Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The guest room is dark and yawning when he opens the door, and the only light is coming from the kitchen downstairs. They aren’t supposed to be awake, but Sora is the smallest, so it makes the most sense that he would be selected to sneak past Kairi’s dad’s room to get a third gaming controller.

He’s not scared of the dark, of course; he’s not a baby. He’s seven-and-three-quarters, as of yesterday. But this darkness feels different. It has teeth that sink into Sora’s skin and make him shiver. It lures him deeper into the room with the promise of an apology.

Sora knows the gaming controllers are stored in the closet, and when he moves through the doorway, he forgets that the door is heavy and closes by itself.

Suddenly, the light is extinguished entirely. There’s no way he could find his way to the closet without tripping and making too much noise, so Sora moves to open the door and prop it open. When he tries the handle, it doesn’t budge.

Fear claws at Sora’s heart. He’s not afraid of the dark, really , but the back of his neck prickles like he’s not alone in the room. Like the darkness is a living, breathing thing.

He can’t yell for someone to open the door—Kairi’s dad will wake up and catch them. He’s not about to get his friends in trouble because he had been too stupid to keep the door open.

His breathing gets shallow as tears prick at the corner of his eyes. He’s not going to cry. What would Riku think if he knew Sora let a dark room give him nightmares?

As the thought passes, there’s a rushing sound of wind, and a stunning white light shines from under the doorway. It’s bright enough to make Sora shield his eyes, and it illuminates the entire room. For a brief moment, Sora thinks it’s lightning.

Then, the door creaks open, and Riku is standing there with a weak, pale-yellow flashlight.

“Sora?” he asks, and that’s when Sora breaks and tears start to flow. He wanted to be strong for Riku, to show Riku that he can be brave, but he allowed his fears to take hold.

“The door locked,” he whimpers miserably, and Riku rushes closer, placing his flashlight on the ground before bringing Sora into his arms.

“You know it closes by itself sometimes,” Riku chides as he rubs Sora’s back.

Sora sniffles pathetically into Riku’s bony shoulder. “Forgot.”

He feels Riku huff a laugh before his best friend pulls back and gives him the most reassuring smile Sora has ever seen. Instantly, Sora is at ease, and the darkness of the room feels far away. “That’s okay. I came to find you!”

“Thanks, Riku.” Sora smiles meekly and asks, “What was that light?”

“What light?”

“The really bright one right before you opened the door.”

Riku furrows his brows. There’s no way he didn’t see it—Sora’s never seen a flashlight that bright. But, maybe he imagined it…

“Come on,” Riku says when Sora doesn’t elaborate. “Kairi’s waiting. Let’s find that controller, okay?”

–

Sora wakes up, lying on the same examination table he’s been using as a bed for three weeks.

He doesn’t feel rested, but that doesn’t matter. Despite his heavy limbs and stiff neck, Sora sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He glances over at the monitor where Ienzo is typing away, looking at a ton of different graphs that Sora can’t even begin to understand. It’s been five days since Sora had a memory dream, so this is a breakthrough.

“Anything?” he asks, his voice rough. “I was pretty young. Maybe it was too far back.”

Ienzo frowns. “It’s not immediately promising. I’ll keep at it, though.”

Of course. Quelle surprise.

The entire Radiant Garden crew has told him ad nauseam that they used Riku’s dreams to find Sora in Quadratum. Surely, they said, it’s the solution to finding Riku in the same fashion. But it’s been three weeks since Riku left, and so far, they’ve got nothing. Sora is starting to think they’re just humoring him.

He swings his legs over the side of the examination table and yawns, feeling sore. “Text me if you find anything. I’m headed to Arendelle today.”

“You’re not going anywhere, mister,” Kairi’s voice floats in from the doorway. “You’re taking a nap.”

Much to her dismay, Sora hasn’t stopped moving, visiting a new world every day to search for Riku. It’s not his fault that there are lingering Heartless wandering around, and it’s kind of his responsibility to take them out. What with his personalized magic key that releases metaphysical hearts, and all.

“I’m fine.”

“You look like a drowned puppy,” she aptly describes. “When was the last time you slept for more than four hours?”

He scratches the back of his neck. “Um.”

“Exactly. You’re not gonna do Riku much good if you’re falling asleep at the ship helm.” Even the mention of his name makes Sora’s heart skip—especially embarrassing while he’s still feeding readings to Ienzo, and his heartbeat shows as a line on one of his graphs.

He hops off the table and follows Kairi, who walks him to his room. He hasn’t slept in here since—

Sora swallows the bitterness that rises up his throat.

Stupid, stupid Riku. And stupid Vanitas for going with him. 

Kairi seems to sense his apprehension to enter the room before they get to the door. “Hey. We’ll find them.”

He doesn’t answer as he enters the room, and Kairi follows wordlessly, the two of them understanding that Sora doesn’t like to fall asleep alone these days.

“What if we don’t?” Sora asks, his voice breaking as he toes off his shoes. 

“Well, we’re going to, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Sora, exhausted, collapses to the bed and stares at the ceiling. “Why the fuck did he run away from me?”

He’s played their last moments together so many times in his head and he can’t figure it out. Riku’s words had been indecipherably cryptic, to the point where Sora didn’t even know where to begin searching. And without their link, finding Riku feels more and more hopeless as each day passes. He could be halfway across the universe by now.

Kairi makes herself comfortable at the desk and grabs a random book from the shelf above it, flipping unseeingly through the pages. “Because he’s a dumb, stupid, self-hating idiot. Go to sleep, Sora.”

It takes a few minutes for him to do so, despite his low energy. He can’t sleep in the dark, and he can’t sleep much better with a light on. He’s only been able to successfully pass out fully in the lab, and maybe it’s because he knows it’s the only way to find Riku.

And then, there’s the bleeding.

He hasn’t mentioned it yet. He’s not sure if he will mention it, actually. Before he disappeared, Riku said there would be enough residual light from their link to protect him from his Quadratum memories. 

He was wrong. 

Sora sees flashes of another world, sometimes. One minute, he’ll be in the peaceful lab, and the next, he’ll be inside an unfamiliar apartment with a storm raging outside. The images will flicker and fade and blend. Sora can shake them away with a few blinks or a pinch to his arm, but they’re getting more frequent. Worse.

And, when he fights Heartless, it’s not like he’s losing his powers. Whatever Riku did with their link helped Sora back to his former Keyblade Wielder glory, and that hasn’t changed. But, every now and then, he’ll catch himself forgetting a cure spell or missing an easy swing of his blade. 

When he finally dozes, Kairi reading by his bedside, he twilight-dreams about a city. Huge buildings tower above him. Cars zip past, splashing puddles of rain as they go. People bustle about, umbrellas clutched tight as they try to evade the downpour. Sora knows this is Quadratum.

He’s not sure how long he actually sleeps (not that he would really consider that half-awake state sleeping ) until he realizes Kairi isn’t in the room anymore, which means it must have been a few hours at least. Groggily, he rubs his face with his hands like he can scrub the images of Quadratum from his mind.

As if on cue, there’s a knock at the door, and a few seconds pass before Strelitzia pokes her head inside.

“Oh,” she mutters. “Sorry, I didn’t wait for an answer. I’m—I’m used to just walking in on you.”

He gives her a gentle, sleepy smile. “It’s okay! I’m the one who has to catch up.”

They haven’t had a lot of time to chat due to Sora’s recent explorations and searches, but Strelitzia still feels safe. His heart knows her, that’s for sure.

She steps inside and closes the door behind her. Almost shyly, she offers Sora a cup of water and places a piece of fruit down on his desk. “I thought you might need some energy.”

“So, a peace offering?” he teases. “Or an excuse to talk to me?”

She frowns as her ears turn red. “How do you read people like that?”

“It’s a gift.” He stretches until his back cracks. “What’s up?”

“How are you feeling?” she asks, gingerly sitting in the desk chair. “Really.”

He regards her carefully. Even if he doesn’t remember it, they were best friends for four years—she has to be relatively trustworthy. “Promise not to tell the others?”

“Promise.”

He smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m kind of hallucinating.”

She furrows her brow. “Like…from lack of sleep?”

“No. More like…from the fact that I switched realities and the only thing keeping my brain un-fried was a connection I don’t have anymore.”

Realization colors her expression. “Oh, Sora…you need to tell someone.”

“What are they gonna do?” he scoffs. “The only way to fix it is to find Riku and hope we can restore the link, which isn’t guaranteed. If he even wants to do that.”

“Is it really bad?”

He shrugs. “I just see flashes sometimes. I think…an apartment? Our apartment?”

Strelitzia fiddles with the drawstring from her gray hoodie. “Do you remember anything about me, or is it just places?”

“Right now, just places,” Sora sighs. “I’ll be okay. We don’t really have time to worry, y’know? We have to find Riku.”

She gives a bitter smile. “I hated him at first. I knew bringing you back to the Realm of Light would just hurt you more. But…he was right. Every day, you’re out there, saving people from Heartless—I don’t think anyone else can do what you do. They need you here.”

“They need you here, too,” Sora tells her. “Not just for your brother. You have a place here. You know that, right?”

Strelitzia doesn’t answer. She just clears her throat and changes the subject. “Yen Sid was calling for you, by the way.”

Sora perks up. “Huh? Why?”

“He thinks he found something that could help, but that it’s no guarantee and might just be a shot in the dark.” She reaches for her phone and shows him the screen, which displays a text conversation with Ven. “Ven’s already at the tower.”

Sora is out of bed in the next second. Yen Sid doesn’t casually drop bombs like this, and even if it is a hopeless thread to follow, Sora has to try. It’s the first time in a month that he’s actually entertained Sora; his visits to the tower have been in vain, and Yen Sid always acts like he’s a burden to be around. It’s draining, to say the least.

As if it’s the most natural thing in the world, Strelitzia hands him a clean shirt from the dresser drawer, and Sora pauses. For a fraction of a second, the shirt is stained and Strelitzia’s distant voice is telling him to be more careful when he pours wine for his wealthier customers. Then, it’s gone.

“Sora?”

He smiles. “Come on. Walk me to the hangar?”

–

Ven is already in Yen Sid’s study by the time Sora climbs the steps and reaches the top. He turns to offer Ven a smile, but Ven’s responding expression is strained and tired. He’s been losing sleep just like Sora—his only advantage is that he’s not dealing with crippling visions of another reality.

Yen Sid regards Sora with his standard pensive expression, clearly analyzing his body language. But, Sora didn’t come here to get a mental evaluation. 

“Master,” Sora greets. “You said you had some information?”

“Indeed,” the old man drawls. “Though, I must warn you—it’s quite far-fetched, compared to seeking answers through dreams.”

Sora stays quiet. Far-fetched is better than nothing at all.

“Long ago, all that existed was everlasting darkness and eternal light borne out of Kingdom Hearts.” He waves his hand and an illusion appears in front of the group, setting the scene. Two blobs of light and dark encircle each other like binary stars. “Then, for reasons unknown, the darkness split into seven beings. That same darkness clashed with the eternal light emitted by Kingdom Hearts, and the result brought forth an explosion of people and worlds.”

“The Master said something about this,” Sora says, folding his arms over his chest. “Talking about how he wanted a clean slate.”

“Yes. According to the mythos, the essence of each darkness and each light has been traveling through the ages ever since. It is believed the darkness enters humans at will, forcing them to commit atrocities. The essence of light is fated to clash with the darkness.

“I believe,” Yen Sid continues, “Riku may have a heart wrested by that same darkness.”

“The essence of darkness from the beginning of time possessed Riku and forced him to run away?”

“Possession is not the term to use,” Yen Sid continues. “Consider, instead, the concept of reincarnation. This essence would have followed Riku across lifetimes. As such, this explains the Master’s claim of traversing centuries to collect the light between the two of you.”

Sora still doesn’t quite understand, but the Master’s words are forever burned into his mind. After weeks of pointless ruminating, he’ll take any theory. 

“He was not our only flight risk,” Yen Sid continues. “As you know, Vanitas has vanished as well. I have suspected for a long while that Vanitas could also be related to the original essence of darkness. My suspicion is that he convinced Riku that leaving was his only option to keep you safe from the Master’s plans.”

“That’s stupid. How are we supposed to beat that guy if we’re apart?” Sora gestures at Ven. “I know we have numbers, but if our link is that powerful, it’d be the only thing we could use to stop the Master.”

“I tend to agree,” Yen Sid hums. “Leaving was quite reckless. I have to imagine Vanitas made a convincing argument.”

Ven finally speaks up and says, “Is that why I’m here? To help find them both?”

“Yes. You will travel together and start your search in Scala ad Caelum.” Yen Sid snaps his fingers, and a gummi ship slightly larger than Highwind rises into view of the tower’s window. “This is where the mythos began; visiting Scala ad Caelum is vital to help us gather more context if we hope to find our missing comrades.”

“I want Kairi to come,” Sora blurts. 

Yen Sid pauses. “I would not normally allow a Master on such a dangerous mission. Your journey will be arduous; you’ll have to use your heart as your guiding key to find the path to Scala. Kairi’s skills could be needed here.”

“He’s her best friend too, Master,” Sora reminds him. “If she can help, she’ll want to go.”

Yen Sid contemplates for an uncomfortably long few seconds before nodding sagely. “Perhaps the added protection is also necessary. I approve.”

Ven gives Yen Sid an adorable salute. Sora can’t help but entertain the giddy feeling in his gut—adventuring just like old times, right?

“Let’s go get those idiots and bring them back home.”

-

“You’re not nearly as pretty when you’re sulking like this.”

Riku rolls his eyes and pointedly does not respond to Vanitas. Diligently, he flips through the pages of the tomb in his hands, barely comprehending anything on the pages. Most of the books in this library are written in languages he doesn’t understand. Yen Sid has said, as a world traveler, his magic naturally translates most dialects for him subconsciously. These writings must be incredibly old, because Riku is digesting some but not all of it.

Vanitas is perched atop a table a few yards away, twirling a knife between his fingers as he browses his own book. It’s not very respectable behavior when they’re in a ghost town like Scala ad Caelum—the library is grand, and Vanitas is defiling it with his cavalier attitude.

And his flirting. His incessant, overbearing, pushy flirting.

“Sorry I’m not entirely thrilled about what we’re looking for,” he mutters. 

“I never said finding answers would be easy. I just said I knew where to start looking.”

Riku gestures at the library and sighs dramatically to get his point across. “Yeah, we narrowed it down to centuries worth of books. We’ll pinpoint our origin story in no time.”

“There’s no need to be sarcastic, darling.”

“Can you stop?” Riku, exasperated, rises from his chair. He’s restless and his Keyblade hand burns from having not summoned it in days. “Being around you is so impossible when you insist on trying to get me to fuck you.”

Vanitas stabs his knife into the table and raises his hands to show his supposedly harmless intentions. “I never said I wanted you to fuck me. But, now that you mention it, we did have pretty great sex.”

“Don’t you have Ven now?” Riku turns his back to push his book back onto the shelf, and also as an excuse to hide his blush. 

“Please. He’d cheer us on. Sora wouldn’t be too happy, though, would he?”

Riku doesn’t answer. 

He’s been trying to avoid Sora as a topic since he and Vanitas left Twilight Town together. At the time, Vanitas hadn’t asked questions. He didn’t need to. Even if they were missing their link, leaving Sora behind after they were finally happy together was the hardest thing he’s ever done. But, it had been necessary, and Vanitas isn’t cruel enough to poke fun at that.

Lately, though, he’s been pushing his luck just like this.

“Look, you’ll have to talk about him at some point,” Vanitas says. “You’ll never be truly over a breakup unless someone can say his name without you being sent into a depression spiral. Plus, let’s be real—there’s no way you’ll never see him again, considering he practically thinks you hung the stars.”

“We didn’t break up.”

“Right. Because you weren’t together in the first place.”

Riku drags his hands over his face. He really doesn’t want to take relationship advice from Vanitas, who seems perfectly happy sleeping around regardless of his partnership status. But, it’s been three weeks, and Riku is not great at romance, and even if he can never see Sora again (the mere thought borders him on a panic attack) he needs to work through his goddamn feelings like an adult.

So, helpless and defeated, he slumps into a chair next to where Vanitas is perched on the table. 

“He said I was his best friend,” he mumbles. “Right before I left.”

“I thought you fucked.”

Riku grits his teeth at Vanitas’ cavalier response, but doesn’t argue. “We did. We just didn’t have time to…put a name to it?”

Vanitas shrugs. “Me and Ven don’t have a name. It’s different, though, because I kind of hate him, but only I’m allowed to hate him.”

“What’s that about, anyway? You and him?”

“Don’t try and weasel out of the Sora Subject, ‘Ku. You’ve been obsessed with him since the beginning of time. Perhaps even literally, if I’m reading my context clues right. He’s going to come looking for you—it’s just a matter of time.”

Riku sighs. “I know. I’ve tried to run from him before, and it never works. But we can’t be together. If we rebuild the link—”

“It’s Sora,” Vanitas reminds him flatly. “He doesn’t give a shit about that. He gives a shit about you.”

He thinks back to how Sora had abandoned all logical thought when he had been fifteen and searching for Riku. No matter how dark it looked, no matter how damning the evidence, Sora never assumed anything but the best. Maybe the idea that Riku could hurt Sora enough to sever their connection was a foolish one.

“I broke his heart,” Riku says quietly. “I don’t see him forgiving me for that.”

Vanitas scoffs and hops off the table, dislodging his knife from the wood and sheathing it in his belt. “You’re such an idiot. While you think about what you’re gonna say to him when he finds us, I’m off to actually be productive.”

And Riku is left to sulk by himself, watching as Vanitas strolls into the depths of the library.

Chapter Text

Sora paces Kairi’s living room and pretends that he doesn’t hear the argument down the hall.

Since Riku disappeared and Sora vowed to do anything to find him, Kairi has been by his side in Radiant Garden. She took semi-regular trips back to Twilight Town to see Olette, but whenever Sora had asked about their time together, Kairi would clam up and change the subject. Now, Sora understands why.

“I’ve seen you, like, three days in the past month,” he hears Olette say. “I’ve been trying to be understanding, it’s just—”

“You know I’m not doing it on purpose,” Kairi croaks. “They’re my best friends, ‘Lette. What Sora did to save me back then…isn’t it right for me to return the favor and help him?”

“I’m not saying you can’t help him. And I want you to be happy and do what you need to do! But if you can’t be here with me, why are we even together?”

Silence. Guilt drops heavily in Sora’s gut.

“Seriously?” Kairi asks, voice breaking. “Are you seriously giving me that kind of ultimatum? Now?”

“Wait—I didn’t mean it like that, Kai—”

Suddenly, Kairi reappears, her eyes red-rimmed and shining. Sora straightens his back and watches quietly as she gathers her already-packed bag. Olette appears in the doorway, looking crushed, and Sora can tell she wishes she never said anything at all. Kairi wipes her eyes, and despite herself, approaches Olette to kiss her cheek and give her a long hug.

“Just be safe,” Olette whispers. “And text me?”

Kairi nods. “Love you.”

“Love you, too. I’m sorry.”

Kairi tucks a piece of her auburn hair behind her ear and ducks away, knowing that Sora will follow her out the front door. He tries to give Olette a reassuring smile, but he knows he isn’t doing much to brighten the mood. She just offers a small wave and turns back into the hallway.

When they’re on the street and walking towards where Sora parked the new ship, he says, “You don’t have to come, you know.”

“I know.”

“Are you sure you’re not…needed here?”

She sighs shakily and readjusts the strap of her bag over her shoulder. “Look, I’m sorry you had to see that, but it’s not new. We’ve been talking about it for a while.”

He bites his lip. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. This could be a good reset for us, anyway. Not having the ability to come home at all is a lot more acceptable than not going home when I have the chance.”

“Why haven’t you been coming back here?”

“You should ask her why she never came to me,” Kairi says cooly. “Considering it is my first home, and you are my best friend.”

Sensing her dismay, Sora grabs her hand and swings it between them. “You guys’ll work it out. We’re sort of…in a weird spot right now, so I’m sure it’s making it hard to adjust.”

“Understatement.”

“But, you’re right. It’s a good reset! And we’ve never been on an adventure together!”

