Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s a beautiful day, and Eris is bored. Well, bored is an understatement; she hasn’t seen or caused any chaos in the mortal realm in quite some time, and she’s been growing restless. She stands in front of a translucent globe that floats in midair, her red eyes moving over it to peer at the different areas of land and sea. It’s a beautiful day, the mortal world is at peace, and she wants the opposite. She wants mayhem. She wants bloodshed. She wants exactly what she is the goddess of: discord .

Her keen gaze settles upon two ships on the ocean ─ one behind the other, quickly gaining speed by the minute ─ and Eris gives a wicked, sharp grin.

“Oh, this should be fun,” she murmurs, eyes full of playful malice. “What’s more perfect than this? A noble prince, a priceless treasure… and a black-hearted thief. A perfect recipe for disaster. Don’t you think so, my pets?” Her “pets” are monsters of her own making that hover around her, ready to do her bidding. “Cetus?” Eris turns to address one of them, and the one addressed, a many tentacled sea creature, purrs in reply. “You know what to do.” The sea monster purrs again, taking a dive into the globe and disappearing in the ocean’s waters before slowly approaching the ships. Let the games begin...

~

Gods, it’s a perfect day for sailing. And it’s an even more perfect day for thieving . Riku’s already got his eyes on a prize: The Book of Prophecies, currently being escorted on the ship he and his crew are pursuing at this very moment.

“Alright, everyone,” he speaks up, addressing the others, and they all offer him excited, ambitious grins. “This is the day we’ve all been looking forward to, am I right? The Book of Prophecies is on its way to the city of Syracuse…” His tone and expression both start out solemn, save for his eyes; there’s a gleam there, one of mischief. “And it's a shame it won’t make it there. It’s ours for the taking!” The crew all cheer, and Riku grins. What a loyal bunch. There’s his first mate Naminé, his second mate Vanitas, Vanitas’ sister Xion, Terra, Aqua, and a good number of others that he knows are loyal enough to follow him to the ends of the earth and back if needed. A tight-knit crew, one he’s formed as a family of his own. They’ll be so rich after this, they could all afford to retire. Not that he sees himself being retired for very long, of course; the sea is always home, and it will always call to Riku, always beckon him back to sail once more. This he knows all too well. He watches as they approach the other ship, and soon pull up alongside it, and Riku calls to the crew to draw swords. With whoops and hollers and laughter, they do as commanded and soon swing across to the other side. All hell then breaks loose; swords clash, the song of metal blades against metal blades ringing through the air, heads are knocked together, and it appears that Riku and his crew, just for a moment, have the upper hand in the fight… until Riku spots him . Fending off three men at once, and doing so spectacularly with sword in hand, is Sora. Well, shit. This just got interesting. Riku watches for a moment, admittedly intrigued as to how this will turn out, before he hears familiar footsteps behind him. 

Naminé speaks up, "Is that who I think it is…?"

“Yeah.” Riku continues to watch the brunet for another moment.

“How long has it been?”

“About a lifetime,” he mutters, eyes following Sora’s every move ─ Sora’s managed to disarm all three men ─ before Riku carefully approaches, stepping past his own men who now cease fighting Sora and instead stand aside. “I see you’ve gotten better at sword fighting,” he jokes, and from where he’s got his back to Riku Sora freezes up before turning to face him, expression falling from furious to incredulous.

“Riku…?”

“In the flesh.” Riku steps closer.

“What ─ what are you doing here?”

“Working. You?” He takes advantage of Sora’s hesitance, taking that moment to step past Sora and use his knife to break the keyhole of the door Sora was standing in front of. 

“What happened to you? Where have you been?”

“Listen. I’d love to chat, love to play catch up. Unfortunately for you, I’ve got things to do. Stuff to steal. For example…” He kicks the door open before walking into the room, and lets out a low whistle at the sight there within. “The Book of Prophecies… heard about it, read about it, never actually seen it. Until now.” 

“Riku.” Sora steps in front of him, looking determined. “Listen to me. You can’t steal this book. You’re not going to steal this book.”

“You gonna stop me?”

“If I have to, yes. It’s my job to get it safely home to Syracuse.”

Riku gives a dry chuckle. “Boy, do I feel bad, then. ‘Cause that means that you’re gonna get in serious trouble for letting me take it.”

“Riku. Are you serious? You disappear for ten years and then show up just to rob me?”

“Hey, I wish it wasn’t you. I really do. I wish it were anyone but you.” 

“But it is me,” Sora protests.

Riku scoffs. “Sora, look. We had a special handshake, some code words, a special hideout, some mutual friends. It was fun. Really. But we were kids.”

“We were friends!” Sora looks affronted. “We were best friends, Riku! You can’t just show up again after a whole decade and ruin this for me. I’m not letting you take this book. Besides, what will you do with it? The Book is a valuable tool regarding the lives of everyone, all of us, in each of the Thirteen Cities. That’s a lot of people.”

“Exactly.” Riku gives a sly grin. “So riddle me this, Sora: how much do you think all those people would pay just to get it back?”

Sora’s eyes harden. “Listen to me, Riku. I’ll say it again: a long time ago, you and I were best friends. If that ever meant anything to you, prove it now.”

“You’re right.” The expression in Riku’s eyes changes to match Sora’s. “That was a long time ago.” He makes a move for the Book, and Sora grabs him; both men tumble to the floor, and Sora rolls before getting back onto his feet, drawing his sword once more, on Riku this time.

“You want the Book, you go through me.”

Riku rolls his eyes, drawing his own sword in turn. “Don’t get all heroic, Sora.” He steps forward, delivers the first strike, and Sora blocks, parries, and pushes Riku back a couple of feet. He’s evidently gotten stronger over the last ten years, Riku realizes, more of an experienced fighter, and the same sly grin as earlier returns to Riku’s features. “You’ve definitely improved.”

“Cut the shit, Riku,” Sora hisses, and the two men duel for another moment before something large, wet, and covered in suckers crashes through the window, disrupting the fight as wood and glass shatter everywhere before whatever it was that just broke said window slips back out and disappears. What the─? 

Shouts are heard outside, and Sora pulls away from where his blade is locked against Riku’s before he runs out of the room back onto the deck of the ship. Riku is quick to follow, the Book of Prophecies momentarily forgotten, and when he sets foot back on deck it’s to find a giant, tentacled sea monster wreaking havoc on the ship itself. Riku slips on some slime that’s settled on the wood of the deck ─ Slime?! Disgusting ─ before he comes to a stop next to Sora, who’s staring up at the creature in shock.

“Dear gods…” Sora murmurs.

“Dear gods is right,” Riku agrees, then sheaths his sword. “Well, I see you’re busy now. So I’m just gonna─”

Sora turns to look at him, his expression one of disbelief. “You’re just going to run away?” 

“Uh, yeah.” He jumps down to the lower deck and makes to jump ship, calling for the others to follow suit, when the monster knocks Way to the Dawn to the side and further away from The Leviathan ─ causing Riku to swear out loud at the realization that they can't make that leap . “My fucking ship!” That does it. Riku grabs a bomb, lights it, and tosses it at the creature. It hits it in the side and explodes, causing it to shriek and spit at them. 

“Riku!” Sora’s voice is calling his name, but he ignores it. “Riku!” Sora calls him again, running up to his side. “What are you doing!?”

“Standing my ground. You should do the same,” he replies, and Sora frowns.

“What’s your plan?”

“My plan? …” Riku looks around, thinking quickly. “For now, it’s to try not to get killed. Follow me.” He grabs a rope and climbs, and Sora narrows his eyes for a second, then realizes what Riku’s got in mind and follows suit. Soon enough, they’ve both climbed to a good enough height and Riku steps foot on a tightwire, crossing quickly ─ trying his best to keep his balance in the meantime ─ and once he makes it to the other side, he whips out a knife and grins at Sora. “Ready? On my count: one, two, three, cut the rope!” He slashes the knife against the rope there, and on the other side of the wire Sora does the same with his sword, causing the mast to collapse and slide down, stabbing the sea monster and earning a pained roar. Both crews cheer as it slinks back into the water, defeated, and Riku and Sora swing back down to the deck and stand face to face, both panting from adrenaline as they exchange grins.

“That was fun.” Riku brushes himself off and meets Sora’s gaze.

“I─” Sora pauses, before sticking his hand out for Riku to take. “Thanks for sticking around.”

Riku clasps Sora’s hand in his own, giving him a nod. “Sure thing. I─ LOOK OUT!” He pushes Sora out of the way just as one of the monster’s enormous tentacles swings in their direction, and he gets swept off his feet as it hits him in the stomach, knocking Riku several feet sideways… and overboard into the water ─ where it drags him under. 

“RIKU!” Sora shouts for him, running to the edge of the ship and getting ready to dive after him, but some of his men grab him and yank him back.

“Your Highness, no!”

“That’s my friend!” He protests, struggling to get to Riku.

“Your Highness, the Book! We have to focus on that right now!”

“...” Sora looks over the edge of the ship, watching the water for a moment before he hangs his head in defeat. “You’re right,” he says quietly, looking back up to see Riku’s crew departing back onto their own ship. Without their captain, what will they do…? He can’t worry about them right now. He’s duty-bound to get the Book of Prophecies to its destination safely. “Get everyone ready,” he orders quietly. “We continue on to Syracuse.” But at the same time… Riku showing up just had to complicate things. Sora’s current task aside, not doing a thing to save his friend (are they still friends? Could he still call Riku that after a decade of not seeing or hearing from him?) after Riku saved him will weigh heavily on Sora’s conscience now. Damnit…

~

He’s sinking. There’s nothing more to it, nothing less. Riku opens his eyes and realizes then that he’s doing more than sinking; he’s drowning . Gods damn it. He’s trapped, the creature dragging him down with it to the depths, and he struggles, kicks, fights to return to the surface, to his crew… when a woman, larger than life, appears and at the same time she blows a bubble that surrounds Riku, giving him air inside to breathe in while also protecting him from drowning, the creature releases him.

“So,” she begins, and her voice is like velvet. “The day began with such promise, and yet my sea monster is defeated, and I don’t have the Book of Prophecies. And it’s no thanks to you, Riku.” She stares him down, and there’s nothing at all warm about the expression in her eyes. It makes his blood run cold, but he stares her down in return.

“And who are you?” He asks, keeping his tone steady. 

She grins, as cold as the look on her face. “Eris. Goddess of discord. No doubt you’ve seen my likeness on the walls of temples.” 

Riku chuckles, somewhat nervous now. He’s fucked. “Those paintings don’t do you justice, honestly…”

“Uh-huh.” She rolls her eyes. “Now, let’s talk about what I want. Firstly, I’m impressed you managed to defeat my sea monster. Not many mortals can say they’ve bested Cetus.”

“About that,” he begins, and Eris raises an eyebrow at him, “I don’t suppose you’re expecting a heartfelt apology from me?”

The goddess scoffs, looking somehow both amused and disgusted at the same time. “A heartfelt apology? From you? Riku, a heartfelt apology from you would mean nothing ; you’re nothing but a blackhearted scoundrel of a thief. But don’t worry,” and her expression turns coy, “it’s what I like about you. So I’ll let you live… on one condition. You go after your friend, you follow him to Syracuse, continue chasing after the Book of Prophecies… and you bring it to me.”

“What would a goddess want with a book like that?” Riku asks her, and it’s his turn to raise an eyebrow. “Aren’t you deities all-knowing?”

“My need for this book is strictly my own business,” she tells him, and he scowls. 

“See, the only problem with that is I was planning on stealing it for myself and my crew, then sell it to buy up some nice retirement time on a beach somewhere,” he replies, and his words earn a laugh from the goddess, who shrinks herself down to his size and walks up to him, leaning in close to whisper in his ear. At the same time she does so, she reaches to steal his dagger and twirl it absently in her fingers.

“You’re not thinking big enough ,” she murmurs, and her voice sends a chill down his spine before she’s pulling away to speak to him at normal volume. “See, you steal the Book of Prophecies for ransom, you become rich enough to buy some time on a beach. Steal the Book of Prophecies for me , and you’re rich enough to buy the beach itself. And the island. And the world.”

He thinks about it for a moment, then looks Eris in the eyes. “You let me live, you make me rich, I can buy as much paradise as I’d like for myself and my crew. Alright, I don’t see a downside… that is, if you keep your word.”

“Oh, Riku,” she chuckles, and uses the dagger to cross a blood red x over her heart. “Don’t you know? When a goddess gives her word, she’s bound for all eternity.”

That seals it. “Alright, you’re on.”

“Attaboy. Now, when you do steal the Book, you make sure to follow the star beyond the horizon. Do so, and you’ll find yourself in Tartarus. My own personal Realm of Chaos.”

“Star beyond the horizon… Tartarus… got it. I’ll see you then.”

“It’s a date. Now,” she hums for a second. “Where were we? Ah, yes, you were holding your breath.” The bubble bursts, and Riku finds himself underwater again. He quickly kicks back up to the surface, and as Eris watches him go she smiles once more, and once more there’s nothing warm or kind to it. “He’s so cute. And so gullible .”

~

He resurfaces, coughing, and swims back over to Way to the Dawn to find Sora’s ship already having left, and the rest of his own crew waiting; they all seem to have managed to get back to the ship safely. When they spot him, they all cheer, and Naminé gives him a smile as Terra and Aqua help him out of the water. Behind Naminé, he hears Xion say "Pay up, he lived," and Riku spots her brother Vanitas slip her a few coins. He chuckles as he gets to his feet, amused at the exchange, and turns to Naminé ─ who looks him over with a concerned expression. 

“What happened? How did you make it back?” She asks, and Riku shakes his head.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Why don’t you try me?”

“... Alright.” He shrugs. “I met Eris, the goddess of discord, and in exchange for letting me live, she wants me to steal the Book of Prophecies, and bring it to her instead of selling it for ransom; in return, she’ll make us all rich enough to essentially buy the world. Her words.”

“... The goddess of discord, herself?” Naminé peers at him closely, expression at first one of disbelief as her eyes scan his face for any sign he’s lying. He isn’t, of course, so after a moment she finally nods. “Alright, then...” She then turns to the rest of the crew, and Naminé speaks up again. “You heard him, everyone. We keep on the path to Syracuse. We get that book after all.” The others cheer, and he gives them all a faint nod.

Chapter Text

Standing out on the balcony, Eraqus looks out at the tower the Book of Prophecies is being stored in, before turning to the small crowd of people gathered and giving them all a smile. “This sacred treasure is now right here with us… I’ve dreamed of this moment for as long as I can remember.” He raises his goblet in a toast, and continues his statement with a confident “To the Book of Prophecies!”, earning several “hear, hear!”s, as well as a reply of “And to you, King Eraqus and Prince Sora,” from one of the Councilmen. The cheer and merriness of the moment is then broken by the sound of a guard yelling “make way!” as he runs past to the front of the room, where several other guards are gathered with their swords all drawn, blocking off someone’s path of entry.

Frowning, Sora makes his way over and over the shoulder of one of the guards spots Riku and some of his crew standing there, looking mildly amused at the guards’ bravado. He hears Riku say “You see? This is what happens when you use the front entrance,” and the blonde woman next to him gives a nod and verbal agreement of “mm-hmm.”

Eraqus is quick to follow after his son, frowning over at Riku and the others. “What is he doing here?”

“At least he’s not out robbing anyone,” Sora muses, clapping a hand on his father’s shoulder, and Eraqus’s frown hardens further into a scowl.

“That’s because everyone worth robbing at all is here,” he says, but Sora ignores the statement and goes to approach Riku.

The latter is staring down the closest guard with a smug look on his face. “I’ll bet you ten crowns you’re about to put your sword down," he says confidently, and the guard grits his teeth and gets close in Riku’s face.

“I’ll take that bet,” he growls.

As if on queue, Sora addresses the guards, telling them all to put away their swords as he gets close ─ the guard who Riku had taunted scowling as he does so ─  and when they step aside to let him pass, he moves to stand in front of Riku with a look of faint amusement. “I haven't seen you for ten years, and now twice in one day? My gods, Riku.” He lets out a laugh. “You’re smothering me.”

Riku returns the laugh with one of his own, and as they clasp hands he uses his free hand to clap Sora on the back and grins at the brunet. “I knew you’d want to thank me for saving your life… again,” he jokes, and Sora pulls his hand away with another laugh before looping his arm around Riku’s shoulder and leading him away further into the room.

“You probably just heard we have free food and wine,” he jokes back, and Riku turns back to face the crew as he and Sora walk towards the banquet table. 

“You hear that, crew? Dinner and drinks are on the prince.”

Sora rolls his eyes, still amused, and gestures for Riku to follow him. “Come on, Riku, there’s someone here I want you to see.” He scans the room, looking for someone, and when he sees them his face lights up and he heads in that direction, Riku following curiously. As the two of them approach the person Sora spotted, that person is revealed to be a woman with red locks falling just above shoulder length. When Sora clears his throat gently, she turns to face them, revealing her full attire: a pink and white floor length dress with open sleeves, silver accents and a silver belt, an opal choker, and a silver circlet in her hair. Riku freezes in his tracks at the sight of her, and his eyes widen slightly. “You remember Kairi, right?” Sora teases, nudging him in the side, and Riku forcibly swallows the lump forming in his throat. 

Kairi looks at the two men, her eyes moving between them before they finally settle on Riku for good, and her expression reads sheer joy as she moves to hug him. “Riku! It’s been so long…” Words stick in his throat, and she gives him a smile while pulling away and taking a step back to give him back his personal space. “I heard about this morning. First you try to rob Sora and his crew. Then you save their lives. So which are you, now: a thief, or a hero?” Her tone is light, teasing, but Riku still can’t find the words to reply. 

Sora gives Riku a curious look, and Riku again swallows before managing to get out a soft “it’s good to see you, Kairi.” Ten years. Ten whole years, and she’s only somehow gotten even more beautiful than she was when they were teens. He suddenly feels very nervous. How is he supposed to face both of them, now? He’s the one who left in the first place. He’s the one who abandoned them. He’s the one who ─ his thoughts are interrupted by Sora saying his name, and Riku blinks. 

“Riku wanted to give me the opportunity to thank him again,” Sora explains to Kairi, and there’s a twinkle in Kairi’s eyes as she looks from Riku to Sora, then back to Riku.

“Is that so? Well, I’d also like to thank you, myself,” she tells him, and Riku gives a tentative smile, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“It was nothing. Just… fighting off a sea monster. You know how it goes,” he says quietly ─ and then immediately regrets it, as Kairi’s expression becomes one of fascination. Great. If he remembers anything at all about her personality, it’s how easily she can get drawn to things, to topics and ideas. Riku’s just going to─ before Kairi can start asking him questions that Sora can easily answer, himself─ he’s too anxious being in the presence of both of them at the same time in that moment─ “If you’ll excuse me,” he says quickly, giving them both a curt nod before turning to walk off, back towards Naminé and the others. “Change of plans,” he says to Naminé and Xion, who both blink at him. “We’re leaving.”

