Work Text:
It’s the big day, Riku thinks to himself; we just need to hold on for a little bit longer.
When Sora proposed to Kairi, it didn’t come as a shock to anyone. Indeed, everyone who looked at them knew it would just be a matter of when and not if. When the news broke, celebrations were aplenty and joyous.
As much as Riku thinks that it’s presumptuous of him to think so, he knows that Sora would approach him and ask him to be the best man. Who else would it be?
However, if there’s one thing Riku was not prepared for, it’s “Pre-Wedding Jitters.”
Now, he’s known Sora for all of, basically, his entire life, and he knows that Sora can get nervous and can be pretty imaginative, but this goes far beyond anything Riku has anticipated.
As he watches Sora pace back and forth like an animal trapped in a cage, Riku wonders if they should have installed a panic button.
In some respects, Riku understands Sora’s plight. After all, it is perfectly natural to be nervous on the day of a life-changing event like this. But from how Sora is acting, one would think he’s expecting the world to end.
For the past hour or so, Riku has had to answer an increasingly absurd amount of hypotheticals, each one becoming more and more ridiculous than the last. At first, it was simple worries. What if he trips on the walk-up? What if his tuxedo tears while walking around? What if he doesn’t kiss Kairi at the anointed time?
But then comes the more…questionable scenarios.
“Riku, what if Kairi is kidnapped before the ceremony?” Sora whips his head around, and Riku flinches slightly at the intensity of his gaze.
“Sora, this is a peaceful place; there are no bad guys here,” Riku calmly explains, and Sora doesn’t look satisfied with his answer.
Riku sighs, “If something happens, we’ll rescue her,” Riku says, and then he mentally slaps himself for using that one word “if.”
“If….IF!!!” Sora’s eyes look manic, “She could be in danger right now then!” Riku knows that look. It is the look that he knows means “panicked reaction.”
“Now, Sora,” Riku calmly begins as he moves to intercept Sora preemptively with a gentle yet firm grip on his shoulders and pushes him down onto his chair. As much as he would like to use a sleep spell, Riku can’t risk having Sora fall asleep before the ceremony.
As amusing as it would be to rig up a system with, say, Roxas or Ventus to jerry-rig a way to walk an unconscious Sora down the aisle, Riku is fairly sure that the bride-to-be would prefer her future husband to be awake.
“You know that there’s a bunch of powerful Keyblade wielders here, Kairi being one of them,” Riku calmly explains, and Sora stares at him, his eyes settling back down to their usual state. “If a bad guy wanted to kidnap Kairi, she’d probably beat them up herself.”
Judging by the look on Sora’s face, there’s more.
“But what if say Xehanort comes back and interrupts the ceremony?” Sora asks, and Riku sighs again.
“Then you finish the ceremony, and we go beat him up again.”
“Can you make me a promise?” Sora looks at him, dead serious.
Riku nods.
“Promise me that if this does happen, you’ll hold off Xehanort long enough for me to kiss Kairi.”
Riku snorts a little more derisively than he wishes. By this point, he could take on Master Xehanort alone rather than hold him off . Still, he clasps his hand over his heart and straightens himself out.
“I promise I will ensure that the two of you get married, come hell or high water,” Riku pledges.
“Thanks, Riku,” Sora breathes out, finally relaxing and sinking into his chair.
“You and Kairi are getting married; that’s the reality of it,” Riku says, and he promptly regrets it as he sees Sora sit up ramrod straight.
“What if I’ve just been dreaming this whole time, and Kairi was just a figment of my imagination?”
Riku’s head tilts the side, thoughts stopping so hard they may as well have crashed. How would he even begin to unravel this one?
Riku can only hope that Naminé is having an easier time than he is.
~~~~
Kairi breathes in and then out, just like how Naminé has taught her. Naminé knows that she’s walking on a thin line here as Kairi is gripping the arms of her chair so hard that she fears that Kairi may tear them off.
When Kairi had asked Naminé to be the Maid of Honor, she was shocked, but she accepted nonetheless. Although she has to wonder if someone else would have been better suited for this task.
There’s Xion, her other sister (for lack of a better descriptor), and her regular training partner. She would have a unique insight into Kairi’s feelings, given the circumstances of her life. And then there’s Aqua, so graceful, elegant, and composed. Naminé is certain that if they were here, Kairi would be her usual happy self, heck, she’d probably be hyper due to the anticipation. Then again, Naminé herself has a unique insight as well.
Considering that her memory powers have made her the unofficial therapist of the group, maybe she is best suited to this task.
Naminé nervously glances at the clock on the side, 15 minutes ; she just has to keep her sister calm for just a little longer.
“It’ll all be over soon, and then you and Sora can start your new life together,” Naminé gently pats Kairi on the shoulder.
“But what if I mess up the bouquet toss, and it somehow comes back to me?” Kairi turns to look at her, bottom lip quivering, “Does it mean that our marriage is annulled and we have to start over?”
“Umm,” Naminé shuffles nervously in place, “I guess in that case, just kiss him again to reaffirm your marriage?”
“We can do that?” Kairi asks, and Naminé arches an eyebrow at her; then Kairi is smiling again, “Then I’ll kiss his handsome face as many times as I need to…” she trails off, and Naminé knows what that means, preemptively wincing.
“What if I take off my veil and it isn’t Sora but instead someone like Vanitas?” Kairi asks, genuinely horrified.
“Then…don’t kiss him?” Naminé says, unsure of why Kairi needs her to answer that. It isn’t like the ceremony is a contract that needs to be fulfilled, regardless of the participants (apparently, there is paperwork involved at some point, but that’s beside the point).
“Good idea,” Kairi points at Naminé, and she dons a dreamy expression.
“Me and Sora, our destinies will be forever linked, across time and space,” then she leans forward, and Naminé bites back one of the words that Lea likes to use.
“What if…” Kairi looks mortified, “what if I’m somehow a time traveler and we’re related?”
Naminé can feel the gears in her brain stop turning; she doesn’t even know how to begin unpacking that one.
Thankfully, there was a knock at the door, “It’s time,” came the voice of one of the workers.
“Okay, okay,” Naminé reassures Kairi as her eyes go wide, and she bolts up from her chair.
Kairi takes a deep breath and closes her eyes to think for a moment.
“Just like we rehearsed,” Naminé gently says as she goes to lift the back of Kairi’s dress and carry it as she walks right behind her sister, the bride-to-be.
~~~~
At the altar, Riku has one eye down the aisle and one eye on the groom. He has to admit that, given the circumstances, Sora has been quite composed and calm. Although, Riku is certain that if Kairi doesn’t show up in about five minutes (being generous), then Sora is sprinting off to go find Kairi, at which point, everything is descending into madness and chaos.
Then, Riku hears it, the music that heralds the bride's arrival, and the smile that appears on Sora’s face rivals the brightness of the morning sun.
Trailing behind Kairi is Naminé doing her best to keep up as she moves faster to the music than anticipated. On her arm is her father, as proud as can be and hiding a knowing smile.
When Kairi takes her place, Sora actively stops himself from ripping her veil off to kiss her immediately.
Instead, he takes a deep breath, looks down (for dramatic effect), and gingerly lifts her veil so she can be presented to the crowd.
Their eyes meet, and Riku shares a quick glance with Naminé. No words need to be said; everyone’s expressions say the exact same thing.
Everything is going to be alright.