Kairi finally matches his smile, though it’s not quite as bright as it could be. “Yeah. This time, we’re looking for Riku and you guys aren’t looking for me.”

Sora shrugs. “Hey, I’ve been the damsel, too. No shame in it.”

When they reach the ship, Ven is lounging in the shadow cast by the hull, scrolling through his phone. He sees Sora and Kairi and his expression lights up before he locks his phone and gets to his feet within seconds. 

“Ven’s a professional damsel,” Sora reminds Kairi. “He’s got ten years on any of us.”

Ven furrows his brows. “Huh?”

“Nothing. You ready to go?”

Ven nods and waves his phone around. “Aqua was asking what direction we’re heading in. What should I tell her?”

“I don’t know yet,” Sora says, and Kairi giggles when Ven’s expression deadpans. “That’s the whole point! My heart is the guiding key, and all that.”

They clamber into the ship; it’s not small, but still requires a bit of maneuvering for the three of them to settle comfortably. There’s a side wing with four bunks and a bathroom at the end of it. Up in the cockpit, there are three captain’s chairs, just like Highwind. The main difference is that it’s very clearly brand-new and Sora can’t help but savor the thrill in his chest at the sight of it.

It’s been easy these past few weeks to forget what makes him happy. Traveling—especially into the unknown—will always bring him a sense of freedom he’ll never replace.

Then, he takes a seat at the front captain’s chair, and his vision swirls into a blur.

He’s behind the wheel of a car, not a ship. The light from the CarPlay screen casts a teal glow across Strelitzia, who is laughing and directing Sora’s hands into the right positions, telling him he probably shouldn’t be the one driving if he can help it—

“Sora?”

Sora blinks. The scene in front of him melts and the cockpit reappears. For a few terrifying seconds, the control board looks foreign.

After a beat, the knowledge of how to fly the ship settles, and he’s able to prep the cockpit for takeoff with a kind of mechanical muscle memory that he’s been using to wield his Keyblade. He knows this. He’s done this countless times. He can do it again if he just trusts himself.

Kairi leans forward in her chair while Ven hesitantly takes his spot. “Hey, what was that? Where’d you go?”

Despite his pounding heart, Sora flashes her a convincing smile. “Nothing! I’m good. Always am.”

Her expression says she clearly doesn’t believe him, but she doesn’t speak. She just regards him like a zoo exhibit while he gets them into the air and off-world. It makes his skin itch.

Once Twilight Town is a blip on their radar, Sora’s Keyblade is in his hand before he can think, and the familiar weight grounds him to the present moment. He tries to think back on how he used his heart to open gates before—Sora imitates the actions of raising his blade and pointing it forward.

Trust. He has to trust himself. It’s muscle memory.

A few short seconds later, a swirling portal appears, and joy bubbles up his throat and forms into a triumphant shout. “All right!”

And, in that moment, he’s able to ignore the flashing lights of the club in his peripherals.

–

Vanitas leans against the doorway. “Found Xehanort’s notes, by the way.”

Riku perks up. The book he’s reading isn’t providing much information, and it doesn’t help that he can’t stop thinking about his dream last night. Normally, his dreams about Sora turn into nightmares where Sora is in terrible danger—sometimes, he’s even killed in front of Riku, who then wakes in a cold sweat.

Last night’s dream was…not a nightmare. Sora had been on top of him, knees on either side of Riku’s hips, with a palm on Riku’s chest for leverage. It had felt so real that Riku woke up having to relieve himself, biting his lip to stay quiet so Vanitas wouldn’t know. 

Shakily, Riku clears his throat. “Oh, yeah?”

Vanitas brandishes a leather-bound journal, labeled with writing in the top corner that Riku can’t understand yet. He strides closer and hops up on the table next to Riku’s open book and shoves it aside to make more room for himself. The book tumbles to the floor, and when Riku glares at him for his recklessness, Vanitas just rolls his eyes.

“Look. He’s talking about the Darkness.”

Reading the text on the weathered pages feels a bit like needing glasses. At first, it’s a jumbled mess, and Riku blinks a few times until the text is blurry. When he rubs his eyes and looks again, the text is like an old script—readable, but barely.

Our Master speaks about Darkness and Kingdom Hearts like old friends. Darkness and Light were the beginning, he says. Where there is Darkness, there is always a Light seeking to erase it, for better or worse. This battle is needed to keep the balance of the universe. Eraqus says it’s nonsense. I can’t help but disagree.

When were we born, after all? When were the worlds brought into being? And why do atrocities continue, long after the Darkness has been defeated by the Light? There is only one explanation: these essences live on, and their battle is what keeps worlds turning.

Master Odin tells of a legend that says the Light and Dark take hosts, doomed to clash through each lifetime. A thread throughout time, ancient soulmates finding themselves over and over again, for eternity. But, he did not describe them as enemies. Light and Dark balance one another. And each heart is made of Light and Darkness—a perfect combination.

Could these ancient essences corrupt each other as well?

“What the hell is he talking about?” Riku blurts when he finishes reading the passage.

“You got me. But, look—the part about hosts. I think this is what he was talking about when he asked me if I remembered being an original Darkness.”

Riku raises an eyebrow. “And…that’s what you are? What we are?”

“Maybe. There’s more in here.”

Riku leans back in his chair. It’s a lot. In general, anything to do with Kingdom Hearts has always felt like a logistical nightmare. Riku usually just listens to Mickey and Yen Sid and hopes they give him the dumbed down version of the lore. 

This is beyond him. Even if he can’t understand the bulk of these words, he can feel something far bigger than they’ve ever encountered before. 

“I think you and Sora are the soulmates he mentions,” Vanitas says simply.

Riku wants to protest. He wants to downplay his importance so he feels less terrified of the implications. But, that little spark—whatever is left of their link, severed and bleeding—is telling him that he’d be lying to himself.

Vanitas doesn’t wait for a response. “We have his Master’s name, now. You look at this and I’ll try and find more of that guy’s shit.”

For a brief, horrifying second, the aged leather feels brand new under his fingertips.

—

The sun is blinding. Gulls screech into the air above. Sora squints to see his surroundings, and his breathing stops short when he recognizes where he’s standing.

Scala ad Caelum.

He feels just weightless enough to be able to recognize this as a dream, though. Belatedly, he recalls heading to his bunk, trying to ignore the concerned stares from Kairi and Ven on his way there. So, yes, this is definitely a dream, but why is he here?

He’s standing a few yards away from the fountain, and the town square is completely abandoned, just as it was the last time he visited. It strikes Sora like a cruel joke; this is the world they need to find, and he’s here, but not in the waking realm. He stares at his feet, feeling the urge to cry clawing at his throat. It’s like his mind is playing tricks. Bitterly, he starts to will himself out of sleep.

Then, he looks up again, and his heart jolts.

Riku is idling there, facing the fountain with his back turned to Sora. His Dream Eater wings are folded neatly behind him, and his head is inclined towards the clock tower. 

Found you.

Chapter Text

There are a thousand reasons why Sora shouldn’t trust this apparition. Most importantly, with a severed link, they shouldn’t be able to share dreams anymore. He’s seen Riku in memories, in nightmares, but never in his Dream Eater form. But Sora doesn’t think about the consequences as he rushes forward, practically tripping over his feet to reach Riku as quickly as possible.

“Riku!”

He’s expecting the dream to collapse under the weight of his desperation. To his shock, though, Riku tenses and whirls around, just in time for Sora to crash into him and knock him into the shallow fountain. Water rains around them, soaking them through, and it’s wild how real the experience feels. 

“S-Sora—”

“I found you,” Sora practically sobs into his chest. He pulls back, hovering over Riku, held up by his palms pressing against the tile of the fountain. “I can’t believe I found you, I missed you so much—”

Riku, stunned into motionlessness, seems to be searching Sora’s eyes for answers. He’s just as confused as Sora, apparently. Instead of sounding relieved, Riku’s tone is borderline frantic. “Why would I dream this? What are you doing here?”

“I looked for you,” Sora continues. He cups Riku’s cheek with a wet palm and brushes water droplets away with his thumb. “Why can’t I find you? Why won’t you let me find you?”

“Slow down,” Riku says. He pushes himself onto his elbows, and Sora accommodates, successfully by straddling his hips as the warm fountain water stills around them. “I’m right here. But I don’t know how you could be here.”

Being this close to Riku feels like watching the sun part the clouds. This might be a dream, Sora thinks, but he knows without a doubt that this is Riku. Somehow, somewhere, they caught up in the sleeping worlds, snagging on one another like a hangnail on silk. 

“I don’t care,” Sora tells him resolutely. “I’ll take what I can get.”

Sora yanks Riku towards him by his shirt, smashing their lips together. 

At first, Riku goes rigid with shock. Then, Sora cups the back of his neck, and Riku falls apart. He fully sits up to make use of his hands, his neediness made clear when he cards his fingers through Sora’s wet hair. A little tug causes Sora to gasp against his lips, and it’s the perfect opportunity for Riku to deepen their kiss. Sora loses himself in the sensation of Riku.

Fuck, he missed this. 

He had been worried Riku would push him away if they ever reunited, but Riku is only pulling him closer. Hands sliding against the base of his spine under his shirt. A kind of pressure Sora wishes could leave a bruise. 

When they finally break the kiss, panting, Riku keeps their foreheads pressed together. Sora shivers as the sea breeze whispers against his soaked clothes, and he tries to tell himself this is okay. This is fine. They don’t need to examine this further, because Riku is here, and Sora is never leaving.

Still. Touching Riku in this dream…there’s still no spark of their link. It’s still empty.

“You aren’t mad?” Riku finally asks softly. 

“I’m furious,” Sora says. “I’m so mad that I can’t think straight. But I can chew you out when I see you for real.”

Riku’s laugh is tense. Clearly, he’s been worried about that. 

“Did you really think I wouldn’t come looking for you?” Sora pushes. 

“I thought I broke your heart enough that you wouldn’t want to.”

Sora rolls his eyes. “You did break my heart, stupid. It’s not like that’s ever made a difference for me.”

“Yeah, well, I also thought you wouldn’t be able to find me. In any realm.”

Sora has to close his eyes to collect himself before whispering, “Tell me where you are.”

Riku pauses in a way that makes Sora think he’s about to give him coordinates. Instead, he sighs, moving to bury his face into the crook of Sora’s neck. “I can’t.”

“Bullshit, you can’t. I know you’re in Scala. I just don’t know how to find it.”

“We can’t risk it,” Riku murmurs. “If we’re together, our link might come back stronger, like it did before, and we can’t let that bastard get his hands on it.”

A heated rush of anger crawls up Sora’s back. “I can’t keep living with this hole in my chest. I know you feel it too.”

“Of course I do.”

Sora pulls back, pushes Riku at arm’s length, and forces him to meet his eyes. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I’ve spent the last three weeks forcing Ienzo to run tests on me, because I thought maybe we could track you down through my memories. Kairi’s practically on the verge of a breakup because she’s been helping me so much. You have to know I won’t just give up. This is me we’re talking about.”

Riku’s gaze goes hard. “And this is the universe you’re risking for me.”

“Okay. So?”

Gently, but purposefully, Riku nudges at Sora until he moves from Riku’s lap. Riku stands and, like a real bat, shakes out his wings to dry them. Sora grumbles and gets to his feet.

“You don’t mean that,” Riku says confidently as he strides out of the fountain, and Sora stumbles to follow him.

“I absolutely do mean that.”

“The universe you’ve saved from the darkness, like, three separate times? You’re willing to risk watching all of that get written over?”

Sora throws his hands up. “We don’t even have any proof he could do that! You never explained it to me, by the way, before you walked out like you never gave a shit about me in the first place.”

Riku whirls on him. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“What, Riku? What? Point out how you fucked me and then left without explanation the next day?”

Sora knows his shoulder should be dislocated from such a huge reach, but the accusation slips out before he can stop it. The thought has crossed his mind a few times. Despite wanting to believe Riku would have a good reason for leaving so suddenly, a dark, nagging voice told Sora it could have been an excuse to get away from him.

And, truthfully, he didn’t think it would be this difficult to get Riku to cave.

“I’m sorry. But I left because I had to,” Riku snaps. “I told you—the Master wanted to use our link as a weapon. He wants to remake the entire World and he wants to use us to do it. And, this way…he doesn’t have a reason to come after you.”

“I found you anyway,” Sora says, gesturing around them. “I’ll find you in the waking world, too. We always find each other. It’s not the first time you’ve tried to run away from me, Riku.”

“Scala won’t be on any gummi radar. It’s hidden.”

“Yeah, it’s not my first hidden world, either. I’ll find it. Tell me the coordinates and it’ll save us both a headache.”

Riku groans through gritted teeth in frustration. “You have no idea what you’re saying. You don’t even know the weight of it.”

“So, tell me! Stop saying cryptic shit and look me in the eyes and tell me why we can’t—”

“This isn’t our first life.”

Sora pauses. Ice slithers down his back as he recalls Yen Sid’s fable. “What?”

“I mean, it is a first life—for Riku and Sora. But whatever is inside us, creating our link, are these ancient essences of light and darkness. They need each other, like soulmates.” Riku presses his fists together, as if to illustrate his point. “When they meet, they create this powerful link, and the Master has been traveling through time to steal it from the people the essences used to take over. So, that’s what I’m doing. I’m trying to figure out why this happened to us. And leaving was the only thing I could think of to break the cycle.”

“You think I’m the light.”

Riku’s expression softens. “I always have.”

Sora thinks back to Yen Sid’s words. The legend. Original Darkness and the light of Kingdom Hearts. It makes sense that Riku would be the target for some ethereal, eternal, cosmic being. But, for Sora…

“It’s wrong, then,” Sora stutters. “I’m not anything like that. You, sure. I get it. But I’m—nothing that important would pick me.”

“We’re still learning about it,” Riku continues. “But, if we’re right, and I am …that. It’s objective. That’s literally what our link is—or, was. Yen Sid always told me he could never explain it.”

“So we can rebuild it,” Sora says warily, almost to himself as he glances away. 

“I don’t think we would have a choice if we saw each other again. From Xehanort’s theories that we’ve read—-and what Vanitas has told me—- no force could erase it entirely.”

I’m not me without you.

“Shit,” Sora breathes.

“I know,” Riku says. 

“Why did you run, though?” Sora drags a hand through his hair and wrings out some of the water that clings to it. “Why didn’t you just explain? Did you think I wouldn’t listen?” 

“No. I know you’d listen and I knew you’d find a way to get me to stay.”

Sora scowls. “Obviously. I mean….I didn’t scare you, did I? Telling you that I love you?”

It feels liberating to say it again; the words are satisfying on his tongue. 

“I told you the same thing the night before.” Riku’s wings flutter with the slightest nervous movement. “It’s not that. It’s not even really about the universe, for me. It’s about you, and you are my universe. I couldn’t let him have a reason to go after you.”

Flushing, Sora shakes his head resolutely. “Look, I don’t care what he wants. I don’t care about all the cosmic soulmate stuff. We’re stronger together. We can draw him out, and we’ll stop him, like we’ve stopped every other bad guy.”

Suddenly, Sora’s vision starts to tunnel. He’s waking up. With a nervous whine, he falls forward into Riku, as if he’s an anchor that can keep him under the ocean. “Give me coordinates. Please.”

Riku ignores him. “Wake up, Sora.”

—

Sora gasps for breath like he’s been drowning.

Ven is at the helm; earlier, he had been insisting on monitoring the autopilot to allow Sora and Kairi to get some rest. When he hears Sora wake, he whirls around, concern written over his features. Kairi startles, wide awake the moment Sora clutches at his chest.

It burns like shards of glass embedding themselves in his veins. He chokes on air, crying out in pain—his link with Riku never felt so unpleasant. Is that what this is? Their connection, rotting further?

“Sora?” Kairi asks, alarmed. She rushes to his side immediately, her auburn hair tangled around her face. 

“I saw him,” Sora blurts. Her brows furrow. “I saw Riku. In my dream.”

“Like…Riku? Or a dream about Riku?”

“It was him.” He hasn’t been this confident about something in a long, long time. His voice wavers, but his tone is absolute, and Kairi doesn’t question it. “I know it was him. He’s in Scala, just like we thought.”

By now, Ven is on his feet, warily stepping closer. “Was Vanitas with him?”

“He kept saying ‘we,’ so I’m assuming they’re together.” Sora swings his legs over the edge of the bed. “He was right there. He wouldn’t give me coordinates.”

Kairi bites her lip and places a comforting hand on Sora’s knee. “Did he say why?”

“Just that he’s trying to protect me. He said a lot of stuff that didn’t really make any sense.” 

More importantly, Sora isn’t sure what he should be keeping to himself. Ven knows some details about the legend Yen Sid mentioned, but it’s clear the mythos runs much deeper. The dull ache in his sternum provides a kind of ominous hope—is their relationship really worth risking the universe, like Sora had so confidently claimed?

“I was right before. We can rebuild the link,” he says with a shaky voice. “And I think…I think we have to. Otherwise, I’m just gonna get worse.”

Silence falls in the cockpit.

“Get worse?” Ven repeats quietly. 

Sora glances between his friends, hesitant. Telling Strelitzia about his current mental state was one thing—even though they were roommates in another life, she’s still enough of a stranger to Sora for his secrets to feel consequence-free. But, his visions are getting worse, seemingly by the hour. If he doesn’t come clean now, it’ll reveal itself soon anyway.

“I’ve been seeing flashes of Quadratum,” he admits.

Kairi brings a hand over her mouth as Ven says, “Flashes? Like, visions?”

“More like hallucinations,” Sora says. “And flashbacks, I guess. They started out pretty tame; I would see shadows and objects. Now, it’s like…I’m there. And when I come back…”

“Is this because he left?” Kairi asks when Sora trails off, her voice cold and unyielding. 

“It’s not his fault.”

“It’s absolutely his fault, and I’m gonna rip him a new one.” Abruptly, she stands, carding a hand through her knotted hair. “That stupid, self-deprecating asshole.”

“He thought I would be safe,” Sora insists. “He only left because he was convinced I would just…move on and live my life.”

“Exactly,” she snaps. “Does he even know you? At all? Did he seriously think you, of all people, would let him walk away forever?”

Sora doesn’t answer. Maybe he’s defending Riku beyond reason, because he always would. This is far, far from the worst thing Riku has ever done to him, after all. Even after Riku tried to kill him in cold blood, having willingly sided with the darkness, Sora didn’t care. All he could think about back then was finding Riku.

A cold chill settles in his bones as a distant, ancient voice says he never had a choice in the matter.

“Is that why you couldn’t remember how to fly the ship?”

Sora’s heart skips when Ven speaks. “What?”

“When we started off,” Ven explains. “You looked like you’d never seen a control board for a few seconds, and you forgot some steps when we were entering deep space.”

Kairi’s expression is unreadable. She’s frozen solid, staring at Sora.

“I don’t know,” Sora says. “Maybe.”

“Have you forgotten anything else?” Kairi asks in a much softer tone than she was using before. 

“Some spells, and only for a few seconds. It kind of feels like when Roxas was in my heart—like an entirely different person is there, and I keep seeing his memories instead of mine.”

Kairi shakes her head, as if to dismiss a worried thought. “We’ll find him before anything bad happens, okay? Hang in there a little longer. When you’re with him again, you’ll be okay. Just like always.”

“You wanna fly for a little while?” Ven asks as he stifles a yawn. “I need to knock out, anyway.”

A stone of fear drops into Sora’s stomach at the prospect of forgetting how to fly, but he’d only be monitoring the autopilot. It shouldn’t be too hard. He nods, standing shakily. Kairi falls in step next to him as he makes his way to the captain’s chair.

“I’ll keep you company,” she says with a strained voice. 

I’ll make sure you don’t fall apart.

Sora catches himself before he asks her to connect her phone to CarPlay.

–

Riku opens his eyes to the darkness of his shared room with Vanitas, illuminated only by the light of the full moon.

Scala ad Caelum is abandoned, so there are plenty of places to lay their heads. Tonight, they’ve chosen the top floor of a high rise building—mostly because Vanitas said, quote, “I can jump off the top of it if your snoring gets too loud.”