“What? Just like that? But we’re here, Riku, the Book is so close to being ours...” Naminé trails off as she glances over her shoulder, and Xion follows her gaze, both women looking over to where Kairi and Sora are left standing, looking mildly concerned at Riku’s sudden departure. “Ah. I see.”

“Who is that?” Xion asks quietly, looking from Kairi to Naminé. “Is that who I think it is─”

"Kairi,” Naminé confirms, her tone containing a hint of sympathy. “Come on, Xion, let’s go.” She takes the other woman’s hand, and the two of them head off to leave with Riku. 

As they pass him by, Riku addresses Vanitas. “Van, pack it up. We’re leaving.”

The brunet scoffs, glowering slightly. “Are you serious? I just finished handing over all my weapons to the guards.” He gestures to what could only be described as a small arsenal laid out on the table. “Now you want me to try and get them all concealed again?” Still scowling, he scoops up the numerous weapons and follows after his sister, Naminé, and Riku. 

~

They’ve moved to the same spot Eraqus had given his toast earlier, and the sun has since then started to set beyond the horizon. The ocean view is beautiful, the twilight sky reflecting orange and red and purple on the water’s surface, and Kairi can’t help but admire it. She's always admired it, and has always enjoyed the sailing trips made between here and Thrace, the many summers spent here, walking along the beaches, gazing out over the ocean horizon… 

It's enough to make her sigh dreamily. Then she spots Riku's ship at the docks, and Kairi thinks for a moment. “On one hand, I don’t know why Riku left as quickly as he did, but on the other hand, at least now your father can relax and enjoy the evening,” she says, and Sora nods, his expression pensive. When Kairi notices this, her brow furrows. “What’s wrong?” She murmurs, and Sora lets out a sigh.

He rests his elbows on the wall, leaning forward to look out at the sea while he stays quiet for a moment, and Kairi sees the look there on his face. It’s become… melancholic, mixed with maybe a hint of longing. And… guilt? What─ “I never heard from him again, after he left.” Sora breaks the silence. “And I know you never did, either. He and I were only sixteen, Kai, and I…” He trails off, eyes turning onto her. “Riku left, and abandoned us. Left us behind to go chase some dream of sailing the seven seas, it looks like. But I thought he…” His brow furrows, and Kairi can practically feel the frustration coming off of him in waves. “I thought he would have cared enough to at least─ no, you know what? It’s not important.”

“No, Sora,” she shakes her head, resting a hand on his shoulder gently, and at her touch his frown almost immediately softens. “Tell me. It’s okay.”

He chews his lip ─ an old anxious habit from when they were children, and one he hasn’t acted on in a long time, at that, she notes ─ before continuing. “Kairi, I thought he loved me. Guess I was wrong. Gods know I loved him. I just never told him.”

Oh. Oh . Kairi takes a moment as his words sink in. Somehow, thinking back to their youth, and how close the two boys had been at the time, it makes perfect sense, and makes her realize that yes, of course, Sora had been in love with Riku. She fiddles with her engagement ring, while eyeing the one on his hand to match, before giving Sora the smallest of smiles ─ wanting to, in that moment, give him some sense of comfort, let him know she isn’t hurt, or even angered, by his confession. On the contrary, Kairi takes comfort in the fact that he wouldn’t still be going through with their arranged marriage at this point if he didn’t at least, to some degree, love her as well. Not Sora. He would never. He’s not the kind of man who would do that.

“I never told him, and he just… up and left,” Sora continues, gaze turning back onto the ocean, onto the sky's many colors reflecting off the waves there. “And I…” He trails off again, letting out a quiet sigh. 

“You think that if you had said something at the time, he might have stayed,” Kairi finishes for him, her voice barely above a murmur, and Sora’s gaze lands back on her.

“Yes,” he says quietly. “There are few things I actually regret in this world, Kai, and not telling Riku at the time that I loved him, and that possibly being one of the reasons he left, is one of them.”

It’s her turn to chew her lip in thought. “You’re saying loved, past-tense. Do you not still love him now?”

He looks caught off guard then, almost startled by her question. “Kairi, I─”

“It’s okay,” she reassures him. “It’s okay if you still do; I don’t want you lying to yourself.”

“Kairi.” He moves away from the wall to now face her and take her hands in his. “It’s been ten years, now ─ the duration of which neither of us heard from him at all…” Sora meets her gaze, and finally lets out a sigh, this time out of defeat. “So yes. Yes, I still love him. But I want you to know that I love you, too. Always have, always will. As a matter of fact…” He sits her down on the nearby bench, her hands still in his, and he gently slides her engagement ring off her finger before dropping to crouch on one knee in front of her. “I was wanting to ask you… our marriage was arranged for us years ago, when we were still just kids. It’s always been expected of us. But you know, politics shouldn’t be the only reason to marry someone. I want to make sure you’re as on board with this as I am, so I’m asking you for myself now. Kairi, will you marry me?”

She meets his gaze, and gives Sora a smile that’s soft and assuring and loving all at once. “Yes.” She answers, and Sora slides the ring back onto her finger before helping her back onto her feet once more and pulling her into his arms.

“I’m glad,” he says softly in her ear as he holds her close, and Kairi hums in response, closing her eyes as she leans into his embrace.

“I am, too. Thank you for actually asking,” she whispers back, opening her eyes to lean in and kiss him. 

They’re then interrupted by the sound of someone clearing his throat, and when Kairi and Sora break apart from the kiss and from each other, they both turn to face the source of the sound to find Aeleus, one of the head guards, standing there. “Your father wants to borrow Kairi,” he says to Sora, then looking between the two of them. “Something about a translation mixup with the delegates from Manoli. Since she’s an ambassador, he figured she’d be helpful.”

“Say no more,” Kairi replies. “I’ll be right there.” She then gives Sora a sheepish smile, as if to say duty calls , and gives him a gentle kiss on the cheek before heading off to follow Aeleus ─ leaving Sora to watch them leave, and mull over the conversation that just took place.

In that same moment, Eris herself, who witnessed Riku changing his mind and getting his crew to leave, is rising up the side of the Book of Prophecies’s tower with a smoke like appearance. Reaching the top of the tower, the goddess slithers through one of the windows into the room and hovers near the ceiling, watching with a sly look as the guard makes his patrol rounds. Silently, she moves to put out one of the lanterns that hangs in the center of the tower room, and the sizzle of the wick proves successful as a distraction tactic; the guard’s attention is drawn to the sound, and he cautiously approaches the center. As he stands there in front of the book, his shadow grows longer and longer against the wall until it forms into Eris, who solidifies herself into a physical manifestation before putting out two more lanterns. 

“Huh? Who’s there!?” The guard calls, and Eris slithers behind one of the pillars before summoning a body that looks exactly like Riku ─ then moves to possess it, whipping out a dagger with a coy smile and stepping out from behind the pillar to approach him. Recognition falls across the guard’s face. “Riku!” He draws his sword, and Eris-Riku brandishes the dagger tauntingly. The guard rushes him, and Eris-Riku blocks the blow from his sword before pushing the guard onto his knees with inhuman strength and then delivering a punch to the face that knocks him backwards, unconscious. Eris-Riku then approaches the book, dropping the dagger to pierce the floor next to the guard’s head as her visage melts back into its true form. 

“All the pieces are finally coming together,” she murmurs as she carefully lifts the book from its pedestal and raises it above her head before slamming it shut. 

A shriek from the Book itself pierces the air, darkness grows and fills the room, and the very earth itself starts to tremble ─ causing buildings to shake and walls to break. Screams sound as people scramble to get to safety, and Sora looks around in alarm before Kairi runs up to him, grabbing his arm. “Sora, the Book!” She cries, and together they rush out of the room and onto the balcony to look up at the tower, which now has a large black cloud swirling above it. It grows in size until it swallows up the sky and covers the area in darkness. Then the winds increase in speed, and as those winds hit them Sora pulls Kairi close to him, shielding her body with his own to protect her. When they hear a loud rumbling they look up to see the granite balcony railing crack, and cracks climb up the nearby pillars as well. Debris falls around them, and the most Sora can do is pull Kairi away from the balcony and to safety while the darkness continues to spread over the rest of the city. 

No...

~

“Get in there!” The guards shove Riku into the jail cell, and he stumbles a bit before righting himself and shooting a glare in their direction.

“Riku.” He hears a familiar voice, and looks over to see Sora leaning against the far wall, a look of anger on his face.

“Sora! There you are.”

“Do you realize how serious this is?” Sora asks curtly, and Riku rolls his eyes before giving the other man an exasperated look.

“Do you realize how many times I’ve heard that in the past half hour?” He shoots back, and Sora waves his hand dismissively. 

“You betrayed Syracuse!” He cries, and Riku scowls.

“Not you, too.”

“Stealing the Book of Prophecies when you knew how much it meant! And here I thought you had had a change of heart,” Sora snaps.

“Alright, look,” Riku sighs, “here’s how it usually works, Sora. First, I actually commit a crime, and then you get to blame me for it!”

“Then explain this,” he hisses, whipping out the dagger that had been found inside the tower.

Riku’s expression falls, and his mind races. He has to think. “Fuck… it was Eris.”

“What?”

“Eris… she framed me.”

“Riku, listen to yourself. Do you realize how you sound?”

“Trust me, Sora, if the Book is anywhere, it’s in Tartarus. Talk to your father─”

“This is beyond my father! The ambassadors are convening now for your trial,” Sora says, and there’s a hint of genuine, desperate fear in his voice.

Riku pales. “Whoa, wait, what? Trial? But I didn’t do it! I left the Book on your ship, and that’s the last I saw of it. You were there. You were there, you know the truth. You know me .”

“Do I?” Sora asks tensely. “I knew a kid . Who are you now, Riku?” He sighs. “Look me in the eyes, and tell me. Did you steal the Book?”

Riku meets his gaze and holds it, nothing but sincerity in his eyes. “No.”

~

“We’ve heard enough of your lies.” Eraqus addresses Riku, staring him down with the rest of the Council. “Riku, for the last time, give us the Book .”

“And for the last time: I don’t have it! ” Riku protests. “How many times do I have to repeat it to you people!?”

“That’s enough.” One of the ambassadors speaks up now, a frown on his face. “The Delegation of the Thirteen Cities hereby finds you guilty of treason, and we sentence you to death. Take him away.” He waves to the guards.

“Come on! I didn’t do it!” Riku struggles against the guards as they begin to haul him off, and they drag him a few feet further when Sora enters.

“Stop!” He gives the command, and the courtroom gasps. “I demand the right of substitution. Take me in his place.”

“No!” Eraqus cries, looking even further upset.

“Riku says that Eris took the Book… and I believe him,” Sora continues. “So let him go to Tartarus and recover it.”

“What?” Riku asks, looking stunned. “What are you doing?!” He moves over to Sora, nudging him in the shoulder and glaring at him.

“You claim that Eris stole the book ─ so steal it back. You’re good at that.” Sora tells him with a small grin.

“Sora, I will not be responsible for your life,” Riku protests.

“You would do the same for me,” Sora replies in earnest.

“I─”

With the two in the midst of their argument, Eraqus speaks back up. “If Riku is allowed to leave the city, he’ll never come back! Son, listen to reason,” he says as he approaches the two younger men, and Sora nudges Riku aside to approach his father in turn.

“No, Father, you listen. Riku either stole the Book, or he’s telling the truth and it’s in Tartarus. Either way, he’s our only hope.”

Off to the side, Kairi can be seen making silent, pleading gestures to the Councilman who had sentenced Riku, and that same Councilman speaks up to address Sora. “Your Highness, you realize that if Riku does not return, you will be put to death in his place?”

“I understand.” Sora nods, and the Councilman sighs.

“So be it. Riku has a week to return the Book.”

Eraqus gives a defeated sigh, and turns to the guards. “Release Riku.” The guards obey the order, and murmurs break out amongst the crowd as they undo the handcuffs around Riku’s wrists and place them instead on Sora, who glances over at Riku before the guards begin to escort him away. Kairi makes her way over, reaching up to cup Sora’s face with a pained expression, before she turns her gaze onto Riku. When she does so, her expression goes from pained to… something entirely unreadable, and it’s difficult then to tell what she’s thinking, what’s going through her head.

“It will be okay,” Sora murmurs to Kairi, and she nods.

Riku watches Sora then continue to be led away, and when Kairi’s expression turns back onto him he groans. Great. Just great.

Chapter Text

Once they’re back on the ship and out at sea again, Riku tries not to legitimately panic. He distracts himself by staring out at the ocean, at the twilight sky, mentally mapping the few now visible constellations to calm himself down. His mother, before she died, used to name each and every constellation for him almost every night when he was little, until he had each and every one memorized; even now, as an adult, that memory has served a useful purpose to him when it comes to sailing. Right now, he keeps his gaze on the star that Eris had mentioned to him, that big star just above and beyond the horizon, and tries not to think about the jam he’s found himself in.

“So,” Naminé begins, walking up to him. “Any idea on how we actually get to Tartarus? You know this crew would sail with you there and back,” she says softly, and Riku gives her a guilty smile.

“I know. But I don’t want to risk any of your lives,” he says earnestly, and Naminé frowns.

“Riku, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” She asks.

“We’re not going to Tartarus. People get killed in Tartarus.”

“.. Okay,” the blonde replies slowly. “So where are we going?”

“Anywhere but there.” He tells her. This earns a disapproving look from Naminé, and he sighs. “What do you want me to do?”

“He’s your friend.”

“Naminé, it’s been over a decade, I don’t even know if I can still call him that,” he admits, and her frown returns. “Look,” he says, and she crosses her arms against her chest as she holds his gaze. “Sora will be fine. There’s no way in hell Eraqus is going to let the Council execute his only son.”

“So we’re running away?” Naminé inquires, and Riku groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Look, we have enough, we don’t need another score,” he mutters. “We’re retiring. Conversation over.” The blonde purses her lips, but doesn’t say another word before she pushes off from the railing she’s been leaning against and goes to find Xion. Riku watches her leave, now feeling even worse for having antagonized his first mate, and decides to head to his quarters. It’s time to retire for the night, sleep on the situation for now.

… There’s only one problem, he discovers as he descends below deck and opens the door to his quarters, and that problem finds itself in the form of the familiar red-haired woman who’s now perusing the many things in his cabin and thinking out loud to herself as she goes around and examines each individual item. “Oh, there’s no way this is real. It’d be far too delic─,” Kairi murmurs as she reaches to gingerly touch part of an unknown creature’s skeleton. “Oh, no,” she says, looking horrified as that small part snaps off and clatters to the floor. She then turns her gaze to another item, and hums in amusement. “Let’s see: this would be from Gibraltar,” she examines another, “Patras… and, ah, yes, how is a man to sail without a sextant?” She muses, holding it up and examining it carefully. 

Riku approaches from behind, raising an eyebrow. “Kairi." He says her name, making her jump at the sound of his voice. His smile falters just a bit as she turns around to face him. In stark contrast to the rather elegant attire he'd seen her wearing at the feast, Kairi now dons a simple, loose-fitting cream colored cotton top, brown boots, brown leather bracers on her arms, and a pair of dark brown breeches with a dagger holstered at her hip. He has to actually fight back the urge to laugh; she looks every bit like a pirate, and nothing at all like the actual princess he knows she is. It's… amusing. Still, he's astounded that she's even on the ship in the first place. "What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”

“I’m here to make sure you get the Book of Prophecies,” she says, setting the sextant aside and crossing her arms. “ Or bring back your dead body if you fail.”

“And how are you going to do that?” He asks, now looking amused .

“By any means necessary,” she says stubbornly. “My fiance’s life is at stake.”

The words my fiance sting even a decade later, but he brushes the thought aside for now. “Uh-huh,” Riku replies, leaning against the table with his arms crossed against his own chest. “Did you bring a crew?”

“No─”

“Do you know how to get to Tartarus?”

“Um… no.”

“Can you navigate on your own?”

“Yes!” She cries, looking triumphant, and that’s all the leverage Riku needs.

“Good! Then I’ll dump your ass in one of the rowboats, and you can paddle your way back to Syracuse. Either way, you’re not staying on this ship. Who let you on board, anyway? Was it Naminé? Xion?”

“No one on your crew let me on board,” she mutters. “I snuck on.”

“So you’re a stowaway,” he tells her. “Gods, my luck for today is just the greatest ,” Riku says sarcastically. " First the goddess of discord frames me, then I get sentenced to death for the same crime I’m framed for, then an old friend of mine is stupid enough to place himself in my shoes, and therefore at the potential risk of dying for the sake of some book ─”

“It’s not just ‘some book’, Riku,” Kairi starts to protest, but he cuts her off.

“And then you fucking princess stow away on my ship,” he finishes. “Seriously, Kairi, did you think this through at all? Or did you just decide to tag along and spy on me on a whim?” He asks, glaring at her.

“If you must know,” Kairi snaps, “I decided to tag along the second Sora said he’d take your place. He’s not a perfect man, but he’s selfless ─ too much for his own good. And then there’s you ,” she says curtly. “You’re not a very complicated man, but you are the kind of man to care only about himself, and not anyone else─”

He narrows his eyes at her. “I’m going to stop you right there, before you say something you might regret ─”

“Becoming nothing but a thieving scoundrel over the last ten years─”

“Kairi . ”

“─ Leaving behind your friends, all to just─”

“That’s it .” Riku cuts her off again, taking a step towards her with his eyes blazing in both hurt and anger. 

The next thing the crew knows is Riku kicking open the door to his quarters, Kairi slung over his shoulder as she kicks at him and pounds her fists against his back. “Put me down ! This is so undignified!!” She yells, and the crew all watch in mild alarm as he carries her inside the galley, setting her down inside before backing up quickly and slamming the door shut, quickly bolting it before she can get out. “Alright,” he says angrily, loud enough for her to hear him through the door. “You want to be a part of this crew for now? You get to be in there. Enjoy your stay aboard the ship .”

With that, Riku turns away and storms back to his quarters, silently but visibly fuming. Once he’s back inside said quarters, and the door is closed, he takes several deep breaths. Without realizing it, Kairi had definitely struck a nerve when she’d accused him of not caring for anyone. It wasn’t his fault. He’d left her and Sora all those years ago, yes, but ─ it wasn’t his fault. Or maybe it was. He doesn’t know. All he does know is that the reason he left was so that he wouldn’t… wouldn’t get in their way.

