his ears and he wasn’t sure if that was from the rush of blood as his heart beat fast or from the audience around them. 

“Wow! I think your voters really appreciated that!” Aurora shouted. “That was truly amazing. Do you train with the Olympic gymnastic team too, Riku?” 

Riku chuckled but shook his head. “Nah, tumbling was just… a hobby. Something to shake off the extra energy when I was young. I’m glad it came in handy though.” 

“If only I had known about it sooner,” Sora managed to get out, giving Riku a teasing grin. 

“I have to have some secrets to keep you interested.” Riku teased back. 

Sora felt his face heat up even as he tried to hide it with a grin. That was the closest they had ever come to flirting on camera. 

But it was the finals! At this point, Sora couldn’t bring himself to care about ratings or stalkers or angry fans. He had Riku and they were one dance away from finding out if they won Kingdom Dance Off. 

Sora felt on top of the world. 

With just a few quick words from judges, he and Riku left the stage as the show went to commercial. Sora gave a thumbs up to Axel, wishing him and Naveen luck on their “If I only had a brain” number before they ran back to the changing room. They would be coming on second for their next dance, so they had precious few minutes to change. 

Fairy Godmother and her assistant were ready to help though, telling Sora and Riku to just leave the pirate costume on the ground and put the princely costumes on as fast as possible. A hairstylist was on hand to quickly re-tame Sora’s hair as fast as possible, another hairstylist gently brushing Riku’s hair, leaving it loose and draping around his shoulders. Sora remembered the heaviness of the costume as Fairy’s assistant attached the heavy red and black cape around his shoulders. A royal blue and light grey one adorned Riku’s shoulders, complimenting his white hair nicely. 

As a final touch, Fairy Godmother placed gold crowns in their hair, tweaking them both on the nose for good luck. 

“I know you two will be just gorgeous tonight. Dance and be gay!” 

“Already on it,” Riku stated seriously, and Sora had to cover his mouth with his hands to stop from laughing too loudly. 

Fairy Godmother tweaked Riku’s nose again. “I am gonna miss you. Both of you. I hope you and Sora at least visit next year.” 

Sora gasped. “How did you— I haven’t even talked to Naminé yet!” Or Riku...

Fairy Godmother laughed. “Oh, I can practically see your wishes and dreams, Sora. I always have. And I know your wish is about to come true. So enjoy this night okay? We’ll always be here if you decide to return.” 

She dashed off with a wink, ready to help Naveen and Axel out of their costumes. 

Sora glanced nervously up at Riku, relieved to find Riku looking back calmly. 

“You’re leaving the show?” 

Sora blushed. “Temporarily… Just for a season, maybe two…” 

“What will you do?” 

Riku sounded a bit nervous about the answer. 

Sora took a deep breath. “I— I was hoping if… if it’d be okay… Ariel’s text inspired me to look at jobs in Atlantica. I applied to that one she sent… but there’s more. Choreography or just dance troupes. I’d have to try out for those, but, I mean, it’d be worth it to spend some more time with you.” 

He felt better after saying all of that, not sure why he had kept it inside in the first place. Was he worried about something changing between him and Riku in these last few moments?

Was he scared of pushing Riku away? 

But it turns out that none of his fears, realized or not, were warranted. Riku wrapped his arms around Sora and squeezed tight. 

“I’m with you with whatever you decide to do,” Riku whispered in his ear, before pulling back just enough to look Sora in the eyes. “Stay in San Fransokyo, come with me to Atlantica. Whatever you decide to do, I’m not letting you go so easily. But… I will admit. The thought of you in Atlantica is…” He trailed off with a blush and a small, rather giddy smile, one that Sora eagerly returned. 

“I know.” Sora leaned up and pressed their foreheads together. “I know.” 

“Sora! Riku!” 

Sora’s heart dropped at Naminé’s voice. Right, they still had one more performance. Then the winner announcement and then, then, they could talk about Atlantica and moving and jobs. 

But they had to finish this first. 

Sora grabbed Sora’s hand and they raced to the stage just as the lights were coming on from commercial break. To his relief, he found that Naminé’s panicked shout had just been trying to find them and ready them for the next dance. As of now, it was Vanitas and Kairi’s turn, though Sora was puzzled when he didn’t find the raven-haired musician. He did find Kairi though, holding a very sleepy cat which she quickly pushed into Sora’s arms so she could be ready for her cue. 

