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Riku would be the first to tell you he was not, by nature, an anxious person. Sora and Kairi would be the first to tell you Riku wasn’t the person to ask for a description of Riku. With time and distance, he’d gotten a bit better; things actually did get easier when you weren’t a teenager anymore.
About five years had passed since Xehanort’s final defeat, and despite the knowledge that Maleficent was out there somewhere, likely trying to do something evil, all had been quiet and peaceful. Riku, Sora, and Kairi had each moved out of their parents’ houses and into one together; Heartless hunting remained a financially lucrative profession, and the heart of Radiant Garden was still repairing itself, and thus still attracting Heartless.
Roxas, Xion, and Naminé had also moved out, Roxas and Xion joining Lea and Isa in Twilight Town, and Naminé initially to the Land of Departure to become Aqua’s apprentice full-time, living with her, Ven, Terra, and Vanitas. Riku did miss them, as well as the rest of his friends, but Ienzo in Radiant Garden had long since perfected his “answerable” technology, with a little help from the people of Disney Town who were well versed in the varied usage of gummi blocks. The resulting “gummiphones”, which could send and receive calls and messages from across world boundaries, had made even smaller a distance already considerably shrunken by Light Corridors.
Life was going almost perfectly for Riku. Once upon a time that would have made him suspicious, but over time he’d learned to put up with being happy.
Perfection, of course, was technically unattainable, and there was always room for things to be better. Which was why he was here, now, in this conversation.
“…so, what do you say?” he asked. And this was why he was anxious.
Goofy scratched his head. “Well, gawrsh, Riku, we’re real glad for ya. But I don’t get why you thought you had to ask us?” Beside him, Donald nodded in agreement.
Riku looked down at his shoes and kicked at the ground. “Well… It’s traditional on the Destiny Islands to ask anyone who was their parent or guardian first. And… you two filled that role for Sora, sort of. It would feel wrong for me not to ask you.” He smiled. “Kairi should be here, too, technically, but she wanted to go with Sora to talk to Mickey. About me.”
“Ah, I see,” Goofy said. “Well, in that case–”
“Hold on a second,” Donald interrupted, frowning at Riku, who tried not to look scared. “I get that it’s traditional, but does that really matter? They picked you.”
Riku reddened, and scratched the back of his head. “Well… I guess I just… want to know that the people who care about them… approve of me,” he mumbled.
Donald’s frown softened. He stepped forwards and placed a hand (wing?) on Riku’s wrist. “Of course we approve of you, you big palooka,” he said, softly. “You make Sora happy. Kairi, too.”
Goofy stepped forwards as well, and placed a hand on Riku’s shoulder. It was still a little amusing to know that he had to reach up to do so. “Gawrsh, Riku, we’ve known ya a long time now. I know it never quite feels like it from the inside, but you’re a real dependable guy. And I can’t speak for Don, but I’m quite proud of ya.”
“Don’t write me off like I’m not proud of him, too,” Donald snapped, and Riku couldn’t hold in a snort of laughter. Donald and Goofy both looked back at him, and smiled.
“The answer’s ‘yes’, Riku,” Goofy said.
“From both of us,” Donald added.
Riku, feeling much better, finally smiled. “Thank you.”
“Of course!” Goofy said. “Now, could you do something for us?”
Riku blinked. “Do what?”
Goofy and Donald glanced at each other. “It’s about Sora,” Donald said.
“What is it?” Riku asked.
“Could ya ask him if… he’s gonna shave at any point?”
“Well, gosh, guys, of course the answer’s yes, but why was it a question in the first place?” asked Michael, First of His Name, King of Disney Town, son (by marriage) of House Mouse, and Mickey to his friends.
Sora and Kairi, his friends, glanced at each other. “Well, it’s traditional on the Destiny Islands to ask,” Sora said.
Mickey frowned. “Gee, fellas, I know it might be a bit odd coming from me, but… is it really a tradition that’s all that important? It just… seems kinda old-fashioned.”
Kairi smirked. “Oh, it is. We’re not doing this because we think it’s the ‘proper’ thing to do.”
“Then, why?”
Sora grinned. “Well, it’s traditional. So, the fact that we’re doing it makes this whole thing feel more real to Riku.”
“Trust me, even if all of you said no, we’d still go through with it,” Kairi said. “But doing things this way makes Riku feel better, so this is how we’re doing it.”
Mickey smiled. “I see. That makes a lot of sense! Thanks for explaining.”
“Of course!” Sora said.
Mickey winked. “Now, when the time comes, we’ll be invited, right?”
“Of course,” Kairi said. “You and Minnie both, and everyone else, too. We’ll let you know when we decide on a date.”
“Wonderful!” Mickey said. “Now, uh, one more thing, Kairi.” He motioned her closer, and she leaned in, frowning, so he could whisper in her ear.