~~

It was during one of the times that Kairi and her family visited Syracuse. She, Sora, and Riku were together in the palace courtyard, Kairi reading a book while the boys dueled with swords, when she and Sora were summoned to the Council Hall. For what, Riku didn’t know, but when his two only friends had come back their body language and facial expressions had registered to him as being flustered . 

“What is it?” He’d asked, looking mildly concerned, and Sora had cleared his throat before glancing off to the side with a sheepish expression.

“We’ve just been told our futures,” Kairi told him. “We’re… we’re going to be married to each other, some day.” 

Riku had felt his heart sink in that very moment. Oh. Okay, then. He should have known this was coming. Sora was a prince, Kairi a princess, and himself? He was just… nobody. He was only a commoner who’d been lucky enough to stumble into a childhood friendship with them both. But that was it, that was where his luck ran out. He should have known the two of them were destined for each other, and not him . That much was evident. “... I see,” he’d replied, and given them both a smile that hid the fact that his heart was breaking into pieces on the inside. “I’m happy for you guys. At least you’ll be marrying someone you know and care about, right?” Sixteen years old, and having, up until this very moment, chased a pipe dream that he could have either one of them. Stupid. Foolish. Naive . 

So the next morning, he’d hopped aboard as a stowaway on one of the merchant ships, leaving nothing but a note for Sora and Kairi to find, one that read he was leaving to pursue a dream of sailing… and he hadn’t once looked back.

~~

Ten years later, and he’s got one of them imprisoned in his ship’s galley, and the other imprisoned in fucking jail for his sake . Fuck. Fuck. Fuck..! Riku takes some more deep breaths, shaky ones, and closes his eyes as he thinks for a moment. Without realizing it, Kairi has forced his hand. Or maybe she has realized it, and that’s why she snuck on board - to manipulate him into… okay, Riku. She’ll never forgive you if you don’t… Gods damn it. Fine. Fine! He’ll go to Tartarus, and he’ll get the Book back. Just so that Sora doesn’t have to die. Because he realizes now, that on top of Kairi potentially holding that grudge against him for the rest of their lives, he doesn’t think he could handle the guilt of just… letting Sora die. Not for some Book of Prophecies, and especially not for him . He isn’t worth it. 

He walks out of his quarters and spots Vanitas at the helm, approaching the other man. “Van. Have you seen Naminé?” 

Vanitas looks over at him and shakes his head. “No. Last I saw her was about twenty minutes ago, before you disappeared into your quarters. She might be with my sister. Check with Xion.” A pause, and then he peers closely at Riku. “Why?”

Riku lets out a sigh, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I may or may not have told Naminé earlier that we weren’t going to Tartarus.”

“Okay, and..?” Vanitas gives him a raised eyebrow. “Change of plans?”

“Change of plans.” Riku surrenders the words, and they taste like bitter defeat on his tongue.

“Did the Princess say something to you?” His tone and expression are both knowing , and Riku feels like he’s being scrutinized. 

“You could say that,” he says quietly. “Just ─ wanted to let you know. I’ll deal with telling Naminé, myself.”

“You realize that as your first mate, she’s going to say “I told you so”, right?” Vanitas smirks.

“Yeah, I know,” Riku mutters. 

“Well, in that case,” Vanitas claps his hand on Riku’s shoulder. “Have fun with that.” His smirk stays in place as he watches Riku leave to continue looking for Naminé. 

Sure enough, just like Vanitas suggested, Riku finds her with Xion ─ the two women hand in hand as they lean against each other in a mutual embrace, both gazing out at the water. He gently clears his throat, and Naminé and Xion break apart, Naminé turning to look over at him. “Yes?” She asks, and Riku again rubs the back of his neck.

“I, uh… after you and I talked, I discovered that Kairi had stowed away on board,” he starts, “and… you could say talking with her made me change my mind. We’re going to Tartarus after all.”

Naminé’s eyes scan his face, and then she gives him a small grin. “That’s nice to know.”

Xion nods. “How do we get there?”

Riku points past the two women, to the horizon. “We follow that star.”

~

“Oh, wow.” As Eris watches the scene from her place in the Cosmos, she looks both impressed and amused. “So our little thief isn’t going to run away after all… he thinks he’s going to pay us a visit . How cute.” She chuckles, humming a song to summon some allies. “Let’s provide some mood music, shall we…?”

~

“Come on, come on, almost there…” Kairi mutters, concentrating as she jimmies her knife to loosen and pull up the last bolt on the door. When it clatters to the floor, there’s a triumphant cry from the inside, followed by a couple seconds of silence before she’s throwing her full weight against the door and knocking it off its hinges. “Ha! Ow…” She rubs at her shoulder, where it’s somewhat sore from the impact of the door, before Kairi makes her way up to the main deck and looks around. When she sees where they’re headed, and what’s up ahead, she freezes in her tracks.  “The Dragon’s Teeth…?” The aforementioned Dragon’s Teeth is a collection of mountainous rocks jutting out of the ocean, a narrow passage leading right through the middle of them ─ the entrance having room for only one ship to sail through, and even then the passage is full of treacherous twists and turns. She remembers reading about it in one of the atlases in the royal library back home. 

One of Riku’s crew members, a woman looking to be around Kairi’s age and size, with raven dark hair and blue eyes, moves to stand beside her for a moment with her gaze also fixed ahead. “Aye, that’s right, your Highness,” she murmurs, gaze then turning to Kairi. “Only the most desperate of captains would sail through there.” Xion then turns to glance over at where Riku is standing at the helm. “And he won’t admit it, but he seems desperate enough.” 

“Xion! I need you up top in the Crow’s Nest!” He calls, and she gives Kairi a small smile.

“See you on the other side of the Dragon’s Teeth, your Highness.” 

When Xion leaves to climb up to where she’s needed, Kairi makes her way towards the helm. “Are you sure you know what─”

“Yes, we’ve done this kind of thing before,” he interrupts her.

“Look─”

“No, there is no other way,”

“I─” 

“And yes, you have my permission to stand there quietly and get a free lesson in sailing,” Riku finishes, giving her a smug grin.

“You know what─”

“Besides,” he continues, looking forward once again, “a pirate ship is no place for a princess.”

“You─” She groans, giving him a mixed look of anger and disgust. “How dare you. Just wait and see, I can fend for myself.”

He’s about to reply when Xion calls down to them. “Rocks, off the starboard bow!” Riku carefully steers the ship to the left, away from said rocks, and looks at Kairi out of the corner of his eye.

“If you don’t mind, I need to focus on getting us through here safely,” he mutters to her, and she scowls at him. 

“Fine,” she says in reply, crossing her arms and continuing to scowl at him. The next few minutes are spent in silence, the entire crew all watching and listening as they sail through the area. The air itself is chilled, as there is no sunlight; the rocks are tall enough that any and all light gets blocked out. There are shipwreck ruins all around ─ broken up ships and boats that lay rotting in the surrounding waters ─ and there’s a faint mist. This is a place of death and ruin. In the deathly silence, soft, distant, and eerie voices can be heard, and Kairi narrows her eyes at the sound. Maybe it’s just her imagination, running wild. Or maybe the others hear it, too. “What is that sound?” She asks quietly, earning a “shh” from Riku. “Don’t shush m─” Before she can finish her own sentence, however, Kairi’s attention is diverted by movement; as she peers into the distance, she sees, or thinks she sees, something diving off one of the rocks and into the water. “Riku, I…” She sees it again: a woman, her body shaped out of the very water she inhabits, diving off of a rotting boat and disappearing with a splash. Along with that, the eerie voices are growing louder, and more numerous. “Riku,” Kairi repeats his name, growing nervous, but he doesn’t seem to hear her; he already seems to be in a trance. When Kairi looks over the side of the ship, she sees two more women swimming alongside it. When they spot Kairi, their eyes glow an eerie green and they both give her wicked grins ─ grins filled with sharp teeth. “Sirens…!” Oh, gods. They’re in trouble, now. 

“Your highness!” Another woman’s voice calls her name, and Kairi looks over to see Naminé running up to them. She waves her hand in front of Riku’s face, but he’s entranced, and Naminé swears under her breath. “Dammit… Your Highness, we need to take matters into our own hands. The men of this crew, the Sirens will have them all under their spell if they don’t already,” she says quickly. “I─” Naminé gasps as she looks ahead, and Kairi follows her gaze. When she spots what Naminé spots, she also gasps. They’re about to go over a waterfall.  

“Your Highness! Naminé!” Xion calls to them, swinging down from the Crow’s Nest and landing beside them both, a look of fear in her eyes. “We have to finish getting through on our own,” she tells them. “The men of the crew are useless in this situation…” Xion’s gaze wanders over to her brother, to where Vanitas is stumbling across the lower deck of the ship as he follows a Siren who’s jumped on board, and is leading him towards the edge of the ship. “─ Van! No! ” She takes off running, jumping down to the lower deck and grabbing her brother by the arm, trying to pull him back. When the Siren sees this, she hisses angrily at Xion, and one of her sisters joins her on the deck, their bodies swirling around Xion as their combined voices grow even louder in an attempt to continue luring Vanitas away from her. 

“He’ssss oursss,” the first Siren hisses.

“Stop it! Leave him alone!” Xion cries, yanking him back harshly, and the creature hisses again.

Naminé turns to Kairi. “I’m going to go help my girlfriend,” she says then, eyes wide. “Can you─ do you know how to─?” She gestures to the helm, and Kairi nods, shoving Riku aside.

“Leave it to me,” she says with a determined grimace. If she didn’t know how to before, she’s going to learn now. With a nod, Naminé runs to Xion and Vanitas. Kairi then jerks the wheel to steer the ship away from some sharp rocks, and she grits her teeth, her grip tightening to hold on as they go over the waterfall’s edge. When they hit the bottom, it rocks the whole ship, and the rest of the crew all fall over before stumbling back onto their feet. Kairi looks out at them all, looks at Naminé and Xion tugging Vanitas back, looks at Aqua trying to hold Terra back as well, a desperate look on her face, and a frantic expression crosses Kairi’s features. As if matters are somehow made worse , she gazes ahead and sees a reverse waterfall, the water rising up and pulling other things up with it. They’re headed right for it, and they’re all going to die; she can’t save them all in time… unless… she then spots an opening quickly coming up on the left ─ a spot between two rocks, where blue sky is visible outside of the Dragon’s Teeth. “Naminé! Xion! Aqua!” She calls to the other women, pointing to the opening, and when they follow her gaze realization dawns on their faces. “Hang on to something!” She yells, and Kairi jerks the helm sideways again, steering the ship sharply to the side towards the opening. So close, so close… yes! Yes! They get through, just narrowly making it between the two rocks and out of the Dragon’s Teeth, the ship free falling for a moment before it finally crashes back down onto open sea.

Now free from the Sirens’ call and spell, the crew start coming out of their trances. Vanitas looks around, visibly confused, before he’s being hugged tightly by his sister, Terra turns to give Aqua an apologetic smile, and Riku, laying on the floor from where Kairi had shoved him aside, gets to his feet and glances around with a frown. “What…?” He lets out a soft groan, clutching his head from where he’d smacked it against the floor after being shoved, before looking at Kairi. Down on the lower deck, the men can be heard asking who saved them, and Naminé, Xion,and Aqua all three point up at Kairi, grateful smiles on their faces. The men murmur in surprise, and Vanitas looks up at her as well, an uncharacteristically soft smile of his own in place. Terra does the same, giving her a grateful smile and nod. Riku, on the other hand, turns to Kairi and clears his throat. 

She turns to look at him, a smug grin on her face. “Still think this ship is no place for a princess ?” She asks, and he looks around at the state the ship is now in. 

“Absolutely,” he says firmly, and Kairi’s smile vanishes. “I mean, look at my ship! Look at what’s ruined, no thanks to you! Do you have any idea at all how to sai─”

“ Excuse me!? ” Kairi scoffs, looking at him with deep exasperation. “I just saved your life! I saved all your lives!” 

“We would have been fine,” Riku says stubbornly. “We always are.” He stares her down for a moment, and Kairi narrows her eyes at him.

“Right,” she says, taking a step back, leaving the upper deck to head down to the crew’s quarters.

As Riku watches her go, his gaze wanders to the deck railing. “The paint is also chipped, Kairi! Thanks a lot!” He calls to her retreating form, and she stops at the doors, shoulders tense, before she turns around and gives him a scowl, then retreating inside the quarters and slamming said doors shut. The crew all watch her do so, and then they all turn to glance up at Riku with disappointed looks. “What?” He asks them, and his inquiry earns him a deep frown from Naminé as she climbs the deck stairs. 

“Are you serious right now, Riku?” He opens his mouth again to reply to her, but the blonde shakes her head. “She was brave enough to take the helm when I asked her to, and she not only managed to get us out of there, but she managed to do so safely. What’s some scratches and chipped paint in exchange for our lives ?”

“...” Riku sighs, looking over at the quarter doors. “Fine. You’re right, Naminé. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me ,” she tells him. “Apologize to Kairi.”

He hesitates before nodding, leaving the helm for a moment to follow after the redhead, banging on the door three times with his fist and waiting a bit. Kairi opens up the doors, poking her head out.

“What?” She snaps, and Riku frowns.

“I just wanted to say thank you, and I’m sorry,” he snaps back.

Her cheeks redden. “You’re welcome, and don’t worry about it.”

Oh. Well, that was easier than he thought. Unfortunately, Riku’s mouth works then and there before his brain does, and his stubbornness kicks in. “I won’t,” he replies, causing Kairi to frown as well.

“Good!” 

“You─ fine. Goodbye!” He says curtly.

“Bye to you ,” she replies with a scoff, and once more slams the doors shut.

“...” Riku is left standing there, and he looks back at the crew who’s all watching the exchange. “We still have a destination to get to,” he says firmly. “All of you, back to work.” He heads back towards the helm as the crew all move to different parts of the ship, and avoids the disapproving, but simultaneously amused, looks from Naminé, Xion, Vanitas, Aqua, and Terra ─ and somehow, with those five being the crew members closest to his heart, he feels the sting of that very disapproval coming from them. Still. Riku turns on his heel, heading down to his quarters.

Chapter Text

It's dusk, now, and from his cell window Sora stares out over the city. Don’t let us down , Riku, he thinks to himself. Don’t let me down. Neither he or Kairi have seen the man in over a decade; was he wrong to put his own life in Riku’s place? Was he wrong to offer the possibility of dying for him? Was he wrong to believe Riku would do the right thing? Sora thinks back to the brief argument the two of them had had when Sora had spoken up in the courtroom. 

“You would do the same for me.”

Would he, though?  

Sora frowns. Did Riku forget that night, eighteen years ago?

~~

It was the night of a meteor shower over Syracuse. They had been eight years old, and had sat together watching the sky from the large window in Sora’s room in the palace. The sky lit up with streaks of light, and Sora watched in awe, eyes wide, before turning to Riku.

“Hey, Riku,” he said softly, and the other boy had glanced sideways at the prince.

“What is it?” Riku asked, blinking at him.

Sora tapped his fingers together. “I read somewhere that meteors can get pretty big. And that they can sometimes crash down to earth. So…”

“So…?”

“Say a meteor fell here, and crashed into the city. Would you be scared?”

“Would I be scared?” Riku shook his head. “Nuh-uh. I’d protect us both.”

“You would?” It was Sora’s turn to blink.

“Yeah. My mom used to say that if you cared about someone, you’d always do your best to keep them safe. And you’re my best friend. So I’d protect you. I’d get you to safety.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“...” Sora’s face broke into a smile, and he hugged Riku. “Okay. Then I’ll do the same for you! We’ll keep each other safe, no matter what.”

~~

He’s snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of his cell door being unlocked, and Sora steps away from the window, looking over to see Eraqus step inside. “Father…?”

“Sora. If you come now, there’s a ship waiting to escort you out of the city,” he says quickly, gesturing for his son to follow him. 

“Wait ─ what about the guards?” Sora asks, brow furrowed as Eraqus takes him by the arm and leads him towards the door.

“They’re asleep, and the ones that aren’t are well bribed,” Eraqus says, his tone crisp. “So we have to leave now . I want my only son to live; I won’t stand for them executing you for another man’s crime.”

“If I live, it will only be because I’ll be living in exile outside of Syracuse,” Sora replies, shaking his head as he pulls away and takes a step further back into the cell.

“Sora─”

“I would never see you or Kairi ever again,” he tells Eraqus, and that earns an exasperated, desperate look from the older man.

“You would never see either of us again if you die ,” he says tensely. “I won’t let it happen.”

“And neither will Riku,” Sora shoots back. 

Eraqus scoffs. “You believe that? My son, that man has no intention of going to Tartarus. The Riku you knew when you two were merely boys─”

“Is still in him now,” Sora tells him. “I know it is.”

“Sora─”

“It will be fine. I know what I’m doing.” He gives Eraqus a smile before moving back to the window, and the older man sighs, giving Sora one last glance even as he turns on his heel to exit the cell.

~

“How the hell does one woman do so much damage…?” Riku mutters to himself as he examines the ship. They’ve temporarily docked on the shore of a small island to look for supplies. The small piece of mast Riku currently holds in his hand snaps, and he groans. “Van! Where’s the chisel set?” He calls, heading over to where his second mate is standing on the upper deck. “‘I’m going to need those, the jack plane, and a cord of cut wood.”

Vanitas nods. “You heard him, crew. Let’s find some wood.”

As the crew set foot on the shore, Riku closely examines the scratches on the taffrail and groans. Kairi, who’s standing nearby, places her hands on her hips and scoffs. “Oh, please,” she says. “All you need is a little tree sap and she’ll be as good as new.”

“When I want your advice, Princess, I’ll ask for it,” Riku retorts. “I─ hey. Hey!” He looks up in time to see her walking off the ship, bucket in hand. “Where do you think you’re going?” When she ignores him, he scowls. “Fine. But take someone with y─” Before he can even finish those words, Riku sees Naminé, Xion, and Aqua all three going to accompany her, kind smiles on their faces that Kairi returns with one of her own. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Vanitas walking past, also carrying a bucket of his own, and he shakes his head. “Not so fast.”

“You know she’s right. Tree sap would work just fine for the scratches.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Riku tells him. “Just… stay with the ship.”

Vanitas rolls his eyes, but does as ordered, and watches as Riku hops over the side of the ship and lands on his feet in the sand to follow after the women, calling to Kairi as he goes.

“I already said thank you, Kairi,” he calls to her. “Is that what this is about?”

“Oh, please, don’t be so self-centered,” she retorts, approaching a tree and pulling out her dagger. “I’m only trying to repair your ship. If I break something, I fix it.”

“Oh, please, like you could fix so much as a broken fingernail.”