Sora frowned, quickly wrapping his arms around Floofina’s soft body and holding her close. “Huh? What were you doing with Floofina?” 

“She had fallen asleep in Vanitas’s arms and we forgot to leave her in the dressing room.” Kairi quickly brushed the cat hair off of her dress and fluffed her hair one last time.  

Sora’s brow furrowed even more in confusion. “Okay, but where’s Vani—?” 

“Shh…” Kairi whispered conspiratorially. “You’re not the only one who added a few new surprises tonight.” 

The lights dimmed a bit and a spotlight came on, focusing on the stage. 

Four notes played on electric guitar echoed over the speakers, Sora gasped and tried to catch a glimpse of the stage. 

Right in center stage, Vanitas held a black electric guitar, taking a dramatic pause before playing the next four notes of Beethoven’s 5th. This time Kairi ran out on stage, raising her arms dramatically in an opening Paso Doble move. 

Vanitas walked down the stage steps, carefully not to trip over the cord connected to his guitar as he and Kairi walked around each other in a half-circle, Kairi dancing and Vanitas playing his guitar, the usually dramatic flair of Beethoven’s music somehow sounding even more dramatic when played with an electric guitar. But eventually, Vanitas had to give up his precious instrument, handing it off to a stagehand as he and Kairi entered a closed position and continued their dance. 

Vanitas must have recorded his own version of the song though, as it continued playing through the speakers. His and Kairi’s dance went similarly to how it did last time, but Sora had to admit that Vanitas arranging his version added something special. 

They ended their dance to raucous applause. The judges were allowed a few comments, even though there was no official judging. They had been complimentary all night, as they were at every finale. 

Then the lights dimmed. Vanitas and Kairi headed off stage, Vanitas taking Floofina from Sora’s arms, holding her close, and petting her while she purred. 

“Thanks… for holding on to her,” Vanitas said. “Break a leg, I guess.” 

Sora smiled back as Riku took his hand and led him to take their places on the dance floor. 

There was no pre-interview with Kristoff this time, no video introduction. The lights came on…

...and their waltz began. 

Riku offered his hand, and Sora took it, Riku raising his hand to his lips and kissing it softly before pulling Sora into a closed waltz position and leading him around the dance floor. The soft strains of Dearly Beloved echoed around the studio. Sora didn’t even have to keep count; Riku had been sincere when he mentioned practicing this when he could. He twirled Sora out and back in, always in control of himself and the dance. 

A smooth rise and fall, another spin. Sora found himself staring up into Riku’s eyes, Riku staring back at him. He forgot the audience, the cameras, even the judges. Everything came down to him and Riku and this dance. He squeezed Riku’s hand before they spun apart, each one performing the steps of the waltz alone. But they were never apart for long, coming back together smoothly. 

Keeping in mind the judge’s original criticisms, Sora had re-choreographed this next section. Instead of a lift, Sora relaxed in Riku’s arms as the music swelled, not quite going limp, but relaxed enough for Riku to spin him. Sora’s feet remained pointed at the ground, never actually leaving the dance floor. It wasn’t a lift but it was still graceful and a perfect complement to the music. 

As the music slowed, they took one last turn around the dance floor, one last gentle rise and fall as the music faded out—

And then ended. 

For a moment, Sora felt sad. This was his and Riku’s last dance. 

But then Riku caught his eye and Sora saw something there. A promise. 

This may be their last dance on this dance floor. But it wouldn’t be their last dance. Not by a long shot. 

Sora could see it in an instant. Years of dancing and kissing and love. So much love. 

All there in Riku’s eyes. 

“And that was Riku and his partner Sora!” Aurora called out into her microphone, startling Sora out of his reverie. “Dancing Riku’s favorite dance, the waltz.” 

She turned to the couple. “So, Riku, what made you choose the waltz?” 

“Um, well…” Riku looked at Sora while he answered. “It’s the first dance I ever learned with Sora… and I wanted to show everyone how much I improved under him.”

“Well,” Aurora grinned. “If I was a judge, I’d give you a 10. That was wonderful!” 