The open window casts a breeze that chills Riku to the bone. He thinks about Sora, and how desperate he had been in their shared dream. How he had begged. How scared he looked. And maybe, Riku realizes with a sinking feeling, Sora is in more danger than he realizes.

Naminé had placed a wall in Sora’s mind to protect him from his broken Quadratum memories. And the only reason he could even hear about that city without going catatonic had been because of his link with Riku. Subconsciously, Riku had been using their link to wrap tightly around the two of them. It was the only thing keeping Sora on his feet.

His heart stutters. He stands, dizzy from the rush of blood, and practically punches Vanitas to wake him. Vanitas is a light sleeper, though, as it turns out. Riku has yet to question why he always looks terrified for a split second until he’s fully awake.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Vanitas grumbles once he realizes he isn’t dreaming anymore. “It’s still dark out. I’m not doing this.”

“Why did you tell me there would be enough light left in my link with Sora to protect him?”

Vanitas cracks one icy blue eye at him, glinting from the light of the moon. “Because you can’t get rid of it. Not entirely. You can only diminish it.”

Riku folds his arms across his torso. “But how did you know that?”

“The same way I knew about everything else. Xehanort told me the basics, back when I was still his apprentice.” Vanitas rolls over onto his back and sighs dramatically. “Why are you asking me this before the sun is up?”

Riku hesitates. “Because I just saw Sora in my dream.”

“See? So, it’s not gone entirely. It should be enough to keep him from jumping off a bridge out of insanity.”

“Should be.” Riku laughs once, harshly, before he sets his hands on his hips. “What if it’s not?”

“Then, he’ll jump off the aforementioned bridge. At least, if that happens, the entire universe won’t be in danger because of you two.”

That sends Riku into silence. There’s no retort for a statement like that. 

Dejected, he collapses onto his bed. He thinks, maybe, he should be annoyed at Vanitas’ flippant response. But he can’t bring himself to argue. At this point, whatever feelings he has towards Sora are teetering into selfishness. Whatever glimmer of hope he has that their link will repair itself is an open door for the literal end of existence as they know it. Even if the residual light isn’t enough to keep Sora from falling apart, he shouldn’t be worth the sheer collateral that could come from rekindling it into another fire.

Except he is. Except, to Riku, he always will be. 

Give a madman the opportunity to destroy existence, or lose Sora. It shouldn’t be a hard choice. Endless worlds and billions of people…or Sora.

Vanitas’ voice is uncharacteristically gentle when he says, “You know, if you do need to rebuild the link to save him, he’d get written over with the rest of us anyway.”

Riku swallows thickly. “What if we didn’t let it get written over, though?”

“What makes you think this life will be any different than the others?” Vanitas sighs dramatically. “Listen. You ran away from him for a reason, right? You have to know what you’re doing is the right thing.”

“He seems pretty confident we’d be able to stop the Master together. Maybe it’s worth the risk.” 

There are a few beats of silence. Then, “Actually, I get it. If it were Ven, I’d be thinking the same thing.”

Riku isn’t expecting Vanitas to say something so romantically charged about his other half. It’s the insight to their relationship that Riku has been wanting for weeks. “You would?”

“I tried for a long time to get away from him,” Vanitas continues. “I thought I’d feel better if I fucked around and used him for pick-me-ups. But it’s…I hurt without him. Literally. Like my arm got chopped off and I’m bleeding out. I’m mostly here to figure out why.”

“It sounds more logistical than emotional.”

“I do love him,” Vanitas corrects. “I just think I love him in a way no one can understand but us.”

“Enough that you’d risk the universe for him?”

Vanitas genuinely laughs, and it sounds so similar to Sora that it tugs harshly at Riku’s heart. “Yeah, but I’m not a good guy like you two are.”

Maybe that’s just it, though. If Riku is some ancient, primordial essence of Darkness, he never had a shot at being a good guy. And if Sora is a fractured light from Kingdom Hearts, he won’t let him corrupt himself into a selfish creature like Riku.

He doesn’t fall asleep. Riku watches the sun rise as Vanitas dozes next to him, comfortable in his antagonism.

Chapter Text

Kairi has been absorbed with her phone, texting for the past two hours. Occasionally, she frowns. And when Sora spares a surreptitious glance towards her screen, he sees a novel being written in the text box.

“Olette?” he asks knowingly.

“I just don’t understand why we’re even arguing,” Kairi mumbles. “I mean, we’re not arguing so much as we’re bickering. But, still. We both want the same thing.”

“To be together?”

She nods, locks her phone and pulls her knees close to her chest, appearing as small as possible in the co-pilot’s chair. “She never used to care about me being away from home, y’know? I mean, I had to go on missions constantly when I was working on my Mark of Mastery. I’d be gone for days. A week, sometimes! And now that I’m trying to help my best friends, suddenly, it’s this huge issue.”

“If anyone can work it out, it’s you two,” he comforts. “She just misses you. Once this is over, you’ll see her way more!”

“I keep telling her that.” Kairi sighs, puffing a strand of hair away from her face. “Relationships are weird.”

Sora falls silent. He doesn’t know much about relationships—he’s never been in one, and he’s not counting the half-day he and Riku spent being physical. And, to be frank, he’s never seen two girls date each other. Does that make it different? Does that make it fake, somehow, if it doesn’t exist in the other worlds Sora has visited?

“Do you ever feel like you shouldn’t be dating a girl?”

Kairi doesn’t appear offended by the question. Instead, she gives him a soft smile. “No. Do you think I should feel like that?”

“Well…what if this is happening because Riku is a boy?” Sora’s stomach churns, and he prays Kairi doesn’t take offense to the question. It’s just that none of this makes sense. “I mean, what if we’re not supposed to be soulmates or whatever, and we’re just breaking the laws of the universe or something?”

She blinks. “Wow. Really?”

“Yes, really. Nobody ever dated like this on the Islands. I never saw it in any other world. I knew Lea and Isa were…close…but they also nearly died trying to deal with their whole relationship. And now, you and Olette are fighting, and me and Riku keep getting pulled away from each other—”

“Sora.” Kairi plants her feet on the floor and leans forward. “Stop. All of that stuff happens sometimes when boys and girls date each other. It just means we’re human.”

“It’s never two princes, Kairi,” he says quietly. “Every world I’ve been to. It’s never two princes.”

“And how many have you been to? Forty-three?” Kairi gestures outside the gummiship’s front window, alerting Sora to the smattering of stars dotting the void ahead. “I can’t even count all of them. You think, in all those worlds, there aren’t people like us?”

Sora shrugs and starts to pick at his nails—a bad habit he’s picked up since they left Twilight Town. “They had words for it in Quadratum. I think they called it being queer. I know I’m not the only one, but I also know it’s not…normal.”

Kairi scoffs. “What’s queer is your capacity to traverse realities, actually. Of all the weird shit we get up to, you being in love with a boy is not one of them. I promise.”

Sora groans, but not loud enough for Ven to hear and wake up. “I’m not just avoiding girls, right?”

“Sora, you are head-over-heels for your guy best friend, and you have been since you were seven.” She pulls out her phone, subtly implying that this conversation is self-depreciating to the point of being depressing. “It’s real. And your feelings are real.”

He watches her continue her novella-length text and wonders if that’s a good thing.

–

Later, when Kairi has turned in after a long day of monitoring the helm, Ven comes to join Sora in the cockpit. He’s got a protein bar, and he’s munching away, focusing his eyes on the stars before them. He’s physically younger than all of Sora’s other friends, but he regards the void with a familiarity that makes him feel ancient.

Ven offers the protein bar to Sora, who shakes his head and continues picking at his nail beds.

“When was the last time you ate something?” Ven asks.

Sora shrugs. “Dunno. Yesterday.”

Ven gives him a disappointed frown. “You need to eat, Sora. How are you supposed to help Riku if you don’t have any energy?”

“I have plenty of energy,” Sora scoffs. “You don’t recognize it because you’re used to being asleep.”

The dig feels like too much until Ven laughs. “You woke me up, like, five years ago. How much longer are you gonna cling to that joke?”

“For the rest of your life. I earned it, considering I kept you safe the entire time. Remember that?”

“I could never forget your angst,” Ven muses. “Or Roxas. I mean, I could never see him, but it always felt like he was pissed at something.”

“Sounds like him.”

Comfortable silence falls, and Sora brings out his phone, playing a game to kill time. He’s just about to hit level 5 when Ven asks, “Do you think he’s okay? Vanitas?”

Sora blinks as his tiny game avatar idles. “Why wouldn’t he be?”

“I just worry about him,” Ven mumbles. “I know he’s a dick sometimes, but it’s just a front, y’know? He’s not like that when we’re alone.”

“What’s he like?”

Fondly, Ven smiles. “Caring, I guess. In his own way. Sometimes, he’ll talk about how you never gave up on him. By the way—he’s grateful, even if he never tells you that.”

Sora nods. He remembers the magnetic tug he felt towards Vanitas during their last stand-off at the Graveyard, all those years ago. It wasn’t right. He knew Vanitas was never meant to be working alongside Xehanort. 

“He did go through this phase of ignoring me, though,” Ven says. “Back when he was with Riku for a while. I think he felt guilty.”

Sora’s thoughts grind to a halt. “With Riku?”

Ven’s eyes widen slightly, and realization flashes across his expression before he composes himself. “Um. Well, they used to…get together. Sometimes.”

About thirty emotions and three-thousand thoughts flow through Sora’s mind. He knows Riku hadn’t been a virgin the last four years. For some reason, the details of when and who had never crossed his mind. It’s not like he was cheating on Sora—hell, it wasn’t even clear if Sora would ever come back to the Realm of Light. He would never have expected Riku to put a pause on his sex life.

Still. Vanitas? 

“Sorry,” Ven blurts. “I had no idea you didn’t know.”

“No, it’s…” Sora clears his throat. “I just. Why?”

Ven bites his lip. “I don’t want to speak for him, but I think Riku was trying to distract himself. He wasn’t exactly celibate while you were gone. And Vani was there and…well. Looks like you.”

That much is obvious, but there has to be more to it. Sora can feel it. “If they’re both related to the original darkness…do you think they were drawn to each other or something?”

“Maybe. And I think they relate to each other on some level, since they both fell to darkness at some point.”

Then, the ugly question is set out before them. 

“Do you think it’s still happening?” Sora asks just above a whisper.

“No.” Ven’s tone is so firm that Sora can’t help but believe him. “Sora, he’s obsessed with you.”

“You said it yourself. Vanitas looks like me. He can probably sound like me, too.”

“He’s past his hoe phase,” Ven assures him. “Trust me. He looks at you like you hung the stars. He’d sooner punch Vani, these days.”

Sora has no idea where his sudden insecurity is coming from; first with Kairi, now with Ven. It’s like the longer he goes without his link with Riku, the more his sense of self falls apart. And it doesn’t help that he can’t ask Riku about this for himself—at least, not until he falls asleep.

“I should probably sleep,” Sora says abruptly, causing Ven to furrow his brows. “Like you said, I need energy. Right?”

“Well, yeah. Did I upset you?”

“No, no,” Sora lies. “I was already tired. Probably why I got worked up about it in the first place.”

“M’kay. G’night!”

Sora just nods. And maybe it matters that he falls asleep thinking about Riku having sex.

–

Sora’s back is shoved against the bookshelf, but the discomfort doesn’t register, because Riku is trailing his lips down Sora’s throat. He would be embarrassed by the noises he’s making—little whimpers, caught on his tongue—were it not for the way Riku is touching him. Like he’s something precious. Like he’s a work of art.

He should be begging Riku for coordinates again. He should be asking Riku what he’s been up to, and whether or not he’s come across more information about their fable. 

His mind is too fuzzy, though. Intimacy in dreams is nothing like real life, where his focus might be drawn to other distractions. Here, he knows they can’t be interrupted. The Master can’t find them. They can create worlds together when they share a dream.

“Riku,” he tries, but it comes out as a breathy moan, and Riku responds by scraping his teeth across Sora’s collarbone. Sora gasps, tangling his fingers in Riku’s hair, which has gotten longer in the last few weeks.

“No talking,” Riku murmurs against his skin. 

The tips of Riku’s fingers brush across the exposed small of his back, and when Sora arches involuntarily, Riku takes the opportunity to quickly pull the navy tank top over his head. Sora shivers as the convincingly-real chill of the library seeps into his heated skin.

“Avoiding my questions, huh?” Sora smirks, watching with half-lidded eyes as Riku kisses down his sternum. “I just want to know where you are, so I can find you and we can do this in the waking world—”

Suddenly, Riku is back at eye level with Sora’s chin caught between his fingers. He applies the slightest bit of force to tilt Sora’s head back against a book. A trill of something hot sinks into Sora’s stomach, and he stops breathing.

Oh.

“No talking.” Riku’s tone is lower. Dangerous. They both recognize it as an unfamiliar dominance as the phrase hangs in the air, tangled in their shared breaths. Distantly, it reminds Sora of how Riku spoke to him all those years ago in the Grand Hall. 

There should be unbearable trauma attached to Riku’s words, just now. Instead, there’s a surge of something that Sora thought he had outgrown. Rivalry.

“Make me,” he hears himself say.

Sora has never seen this type of darkness flash across Riku’s expression. In the next moment, Riku’s palms are on either side of his neck as he kisses Sora, deep and searing like fire. Riku pauses almost imperceptibly, and then his thumbs are pressing into Sora’s skin, right above his pulse point.

With his blood flow restricted, Sora’s vision starts to go dark around the edges. It’s curious—they don’t have actual bodies in the dream, and they don’t need to breathe or have a beating heart. Maybe his Dream Eater is crafting this part as accurately as possible, just to make Sora’s heart skip and his hips roll.

The pressure on his veins abruptly disappears, and the rush of blood to his head is intoxicating. Endorphins crawl across his nerves, and stars dance behind his eyes. He realizes that Riku has never choked him, but he could have. And maybe it’s a little pathetic that Sora is still pushing his hips forward, whimpering when Riku thrusts back. He’s this hard after Riku shows him how strong he can be?

“Holy shit,” Sora breathes out involuntarily. He quickly and consciously swallows his next comments. No talking.

“Did you like that?” Riku taunts, knowing damn well he only did that to make Sora even more desperate. 

No words. Sora nods, whining when Riku palms him through his shorts. He’s a mess, fully at Riku’s mercy, shirtless and hard and a little delirious. 

“I bet I don’t even have to take these off to make you come,” Riku murmurs, pressing his lips against Sora’s pulse point, where his thumbs had been, as if to heal the bruise. 

Sora doesn’t care that he’s right. There’s a tight coil in his stomach, constricting even further as Riku touches him through the fabric. He just wants to come and he doesn’t give a shit that Riku is teasing him. It’s hot, anyway. It makes him want to agree and plead for more. 

Riku applies more pressure, more rhythm, until Sora is shaking. The friction of his shorts against his cock is too much, and this time, he can’t wait for Riku to tell him to come. He spills over the edge abruptly, forehead falling against Riku’s shoulder as his body jerks and a needy moan is ripped from his chest. He spasms and jolts as wetness spreads across the front of his shorts.

Sora is panting hard, gasping for breath, when Riku kisses his temple. “You’re so hot.”

Rolling his eyes, Sora mutters, “Shut up.”

“Can’t believe you have a choking kink.” 

“Shut up.”

Riku kisses him, gentle and soft; a stark contrast from his teasing. Sora folds into the kiss and reaches between them, intending to return the favor, but Riku stops his hand. Annoyed, Sora groans, pouting. 

“Why not?” he presses.

“You’re gonna wake up soon,” Riku says quietly. His wings open slightly and flutter, and Sora’s arousal-addled mind wonders if they’re sensitive. 

“I don’t suppose you’d tell me your coordinates,” Sora says.

“Nice try,” Riku laughs. And Sora laughs too, because he’s hopped up on oxytocin and can’t bring himself to feel separated from Riku when he’s still hovering in the afterglow.

“You’re so annoying.” The tiles of the library floor start to lift and shatter, and Sora clings to Riku to keep him close as long as he can.

There’s a sharp tug in his chest. It rips the wind from him. Riku frowns, but before either of them can speak, Sora is tumbling backwards and away into darkness.

Chapter Text

When he opens his eyes, Sora has no idea where he is.

The colors are so bright. He’s in a hallway of some kind, tucked away in a bunk in the wall. His chest hurts, worse than any heartburn he’s ever had. Other than that, though, he doesn’t feel hungover. So, why can’t he remember how he got here?

Where is here, anyway? Sora can’t sit fully without knocking his head on the ceiling, so he swings his legs over the edge of the bed and glances around. There’s a dull hum underneath the silence of the hallway, almost like he’s…on a bus, maybe? That makes no sense.

His head starts to pound and he presses his palm to his temple. He glances around the sheets for his phone, because maybe he can text Strelitzia and figure out what the fuck happened last night. All he finds is some bulky thing that looks like it was made in 2008. It’s definitely a phone, but it’s not his phone.

Sora is no stranger to waking up in unfamiliar beds, but this is a new one. 

Then, a curtain pulls back and reveals a red-headed girl with violet eyes. Maybe he’d get drunk enough to crash with a stranger, but he’d never be drunk enough to fuck a girl, so she must be a girlfriend or something. With aching legs, he stands, still rubbing the side of his head.

“Are you okay?” the girl asks cautiously, like she’s afraid Sora will shatter to pieces if her voice is too loud.

“I’m fine,” he says. “Do you have my phone?”

She cocks an eyebrow and points wordlessly to the device still on the bed.

Sora cracks a smile. “Hah. No. It’s a fourteen. It’s blue.”

“What?” she asks. Her expression says she has no earthly idea what Sora is saying. “What do you mean, fourteen?”

“...An iPhone?”

For a few more seconds, the girl doesn’t answer, staring at him like he’s got three heads. Then, something seems to dawn on her, and she backs away closer to the curtain. “Um. Ven?”

A blond boy pokes his head around the corner. Sora can’t make out the room behind him, and when he tries, the pain in his head throbs almost unbearably. The boy—well, man, actually, he’s just got a baby face—glances between them. “What’s up?”

“Sora, do you know where you are?” the girl asks slowly.

He shakes his head. “I was actually going to ask you that. Since my phone is M.I.A.”

“Oh, shit.” The blond boy rushes forward towards Sora as the girl cups a hand over her mouth in shock. “Sora. Sora? You’re on the gummiship.”

“I…what?” The headache is starting to make him irritable. “Is that a hotel or something? Listen, I need to get home. Do you have my phone or not?”

“Sora. It’s Kairi and Ven,” the girl presses, and there are tears in her eyes, and Sora feels a stabbing urge to hug her. “You don’t remember?”

His vision whites out, but he doesn’t lose consciousness as he falls to his knees. Sora cries out in pain and memories rush past him, and he barely registers being touched and held close by someone.

When he opens his eyes, recognition strikes him like a thunder spell.

“Fuck,” he whispers. “I’m good. I’m good.”

“Sora?” Kairi asks, her cheeks wet. He presses a palm to her hair and forces a half-smile.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he croaks. “I remember. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” she hisses. “Are you kidding me? You didn’t know who I was!”

Shakily, he gets to his feet, using the wall as leverage. His head spins and he falls back to the bunk, nearly smacking his head against the bed above it. He feels like he just got his ass handed to him by the strongest enemy he’s ever faced.

“It can’t keep getting worse like this,” Ven says, his voice terse.

“You’re right, it can’t,” Sora says. “We’re en route to Riku, though. What else can we do?”

Kairi is clearly choking back sobs, but she puts on her brave face for Sora’s sake. It’s heartbreaking, but he doesn’t have the energy to tell her to stop. “Did you ask him? When you were asleep, did you ask him for coordinates again?”

Sora flushes. Coordinates were certainly not the focus of that dream. “I…I mean, yeah, I asked, but we were…um. Distracted.”

“So, we keep flying in the dark?” Kairi’s tears are falling now. “We’re just hoping for the best, following whatever path your heart might want?”

“What do you want me to say?” Sora snaps.

“Admit that him leaving you was the worst thing he could have done!”

“He didn’t know.”

