Chapter Text
It was getting dark, and Sora was starting to feel exhausted. The bad kind, when his magic restored slower before it stopped altogether. And yet the heartless kept coming. There weren’t many but they were massive, tricky to take down. He didn’t want to have to run and regroup somewhere before jumping back in. He wanted it over with.
An ache in his chest seemed to remind him he wasn’t used to fighting alone. Wasn’t meant to.
It had been over a year, and still his foolish heart stubbornly held on!
He yelled out a fire spell and aimed well enough to make the cast worth it. It worked better than he expected, and he felt renewed vigour as he threw himself back in to hopefully end this battle for good.
Just before he jumped back into the fray, he felt the presence of more magic and dodged away from the heartless at the last moment. Tricky, Sora thought to himself. The heartless must have some spells left in them, too. He looked up to plan his next move, but stopped in his tracks as another burst of fire fell down onto the enemies. It was a higher-level spell for sure, and when his eyes found the source he felt his blood run cold.
Yozora!? No…
Sora squinted at the figure, whose edges were blurred by the high temperature. The person dropped to the pavement near the heartless, who burned until they were defeated. Then he turned to face Sora.
It can’t be.
But who else would look at him like that?
“...Riku?” he asked, and saw green eyes go wide. It had to be real. Not even his wildest moods could dream up the details of Riku’s indescribable expression.
“Sora. I. I found you,” Riku said. He stepped closer as if he were unsure, like he was trying to convince himself.
Sora walked towards him too, and he dismissed his keyblade as they came closer. He wanted to cry. He wanted to jump into Riku’s arms. But he was still not able to allow himself to believe that Riku was really there, so when they were about to collide they both just sort of reached for each other and grasped onto forearms and the backs of biceps. Testing if the other would dissolve into mist.
“You’re real, right?” Sora asked, thumb brushing the soft material of Riku’s jacket.
“Yeah, Sora. I mean, I think so,” Riku said, a nervous smile on his face. “You won’t believe what I did to get here-”
“The power of waking is no joke! It can do, like, way more than we ever thought!”
“I know! I know, it was insane- Sora, you’re okay, right?” Riku suddenly felt up his arms, then held on to his shoulders and peered into his face. “You seem okay…”
“You seem pretty okay yourself,” Sora said, peering right back. The greens of Riku’s eyes stood out more when his face went a little red. It made Sora’s heart lift. “Yeah, I’m okay Riku. Are you?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m okay now,” Riku said, and his next exhale seemed to expel some tension along with his breath.
People were starting to reappear, now that the threats in the city had been eliminated. Some looked around at the scorched pavement and shattered glass. Some gawked right at them, as the pair stood there clutching on to each other.
“We should go,” Riku murmured.
“I’ve got a place.” Sora tilted his head to the left, in the general direction of his apartment. “It’s sort of far…”
Riku looked around, then started to lead them away. “There. The alley.”
“Huh?”
“Just trust me,” Riku said, and Sora did. Of course he did, and always would.
They got to the alley and ducked in, walking a few paces before Riku called his keyblade again. Sora could only watch in awe as Riku infused the weapon with magic, transforming Braveheart into a vehicle that most resembled a motorcycle. He was still gaping as Riku swung a leg over the seat and leaned forward to hold on to the handles.
“Stop staring and get on,” he said, a knowing tilt to his smile.
Sora felt something he couldn’t name, hadn’t felt in so long that he’d paused any attempts to examine it further. But his heart was beating out of his chest as he sat down behind Riku and held on, close enough that he was sure Riku could feel every loud thump. If he did, he didn't say anything. He just kicked the bike up into action, and soon they were peeling out of the alley and down the street. Sora shouted in surprise and held on tighter, only barely able to hear Riku’s laughter as they sped away from the site of the battle.
Sora watched as buildings whizzed by, cheek pressed to Riku’s shoulder as he got used to hanging on. It was really weird to not be in control of the ship, so to speak, but he found he liked it just fine. A few blocks later he squeezed in higher, thighs holding on as he tried to get closer. The bike wobbled for a split second as he tried to speak closer to Riku’s ear. He called out directions like that until they made it back to his building, Riku steering them into another alley so they could disappear their ride semi-privately. Somehow, Riku’s wind-swept hair still looked perfect. Sora was weary of what his own must’ve looked like, but he didn’t dwell and instead led them inside.
Only once they were behind the locked door of his tiny apartment did he think to breathe again. The nerves hit him like a tonne of bricks. And the grief, and the love. Seeing Riku in that space was confusing his grasp on reality.
“So it wasn’t just a dream…” Riku said, startling Sora from his reverie. “I saw you here, once. On that couch. I saw you in the city.”
“Riku…”
“I saw you frozen, in ice, o-or crystal. I saw that the most.” Riku ran his hand through his hair, more of a nervous movement than anything. “I thought you were trapped. For a year I’ve been trying so, so hard to find you.”
“I’m sorry,” Sora said and looked down. “I wanted to be found. I want to come back, but I don’t know if I can…”
“Me neither,” said Riku, and suddenly his hand was on Sora’s shoulder. “And you’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”
“But-!”