There’s a whack as Kairi sticks the blade into the side of the tree she’d walked up to, and the sound is a bit angrier than normal; as she holds the bucket up to collect the tree sap the redhead looks sharply over her shoulder at Riku, shooting him a glare. “You are the most boorish, hardheaded, uncourteous man I think I’ve met in a long time,” she snaps. “Honestly, what happened to you? Too much time at sea make you rough around the edges? What happened to the boy Sora and I were friends with? He was kinder than this.”

He tenses up. There she goes again. “Maybe he got tired of being around the highborn society types that you and Sora were raised to be a part of.” It’s a lie, he knows he’s lying to both her and himself even as he says it, but Riku can’t take it back now. He’s already started digging this hole for himself, might as well keep digging. “And Kairi? Those types? Please.” He scoffs. “I’m the only man you’ve ever met.” He turns to walk back to the ship, thinking he’s won this round, when ─ 

WHAM. He’s hit in the back of the head by the bucket Kairi was holding only seconds ago, the sap now splattered in his hair and oozing down the back of his neck. He slowly turns around to see Kairi with one hand on her hip and the other hand held out as she nonchalantly peers at her fingernails with a smug look. He grins slyly ─ two can play at that game ─ before crouching to scoop up some nearby mud, and when Kairi sees him doing so her smug expression vanishes immediately.

“No,” she starts, pointing a finger at him in warning even as he pulls his arm back, ready to throw, “No, no. No. No─ ”

There’s a splat as he now swings, the mud hitting her right in the face, and she stumbles back slightly from the impact. Xion whispers “five on Kairi,” to Naminé, and Riku’s grin widens as Kairi glares at him ─ or at the least, does what he assumes is glare, as her expression is hard to glean from the mud that now drips down her face.

“You egotistical─” Kairi says, wiping it all from her face as she starts to walk towards him.

“You spoiled─”

“Disrespectful─”

“Cosseted─”

“Deluded, pompous, self-centered, ungrateful, insufferable ─”

“At least I’m not repressed.” He tells her then, and she narrows her eyes.

“Repressed? How dare you. You don’t know the first thing about me now─”

“Oh, don’t I?” Riku crosses his arms against his chest. “Right. Because you’re so grown up, now, Kairi. It’s only been ten years and you’re still the same stubborn girl I knew from before. Is Sora into that? Is that what he likes about you?” He narrows his eyes at her in return, even as his own conscience screams at him to stop now , screams at him that he’s a hypocrite for asking that about Sora when gods know it was one of the things he always loved about Kairi, himself. “Does he even know you’re here with me? Or did you leave him behind without so much as a warning the way I did?” 

She gasps softly, mouth falling open slightly as disbelief and hurt both paint themselves on her face. Oh… he struck a nerve. It’s only fair, though; she’s struck plenty with him up to this point. 

“Well?” Riku presses on. “Does he know you’re here? Or did you leave without telling him where you were going?”

“I─” She can’t, doesn’t want to, admit that he’s right. That she did leave without telling Sora she was going with him. “Riku…”

“If that’s the case, you’re no better than I am when it comes to him ,” he says roughly, picking up the bucket she’d thrown at him and turning on his heel to head back to the ship, not even bothering to look back at Kairi.

”...” Kairi watches him leave, feeling like Riku’s just taken her heart and crushed it. Is he right about her after all..? Is she really no better than he is? She’d left for Sora’s sake, left to ensure Riku stayed on the straight and narrow so that Sora wouldn’t have to die , but now… now, Kairi is left wondering whether or not she made a mistake in doing so. She can’t help but, in that moment, think back to her and Sora’s conversation from the other night, and how he’d confessed to her about having been in love with Riku─ about still being in love with Riku, and she feels a twinge of guilt. She should have spoken up, herself. She should have... should have said the same. Because she did. She does. She loved them both when the three of them were in their youth, and she still does even to this day. Which is why it hurts, now, to see Riku acting so bitterly towards her. Does he hate her? Does he─ oh. Oh, gods. What if… what if he was in love with Sora, too, and he left because he was jealous ? What if all these long years, he’s hated her? And even if he didn’t hate her before, what if he’s right, and Kairi’s abandoned Sora like he did, and Riku hates her for it now ? What if he hates her for being like him? She lets out a shaky breath, feeling her chest tighten, before she feels a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Your Highness?” Naminé’s voice is soft, and it brings her back to the now, out of her thoughts and grounding her to reality. “Are you… okay?”

Kairi carefully turns to the blonde, forcing her face into a mask of neutrality even as Naminé’s own expression is one of concern, with Xion and Aqua’s expressions, beside her, mirroring that same concern. “I’m okay.” She says, keeping her tone as neutral as her face, and gives the other three women a smile. “Really. I’ll be fine.” As sweet as it is that they’re worried about her, Kairi doesn’t know either of them very well ─ so she doesn’t want them worrying about her. “And please ─ just Kairi is fine.” Her smile turns a little more sincere, and the other three exchange glances before turning their gazes back to her and nodding. 

Naminé speaks up again. “I’m sorry about what he said to you. I don’t know the full details of your history together, but,” and as she says this next part her mouth forms a frown, “he was wrong to throw those statements your way, Kairi. You’re not as bad as him.” As Naminé says this, Kairi hums faintly, her neutral mask still in place; years of being around ambassadors and other royal delegates alike, and having to put up with them, has given her practice in that aspect well enough that she’s now skilled at keeping her emotions in check. Her expression is still neutral, calm almost, but inside Kairi feels anxiety and guilt both sinking their claws into her heart in a vice grip. Damn you, Riku, for making me doubt myself and my actions. She realizes Naminé is still speaking. “─ you’re right about him, he’s just… a bit rough around the edges now.” 

“Thank you, Naminé,” she says softly, meeting the other woman’s gaze. “I─” A question occurs to her then, going off of Naminé’s words. “How long have you known Riku?”

Naminé smiles faintly. “About seven years, now. I was… seventeen? When I met him. Funny story: he hadn’t had a full crew with him, yet. At the time I met Riku it was still just him. I was his first ever crew member; we both happened to be in the same tavern on the same night. He got into a bar fight, one that I got swept up in, and I managed to hold my own. Afterwards he told me he was looking to form a crew of people he could trust, and on a related note, thanked me for having his back in the fight. He then asked me if I’d ever sailed before. I said no, he asked if I wanted to, and I said yes… and I became his first mate.”

Kairi, whose attention has been diverted onto Naminé’s story, turns her gaze onto Xion. “What about you?” She asks, now fully intrigued.

“Me?” Xion gives her a smile similar to Naminé’s. “My brother and I also joined the crew sometime around seven years ago. Vanitas and I had managed to make somewhat of a name for ourselves in Barcelona, and one day Riku and Naminé pulled into port for supplies. Van and I were running from security after we’d pickpocketed some nobles, and we hid on Riku’s ship. You can probably guess what happened next.” Her smile widens, and Kairi raises an eyebrow in interest.

“I can place a wager. Tell me anyway?”

“By the time we came out of our hiding spots, Riku and Naminé had already left the port with us still on the ship. You should have seen their expressions when they saw the two of us climbing on deck. They were so shocked. But thankfully, rather than dump us back at port, Riku took us both on as crew members. And we’ve been with him and Naminé ever since.”

“Aqua?”

The oldest of the other three women gives Kairi a smile of her own. “My husband and I, Terra, both used to be part of the upper class from Thira. After losing our home in a fire, we decided to travel the world. We’d traverse between cities, exploring the sights, tasting the cuisine, interacting with different locals ─ that is, until one day we met Riku.”

“How did that happen?” Kairi asks.

Aqua thinks for a moment, and an amused look plays out on her features. “Riku tried to pickpocket Terra, actually.” Oh, of course he did. Kairi nods, before gesturing for Aqua to continue. “When that happened, Terra caught him red-handed… and I think he took pity on Riku; he offered for the two of us to buy him a drink, sit him down and talk. It was… interesting, to say the least.”

“How old was Riku when this happened?”

Again, Aqua takes a moment to try and remember. “I believe he was twenty.”

“Let me guess,” Kairi replies, “in exchange for the drink, he offered to let the two of you join the crew.”

“You would be correct in that assumption. We jumped at the chance to be able to explore the world even further, without boundaries or limits, and Terra and I even became best friends with one of the other crew members, Ventus.”

“And the few others?”

“Other people we also picked up from various places,” Xion answers, and that’s good enough of a response for Kairi.

“So you five in particular are really loyal to him, huh?” She inquires.

Xion nods. “He gave Naminé, Terra, and Aqua all a chance at sailing on the high seas, and Vanitas and myself both a purpose in life where we’d been nothing but a pair of thieves before.”

“But you’re still thieves,” Kairi teases then, and that earns soft laughter from both the other women. 

“Ladies! We’re heading out!” Terra calls, waving over to the four of them, and they wave to him in return.

“We’ll be right there!” Xion calls back, and she and Naminé turn back to Kairi. “Come on, Kairi,” the brunette says softly. “If you want, Naminé and I can show you the ropes.”

That much will be a welcome distraction, Kairi thinks to herself. Anything to get to avoid talking to Riku right now. She follows the other three back to the ship, slipping back into the same neutral expression as before when she sees Riku. Don’t let him know he upset you. She holds her head high once she and the others are back on deck, and ignores Riku’s gaze; as a result, she doesn’t see the split-second expression of hurt that flickers across his features, then is gone as quickly as it came. 

He knows that later on, he’ll regret saying those things to her. He’s already starting to. Why won’t she look at him? You know why. Stubborn a woman as she is, Kairi won’t show it ─ but what you said had to have hurt her. You know it did. Accusing her of leaving Sora behind with the same intention you had, when you know that’s not the case. She won’t look you in the eyes because you upset her. The one woman he ever cared about romantically, the one woman he spent the past ten years ─ as well as a good portion of his childhood ─ pining over, even after he left her behind, and he’s gone and antagonized her. Fuck. What is he supposed to do? Just… say ‘I’m sorry’? Again? No. A simple apology won’t be good enough this time. Damnit… 

Riku takes a deep breath, glancing away from Kairi, then glancing back at her. She has her back to him now, talking with Xion and Naminé, and in that split second Riku feels his chest tighten with anxiety. What if she never talks to him again after this? What if… they make it to Tartarus and back, get the Book safely back to Syracuse, and Kairi never… never speaks to him ever again? Marries Sora and goes on to live her life happily as his bride, and never gives Riku so much as a single thought for the rest of her life? What if she decides to forget him? He suddenly feels like he can’t breathe, feels lightheaded, and he grips the helm tightly enough that his knuckles turn white. Focus. Focus, gods damn it. He’s got a crew to manage, a set destination with said crew,  and a Book of Prophecies to steal back from a goddess. He can’t let himself… get distracted by this. 

He remembers the first time Sora had introduced them, though, back when they were still kids ─ himself and Sora nine and Kairi seven years old, respectively ─ and against his better judgement Riku’s mind wanders back to that day.

~~

“I can’t wait for you to meet her. It’s been about two years since she was last here, and we’ve only written each other letters since. It’ll be nice to see her in person again.” Sora was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he and Riku stood dressed in their finest attire ─ Sora’s clothes being far finer than Riku’s, of course, with Sora being the prince ─ and waited with Eraqus for the arrival of the Royal Family from Thrace. Over the past month or so, as they anticipated her and her family’s visit, Sora had told him lots of things about Kairi: she was Sora’s best friend before Riku, she was the youngest of two siblings, she was one of the kindest people he knew, she was smart and funny, the list went on. One of Sora’s descriptions of her was that she was really pretty from what he remembered, with eyes an ocean blue and hair almost the same shade of red as her older brother Lea, only slightly darker. 

However prepared Riku thought he was to meet her, he was entirely wrong. Nothing could have prepared him for getting to know Kairi. For Sora, he’d developed a crush slowly over time, as their friendship grew and developed. But when it came to Kairi, the second she stepped off the boat and ran into Sora’s arms to embrace him before turning to look at Riku as Sora introduced him to her… Riku’s breath was taken away when she hugged him, too, and gave him a smile that made his heart pound even faster in his chest than it did whenever he and Sora raced each other. His feelings for Sora, by that point, had formed into a summer breeze that lifted him into the air, made him feel giddy with love and the promise of loyalty and friendship, but Kairi? With her looks and personality she was a riptide, knocking Riku off his feet and doing so hard ─ sending him headfirst into a crush that developed almost from the moment he met her, and eventually formed into the same feelings of love and yearning he felt for Sora.

From that point up until he’d run away at the age of sixteen, Riku fully embraced the fact that he grew to love them both equally, as they both equally made him a part of their lives; whenever she was away from Syracuse, she not only wrote to Sora, but to Riku as well, and the two boys would take turns reading to each other the letters she sent them. Her letters usually contained stories of her home life in Thrace, as well as inside jokes between the three of them, or jokes Lea gave her that she felt like sharing with Sora and Riku as well. And at the end of every letter ─ no matter who it was addressed to ─ she always, always wrote the words: ‘with love, from your shining star, Kairi.’

~~

Guilt tugs at him, just from thinking back to the past, and his head hurts. Your shining star, Kairi . Riku looks at her, before his gaze then wanders over to the horizon, to the star Eris had pointed out to him earlier, and a realization hits him. It’s Kairi. It should have always been Kairi. Riku sucks in air between his teeth at the epiphany. Because suddenly, the reason Kairi stowed away on his ship to begin with, the reason she snuck away from Syracuse to follow him, the reason she’s here , becomes very abundantly clear to Riku. To think he would have let Eris’ star guide him for a different reason in the beginning, when he has the first star he ever fell in love with here with him now to be able to guide him instead, keep him on the path to doing the right thing, to saving Sora’s life… 

It’s her . Gods, it has to be her; she’s the one that will guide him, help him find the Book and make it back home to Syracuse, back home to Sora ─ and he’s been too fucking stubborn to see it until now. Why did he have to be so difficult? The last ten years, he’s had himself convinced that he was doing the right thing ─ that leaving Sora and Kairi behind was the right decision, was the only option to giving them both a chance at a normal, happy life with each other instead of with him; after all… princes didn’t marry lower class people like Riku. Neither did princes ses . And that was all Riku was. He had no royal blood in his veins; he wasn’t even noble. He was just a commoner. What did he have to offer either of them? Nothing. Nothing at all. So they would both be better off with each other. That’s all it was.

Kairi is the star that will guide him on the path to doing the right thing, sure, and he’ll get the Book back to where it belongs, and save Sora’s life, but… after that, Riku realizes with a sinking feeling in his chest? After that, he won’t have any choice but to leave again. Leave them behind the same way he left over a decade ago. At least this time he’ll give them both a proper goodbye, he decides.

The only question left now is as to whether or not Kairi will speak to him again before that time. That same sinking feeling in his chest lingers at the thought, at the possibility, that she might not; he was more than harsh when it came to accusing her of behaving the same way he had, and he knows this. If she never speaks to him again, gods know he’d deserve it. And if she does speak to him again, he wonders how long it will be until then.

Chapter Text

The answer is four days. Four days, the duration of which the only acknowledgement Kairi gives him comes in the form of silent glances; even then, they’re glances that are passed in his direction when she thinks he can’t notice her doing so. Four days since their argument ─ and even after his epiphany, Riku hasn’t had it in him to even try and make her talk to him, out of the desire to give her the space she deserves.

Until today. He decides that the guilt and anxiety have both been eating at him for long enough, now, that he can’t afford to let himself stew in it any longer, and Riku decides then and there to seek her out. He finds her in the crew quarters, and as he approaches he stops to stand in front of Kairi and glances down at his feet before finally moving his eyes up towards her face. She stares back up at him with a blank, disinterested expression, but he can tell it’s forced ─ and his brow furrows. 

“Kairi… drop the act. Please. I know I hurt you.” The frown lines that eventually, and slowly, do criss-cross along her forehead prove him right, and Riku sighs. “... Can I sit?” He asks after a few seconds, and there’s a pause before Kairi nods, still not saying a word. He moves to seat himself beside her, placing his hands in his lap and staring down at them before he’s looking back up and over at her once again. “I’m… sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things to you.”

There’s a moment’s silence before she finally speaks, and when she does it’s with a heavily constrained tone. “No, you shouldn’t have.” The next thing she says, though… gods, where she was so reserved just seconds prior it’s like she’s now hardly able to hold back the anger and pain evident in her voice. “Riku,” and her voice drops to a murmur, a whisper, just enough for him to barely hear, “do you know how it felt… when you left us behind?” 

He can’t even begin to imagine, in all honesty ─ but the guilt begins to course through him nonetheless. Small, at first, quiet. Just starting to form.

“It was like we’d lost a part of ourselves. You left, and we were worried. You left… and it broke our hearts.”

The guilt that started to form when she’d first brought up the subject is now surging inside Riku, loud and angry , crashing over him like a goddamned tidal wave, and he hangs his head.

“Why did you do it?” She whispers, and he closes his eyes as that very guilt swells even more inside his chest ─ smothering him, almost, making it hard to focus on anything but. He forces himself to answer her, though, not wanting to keep her waiting.

“I wanted to sail,” he whispers back, and Kairi shakes her head firmly, turning her gaze onto him finally.

“No. Why did you really do it?”

Gods… ten years later, and even despite that time and distance she still knows him well enough to be able to call him out on his bluff. “I─” He looks up to meet her gaze in return, hesitant to give the truth… and when his eyes do meet hers, Riku breaks. “Kairi.” Ten years later, and she’s even more beautiful than he remembers. His fingers are just itching to reach out, brush her hair out of her eyes and away from her face, just to tuck it behind her ear, but he refrains from touching her at all. He doesn’t deserve to touch her, and even if he did Riku doubts she’d let him do so right now. After all, he isn’t Sora. Riku lets out another sigh, defeated, and finally says the truth he’s kept hidden for all this time. “I left because I loved you. Both of you.” The only visible change in her expression then is her eyes widening slightly; however, Kairi remains silent as she waits for him to continue. “I’d loved you both for years before I left,” he tells her, still holding her gaze, and as he says this Riku sees tears form in her eyes. He keeps going, though; if he doesn’t continue now, if he lets this moment go to waste, he’ll never find the courage to be able to give her the full truth ever again, and he tells himself that after what he’s put her through ─ both over the last ten years and the past few days or so ─ she deserves to hear it all. “The day I decided to leave was the day you and Sora were given the announcement of your arranged marriage.” 

Kairi draws in a shaky breath, but despite the guilt now clawing its way through his heart Riku continues still. “I knew in that moment I could never have a true chance with either of you.” He gives a quiet chuckle, one full of bitterness and self-depreciation. “Why would I? Myself ─ a commoner, an orphan boy with a father killed at sea and a mother lost to illness, and the only family to me then clearly destined for each other instead of me? No.” He shakes his head. “I told myself you and Sora could have a happy life with each other, and that I’d only get in the way from there on out. So the next morning, I hopped a merchant ship departing for Venezia… and I didn’t look back.” He lowers his gaze again. “And there you have it, Kai,” the old nickname he and Sora had given her all those years ago now slipping off his tongue all too easily, “I left because I’d convinced myself I didn’t stand a chance. Not when you two could be happier, and better off, in the future with each other than with me.”

