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It was a dark and starry night on Destiny Islands. The cold night air tousled his hair softly and gave him gooseflesh, but he found he didn’t really care. The stars that signified that there were countless worlds up in the sky twinkled brightly. The sound of the waves gently rising and falling were the only thing making him feel less alone at the moment.
“Even the battle with Xehanort was more pleasant than this,” Sora said to the night sky.
Sora had thought that once they finished defeating the main source of darkness that was Xehanort that they would all be able to live ordinary lives more or less. Yes, they still had to maintain the balance between the darkness and the light but at least they weren’t actively having to save worlds from being consumed by the darkness. It had been calm for the first few months. He had been able to casually travel to different worlds without having to deal with any major threats. Being able to finally go to different worlds with Riku and Kairi by his side had even made the journeys more enjoyable. He had been happy with this new routine that he had gotten into.
And then earlier today, he had shown up.
A man with jet-black hair, cerulean eyes, and tanned skin had approached him from behind in the town. The man had asked if he knew a woman by the name of Alya. When Sora turned around to answer, the man had gasped and let out a sound of surprise. Sora was confused by the man’s reaction to seeing him, but once the man had asked if his name was by any chance Sora, the brunette realized who this person was.
This was his father.
Why else would he be looking for his mother? Why else would this man have the exact same striking blue eyes that he had? Why else would the man react the way he did?
Sora was too shocked to say anything to him. What was he supposed to say to the man that he thought had been dead this whole time only to find out that he was alive and well? Did that mean that this man had abandoned his mother when she had been pregnant with him? Why hadn’t his mother told him the truth?
Out of confusion and shock, Sora turned around and ran. He ran and ran and ran until he reached his house. He shut the door, alarming his mother who quickly approached him with concern in her expression.
“Sora, what’s wrong? Did something happen?” she asked.
“You told me my dad was dead,” Sora said getting straight to the point. “You said that he had an accident at work just a few months before I was born. But I just saw him.”
Alya just looked at Sora with eyes as big as saucers. It almost seemed she had stopped breathing, for Sora didn’t even see her chest rise or fall with breath.
“Why did you lie to me? This whole time he was alive, and you lied to me about it.” Sora’s voice started to become filled with anger and hurt. His mother, the one person that would love him no matter what, had lied to him his entire life.
“Sora, sweetie, I thought that it would be easier this way.”
“Easier for who?”
“You of course! I didn’t want you to always keep wondering why your father didn’t choose to stay with us. I thought that if I told you that he died, you wouldn’t be constantly wondering why he didn’t choose to stay.”
“That doesn’t-” Sora took in a breath and blinked back tears. “I should have known the truth from the beginning. You should have told me he left from the start.”
“Sora-”
“No mom. I- I can’t right now.”
He ran to his room and locked himself inside despite his mother pleas to come out and talk to her. He couldn’t face her right now. He was too hurt. He had spent the rest of the day inside his room, a plethora of questions roaming through his mind. When night had fallen, he climbed out his window and onto the roof, staring up at the night sky.
He knew he was acting childish and that he couldn’t avoid talking to his mother forever. But damn it, he was hurting. He wasn’t sure what was more painful. The fact that his mother had kept such an important secret from him, or the fact that she lied to him.
They had never kept secrets from each other. They were all they had so there was no need to. They loved and trusted each other, so why had she not told Sora? Had she not trusted him enough to handle the truth?
Sora heard a shuffle of feet and turned to see Riku taking a seat next to him. He was relieved that it hadn’t been his mother. Then again, she didn’t know that he came up here. Although, it did beg the question as to why Riku was here in the first place. Sora could probably take a good guess though.
“Did my mom call you?” Sora asked as he looked back at the night sky.
“If by call you mean panic over the phone because you weren’t in your room and she saw the window open and thought you ran away, then yes she did call,” Riku said, his tone slightly disciplinary.
“I didn’t think she would unlock my room…”
“You didn’t think that after many times of calling your name through the door with no response that she wouldn’t want to make sure you’re okay?” Riku sighed and shook his head. “Anyway, she told me what happened and wanted me to check up on you. She figured I would know where you were.”
“I’m just peachy,” Sora said in a sarcastic tone.
“You definitely sound like it.” Riku nudged him with an elbow. “But seriously, how are you feeling? Seeing your dad for the first time and finding out he’s actually alive can’t be easy.”
Sora hugged his knees to his chest and tears began to fill his eyes as he realized what he felt. It was a feeling that he shouldn’t have to feel toward his mother, but he did. “I’m angry at her for keeping it a secret for so long.”
“Why? Because you wanted to look for him?”
“It’s not that Riku. I don’t need another parent as long as I’ve got my mom. But the fact that she lied about the whole thing is what hurts the most.”
“She was just trying to protect you.”
“Protect me from what? The truth? Please, in either case I’m fatherless.”
“Well, think about it this way. Let’s say that one day the keyblade just rejected you permanently. How would you feel?”
“I’d… I’d feel terrible. I’d wonder what about me was wrong or lacking that caused it to leave me.”
Riku nodded. “Okay, now scrap that thought for a second and let’s say that the keyblade never chose you in the first place. You never had the keyblade at all. How would you feel about that considering that you didn’t even know it existed?”