“Yes, it was!” Charlotte exclaimed. “I’d also give you a 10 right now! Man, I wish I had someone look at me the way you two look at each other!” 

Sora laughed, even as he felt his face heat up at the compliment. 

“Thank you, Sora and Riku!” Aurora said, “Next up, Aqua and Cinderella show off Cinderella’s favorite dance: the foxtrot. Right after this commercial break!” 

Riku and Sora waved at the judges before running off. 

“Now we wait?” Riku asked.

Sora nodded. “Just two more dances. Then… then we’ll know.” 

Riku grinned, wrapping Sora up in a tight hug and whispering words meant only for him. 

“It’s okay. No matter what, I know we’re winners.” 

Sora chuckled breathlessly and nodded in agreement. 

They stayed on the sidelines, cheering on Aqua and Cinderella’s foxtrot that they had perfected just two weeks earlier. They made it look effortless, Aqua in her pink sequin form-fitting ball gown leading Cinderella around the dance floor. Cinderella was dressed in matching pink but of a lace material instead, both of them complimenting the other. Fairy Godmother really had outdone herself this season. 

Even to Sora’s trained eye, he couldn’t find a single fault with the dance, and it appeared the audience loved it as well, if their cheers were anything to go by. One man in the audience cheered particularly loudly, and given the way Cinderella reacted with a wave and exciting air kiss, it must have been her husband. 

Next, Naveen and Lea danced the Charleston routine from their first week as well. They didn’t look like they had to change it up or improve it much, though Sora noticed that Axel tried harder just to keep up. Naveen looked like he was just there to have fun with the routine. For once, it looked like Naveen was the one leading Axel around the dance floor, while Axel was barely able to keep up. But they both looked like they had enjoyed their last dance by the end of it, and as soon as the lights dimmed for commercials, Naveen ran towards where his wife waited in the crowd, giving her a big hug. 

Axel joined them backstage briefly. In a moment, Naminé would be calling all of them back on stage for the last elimination, and then the announcement of the winner. 

“Man, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be dancing the Charleston in my sleep.” 

Kairi laughed into her hand. “Had a bit of trouble keeping up?” 

Axel sighed deeply. “You teach the man one dance, and he manages to perfect it better than a professional in just under two months. What the heck?” 

Kairi and Aqua both giggled in response while Sora clapped Axel on the back in support. 

Naminé gestured towards them and they all walked out onto the dance floor. Naveen broke away from his wife to join them, standing next to Axel with a wide grin on his face. Aqua and Cinderella stood next to them, Cinderella wringing her hands nervously. Vanitas looked a little anxious as well, picking at his sleeves until Kairi reached down and took his hand. 

Riku immediately wrapped his arms around Sora, squeezing tight as the lights came back on. 

“Welcome back to Kingdom Dance Off.” Kristoff began, “Throughout the season, these contestants have powered through anxiety, stress, pain, and even the comments from our judges to be here tonight. They have shown off two favorite dances, encouraged your votes, and now we find out who won this year's Kingdom Dance Off. Aurora?” 

He held out his hand so Aurora could join him on stage, envelopes in hand with the order of the winners. 

Aurora grinned at the audience. “Let’s give it up one last time for our finalists!” 

The audience cheered loudly and enthusiastically, though they quickly quieted after a moment, the tension in the studio rising as Aurora opened the envelope. 

“And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. In fourth place: Naveen and Axel.” 

Sora felt one knot in his gut come unclenched. One elimination down…

Naveen and Axel grinned and left the stage. Everyone else shuffled a little closer together. 

“In third place….” Aurora paused for dramatic effect. Though Sora wished she wouldn’t. He just wanted to know.

“Vanitas and Kairi.” 

Next to him, Sora heard Vanitas let out what sounded like a relieved sigh and Sora grinned at them in support before they walked off stage. Vanitas and Kairi returned the smile. Even though Vanitas had come here solely on a dare, he had put in a lot of effort once he got there, overcoming what seemed like a lot of stress and anxiety. He hadn’t won, but Sora was sure this had been a good experience for him. 

“And now, the final two.” 

They shuffled even closer together. Aqua reached out, and without thinking much about it, Sora took her hand, squeezing tight in support before pulling away. No matter what happened, they would still be friends. 