“Riku,” and her voice is thick with emotion now, “did you not know?”

“Know what? That I didn’t deserve either of you?”

Oh my gods. Kairi is tempted, so tempted, to just grab Riku by the shoulders, then, and shake some sense into him, but she instead opts for curling her hands into fists on her knees. “That Sora loved you,” she says quietly, earnestly.

That earnestness apparently isn’t enough; Riku stares at her, looking entirely unconvinced. “Don’t do that to me, Kairi.” His tone and expression both register hurt.

She gives him an incredulous stare in return. “You think I’d lie to you about this?”

“...”

“He loved you, Riku. He still does.”

He continues to stare at her in disbelief. “You know this how?”

“He told me the night the Book was stolen.” She sees teal eyes register shock, and Kairi watches Riku swallow around the lump forming itself in his throat now, before she’s pressing on. “He regrets not having told you at the time,” she says, forcing her tone to become steady for Riku’s sake. “And I…” She trails off, and Riku gently nudges his shoulder against hers.

“You what…?” He prompts quietly, and she chews the inside of her cheek before going on.

Kairi envies Sora’s carefreeness. It isn't as easy for her to admit to loving Riku as it had been for Sora, so… she opts for admitting a different truth, instead.  “... Do you want to know something?” He nods, and she takes a deep breath before continuing ─ and as she does so, she drops her gaze to glance down at her hands, entwined together in her lap. “See, Riku, the thing is this: I’ve always loved the sea. I’ve even dreamed of sailing, myself ─ of a life on the ocean, like you.” Her next words are tainted with a mixture of shame and regret, even as her voice drops to a whisper. “I've put my duties first, but if… if I weren’t a princess ─ if I didn’t have responsibilities in both Thrace and Syracuse ─ who’s to say I wouldn’t have gone with you at the time?”

“Kairi─”

“You were right about me,” she says, and more tears begin to shine in her eyes. “I love him, just the same as you, but… who’s to say I wouldn’t have abandoned Sora, as well? ”

“ Kairi─ ” 

“You were right about me, Riku,” she repeats, and as she finally looks up at him a loose tear slips down her cheek, her tone still dripping with regret. “And you’ve given me ten years to realize it. I’m just the same as you. I…”

“Kairi. Listen to me.” He should never have given her cause to doubt herself. “You’ve been selfless enough to put your duties first before anything. You could have followed your heart, but you were selfless enough to stay, to be with Sora where I couldn’t.” Against his better judgement, Riku reaches up to gently brush the stray tear away with his thumb. “You’re nothing like me, Princess.”

She leans into his touch, meeting his gaze. “... I─”

Kairi is then interrupted by the sound of rapid footsteps descending down the stairs into the crew quarters, and when they both look over it’s to see Xion looking over at them with wide eyes. “Riku, you might want to come take a look at this,” she says quickly, slightly out of breath as if she’d come running to find him.

He frowns, exchanging a glance with Kairi, before he gets to his feet and gives her a small smile before following the brunette back up onto the main deck. “What is it, Xion?” She points, and when his eyes follow along to where she’s pointing they go wide. Oh, gods…

The sight he finds himself looking upon is a spectacular one, and one he never, even with his many years on the ocean, and not even in his wildest dreams, imagined he’d ever see with his own two eyes. Just on the horizon, Eris' star has disappeared; in its place, the sky has split open to reveal what looks like a crack in the middle. Wisps of purple light ebb and flow around it, the air smells like ozone, and in the surrounding sky the stars have disappeared entirely, drowned out by a brilliant, white light that pours out from a portal within that same opening. It’s the Gates of Tartarus. They’ve arrived. His breath catches in his chest, and even as he stares ahead at them he feels Kairi’s presence as she moves to stand beside him. He doesn’t turn to look at her, still enraptured by the sight before them, but he feels her fingers brush against his as Kairi slips her fingers in between his own to give a tentative squeeze. Riku squeezes back carefully, feeling himself start to get choked up, and tries not to let his emotions bubble to the surface at the realization that she was the one to reach for him . Riku once again swallows another lump forming in his throat, and without pulling his hand away from Kairi’s forces himself to focus instead on the Gates. Holy shit. They’re here. They made it. “Xion!” He calls for her, and she stands at attention. “Give me a lookout!” 

“Aye-aye, captain,” she calls back, and quickly climbs up to the Crow’s Nest. “Oh, shit ─” Xion’s eyes go wide at what she sees in front of them. “We’re going to die…” 

“Xion, what do you see?” Riku calls out to the brunette, and she looks down at him. 

“It─ it just ends,” she replies, looking horrified. “It’s the edge of the world!”

What the fuck ─ Riku peers out before them, and from what he can tell, Xion’s right: it looks like the ocean just… ends in front of them, cascading over the edge of the world in a waterfall effect, and the ship is starting to move faster, now, winds picking up speed, as they start to get pulled towards it. As they get closer, still gaining speed by the second, he grips Kairi’s hand even tighter than before and turns to look at her. “Kairi,” he begins, and she turns her gaze onto him in return, something akin to fear and desperation visible in her eyes. “I─”

He’s cut off by her cupping his face in her hands and pressing her lips to his, and Riku makes a soft, surprised noise in the back of his throat. He was not expecting that at all... but then as quickly as she’d kissed him Kairi is just as quickly pulling away, chewing at her lower lip and looking nervous. “Sorry,” she says quickly, lowering her gaze. "I just thought─ if we're going to die─" But before she can say anything more Riku leans in and kisses her back; soft and careful, not at all rushed in the way she had kissed him, but… tentative. Yearning . After all, it's like she said; they’re going to die anyways instead of finding the Book, so… no harm in such an action, right? 

His lips linger on hers for a split second more before he's pulling away to look her in the eyes. As Kairi meets his gaze, she sees a hint of what could be easily described as apologetic regret etched there on his features. "What I was going to say," he begins, and the apology is evident in his tone as well, "is that I'm sorry."

She peers at him, then, eyebrows raised. "What do you mea─

"I got you caught up in this."

"Riku…"

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have needed to leave home. And now we're about to die. You're about to die. We… I … failed Sora.” 

Realization dawns on her face, and Riku’s heart sinks. “He’s going to die, too, isn’t he…?” She asks softly, looking heartbroken at the notion, and once again that same guilt from before stabs through Riku. She’s right. They’re going to die here, at the edge of the world, and Sora will die via execution back in Syracuse, without ever seeing either one of them ever again ─ all because Riku was foolish enough to have even bargained with a fucking goddess in the first place. He should have told Eris to fuck off right then and there when she propositioned him.

He’s about to tell Kairi this when the ship lurches, causing her to stumble forward. He catches her in his arms, helping her straighten up, and he’s hesitant to let go of her but does so anyways ─ and as Riku does so Kairi gives him a tentative smile. Then they both look over in time to realize that the ship is beginning to tip downwards; they’re now officially going over the horizon’s edge, and when they go completely over Riku pulls Kairi back into his arms for security as the boat begins to tilt slightly at an angle, rocking a bit, before it rights itself and they find themselves cruising along… in the air? They’re still being pulled towards the gates, though, which loom in front of them, and Kairi gasps, moving away from Riku just to stand at the side of the ship and peer over the edge. 

It’s a very, very long way down; there’s nothing below them but an endless abyss, and she quickly takes a tentative step backwards away from the side.

As Riku watches her, something occurs to him then ─ the very thing Eris had told him before. Follow the star beyond the horizon. That thought occurs to him, followed by an idea, and as they approach the Gates’ opening he goes to approach Naminé, who’s currently at the helm. “Hey.”

She turns to him, eyes wide. “What are your orders?” 

He gives her a small smile. “If I don’t make it back, you take over the crew and the ship.”

“Riku─?”

“ If I don’t make it back. I’ll be fine.” Even as he says it, though, doubt clouds his heart and his mind both. This is Tartarus, after all; no mortal has ever made it out alive. Despite said doubt taking root, though, he has to do this. His smile stays in place and he gives her a faint nod, glancing over at the Gates. The ship is suspended right outside them, now, and Riku turns his gaze back to Naminé. “Don’t be mad at me, but I’m going to try something crazy.” 

Blonde eyebrows knit together in concern, Naminé now frowning. “What are you planning?”

“I’m going to walk across to the portal.”

“...!” Her eyes go wide again. “Riku, are you insane!? You don’t know what’s on the other side..! Plus, you don’t know if walking across will even work! You could fall to the depths below!”

“The ship is floating; why wouldn’t I be, too? Look,” and his tone is soft, “I came here to get the Book back. We’ve reached this point, we can’t turn back now. Not when there are people,” most specifically, Sora, “relying on us. We’re not turning back ─ and I’m not leaving without the Book. So I’m walking through that portal, and I don’t want any of you trying to stop me.”

“Who said I’d try and stop you?” Kairi’s voice pipes up from behind Riku, and she moves to stand beside him, her prior distress replaced with an air of confidence. “I’m going with you. And don’t tell me the Realm of Chaos is no place for a princess. We’re doing this for Sora, and we’re doing this together .”

Riku turns his smile onto Kairi, now, looking her over. She’s so brave, and he knows she always has been. He loves her. Ignoring the voice in his head that reminds him that should they make it back to Syracuse, she’ll go right back into Sora’s arms, Riku takes the princess’ hands in his and pulls her close to press a kiss to her forehead, then lets her go and takes a step back to turn and address the crew. 

“It’s been an honor and a privilege sailing ─ and robbing ─ with all of you,” he tells them with a grin, and in return finds himself looking out over a sea full of shocked faces.

“You’re leaving us behind?” Xion speaks up, a frown on her face to mirror Naminé’s.

“Riku, what gives?” It’s Terra’s turn to speak. 

“It’s like I said,” Riku replies, lifting a hand to continue. “My goal coming here was to retrieve the Book of Prophecies from Eris, and now that we’re here I don’t want to further risk any of your lives for a mistake that I made.”

“What mistake is that?” Aqua calls, and Riku gives her a sad smile.

“Being stupid enough to bargain with a goddess.” 

The shock on the others’ faces dissolves into despondence, and murmurs pass between them. Vanitas steps forward, brow furrowed. “You go through that portal, you might not even make it back out,” he points out, and there are further murmurs of agreement between the rest of the crew. 

“... I know,” Riku tells him. 

“Then let us go with you. At least let your crew give you more of a fighting chance. We’ve always been with you up to this point,” Vanitas continues. “If some of us don’t make it out but it gives you a chance to return in the meantime─”

“Van. I appreciate it,” and there’s nothing but sincerity and genuine gratitude in Riku’s tone and expression, “but─”

“If there’s anyone who should be going with him in your places, it’s me,” Kairi finishes.

“There’s no convincing either of you to take any of the rest of the crew with you, is there?” Naminé asks, and Riku shakes his head.

“Nope. This is something that’s just on us.” He still regrets getting Kairi caught up in it, but he knows that even if his crew can’t accompany him, there’s no stopping her from going with him, herself. And he thinks he gets it; he wouldn’t have it in him to make her stay behind with the crew, anyways, not after she’s come this far, and especially not after she’s done it all for Sora’s sake. “If I could take any of you with me, I would in a heartbeat. But unfortunately, there’s no other choice but to make it just myself and Kairi. Again, it’s been wonderful sailing with all of you. Naminé, you’re in charge until I get back. Kairi?” He holds his hand out, and she takes it; together they walk to the far end of the ship, and he helps her to climb up before following suit. They stand there, balancing precariously together on the side, and before Riku moves to step off, he looks at Kairi. “Ready, Princess?”

“Ready, Pirate,” she replies, tone teasing, and the two of them hold onto each other as they both take a step forward, both with one foot still on the ship and the other off it, before stepping out entirely… and it’s just like he figured; they’re both suspended there in midair, just like the ship. Consider this the most insane thing Riku has ever done in his entire life ─ and he’s done plenty of insane things. This takes the cake, though. 

“Whatever you do, do not look down,” he mutters, hand still grasped within Kairi’s. Left foot, right foot, left, right. One foot in front of the other, as they walk together, on thin air, across the abyss. Oh, gods, this is terrifying. Don’t look down. Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down, it’s a long way down do not look down ─ 

“Not looking down, got it,” Kairi murmurs next to him as they get closer to the portal. They stop in front of it and find themselves gazing upon an opaque veil ─ completely unable to see through to the other side ─ before she turns her gaze to Riku. “Well, we’ve come this far,” she says quietly, even with a tinge of uncertainty in her tone, “no turning back now… right?”

“No turning back,” he affirms, giving her a nod. “You first, or do you want to walk through at the same time?”

“At the same time,” Kairi replies, and the uncertainty from before is replaced with pleading as her grip tightens in his. 

“Okay, then.” Another nod and Riku steps forward, Kairi doing the same. When they both pass through the veil together, he notices how cold it is at first, despite its brilliant light; there’s a freezing shock, like someone’s dumped ice water over his head, over his entire body, and beside him Kairi gasps slightly from the same sensation washing over her, as well. When they emerge through to the other side, though, the sensation is gone as quickly as it came, and he shudders. One step more, though, and Riku finds himself no longer airborne, and neither does Kairi; they start to drop, and she lets out a startled yell. As they free fall, wind whips past them and Riku curses himself in that moment. Of course they wouldn’t have been able to make it very far at all. He was an idiot for even thinking they would. Because now look at them; they only made it a single step into Tartarus, and they’re now falling to their deaths. 

He closes his eyes as they do so, Kairi clinging to Riku and him holding her close against himself, and waits for them to hit the ground, waits for death to claim them both, guilt and regret and fear and horror and everything in between screaming in his mind, screaming at him that this is the end ─

Only death never comes. When he finally opens his eyes, they’re still alive… but have suddenly stopped falling, and are now hovering mere inches off the ground ─ which can’t really be described as solid, but rather rolling hills of sand that can be seen for miles and miles, with no end in sight. He and Kairi both stumble onto their feet before looking around in bewilderment, and Riku can’t help but look up to try and see just exactly how far down it is that they fell. Even when he cranes his neck back, he can barely see the Gates now, and he lets out a sigh. 

“What do we do now?” Kairi whispers, and he’s about to reply when there’s a loud hissing, and a scorpion ─ huge, bigger than any monster he’s ever read about or even seen ─ drops down in front of them, chittering angrily as it clicks its pincers together. “Uh, Riku…”  There’s the sound of a loud thud behind them, and the scorpion is joined by another monster, and then another and another until they’re surrounded by several larger than life beasts than slowly close in on them. “Riku…!” 

The two of them are back to back, now, and for the second time in several minutes Riku finds himself thinking that this is the end. They’re going to be torn to pieces before they can even locate the Book─

“Now, now, my pets,” and he recognizes the voice all too well, “is this any way to treat a guest?” A tornado forms, and not only are the monsters blown away but around and beneath him and Kairi the sand dissipates to reveal them standing in the middle of what could easily be described as the crumbling ruins of what was once a temple, or a courthouse, or something; he isn’t about to take the moment to figure out exactly what kind of building these ruins are from. All Riku knows is that Eris has arrived, and they’re now in her presence, even if he can’t see her yet and can only hear her. They’re now surrounded by walls of swirling sand, and when he looks over, he spots a rotting throne with the skeleton of some poor bastard seated on top of it. “Bravo,” Eris’ voice sounds again and a shadow emerges from one of the sand walls before it takes the shape of the goddess, who now approaches him and Kairi while slowly clapping. Riku instinctively moves Kairi behind him, shielding her somewhat from the goddess’ gaze, and Eris chuckles. “No mortal has ever made it to Tartarus… alive, that is.” She waves her hand and the skeleton dissolves, Eris taking its place on the throne instead as she smiles over at them. “Make yourself at home.” She waves her hand again, and another chair rises out of the ground behind them. 

Riku and Kairi remain standing, however, Riku still shielding her, and Eris narrows her eyes some.  “You know,” and she vanishes from the throne only to reappear beside Kairi, a smile on her face as she peers closely at the princess. “You’re awfully pretty. A shame, though you would make a good decoration for this place… a beautiful addition to my collection.” As she says this, several skulls spill through the sand walls surrounding them, tumbling forward until they’re laid at Riku and Kairi’s feet, and even as she says nothing in reply anxiety and fear both make themselves evident in Kairi’s eyes. 

Riku speaks up, then, moving to step between the goddess and the princess, meeting Eris’ gaze. “Give us what we came here for.”

The goddess rolls her eyes. “Firstly: you’re in no position to make demands to a deity. Secondly,” and a smirk plays on her lips while she chuckles again, “what makes you think I have it?” 

His eyes narrow in return. “You stole it, and framed me for the theft so they would execute me. Why?”

Her chuckle grows until she’s fully laughing, now. “You?”

“Yes, me.”

“Oh, Riku. You’re not worth executing.”

“Then wh─” Riku’s eyes widen. “... No. Sora . You knew he would take my place.” 

Eris grins, tracing her finger along the nearest pillar and letting it crumble beneath her touch. “What a clever man.” 

“You thought I would run. Then Sora would die, and Syracuse...”

“Would be left without its next rightful king, and crumble into glorious chaos.” As Eris says this, the pillars on either side of them crack and collapse, tumbling into nothing. “After all, you humans are so predictable. Sora couldn’t help being ever so noble, and you couldn’t help betraying him.”

“But I didn’t betray Sora,” Riku starts, frowning. “I didn’t run away; I came after the Book after all─”

“Oh, but you did betray him,” Eris interrupts, and she moves to stand beside Kairi once more, “you stole his love. Look at her, Riku,” and she shoves Kairi forward, causing her to stumble into Riku’s arms. “Sora isn’t even in his grave yet, and you’ve already started moving in on his bride to be. Face it: your heart is as black as mine.” 

Kairi takes a moment to turn around and stare the goddess down. “You’re wrong about him,” she says, and Eris pulls back to scowl at her.

“He knows I’m right.”

“You don’t know what’s in his heart,” Kairi continues.

“Oh, yes I do,” Eris replies. “And so does he.” She nudges Kairi aside and moves to swirl like smoke around Riku, reaching to cup his chin in her hands. “In your heart, you know that Sora is going to die ─ all because he saw something in you that just isn’t there. ” 

“No.” Riku says, and a look of mock innocence appears on the goddess’ face.