“You have no idea—” Kairi cuts herself off, wipes her eyes, and seems to decide this argument isn’t worth her time as she stomps back to the cockpit. 

The thought of telling Riku that Sora is in danger because they were split apart is terrifying. Riku’s self-hatred is already on another level, and he’s barely healed from misgivings he committed when he was fifteen. He left Sora with confidence that it was the best decision he could have made. It would kill him to know that yet another one of his choices put Sora in peril.

Riku would give him coordinates in a second, though. They wouldn’t be flying blind. But Sora doesn’t know if he has the strength.

Ven clears his throat. “You need to tell him.”

“Would you?” Sora asks. “Would you tell Vanitas what he did to protect you is actually killing you?”

“Yes.” Ven quickly continues when Sora scoffs. “Especially if the way to save me required getting that through his head.”

Sora scrubs his hands over his face. He makes it sound so simple. “We might have something, okay? I think I felt our link a little when my last dream ended. Maybe that’s why I woke up confused.”

“‘Confused’ is certainly one word for it.”

Sora doesn’t respond. He strides towards the cockpit, feeling more exhausted than he has in the last few weeks. Kairi barely glances at him, on her phone again, texting her girlfriend about their entirely normal relationship hiccups. 

He summons his Keyblade like he did when they first set off on their journey. When he closes his eyes, he pictures it like a metal detector—like the ones his dad used to use on the beach. He visualizes his blade as an extension of the tiny wick that is their link. It’s not much, but it’s something.

It must reveal some sort of signal, because Ven steps forward and Sora hears him pressing a few buttons on the console. “Got something. I guess you were right. It’s also your turn to fly.”

But, when Sora opens his eyes to look for himself, he freezes. 

The console just looks colorful. He can’t remember what the blinking green orb to the left of the joystick means. He doesn’t know if they’re on autopilot, or how to cancel it. Sora’s grip tightens on his Keyblade, focusing on the familiar warmth that crawls up his arm.

“I can’t.”

And Sora is a good pilot. A great pilot, even. He’s flown a ship through massive starships, giant asteroid belts, and thick nebulas with zero visibility. He’s spent collective days manually navigating uncharted territory, even when he was just a kid.

Now, Sora can’t understand any of it. Now, he’s staring at the display, waiting for the knowledge to smack into his brain like it did before. There’s nothing. There’s no spark of recognition. 

Kairi finally looks up. When she connects the dots, her red-rimmed eyes well up with tears again. She gets to her feet, throws her phone to the cockpit chair, and wraps her arms around Sora. He’s too numb to hug her back.

“We’ve got this,” she murmurs to him, unable to be too pissed at him for too long. “We have a clearer location now. You did great.”

“I’m scared,” he whispers.

“I know.” She rubs his back as his ragged breath moves strands of her hair, and Ven just stares at them. “Me too.”

–

“You know they’re getting closer, right?”

Riku doesn’t look up from his cast fishing line. “I know they’re trying to get closer.”

Vanitas sighs and tosses another pebble into the water, clearly not giving a shit that he’s scaring all the fish away. “They’ll get here. Especially if you keep fucking him in your dreams.”

“I’m not—” Riku shakes his head, because he’s not arguing about his sex life. Again. “They can’t find us based on vibes alone. Scala is hidden. You told me that.”

“Wellllll…”

Riku turns to stare at him, eyebrow raised.

“It’s not like it’s invisible or anything,” Vanitas says as he plops next to Riku on the dock. “But, you might be right. With a weakened link, it’s not like he can follow his heart’s breadcrumbs.”

Riku goes quiet.

He hasn’t mentioned the all-too-familiar tugging sensation he felt right before their last shared dream ended. Riku had thought dreams were safe. Before, after Sora forgot his Quadratum memories, their link got gradually stronger as Sora got closer and closer to remembering his time in that city. The visceral warmth had been at its highest intensity when they shared a bed together, protecting Sora from the phantom memory of intimacy. This far apart, Riku didn’t see the harm in indulging in their shared dreams.

There’s no denying it, though. What they felt last night, across space and time, was that same connection.

And maybe it’s enough to give Sora a roadmap.

“You’re always gonna find each other, anyway,” Vanitas shrugs. Casually, he slips off his boots and dangles his feet closer to the water, brushing the surface with his heel. “Kinda comes with the whole eternally bound entity thing.”

“Xehanort thinks that’s where the Power of Waking comes from,” Riku says. The bobble on the fishing line dips, but not enough to signify a bite. 

“Really? You found that in his journal?”

“That, and I’ve only ever seen me and Sora use it.”

Vanitas continues to kick the water. They both watch as the line bobs harshly, and Riku reacts quickly to reel it in. Riku feels Vanitas’ blue eyes on him as he pulls a bass out of the water and detaches it from the hook. 

“I made Ven kill Strelitzia.”

Riku freezes. “Um?”

“Before I had bonded with him, and I was just Darkness, I possessed him.” Vanitas’ gaze is following the trail of fish blood dripping down Riku’s fingers. “And I killed her.”

“I’m guessing she doesn’t know,” Riku says, careful to keep his voice level.

Vanitas shakes his head. “Those Keyblade unions I told you about—she was gonna be a leader. I don’t remember those days too well, but I knew Ven could get me closer to power. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“That’s where Lauriam got involved, right?” Riku asks. He was never involved in Subject X research, but his knowledge of Lauriam comes directly from the Radiant Garden’s team’s findings. “After she died, the Master picked him to fill the space.”

“Yeah. And we know he lost his heart. We just don’t know how, or what happened to him after he got recompleted.”

Riku leans down to clean his bloodied hand in the water. “You’ve just been keeping this locked up?”

“Like I said. Memories before Ven are fuzzy. But the more we dig into this shit, the more I remember. And I don’t think I want him to know.”

Riku gives him a knowing smile. “From one essence of eternal darkness to another, I get it. If they do find us, I won’t say anything.”

–

Sora’s skin burns under his fingertips, and as Riku drags his hand down Sora’s bare stomach, Sora gasps and arches his back. Everything is hot like fire, flickering warmth like the candles surrounding their bed. When they dream, they can create, and Riku made sure to craft them a secluded room somewhere in one of the highest towers in Scala. The ocean breeze mists through the open window, and it’s the only thing dampening the humid fever between them.

Riku is about to press their lips together, unable to think about much else, when Sora scratches his nails across the base of his wings. It tears a groan from Riku’s throat and sends stars dancing across his vision. His cock twitches against Sora’s naked thigh when Sora smirks and presses into the joints.

Sora keeps toying with the base of his wings, and Riku growls, “Fuck you.”

“We’re getting there,” Sora sings confidently. 

Riku’s fingers tangle in Sora’s hair, and he tugs roughly until the column of Sora’s neck is perfectly exposed. His slightly-sharpened teeth scrape across Sora’s skin, and Sora’s moans and whimpers are like music. He rolls their hips together until he feels the wetness of Sora’s precum smearing across his stomach. 

“Just do it,” Sora breathes out. 

“Do what?”

Sora is already flushed, but the bridge of his nose gets a little redder. “You know what.”

“Nah. Not until you ask nicely.”

“You want me to beg? Seriously?” Sora presses into the base of his wings again and it becomes extraordinarily difficult for Riku to keep up his game. “Fuck me, already.”

“No.” 

“I want you inside me.” Sora wraps his legs around Riku’s waist, forcibly aligning their hips into just the right angle. “Now.”

“I said nicely.”

To punctuate his point, Riku rocks forward until the tip of his cock just barely enters him. Immediately, he pulls away again, but still slow enough to feel Sora tremble and quiver. Sora hisses, chasing after Riku with tears prickling at the corner of his eyes.

“Please,” he whines, and it quickly turns into babbling as Sora stumbles over his words. “Please fuck me, fill me up, Riku, please—”

Riku cuts him off abruptly, kissing him hard to silence him while thrusting forward into him. He has to steady himself on the mattress with a hand next to Sora’s waist, and he lets gravity work for him, rocking into Sora, slow but hard.

If this weren’t a dream, he would have to stop to allow Sora time to adjust. They might even have to flip Sora over, like they did last time they were together, just so he could take it. But, here, they can do anything. Sora can fall back against the pillow, reach behind himself and grab the intricate marble-based headboard. His lips part, and each push forward from Riku causes a little rush of breath to leave him. He’s tight.  

“Fuck,” Sora huffs, and with half-lidded eyes, he looks between them. Sees where they’re connected. Riku’s vision tunnels as he watches Sora’s lip get caught between his teeth. He looks absolutely wrecked. 

“You like to watch?” Riku teases, catching Sora’s chin between his fingers to tilt his head and make their eyes meet. 

He’s expecting a sarcastic remark, but Sora just nods, mouth falling open again. Riku kisses his blushed lips, spurred even further when Sora feels lax and blissed underneath him.

Riku doesn’t know how long they fuck. It feels like hours and seconds at the same time. He allows himself to get lost in the dream, in Sora, in how they’ve created their own world together. Warmth blooms between their chests, a physical thing that grows and encompasses them. And, Riku thinks, maybe this is what all the legends talk about. Maybe this is that fated clash of light and darkness—two unique essences who will find each other lifetime after lifetime. 

If this is what rebuilding the link takes, right now, Riku can’t bring himself to care.

When he does finish inside of Sora, he’s dizzy with want. Sora wraps his legs tight around Riku’s waist to keep him deep. His orgasm is so intense that it nearly brings him out of the dream, but he holds tight, burying his face in the crook of Sora’s neck for an anchor. Breathes in his scent—a sensation that feels all too real to be a dream.

Sora pushes Riku onto his back and rolls on top of him, splaying across like he’s trying to pin Riku down. Riku just laughs between gasps for breath, and Sora becomes dead weight, just like when they wrestled as kids. It’s easy to card his fingers through Sora’s hair and pull him close, to kiss him like they’ve done it a thousand times. 

It certainly feels like they’ve been intimate for more than one full night outside of a dream.

“Where are you?” Sora murmurs against his lips, pressing their foreheads together. “Please.”

If Riku were a weaker man, he’d fold. But, he knows the stakes. “Sora…”

“I know. I know.” Sora pulls back, sitting on his knees, just to scrub his hands over his face. Even in this dream, he looks exhausted. “I just…thought you’d change your mind by now.”

“You should turn around.” Riku scoots up until his back is against the headboard, his wings pulled tight against his spine.

“We can’t,” Sora says, but his voice cracks in a way that tells Riku he’s not being completely honest about the situation. 

Riku assesses him closely. His shoulders are tense, his skin is pale, and his hands are shaking. He’s never like this. Riku has intruded on memories where Sora was fifteen and hopelessly searching for him, and he never looked so…unwell.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Something sparks in Sora’s expression—like he’s made a connection. It’s only now that Riku realizes he’s got dark bruises under his eyes, as though he hasn’t slept in weeks. Riku has no idea how he missed that while they were so physical.

“It wasn’t enough,” Sora whispers.

And Riku knows what he’s talking about instantly.

“It’s not—you didn’t know. And I don’t blame you for leaving. You thought you were doing the right thing, and maybe you were. I mean, maybe I’m supposed to be like this.”

“Sora.”

The younger man shakes his head dismissively. “Shut up. Okay? I need you. I need to find you.”

Riku’s mind races. “Have you talked to Naminé?”

“What for?” Sora’s tears threaten to fall. “She can’t do anything. She already tried. The only reason her magic even worked was because you were there to protect me from it failing.”

“Is this why you were trying to convince me so badly? Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

Sora nods weakly. “I keep…seeing things. Quadratum things. I can’t keep track of what’s real, anymore. I’ll forget stuff—people—and it’s so fucking scary, Riku. And I…today, I forgot how to fly the ship.”

Riku goes numb.

“It’s not your fault,” Sora says quickly. “You didn’t know. Okay? You didn’t know.”

Riku swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands. He needs to do something with his body, or he’ll lose his shit. Heart pounding, he turns towards the open window, focusing on the moon’s reflection on the ocean. 

“I need you,” Sora whispers behind him. “I’m sorry.”

It was easy—eas ier —to stay away from Sora thinking he was safe. Thinking everything would be better if the two of them were apart. Riku hated the idea of Sora finding happiness with someone else, but if that’s what it took to keep him safe, that’s what would have to happen. Now? It truly is a decision between Sora or the universe, and he knows that for certain. No more speculation.

“Okay.”

Sora’s breath catches. “Okay?”

He was always going to choose Sora.

Riku grabs a burned piece of incense from the dresser. He strides back to Sora, gently takes his arm, and uses the ashen charcoal to scribble numbers onto his forearm. 

Because, of course. Of course this is his limit.

The second Riku stops writing, Sora’s arms are around his neck. His lover is hiccuping against him, and hot tears hit Riku’s shoulder. Riku can’t help but hold him tighter. 

“Find me,” Riku tells him. “We’ll make it right. We’ll fight him if we have to.”

Sora nods frantically. “Okay. Okay.”

Riku wants to tell Sora he loves him, but the dream ends before he can force the words.

Chapter Text

Sora jolts in the captain’s chair, nearly falling forward when he wakes from his dream.

The ship is, thankfully, on autopilot—they didn’t smash into any asteroids while Sora passed out at the helm. Kairi and Ven must be sleeping, but Sora’s heart is racing, and he frantically grasps at his forearm to see what he didn’t think could be possible.

There, like a tattoo burned under his skin, are the ashy coordinates Riku had scribbled before the dream ended.

The breath leaves his lungs. He rubs his fingers over the numbers, but nothing smudges. Despite the less-than-conventional writing utensil Riku had used, Sora can read the coordinates perfectly, and he trips over his feet to get to the console on instinct. Then, he remembers—he can’t fly anymore. 

“Guys!” he shouts, though his voice is raspy and he has to clear his throat. 

It takes about three full seconds before Kairi is by his side, bleary with sleep sand still in her eyes. Ven follows shortly after, his bed hair even wilder than his usual style. Wordlessly, breathing hard, Sora shoves his forearm at Kairi to show her the numbers.

Her eyes go wide as she, too, tries to rub the writing from his skin to no avail. “What the hell is this?”

“Coordinates,” he nearly sobs. “Riku wrote these.”

“In your dream?” Ven asks, incredulous. “It looks like a tattoo or something.”

“Can you just—” Sora gestures to the console. “Input them? Now?”

Kairi has to manhandle him closer to the console so she can start hitting buttons and entering numbers. Sora can’t stop staring at the curves and sharp edges and ash flicks the incense left behind. If this is on his arm forever, he’s not complaining.

“We’re close,” she announces.

“How close?”

Ven glances over their shoulders. “If we hit warp? We’ll be there in an hour, tops.”

Sora starts shaking violently. Emotions are bubbling to the surface. He’ll see Riku in an hour. Riku, after all this searching. After all this dreaming. 

One hour.

“Hey, hey,” Kairi soothes. She gestures to Ven, who hobbles over to start setting their course. Kairi brings Sora into her arms, and Sora can’t help but lament how he’s been relying on her to do that a lot these days.

“I told him,” Sora hiccups. “I told him about the hallucinations.”

“Good,” she says resolutely and without hesitation.

“Yeah, I bet the Master thinks so, too,” Sora mutters. 

“We’ll deal with that when we get there. For now, let’s find Riku. Let’s make sure you’re safe before we worry about anything else, okay?”

“Did anything else happen?” Ven asks as he sets the engines into high gear.

Sora flushes and purses his lips—an indication that Ven does not want an honest answer to that question. Absently, he rubs his forearm. The coordinates are his only solid proof that he hasn’t been having really, really vivid dreams this entire time. He’s…creative, but he’s not sure he could have come up with those scenarios on his own.

“How did this even happen?” Kairi asks, poking the numbers on Sora’s skin. “I mean, are these permanent? What did he write it with? And how could it possibly translate to real life, outside of a dream?”

Sora shrugs. Really, the idea of the coordinates never washing away doesn’t bother him. “He wrote it with this burned-out incense stick.”

“Incense?” Ven asks, nose upturned.

“Well…we were sort of in a bedroom, and it was on the dresser…”

Kairi interrupts with a finger on Sora’s lips. “Ah. Nope. I get it.”

“I don’t,” Ven mumbles.

Sora isn’t sure if he’s excited or terrified when the trip seems to take much less than an hour. Unfortunately, with his loss of Gummi knowledge, he has to rely entirely on Ven and Kairi to give him updates. They politely tell him to stop asking if they’re getting close after the third time. So, he spends the remainder of the flight pacing around the cabin, wringing his hands and rubbing the new marks on his arm.

When they do come up on the approach to Scala ad Caelum, the appearance of the world from an outsider’s perspective is haunting. A world so large should be bustling with activity—Radiant Garden is almost constantly dotted with surrounding ships trying to find a dock to land, and Scala looks to be three times bigger. In fact, its appearance is much more closely resembling the quieter worlds Sora has visited—ones riddled with monsters, with heroes fending off darkness beneath the atmosphere.

“Where do we even land?” Ven asks, gesturing at the world on his map. “There’s no port, no docks…”

Sora’s used to that, though. He might not remember the specifics of flying, but he knows the generalities. “You’re gonna have to wing it. Find somewhere flat.”

“I thought you forgot how to fly!” Ven whines.

“I still know how to use my brain.”

“Debatable,” Kairi says.

Sora rolls his eyes. He appreciates the attempt to lighten the mood, but if he doesn’t see Riku now, he thinks he might explode. “There should be a plaza on that main island. Try that.”

By the time they touch down, Sora feels like he’s vibrating out of his skin. Kairi tries to grab his shoulder, to keep him from sprinting out of the ship, but it’s no use. Sora is already halfway to the hatch, using the manual override to swing it open instead of waiting for Ven to do it from his controls. 

He sees the decoratively tiled floor of the plaza, stumbles down the ramp, and—

—a car whizzes by, nearly swiping him with its mirror, angrily honking until it swings around the next corner.

Instead of Scala’s bright, sunny sky, Sora sees a low, light-polluted cloud cover. A gentle rain spits at him, dotting his cheeks with droplets. Another car passes and splashes his boots when it rolls through a puddle. The electric crackle of magic has been zapped from the air around him.

He’s gotten used to flashes of memory. To shadows in his peripheral vision. To disembodied voices whispering his name across rooms. 

This isn’t a hallucination or a flashback. This is Quadratum.

Sora breathes deep, shakily. Everything feels real. He blinks hard, rubs his eyes, and blinks again, only for his surroundings to remain unchanged. Another car passes. A pedestrian brushes past him. Someone on a bench behind him answers a phone call.

Fuck.

He starts to recognize his immediate surroundings, though. He knows this street corner. He’s thrown mail—nightly deposits from the bar—in the slot at the post office across the street. Next to it, Sora sees the familiar neon lights illuminating the area, reflecting off the glistening asphalt.

Sora can’t explain why, but he knows Riku is at the bar.

He dashes across the street before he can think better of it, and he hears another car slam on its horn to reprimand him. But Sora doesn’t care. This entire trip has been about finding Riku—he’s not about to stop now. 

If this is a hallucination, it’s a damn good one. The way the noises of the street fade away when the door closes behind him, how liquor is all he can smell, the way the darkness of the bar engulfs his senses…the only thing indicating that this might be a fabricated memory is the bar being completely empty. On a night like this, the bar should be drawing crowds.

Instead, Sora sees one lone figure near the back of the dance floor. He recognizes the man instantly, and nearly eats shit tripping over his own feet as he stumbles forward. Sora doesn’t breathe. Doesn’t dare to shatter the experience. 

In the next moment, Sora is colliding with Riku, and his world explodes with light. The sound of seagulls pierce his ears, and the sea salt air whips his jacket off his shoulders. He’s barely standing. The only reason he isn’t collapsing to the ground is because Riku is holding him.

Quadratum is gone as quickly as it arrived. Now, as Scala fades back into reality, Sora holds fast to Riku. 

Dazed, confused, and terrified, Sora pulls back to make sure he can finally see those turquoise eyes. Riku already has a hand cupping his cheek, and Sora can feel him shaking, and it’s Riku. Riku’s here.

“You’re real,” Sora whispers, grabbing Riku’s face between his palms. “Holy shit, you’re real, you’re here, I found you.”

Riku laughs, though tears are making his eyes sparkle. “You found me.”