Sora opened his mouth to answer but then shut it quickly. How would he feel toward something he never had in the first place? Could you even feel anything toward something you missed out on?
“I guess I wouldn’t really feel much since I would never know what it was. I wouldn’t know what I was missing out on,” he answered truthfully.
A hint of a smile began to appear on Riku’s face. “Now do you get it? Why your mom told you that your father died rather than saying he left you? One is much less painful and leaves no room for questioning your worth. I’m not saying that what she did was right, but at least try to understand why she did it.”
Sora was quiet as he processed his friend’s words. His mom was one of the best people he knew. She was kind, generous, humble, and oh so caring. She only ever wanted the best for him so her motives behind the lie had no doubt been out of love. She had only wanted to protect him.
“Riku why do you have to be so stupidly smart?” Sora groaned as he threw his head back.
Riku chuckled and leaned back on his hands. “I think you should talk to your mom, really talk to her.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Sora pouted and lightly punched Riku on the arm. “You know what, from this day forward I claim you as my second mom.”
“Pffft, second mom? Why am I a mom?”
“Because dads suck. Well except your dad. He’s actually pretty cool.”
Riku’s smile wavered and he wrapped an arm around Sora’s shoulders, pulling him in for a half-hug. “What about your dad? Are you going to talk to him?”
“I… I don’t know. I’m not sure how to feel about him, but I guess I would like to know why he left. So maybe I will talk to him to get some answers.”
Riku gave a proud smile to the brunette. “Whatever you decide, I’ll be here for you whenever you need me, whether that’s for emotional support or if you need me to punch your dad in the face.”
Sora laughed, wiping a few tears that had escaped down his cheeks. “Thanks, Riku. I know I can always count on you.”
He would go talk to his mom and once they fixed things, he would go find his dad. He had a million questions to ask the man after all, but one thing was certain. Whether Sora gained a father or not, he would always have a mother to count on. Two mothers now that he thought about it.
Haruto looked around and realized that the islands hadn’t changed much since he’d been here last. Despite it having been sixteen years, the world still had that homey warmth and comfort that seeped into his skin. He closed his eyes and took a breath, taking in the salty sea breeze that tousled his dark locks.
“I’m finally home.”
His eyes nearly shone with tears as he realized this wasn’t a dream. He was actually here. After countless years of trying to find his way back home, here he was. It had been a nightmare living without Alya, without his family that grew up without him.
The last time he had seen Alya she had been six months pregnant with a baby boy. He had been happy beyond belief that he was having a child, especially with the woman he loved. And then, it had all been ripped away from him.
He should have been more careful. After all, people from the islands had been disappearing mysteriously during that time without a trace. The residents merely thought that people were just leaving the islands for the city life, but Haruto knew better. Something was not right.
One night during a storm, he had been washing dishes looking out the kitchen window when he saw a shooting star crash down outside the house. The ground shook and alarmed his wife in the living room who began to get up to check the commotion.
Of course he wasn’t going to let her go outside in this weather, so he decided to go out instead to make sure nothing had been damaged. Once outside, he saw something shining in the ground. It was a bright yellow shard. He had never seen the likes of it before and had been extremely curious as to what it could be, so he did the completely illogical thing and grabbed the shard.
And that’s all it took for him to be whisked away from his home.
The next thing he knew, he had been waking up in a completely foreign world with nothing but the clothes on his back and the mysterious shard that was now broken. He had spent years trying to fix it but every time he got close to making it work, it would take him to another foreign world, and he would have to start from scratch in repairing it.
And then he had run into a mouse.
It turns out that that mouse was actually a king. King Mickey to be exact. Haruto had appeared on a world called Radiant Garden a few days ago, a rather beautiful world and had been found by the king. Upon seeing the shard, the king had explained that that had been the missing piece to what he called a star shard which allowed one to travel to different worlds.
Realizing that King Mickey could be the answer to his predicament, he told the mouse his story and was relieved when the king offered to take him back to his world by ship.
Which brought Haruto to this current moment.
While he was beyond overjoyed to be back home, he was scared as well. He had no doubt that Alya wouldn’t just welcome him back with open arms. She probably thought that he ran out on her and their son. It was going to be difficult to explain to her his rather unbelievable story. How was she going to believe that there were other worlds? She would probably take one look at him and kick him in the nads.
And their son. The son he never got to meet. What would he think? If Alya wouldn’t believe his story then his son would no doubt follow in his mother’s stead and Haruto wouldn’t blame him. He idly wondered if Alya had stuck to the name they decided on for their son, the name that reminded them of the beautiful ocean sky.
He could only hope and pray to any entity out there that they would find a sliver of truth in his story. After all, he had no proof with him that for the past 16 years he had been stuck travelling from world to world in hopes of finding his way back to Destiny Islands.
He sighed as he began walking further into the town. There was only one way to find out if his family would even be willing to hear him out. After walking for a couple of minutes, a teenage boy came into view, one with brown hair and rather peculiar clothing for living on an island. No matter, perhaps this boy would be able to help him find his family.
And so Haruto took a breath and approached the boy, hoping that he would be able to help him find what he had lost and held so dearly close to his heart.