“But nothing. I just did exactly what you would’ve done, had you been in my shoes.” Riku’s hand fell back to his side, and Sora missed it acutely.
He had missed everything about Riku, honestly. He had missed how safe he felt by simply being next to his best friend. And most of all, his ability to say just the right thing, reminding Sora that following their hearts was always the right choice.
Sora laughed a little and gave a helpless shrug.
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Guess we better figure out how to get back together, huh.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.”
“Tomorrow. I’m beat!”
No sooner had Sora finished his sentence when a green light glowed around his body. Riku’s healing spell. It certainly helped, fatigue lifting from his muscles and scrapes knitting over with new skin. Riku was looking at him a little bewildered, as though he hadn’t really thought about what he was doing before doing it. There was that hint of red again, across the bridge of Riku’s nose and up his cheeks.
“Thanks Riku.”
“Y-yeah, don’t mention it…”
“C’mon, I’ll make us something to eat and you can catch me up on everything,” Sora said, tugging Riku’s hand in his and leading him to the kitchen.
As Sora prepared a meal, he chatted with Riku about all that had been happening with their friends in the past year. Well, he mostly listened and asked questions as Riku filled him in. While each person had been busy, it all seemingly centred around the same thing: finding him. As much as he understood this, and felt pretty touched as well, there still existed scraps of guilt around his heart, squeezing into it like shrapnel. At least everyone was together, no more Organization or Xehanort interfering with so many of their lives. At least something good had come from all they’d done.
As Riku turned more to reporting on himself and Kairi, Sora couldn’t help but sense the melancholy that sat with him. His life sounded full, busy with duties and even some fun - beach barbeques and gatherings with their friends and all sorts of folks from across the universe. Yet it seemed like Riku often travelled alone. Kairi was usually with Aqua, Mickey was busy with his own duties but sometimes joined, and it seemed everyone had split up in their quests to learn more about Sora while repairing damage from a decade of turmoil.
It didn’t sound perfect, but it sounded nice enough. He missed everyone.
Yet Sora found that his heart couldn’t stay heavy on that thought. He was glad Riku was here with him, more than he dared say. His mere presence lifted his spirits, gave Sora hope that he may actually be able to get out of this reality and back to his own. With Riku. Nothing would make him happier.
So, he let himself be selfish as they annihilated the stack of grilled cheese and bowl after bowl of hearty soup, conversation shifting to playful banter. Every moment made Sora feel better, more like himself than he had felt in a long time. It’s not that he had given up hope, but. He had certainly let a lot go in the past year as his efforts showed no fruit, and tried to find purpose in whatever he could do in this realm.
It was as though Riku brought a light back into his life, and Sora would be foolish to turn away.
“I can show you around more tomorrow,” Sora said, once they were done cleaning up the kitchen (mostly). “I’m ready for bed.”
“Old man,” Riku teased. “That’s fine with me. I, uh. I’ll just take the couch, then.”
“What! No way,” Sora said, feet moving without conscious choice. He couldn’t explain himself, and wouldn’t want to, if pressed. He just felt so intensely alarmed by being apart from Riku, suddenly, that he couldn’t bear it. Sora wrapped his arms around Riku, bringing him close and resting his head against his best friend. “You’re sleeping with me. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
There was a moment when all he could hear was Riku’s heartbeat. The guy’s breath must have caught or something. Riku was so warm, and real, and Sora felt something so right in his own heart that he didn’t think he could ever let go. Luckily for him, Riku’s arms enveloped him fully, his own face pressing against the top of Sora’s head in an embrace that was perfectly consuming.
“Thanks…” Riku said tightly. Sora couldn’t see his face, but he could feel the weight behind such a simple word.
And like, maybe Riku felt the way he did at that moment. Relieved, safe, overjoyed, whole - and in a word, right. Like everything was going to be okay. Like all he wanted to do was bask in that feeling, and ensure they wouldn’t lose sight of each other again.
When they finally pulled back a little, Riku’s eyes were wet. Instead of teasing, Sora reached to cup his friend’s face. It earned him a soppy smile, and he felt his chest grow.
They made their way to the little bedroom, and Riku helped Sora unfold the futon they were to share. He borrowed sleep clothes that were definitely too small, but he donned them without complaint. By the time they were under the covers, Sora found that all he wanted to do was stay up and talk more. But his body was uncooperative, sinking down into rest, pressed into Riku’s side.
“Riku?” Sora asked, voice already heavy.
“Hmm?”
“This is a dream, isn’t it.”
“...Yeah, it is,” Riku said carefully. His voice was almost a whisper.
“You won’t be here when I wake up.”
“Don’t worry, Sora. I’ll find you in your next dream.”
Riku felt so much like a promise. Sora sighed and found himself letting go; as much as he didn’t want to, he was falling asleep.
“There is always sleep between part and meet,” Sora found himself saying. “With our usual words on the usual street…”
Riku’s hand found his. Palm to palm, fingers intertwined.
So let us part like we always do...
and in a world without you
I'll dream of you
When I come to, let us meet
with our usual words on the usual street