“Is Sora gonna keep that, or shave it off?”
It was evening on the Destiny Islands by the time Sora, Kairi, and Riku returned from Disney Town. “Toldja they’d say yes,” Sora said, elbowing his boyfriend.
“All right, all right,” Riku said, elbowing him back. “You were right.”
“Play nice, kids,” Kairi said, sliding her arms into theirs so the elbowing would stop. “Or at least save it for later.”
Riku grimaced. The job was only half-done.
“Don’t give us that face, Mister,” Kairi said, unhooking her arm from Sora’s so she could poke Riku in the ribs. “It’s going to go exactly the same.”
“She’s right,” Sora put in, stepping around Kairi to poke Riku from the other side.
Riku watched them poke him for a few seconds, amused despite himself, before asking, “Don’t you think we’re a little old for this? We’re in our twenties.”
“No,” Kairi said, sticking her tongue out at him.
“Nope,” Sora said. “Plus… it’s fun.”
“You have nice abs,” Kairi commented. They were both still poking him.
“You do,” Sora agreed.
“Thanks,” Riku said, wryly. “Does that really mean you have to poke them?”
“Yep.”
“Yep.”
“Uh-huh,” Riku said, now smirking. “That’s going to bruise eventually.”
“Oh, sorry,” Sora said, and stopped poking him.
“What a shame,” Kairi said, still poking him.
“Princess,” Riku prompted. Kairi blushed and retracted her finger.
As they’d walked and poked, they’d made their way down from the top of the hill they’d arrived on and into the town proper. After five years of practice, it had gotten easier to pick where in a world a Light Corridor opened up, though they’d found that familiarity with the world in question was a large part of that. To some extent, Riku still felt like he had no idea what he was doing, even though he’d now been the official Keyblade Master of the Destiny Islands for five years, though the fact that nothing had exploded on his watch (yet) was generally considered by Sora and Kairi – and Kairi’s father, since Riku was now a semi-official part of the Destiny Islands’ government, such as it was – to be a good sign.
Now that inter-world communications networks had been set up among the populaces of the Destiny Islands, Radiant Garden, and Disney Town, Riku, Sora, and Kairi had found themselves in great demand, not only for teaching about other worlds, but for transporting items and people as well. Due to the Heartless situation in Radiant Garden, they’d been asked to keep foot traffic to a minimum, but it wasn’t odd now to see someone from Disney Town on the Islands. The Islanders had adapted to the Toons in their midst with the same “well, all right then” attitude they’d had back when the World Order had first been compromised – King Mickey making “official” visits to Kairi’s father that totally weren’t excuses for him and Donald and Goofy to see Riku, Sora, and Kairi had helped with that.
Excitement aside, Riku had had a quiet few years; moreso than Kairi, who’d had two major shake-ups. First, she’d taken and passed her Mark of Mastery exam, although for some reason she would grow a little melancholy when the subject was brought up. She’d explained, minimally, that she’d met someone she was unable to save, but had requested to not be pressed for more details, and Riku and Sora had respected that. If it was something they should worry about, Riku knew, Kairi would tell them. Some pain, though, had to be private.
Secondly, her eighteenth birthday had seen the arrival on the Islands of Ansem the Wise and Leon from Radiant Garden. To everyone’s surprise, Kairi most of all, it turned out that her title of Princess of Heart was not circumstantial; before the Fall, Radiant Garden had had a monarchy.
Right now, though, it didn’t, as Kairi had decided not to press her apparently entirely legally valid claim to the throne, stating that the Destiny Islands were her home now, and always would be. Leon had seemed relieved, and Ansem a little disappointed; apparently he’d been Kairi’s birth parents’ friend and regent once they had passed away, when Kairi had been a baby. Regardless, her desires had been heeded, and no more had ever been said about it, aside from Sora and Riku occasionally calling Kairi “your Majesty” in private. It made her blush even harder than “Princess” did, but she’d made it clear she didn’t want them to call her that in public; in her opinion, she didn’t need people seeing her as anything other than who she was.
Sora, meanwhile, had been enlisted by Ienzo to spread his gummiphone technology around the worlds, specifically to world rulers where the World Order was still in place (which was most places). It had been Sora’s idea, in fact, to disguise the devices as magic mirrors for worlds that didn’t have telephone technology, and so worlds like Atlantica, Enchanted Dominion, and the Land of Dragons were “in the loop” as well. The Pridelands, which didn’t have worked glass, was still a bit of a conundrum, but they were working on it.
Aside from that, Sora had spent a decent amount of time exploring, joined by Riku and Kairi (and sometimes Donald and Goofy) whenever they could manage it. He’d never lost the love of going to new places and meeting new people, and couldn’t be happier to share it with the people he loved. There were nearly infinite worlds, Riku knew, but somehow Sora could find a way to make it all seem so small and reachable.
