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Sora was on a cliffside facing thousands of heartless, keyblade nowhere in sight. This world was misshapen, the ground both beneath Sora's feet and above his head, making platforms of dirt that decorated the sky, yet the heartless had to exist on the same platform as him. Sora immediately turned on his heels and began running for dear life, begging the keyblade to make an appearance.
Sora could hear the heartless chittering and clambering behind him, but his keyblade refused to appear. They were gaining on him, claws scraping his heels and ankles, missing him by just a hair. He could feel the pounding of his heart in tandem with the pounding of his feet. Air struggled to enter his lungs, leaving faster than he could take a breath. He was drowning in his own terror, and his keyblade refused to make itself known.
"Sora!"
A shout came from above him, and Sora chanced a glance towards it to spot shining silver running alongside him. Though he was upside down, Sora immediately knew it was Riku, and relief flooded through his veins.
“Grab on!” Riku shouted, throwing his hands up towards Sora.
Sora immediately jumped to grab on, closed his eyes, and the world began to spin.
Gravity shifted as though Sora was trapped in a Graviga spell. He went from flying to falling in an instant, Riku pulling his arm harshly so that Sora would flip and land on his behind. And land he did, crashing so hard into the ground that the earth shook, but it didn’t hurt. It felt dull, like the world softened the blow for him, though that should not be possible. The heartless, though as Sora looked closer he noticed that they were actually nightmares, rushed past overhead, disappearing over the cliff.
“Hey there,” Riku said, leaning over Sora in a teasing manner, “come here often?”
“Oh har har, help me up?” Sora extended his arms like a child.
Riku pulled Sora to his feet and the world righted itself. There were no platforms in the sky, only the starry expanse of space. The cliffside replaced itself with a grassy hill, and Sora looked at Riku with a sheepish grin.
"So what clued you in this time?" Sora asked, scratching his neck.
"The keyblade in your hand. You swung it blindly a few times before I took the dive."
"Oh, sorry about that." Sora sat down with a soft plop, inviting Riku to do so as well.
Riku picked at a blade of grass, pulling it from the earth and delicately splitting it into two. "Nothing to be sorry about. Nightmares happen, especially after everything you've had to go through."
Sora just hummed in response, dragging his fingers over the dirt and disrupting the natural formation of the grass.
The night was quiet, with not even a cricket or an owl around to make a peep. All they could hear was the soft breeze against their ears, though it felt dull as though they were underwater. Teetering along the edges of sleep and wakefulness can do that to a dream.
"I think I'm gonna wake up soon," Sora said.
"I'll be there when you do."
And Sora closed his eyes only to find that he had to peel them open once more.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he discovered Riku already sitting at the edge of the bed, desperately trying not to belch loudly from the dream that he had eaten. The sky was still dark, the moonlight softly illuminating the room from the window. This time, Sora could hear crickets if he listened closely, and the wind occasionally whistled, rustling a wind chime.
"Good evening," Sora said, sitting up and leaning his head against Riku's shoulder and dismissing his keyblade with the flick of his wrist.
Riku adjusted himself to wrap an arm around Sora, and Sora chuckled as Riku's hair tickled him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Riku asked, lighting rubbing Sora's back in a comforting gesture.
Sora shrugged, "there's not much to talk about, thanks for the save."
The two boys eventually made their way under the covers, the chill of nighttime biting at their skin. It was almost too much sensation after being in a dream, especially for Riku.
"Do you ever get tired of it?" Sora asked, looking down at the collar of Riku's pajama top where a small stain of darkness sat.
"Of?" Riku responded.
"This," Sora rubbed the small stain between his fingers. "Diving into my dreams. Saving me from my nightmares."
Riku grabbed Sora's hand and kissed the top of it. "Never."
"How come?"
"I like knowing that you're safe, and I like that I have the ability to protect you from something, as selfish as that sounds."
Sora shuffled forward to plant a small kiss on Riku's forehead. "Next time, I'm going to protect you."
Riku let out a small chuckle before pulling Sora into his arms.
"Not if I protect you first."
The two fell into yet another dream, and did not wake until morning.