“It all comes down to this. In first place and the winner of Kingdom Dance Off is…”

Sora took a deep breath, squeezing Riku’s hands tightly, feeling Riku do the same, and pressing his forehead to the top of Sora’s head. He closed his eyes, focusing on Riku’s breathing, his warmth, and the way his grip was comforting and strong. 

No matter what, I know we’re winners.

Sora grinned at the reminder of Riku’s words. No matter what…

“RIKU AND HIS PARTNER SORA!” 

Sora gasped, his eyes blinking open just as he felt Riku lift him up by the waist and spin him around. Laughing in delight, Sora wrapped his arms around Riku’s neck. The crowd cheered around them as Riku spun him around once more before placing him gently on the ground. He looked up into Riku’s eyes, giggling beyond control at all the confetti in Riku’s hair, and he gently plucked a few pieces of glittery paper away. Riku gently ran a hand through Sora’s hair, dislodging a few pieces of confetti from brown spikes, nearly dislodging Sora’s crown as well but then gently adjusting it. 

Sora gazed up into Riku’s eyes, took in his grin, and an urge to kiss those smiling lips nearly overwhelmed him. Riku looked the same, leaning in an inch. 

“Sora?” 

A gentle hand on his shoulder jerked Sora out of those thoughts and he pulled away, the sound of the crowd and the bright lights bringing him back to the present. Right, they were still on air… 

Sora gave Riku a grin, a promise for a private celebration later. Then he shifted to see who had called him. As soon as he turned, he was instantly drawn into a hug from Aqua. 

“Congratulations!” Aqua whispered in his ear. “You two deserved this!!” 

“Thank you!” Sora exclaimed, hugging her back just as tightly. When she pulled away, Sora was drawn into another hug from Cinderella, who whispered her own congratulations. 

As she pulled away, Sora could see that Aurora and Kristoff were just now trying to quell the roar of the crowd. 

“Congratulations, Riku and Sora, congratulations!” Aurora nearly had to shout into her microphone as the audience continued to cheer. She chuckled as her worlds seemed to set the audience off again into another loud round of applause. After sharing a grin with Sora and Riku, she turned to look pleadingly at Kristoff. 

Kristoff smiled and shouted into his microphone. “We’re all excited, guys, but we are on a time limit and we’d like to present Riku with his trophy before we go off the air!” 

That got the audience’s attention and their cheers started to taper off, though an occasional “Whoop!” could still be heard. 

Riku and Sora held hands as they stepped up to the spotlight where an assistant rolled out the trophy. Teal eyes lit up at the sparkly Triple Mirror Ball trophy: a large disco ball, nearly 18 inches in circumference, with two smaller disco balls on top, modeled after the producer’s Mickey Mouse’s personal emblem. Sora would receive a smaller version to keep in his office, but this one was Riku’s to treasure. 

“Congratulations, Riku!” Aurora said as Kristoff hefted the trophy off the small platform it was on, presenting it to Riku. 

With a smile as dazzling as the trophy itself, Riku lifted it into the air. Sora clapped along with the rest of the audience, just excited to see the joy on Riku’s face. 

So he was unprepared when Riku knelt just enough to wrap an arm around Sora’s waist and lift him with one arm, Sora’s feet dangling off the floor. 

“Riku!” Sora shouted in both joy and surprise and he wrapped an arm around Riku’s shoulders for support. Riku didn’t even break a sweat, holding both the trophy and Sora up for the audience and world to see. Sora’s joy burst forth in loud laughter and he looked down, finding Riku grinning up at him like Sora was the trophy he won. 

Which was silly, of course. 

It was Sora who felt like he won a prize bigger than any trophy. 

“So, you’re really gonna do it?” 

Kairi’s voice was questioning but supportive. Sora grinned, even though Kairi couldn’t see him over the phone. 

“Yeah. I already talked to Naminé, and Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, and even Mickey. They’re all supportive of this and promise that I’d have a place if I decided to return. But I need—” Sora took a deep breath. “We’ve been doing this for years. I feel like… a break would be good. But also—” 

“You want to see where your relationship with Riku goes.” 