“You’re so stupid,” Sora cries. He drags Riku forward until their lips meet, but it can barely be constituted as a kiss. Sora is fighting for air between sobs and he’s tangling his fingers in Riku’s hair. “God, you’re so fucking stupid, don’t you ever leave me again!”

A familiar tug of warmth, like hot chocolate on an autumn evening, sparks between them. It’s soft and comforting and devastating. Sora clings to it, forcing himself to properly kiss Riku and savor the moment of their link weaving itself back to life.

After, he’s a mess. Tears stream down his face and he hiccups, too elated and exhausted to bother feeling ashamed about it. Riku pulls Sora close to his chest and holds him. Grounds him.

“It’s okay,” Riku soothes, and Sora feels like he can finally breathe again. “It’s okay, beautiful. I got you.”

“I love you,” Sora says, pulling away just enough to meet Riku’s eyes. His voice cracks and wavers, but he forces his expression to be as sober as possible.

Riku smiles so gently, and Sora thinks it could stop wars. “I love you.”

In the next moment, Kairi is beside them, eyes alight with anger directed at Riku. He looks bashful, like he knows he fucked up, and Kairi seems to sense his regret instantly. Her tense shoulders fall, and then she’s leaning into them both, and Riku is gathering them into a group hug.

“Don’t get too comfortable,” she mumbles. “I still wanna kick your ass.”

“Understandable,” he admits quietly. 

“But, right now—I’m glad you’re okay. Just…please don’t run from us again?”

Sora, his face buried into Riku’s chest, feels him nod. “I won’t.”

“We tackle this together.” Sora steps back, and the action requires all of his emotional energy. He pokes Riku in his ribs and scowls. “I don’t care what any stupid legends say. They can’t tell us what we are.”

Before Riku can respond, his attention seems to be drawn to something behind Sora. When Sora looks, he sees Vanitas awkwardly holding Ven in his arms. He looks shell-shocked—an expression Sora hasn’t seen before on his doppleganger. He wraps his arms around Ven like he’s terrified his other half will disappear.

Sora watches on with butterflies in his chest. For all of Ven’s gushing, it’s clear that Vanitas’ rough walls are being knocked down. His bright, glacier-blue eyes search Ven’s, like he can’t quite believe they’re finally together. They didn’t have the luxury of sharing dreams this past month.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Vanitas nearly whispers. 

“And you had to know I’d come to find you,” Ven says. Sora had never mentioned to Riku that he’d been traveling with Ven, but with Vanitas missing alongside him, it was probably obvious. 

“Yeah. But, I was hoping Sora would come alone. Because you have zero sense of self-preservation,” Vanitas says flatly.

“Maybe. At least I have you, though.”

“You don’t know what I am,” Vanitas says, and he sounds dangerously close to tears when he speaks. “Ven, I’ve…done things. Things you don’t know about.”

Ven giggles. “You’ve tried to kill me, remember? I’m over it. You can’t push me away.”

As sweet as the scene is, Vanitas has no issues keeping his distance and sending Riku a look that Sora can’t decipher. Riku brushes Sora’s arm to garner his attention again. “We should probably talk, huh?”

Kairi quietly steps back, sniffling as she attempts to reign in her tears. “You guys go. I’ll be with these guys in the meantime.”

Sora, still giddy from their mutual proclamation of affection, keeps Riku’s hand in his as they stroll to one of the docks. Even now, Sora can feel their link, tying knots that build onto each other, like the bracelets Sora used to make as a kid. He wonders, grimly, how long he’ll get to enjoy the sensation before the Master finds them.

They end up finding a bench overlooking the ocean, and a gentle breeze floats past them, carrying the scent of flowers and salt. Sora is stricken by his memories of Riku’s first confession, watching the storm roll into Destiny Islands. It feels like an eternity has passed since that moment.

“Are you my boyfriend, or what?” Sora asks to break the silence, and Riku startles at the sudden interrogation.

“Do you want me to be?”

“No, actually. I just fucked you and told you I’m in love with you to pass the time.”

Riku smirks and bumps their shoulders together—just like old times, except nothing is the same as it used to be, and Sora doesn’t think that’s entirely a bad thing. “We’re something.”

“We’re boyfriends.”

Riku’s expression hardens slightly. “Are you sure, though? I don’t want you to feel pressured just because of…well, who we are.”

Sora catches on immediately—are they truly in love, or are they repeating the same mistakes they’ve been committing for endless past lifetimes? Sora doesn’t think it’s possible to choose who to love, but he doesn’t know if it’s entirely destined, either.

He tightens his grip on Riku’s hand. “We’re us. Sora and Riku. Whatever happens before and after doesn’t matter to me.”

Warily, Riku nods in agreement, though he still looks tortured. “The link, though. We’re forced to be together to keep you alive.”

“I’m not me without you,” Sora says, resolutely repeating the words he said in desperation when Riku left him. “I like needing you.”

Riku hesitates. He searches Sora’s eyes for an answer, and though he doesn’t seem to find one, he still nods and releases Sora’s hand to wrap an arm around his shoulders. “Okay. Boyfriends it is.”

Sora can’t stop himself from grinning and leaning up to press their lips together. Even though his eyes are closed, he thinks the sun disappears, and he sees flashes of club lights behind his eyelids. Quadratum seeps into the corners of his mind, and Sora clings fast to Riku, pulling at the hair at the base of his boyfriend’s neck for an anchor. The sound of gulls crying fades back into his reality.

“Fuck,” he whispers pathetically. “I’m still…I thought being with you would fix it. The hallucinations”

“Did you just…?”

Sora nods miserably.

A fuzzy warmth wraps around his heart and constricts as Riku rubs comforting circles into his back. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll head back to Twilight Town and see if Naminé can help.”

“I told you she won’t be able to fix it.”

“We don’t know until we ask,” Riku says. “In the meantime, we can start repairing the link.”

“You mean it? Even if the Master finds us and tries to take it again?”

Riku pushes Sora’s bangs away from his eyes. “You make it so easy to believe in us, you know that? I’d like to see him fucking try.”

In that moment, the sky could crash down around them, and Sora would still feel like he could hold the world on his shoulders. 

–

As it turns out, Riku and Vanitas didn’t arrive at Scala via ship. Vanitas still wrests control over his dark portals, and Scala’s location came to him naturally. He mentions a faraway dream, where he’s dressed in black and chasing Sora through a maze of streets. Though Sora recognizes the description as his encounter with Xehanort’s clones during their final battle, he says nothing. Vanitas is recovering from what Xehanort did to him; he doesn’t need a reminder about how real it actually was.

Riku explains that they found coordinates near the beginning of their research, scribbled onto an old map that used the stars as navigation. And, while they could use a dark portal to escape Scala, Yen Sid would slap them all for leaving their brand new Gummi behind. The group decides to board the Gummi together.

Though, not without some convincing.

The first step is to load the Gummi with their research findings. Riku had been adamant about the importance of Scala’s library; they might have a few resources back home, but they can’t replace all the journals of lost masters they stumbled across. He insists they shouldn’t leave without loading a few boxes full of tombs. 

Vanitas taps his foot as he watches Ven carry a box of books from the library up the Gummi ramp. “I shouldn’t go back.”

Riku rolls his eyes. It’s not like this is a new discussion between the two of them, but perhaps the others can knock some sense into his fellow essence of eternal darkness.

“No way,” Kairi says, brushing her palms together to rid the dust from her own box of books, before placing them on her hips. “You need him. You’re coming.”

“That sounds pretty confident, Princess,” Vanitas teases. “You actually want me around?”

“Drop the sarcasm,” Riku tells him from where he’s inspecting the Gummi’s hardware, making sure it’s good for a flight home.

“I’m not being sarcastic. I just don’t want another black eye.”

“I won’t have a reason to give you one if you refrain from seducing my best friend,” Kairi huffs as she picks up another box. 

Riku doesn’t have to be looking at Sora, who is currently organizing their sleeping quarters, to know he heard her words. He feels the sharp, stabbing tug on their link—it’s harsh enough to make Riku clutch his chest. 

She wouldn’t have said that if Sora didn’t already know.

It’s not like Riku thought he could keep it a secret forever. And it’s not like he did anything wrong by sleeping with Vanitas. Technically. Sora had been missing, and it’s not like he asked Vanitas to do his imitation schtick, although he hadn’t discouraged it. Still, he’s an adult—he’s allowed his own sexual exploits.

“With his boy toy back? I wouldn’t even dream of success.” Vanitas sighs wistfully. “Is that really the only reason you ever punched me? I wasn’t exactly feeling the love amongst my peers, to say the least.”

“Are you seriously worrying about whether or not people will accept you?” Ven asks incredulously as Riku slams the engine panel closed and rounds the ship to meet the group. 

“Not worrying. Just pointing out the obvious.” He levels Ven with a darkened stare. 

But, of course, there is something deeper happening that Riku promised not to mention. Vanitas saw Scala as his escape from accepting responsibility for Strelitzia. All this petty arguing is just a way to avoid confronting the truth. Thankfully, none of the others catch onto those insecurities.

“We’re almost done packing. Get on the ship,” Ven orders. “Now.”

Sora’s rearrangement of their sleeping quarters turned the four pre-built bunks into three. There are two bunks stacked on the left that have two mattresses shoved together, and while it’s a little lopsided, it doesn’t look uncomfortable. It’s better than the musty, ancient sleeping quarters Riku and Vanitas have been using by a mile.

And, on the right, is Kairi’s bunk. While she’s all alone on her side of the quarters, Sora managed to make her cubby look as cozy as possible. He seems to have included a fuzzy throw blanket to complete the nest.

“We’ll only be flying for a day or so,” Ven reminds Sora as he climbs aboard, appraising the quarters. “We know the coordinates to Twilight Town, so we won’t be flying in the dark.”

Sora pouts. “I knew that! I just wanted us to be comfortable. We spent too long apart from each other, and I’m not about to make Riku sleep in a different bed!”

Ven laughs, throwing his hands up in surrender. “You got it, boss. Settle in.”

It doesn’t take long for them to take off, and for their three companions to wander to the cockpit together. Sora, despite his gusto over their sleeping arrangements, seems apprehensive to even look past the dividing curtain. Riku remembers with a clench around his heart that Sora forgot his piloting knowledge.

He doesn’t comment out of fear of irritating the wound. Instead, Riku kicks off his boots near the hatch and crawls into the makeshift bed with Sora close in tow. They settle, with Riku on his back and Sora leaning back against him, hips settled between Riku’s legs. For a few moments, Riku just absorbs Sora’s warmth. 

But, he hears Vanitas snark about something from the cockpit, and he can’t avoid the obvious forever.

“Did Kairi tell you?” he asks softly, and Sora flinches. “About me and Vanitas.”

“Ven, actually,” Sora murmurs. “He didn’t mean to. He thought I already knew.”

Guilt sinks heavily in Riku’s stomach. “I should have told you.”

“You don’t owe me explanations of what you did when I was gone,” Sora tells him. Riku can’t see his face, but he can hear the slight crack of his voice that indicates Sora is holding back tears. Riku holds him tighter and brushes his thumb across Sora’s arm. 

Then, Riku sees something on Sora’s arm. At first, he thinks it’s a bug or a smudge of dirt, and he goes to wipe it off, only to see it’s…a tattoo?

Sora clears his throat and offers his arm to make it easier for Riku to see. It’s not a tattoo—it’s the coordinates Riku wrote on his arm in their dream together.

“How the fuck…?”

“It was just there when I woke up,” Sora shrugs. “Weird, huh? I figured it was my heart really wanting to see you or something.”

Something sour settles in Riku’s chest, because that is not normal and he can’t think of any magic that could do that. Sora seems to pick up on the feeling, because he smiles and pokes the tip of Riku’s nose with his finger. “Hey. No. Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s nothing—just some kind of magic.”

“It’s on you forever,” Riku pouts.

“Good!” Sora rubs his own palm over the numbers. “It’s cool, anyway.”

They’re quiet for a few moments. Despite the calm atmosphere surrounding them, Riku’s heart is pounding.

“Was it because he looks like me?”

There’s no point in lying. Nothing good has ever come out of Riku’s lies. “Not entirely.”

“But, partially.”

“Yes.”

Sora doesn’t respond. His breaths come shallow.

“We didn’t. In Scala. If that’s what you’re wondering.”

Sora’s shoulders tense and he shivers, prompting Riku to bury his nose into his boyfriend’s hair. After a few deep, rattling breaths, Sora says, “I thought about it.”

Even though he was the one to offer reassurance, upon Sora’s admission, Riku’s first emotion is incredulousness. How could Sora possibly believe Riku would touch Vanitas like that, after what they shared together? But Riku reminds himself—Sora isn’t a mind reader. And, without their link, he had no way of knowing whether or not Riku was remaining faithful. They didn’t even have a title until today.

“You’re the only one I’ll ever need,” Riku assures him. “And the only one I’ve ever loved.”

“I just thought…you’re both related to the darkness, and it sounds like he’s got the same history as you. Y’know, on an eternal scale. What if that’s how it’s supposed to be? What if I have too much light for that?”

“What did we just talk about?” Riku asks with a little laugh under his breath. “Whatever we are…it doesn’t matter. Besides, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that. Eternal darkness and light orbiting around each other is about balance, not harmony.”

“Did you find that in your research?”

Riku kisses the crown of Sora’s head. “Yes. We found a lot. And none of it could ever make me love you less. None of it could make me doubt that I’m built for you.”

Sora’s shoulders shake with a laugh, right before he groans and rolls onto his stomach to bury his face into Riku’s chest. “Sap.”

“Are you blushing?” Riku teases.

“That’s what happens when your boyfriend is stupidly romantic,” Sora murmurs, muffled by the fabric.

Now, it’s Riku’s turn to turn a little red. “Boyfriends.”

“I know. Weird.”

“But good?”

“Yes, dork.”

The rest of the trip is uneventful; Kairi and Ven switch off manning the helm, while Vanitas trounces back and forth to follow Ven wherever he goes. Riku even manages to sleep a little, though it’s difficult when he wants to spend all his time absorbing Sora’s presence. He spends a few hours letting Sora doze off (dreamlessly, as far as he can tell), and he memorizes the warmth and weight of Sora on him. In this moment, with Sora safely in his arms, it’s nearly impossible to imagine why he walked away in the first place. Dreams don’t do this justice.

Maybe it’s their link rekindling itself. Maybe it’s the knowledge that, no matter what they do, they’ll always find each other. Even if Riku had managed to avoid him until death, whatever eternal thing is binding them together would repeat their destiny in another lifetime. He understands that, now—far more than he did when he left a month ago.

And, what if that next life plays out like the ones in the past? The ones that allowed the Master to steal their light? Sora’s right. Working together, using their combined strength…that’s the only way they can get their true shot at stopping the Master forever.

Chapter Text

“Found him!” Sora greets as they enter Naminé’s lab. 

Naminé glances up from her current piece—a painting of a field Riku doesn’t recognize—and her eyes light up with a smile. Riku can’t help but return it, squeezing Sora’s hand a little tighter for an extra boost of confidence. Truthfully, reacquainting himself with everyone else has been nearly as daunting as his experience reuniting with Sora.

“I’ll assume you already laid into him so I don’t have to?” Naminé asks Sora, and Riku flushes a little with embarrassment. 

“Yep. We kinda just ended up being boyfriends, though.”

She blinks. “Were you not already?”

“Well, no…not technically.”

Naminé shakes her head, as if to rid herself of her follow-up questions. She quickly recollects herself and motions between them with her finger. “So, how’s the link? Is it back to doing its job?”

Riku bites his lip. “Sort of.”

She furrows her brows and steps closer. Just like before, she places her hand on Sora’s chest and closes her eyes to concentrate. Her expression sours further, and Riku knows that’s not a good sign. Finally, she steps back and folds her arms across her torso.

“It’s definitely growing stronger,” she confirms. “But…it’s like we broke the floodgates of the dam. I can’t just put the water back where it was.”

Sora rubs his chest where Naminé’s hand had been. “I started forgetting stuff, though. That’s not normal, is it?”

“I’m not sure there is a normal to compare with.” She sighs, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “The best we can do is hope your link gets strong enough to protect you from any more damage. It’s not anything I can promise you. But, the damage that’s already done…the link can’t fix that.”

“So, what? I just keep remembering Quadratum until I forget everything else?”

Naminé shakes her head solemnly. “Sora…your heart wouldn’t survive that. Memories make us who we are, and they never truly get erased. You’d have memories fighting to be front-and-center constantly. You can’t take that amount of strain.”

Riku tries his best to comfort Sora by running his fingers through his hair. “So, we need to speed up the rebuilding process. Now.”

“The sooner the better,” Naminé agrees. “Prevent whatever damage you can. Sora, I don’t want to try anything until you’re stable. But, once you’re safe, we can start working on compartmentalizing your Quadratum memories to try and contain them. If we can stop any further damage—if Riku closes the door for you—I’ll lock it behind him.”

When they leave Naminé, Riku isn’t sure whether he feels encouraged or terrified. Maybe a little bit of both. Sora is silent, swinging their joined hands between them as they walk to Kairi’s place. His brow is drawn tight, obviously deep in thought.

“So, we have to fuck.”

Riku nearly bites his tongue when Sora speaks, because they’re in public and he’s positive a few passerbys overheard the comment. “Dude!”

“Hey, I’m just stating the obvious,” Sora shrugs. “We know from experience that it’s a fast track to making our link go crazy.”

“Yeah, so are dreams,” Riku reminds him. “Regular, not horny dreams.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Sora says, and he looks up at Riku with the cheekiest grin and the tip of his tongue caught between his teeth.

“Well, I figured it was a given, even without the link problem,” Riku says. “Now that we’re staying in our own room at Kairi’s place.”

Sora actually giggles. “Sleeping with me is a given?”

“Comes with the boyfriend thing, I think.”

The closer they get to Kairi’s apartment, the more fidgety Sora seems to become. At first, Riku thinks he’s just that antsy to get laid. Then, a block away, Sora huffs and says, “Kairi and Olette were sort of in an argument when we left. Just so you know.”

Oh. “What kind of argument?”

“Olette was upset that Kairi's not home enough,” Sora explains. “Since she was helping me find you, and I was working with the Subject X team in Radiant Garden. I keep catching her writing walls of text. They seemed like they’d work it out, but it’s probably gonna be a little awkward anyway.”

He’s not wrong. When they enter the apartment, Olette is smiling as she greets them, but it’s strained. Kairi looks like she’s just composed herself after a painful discussion. Riku tries to communicate his curiosity with a glance in her direction, but when Kairi meets his eyes, she just shakes her head in a way that tells Riku not to worry about it.

“Man, I need a shower,” Sora laments in an obvious attempt to break through the tension.

This brings a genuine smile to Kairi’s face, and she grabs his hand, dragging him towards the back hallway. “Come on, I’ll show you the guest room!”

Kairi rarely runs from her problems. Hell, she’s starting to resemble Riku with how she left the room the moment things got uncomfortable. And, according to Sora, the tension is because Kairi was away from home—specifically so she could help Sora find Riku. He’s used to swallowing guilt, but he doesn’t know if he can handle being a homewrecker. Should he apologize? Should he even bring it up?

Riku looks to Olette and tries his best to appear like an adult, and not like a toddler who spilled milk and forced everyone to clean up after him. “You guys okay?”

Olette stiffens. She fiddles with one of the drawstrings on her jacket. “We’re fine. Just one of those relationship things.”

He can tell she wants to talk about anything else, so he smirks and says, “I’m right behind you, I guess. I’m open to Relationship Conflict Resolution advice.”

“You guys are finally a thing?” Olette asks, bringing her hands together and holding them close to her chest in a show of genuine excitement. She even does a little bounce on her toes. “You deserve it. Seriously. It’s been a rough four years for you.”

“Thanks,” he says, and he gets the sense that Olette was never bitter towards him for Kairi excusing herself from being home. He lowers his gaze.

“She loves you a lot, you know,” he decides to say, treading as lightly as he can while still getting his point across. “I’m new to this, but I feel like deciding on a place to live is a pretty common relationship wrinkle.”

Olette sighs. “It’s not about that. I mean, it’s part of the discussion, but I mostly just…miss her?”

