Archive of Our Own ^beta

The things that made Riku love Sora were not so complicated.

A carefree smile, a call of his name, a hand that reached for his. It was in the details of the words written between them, about them. Riku didn't need the book to memorize the lines, he carried them in his heart, saw it reflected in Sora's eyes. It was no wonder he often found himself wanting to drown in said eyes. All shows of affection were intimacy, a bolt of electricity that shot right through his spine.

It was with ease that he followed Sora, even if the invitation was given on the dead hours of the night, while Riku still blinked the sleep out of his eyes. Riku was unsure how Sora even got into his childhood home, let alone his room, but the open window gave him an inkling. When Sora pulled him by the wrist, Riku let himself be dragged outside, still clad in his pajamas and without shoes to protect his feet.

Sora, on the other hand, was fully dressed in his characteristic red and yellow. Against the muted colors of the night, he was a stark contradiction, bright enough to hurt Riku's eyes. He felt a little silly, standing on the beach with the edge of his pants gathering sand, but protesting against the sudden outing never crossed his mind.

However, though Riku was okay with this development, his body wasn't on the same page. He must drift off for awhile, wobbling on his feet as he fought not to topple over. Sora's voice is distant, and yet the only sound working itself into Riku's mind. His attempts to pay attention to the words are meaningless, but Riku smiled in response all the same.

"Riku!" The voice rose in volume, and Riku snapped back to the world around him with a painful start. He blinked at the beach, then turned to Sora, who had a sly smirk on his face. "You can't even stay awake, Riku, and it's not even that late. This is what you get for being an old man."

"I'm only a year older than you," Riku reminded him. "Just you wait until you're my age, you won't even have energy to swing your keyblade."

Sora nudged Riku's shoulder. "Not that has ever stopped you!"

Riku nudged back, but softer, only pressing their shoulders together. "I guess it hasn't." He searched for Sora's eyes in the dark, marveling at how they still glimmered in such poor lighting. "But I've had a pretty good motivator."

Not too long ago, Sora would pull away and maybe cover his face, then blubber an incoherent response to such a romantically charged declaration. Now, however, he looked right back at Riku, and the way his smile was small, all soft around the edges, spoke of a shyness that Sora didn't normally show.

"You're always saying these things," Sora said. "When is it my turn to be the sappy one, huh?"

Riku chuckled. "Oh, I don't know, maybe when you're able to say that kind of thing without getting embarrassed."

Sora held a hand to his chest and fake-gasped. "Riku, this is slander!" He narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying I'm a coward?"

With a shrug, Riku said, "Maybe you're reading too much into it. Or..." Sora raised his eyebrows at him, and Riku smirked. "All I'm saying is, well, if the shoes fit..."

Sora squawked, full of dramatized indignation. "Oh, I'll show you who's a coward," he muttered, and before Riku could puzzle out his words, Sora leaped at him, hands and legs attaching themselves to Riku's torso.

"W-Wait, Sora! We're gonna fall," Riku warned in a breath, not adding much more as his own laughter made him unable to do so. "Seriously..."

Sora had fallen into hysterical giggles as well, and his grip on Riku slacked so his body slipped little by little, closer to falling. Feeling his descent, Riku tried to save him from the collision, but lost his balance when Sora shook and flailed against him. Too shocked and breathless with the laughter that still wracked his body, Riku could only let it happen, taking the fall in Sora's steed.

The sand wasn't comfortable on his skin, and Riku could imagine the stains he'd be dealing with, but both issues disappeared to the far back corner of his mind as he looked up at Sora and saw the radiant expression he wore. His cheeks were pink from all the laughing, his hair was messier than usual, partly falling onto his eyes, and his eyes squinted with the force of his smile.

Riku had to remember how to breathe.

"I got you," Sora whispered, voice all rough in the ways that Riku never thought it'd grow to be, back when they were kids. He couldn't stop an answering shiver.

"Got me what, to fall on the sand?"

"No," Sora shook his head, "Got you where I want you to be."

Something in how Sora said that, low and private, only to the two of them, had Riku noticing their position: Sora knees straddled his waist, while one of his hands rested over Riku's left wrist, the other just under his armpit, positively caging him in. Riku swallowed through the sudden lump in his throat and felt his stomach, neck and face burn.

"You may know how to say things," Sora said. "But I'm better at this."

The protest that rose to his mouth was automatic, a kick of competitiveness that Riku would never be able to cut off where Sora was concerned, but the words died before being proffered, their lines being taken by Sora's lips.

Riku never quite knew what to do at first whenever they kissed; the notion that he had this, that he was allowed to reciprocate put his brain into overdrive. But when Sora balanced himself on one elbow to hold Riku's hair and pull , his spine arched, and he pushed himself closer, but also pushed himself to move.

He had goosebumps all over from the way Sora touched his scalp, and if Riku opened his mouth, it was because he had to gasp as the sensation piled up. He licked at Sora's lips, wanting to offer back the same feeling of exhilaration, and Sora responded with eagerness, slotting their mouths together so his tongue met Riku's mouth.

As much as it embarrassed him to admit, Riku whined and clung to the sleeve of Sora's jacket, his other hand desperate to touch as well, but pinned down to the place. His fingers trembled against the strain, and maybe sensing this, Sora slid his hand up his wrist, pressed their palms together, intertwined their fingers. Riku's grip on him was crushing, but Sora didn't seem bothered by it.