Sora nodded, “Yeah. It’s so new Kairi… it needs time to be nurtured, and I don’t want to risk it falling apart due to distance. I’ve contacted a few dance academies near Atlantica and a few have called back to schedule interviews.” 

“Sora, you’ve been collecting pay for years and spending very little of it except on your tiny apartment,” Kairi giggled. “You probably have enough to not work for a full year if you didn’t want to.” 

“You know that’s not me, Kairi,” Sora grumbled. 

Kairi laughed. “Yeah, I know. Just wishful thinking, I guess.”

Sora hummed in acknowledgment. “Speaking of nurturing relationships… are you seeing Olette again?”

Kairi laughed. “Yeah! We’re actually heading to the beach this weekend before she returns to Twilight Town.” 

“Oooh, the elusive second date?” 

Kairi made a small, unsure noise. “Um… technically the fourth?” 

Sora nearly dropped the phone. “Fourth?! And you didn’t—” 

“You were busy,” Kairi laughed. “I didn’t want to burden you. But yeah, we’ve been on a few. And Twilight Town isn’t that far away, so I’m going to go up there for a weekend next month.” 

“Kairi…” Sora’s cheeks nearly hurt with how wide his grin was. “I’m so happy for you.” 

“I’m happy for you too,” Kairi said softly. “I’ve known you for so long, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this… excited. You really love him. I think your relationship would have withstood the distance, but I’m also glad you’re going. I’m gonna miss you though.” 

“I’m gonna miss you too…” He had never been so far away from his childhood friend. 

“But, since you’re not performing next year… can I pick your brain for choreography?”

Sora laughed. “You can, but you’ll have to get in line. Aqua, Demyx, and Snow already asked as well.” 

Kairi gasped. “And you would help them over your bestest friend in the whole wide world ?”

Sora laughed, recognizing the teasing tone in Kairi’s voice. “Maaaybe…” 

“Oh, the betrayal!” 

Sora laughed, nearly dropping his suitcase to the floor. His flight to Atlantica to check for apartments and jobs wasn’t for another two weeks, but he was just so excited to go that he started packing as soon as he got home. 

Kairi sighed and there was a beat of silence over the line before, “Hey, did Riku arrive in Atlantica okay?” 

Sora shrugged. “He promised to call once he landed, but then he texted and said there was a delay.”

“Oh, that sucks.” 

“Yeah, I just hope—”

Two quick raps at the door startled Sora.

“Oh. I gotta go Kairi, I think my food just got here.” 

“Okay, just let me know when you hear from Riku.” 

“I will! And we’ll go out to lunch before I leave, okay?” 

“Of course!” 

They said their goodbyes just as Sora’s visitor knocked again. “I’m coming!”

He opened the door while looking down to search his pocket for his wallet. “Hey, I don’t remember what I owed on the food, could you let me—”

“Well, how about a kiss?”

Sora gasped and looked up. Riku’s teal eyes gazed back at him, a smirk playing on his handsome face. “Riku?” 

“Well… I’m not the delivery person,” Riku laughed, even as he pulled a bag of food out from behind him. “Though we might have extra food…” 

Still in disbelief, Sora took the food and opened the door wider. Riku— Riku! —walked in, trailing a carry-on suitcase behind him. Sora closed the door, taking the moment to search for his words. Riku was here. Not in Atlantica. 

“What happened to your flight?” Sora finally managed to ask, “Are you okay? Did you miss it? I’m sure we can get you on the next one, or—”

Riku held up a hand and gently placed a finger on Sora’s lips. “I didn’t miss my flight. Well… I did, but on purpose. I talked with Coach Triton and told him that I would be in Atlantica, but it would be a few more weeks. I didn’t want to leave you just yet.” 

Sora gasped against Riku’s finger. “How… how many more weeks?”

“Two?” Riku blushed and he rubbed the back of his head. “I, uh… already moved out of my apartment though and, uh, was hoping I could stay here. Though if that’s not okay, I can definitely findanewflightand—” 

This time it was Sora who placed a finger on Riku’s lips, silencing Riku’s rambling before he worked himself up. “It’s fine. I was gonna stay with you anyway in a few weeks… right?” 

Riku grinned pulling Sora into a hug. “Right.” 