“She misses you too. I know she does.”

“Not like how she missed you,” Olette mumbles. It takes everything in Riku to not drop his jaw. She can’t seriously be worried about that. But then, she quickly corrects herself. “I mean—not like that. And I really do understand. We had no idea where you were, Sora was so upset and I wanted her to be there for her friends. I just can’t help the way I feel, y’know?”

“Left out,” he clarifies. A memory nags at the back of his mind. He sees a little drawing carved into the side of a rock, and his aching heart poisoning his mind. “Trust me, I get it.”

He hears Kairi’s footsteps approaching from down the hall. Olette immediately turns to the sink, and starts washing the dishes.

Kairi shows him to their room, where he promises her that this is a temporary thing. She just waves him off, says that’s what friends are for, and that he better never mention it ever again. 

“Besides, you’re dealing with a lot,” she says. “What with the whole thing about being eternal soulmates.”

“He told you?” Riku asks softly. 

Kairi nods. “Me and Ven, a few days ago. Didn’t make much sense, so I’ve been more focused on making sure he’s okay.”

“We’ll handle it,” Riku sighs. “Thanks, though.”

“For what?”

He quirks the corner of his lips. “Looking out for him.”

After she leaves, he takes in his surroundings. The room isn’t very decorated; the bedding is crisp and white with a fluffy pink throw on top. The only thing Riku hears is the sound of water running from the attached bathroom. 

The door is cracked. 

Riku has no idea if that’s a blatant invitation or not. His pulse picks up into doubletime, and it’s almost impressive how quickly his breath shallows. He bites his bottom lip, watching steam seep into the bedroom. Their relationship is new enough that he doesn’t know how to enter the bathroom without looking desperate, but he’s tired, and he’s high on emotions. And, yeah, maybe he is a little desperate, after all.

Gently, he pushes the door open further, giving it a tiny knock with his knuckles to alert Sora of his presence. The walk-in shower doors aren’t frosted, but they’re fogged with steam. It’s not enough to block Sora’s body from view, though, and it has Riku glancing away out of instinct.

“I was wondering when you’d get in here,” Sora says.

Riku allows himself to actually look at his own boyfriend, and reminds himself that he can do that, now. “You were?”

“You need a shower, too,” Sora tells him. He’s got a knowing, smug, wry smile on his face. Sora still has a few suds in his hair; it doesn’t look like he’s in much of a rush.

That sure sounds like permission, doesn’t it? 

He only hesitates for another moment before slipping off his shirt. He can feel Sora’s eyes on him while he undresses, and has to breathe deeply to stay calm. The brightness of the bathroom makes him feel like he’s under a spotlight.

When Riku looks back, he sees Sora watching him, eyes dark and lips parted. It shouldn’t take as much courage as it does to approach the shower door and open it—it’s not like he’s never showered with a guy before. Hell, it’s not even the first time he’s seen Sora naked, but his breath still catches when his skin brushes Sora’s wet body.

After a beat, Sora switches them around, positioning Riku under the spray of the water. It’s a little too cold for Riku’s liking, but he barely notices, because Sora’s hands are enough to keep him feeling feverish. Sora smoothes Riku’s hair, allowing the water to saturate it. Then, he drags Riku into a kiss, pressing their bodies close.

It’s hot. Sora aligns them from chest-to-hip, and his arms encircle around Riku’s neck. Riku’s tongue brushes along Sora’s bottom lip, collecting water droplets, as the slickness makes it easier to move together. Sora moans quietly into his mouth and Riku feels something twisting in his chest, acting like a magnet dragging them impossibly closer.

Then, Sora’s arousal is pressed against his thigh, and he stops holding back.

Not-so-gently, he pushes Sora’s back into the tile of the shower wall, holding back a needy whine when he wedges his knee between Sora’s legs. Sora gasps and tips his head back, providing Riku with access to his pulse point—Riku forgets they can’t be loud and breaks the kiss to nip at Sora’s neck.

Sora has to bite his lip to stay quiet, nearly drawing blood, and arches his back when Riku starts leaving marks. “I-it’s gonna bruise.”

Riku tightens his grip on Sora’s waist. “Good.”

“Want you,” Sora murmurs just loud enough to be heard over the running water.

“How?” Riku needs Sora to ask. He needs Sora to ground them both, to remind Riku that this isn’t a dream. Sora won’t fall away and disappear this time.

“In me,” Sora whimpers, punctuating with a little roll of his hips. “Please.”

God, he loves when Sora gets needy. He loves how Sora squirms, how quickly he relaxes when Riku’s fingers are inside him. Prep isn’t as easy as it is in their dreams, but Sora knows now that it’s all about letting Riku take control. Riku works him open, and Sora is breathing heavily into his neck, muffling his moans with Riku’s hot skin.

Riku must be moving too slowly, though, because Sora whispers, “You can get rough.”

He pulls back just enough to meet Sora’s sky blue eyes. There’s a dusting of pink across the bridge of his nose, and whether it’s from the shower’s heat, his arousal, or his shyness is yet to be seen. Sora only breaks eye contact when Riku crooks his fingers, and Sora isn’t quick enough to stifle his sharp moan.

“Shit,” he whispers, covering his mouth.

Yeah. The whole apartment building probably heard that.

“But I can get rough?” Riku teases. 

“I’ll be good,” Sora says, and his half-lidded eyes are enough of a reason for Riku to not give a single fuck if the entire block hears them. “Promise.”

Sora touches him, then, and Riku’s forehead falls to his shoulder. He grits his teeth as Sora strokes him, tightening the pressure of his fist near the tip of Riku’s cock.

“Fuck,” Riku pants, and he loses his train of thought entirely when he feels Sora tense around his fingers at the sound. He takes them away and leave Sora empty, because if he doesn’t get inside his boyfriend now—

His hands are underneath Sora’s thighs and he lifts. Sora squeaks, not expecting his feet to leave the ground, but the surprise quickly melts away when he feels the head of Riku’s cock against him. A thread of light trills between them, but Riku barely notices—he takes his last few precious seconds of self-control to push just his tip inside of Sora. Sora makes a noise, dripping with want, and Riku uses the leverage of the wall to push inside.

Sora is tight like a vice around his cock. He digs his nails into Riku’s back, and his teeth sink into Riku’s shoulder to keep himself from crying out. Riku’s instinct is to start slow, to keep his movements gentle, but he wants to make Sora feel good and Sora wants it rough.

He makes sure he has a good grip on Sora’s thighs and thrusts hard.

Sora’s nails feel like they’re drawing blood across Riku’s Dream Eater scar. He’s murmuring curses between moans. Riku feels dizzy when Sora stuffs two of his own fingers in his mouth to stay quiet. He makes a few more harsh movements until he sees Sora’s jaw go slack and his little pink tongue swirls around his fingertips.

The water hitting Riku’s back is overstimulating, sending lightning strikes along his spine. Agitated and already inside Sora to the hilt, he ruts forward until Sora is gasping his name and throbbing around him.

“Please,” Sora begs. “So good, Riku, please—”

Riku barely pulls out between movements, fucking Sora into the wall. Sora locks his ankles behind Riku’s back. Maybe he also feels like they can’t get close enough, and maybe that’s why he keeps wriggling and helplessly twitching whenever Riku bottoms out.

“Deep,” Sora mumbles, syllables slurring. “You’re—you’re so deep— ”

Riku shivers, and with satisfaction lacing his tone, he murmurs, “You want me to come inside you, beautiful?”

“F- Fuck.” Sora presses their foreheads together. “Yeah. Please. Fuck.”

Riku watches himself slide in and out of Sora. Watches how Sora’s cock is twitching and leaking. From this angle, with Sora bent just right, he thinks he can see a little bump in Sora’s stomach when Riku is all the way inside him.

For the first time in a long time during sex, Riku has to stop and collect himself, because he can’t release until Sora sees evidence of just how deep Riku is seated. Unable to use his hands, though, he takes to nipping at Sora’s ear and whispering, “Look at you, all filled up—”

Sora whimpers and drags his fingers across his stomach, finding the barely-there bump. He presses into it, and Riku is gone, shaking through his climax and blinking at the stars bursting behind his eyes. It seems like the idea alone is enough for Sora to chase his own release. Riku’s sight focuses just in time to watch Sora make a mess on himself, immediately washed away by the water. Distantly, he wishes they weren’t in the shower so he could see Sora covered in cum with the same fucked-out expression he’s wearing now.

“Holy shit.” Sora, violently shivering and panting.  It takes an incredible amount of restraint to pull himself out of Sora. His boyfriend nearly collapses against him, finally unhooking his ankles and lowering his feet to the shower floor. Riku has to catch him when he stumbles. “God. Fuck.”

“Watch your mouth,” Riku tells him half-heartedly between gasps for breath. “Let’s…let’s get you cleaned up.”

“ No,” Sora snaps. “Do not.” Then, when Riku raises his eyebrow, says, “I like it. Feeling it.”

Riku remembers, and it’s enough to have his arousal rushing through him again. But, the water is ice cold, and they can’t stay here forever. He reaches to turn off the water, and when he does, Sora starts giggling like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever seen.

“What?” Riku asks, baffled.

“We kinda defeated the purpose of the shower,” Sora says with a stupid grin. 

Riku’s endorphins bubble over and he laughs, too. Then, they’re both soaking wet, exhausted from sex and smiling so hard that their faces hurt, and Riku has never felt more in love than he has in this moment. Their link bursts at the seams, and this time, they do notice the gold, glowing strand of light between their chests. There’s a satisfying click, like a gear locking into place. Then, the light fades, and Riku feels double the emotion as he experiences his own alongside Sora’s.

“I love you.” His voice is like honey—sweet and soft. “I love you so fucking much.”

“I love you, too,” Riku promises. 

“Tell me you won’t leave again,” Sora breathes like he’s terrified to shatter a dream. “If something’s wrong, please say you’ll just tell me.”

Riku cups his face and kisses him. Then, against Sora’s lips, he says, “I won’t leave. I swear I’ll never leave you again.”

Chapter Text

Riku opens his eyes and is welcomed by darkness.

Underneath his feet is Sora’s Station. The familiar stained glass image glows bright, and Riku realizes he’s still dreaming. And he dove into Sora’s heart. The last time he arrived here, Sora had been tortured by a nightmare, drowning in a hellish darkness that Riku had to dispel. Now, though, it’s calm and quiet.

He shakes out his wings and absorbs his surroundings, trying to decipher why he arrived, when he sees Sora standing in front of a decorative mirror.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he approaches, thrilled that Sora isn’t having a nightmare. “Hey. What’s this?”

Sora doesn’t take his eyes away from his reflection in the mirror as he shrugs. “Dunno. I think this is a memory. What do you see?”

Riku peers into the mirror. At first, he just sees their reflection, before the image ripples away like throwing stones in a pond. Then, it appears—a visage of the Grand Hall in Hollow Bastion. Apparitions of Sora and Riku are trading blows in their fight to the death, and Riku would recognize it as a memory, but their mirrored images look to be as old as they are now. 

“Kind of a shit memory,” Riku mumbles. “Why are we so much older, though?”

Sora tilts his head to the side in confusion, brows furrowed and lips downturned. “No idea. I guess—”

Sora is cut off by the sound of himself crying out, and Mirror Riku pushes him face-first to the floor. Riku definitely does not remember the way his mirrored self straddles Sora’s hips and tangles his fingers in his hair.

“Oh,” Riku says.

“Fuck,” Sora groans, turning bright red as he turns away from the mirror. “I—okay, listen. Hear me out.”

Mirror Riku starts biting at Mirror Sora’s neck, leaving bruises in his wake, and pulling hard on Sora’s brown locks. 

“This is…certainly one way to interpret this memory.”

“You were gone and I was horny,” Sora mutters. 

Riku turns to him, stunned. “This is your wet dream? Seriously?”

“It’s coping, and you should try it sometime!” Sora flinches when his mirrored self moans in a way that immediately draws all of Riku’s attention. “God. Can we wake up now? Please?”

This is too good.

“Honestly, I can’t even be mad that you sexualized this,” Riku says, folding his arms across his chest, continuing to observe the image of his boyfriend getting ravaged. “Like, this is impressive. Is this the roughness you were talking about earlier?”

“Oh, my god. Stop talking. Please.”

“If I had known you wanted this,” Riku hums, and he steps closer to Sora and tilts his head up by his chin, “You wouldn’t be able to walk right.”

Sora shivers, and his pupils blow wide when he meets Riku’s gaze. The air between them thickens and darkens, and a trill of something dangerous rings through the tight coil in Riku’s stomach. They both hear Mirror Sora begging for it, broken and desperate. 

“Y-you don’t—” Sora clears his throat and shifts his weight. “It’s not exactly a pleasant memory for you.”

In one smooth movement, Riku aligns himself with Sora’s back, maneuvering his boyfriend until he’s facing the image in the mirror. Sora, ashamed, ducks his head just as Mirror Riku lines up his cock.

Riku grips Sora’s jaw and forces him to look.

“You really wanted me to fuck you like that?” Riku murmurs against the shell of his ear, and Sora’s breath catches on a gasp. “You want me to hold you down and make you take it?”

“ Fuck,” Sora curses in a whisper.

In the mirror, Riku kicks Sora’s legs apart and grabs his hips, holding him firmly in place while he sinks his cock inside. The Sora in the mirror moans, pushing back as Mirror Riku moves his hand to shove Sora’s face to the floor. Riku’s image doesn’t wait for Sora to adjust to his cock—he just treats Sora like a toy.

Again, Sora tries to look away from the mirror, but he can’t hide his arousal straining against his gray pajama pants. Riku slides his palm down Sora’s bare torso until he dips his fingers beneath the waistband and wraps his hand around Sora’s cock.

Sora shakes and bucks his hips involuntarily into the touch. His head lolls back onto Riku’s shoulder and his breath comes in quick, hot gasps. He reaches back to dig his nails into the back of Riku’s neck.

Mirror Riku is not gentle. Any time Mirror Sora tries to push himself onto Riku’s cock, chasing the feeling of being full, Riku grips his hips hard enough to leave bruises. Mirror Riku uses them for leverage as he controls the pace. He’s not fucking Sora. He’s using Sora. Mirror Sora is drooling on the floor, limp and pliant.

“When did you become such a little whore, Sora?”

That takes Riku by surprise. His hand, pumping Sora’s cock in time with the events in the mirror, stutters to a halt.

Sora twitches against his palm. His entire body shakes, right on the verge of release, and he thrusts his hips into Riku’s grip, needy for friction. Still, with shame in his tone, he whimpers, “I’m sorry.”

“I just…didn’t think you’d be into that,” Riku says honestly. He tries to recover quickly, though now, he’s hard pressing into the small of Sora’s back. “Don’t be sorry.”

Mirror Riku pulls out, jerks himself a few times, and spills across Mirror Sora’s back. Fucked out and dazed, Sora’s image tremors though an untouched orgasm, whining needily when Mirror Riku uses his own seed to help slip two fingers inside Sora’s spent hole.

“Holy shit,” Riku breathes. 

Sora seems to have lost his sense of shame, thighs trembling and cock throbbing against Riku’s palm. “Riku—please—!”

But Riku doesn’t even have time to give him permission. Sora’s moan is broken and high-pitched when he makes a mess of Riku’s hand—

–

It’s four in the morning when Riku’s phone rings. He hasn’t turned it on in the past few weeks, so the sound scares the shit out of him at first. It takes four full rings for Riku to collect himself, the images of their shared dream regrettably fading away.

Sora stirs next to him, groans, and rolls into him with a dissatisfied whine. Riku blinks a few times before he can read the name on the caller ID; it’s Strelitzia.

“We’re gonna talk about that,” Riku tells him gruffly. “In a minute.”

To Sora’s visible dismay, he answers, because Strelitzia wouldn’t call him at four in the morning for nothing. “What?”

“Welcome back,” she says on the other end. “Were you gonna tell me you’re answering your phone again?”

“It’s four in the fucking morning,” he huffs, voice raw with sleep.

“Oh. Sorry. Forgot about time differences.”

“Clearly. Can I go back to bed?”

“No. Because I think I have something.”

Riku ignores the way Sora grumpily hides himself under the covers. “About your brother?”

“Sort of. I’ve been going back and forth with Ansem and Ienzo about it. We’ve been looking for a month and haven’t found anything, right? Well, maybe it’s because he’s not here.”

“Meaning what?”

“What if he’s in Quadratum?”

Sora must overhear the name of the city from his makeshift blanket nest, because he pokes his head out. Riku hesitates. “But you were there for years and never found him.”

“I just have this feeling that he didn’t disappear on purpose,” she says. Her voice is tiny and quiet. “I think the Master did something to keep him there once he got recompleted. I’m confident he’s not in the Realm of Light—at least, not anymore.”

“It’s just…that’s kind of a leap. And it’s a big deal. Jumping realities wasn’t easy.”

“I need to go,” she pleads. “And I’ve been waiting for them to find you so I could ask you to go with me.”

To Riku’s surprise, Sora motions for the phone. He hands it over, and Sora sits up in bed, hunched over. “Hey. What are you talkin’ about?”

Riku can’t hear Strelitzia’s answer, but seeing Sora speak with her over the phone is surreal. He’s only been gone three weeks, and Sora is already this familiar with her? How much of his memory deteriorated because of her? How much worse did she make his hallucinations, just by talking to him?

“I wanna go with you,” Sora says, and Riku’s heart stutters as the conversation continues. “No, I—hey. No. I don’t have to—”

Riku stares at him, incredulous. Sora, going to Quadratum? It’s a one-way ticket to destroying his mind. He’s supposed to be careful. 

“Give us, like, two hours,” he tells her. “Yeah. We’ll be there. Hey, no—if your heart tells you he’s still over there, we gotta listen to it. Right? Right. Okay. See you soon.”

He hangs up, and Riku can’t contain himself. “What the fuck, Sora?”

“What?” he asks, eyes wide and innocent.

“We’re trying to stop your memories from bleeding into each other,” Riku snaps. “Talking to Strelitzia, going to Quadratum? You’re risking your memories. You’re risking your life. Whatever relationship you’ve been building—it could literally kill you. ”

Sora levels him with an eerily steady glare, only illuminated by the light of the phone screen. “You were gone.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You were gone,” Sora repeats, “And I didn’t care about anything else. So, when I started…seeing things, I ignored it. Because I trusted you.”

Blood rushes through Riku’s ears. He’s so sick of guilt. It feels like a permanent part of his personality, at this point. “But, now we know the link wasn’t strong enough to—”

“You told me I’d be protected,” Sora interrupts. “She believed that, too. By the time I started having my hallucinations, it was already too late.”

Riku isn’t expecting tears to spring to his eyes. Why can’t he ever do the right thing? Why can’t he ever protect Sora the way he needs to? Even when he risks everything to protect Sora, it backfires. It always fucking backfires.

“Stop angsting,” Sora says. “It’s in the past. I have you—the link—to protect me, again. And I want to help her.”

Riku wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. “How do you not hate me? How can you even look at me for doing what I did to you?”

“Riku, I love you more than anything, and you will always be the world to me. I mean this with as much love as I have,” Sora says gently. “But this isn’t about you. It’s about her, and me being able to make my own decisions. I’m deciding on this. And I need you to back me up.”

“You’re asking me to put you at risk again,” Riku whispers, voice breaking.

“No. I’m asking you to protect me.”

Protect what matters.

“You know the Master could be over there,” Riku counters. “We have the link again. We aren’t as powerful over there. He could take it.”

“I told you. I won’t let him.” And Sora’s voice is filled with so much confidence, Riku can’t help but believe him.

Before Riku can respond, there’s a quiet knock at the door, and Kairi pokes her head in the room. “You guys okay?”

And Riku realizes he can’t do this alone. He can’t carry this weight on his shoulders. He’s been running away from his friends for long enough. If he’s going to protect Sora, he wants all the help he can get.

Riku wipes his eyes again and says, “How do you feel about flying to Radiant Garden?”

“...Why?”

“We may or may not be helping Strelitzia find her brother in Quadratum,” Sora says.  “And, well, it never hurts to have backup, right?”

