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It used to always be Sora, Riku and Kairi. Then they became the lost.
Riku and Kairi were torn from home and safety and lost, one on purpose and one by accident, and it was up to Sora as the seeker to find them. They were lost, and as most lost things are want to do, they were found, and it became the three of them again. It had always been that simple. Sora and Riku would always be the best of friends. Sora would never consider leaving Riku behind. Never. Riku was just too important to lose. Just like Kairi was their princess, both literally and figuratively. They were meant to be together.
Riku and Sora would have their sword fights and Kairi would be the damsel in distress; who would win the fair maiden's hand today? Kairi sometimes wondered who Sora would choose, if it came down to it. Riku or her? Kairi knew his answer, of course. He'd save them both because Sora still believed, in that childish mind of his, that he could pull Kairi back to him with one hand and keep the darkness away from Riku with the other. She asked herself this when she suggested they left, just the two of them, on the journey that never happened. It seemed so long ago, when they had sat on the dock staring at the sunset. "Let's take the raft and go! Just the two of us!" she'd said, as if it were the best idea in the world. She never got an answer. She knew he'd tell her they couldn't leave Riku behind. He was important, and what would the two of them be without him? So she giggled and dropped the subject.
When everything was finished and the adventure was over, it was still the three of them. Somehow they had survived the darkness pulling at their hearts, tempting them to betray secrets, to take lives. In the end, they had won and had come home victorious. Kairi now wondered if Sora would still choose the both of them, or if he would push her away to keep the darkness at bay with both hands now? It was obvious Riku was changed and twisted from the inside out by the thing that had held him in its grip for so long, and Sora would need all this strength to keep Riku sane. Would he even dare to abandon Riku and pull Kairi to him in a tight embrace, protecting her from everything the world would throw their way? Sometimes Kairi would be selfish and wish that fate upon Riku - let him be swallowed by the darkness again, if only she could be saved. Other times she would cringe at the direction her thoughts had taken her and reach out to offer Riku a comforting embrace instead. As if to atone for her thoughts, even though she hadn't acted upon them. It was horrible to think that way, she told herself, and thus those embraces were always emotional for her - the scent of salt and shampoo and something purely Riku clung to her as she pulled away, always leaving Riku slightly confused as to why Kairi was crying.
How could a Princess of Light wish such a fate upon somebody so broken already? Especially when Riku was beginning to heal. She was meant to be pure of heart, and yet dark thoughts had a way of creeping up on anyone. They had been there from the very beginning, her selfish nature prevalent in all humans. Her heart, no matter how bright, was just a finicky thing. Her emotions ran wild. "Let's take the raft and go! Just the two of us!" she'd said, and Kairi knew now it would have led to their ruin.
It was Sora, Riku, and Kairi again, but things were tense now. Kairi could sense it. Maybe Sora couldn't, but then again…Sora would never change, even if things around him did. Sora would always be Sora, loyal to his friends - still reaching out with one hand to her and keeping the darkness away from Riku with the other. It was Riku and Kairi that had changed. They had been the lost, after all. The lost never come back the same.