Chapter Text
Destiny Islands, Night.
The two young boys lay beside one another, blessed by the moon's lukewarm embrace upon the chilly night. The darkness seeped before them, the waves clashing against their legs, and the winds howled tonight as the storm raged.
Catching a gaze at his friend, Riku could tell something was off with the usually cheerful boy given his uncharacteristically grave expression, and nudging his shoulder, he teased to lighten the mood, "Geez, Sora. Don't tell me you're getting scared from just a storm." his eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"I..." Sora shook his head, "No, that's not it at all..." as a tear graced his cheek, his chest pounding, "It's like something squeezing my chest, and..." He exclaimed in realization as a eureka struck him, "It's really tight!"
Thinking back to something an adult once told him, a borrowed wisdom forged through recitation left Riku's lips, "Someone must be sad..."
Sora sat up and turned to Riku, asking him, "Huh, who?"
Riku gestured up at the sky, "Out there... They say every world shares the same grand sky, so maybe someone out there is hurting, and they need your help."
Surprised, he instinctively bit his lip. Guilt plagued the kind-hearted boy, "Geez, do you think there's anything I can do to help them, Riku?"
Placing his index finger beneath his chin, Riku contemplated before suggesting, "You should try opening your heart and listening. That'll be the guiding key..."
Sora sighed, spreading his arms out and cracking his knuckles, "Geez, Riku, you say some weird stuff, but I'll give it a try--"
Before Riku knew it, he saw Sora collapse back onto the ground, rapidly losing consciousness as the waves threatened to swallow their bodies beneath the roaring sea.
Panic glazed his heart, and Riku couldn't help but feel responsible; had Sora fallen into this comatose state thanks to his dumb advice, or was he overthinking it-- He couldn't tell, but the shadow of guilt remained.
Gathering all of his strength, he grabbed Sora up into his arms and carried the unconscious boy back to their boat before the sea swallowed him up.
Reverse/Rebirth.
Once awake in his bed, Sora had only found himself disoriented, and the grip around his chest replaced with a pounding dull pain throughout his heart, pulsating every second. He broke down into tears, the pain and negativity overwhelming him as his body felt weak and beaten; a voice inside him screeched that this wasn't natural and writhed in aches as his body cringed from the wrongness of it all.
He hadn't remembered anything from the night before. Even holding onto the memories of Riku and his parents was taxing his exhausted mind and searing brain. His emotions felt like a wildfire, erupting from the seams with undiagnosable hatred and fury.
His parents said it was the flu or something Sora caught from playing in the storm, and that's why his eyes were bloodshot. He felt so heavy from it all. He was just being overdramatic, right?
He hoped so.
Sora's bedroom, Dawn.
The first one to visit the bedridden boy except his family had been Riku, who promptly sat on his bed across from Sora and asked him as he gazed upon his long-time friend, "So, how are ya holding up Sora?"
Sora admitted, "Not great..." a sigh escaping his lips as he hopelessly tapped his foot back and forth, propped up against expecting some physical stimulation would numb the pain.
"Maybe we should go to the beach together again!" The child cheerfully suggested, hoping to get some quality time with Sora, adding, "It might help you get out of the funk..."
Frustrated, Sora lashed, "What's that supposed to mean?" his mind clouded by the pain that infected him.
Riku teased him, "Well, from the way I see it, someone's let themselves be tardy and wallow in their misery rather than get back to it. C'mon, Sora, it's been a week, and I haven't seen you once!"
Sora's heart surged with something besides pain for the first time since that night, rage engulfing him at Riku's insensitivity, "Get real, I'd run circles around you!" He gasped as he grasped for his lips. He didn't think he'd say something like that, much less in his bedridden state.
Riku teased, "You're on, Sora. Race ya to the islands!" as he promptly spun around and sprinted off into the halls, determined to coax Sora out of his sleepy state.
Sora whined as he promptly shot himself out of bed, "Now that's unfair, wait for me!" he cried, hurrying after his best friend to the island they called their home away from home.
Destiny Islands, Afternoon.
Sora mostly recovered from the ordeal, engaging in competitive spats with Riku for fun, be it faux sword fighting on the pier or racing across the islands; the two were a lot more rowdy on the island; a friendly rivalry was blossoming between the two, and it helped alleviate the burden festering within his heart as he pulled himself together.
One of their increasingly regular duels enthralled the two, the sun blaring down upon them and scorching their skin beneath its sacred light. Sora leaped into the air, aiming to get the one-over on Riku, "Gotcha!" He exclaimed with passion and vigor as he smashed his sword against Riku's parry. His red eyes locked onto his opponent as Riku struggled to maintain his guard.
Groaning in frustration, Riku weaved to the right to escape Sora's swing before the boy cartwheeled to his side and slammed the toy blade against Riku's chest, "Too slow!" He teased with a hint of his spunky and cheery self. Riku glanced down at his chest and groaned, "Good grief." With a disapproving nod, he groaned in defeat.
"Well, Riku, that makes the score twelve to four!" Sora proudly proclaimed, giggling like a little girl to himself over it, getting a kick out of showing off.
Rolling his eyes, Riku complained, "No fair, you always use cheap shots."
With an oddly ominous weight to his tone, Sora said, "Yeah, because when we're out there, cheap shots will be all we've got, right?"
Curious, Riku asked, "Out where, Sora?" He couldn't have meant the main island. That was the most quiet place they knew.
Sora clarified, gazing down at his blade before eying up Riku, "The other worlds, you've mentioned them before."
"Yeah, I have, but what would you know about other worlds?" Riku taunted.
Sora gazed away, glancing into the sky as his eyes were lost to its vast abyss in nostalgic remembrance, a bit confused, "I... I don't know, call it a gut feeling."
Indulging in the humid island breeze with a deep breath, Riku grasped Sora and pulled him into a playful noogie before he could worry about it for too long, "Suppose that'll set it twelve to five, Sora."
"Unfair!" Sora whined like the bratty boy he was, pouting in displeasure as Riku teased him.
"Excuse me, what were you just saying earlier?" Riku called out his hypocrisy, "Oh yeah, that's right, cheap shots are all we'll have."
The humor sparked fits of laughter in Sora, provoking him to break out into a maniacal chuckle. Riku joined in, and despite the nagging feelings in his chest, they knew they'd be okay.