She frowns. “Is that a good idea? I mean, Sora…are you sure you want to go back there?”

“I have Riku,” he tells her confidently. “I’ll be okay.”

Riku thinks of Olette, and wonders if he should feel responsible for dragging Kairi away from home again, but his heart doesn’t have any room for more guilt. As Kairi leaves to pack a bag, Sora rises and stretches. Then, he glances down to find a wet patch on his sweatpants.

“Shit.”

Riku bites back a smirk; he’ll jump at any chance to distract himself from the doubt and fear ruminating in his mind. “Yeah. You wanna circle back to that one?”

It’s dark, but Riku can tell Sora is blushing when he turns away and rummages through his overnight bag for a change of clothes. “Nope.”

“Since when did you have a humiliation kink?”

“I don’t,” Sora lies. “It’s not like you’d know if I did, considering that shower was the second real time we’ve had sex, ever.”

“Fair point.” Riku watches Sora slip off his soiled sweatpants and reach for a pair of black jeans. “Do you…really want me to do that to you?”

Awkwardly, Sora scratches the back of his neck. “I mean…yeah? Sort of? That dream is a bad example. I don’t want you to literally rape me or anything.”

Riku feels a rush of nausea at the idea. “Sora. Don’t.”

“That’s what I mean!” Sora digs in his bag until he finds a wrinkled t-shirt. “I don’t want that. But that fight—I felt so out of control back then, and it’s nice to let go and enjoy the memory without being afraid.”

“It’s not in me to hurt you,” Riku says softly.

“It could be good for you, too. Do you seriously expect me to believe you’re over Hollow Bastion?”

It’s Riku’s turn to avoid Sora’s eyes. He feels the mattress dip as Sora sits next to him. “I’ll never be over that. There’s no amount of coping that could make it better.”

“Maybe,” Sora says, rubbing circles on Riku’s back. Riku sighs and leans into the touch, because it sounds like they both have a few kinks to unpack as they navigate this new step of their relationship. “But it might help. And we could start small.”

“Like how?”

Sora leans over to kiss his cheek, and then murmurs, “Calling me your little whore is a great start.”

And, without the proper time to act on that, Riku curses Sora for telling Strelitzia they’d be there immediately. 

–

Riku is on his heels the moment they walk into the lab, and Sora is trying very hard to cut him some slack for being so clingy. He’s pretty sure Riku isn’t doing it consciously, but their link feels like a too-tight scarf around his neck. It doesn’t help that Kairi is on his other side, clearly anticipating Sora to faint from memory overload, or something.

When Strelitzia spots them from her place in front of the console screen, Sora turns to Riku and pats his arm.

“I’m good. Calm down.”

Riku shifts his weight and frowns, but the link loosens just a bit.

Strelitzia furrows her brow and folds her arms, glaring at Riku, obviously picking up on his apprehension. “I’m not gonna steal him.”

“They’re worried I’ll go bonkers if I talk to you,” Sora clarifies. “They also think I shouldn’t go to Quadratum.”

Strelitzia looks at Riku and says, “I tried to tell him that over the phone, actually. I originally meant for you to come. Kairi didn’t have to get wrapped up in my problems.”

“I’m fine.” Sora is getting really tired of saying that. “The link’s back, so I should be mostly protected from shattering into a million pieces.”

“And I don’t mind,” Kairi tells her earnestly. “I want to help.”

“Besides, the last time we saw the Master, he was hopping into a portal to Quadratum.” Sora folds his arm across his torso and holds his elbow. “If he’s still there…maybe we can take him by surprise. Right?”

“I mean…sure, but…you want to hand your link over on a silver platter?” Strelitzia asks, eyebrow raised.

“No. Because he’s not getting it. Me and Riku know exactly what we’re doing.”

Riku scoffs.

Strelitzia worries her lip between her teeth, turning it cherry red. “Well, speaking of the Master…Lauriam isn’t the only reason I want to go to Quadratum. We’ve been working on something. A weapon.”

“For the Master?” Sora asks, hopeful.

“It’s dangerous,” Riku says immediately. “We almost died the last time we went against him, Litz.”

She slings an overnight bag over her shoulder and pats it. “And that’s why we’ve been working on something remote. It’s Ienzo’s idea, and it uses his illusion magic. I can show you once we get there.”

Sora swallows something that feels an awful lot like guilt. This whole time, Strelitzia has been working on a weapon to defeat the Master, and he’s been moping after Riku like a lost puppy. He doesn’t have to ask her why she didn’t tell him about it. She thought he had too much on his plate. She’s too good to ask for help from someone who’s hurting. Sora, on the other hand…

“What do we need to do, then?” Strelitzia asks. “Is it like before? You just make a gate?”

“I don’t really control where we end up,” Riku says as he summons Braveheart. “I’m pretty sure my heart directs us. So, if we land halfway across the world…sorry.”

Strelitzia steps closer to watch as Riku forms the familiar gate with his Keyblade. “Do you think your heart could, I dunno, direct us to the apartment?”

He smirks as the gate completes itself. “Let’s give it a shot, huh?”

–

When they come out on the other side of the gate, they aren’t at the apartment. In fact, they’re stumbling along a sidewalk, doused in rain and covered in puddles. Sora recognizes the street with a familiar pang of pain in the back of his skull. His heart stutters—he had been so confident that coming to Quadratum would be easy with Riku by his side. Is it too much? Was he wrong?

But, the pain subsides, and Sora looks around himself to find Strelitzia and Kairi sprawled on the ground and slowly gathering themselves. Riku is already standing with a steadying, comforting palm on Sora’s back.

“You good?” Riku asks.

“I’m good.” Sora’s headache is already subsiding. Weird.

He keeps a close eye on Kairi, who is experiencing this reality for the first time. She seems confused by her location, then by her surroundings, then by the falling rain. Sora gets it—Quadratum feels different, in every way, but especially the rain. It’s stickier. Colder.

He reaches out a hand to help her stand, and she wobbles to her feet while Strelitzia brushes off her jeans. Kairi stares ahead of them, bewildered.

“It’s so big,” she breathes out. “It goes on forever.”

She’s right—compared to the other worlds they visit, Quadratum seems like an endless city stretching as far as you can see. 

The way Kairi stares at the scene before her makes Sora feel like a local. And with Riku’s hand in his, he allows himself more time to absorb it. He remembers this. And suddenly his realities don’t seem to be clashing like they used to.

Strelitzia frowns. “Ugh, the rain is gonna screw up my hair…”

Sora shakes out his hands, hoping to stop them from trembling. 

“Sora…?” Riku murmurs.

“I’m good,” he repeats automatically.

Because he is good. Aside from his initial headache, he’s experiencing this reality like it’s any other world. His sternum feels feverishly warm, and he wonders if he’d still be standing were Riku not directly next to him.

The street is empty and dark, illuminated only by the stop lights and neon business front signs. Sora glances behind him, where he knows there’s a digital clock displayed on the bank across the street. It reads 3:05.

“We should get moving to the apartment,” Sora says. “It’s late. If cops start doing rounds, we don’t have any ID. And, y’know, we apparently have a mysterious weapon in your bag.”

Everyone just stares at him. Sora wonders if there’s something on his face. “What?”

“I don’t think you should be able to handle it this well,” Kairi tells him over the sound of a passing car.

“Yeah, this doesn’t make sense,” Riku agrees.

“You’re with me.” Sora squeezes his hand. “I told you.”

Still, Riku looks doubtful. He searches Sora’s eyes for answers—just like he did when they first met at the bar. Sora blinks and glances away, wishing beyond hope that everyone would stop staring at him. He picks up his pace and, if Riku were shorter, he’d have to jog to keep up.

“I wish I knew how long it’s been,” Strelitzia wonders aloud. “My phone is still in the apartment. So much has probably happened…”

Sora shivers a little from the rain and the chill in his bones. “I wonder if that one client figured out you weren’t there, or if they kept emailing you every three minutes.”

Everyone stops walking.

“What?” Sora hisses.

“What client?” Strelitzia asks, voice tight.

“Right before we left…?” Suddenly, he’s hit with a dizzy spell, but it’s not enough to make him lose balance. “They kept asking you to redo that logo. And I told you to charge extra.”

Before Sora can react, Riku pushes him into the nearest alley with Kairi and Strelitzia close behind. Sora’s back hits the brick wall, and he grimaces, groaning with annoyance when Riku forces their eyes to meet.

“Call Kingdom Key,” Riku snaps.

Sora isn’t sure why Riku is pissed at him. Still, he sighs—maybe a little too dramatically. He throws his hand out to his side, calls for his Keyblade, and grasps the hilt when it arrives in a flash of bright light. Pointedly, he raises an eyebrow at Riku and glares.

“I said. I’m fine.”

Riku backs away, but he doesn’t stop staring, evaluating Sora like he’s in a zoo exhibit. Sora dismisses his blade and pushes away from the wall, regarding all three of them with a dissatisfied glare. “Why are you guys freaking out so bad?”

“You shouldn’t know that stuff,” Strelitzia insists, and it sounds like she’s about to start crying. “Sora, you forgot. You’re not supposed to know anything about Quadratum. Just bits and pieces of memory.”

…Huh.

Sora stares at his feet. 

He hadn’t even realized. The memories came so naturally—like the past four years had been contiguous. He doesn’t feel compromised beyond his minor headache. His link with Riku is pounding, pulsing with energy, but it’s just working overtime, as expected. 

Sora shuts his eyes and thinks. When did he forget Quadratum? What was it like to not remember? His head is a mess—he scrolls through his past memories to find answers, when suddenly, he’s seeing red. Blood. Spooling down his chest, soaking his shirt. Falling into Riku’s arms. Passing out. Waking up in Roxas’ guest bed.

He gasps and clutches his chest, and it has Riku grasping at his shoulder. Sora leans into the touch and winces. “Oh, fuck.”

“What?”

“It’s like…I don’t know. I’m the same person. But not?” Sora shakes his head as if to rid his confusion, but it just causes Riku’s frown to grow deeper. His heart jolts with realization. 

“I remember what happened.”

Chapter Text

The apartment is cold. 

When Sora steps through the threshold, he’s reminded of a memory—overhearing Strelitzia and Riku arguing about whether or not they should tell him the truth. Now, with context, Sora knows both of them had a point. He swallows hard, moving automatically to turn on the light.

Nothing happens, and the living room stays dark, no matter how many times he flicks the switch.

“They probably turned off our power,” Strelitzia tells him as she moves past, rummaging around the room for something—her phone, most likely, to tell the date.

“Incredible.” He’s not sure what he expected, though. They paid rent in full at the start of the lease, so that’s not a worry, but power turning off…that takes at least a few weeks with no payments. 

Sora heads towards the drawer where he knows they keep their candles, because at least they can have some light. He finds two, half-burned, but can’t spot the lighter that is usually kept next to them.

Instead, he shrugs, and rubs his thumb and forefingers together until he creates a tiny flame. With a snap, both of the candles are lit, and Sora smiles smugly to himself. That aim accuracy wasn’t half-bad.

The back of his neck tingles. “I can tell you guys are staring at me, again. Is it really that crazy that I can still do magic, after I literally called my Keyblade?”

He turns in time to see Riku place a hand on his hip. “Magic is supposed to be dampened here, and you just did a fire spell like it was nothing.”

“I lit two candles,” Sora tells him flatly. “I didn’t exactly commit arson. Besides, you know fire comes easier to me.”

Their eyes adjust to the darkness, and after a few seconds, Sora can see just fine with the glow of the candles. And there’s the pleasant scent of almond croissants to go along with it. He sighs, toeing off his shoes near the door as Kairi explores the living room.

“This is so weird,” she murmurs. “It’s like…everything is the same, but not.”

“Too real,” Riku agrees. “Like everything is in high-definition or something.”

Now that Sora has his memories of the Realm of Light, he has to agree. Textures, sounds, details—they’re all more in Quadratum. It would be a sensory nightmare if Sora were sensitive to that. He’s the opposite; actually, the quiet that comes from a lack of power in the apartment feels suffocating. He rolls his shoulders uncomfortably, trying not to think about the lack of airflow.

“What was that weapon of yours, Strelitzia?” Kairi asks, plopping herself down on the couch. Strelitzia emerges from behind the coffee table, triumphantly holding her dead phone in her hand.

Before Sora even realizes he’s doing it, he’s standing next to Riku and intertwining their fingers. The moment he does, his shoulders relax and he exhales. Suddenly, the stagnant air doesn’t feel so bad. A warm, tingling embrace floats across their link.

“It was only ever a prototype,” Strelitzia says. She places her shoulder bag on the coffee table and rummages through it. “I don’t even really know if it will work. But, I knew, after the Master tried to attack the boys, that we’d need it soon.”

She pulls out a metal sphere the size of a blitzball. Its golden metal glints in the candlelight, and Sora can tell there’s some sort of engraving in it. Runes, maybe, to conduct magic. Curious, he steps closer and taps it with his finger. It sounds hollow.

“Ienzo told me he made it to use illusion magic to trap someone. Way back when he was with the old Organization, Xemnas had him start working on it. Apparently he was really good with illusions.”

Riku snorts. “Yeah. You could say that.”

“So, how does it work?” Sora asks.

Strelitzia smiles gently at him. “I’ll explain it tomorrow. You need to rest. I woke you guys up too early.”

The moment she says it, Sora realizes there’s bone-deep exhaustion dragging him down. He barely had time to sleep after they got back from Scala, and here he is, in a completely different reality just hours later.

At least it’s a familiar reality—whether that’s comforting or not has yet to be determined.

Riku holds out his hand, and Sora takes it without question. “Let’s go back to bed.”

Kairi ends up in Riku’s old guest room, and they hear her rustling around, speaking softly with Strelitzia. With no AC running, the apartment is deathly quiet. Sora’s ears ring. He shifts in bed and fiddles with his shirt before deciding to remove it altogether and toss it across the room.

“What’s up?” Riku asks as he removes his own shirt and neatly folds it.

“Too quiet,” Sora mumbles just above a whisper. “I hate when things are just…still.”

The only light in the room is coming from the window, which casts slats of shadows across Riku’s form. Still, despite the darkness, Sora can see Riku smirking to himself. Then, Riku’s on the bed, crawling across to Sora and pushing him onto his back. Riku slots his leg between Sora’s thighs and brushes a hand through his hair.

“Really?” Sora asks in a whisper, pretending to be unamused.

“Shh.” 

Riku’s lips are on his, and Sora doesn’t think he’ll ever get sick of that. It starts slow—just Riku kissing his bottom lip, then the corner of his mouth, then meeting him full-on. Sora sighs into it, and that’s when Riku’s hand tightens its grip on Sora’s hair. Sora very nearly moans before he catches himself.

“We never did get to finish,” Riku breathes in a hushed voice. He’s never spoken so intimately to Sora, before. It feels like it’s just the two of them, revolving around one another, locked in their own bubble of the universe.

“I mean, I did,” Sora reminds him, his tone equally low. “Maybe it’s your turn, now.”

Sora is pretty tired, so the process of removing their boxers is a blur. Something about being in this bed clicks a notch in Sora’s brain, though. The intimacy between them feels much more learned as Sora draws from their brief escapades before they left for the Realm of Light. They almost act on autopilot, until Riku is three fingers into his prep work.

Sora stops him, then. Riku gives him a curious look, and Sora tells him, “Do it. What you saw in the mirror.”

Riku opens his mouth, then shuts it again. Then, “Are you sure?”

“I told you I think it’d be good for you,” Sora reminds him. “Just relax and do what comes naturally.”

“Forcing you to do anything is not natural for me,” Riku says.

Sora rolls his eyes. “Okay, you’re not actually forcing me. I’ll tell you to stop if I really want you to, okay?”

There’s a beat of silence where Riku seems to be considering how to continue. Then, something subtle shifts in the position of his shoulders, and Sora is crowded into the mattress. 

Riku grasps both of Sora’s wrists with either hand and locks his fingers, so tightly that Sora wonders deliriously if they’ll bruise from it. Instinctively, he struggles, and when he opens his mouth to protest, Riku is kissing him. Riku’s tongue slides across his bottom lip, and it’s filthy and sloppy, and drool is slipping from the corner of his mouth. His boyfriend is putting all of his weight on top of Sora, bending him in half, pinning Sora down with his legs spread and his ankles on Riku’s hips.

Sora feels the tip of Riku’s cock against his hole and whimpers into Riku’s mouth. He wants to beg for it, but then he remembers—this is for Riku. If Riku wanted him to beg, he’d say so. He’d demand it.

Riku pulls back from the kiss, lips shining and perfect. He searches Sora’s eyes in the dark, and his cock is throbbing between Sora’s thighs. He’s clearly into this. A thrill runs through Sora’s veins as he realizes that Riku is strong enough to do this whenever he damn well pleases.

“Are you gonna stay quiet for me?” Riku whispers.

Sora nods, holding back a groan when he feels Riku’s grip tighten on his wrists.

“You don’t want anyone else hearing what a little whore you are for me?”

Fuck.

Sora’s cock twitches against his stomach, and Riku feels it, laughing darkly under his breath when he rolls his hips forward. His tip catches, and Sora can’t stop the gasp that gets ripped from his throat. He wonders distantly how helpless he must look, trapped and panting and needy for cock.

Caught up in the heat of the moment, heart pounding and breath rapid, he hopes Riku fucks him even if Sora is begging him to stop. He wants Riku to claim him. Whether he likes it or not.

Riku enters him suddenly, and Sora hisses—it’s cut off by Riku biting his neck, warning him to stay quiet. Sora feels every inch of Riku slowly pushing into him, filling him, molding Sora’s body to fit his cock. Experimentally, he makes a genuine attempt to break free, and he involuntarily bucks his hips when he realizes he can’t move.

This is what he needed. His rational mind knows the relief in his chest is coming from his coping method. But, right now, dizzy with want and on the precipice of release, he thinks he always needed Riku to fuck him into submission. From the very beginning, he’s craved it.

Riku’s teeth graze his neck, marking him, sending shivers through Sora’s body. It’s the exact sensory overload he needed. 

Sora is so fucking full. Riku’s been inside him before, but with his hips at this angle, and Riku’s body dominating him, Sora can feel every thrust in his throat.

“Please,” he breathes. Riku bottoms out again, and Sora hiccups as a jolt of pleasure numbs his mind just a little more. 

“Please, what?” Riku whispers against the shell of his ear.

Sora shakes. “C-come in me. Please.”

“You’re gonna come from this?” Riku is smirking against Sora’s pulse point. “Me, holding you down? Making you take me?”

Sora clenches his eyes shut and sees an image of Riku in his dark suit—imagines himself being folded in half and being called a slut for liking it.

He nods, but he’s barely aware of his own needs. Riku says something else, but it’s too quiet and muffled for Sora to hear. He thinks he hears something dirty and derogatory, and he feels Riku pulsing inside him, and he doesn’t care how pathetic it looks when he comes. His thighs shake, and he releases onto his stomach, coating Riku’s abs. 

His ears are ringing too loudly from his orgasm to hear what Riku says, but he knows his boyfriend is following his climax. Sora closes his eyes and just enjoys how satisfied he is. He basks in a warm afterglow while Riku uses his body, and it’s exactly what he wanted.

Sora is barely conscious until Riku is already rolling off of him. He stirs, rubbing his aching wrists, and lowering his stiff, sticky thighs to the mattress. His chest heaves with gasping breaths, and he can’t be bothered to care that his stomach is a mess of come. A tiny, muted moan is pulled from his lungs when he feels Riku’s orgasm leak out of him.

“Jesus,” he curses, because apparently, being in this reality gives him brand new terms to express how well his boyfriend fucks him. Blearily, Riku raises an eyebrow in confusion. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. Good?”

“Are you kidding?” Riku laughs breathlessly. Adorably (and in stark juxtaposition to his behavior not thirty seconds ago) he buries his face into his pillow. “I don’t even know how you knew I needed that.”

Mentally, Sora pulls taut on their link. It expands, hot and bright, filling the space between them with nothing but love and the sensation of being satiated. He runs his fingers through Riku’s damp hair and brushes his boyfriend’s cheek with his thumb.

“Whatever you need,” he promises. 