“You wanna bet? I’ll tell you what─ let’s play a game. If you win, you get the Book of Prophecies, and you get to leave this Realm unharmed.” Somehow, Riku doesn’t like the way ‘a game’ sounds, but what other choice does he have at this moment? The walls of sand, the ruins, and the skulls all dissolve around them until they’re left standing on a floating piece of rock ─ and at the end of it, floating in the air, is the Book. “There it is, thief ,” Eris taunts, and Riku takes a step forward ─ only to be stopped as part of the path crumbles away and falls to the abyss below. “Not so fast,” she hisses, holding up a finger in warning. “This game of mine has rules. Well, only one rule, really; I’ll ask you a question, one simple question, and if you answer truthfully the Book is yours. Lie, and you’re on your own ─ leaving your precious Sora to die because of you.” 

“Give me your word,” Riku challenges, and she scoffs.

“You don’t trust me?”

“Not after what you’ve already pulled.”

Eris sighs. “It’s a pity we live in such skeptical times… fine.” She crosses another x over her heart. “You have my word as a goddess. Fair enough?” 

He takes a moment to exchange glances with Kairi, and Riku then nods. “Fine. Ask your question.”

“Excellent. Now… we all know what happens, should you get the Book of Prophecies. You return it to Syracuse, and save Sora. But… if you don’t get the Book, you have a choice to make: either sail to paradise, taking Kairi with you and retiring in the meantime… or you return to Syracuse without the Book to die in Sora’s place. Which means you’ll either be a thief or a hero. So my question is this, Riku: if you don’t get the Book, will you go back to die?” As she asks this, she vanishes slowly until they’re left standing on the path alone with the Book. Riku stares at it for a moment, and his mind races.

It wouldn’t be fair, the voice in his head pipes up, if you just left Sora to die because of your foolishness, now, would it? This is all because of you. He takes a deep breath and exhales, looking back at Kairi. Regardless of who dies, be it you or Sora, would she ever forgive you? No. Most likely not… you can live with that, though. It’s what you deserve. His gaze turns back to the Book in front of them. “I will go back,” Riku says, and he takes another step towards it. As he reaches for it, however, the ground rumbles and Eris reappears over his shoulder. 

“You’re lying,” she says, and her tone is nothing short of gleeful. 

The ground beneath their feet continues to shake, and soon gives out; Riku and Kairi both find themselves dropping again, and Riku reaches in vain for the Book but falls further and further away, watching it grow distant and out of his reach. The two of them fall until they land and find themselves, somehow, back at the Gates themselves, and when they look up it’s in time to see them closing and the portal vanishing. The two stand on a small island, with nothing but murky waters and low hovering mist all around them, and Riku stares at the Gates in defeat before slowly sitting down. 

Kairi follows suit, looking sideways at him, and he lets out a quiet sigh. “I’m sorry, Princess,” he murmurs. “She’s right about me.” 

“No, she isn’t,” Kairi protests. “You answered her question, you gave her the truth─”

“It wasn’t the truth, though,” Riku says softly. “It was me trying to pass myself off as someone I’m not.”

“Riku, I know you ─ regardless of how long you were gone! I know who you are. Eris trapped you!” She’s starting to tear up, and her voice breaks with her next words. “Why should you or Sora or anyone have to die?!” 

“Kairi…”

“No!” She stands, and Riku carefully gets to his feet as well. “I’ll go back and explain everything!”

“Kairi─” He reaches out to place his hand on her shoulder.

“I can’t watch you die, Riku,” she says. “Do you not realize I love you, too?” She hangs her head, crying now as she stubbornly wipes away those same tears with her sleeve.

His hand stops just inches from her, and he instead reaches to gently tilt her chin up with his thumb and forefinger, getting her to look at him. 

~~

“Don’t cry, Kairi,” Riku told her as he patted her on the shoulder sympathetically. “It isn’t nice for a Princess to cry.”

“But it hurts , Riku,” the nine year old protested, tears shining in her eyes. She’d fallen out of the tree the two of them had climbed with Sora, and scraped her knee up badly. Riku was worried about her wellbeing, of course, but he was also worried about getting in trouble, and potentially getting accused of being a bad influence on the other two and allowing Kairi, in particular, to get into a situation where she could ─ and did ─ get hurt. 

Sora, too, was concerned, and he jumped down from the branch he’d been climbing to stand next to her and Riku. “Riku’s right, Kairi,” he said, peering at the redhead with worry etched on his features. “The medics will get you patched up.”

Riku looked up at him, eyes wide. “Sora, we can’t ─ that’ll get us in trouble─”

“Don’t worry,” Kairi told them both, sniffling as she then smiled through her tears. “I’ll tell them the tree climbing was my idea.”

~~

“Don’t cry, Princess,” Riku says gently. “It doesn’t suit you.” 

She meets his gaze and gives him a tearful smile. “Riku…”

He looks over Kairi’s shoulder when he spots a familiar ship approaching, and he gently nods for her to glance in that direction. “Chin up, we’re being rescued.” Riku takes her hand in his and uses his other hand to wave the ship down. 

~

They climb back on board, Naminé and the others looking them both over. “You made it.” The blonde breathes out a sigh of relief, looking consoled at the fact that they’re both still alive. But then she notices they’re empty-handed, and frowns slightly. “The Book..?”

“Is still with Eris,” Riku tells her. “We’re going back… and I’m going to let them execute me instead of Sora.” The others’ expressions all falter, heartbreak and grief clear as day on their faces; beside him, Kairi lowers her gaze and hangs her head. “Set a course for Syracuse,” he says solemnly. “We have three days left.” After reaching to squeeze Kairi’s hand once, Riku lets go and then makes his way back to his captain’s quarters alone, expression as solemn as his tone. Once he’s closed the door behind himself, Riku crosses the room and sits on his bed before staring blankly ahead at the opposite wall. He suddenly feels simultaneously restless and exhausted; the words you’re going to die play over and over again in his head, and just the same as from a few days before he feels his chest tighten. That makes it difficult to breathe, difficult to focus. You’re going to die. You’re going to die, and leave behind your crew… and Sora and Kairi again. His hands shake before he clenches them into fists. His chest hurts, and his head feels fuzzy. You’re going to die. The voice in the back of his mind won’t stop repeating those same words again and again, and he closes his eyes to try and focus on slowing his breathing. He has to do this, he tells himself; he has no choice. Riku can’t let Sora sacrifice himself for his own mistake. 

And yet…at the same time he’s ready and willing to sacrifice himself in Sora’s place (much in the same way Sora was ready and willing to do the same for him), he’s terrified of doing so at all; he’s terrified of dying, and leaving both Sora and Kairi behind for good. Maybe if he’s lucky, he’ll be blessed enough to meet them again in the afterlife. That’s… somewhat of a comforting thought. Right? Wrong, that same voice from before whispers in the back of his mind. You fool. After all the things you’ve done these past ten years, you’re hardly deserving of a pleasant afterlife. You were left orphaned in life as a child, alone before you befriended them, and you’ll be left alone after death, too. Shut up, he tells it. I─ 

“Riku?” There’s a knock at the door to his quarters, bringing him out of his thoughts, and he snaps his head up at the sound of Kairi’s gentle and inquisitive voice on the other side. His hands, still formed into fists on his knees, continue to tremble and he clenches them even tighter, forcing them to still before clearing his throat.

“Come in.” If it were anyone else on board ─ even Naminé ─ he’d turn them away, but something in him doesn’t have the power to reject Kairi right now.

She opens the door and steps inside, closing it behind her and leaning against it before looking over at him while her eyes scan his face. “Are you… okay?”

Riku meets her gaze, and he takes a deep breath before his composure finally snaps, causing him to bury his head in his hands. “No,” comes his somewhat muffled reply.

Kairi immediately crosses the room, closing the distance between them and dropping to her knees in front of Riku before reaching to gently cup his face in her hands and tilt it upwards. “Hey,” she whispers, and her voice trembles but she manages to keep it together for his sake, “look at me? Please?” It takes a moment before he’s finally lifting his gaze to hers, and in this woman’s eyes Riku sees nothing but love and a loyalty he’d previously thought would have only been reserved for Sora. “I know now that I can’t change your mind on this, on you giving your life for Sora,” Kairi says quietly, “but… I want to make the most of the three days we have left with each other.” She leans in to kiss him softly, and Riku pauses before he kisses her back, less tentatively ─ and more confidently ─ than he’d kissed her earlier. They stay with it for a moment before it slowly deepens, Riku reaching up to cup her chin in one hand and Kairi reaching to tangle her fingers in his hair in return. The kiss deepens, and when they finally pull away to breathe Riku rests his forehead against hers gently, both of them panting softly for air.

“I love you, Kairi,” he finally manages to get out, and she gives a soft, sad chuckle as tears start to form in her eyes. “And I’m sorry… for everything.” He moves to pull her up, sitting her on his lap with one arm looped around her waist, and he kisses her again even more firmly this time. She kisses him back with the same amount of longing and heated desperation, and as they stay with it a second time Riku can taste the salt from her tears; it distracts him from the kiss itself and he takes a second to pull away, his lips now just barely grazing hers, before he’s reaching to brush them away from her cheek. 

She lets out a shaky breath and smiles at him. “I love you, too. And I forgive you…”

Relief floods through him, then, and Riku holds Kairi tight in his arms ─ clinging to her, almost, as if she’s a lifeline that will keep him from drowning in his fears and regrets ─ before he's burying his face against the crook of her shoulder. She wraps her arms around his neck, clinging to him in return, and Riku focuses then on using Kairi as a means of grounding himself. Rather than the anxiety that he let take over before, he forces himself to focus on her : on the way she feels in his arms, her weight in his lap, the softness of her hair between his fingers, the way she tastes as he kisses her again, the warmth of her body radiating against his through their clothing, the way she smells…. anything and everything Kairi . 

"I want to make the most of what little time we have left together," she repeats when they've broken apart from the kiss a third time, and as she says this Kairi lets her fingertips trace along his cheek and jawline lovingly. "So can I…?" She trails off, fingers stilling in their trek, and he raises an eyebrow, prompting her to continue. She chews the inside of her cheek before doing so. "Sleep here, with you…? I don't want to leave your side at all over the next three days." Her words are whispered, as if she's uncharacteristically shy about it, but he understands. Smiling softly, Riku nods. 

"I want you to, so yes," he whispers back, gently tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear ─ and hoping in the meantime that he's able to convey how badly he also wants her to remain by his side until the end. Still smiling at her, Riku then moves to sit back on the bed, Kairi moving as well to straddle his waist, and he reaches to brush his knuckles against her cheek. Somehow her presence has silenced that voice in his head, and he's grateful as he leans up to kiss her yet again ─ telling himself that since he's going to die in three days anyway he'll kiss her as many times as he can until then, and he can't let himself feel guilty about it. 

She murmurs his name, and Riku can't help the warmth that surges through him at the way it sounds coming from her. The past ten years he's denied himself of her and Sora both for so damn long that he'll now take what she can, and is willing, to give him in what little time he has left on this earth. If part of that is his name spoken into a kiss, he'll gladly accept it. Kairi also kisses him back, and he grounds himself to the moment, to Kairi. Kairi kisses him back, and the world doesn't end but it certainly comes to a standstill for Riku in that moment as he focuses on her ─ and only on her .

Chapter Text

Night has fallen, and the stars are shining outside the window of his quarters, by the time Riku wakes up ─ and when he wakes, it’s to the warm sensation of a body pressed to his, the sight of red hair splayed across his chest, and an arm slung over his stomach. Kairi is still asleep beside him, and he reaches to brush the hair gently out of her eyes. She’s so beautiful, and he doesn’t want to wake her ─ not when she’s like this: moonlight on her face, the lines of freckles across her nose and cheeks ever so reminiscent of the star constellations in the sky above, her breathing soft and steady as she sleeps against him. She’s so beautiful, and he thanks the gods (minus Eris) that they’ve granted him this moment with her. The storm of anxiety from before no longer rages in his chest, and Riku inhales through his nose before exhaling and then carefully runs his fingers through Kairi’s hair again to, once more as before, keep himself grounded. It’s all he can do. She’s a comfort he didn’t realize he was even able to indulge in. He watches her sleep for a moment, taking solace in the fact that she even asked to stay with him in the first place. Of all the mistakes he’s made, maybe letting her come with him after all ─ instead of forcing her to go back to Syracuse ─ wasn’t one of them. After all… if he’d have forced her to go back, he would have never learned that she and Sora both love him in return. He then leans to carefully, ever so gently, press a kiss to her temple. He also, even though he isn’t a praying man, sends a silent prayer to the gods to protect her and Sora both after he’s gone. Let them be happy and safe the rest of their lives, he pleads. Let them hold onto each other in my absence. He’s not a praying man, but it’s all he can ask of whomever is listening and watching at that moment.

Next to him Kairi stirs and shifts to bury her face against his neck, her breath warm on his skin as she continues to sleep, and he closes his eyes with a smile on his face. Riku lays there for several minutes, his chest rising and falling steadily as he slowly drifts back to sleep, himself…

And the next thing he knows when he’s waking up again is sunlight streaming in through the window and across his face. He opens his eyes, blinking at the light, and notices Kairi sitting up with a smile on her face as she peers at him. 

“Good morning, princess,” he murmurs, a lazy smile appearing on his lips to greet her.

“Good morning, pirate,” she replies, leaning down to kiss him. 

Riku kisses her back, carding his fingers through her hair, and when she pulls away her smile is mirroring his own. “How did you sleep?” He asks softly, and she hums.

“Just fine… I think I’ve gotten used to sleeping on a ship by now,” she explains. “The rocking lulled me to sleep.”

“Good. I’m glad.” Kairi’s smile becomes playful then, teasing, and she bites her lower lip to suddenly suppress a laugh ─ causing Riku to cock an eyebrow at her. “What? What is it?”

“You snore,” she blurts out, and when he chokes out a small sound of protest the same laugh she was trying to stifle before now escapes her. “It’s true!”

“You’re making shit up,” he tells her, but there’s no bite to his tone, no hostility, and she taps him playfully on the nose.

“Am not. It’s true. Not loudly, or anything, but you do.”

He rolls his eyes. “If you say so, Princess. Scoot over.” Riku shifts on the bed to then lay his head in her lap, and Kairi adjusts to let them both be more comfortable. Her fingers stroke through his hair gently, and he finds himself relaxing from her touch. 

Comfortable silence passes between them for a few moments before Kairi finds herself wondering something. “Riku?”

He cracks open one eye, peering at her. “Hmm?”

“When we get back to Syracuse, are you… going to tell Sora how you feel? Before they ─ you know.”

Oh. He wasn’t expecting that question. As her fingers continue through his hair, Riku mulls it over. “I... I think I might, yeah,” he tells her, both eyes now open as he gazes up at her. “I mean ─” he wets his lips as he considers it. “I don’t think it would be fair of me to die without letting him know I love him… would it?”

“No,” she agrees, moving to stroke her thumb absently across his forehead now before it moves down to his cheek. “It wouldn’t.” There’s a hint of sadness in her voice, now, and Riku knows it’s because she’s anticipating his execution. 

“Hey. I’d rather die for him or you, than die for any other cause,” he admits softly, and she nods but then looks off to the side. “Kairi.” She continues looking away. “Kai. Princess .” He utilizes the different names in an attempt to get her to look at him again and it works; she finally turns her gaze back onto him and Riku sits up now, turning to face her. “I mean it. I’ve had ten years’ worth of a life at sea. I’ve seen so many things. I’ve fought so many battles and stolen so many priceless treasures,” he grins sheepishly at the latter, “but… in the end, I think I’m realizing that if I’m supposed to die, it won’t be on the ocean, or at the edge of a sword. It will be me dying for someone I care about. I don’t know why I thought otherwise.”

“Riku─”

His grin softens some as he looks at her. “Ten years and it looks like it only made me fall for you and Sora even harder. So… to answer your question: yeah. I will. He deserves to know, too.”

“Riku…” 

Riku presses a kiss to her forehead. Soft and tender. Comforting. Reassuring. Because e ven when they both know he’s going to die , he wants to put aside his own fear and instead, just wants Kairi to feel okay. Huh. How… Sora-esque of him, he realizes then. But he’s okay with that. Sora is a good man. If he’s to leave this world with the same mentality and behavior as that of a good man, a better man than himself , then he thinks he’s okay with that.

~

The next couple of days seem to go by in a blur, Riku doing his best to keep the crew’s spirits up. Doing so proves… not difficult, per se, but definitely not as easy as he’d expected, as they’re all anxious in waiting to arrive back at Syracuse. Kairi, too; at night she clings to him as if she’s afraid of letting go, and in return he holds onto her as if the same ─ as if she’s the last thing on this earth (besides Sora) he’s afraid of losing… which is entirely the truth. 

The last night before Syracuse, Riku and Kairi retire to his quarters and when Riku shuts the door, Kairi steps into his arms and starts trembling . 

“Princess?” He murmurs, and she pulls away to meet his gaze with tears in her eyes. Oh. Riku takes a few steps backwards, leading her to his bed, and he sits down before pulling her into his lap. She clings to him, still shaking, and Riku strokes his fingers through her hair as he looks her in the eyes. “Hey…”

“Come morning, we’ll arrive in Syracuse, and─” she takes a deep breath, voice breaking. 

“You don’t have to finish that sentence, Kairi. I know.” His own hands shake, but he continues carding his fingers through auburn locks as a means to distract from it. He understands. Come morning, they’ll arrive in Syracuse, and the second it’s discovered they don’t have the Book he’ll be dragged away to the nearest jail cell while they prep for his execution. Meaning he won’t see Kairi again ─ or Sora , for that matter ─ until he’s being escorted to his death. Tonight and the morning is all he and Kairi have left. So tonight and the morning is what he’ll take. 

He spends that night with Kairi the same as the past few, but this time it’s different. There’s a sense of urgency this time. He presses kisses wherever he can reach on her body, her skin soft and pliant beneath his rough, calloused palms and fingertips, and Riku loses himself in the here and now . Their words are hushed, their kisses drawn out, and their touches desperate. Tonight and the morning is all he and Kairi have left before she and Sora lose him forever ─

He’s restless. Even long after Kairi has fallen asleep in his arms, Riku lies awake staring at the ceiling of his quarters and listens to the sound of the ocean around them, of the ship’s creaking, of Kairi’s soft breathing; anything, really, to drown out the voice in his head reminding him that, come morning, he’s on his way to dying ─ that he’s been on his way to dying all this time. 

~~

After waiting all night to see it, Kairi’s eyes widened as she saw the sun finally begin to slowly peek over the ocean, painting the sky and the waves in hues of yellow, orange, and red, and she pointed for Sora and Riku to look at the view. They were both looking at her, however, watching her enthusiasm. It was a summer Kairi’s family was spending in Syracuse, and as that particular morning was the morning of her thirteenth birthday ─ when she could officially enter her teens ─ Kairi had begged the two of them to stay awake with her all night so they could all three watch the sunrise together from the window of her spare room in the palace. 