Sora grinned into Riku’s neck, returning the hug. “I’m kinda glad you’re staying. I mean… I know that I could have gone two weeks only talking with you on the phone, but… it would have dragged.” 

“It would have,” Riku sighed, pulling back to kiss Sora on the forehead. 

Sora grinned, leaning up to capture Riku’s lips in a kiss. With a sudden burst of joy, he realized that they didn’t have to hide this anymore. Sora could kiss Riku anywhere he pleased. 

But somehow, alone in Sora’s kitchen was more exciting than any place Sora could think of. 

Riku returned the kiss, lips moving softly against Sora’s own, tongue seeking entry, and Sora granted it eagerly with a moan. One of Riku’s hands dragged up Sora’s back and buried itself in his hair, pulling the strands gently as if just holding him there. 

Slowly, reluctantly, Sora pulled away as he heard a knocking on the door. “The… the food…” 

Riku blushed but nodded. “Right, um… you get that, and I’ll get, um—” 

“Plates are above the dishwasher,” Sora pointed, trying to calm the heat in his face as he answered the door, quickly paying the delivery driver and taking the food. He placed it on the table and helped Riku locate the silverware so they could dish it out. 

Sora’s sushi order didn’t quite go with Riku’s pasta carbonara, but they made it work, sitting close together so they could try each other’s food. At some point between bites, Sora managed to take a selfie of themselves and sent it to Kairi who only responded with “Glad he made it home!” 

After they scraped the last of the pasta sauce from their plates, Riku stood up, taking their plates to Sora’s sink. Sora protested that he didn’t have to do that, but Riku insisted. Then, before he came back to the table, Riku quickly looked something up on his phone. With a shy glance, Riku held out his hand. 

“May I have this dance?” 

Music began to play from the speaker on Riku’s phone. Sora eagerly accepted and took Riku’s hand. Riku pulled them so they were a fair distance from the table. 

“So, what do you want to dance? A waltz? A tango ?” 

Riku grinned, “Actually, I wanted to teach you a dance. I was talking with Kairi, and she said you two never really went to school dances?” 

Sora shrugged. “We were too busy practicing for competitions.”

Riku’s grin only grew. “Well, I’ve been to a few, so I would like to teach you the one dance I do know: the teenage two-step.” 

Sora laughed. “I don’t think that’s an actual dance…” 

“Of course it is!” Riku pulled Sora’s arms until they were wrapped around Riku’s neck. Then he placed his hands on Sora’s hips, beginning to sway gently. “See? One, two. One, two.” With each count, Riku would sway their hips and shuffle their feet. They spun in a lazy, gentle circle. 

Sora couldn’t contain his giggles, but he laid his head on Riku’s chest, letting Riku sway them to the music, the lyrics wafting over them as Sora relaxed. It was rather nice, slow… it gave him a chance to listen to Riku’s heartbeat without worrying about lifts or jumps. Their feet barely moved off the ground, so there was no risk of toes getting stepped on. 

“An enchanted moment. And it sees me through.” Riku’s soft voice sang into Sora’s ear. “It's enough for this restless warrior just to be with you.”

Sora hummed and tightened his arms around Riku’s neck. 

“And can you feel the love tonight?
It is where we are
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer
That we've got this far.”

Sora pulled away, singing along with Riku to the end of the chorus. 

“And can you feel the love tonight?
How it’s laid to rest?
It’s enough to make kings and vagabonds
Believe the very best.”

Sora leaned in and kissed Riku’s lips briefly. “I’m so glad you were my partner.” 

“And I’m glad you were mine,” Riku agreed. “Whatever happens next, I know I don’t want to face it without you.” 

Sora placed his head on Riku’s chest once more. “You won’t. We’re a team now. For as long as possible.” 

“For forever then.” 

Sora looked up into Riku’s sincere eyes. Those same eyes that had caused him to fall in love with this man since the moment they met in Sora’s studio. It seemed impossible to fall so deeply in love over the course of just a few months. But he couldn’t help how he felt, and he knew Riku couldn’t help it either. They were in love. Simple as that. 

“For forever then,” Sora agreed, and they kissed to seal the deal. 

“It’s enough, to make kings and vagabonds 
Believe the very best.” 

Epilogue: