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Sora doesn’t even wait until he leaves the shop to replace his earring, grinning wide at his reflection. There’s a surge of energy that runs through him and he’s glad he spent the extra time looking for materials and the extra munny for it. He flicks the platinum accessory one last time before turning to leave.
“Hey, you!” A high pitched voice sounds out from behind Sora. He stops in the doorway and turns to see a Moogle flying up to him.
“Me?” He asks.
“If you’re Sora, then yeah,” the Moogle says. “I’ve got something for you.”
Sora tilted his head in confusion. “Something for me?” He asks, not used to being given things by Moogles.
The Moogle just huffs and digs around in their satchel. Out comes a letter, a little creased at the corners. “This is for you,” they say.
Sora takes the letter and immediately recognizes the handwriting. “Riku!” He cries out in surprise. “Why did Riku send me a letter?”
The Moogle doesn’t respond to his question but flaps their little wings and takes flight, hovering in front of Sora. “Welcome to Mognet! Send a letter or package to any world,” they say, like reading from a script. “Letters are fifty munny, packages are one hundred munny. Guaranteed delivery!”
“Mognet...?” Sora says, still clutching the letter. “That’s so cool! I can send Riku a letter too!” He looks down at the letter and grins. “I’ll be back soon!”
“Whatever you say!” The Moogle says and flies off back to the back of the accessory shop.
Sora runs out of the shop, letter in hand. He sticks his finger in the crease of the envelope and tears it open. There’s a single page in the envelope and he pulls it out so he can read it.
There’s something nice about reading Riku’s handwriting, it’s like he can hear the words in his voice.
Sora,
A very enthusiastic Moogle cornered me in Corona about their new service, Mognet. I thought you might like to get a letter. I’m not really sure what to write about. The weather’s really nice and the people here are really friendly.
Maybe we can go together someday. We can have a picnic.
Miss seeing your dumb face.
Riku
It’s not sappy or romantic by any stretch of the imagination but it fills Sora up with so many butterflies he feels like he might burst.
It takes him over an hour to find a pen and a piece of paper but when he does, he finds a place to sit and think.
There’s nothing much to say about Radiant Garden, Riku has been there a hundred times. Sora puts the pen to his mouth to think harder.
“Aha! I know!” He says and starts to write.
Dear Riku,
Thanks for your letter! The Moogle who gave it to me was a little annoyed but I was really happy. Mognet sounds really fun! I know we can talk to each other with Gummiphones but it’s a nice idea there might be a letter waiting for me when I go somewhere.
I finally got that earring I was going on and on about! You can see it in two days when we see each other. I know you’ll be super jealous.
My dumb face misses your dumb face a lot too!
And because he’s not as cool as Riku and would never endeavor to be, Sora signs the letter with:
Love, Sora
And even punctuates it with a little drawing of himself and a heart over it. He can imagine Riku’s blushing happy face from across the universe when he reads it.
Sora rushes back to the accessory shop and hands the Moogle the letter.
“Uh, so how does this work?” Sora asks the Moogle, after handing them fifty munny.
The Moogle takes the letter and puts it in its satchel. “You pay, we deliver,” they explain.
“But how do you know where he is?” Sora asks.
“I really don’t have time to explain Moogle magic to you,” the Moogle grumps, and flaps their little wings again. They remind Sora of Riku’s little Dream eater wings.
Sora shrugs and turns to the shop owner.
“Do you know where I can find letter-writing stuff?” He asks.
He had two more days of world hopping to do and lots of letters to write.
—
Mognet turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Their lives being as they are, Riku and Sora spend more time apart than together. Sora is sure one day they can live a life wherein they spend most of their time together, but it doesn’t seem any time soon.
We’ll figure it out , Riku always says when Sora shares his worry that they don’t see each other enough.
It’s been nice to know that on his own Sora is just as good as he is when he’s with his friends.
Sure, they both have Gummiphones and they’re handy and practical and great in a crisis but once they start writing each other letters the whole game changes. There’s a feeling that is delivered along with the letters, that Sora never felt when he receives messages or photos from Riku.
“What’s all that?” Kairi asks him when he hoists all his letter-writing tools onto the desk in the room he’s staying in. Kairi spends most of her time in Radiant Garden, which means whenever Sora goes there, he can see her and that makes him happy.
“Oh! It’s my letter stuff,” Sora says and stacks the paper neatly. Besides the paper, he’s managed to collect two pens (a fountain and something called a ball-point he found in San Fransokyo), a set of stickers, a bright red folder he can keep things in, and a sheet of official Mognet stamps, limited edition.
Kairi puts her hands on her hips and grins at him. “Who are you writing letters to, mister?” She asks. “Because I haven’t gotten a single letter from you!”
A sheepish look crosses over Sora’s face and he puts both hands behind his head. “Uhhh… well, it’s just to one person, really!”
“A tall, silver-haired person, I take it,” she says and gives him a poke. “Honestly, since you two started this whole boyfriend thing you’ve gone to new heights finding ways to be extra sappy.” She says it in a tone but her face is amused.
The dynamic that had formed when Sora and Riku got together had gone against expectations, the presumptive roles flipping. Kairi had been her usual sweet, supportive self, though she gained a relentless teasing streak. In fact, their friendship had never been better since Sora figured out what his heart really wanted.
“He was here the other week, and it was Sora this and Sora that,” Kairi says. “I think I almost saw his eyes turn that weird pinky color you’re always on about. And to think how cool he keeps it when you’re actually in the room.”
Sora huffs. “That’s just because Riku’s really cool,” he says. “So what did he say about me?”
Kairi shakes her head and gives his arm a gentle smack. “Oh no, you don’t!” She says. “Don’t change the subject, I want at least a postcard the next time you send a letter to Riku. I may not be a six-foot, broad-shouldered, deep-voiced, so cool boyfriend but I think I deserve a little attention too!”
It hits Sora right in the soft spot of his heart and he grabs Kairi in a hug. At one point they were practically the same size but after a recent growth spurt it feels like he’s leaving her behind in the height department, but it’s nice to hug her all the same.
“I will, I promise!” Sora says, tightening his grip, making her laugh. “You’re my very smart, super cool, and absolutely the prettiest of best friends. And Riku’s not pretty.”
Kairi pulls back a little and shrugs her shoulders. “He’s a little pretty,” she says.
“Okay, he’s a little pretty,” Sora agrees. They both burst into laughter.
She bounces out of Sora’s embrace and bounces on her feet. “Okay, now show the last letter Riku sent you, I bet it’s either super stoic or super drippy,” she starts and then shouts when Sora grabs his bag of letters and makes a mad dash for the door.
Kairi follows in hot pursuit.
—
“So that’s two postcards for Radiant Garden,” one for Kairi and one for Lea, who caught on to Sora’s new postal obsession. “A package for Twilight Town,” it was Olette’s birthday in two days and he found a nice gift for her. “And a letter for the Mysterious Tower.” Riku was going to be there tomorrow.
The Moogle puts Sora’s intended deliveries into their little sack, magically shrinking so they could fit inside. “You’re really keeping us in business!” They say, chirpy voice high. “That’ll be two-hundred and fifty munny.”
Sora hands over the munny and holds out his hands. The Moogle looks very confused.
“Uh… don’t you have something for me?” Sora asks, hands still in front of him.
The Moogle shakes their head. “Afraid not! Maybe if you come back later, there’s a late delivery in the evening.”
Sora nods and tries not to be too disappointed. Maybe Riku’s letter will be in the late delivery. He forgets to reply to Sora’s messages on the Gummiphone sometimes or replies a few days later, but he’s never missed sending a letter. He spends the rest of the day keeping himself busy until it’s time for the delivery.
The Moogle looks almost guilty that they don’t have a letter for him.
For some reason, it kind of annoys Sora. He doesn’t get annoyed often, but a sudden feeling of unfairness hits him. He spends almost an hour pacing around town trying to decide whether or not he really wants to be annoyed with Riku because one second it feels silly and the next it feels totally justified.
So Sora pulls his Gummiphone out of his pocket and dials Riku’s number, squaring his shoulders to be properly annoyed.