It was hard not to follow when Sora pulled away, so Riku didn't bother fighting against the need for it, instead pecking Sora's lips for as long as he stayed close enough for Riku to do so. When Sora chuckled and watched Riku try and catch his breath, he felt the overwhelming urge to hide his face, which no doubt looked ridiculous, with how dazed Riku felt.

He never moved to do that, however, because that meant not looking at Sora. Sora, who stared at him like he would a starry sky; Sora, who had the loveliest splash of color across his cheeks; Sora, whose thumb caressed the inside of his wrist.

Sora, who looked down on him with so much adoration is his gaze that Riku felt like wax on fire, a mess of melting goo spilled all over.

"That," Riku started, but took a moment to clear his throat when he heard the break in his own voice. "That was unfair."

"You started it."

Riku licked his lips and saw Sora follow the movement. His face burned hotter. "You know, sometimes you're just wicked."

"But you love me!"

Sora's tone was light, joking. A teasing that expected nothing in return. But Riku couldn't muster up a response that wasn't a heartfelt, "I do."

Instead of replying, Sora pulled away to fall beside Riku, their hands still firmly joined. Truly awake now, and with the absence of Sora in his field of vision, Riku could see the stars for the first time that night. A plethora of them shone from above, their lights distant but strong. In all the other worlds he had been to before, Riku had yet to see one that had a night sky quite like the one in Destiny Islands. It was a long journey, but Riku had relearned how to appreciate it.

He was washed with memories of meteor showers and wooden swords, and felt at peace right where he was.

"It's... funny," Sora piped up. "How we always end up back here."

Riku stared at his profile from the corner of his eyes. "Here?"

"Destiny Islands." Sora paused and his head turned to the sea, then beyond that, from the paopu tree nearby to the play island, a smaller dot in the distance. "The beach, just you and me."

While he had never felt as strong a connection to their childhood home as Sora did, Riku could never—and would never—sever the memories that tied him to the place. If they had to come back somewhere, it would always be to these shores.

"In a way, yeah," Riku muttered.

Sora squeezed Riku's hand. "...In a way," he agreed.

They didn't speak for another moment, and Riku wondered if they'd fall asleep like this, only to be found in the morning drooling on the sand and halfway through acquiring a sunburn. He smiled at the thought.

However, Sora quickly broke the silence with a heavy sigh. It was such a forlorn sound that Riku had to turn his head to face Sora fully. It was a small thing, but Riku could see the way his lips were curved just a little bit downwards.

"Hey, Riku?"

"Yes?"

Sora opened his mouth, then hesitated. He looked back at Riku and their eyes met. "What would you do if I disappeared tomorrow?"

Riku sat up then, face going slack with blank horror. He hoped Sora couldn't feel the way his heart jumped in his chest in response. "I would go after you, of course."

Had done so before, would repeat it over and over, for as long as he had a heart or a body with which to find Sora. He had almost left Sora once before. It was enough.

Sora laughed, and though there was a sadness to his eyes that Riku couldn't touch on, the sound was genuine. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

He feared that they both would pop under the pressure of this exchange, Sora with words he was not saying, Riku with questions he did not dare ask. To break it, Riku did what he was best at: he buried the emotions deep, somewhere so far down he couldn’t hear the sounds of it.

Riku reached a foot to nudge Sora side, and smirked when he squirmed away.

"With your track record, that's such an ominous thing to say," Riku commented. He poked Sora's cheek this time, and had his finger bitten in retaliation. "How about no weird, cryptic questions tonight? I don't need the existential crisis."

"It was just a silly question! You know, like when we used to have sleepovers and I'd ask you a bunch of stuff until you told me to go to sleep."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "When you made me worry for your sanity? Yeah, I remember those."

Sora stuck his tongue out in retaliation. "That's because you're such a worrywart, Riku. Try to relax a little."

"With a snort, Riku shrugged. "Sure, I will, as soon as you stop giving me reasons to worry."

"I don't..." Riku raised the other eyebrow, and Sora scrunched up his nose. "Okay, yeah, point taken."

As punishment for springing a question like that at him, Riku shimmied closer and, with his one free hand, wiggled his fingers against Sora's stomach, laughing with him as he squirmed. Sora tried to get away, but he couldn't make it too far before Riku was at him again.

"Will you stop saying stupid things now?" Riku asked, teasing.

"I c-can't—" Sora giggled, but slapped Riku's hand away far enough to say, "I can't promise that!"

"You have to, or else I'm not stopping either." Riku tickled his neck this time to emphasize his point.

"Sto... Stop!" Sora squeaked. Riku pulled away and waited expectantly. "N... No weird questions. Promise."

Satisfied, Riku nodded his head and turned to let Sora catch his breath, but a tug on his hand made him stop. Sora beamed up at him, eyes sparkling like fallen stars.

"Riku, kiss me again." Riku cocked his head. "You know, for good luck."

His smile then held a secret that Riku couldn't fathom, a mystery that he had yet to solve. While Sora didn't say anything, Riku could hear his voice, whispering in words he didn't grasp.

Ignoring the strange foreboding feeling that settled somewhere beneath his bones, Riku pulled Sora to his side, and pressed his lips to his forehead, lingering for a long minute. He pressed another kiss to Sora's lips, and felt his mouth move around a word; an "I love you", and something else too. Riku replied with a secret of his own.

Sora smiled.