“So, do you want to go first, Riku?” Kairi asked, innocently.
Riku’s eyes widened. “Me? But…”
“Why not?” Sora said. “You know the answer already. And it’ll make her week.”
“I…” Riku said, biting his lip.
Kairi patted him on the back. “Come on. We’ll be waiting right outside.”
“Fine,” Riku mumbled, and Sora and Kairi beamed. Their path had brought them to a familiar house, and Riku took a deep breath, trying to keep his hands from sweating, as he walked around to the back, and knocked on the back door.
“Hello? It’s open, you know, you can come right… oh, hello, Riku,” Sora’s mother said, holding the door open for him and smiling. “And what brings you here this time of night?”
“Um… can I come in?” Riku asked, reverting to the mental script he’d prepared even though she’d already said he could, and in fact was waiting for him to enter.
“…Yes?” she said, now smirking, and Riku flushed. “Something on your mind?”
“…Yes, actually,” Riku said, entering the house and standing awkwardly by the kitchen table. “I… need to ask you something–”
“First,” Sora’s mother said, holding up a hand, “cup of tea? I just made a pot.”
“Oh, um, thank you,” Riku said, feeling like he wasn’t quite in control of the conversation. She ushered him to sit down, and Riku curled his hand around the mug she placed in front of him as she joined him at the table.
“So, Master Riku,” she said, a teasing tone in her voice as she sat down across from him, “how can I help you?”
Riku took a deep breath. “Well, I… wanted to ask your permission for something.”
She frowned. “Riku, you’re twenty-two. You don’t need my permission for anything.”
“Um… actually, there is one thing,” he said, and slowly explained what he wanted.
As he spoke, Sora’s mother’s expression changed from confusion, to surprise, to absolute delight. A wide smile, identical to her son’s trademark beaming, spread across her face, and Riku barely managed to finish what he was saying before she leapt from her seat and around the table to crush him in a hug. “Yes, yes, of course yes!” she said, and Riku breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
“Were you worried?” she asked, quietly, still hugging him.
Riku chuckled. “Always,” he said, and she laughed.
“Well, I always knew this would happen someday,” she said. “You have my blessing, Riku. Not that you really need it, though. You make them happy, and that’s all that matters.”
“It matters to me,” Riku said, quietly.
She hugged him tighter. “I appreciate it. And you’ve always had it. I’ve known you since you were a little kid, Riku. And honestly,” she added, pulling back and smirking at him, “I’ve been wondering what was taking you three so long.”
Riku blushed, and she laughed. “One other thing, though,” she added.
His breath caught. “Yes..?”
Sora’s mother pursed her lips. “I don’t suppose… you could convince Sora to shave, first?”
“Hey, Mikoto! Is he in?”
The blonde woman looked up from her desk, glaring at Sora through reading glasses. “It’s seven in the evening.”
“And?” Sora asked. “You’re here.”
Mikoto’s eyes narrowed, but she sighed, removing the glasses. “He’s here. I’m trying to convince him that he doesn’t need to work late every night, but I think he misses his girls.”
“Kairi moved two blocks away,” Sora said, amused.
“Yes, but Naminé didn’t,” Mikoto said.
“It’s been three years,” Sora pointed out.
“Which is why I’m worried,” Mikoto said.
“I see,” Sora said. “Want me to ask Kairi to talk to him about it?”
“Please,” Mikoto said, “but you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Will do,” Sora said, and Mikoto gestured for him to knock on the door behind her. He, Riku, and Kairi had tried Kairi’s father’s house initially, but he hadn’t been home, which was why Sora was now at the town offices.
Sora knocked, and at the “Come in!” entered the room. Kairi’s father was leaning over his desk, reading a pile of papers. “Sora, good to see you.”
“Good to see you, too, Mr. Mayor,” Sora said, grinning. His grin widened as Kairi’s father made a face; he’d never liked being reminded of his title. Sora glanced down at the papers and his grin turned into a frown. “Those about Jecht?”
Kairi’s father nodded. “He’s still missing. I’ve been asking around other worlds, but no one’s seen him.”
Sora nodded in return. “He is kind of distinctive.”
“Is Tidus doing all right?” Kairi’s father asked.
Sora sighed. “He’s mostly just angry. He thinks Jecht left on purpose. And I dunno if we can rule that out.”
“How would he have left, though?” Kairi’s father mused, half to himself. A half second later he blinked, and looked back up at Sora. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to distract you. Did you have something you wanted to talk about, or is this a social call?”
“Well, actually,” Sora said, smiling again, “I wanted to ask you something.”