When Riku picks up after several rings, the tone in his voice matches the look on his face.
“Hey,” Riku says, his voice shaky. Riku’s no crier, but he gets close often enough. Sora knows a close enough when he sees or hears one. “Everything okay?” And of course, his first thought is whether or not Sora is okay and Sora immediately feels guilty about being annoyed.
It was just one silly letter he missed.
“What’s wrong?” Sora asks, holding the phone up close to his face as if that will bring Riku closer to him.
Riku shakes his head. “Nothing…” he says and before Sora can tell him he knows he’s lying, he continues. “Nothing serious, I just… you know how you have days where nothing goes right? And the more you try to make them go right, the worse they go?”
Sora sure did, and Riku knew Sora knew he did but it seems like Riku is in need of some confirmation and comfort, so Sora nods. “Of course!” He says. “Those are the worst, I have those sometimes, too.” Whenever he did he always called Riku and Riku always knew just what to say to cheer him up.
“But just because you had one bad day,” Sora says, holding the phone close as he can to his face. “Doesn’t mean all the other great days don’t count! You help a lot of people, Riku, and you can’t be perfect all the time.”
It makes Riku grin a little, which makes Sora smile because that means it’s working. “I’m not perfect ever, Sora,” his best friend says and Sora really begs to differ.
“Okay, maybe you’re not perfect,” he says. “But I think you’re pretty great and so do a lot of other people. But especially me, because I’m your…”
It’s already a proven fact but not something they’ve really started referring to each other as. Other people call them by the name, but they never refer to each other that way. Not because it feels strange, but because it doesn’t really feel all that different. Just better.
“You’re my what?” Riku asks, leaning his handsome face on one hand.
Sora just knows his cheeks have gone red but he hopes the Gummiphone filters it out a little. “My uh, my boyfriend,” he says. “Of course.”
“Of course,” Riku says and there’s a matching flush on his own cheeks, which pleases Sora.
Now that it’s out in the open, Sora feels a little silly for making such a big deal about it.
“Thanks, Sora,” Riku says and Sora looks confused. “You really cheered me up.”
The confused look stays where it is. “Huh, but I barely did anything!” Sora says.
Riku laughs. “You don’t have to do much, you know,” he explains. “Just talking to you always cheers me up. I’m sorry I didn’t send you a letter today.”
“Don’t be!” Sora says. “You can send me one whenever you want.”
They talk for a while longer and Sora completely forgets how he was even upset in the first place. Later, when he goes to sleep with Riku’s words of thanks and the relieved smile on his face in his mind, it’s with a smile on his own face.
—
The next morning Sora gets held up at the local accessory shop by a harried Moogle.
“‘Scuse me!” They call out, little wings flapping hard to catch up with Sora. He stops in the street, his hands behind his head casually. When the Moogle catches up, it hovers in front of Sora and rummages around in their bag. “You’re Sora, right? I’ve got an express Mognet delivery for you!”
The Moogle pulls out a stack of letters and waves it at Sora. “I thought you’d already left town!”
Sora shakes his head and takes the stack. It’s a pretty thick stack, at least a dozen of them. They couldn’t have all been from yesterday.
“Where did all these come from?” Sora asks, running his thumbs over the smooth top envelope, his own name in a pretty handwriting that looks familiar. They’re tied together neatly with a thick red string, tied in a pretty, intricate-looking knot.
The Moogle flapped its little wings to stay at Sora’s eye height. “Oh, all over!” They say. “Apparently something went wrong at the Mognet Distribution Center… the one on the bottom was sent last night with express delivery and it turns out there were a whole bunch of letters for you that got held up. Aren’t you that Keyblade Wielder that travels all over?”
Sora can’t take his eyes off the stack of letters but nods. “I am, I just…” he says, a little at a loss for words.
“Well, sorry for the delay!” The Moogle says and holds something out to Sora. Little sheets of paper, trimmed in gold. “Coupons! So you can get a discount on your next deliveries… to make up for our mistake.”
