Work Text:
They say there was a hero who saved the world. With a smile on his face and keyblade in hand, he was the savior of all. He journeyed to find his very friends and protect them from the darkness that threatened the very world. He faced villains that wanted to turn to darkness. He found friends that turned their back on him and became misguided. However, on his side was the echoing light that lit his path as he saved them not just once, nor twice, but three separate times.
Above all was the person he wished to reunite with the most: his precious friend. To him, he was his world but his friend didn't realize the worth he had onto him. In his own journey he betrayed him but the hero has forgiven him for that. For when these two were together, they were unstoppable..
In the end, the hero saved everyone. He did everything everyone had ever wanted and only wished to be together with his very close friends. There's nothing else the hero wants more than that. However, his ending was anything but happy and did not even get that. For he sacrificed his very own life in order to save all the friends he'd ever made and was banished into another reality, forgetting the one person who was his very world.... Forgetting the light that lit his way and the face of the boy he came to love.
The streets of Quadratum were often wet, the clouds rain more often than not. Those who came to this place were often lost, confused, or had been on the break of death.
The sky was a cold grey, the rain falling down splattering into already made puddles. His shoes stepped into them, not caring about the dampness in his shoes, each and every toe felt the rain sloshing around after every step. A low whistle went by as a car rushed by, spraying his jacket with rain. It was always raining and he didn't care if he felt the droplets. He just had to get to his apartment where he felt safe.
Out here, the monsters could get him. They always made him nervous. He could technically fight them, but whenever he did something always felt wrong.
The long hours of the day working and offering his services made him completely spent. Lingering sweat from the day almost dripped off his forehead. It was raining, yet muky out. The sky was grey and light droplets fell everywhere. Some held umbrellas, covering themselves completely dry whereas others did not and their dark hair was still so damp. He passed buildings until he reached the steps.
Only a few more to go, he thought.
He fumbled around with all his bags and cards until he finally inserted the key. The door had opened and he collapsed on the couch, sighing from the long day. It was just him here. "You're home, Sora..." He whispered to himself, not another word was said.
This was his quiet yet strange life. Sora woke up, went to work and went home. It's been like that as long as he remembers. Well as long as his memory had reminded him. There were a few holes in his memory but he's been lost in this place for so long. Sora just hoped everyone was okay back home. He didn't know if he was the hero they believed he was but he hoped everyone else was okay.
He missed Kairi, Donald, and Goofy but they were safe now and that's all that mattered. Did they worry about him? If only he could tell them he is safe. Besides, Yozora was with him.
Sora occasionally spoke to Strelitzia and often waited whenever Yozora came around. He was often busy figuring out his circumstances but every moment he was there meant everything to him. Yozora was special to him. Unlike any of the others he has been important for a long time. He knew him before all of this even before Strelitzia. It was hard to remember a lot but he just knew he held something important. Besides, Yozora confirmed even if his own memory was faulty. Their stories both matched up.
Sora was laying with his head on the couch, his hair a mess when his eye caught an object in the distance. It was strange, was it always there?
It seemed so familiar...
He lifted up and walked over to the shining object. It was a globe with cute little creatures inside. They were so colorful and it brought a smile to his face. He pressed a button and a little melody started playing. "Dearly Beloved." He put a finger to his mouth, remembering the tune somehow.
He put his hand to his forehead and furrowed his eyebrows. The room darkened and he couldn't see a thing but he heard a vague but almost familiar voice.
"... I think the darkness still has a hold on me. Maybe we do need to be tested." He couldn't place a name on whose voice it was but it was so important to him. The person faced him and then he remembered agreeing to go with this person.
Who was that?
More words and phrases flashed through his mind:
"... We'll be ready Sora"
"Looks like I was in the nick of time Sora..."
"It's pretty hard not to smile around him..."
"You gotta wake up!"
"I'll find you Sora...."
He saw small creatures playing around and it was as if a boy's laughter echoed in his ears as the creatures made a bat-like cry. The boy put his hand over the creature's head and it cried out again before spinning around filled with much love.