“Look how pretty it is!” The redhead turned to look at her two best friends, and the freckles on her cheeks were dusted with the palest of pinks as she blushed faintly upon noticing them watching her with smiles on their faces. “What?”

Sora blinked at her, caught off guard, and then it was his turn to blush as he gave her a sheepish smile and rubbed at the back of his neck. “You just look so happy, Kairi,” he mumbled, and she nodded eagerly.

“Of course I am! Have you ever seen a prettier sight?”

“I haven’t,” Riku replied, turning his gaze onto her. Yes, I have , he thought to himself. 

“Neither have I,” Sora added, and Kairi beamed at him and Riku both.

“I like how it looks on the water,” she murmured. “It’s kind of romantic, isn’t it?”

“... Yeah, I guess it is,” Riku said, looking at her fondly now.

“Thank you for both staying up with me to see it,” she said softly, and with them sitting on either side of her she took both boys’ hands in her own, humming happily to herself. The trio would then sit and continue to watch the dawn wash the land in light and beauty… until they finally all three fell asleep together there at the window, Kairi with her head on Sora’s shoulder and both her hands still entwined with the boys’. 

~~

Morning arrives, and Riku still hasn’t slept so much as a wink. He’s been awake all night, and as the sun rises on the horizon, its rays shining through the window and catching on Kairi’s sleeping face, he feels his chest tighten again as anxiety threatens to build once more. He gently shakes Kairi’s shoulder, selfish enough in that moment to want to wake her just for the sake of seeing those ocean eyes looking into his own as a means of calming himself down again. She wakes when he does so and squints up at him from the early morning sunlight in her eyes, and that combined with the anxiety evident in Riku’s expression causes realization to dawn on her face at what day it is; Kairi then sits up and wraps her arms around him, burying her face against his shoulder, and he does the same in return.

Neither of them speak at first; rather, they just hold each other before Riku pulls away to press kisses to her face, to her lips, her nose, her cheeks, and when he sees her start to cry he wipes her tears away without so much as a word. Nothing in all of time and space, on this earth or in the entire universe itself , could prompt him to leave this bed quite yet, leave the company of this princess who captured his heart so many years ago much the same way a certain prince did… so there he stays with her, for several more minutes that really feel more like an eternity. 

When that eternity has finally passed, though, Kairi sniffles and smiles up at him through shining eyes. “We should ─”

“Yeah,” he murmurs, cupping her face in one hand and letting his thumb trace over the freckles on her cheek ─ he wants to memorize her one last time ─ before he’s giving her a small smile in return. “Let’s get up.” Riku then kisses her softly, soundly, before he’s hesitantly getting out of bed and pulling his shirt on. Kairi follows suit, looking over at him with something in her eyes that he can’t quite read.

When the two of them exit his quarters, there’s still an early morning mist hovering in the air, dew drops glistening on the ship’s taffrail, and Kairi makes her way to stand along the side of the deck and stare out over the surrounding waters; she’s silent as she does so. Riku watches her for a bit and he can’t help but feel his heart sink in that moment. There’s so much more to Kairi than people could possibly give her credit for; she’s so much more than just royalty. She’s so much more than just her firecracker personality. Her love for him and Sora, her very existence, is more priceless in this world than any treasure he’s ever stolen, and knowing that he’s only able to receive such a love right before he’s going to die hurts. And it hurts even more knowing that he hasn’t even given Sora the time or chance to love him in return the way Kairi has. Fuck. Make that another addition to the list of things Riku will have to atone for when he meets his maker.

Chapter Text

Some number of hours later they finally pull into port in Syracuse, Riku gripping the helm tightly enough to turn his knuckles white. He and the rest of the crew descend down the gangway and are greeted by a crowd of Syracuse residents; when the people spot Kairi walking alongside Riku murmurs break out among them. Soon enough he hears Eraqus’ voice. The crowd parts to let the king through, and when he sees Riku and co. he raises an eyebrow at them ─ then he spots Kairi, and his expression softens.

“Your highness,” he greets her, grey eyes showing a mixture of concern and relief, and Kairi bows in return. 

“I’m safe, your majesty,” she tells him.

“Your family was worried about you…”

As if on queue, Lea’s voice can be heard as he approaches. “Where’s Kairi?!” He steps out of the crowd before pulling Kairi into his arms and hugging her tightly. “Where the hell have you been?” He asks, tone almost demanding once he finally lets her go. The oldest of the two redheads then turns a green-eyed gaze sharply onto Riku. “Did you kidnap her?!” 

“No, Lea!” Kairi shakes her head, stepping back to look up at her brother with a frown, and Lea looks from Riku back to her. “I… I stowed away, to make sure he did what he was supposed to.”

Lea’s gaze settles back onto Riku. “And did he? Do you have the Book? Is Sora going to live to marry my baby sister?”

Lea’s words sting, a jab of guilt shooting through Riku, and Riku hangs his head. “... No,” he says, almost too quietly for anyone to hear at all, and Lea narrows his eyes. 

“You wanna repeat that, pirate?”

“I… I don’t have the Book.”

More murmurs pass through the crowd surrounding them, and Eraqus, too, narrows his eyes at Riku. “You failed to retrieve it?” Eraqus asks.

“... Yes.” Riku forces himself to look the king in the eyes finally. What he sees there is nothing short of restrained fury. He’s not easily one to fear other men, but Riku knows that with his position Eraqus is not someone to be crossed. “I wasn’t able to take it back from Eris.” There’s no point in making excuses, no point in beating around the bush. 

Eraqus looks at him with disdain. “I should have known you would fail at this task. You’re nothing but an honorless thief,” he says then, and his words are knives that stab through Riku. 

Kairi speaks up, though. “All due respect, your majesty,” she addresses Eraqus, who turns to look at her, and her tone is crisp, barely containing her rage on Riku’s behalf at the king’s words, “Riku tried his best. He went face to face up against a goddess in an attempt to retrieve the Book. That’s more than anyone among the rest of us could say for ourselves.”

Eraqus looks like he’s contemplating her words. “He still failed, Kairi. That means he will die in my son’s place at sundown ─ like he was originally supposed to.” He gestures to the nearby guards, who then draw their swords on Riku, and ─

“No!” Kairi moves to stand between them and Riku, all stubbornness and loyalty, earning herself shocked expressions from both her brother and Eraqus. Riku, as well, blinks in surprise. “You can’t execute Riku. If you do… then execute me, as well.”

There’s no reply at first but the sound of panicked, shocked whispers from the crowd; Riku places a hand on her arm, looking at her with eyes widened, but rather than look at him in return Kairi keeps her gaze fixed ahead.

“Kairi, don’t be ridiculous. You’re not giving your life for this man. Now step away from him,” Lea hisses under his breath ─ but even as he says this, there’s fear in his eyes. 

She holds her head high, meeting her brother’s gaze. “I set out on the journey with him, to make sure he brought the Book back to Syracuse. I failed in a task appointed to me by no one but myself… which means I’m just as responsible for this as Riku is.

“No, you’re not,” Lea snaps. “Now step away. What’s gotten into you?”

“He’s my friend,” Kairi snaps in return. “He’s my friend, and Sora’s─"

“So you would let Sora die?” Eraqus asks, and his tone and posture are both tense. “You would let the man you love die, all to protect someone who abandoned you long ago?”

“I don’t want either of them to die,” she says then, blue eyes now looking back to Eraqus. “Please, your Majesty. It isn’t Riku’s fault. He was tricked and framed by Eris. Please,” she pleads. 

“It is not up to me,” Eraqus tells her. “It is up to The Council, and they have already made their choice. As he returned without the Book, Riku will die in my son’s place. Now seize him,” he says to the guards, and they move to grab Riku, Lea moving at the same time to tug Kairi out of the way. 

“NO!” She struggles against Lea’s hold, and Riku gives her a small smile.

“It’ll be okay, Princess,” he tells her softly. “You and Sora will still have each other.”

“Riku-! Let me go!”

She continues to struggle but Lea holds her back and Kairi makes a noise somewhere in between a sob and a cry of frustration, watching as they drag Riku away. She loves him, and for all her efforts she still failed to help him. She loves him, and for all her efforts he’s still going to die.

The crowd begins to disperse, now, Eraqus giving Kairi a glance ─ his expression now unreadable ─ before turning on his heel and making his way towards the palace.

Lea sets his sister down. “What’s gotten into you, Kairi?” he repeats, muttering the words to her, and she glares up at him.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

Lea frowns, but watches as Kairi looks to Riku’s crew ─ most specifically, Naminé, who gives her a sad but appreciative smile.

“We’re grateful for what you offered to do,” she murmurs, taking Kairi’s hands in her own and meeting the princess’ gaze. 

She’s never hated Eraqus before in her life ─ they’ve always gotten along until now; on the outside, Kairi is smiling sadly at Naminé in return ─ but on the inside she feels nothing but rage and heartbreak. She knows it isn’t entirely Eraqus’ fault alone, but she can’t help but internally direct some of those feelings his way. He’s the king, after all; she knows he has sway over the Council. But he’s letting his indifference to Riku cloud his judgement. Kairi wouldn’t have asked for Sora to die ─ she didn’t want that in the first place ─ but she won’t so easily accept Riku dying, either. 

Naminé squeezes her hands. “I can see what Riku saw in you. You have a good heart.”

Kairi swallows the lump in her throat, glancing over her shoulder at Lea, who’s now watching with his arms crossed and eyes moving between her and the blonde, before looking back to Naminé. “Riku─”

“Loves you.” Naminé whispers those two syllables before then speaking at normal volume. “As a result, I think he would want you to live ─ both for yourself and for Sora.” Kairi drops her gaze to look at the ground, and Naminé gently tilts her chin up again. “Just know this, Kairi: pirates and thieves though we may be… we owe you a debt, now, for offering your life alongside our captain’s. Should you ever need us, send word and we’re yours.”

She isn’t expecting that. “Naminé, you and the crew don’t have to do that for me,” Kairi says gently. “Really, I─”

“Despite what his majesty King Eraqus may think of us, we thieves do still have some sense of honor,” Naminé tells her, still smiling despite her tone now indicating that she’s insulted on behalf of herself, Riku, and the crew. She squeezes Kairi’s hands once more before letting go, and Kairi finally nods.

“I─ I appreciate that, Naminé.” Kairi embraces her, and Naminé blinks in surprise before returning it gently. “How long will you and the crew stay for?” She murmurs as they both pull away, and Naminé’s smile turns sad again.

“Until the execution is over; we’re here for him to the end, and we’ll leave after.”

“Okay. I’ll find a place for you all to stay─”

“That’s also appreciated, but… we’ll sleep on the ship,” Naminé tells her.

“... Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Kairi steps away, giving Xion, Vanitas, and the others all a nod. “I… I might be tempted to take Naminé up on her offer, after all,” she tells them. “Should I ever need your help…”

“Call for us,” Vanitas tells her. “And we’ll come to you.”

She nods again, and turns to Lea. “I’m going to go find Sora.”

That earns a raised eyebrow from him. “I’m not stopping you.” He sounds like he’s upset by her decision just a few minutes prior, but as much as she loves her brother Kairi doesn’t have it in her to care at the moment. Let him be angry with her. She has to see Sora.

~

As it turns out, they’d thrown Riku in Sora’s cell, and let the latter go immediately, after having dragged Riku away, and she runs into Sora on her way to the jail. “Kairi…” Sora murmurs her name the second he sees her, and they both approach each other, Sora immediately pulling her into his arms.

It takes every ounce of willpower she has not to tear up at the sight of him after so long. He looks tired.

“I was wondering why I haven’t seen you,” he tells her once they’ve broken apart. “Where have you been?”

Kairi gives him a sheepish smile. “I stowed away on Riku’s ship to make sure he went through with the agreement…”

“Oh, Kairi…” Sora reaches for her face, cupping her cheek in his hand and giving her a small smile in return. “My brave Kairi.” Kairi leans her cheek into his hand before turning to press a gentle kiss to his palm, and a hopeful expression paints itself across his features. “Did he get the Book?” Both the pregnant silence coming from Kairi, then, and her sullen expression are enough to answer that, and the optimism slowly fades from Sora’s face. “But you’re here, which means he still came back. Which means…. no .”

“He tried his best to get the Book back and couldn’t because Eris tricked him… and he’s going to let them execute him in your place,” she confirms, and the tears she was holding back beforehand form themselves in her eyes, anyway. “Sora, he’s going to die.”

“My father didn’t try to stop it? He didn’t try and change the Council’s mind?”

She scoffs. “Sora, your father up and ordered the guards to seize Riku almost the moment we were back in the city,” she tells him, and Sora’s brows knit together. “But listen: that’s not the only thing I wanted to tell you. I know the truth as to why he left ten years ago.”

Sora’s eyes widen. “What…?”

She nods, pressing on. “Sora… he loved us. He loves us, now. Both of us. He left because he was hurt that he didn’t stand a chance with either of us merely because of social status.”

“That’s─”

“I know,” Kairi murmurs, a sad smile playing on her lips now. “He left so he wouldn’t get in our way, apparently. Or so he says. But… I know you love him. Gods know I do as well; I did, back then, too. I told him this.”

Sora nods, looking pensive. “So he knows how we both feel about him in return?”

She nods in turn. “I couldn’t let him die without knowing…”

“Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.” He pulls her closer, resting his chin on top of her head, and lets out a quiet sigh. “Gods… I missed you, Kairi.

Kairi closes her eyes, leaning into Sora’s embrace as she nods before leaning in to kiss him softly. When they pull away from it, she meets his gaze. “What do we do?”

“... I don’t know,” he admits, looking anxious at the thought alone. “If my father’s made up his mind alongside the Council, then…” 

She knows how that sentence will end. There’s nothing they can do. They’ll have no choice from here on out but to watch Riku die. And that’s enough to break her heart. Kairi clings to Sora, then, similarly to the way she’d clung to Riku during those nights spent with him in his quarters: loving him, but afraid at the same time. Come sundown, they’ll both be among the number of people to watch Riku be executed, and they’re both powerless to stop it.

Chapter Text

There’s half an hour left to the execution, and together they wait in Sora’s chambers ─ Kairi watching as the brunet paces anxiously. He’s murmuring under his breath, and as she listens she catches a snippet of “damn the Council” and “damn Eris …”. She can’t help but agree; it’s because of the goddess, herself, that Riku will lose his life, and even with having met the deity face to face Kairi can’t help but curse her, now. 

There’s a knock at the door and from where he’s staring at the floor Sora snaps his head up, posture tensed. “Come in,” he says carefully, and a servant opens the door before greeting them both with a low bow. 

“The prisoner wishes to see you both, your highnesses,” she tells them. “The two of you are his last request.” 

Sora and Kairi exchange glances before Sora turns to nod to the woman. “Thank you. We’ll be right there,” he tells her, and she gives another bow before exiting the room. He then holds out his hand to Kairi, who rises from her seat and takes it. They follow the servant out, hurrying to exit the palace and head to the jail, and when they arrive it’s to find Riku still sitting inside his cell, head buried in his hands. He looks up at the sound of them approaching, and even with how tired he looks relief falls across his face at the sight of them.

“Kairi. Sora…”

“Riku…” Sora approaches the bars and looks his old friend in the eye. “We came as soon as we were summoned.”

“I just ─ I wanted to… talk to you both, for a moment, before they took me away.”

“We’re here,” Kairi murmurs, moving to stand beside Sora now. “We’ll listen, I promise.”

Riku nods, looking relieved as he glances between them both. “Sora… has Kairi told you anything since she got back? Has she talked to you at all…?” He gives the prince a slightly hopeful look, and Sora nods. “What did she tell you?”

“I know, Riku. She told me,” Sora replies, and he tries to keep his composure for Riku’s sake; on the inside, though, he’s screaming that it isn’t fair, it isn’t fair that he’s loved Riku all this time and now they’ve never even had a fucking chance ─ he takes a deep breath. “She told me why you left all those years ago. Why didn’t you say anything…?”

Riku gives a wry laugh. “Sora. Look at me. I was nobody at the time, and I’m nobody now in particular. The two of you, you’re both somebody important. What did I have to offer you in the past, and what do I have to offer you n─”

“Riku, don’t give us that shit,” Sora interrupts him, and his voice breaks as he speaks. “You think Kairi and I care about where you stand, status-wise? We both care about you,” his voice drops low enough for just Riku and Kairi to hear, “and we both love you.” 

Teal eyes lower to the floor, Riku then unable to meet either of their gazes. “I know,” he says quietly. “I’m not asking whether you two love me. I don’t doubt that, now.” As he says this he gives Kairi a knowing smile. “What I wanted to tell you two was that I’m sorry. Sorry for… not telling either of you how I felt before, for not being brave enough to try and rise above my station, and sorry for putting you two through this, through the stress and pain of having to watch me die.” 

Before either Sora or Kairi can reply to this, the guards arrive ─ heralding the moment they’ve been dreading ─ and unlock Riku’s cell before escorting him out. Kairi and Sora watch, Kairi fighting back tears, and as they follow the guards and Riku out of the jail Sora holds Kairi’s hand tightly in his own while they walk. 

The sun is a bit low in the sky as they make it to the square, where a crowd has already started to gather ─ one that includes Eraqus, Lea, and the other royal delegates. In the middle of the square sits a large executioner’s block, and beside it stands an executioner, waiting with axe in hand. When he sees that executioner, fear becomes evident in Riku’s eyes as they escort him closer; the sheer gravity of the situation, the reality of it, truly hits him then. Oh gods, this is real. This is happening. They’re really going to kill him, aren’t they? Behead him in plain sight for everyone to see? He’s actually going to die . How fucked up is that? They move him into the middle of the square and shove him down onto his knees in front of the block, and as he looks across he can see Sora and Kairi standing there watching him alongside his crew; Kairi is crying, now, and Sora holds her close as he looks back at Riku with a pained expression of his own. 

He gives them the smallest of smiles before it then vanishes as his gaze moves to Eraqus and the Council members, and then up at the executioner. “Just… make it quick,” Riku tells the man, and he’s given an unpleasant smile in response.

“I always do. Quick and clean,” he says to Riku, and the pride in his tone is almost as sickening as the thought of being beheaded.