Sora takes the coupons and smiles at the Moogle. “Thanks! I’ll definitely be using these.”
The Moogle thanks him again and flies off in the direction of the local Accessory shop.
It takes Sora a minute or two of staring at the stack of letters in his hand to realise he’s still standing in the middle of the street, so he holds them close to his chest and walks off to find a good place to sit. After a little bit of searching, he finds a nice spot by the water in the sunshine and sits there.
He opens the first letter and smiles.
Dearest Sora,
Thank you for your letter, it was lovely. I don’t know where you found those wonderful pencils, but I’m very happy you did. You really shouldn’t have though…
A letter from Naminé, thanking him for a gift he sent her a while ago. He saw the pencils in the storefront and thought back on the drawings she made. He told her in the letter that he hoped she could draw again but for fun this time.
Hey Good Other,
Thanks for the postcard. You’re right, the movies they’ve been playing the past few weeks haven’t been the greatest, but I’ll let you know when a good one plays and we can watch it together…
Roxas, whose handwriting looked a little like Sora’s, but a little neater. He sent Roxas a postcard with a picture of the Destiny Islands beach on it, because Roxas mentioned he really loved the beach when Riku brought them there.
Hey kid,
Thanks for the birthday card, you really shouldn’t have. I mean, you should have, but I’m being polite here. Next year I’ll throw a big party and I’ll make sure you’re on the guestlist…
Axel, or Lea, or however everyone was calling him, who told Sora his birthday was coming up but he felt a little weird celebrating it and he couldn’t really explain why. A part of him that still felt strange doing normal, fun things… Sora sent him a birthday card to tell him even though he felt strange he should still have a happy birthday.
On and on the letters went, from all his friends. The letter Kairi wrote him was on pretty stationery that put his own nearly to shame and he’d really have to ask her where she did her shopping. The letter from Remy to think Sora for the recipes was nearly surprisingly eloquent and neatly written despite him being well… a rat.
When he came to the last letter the smile on his face was so wide it practically hurt.
Dear Sora,
Been hearing about town that you’re really loving this whole Mognet thing. Guess I should be used to being the one who gets you into trouble. I don’t think there’s a Moogle around who doesn’t know about the Wandering Keyblade Wielder now… it’s nice to hear your name wherever I go.
I know we don’t see each other much, but I think about you all the time. I think about all the places you must be, all the friends you’re making. It gives me strength and it makes me happy.
It’s pretty great… being your friend.
And your boyfriend, too. My dumb face misses seeing your dumb face. I hope I can see it again soon.
Love, Riku
There’s even a little drawing of Riku’s face with a little heart over it, just like Sora’s first letter.
Sora clutches the letter to his chest and sighs.
He gathers the letters up neatly and sticks them in his pocket.
The sun shines a little brighter than it did before.
—
“How was Corona?” Is the first thing out of Riku’s mouth when Sora walks up to the steps to the Mysterious Tower. Riku still looks tired, but he looks happy to see Sora.
Sora nods. “It was alright,” he says. “Mission accomplished, of course.”
“Of course,” Riku says and it makes both of them laugh.
Sora sits down next to Riku, as close as he can. He put the other letters from his friends in his bag in the Gummiship, so he could take them anywhere, but he put Riku’s letter in his inside jacket pocket. Right over his heart, like the big sappy mess his best friend always managed to turn him into.
“Thanks for your letter,” Sora says. It’s nice, getting letters. A personal touch that the Gummiphone, for all its wonderful innovations, really just couldn’t manage.
Riku nods and gives him a nudge. “No problem,” he says. “I like writing you, it feels like talking to you, but from really far away. Your letters always sound just like you.”
Sora leans his head on Riku’s shoulder and wraps his hand through the crook of Riku’s arm. The strange, timeless atmosphere of the Mysterious Tower is quiet and peaceful.
“You’ll send me more, right?” Riku asks, leaning his own head on the top of Sora’s.
Sora grins, the stack of Mognet coupons sitting in his pocket waiting to be used.
“Of course,” Sora says. “But I’m a better delivery than a letter, right?”
Riku looks at him and nods. “Much better,” he says.