The boy laughed again before nuzzling his own figure into the creature. "You're just like Sora... So loveable and absolutely adorable. Don't tell Sora I said that, Kay?"
However, despite those words he somehow recalled, he couldn't see the boy's face once. Every time he tried to imagine him it was as if dark lines crossed out his features making him into a black hole.
"The exam!" Sora suddenly remembered. "That's why the two of took an exam to become keyblade masters. Me and—" the fuzzy feeling came again and he shook his head, closing his eyes. "Yozora.. I was with Yozora. He was beside me to ensure I would be safe."
Another object caught his eye. This time it was a wayfinder. He smiled remembering how Kairi made one for him.
"That's right she made one before the three of us were about to go and see other worlds for the first time. Me, Ri—Yozora and Kairi." Sora put down that shell-made craft before looking at the wooden carved sword that laid next to it. "I used to fight all the time and compete in races. You were better but each time I was so determined to win despite the odds." Sora felt the tilt and smiled softly. It felt special. The boy who made it was everything.
He wanted to say Yozora and him fought all the time but something felt off like perhaps it was something else, but only Yozora had made him feel this way ever.
Finally next to the sword was a loose photograph, "S, R, and K! To the Adventures we'll see," Sora read out loud before turning it over to see him and Kairi, smiling with a grin.
He blinked and realized there was another person in the picture. His arms were crossed and his hair was silver. He couldn't tell you what expression the boy wore. For some strange reason whenever he looked at his face, Sora can't see. He couldn't tell you his eye color or if he was smiling. All he knew was his outfit was yellow and he was besides him and Kairi.
He smiled and touched the boy in the photograph with his finger. "Is that Yozora when he was younger? I don't remember what he looked like too well and I think this is him. There's no one else who this could be." Sora closed his eyes and fondly held his necklace. "You're the one who gave me my necklace all those years ago."
When he was much younger, Sora was given a precious gift from his best friend. It started off on a starry night when the stars were falling. He was scared that single night and the boy helped calm him down by gifting him a chained necklace.
Instantly everything felt better whenever he wore it. He would never dare to take it off. However, when he got to the Quadratum, it suddenly broke. Yozora, took the chains and repaired it by putting the broken star back on his necklace. It was everything to him. If it got lost or broken, he would be afraid he would forget everything.
"Yozora... I miss you." Sora clenched his fingers at his heart, muttering the name of his beloved just so softly. His eyes glanced out the window where the stars lit up from outside. He hoped wherever he was, Yozora was okay.
Yozora smiled softly as if he could hear the very words Sora told him. It was quite sweet actually. He held his crossbow while enemies surrounded his very form. "Give up already. Sora is my best friend and I won't lose now!" Heartless surrounded him, scurrying around between them.
An Identical face and figure faced him, his hand was in a fist while a strange weapon was in the other. He called it a keyblade which was way too similar to what Sora had recalled fighting with.
Who was this person that claimed to be looking for Sora?
Still the identical figure was prepared for everything. "What?" The other didn't understand the words Yozora had spoken to him. He took a deep breath and pointed his keyblade at the attacker, "I will find Sora and bring him home!"
"But he is my home... His home has always been me and we belong together." Yozora took a step forward, smiling as he thought of his friend. "He is my precious beloved. My dearly beloved."
Riku— the name of Sora's identical friend— staggered back when he called Sora just that. Who was he to make him feel like this just because someone else is Sora's precious somebody?
"I've come here looking for him." Riku tried to explain, crying out against the hard wind and light raindrops that continued to pour down and push against his features.
"What for?" Yozora tilted his head, raising his eyebrows in disbelief, not wanting to give him up. "Sora lives here with me and Sora never mentioned you ever. He has a few holes in his memory, yes, but he is perfect just how he is. So if you're so important, then how come he hasn't even recalled your name once?"
Riku widened his eyes and almost faltered. Has Sora lost his memory?
His figure faltered and he whispered his name, "Sora..."
Only in a single apartment did the boy hear the other call his name. He clenched at his heart once, then whispered a foreign word, "Riku..." But neither could he remember how he knew that name. And it was the name of the boy who looked identical to his best friend, Yozora.