Taking a deep breath, Riku settles his neck on the block and closes his eyes. He hears the sound of the executioner’s axe scraping the ground as it’s lifted into the air, hears the crowd go quiet, and he cringes slightly, drawing in a shaky breath. He isn’t ready to die, but he has no choice now. There’s nothing but silence as a few seconds pass ─ seconds that seem to drag on ─ and he waits for the end, waits for the axe to make contact with his neck. He waits for death , but it never comes; as the executioner swings the axe downwards, Riku hears the crowd gasp. He opens his eyes, lifting his head to see what’s going on, and a soft gasp of his own escapes him when he sees the axe blade now shattered into pieces and floating in the air around him. The crowd all murmur in confusion, but their voices are suddenly drowned out by the sound of the wind picking up, whistling loudly in Riku’s ears before he sees a large purple cloud descending from the sky. It spins downwards in a twister formation before taking shape as Eris herself, and as screams and shocked cries fill the air the executioner stumbles backwards in fear and shock as while the goddess looms over Riku. 

“How DARE you?!” The goddess bellows, and even as the wind slows back down her voice carries. Riku scrambles to his feet, every nerve and muscle tensed. “Everything was going perfectly, and now you do this,” she hisses, moving to swirl around him like smoke. The very air itself grows as chilled as Eris’ voice, and Riku stares at her as she circles back around and continues to tower over him.

“I don’t understand,” he tells her ─ and immediately regrets it at the look on the goddess’ face.

“Don’t play coy with me, Riku,” she says, tone full of hostility. “You may have these people fooled, but I know who and what you are. You’re a selfish, unprincipled liar .”

“Wait a minute,” he starts, and Eris narrows her eyes at him. “I didn’t lie. I said I’d come back, and I did. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? This is a part of your test, your game you challenged me to. I told the truth after all.” The goddess’ expression shifts from anger to defeat , and Riku smirks; he’s got her now. He’s won at her game. “Now you hold up your end of the bargain, Eris. After all, aren’t you bound on your word as a goddess?”

She snarls, raising her fist as if to strike him down, as if to smite him, but the same blood red x from before reappears over her heart and she lets out a sigh before lowering it and opening it to reveal the Book of Prophecies resting in her palm. “Take it before I change my mind,” she snaps, and Riku carefully picks it up, holding it in both hands.  

“This must be embarrassing for you,” he tells her, and she gives a wry chuckle.

“Don’t push it, mortal,” she tells him. “Lucky enough for you, I’ve got places to go. Things to do. Mayhem to cause.” With that, the goddess lets herself turn into smoke that quickly dissipates, and when she’s gone Riku stares down at the Book. 

Seconds pass, containing stunned silence, before the crowd breaks out into cheers.  Riku glances over at where Sora and Kairi are both looking back at him, Kairi now crying tears of joy and relief, and he then turns his gaze onto the executioner ─ who’s staring at him in shock. “Sorry, pal, no job for you today,” he says, grinning, and goes to approach Eraqus. “Your majesty,” he addresses the king, and Eraqus looks both stunned, himself, and somehow embarrassed at the same time. Riku holds out the Book. “I believe this is what you wanted back?”

Eraqus stares at him, then at the Book, and he slowly reaches to take it from Riku before looking up into Riku’s eyes. Eraqus looks like he he wants to speak, but then ─

“Riku!” Kairi’s voice calls to him, and Riku looks over just in time to see her nearly tackle him; when she does so, he slides his arms around her waist and holds her close. 

“Hey, Princess,” he murmurs, and she lets out a tearful laugh. “Did I worry you? I’m sorry.”

“No,” she shakes her head as she pulls away to look up at him, wiping her own tears away with her sleeve, and behind her Riku sees Sora walking up to him as well.

“Hey, Pirate,” Sora greets, and Riku reaches to pull him into an embrace as well. Sora lets him do so, and the prince wraps his arms around both Kairi and Riku in return as the three of them hold onto each other. “Thought we were about to lose you…” He trails off, looking Riku in the eyes, before both men break out into smiles.

“I thought the same,” Riku says, giving a nervous laugh. As the three of them each pull away, Kairi glances between the other two. 

“Now what?” She asks softly, and Riku and Sora both look at her.

“What do you mean?” Sora asks.

“Well, Riku’s back, and so is the Book. So... where do we go from here?” She gives them both a simultaneously curious and expectant look. 

“Where do we… go?” Riku sounds confused. 

“Relationship-wise,” she replies just softly enough for the two of them to hear with Eraqus still standing nearby, and both Riku and Sora turn slightly red ─ Riku looking mildly alarmed at the same time.

“Maybe this is a discussion for when we’ve got more privacy,” he says in a low tone, and Sora nods.

“Not in front of my father,” he agrees, voice lowered as well. “We can talk in a bit. Besides,” Sora turns his gaze over to where Lea, the other royal delegates, and the council members are standing with shock clear on their faces, “I think they all owe you an apology, Riku.”

Kairi hums in agreement before watching as Eraqus then addresses the three of them. 

“Forgive me, Riku,” he says then. “I was wrong to so easily condemn you…” He murmurs.

“I’m just grateful Eris proved me right,” Riku tells him. It’s odd; he would have lost his life because of Eris, but now in a sense he owes her his life. It’s funny how fate plays out when the gods intervene. Next to him, Sora claps a hand on his shoulder, and Riku gives him another smile as an idea occurs to him; he’s exhausted, and he wants peace and quiet at long last. “I have a question, your majesty,” he says then to Eraqus.

“Of course, anything,” Eraqus replies, looking caught off guard. 

“Is my old room available?”

The king pauses, before the most tentative of smiles appears on his face. “Yes… it is.”

“Perfect.” He gives a slight bow to Eraqus, then to Sora and Kairi as well. “Your highnesses,” and even with his posture bowed and his head lowered to obscure his face they can hear the smile in his voice, “if you’ll excuse me, I’m… tired. I’d like to retire there, just for a little while, before I return to my ship.”

Chapter Text

It feels… weird, albeit in a nice way, to be back here; growing up as an orphan who had just so happened to befriend the prince had, thankfully, given Riku the privilege of being granted a room of his own in the palace, and it’s nice to know now that even after a decade, it hasn’t been altered in any way. Alongside his relief, though, there’s a twinge of guilt that spikes through Riku at the thought that this could maybe be due to the fact that Sora could have ordered it to remain untouched in the hopes of Riku ever returning. Feeling contrite, Riku places his hand on one of the columns of his old four poster bed, resting it there for just a moment before moving it along one of the sheer curtains that surround it. Said curtain is still as soft as it ever was beneath his fingertips, and he can’t help but smile then. Ten years… ten years, and all this time his room has remained the same. Thank you, Sora.  

He moves to sit on the bed, his weight causing the mattress to sink slightly, and Riku lays back and closes his eyes. The mattress itself is softer than he remembers, too, definitely softer than his bed on the ship, and Riku hums. 

There’s a knock at the door, then, and he’s about to (politely) tell whomever it is to please go away, he’s tired, when he hears Sora’s voice on the other side. “Riku? We’re coming in,” and Riku hears the door open before Sora and Kairi are stepping inside, shutting it behind them. 

He sits up, eyes open now, and looks over at them. “Haven’t you heard of letting a guy get some decent rest?” He jokes, but truthfully? He was waiting for them to come to him; he had a feeling they would. 

Sora grins. “We figured you’d at least want some company from the two of us.”

“Mmm. You’d be right about that. I’m not about to complain about the two of you being here.”

Sora crosses the room to stand in front of Riku, who now gazes up at him in turn. “I’m glad.” And he really, truly is.

Kairi also makes her way over and stands beside Sora, whose gaze is still fixed on Riku.

He looks between the two of them, and notes the smile on Sora’s face then. “... What?”

 Sora steps closer and leans in, kisses Riku carefully, almost calculated , and Riku pauses before he’s kissing Sora back in a similar way he’d kissed Kairi for the first time: tentative and careful, but full of yearning. When they finally break apart, both men are flushed, red in the face like the two of them have reverted back to their teenage counterparts and are as flustered and awkward as teenagers are prone to being, and Sora rests his forehead against Riku’s. “Been wanting to do that for a while, now,” he whispers, and Riku gives him a sheepish smile in return.

“Sorry it took so long,” he whispers back, and Sora slowly pulls away to shake his head. 

“You can make it up to me,” he tells Riku. “You can make it up to both of us.”

“How so?”

“...” Sora looks hesitant, then, like he’s actually afraid to request whatever it is he’s wanting to request from Riku.

“Stay?” Kairi’s voice speaks up, and both men turn their gazes to her. “Please?” 

“Princess─”

“Please, Riku,” Kairi repeats. “We missed you.”

“We really did,” Sora agrees. “Riku, the past ten years we’ve missed you like hell. It was like we weren’t whole without you. But now you’re here again.”

“You’re home ,” Kairi adds. “And… you can say no, if you want, and you’re free to leave. But just know that Sora and I would love it if… if you stayed, this time. If this was you coming back for good.”

He looks between the two of them ─ his prince, and his princess, the two loves of his life, before he’d ever fallen in love with the sea ─ and Riku thinks for a moment. Maybe… it’s tempting, so tempting; especially now that he knows they both love him in return. And maybe he still belongs with them. Gods above know that where Sora is the sky , carefree and full of light, and Kairi is the ocean , having washed over him like a tidal wave so long ago and having drowned him in nothing but feelings of love and adoration, Riku is supposed to be land: solid, sturdy, something they could both rely on. He’s already failed them once before, though, let them both down in that regard… he doesn’t think he has it in himself to do so a second time. Doesn’t think he has it in him to abandon them again. However ─

“What about the crew?” He asks softly, and Kairi smiles.

“Naminé is a capable woman,” she tells him, “and she’s more than qualified to take over leadership. If you were to ask her, I don’t doubt she’d say yes.”

Riku is more than inclined to agree with Kairi. “... Let me talk it over with her,” he tells Kairi gently. He wants to stay, now. But the gods know he still has a crew to manage in the meantime, and he can’t just… leave that crew without any notice. He gets to his feet, then, and Kairi and Sora both blink at him. “What? I might as well go talk to her now,” he tells them with a small grin. 

“You don’t want to rest some more?” Sora asks him, and Riku shakes his head slightly.

“I’ve gotten to rest enough for now. Right now I need to talk to Naminé.”

“You don’t have to do so right aw─”

“It’s fine. Really.” Riku grins at him again. “You and Kairi will have an answer after I’ve talked to her, okay?”

Sora and Kairi exchange glances, before they both nod, and Riku nods in return before exiting the room and going to find Naminé. 

~

“And so that’s… essentially the entirety of it,” Riku finishes, looking over at Naminé. It’s the next morning and he’d managed to track her down easily enough, pulling her aside from the rest of the crew to talk to her in private.

She gives him a pensive look. “You’ve been in love with them both all these years?”

“... Yes.”

“And you’ve discovered that they both love you in return?”

“Also yes.”

“And they’re asking you to stay this time?” 

He gives Naminé a small, somewhat flustered smile. “Yes.”

“Do you want to?” There’s no bitterness to her tone, no hostility, merely curiosity.

His smile turns sheepish. “I─ … yes. I do. But I have you all as well, and I don’t want to just leave you without─”

“Riku. You’ve had us for almost a decade.” She gives him a soft smile of her own, albeit a bit sad. “If you miss them─”

“I do.”

“And you love them both─”

“I do, yes─”

“Then I think you know where you belong. And it’s no longer with us.” Her tone is nothing but kind and understanding.

“Naminé─”

“Riku. The sea is calling to you, but your heart is calling louder.”

“I…”

“Need to answer that call.” She gives him an encouraging nod. “It’s okay.”

“...” Riku sighs, placing a hand on her shoulder then. “Look after the crew for me, will you? I leave them in your capable hands.”

“I will.”

“Especially Xion.”

Naminé flushes. “Riku─!”

He laughs softly. “Teasing. You two make a good couple. But honestly, if there’s anyone they’ll be in good hands with… it’s you, Naminé. And they’ll follow you all the same as they followed me.”

Naminé nods again, her smile widening as she ducks her head a bit. Then she lifts her gaze back up to him and steps closer to press a kiss to his cheek. “You’ve been a wonderful captain. The best any person could ask for. But…" she steps back to peer up at him. “It’s time for you to return home. And besides,” and her tone begins to sound teasing, “you were wanting to retire, weren’t you? Something tells me the rest of the crew isn’t quite so ready to do so, themselves.”

Riku grins. “... Thank you, Naminé. I─”

“There’s no need to thank me. They had you long before any of us ever did. That isn’t to say we won’t miss you, of course, but…”

“But you understand.”

“I understand, yes. And so will the others.”

Riku gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze, encouragingly, before Naminé moves to hug him and he hugs her back. “You’ve been a wonderful first mate, too,” he whispers, and when Naminé pulls away from the hug there are tears in her eyes ─ the good kind, he knows. Or at least hopes. “ So keep that chin of yours up, okay? Not just for me but the crew as well.”

“Yeah.”

“Shall we?” Riku gestures towards the ship, and Naminé nods.

“Let’s go tell them.”

He doesn’t think saying goodbye to his crew will be easy, and it isn’t; Xion cries, Terra claps him on the shoulder, Aqua hugs him, and Vanitas stares at him for a moment before finally wishing him luck in his endeavors ─ as well as thanking him for serving them as a captain. It’s enough to make Riku ache at the thought that he’s leaving these people behind, but thankfully they’re all understanding of his decision. They even make him a promise that they’ll sail into port and visit from time to time, and it’s a promise Riku holds them to. And if he thought saying goodbye to them all was difficult, it’s nothing compared to watching the ship sail out without him on it . Riku watches them go, and… despite how hard it is to watch his crew depart the city, he feels strangely relieved, at the same time, when he thinks about the reason he’s staying at all. Kairi and Sora will be relieved, too, he thinks, when they find out he didn’t leave with the crew.

After he’s watched the ship disappear over the horizon, Riku retreats to his old room in the palace and sits himself at the window to stare out over the ocean. He leans against the frame of the windowsill and finally closes his eyes, thinking for a moment. He’s home. It’s been ten full years, a decade of being at sea… and he’s home. 

Right now, though, he thinks to himself, a walk on the beach sounds nice before he meets with the other two to tell them the news. A smile graces his lips at the thought of how happy they’ll both be to learn he’s staying. That’s all he wants really, to make them happy from here on out. He admittedly doesn’t know how the three of them will go on from here, doesn’t know how things will play out if Sora and Kairi are still going to be married, but… he does know now that they at least love him in return, the way he loves them ─ and truthfully? That’s all Riku could ask for. All he has to do is tell the other two that he’s staying, and they can figure things out together from there.

Once he’s at the beach, Riku absentmindedly skips rocks and walks along the sand as he stares out on the horizon. Naminé’s words echo from last night echo in his mind. The sea is calling to you, but your heart is calling louder. He tells himself this won’t be so bad; on top of being with Sora and Kairi from here on out (however is possible, at least), he’s at least in a place that’s still right alongside the sea; Syracuse thankfully isn’t landlocked, which means he hasn’t given up the ocean entirely and he can still visit the ocean whenever. The sound of the seagulls, the waves crashing up on the shore, of the wind blowing gentle breezes around him… it’s all soothing in and of itself, and this, Riku tells himself? This isn’t bad at all. It’s not quite the same as sailing, but he’ll gladly take it nonetheless.

~

“You’re staying?!” Exactly like they’re kids all over again, Sora throws his arms around Riku’s neck and hugs him tight, laughing with joy as he does so. Riku hugs him in return, and Kairi watches them with a smile on her face. When Sora finally manages to tear himself away from Riku it’s her turn to step in and embrace him. Riku holds her in return, and when she steps away he mirrors her and Sora’s grins with one of his own.

“That’s right. I’m staying.” 

“The crew…?” Kairi inquires, and Riku nods to her.

“Already left this morning. I granted Naminé the role of captain.”

“That’s good,” she murmurs, and when he notices her tearing up he tilts his head.

“What’s wrong, Princess?”

“Huh? I─ nothing,” she says quickly, rubbing at her eyes, and Riku gives her a gentle smile.

“Are you happy I’m home?”

“Yes,” Kairi breathes out, and she moves back into his arms again. Not having to worry about anyone seeing them, as the three are back in his room, Riku reaches to stroke his fingers through her hair, and then along her cheek, before tilting her face up to meet his gaze. She does so, and he kisses her gently. 

“You’re both saps,” Sora jokes, and Riku gently lets go of Kairi to pull Sora into his arms next. 

“Pot calling the kettle black, Highness,” he murmurs, and Sora grins widely before leaning in to kiss Riku soundly.

Riku gladly kisses him back, fingers coming up to tangle in Sora’s hair, and the prince makes a low noise in the back of his throat. Whether it’s a noise of want or need, or both, Riku isn’t entirely sure, but he stays with the kiss regardless as Sora presses closer to deepen it ever so slightly. By the time they break from it, they’re both left panting slightly for air with matching grins on their faces. 

“I know Kairi told you this already, told you what I told her, but… Riku?”

“Mmm?”

“I love you.”

Hearing those three little syllables from Sora at long last is enough to make Riku’s heart absolutely soar, and he reaches to cup the prince’s face in his hands as he presses his forehead to Sora’s. “Do you know how relieved I am to hear that after ten years?” He whispers, and Sora chuckles.

“Probably as relieved as I am to finally be able to say it,” he replies, and he’d be right; Riku is over the goddamned moon to have those words come from Sora himself, rather than just hearing it from Kairi. 

“Good,” he says then, before turning to her. “As for you, Princess…”

“Hmm?” She feigns innocence, and Riku and Sora both exchange glances before they’re pulling her close and kissing her on either cheek. She laughs, and kisses them each in turn, and Riku has never felt as happy in his life as he does in that particular moment. 

The kisses eventually do subside, and the three of them soon sit down to discuss how to go about their relationship from there on out. They come to an agreement that Sora and Kairi will continue with their arranged marriage, and on top of being pardoned for his life of piracy Riku will take the title of royal consort to them both. It’s the safest way to go about this, they decide; it’s better to have Riku as a consort then to hide their relationship with him, and potentially end up with a royal scandal. He doesn’t entirely mind, either; title of consort or not, as long as he gets to be with them both without it being kept a secret he’s happy. Because at this rate, Riku doesn’t fucking care who knows and who doesn’t. He gets to be with the two of them, both his sky, and his sea. That’s all he could ask for, all he ever truly wanted.

Chapter Text

Who am I, darling, to you? Who am I? Going to tell you stories of mine. Who am I? Who am I, darling, for you? Who am I?

He was an orphan. He was a boy in love with his two best friends. He was a pirate. And if you had asked him a decade ago where he saw himself in the future, he certainly wouldn’t have answered with himself getting to love both Sora and Kairi, and have them love him in turn, as much as each of them will allow. 

And when time has passed, when the three of them are in their much older years, when Eraqus has passed on and Sora has not only taken over rule of Syracuse but he and Kairi have bore themselves an heir to the throne, when all of time has faded the three of them into graying hair and wrinkles and wisdom beyond their years… Riku will tell people he never once regretted a day of loving either of them ─ and his King and Queen will tell the same.