He made his request, and Kairi’s father raised an eyebrow, then smiled. “Well, where does the time go?” He chuckled. “I still remember the day you two first met her, you know. I was concerned she’d never open up, but then you two came into her life, and she blossomed in a way I didn’t dare hope for.” Slowly, his smile widened. “Of course my answer’s yes. If you think you two can keep up with her.”
Sora beamed. “We’ll do our best, sir.”
“Don’t ‘sir’ me this late at night,” Kairi’s father said, but there was a smile twinkling in his eyes.
“Right,” Sora said, saluting, and Kairi’s father snorted. “It’s getting late, and we have one more stop to make. You should probably head home, too!”
“Good luck,” Kairi’s father said, amused, and Sora left the room.
In his wake, Mikoto entered. “Congratulations,” she said, face perfectly composed, but the set of her eyes suggested a smile.
“Don’t congratulate me,” Kairi’s father said, grinning at her. Mikoto shrugged. “They grow up so fast, don’t they?” he added, half to himself.
“They’re only two years younger than me, sir,” Mikoto deadpanned.
“Right,” Kairi’s father said. He had tried, and failed, for several years now to convince Mikoto that she didn’t need to call him “sir”. She’d won. It wasn’t worth the effort. Kairi’s father raised a glass of water, sitting on his desk, to his lips.
“…Do you think he’s going to shave beforehand?” Mikoto said, and Kairi’s father nearly spat out his drink.
If you asked Kairi, she would say that sunset wasn’t a good time for watering a garden, but she could appreciate the ambiance it created. With love, care, and patience, Riku’s uncle had grown the garden in front of his house to a truly impressive size. Riku had made a point of helping whenever he could, and still made the time to go over in the morning to see the garden and his uncle both.
“Hello,” he said, as Kairi walked up.
“Hello,” she said, smiling. “I have something to ask you.”
He glanced at her, then turned back to the garden, chuckling. “Don’t you think that’s kind of old-fashioned?”
“A little,” Kairi said, “but Riku’s apparently a traditionalist at heart.”
“It makes it more real,” his uncle said, softly.
“Yep,” Kairi said, just as softly.
The water drizzled over the flowers, soaking down to the roots. “I was the same way, when it was us,” Riku’s uncle said, eventually. Kairi said nothing, waiting for him to continue. He sighed. “I worry. About him, and about you. Not because I don’t think you’re right for him,” he said, hastily, though Kairi had been willing to hear him out without comment. “Because… you’re in a dangerous line of work, all three of you. And… things don’t always have a happy, fairy-tale ending.”
“That’s true,” Kairi said, softly. “But this isn’t a fairy tale. Real life… doesn’t really have endings. Just changes. So, I say we should enjoy what we have for as long as we have it.”
Riku’s uncle glanced at her and smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. The answer is yes, despite an old man’s worries.”
“I haven’t even asked the question yet,” Kairi said, smirking.
“You don’t have to.” Riku’s uncle turned off the hose and turned to her. “I’m glad he has you. Both of you.”
“I’m glad we have him,” Kairi said. “Thank you.”
“Thank you,” he replied. “For being there for him when I wasn’t.”
Kairi nodded, and patted his arm. Riku’s uncle had put a titanic effort into making up for that lost time, even though both he and Riku knew the lost years could never really be made up for.
“One other thing,” Riku’s uncle said as Kairi started to turn to leave.
“Yeah?”
“Are you going to make Sora shave before the day of?”
“They really don’t like it?” Sora pouted.
Riku ran his thumb over the small beard that Sora had grown on his chin. “I think everyone just got used to you with a babyface.”
“We’re not going to make you shave,” Kairi said. “We’re both fine with it.” Or used to it. Same difference, really. “Being an adult means you get to make your own choices about your appearance.”
“Does that mean I can cut my hair–”
“No,” Kairi and Sora both said, glaring at Riku, who smirked. He’d eventually decided to grow his hair back out, and currently kept it back in a ponytail. Kairi and Sora both had declared that he wasn’t allowed to have it any shorter, once they’d realized how much they liked it. He quite liked it as well.
Sora’s beard, on the other hand, had taken a little more getting used to. It was a style generally associated with surfers, and Riku had to admit that his boyfriend made it work, at least a little bit.
It was Sora’s body and his own choice, and both of them would be fine with whatever he chose.
“So,” Sora said, bouncing excitedly on his heels as he changed the subject. “That’s a ‘yes’ from everyone, right?”
“Right,” Riku said, smiling.
“It was indeed,” Kairi agreed, also beaming.
“Which means there’s only one more question, right?” Sora asked.
“Oh?” Kairi said, wrapping her arms around him.
“And what’s that?” Riku added, enveloping both of them.
Even with both of them holding him down, Sora was still bouncing in excitement. “You know,” he said, beaming.
“Who gets to propose first?”