–

Before anyone wakes, Strelitzia has already been to a local coffee shop in order to charge her phone. She must have also paid the electricity bill, because when Sora opens his eyes, the gentle whir of the AC is the only thing he can hear. The ceiling fan is agitating the air, warding off the stagnant discomfort Sora experienced the night before.

Riku is still passed out next to him, and Sora allows himself a moment of reprieve to stare. Looking at Riku, with his memories of Quadratum feeling more intact than ever, the idea that he ever didn’t like men is laughable. Riku’s beyond gorgeous, with too-long bangs and fanned out white lashes that dust his cheeks. Unthinkingly, Sora brushes Riku’s hand, and smiles when Riku’s fingers curl around his. 

“Morning,” Riku mumbles, rubbing his thumb across Sora’s knuckles. 

Sora brings their joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to Riku’s fingertips. Riku’s breath gets caught in his throat, and Sora thinks he could happily stay in this bed for eternity.

“How’d I get so lucky?” Sora asks, biting back a grin when Riku flushes and laughs with embarrassment.

“ You? What about me?” 

“Fuckin’ sap.” 

With that, Sora sits up in bed, stretching until his shoulder bones crack. He has no idea what time it is, but it’s well past dawn. When he looks across the room to see his reflection in the mirror, he can’t hold back his gasp.

His neck is covered in marks. His lip is split. He glances down at his wrists to see the bruises Riku’s grip left last night. Suddenly, he’s painfully aware of the ache in his thighs, and how it feels as though he’s been split in half below his hips.

Sora giggles. “Oh, boy.”

Riku picks up his head, sees the injuries, and instantly shoots up, eyes wide with concern. His fingertips brush so gently over Sora’s wrists that it seems impossible for him to be the one who caused the violet blemishes.

“Fuck,” he whispers. “I’m sorry, I should have—I didn’t even think.”

“It’s okay,” Sora tells him, still smiling. “I wanted you to do that, remember?”

Riku’s expression is wracked with guilt. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“Again. It was per my request.” Sora throws his legs over the edge of the bed and rises. 

A hissed intake of breath from Riku has Sora inspecting his full body in the mirror. There are actual, honest-to-god nail imprints that broke skin along his thighs, from where Riku had folded him in half. Sora’s stomach flips with uncertainty. On one hand, he literally asked for it. On the other hand…well. That was his first foray into rougher kink, and maybe he didn’t exactly know what he wanted.

Still, it’s nothing his clothes won’t cover up. Sora looks away from the mirror and hunts for his old clothes in his closet.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” Riku says. His voice is crackling around the edges. “God, Sora, I won’t do that again. I promise.”

Despite his internal apprehension, Sora shrugs, and chooses a t-shirt with his button-down maroon flannel. “I told you. I wanted it.”

When he heads to the dresser and slides on a pair of boxers, he looks up to see Riku with red-rimmed eyes, and his heart leaps. Their link is sharp and dangerous like a length of barbed wire. Immediately, Sora is on the bed, crawling to his boyfriend.

“Hey,” Sora soothes, although his voice is strong enough to get Riku to pay attention. “No. Do not beat yourself up over doing what I wanted you to do. I’m not gonna die.”

“Let me cure you,” Riku pleads. His eyes are so sad.

It actually lights a little spark of fire in Sora’s gut, then, and he shakes his head. “Magic isn’t as strong here, remember? Besides, I don’t want to be cured. Did you not like it or something?”

“I liked making you feel good,” Riku admits. “And…you were right. It was kind of nice to let go.”

“I don’t want you to ever regret being with me,” Sora tells him. “I don’t regret it. I liked it. I want you to have liked it. I want us to get better at it.”

Riku bites his lip. “I’m not sure if I can hurt you like that again.”

Sora pecks a kiss on his forehead. “We can go slow with it, babe. It matters how you feel, too.”

By the time they leave the bedroom, Sora’s injuries are well hidden, aside from the ones on his neck. He’s not even going to bother. It’s not like Kairi and Sterlitzia haven’t seen a hickie before. Still, when he enters the living room and sees them both on the couch, the way their eyes widen when they see him is a little comical.

“Jesus Christ, Riku!” Strelitzia is on her feet, rushing over to Sora before realizing she can’t really do anything.

(“Who the fuck is that guy?” Riku mutters to himself.)

“Damn,” Kairi comments. “That’s, uh…wow. I didn’t even hear anything.”

Sora rubs the back of his neck. “Ha…well. I’m fine. Seriously. Anyway, are we gonna see some action today, or what?”

Strelitzia, still scowling at Riku, decides it’s not a battle she wants to fight. Probably because she can’t win. Instead, she heads over to the coffee table, where she picks up the device she showed when they first arrived.

“It’s called a Kosmokrator,” she announces.

“Bless you,” Sora responds.

She rolls her eyes. “Cosmo-crater. Ienzo pulled some of the inspiration from Olympus, where they have this sphere-thing that they use in different spiritual ceremonies. But, here, we’re gonna use it to trap the Master.”

“Trap him?” Riku asks, folding his arms. “We’re not killing him?”

“I don’t think we can kill him,” Kairi pipes up. “Tell ‘em, Litz.”

“You guys remember anything about the different ancient Keyblade Unions?” she asks. Sora raises an eyebrow, lost, and feels a little stupid when Riku and Kairi nod like that’s common knowledge.

Strelitiza says, “Basically, back when I was alive the first time, there were five Keyblade unions, each led by a Union Leader. I was supposed to be one of them, but then…well. I died. The Master picked Lauriam to be my successor.”

“Whoa.” Sora knew the Master traveled through time, but to think he had a hand in orchestrating events that long ago…it makes him want to question everything in his life. “So, what happened?”

“We don’t know for sure. Lauriam lost his heart at some point. When he recompleted, he should have been back in the Realm of Light. But he’s not.”

“Which means he could be here,” Riku finishes. “Okay. Still don't understand why we can’t kill the Master.”

“Because killing him could just send him somewhere else,” Strelitzia says. “We know Luxord probably has the ability to traverse realities, and that’s how the Master is jumping back and forth. I don’t think killing him would stop him. I think the only way to know for sure that he can’t hurt anyone else is to trap both of them.”

“And Lauriam?” Sora asks.

“I think if we find the Master here, we’ll find him.” Strelitzia pauses. “I think he wanted to use my brother to help him travel between realities.”

“Couldn’t he just use the Power of Waking?” Riku asks. “Why would he need someone to open paths for him? He’s a Keyblade wielder, right?”

“It’s a learned ability, remember?” Kairi says. “Both of you had to practically sacrifice your lives to obtain it.”

Riku blinks.

“Strelitzia thinks Luxord can traverse realities because of his connection to the Darkness,” Kairi continues. “Not because he has the Power of Waking. The Master needs someone else with a connection to the Darkness to do it for him—a.k.a., someone who’s been separated from their heart and then recompleted.”

“Okay. So, we’re using that cosmo-crater thing to trap the Master and Luxord. We’ll find wherever the Master is holding Lauriam. And we’ll all go home together.” Sora shrugs. “Doesn’t sound so hard.”

Riku stares at him, incredulous. “Oh, yeah, it’s a walk in the park. Remember how he kicked us to the curb last time? How he took our link like it was nothing?”

“He won’t take it again,” Sora says, voice dark. “I won’t let him take it. I’m ready this time.”

Chapter Text

As it turns out, all the talk of taking action made Sora want a fucking drink.

He’s pretty sure he’s been fired from his job for abandonment, so they don’t go to the gay bar, much to Sora’s dismay. They end up at some low-key establishment that only serves 5 different beers and says they can’t make mojitos. Still, it’s enough. 

The alcohol loosens him, combining with his link to make him feel warm and cozy. He knows their link is working overtime, trying to keep him from going bonkers, and the strength has occasionally been knocking the wind from his lungs. He revels in it. The power of Riku’s protection is so tangible, and it embraces Sora better than the alcohol.

Riku has a beer, though he hasn’t been drinking much of it. Sora is downing his second cocktail, but he doesn’t feel a buzz. It’s good to know his tolerance didn’t take a hit while he’s been in the Realm of Light.

“If something happens when we see the Master,” Riku says, “I want you to know that I love you. And I’ll find you.”

Sora pauses, absorbing the statement. “What are you talking about?”

Riku stares into his beer, looking awfully pensive. “We’re always connected, right? So even if…something goes wrong, I’ll still find you. I always will.”

“Stop talking like that.”

“Sora, the chances of us making it through an encounter with him, especially after last time—”

“No.” Sora cuts him off with a hand on his knee. “We’ll make it. If we don’t, there won’t be another lifetime for you to find me. We are, once again, the only thing that stands between reality and nothing.”

Riku scrubs his hands over his face. “I get that. I do. I just can’t lose you. And all I can think about—all I can picture is the Graveyard where he was killing you.”

“And you saved me,” Sora reminds him, the link shuddering between them. “Riku, I’m alive because of you. Because you did everything you could to protect me. And, yeah, things got a little complicated afterwards, but when don’t they?”

Riku finally meets his eyes. Sora momentarily loses his train of thought, staring into those aquamarine irises. “You really think we can do this?”

“You don’t?”

“I spent so long running from you, thinking that rebuilding our link would end the world,” Riku says. “And I really believed it. All you had to do was tell me it wouldn’t.”

“So, I’ll tell you as many times as you need to hear it.”

“How is that not terrifying to you?” Riku leans back in the bar chair, and his voice gets a little too loud, drawing the attention of surrounding patrons. Riku lowers his tone and says, “This whole thing. Not just about the Master, but about…us. What we are.”

Sora’s immediately knee-jerk response is to remind Riku that it doesn’t matter. Instead, he pauses. Riku isn’t talking about the Master’s plot and how their cosmic identities play into it. He’s talking about how the air that Sora breathes came from Kingdom Hearts. How, a millenia ago, Riku weaved webs of Darkness. How Sora spun stars. And suddenly, it feels as though he’s standing on the edge of a cliff.

“And what would have happened if he hadn’t started stealing our link in the first place?” Riku says. “We wouldn’t be us. We’d be…some other thing. Just blobs of primordial light and darkness—I don’t know.”

Sora wants to say he doesn’t care. 

“Then, I’m grateful for it,” he surprises himself by saying. “Because now we are us. And we can stop him now, because we couldn’t before.”

Riku catches on immediately. “Because of the Keyblade.”

“Vanitas’ is what broke his connection to me in the Graveyard. I think that’s what sets us apart. I think that’s what my heart was trying to tell me all those weeks ago when I was in that coma. He can separate us, and hop across realities, but he ran away from us. My brain might be a mess right now, but I know the Keyblade. And I know magic.”

And suddenly, the link isn’t a spindly, golden chain of connection between their hearts. It bleeds away from them, around them, until an ethereal glow surrounds them like a cocoon. Sora glances around—no one else in the bar seems to notice, but the light shining from it sparkles in Riku’s eyes.

The link rings, twinkling like a wind chime. Sora watches in fascination as tiny flecks of light billow through the air. Dust in a sunbeam. It’s beautiful and overwhelming and them.

Sora is shaking when he says, “We can figure this out when I know you’re safe.”

Despite everything, Riku smirks. “Isn’t that my line?”

Sora doesn’t care that they’re not in a gay bar. He pulls Riku in by his collar and kisses him hard before whispering, “Let me protect you. Please.”

Riku smiles against his lips. “Okay.”

Then, the ground quakes .

An explosion of some kind rocks the entire building, causing glasses to break and people to scream. To Sora, it sounds like the commotion is coming from the street, followed by a bright light and the sound of tires screeching across pavement. The bargoers wonder aloud if there’s been a car accident, or a gas leak—but Sora and Riku know better.

Sora grips Riku’s hand in his and downs the rest of his cocktail. “Ready?”

“No.” Still, Riku smiles. “Show time?”

“Show time.”

When they leave the bar, the street is empty—Sora sees several bystanders dart into nearby shops, and those driving cars are rapidly reversing to escape. Sora turns to find what they’re running from and, predictably, sees a figure in a black cloak. Behind him, a horde of Nobodies twist and writhe.

Sora and Riku summon their blades in unison and step into the street to face him head-on.

“Good to see you again, boys,” the figure says as he lowers his hood, and Sora wants to wipe that stupid smirk off Luxord’s face. “Long time no see.”

“Took you long enough,” Riku snarks.

“Well, you’re very difficult to pin down,” Luxord laments dramatically. “And you’re useless to us as individuals. We need your link. Not you.”

Sora thinks back to just now, in the bar, and how their link manifested as an ethereal shield. Like a beacon, it probably drew Luxord to them, just like it did before their last encounter. This is the break he and the Master have been waiting for.

But, this isn’t like their encounter in the Graveyard. Sora isn’t as weak as he was then. He drops into his battle stance and locks eyes with Luxord. 

“You can’t have it,” he says simply. “But you can try to take it.”

As Luxord laughs, Sora sees a flash of red and blue lights careening around the corner. Confusion writes itself over Riku’s face, but the second Sora sees the cop cars, his blood turns to ice. He turns to Luxord. “Don’t.”

“Well, I didn’t bring these for friendly company.” Luxord snaps his fingers, and the Nobodies shudder as a collective, looking downright nightmarish in this reality. “We need some time to ourselves and I don’t have time for…interruptions.”

“Hands in the air!” 

At least they brought riot gear, Sora thinks bitterly.

“Sic ‘em, boys!” Luxord says, and snaps again, and the Nobodies fly past Sora and Riku towards the cop cars. Shots ring through the air, and Riku instinctively throws up a reflega to protect them both. 

Sora blinks. “I thought magic was dampened?”

Riku seems to belatedly realize what he’s done. He glances down at his blade in his palm, brows furrowed.

“It is,” Luxord says. “Imagine how powerful that would have been in the Realm of Light.”

“The link,” Riku says slowly. “It amplifies our magic?”

Luxord grins. “Gold star.”

“Oh, great.” Sora wastes no time and immediately tosses a wordless firaga his way.

Luxord manages to block, but only barely, and the pavement around him shatters into molten rock and magma. He cries out and grits his teeth, falling to his knees before glaring at Sora.

Sora rolls his shoulders. “I’ve been wanting to do that since you showed your sorry ass at the Graveyard.”

Luxord doesn’t respond verbally. Instead, he starts attacking. 

Sora recognizes his moves from the last time Luxord was with the Organization. Only, this time, he has Riku to help him. Game after game, they play, and even when Sora and Riku win, Luxord is still left laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Riku asks, taunting.

Luxord calls all of his cards back with a flick of his wrist. “You’ve got company.”

Kairi and Strelitzia.

Kairi’s got her Keyblade ready, and it’s the first time Sora sees her use it as a Master. She tackles a Nobody off one of the cops, spins around, and casts such precise thunder magic that Sora’s jaw drops. Each bolt only hits a Nobody—no humans are targets. In just a few seconds, she’s taken out five, and keeps up her assault while Strelitzia dashes closer.

She’s carrying her shoulder bag, and Sora knows the Kosmokrator is inside. Luxord laughs heartily. 

He’s stalling. Waiting for the Master.

“Don’t,” Sora snaps at her the moment she reaches into the bag. “Hide it.”

They’ve only got one shot. They have to find the perfect opportunity to use the Kosmokrator. If they miss, and Luxord knows they have it, their entire plan could collapse.

“Where’s your boss, anyway?” Riku asks Luxord as a distraction “Don’t we have something he wants?”

“What excellent timing,” a voice rings out from behind Luxord. Sora blinks in confusion. The Master? It’s like he formed out of the shadows. Behind them, the sound of sirens cuts off abruptly, and Kairi races to their side, panting and red-faced.

“Maybe he needed to stop pissing himself in fear before he showed up,” Sora jokes flatly. Just as he expects, the Master gets a good laugh out of that, not understanding the danger he’s in.

“Sora, you’re adorable.” With a wave of his hand, the Master knocks Strelitzia and Kairi back against the pavement. Sora’s heart lurches when he hears a crack as Kairi’s head smacks the ground. She rises to her elbows before spitting blood. “I’d rather just get this over with. Wouldn’t you?”

Defiantly, Sora raises his blade.

“First, tell us where you put Lauriam.” Sora levels him with a glare. “Then, maybe I’ll be nice enough to end you.”

“I thought you were supposed to be smart—at least, when it comes to the heart,” the Master scoffs. “You haven’t figured that out yet?”

“Where’s my brother?” Strelitzia spits from the sidelines, her voice shaking. 

“Your brother doesn’t exist anymore.” Strelitzia’s breath catches, and the Master thinks it’s hilarious. “Well, not in a physical form, at least. I offered him a choice: work for me, open gates between realities for me, and I won’t end his life. He owed me that after I anointed him a union leader, don’t you think?”

“You motherfucker,” she whispers through gritted teeth.

“His heart is within mine,” the Master continues. “His body, though? Long gone. And I don’t think you have time to find a replica before you decide to trap me.”

Sora and Strelitzia share a frantic glance.

“Oh, please. You know you can’t kill me, and it’s the next obvious step.” Even though Sora can’t see his face, he knows the Master is grinning. “But I’ll take your link before you get the chance.”

There’s a scream of agony, and Sora sees Strelitzia leaping forward, the Kosmokrator in her hand, headed straight for the Master. Luxord blocks her, and they tumble to the pavement, and the Master steps back like he’s afraid of getting his boots wet.

But, Luxord doesn’t know what he’s getting into, because the Kosmokrator is glowing white hot between them. Strelitzia, through her tears, shouts and clenches her eyes shut. In the next moment, Luxord is wailing, and his essence is drawn into the Kosmokrator—a black hole, in the palm of Strelitzia’s hand. 

When it’s over, Strelitzia is left staring at the blazing sphere in her hands. 

One down.

“A Kosmokrator?” the Master laughs. “You can’t be serious.”

Another flick of his hand, and Strelitzia is flying through the air, crashing into a mailbox with a sickening sound. 

“Now. Let’s take that link before you cause any more damage.”

At the Graveyard, it was instantaneous; the Master had raised his hand, and their link had spindled away like unraveling yarn. Now, though, it’s different. The pull on Sora’s heart is the same, but he holds fast in a mental game of tug-o-war. Riku’s hand grounds him, giving him the strength he needs to keep his stature.

The Master, to Sora’s thrill, lowers his arm in confusion.

“You fucked up by letting us go at the Graveyard,” Sora tells him.

“Our link is stronger, now.” Riku’s hand moves to the base of Sora’s neck—protective and reassuring.

“So, you’ve made my life even easier,” the Master says, his voice strained. “You’ve never presented me with a link this strong, before. Thanks for working so hard, boys!”

“You don’t get it,” Sora says, and the pieces start falling into place. Why his heart isn’t shattering as he remembers Quadratum, why he feels stronger now, and why their link is a physical, tangible protector. “You let me come back to Quadratum and get all my memories back.”

“You’re so welcome,” the Master drawls.

“I wasn’t complete before.” Sora brings Riku’s hand down from his neck and squeezes it once before letting go. “I thought— we all thought that remembering Quadratum would kill me. And maybe it would have, if I didn’t have Riku. But, now that I’m here…I understand.”

Strelitzia, unnoticed by the Master, is clambering to her feet. He just needs to draw this out a little longer. 

“I needed all of my memories.” Sora watches with satisfaction as it appears the Master stops breathing. “I needed to remember everything that happened to me and Riku. Each time I remembered something I forgot, our link got stronger. I’m not me without those memories. I’m not me without him.”

“Sora…?” Riku blinks in confusion, and Sora gives him a knowing smile.

“You said the link is stronger than you’ve ever seen,” he finishes. “So, I bet you’ve never had me do this.”

Sora remembers his coma. He remembers crawling through the dark, choosing his most precious memories, and finding his strength to summon his Keyblade against all odds. Without Riku, Quadratum was breaking his mind, shattering it into a million memories he could never hope to organize. With Riku, the link has been acting like a thread, weaving his memories together to complete him. To show him how much power he really has locked away.

He’s not just Sora.

He’s Kingdom Hearts.

Sora closes his eyes. Focuses. Hearts aren’t jars on a shelf, but they’re malleable; Sora knows that better than anyone. And if the Master wants peace so badly, he can have it for himself. 

He raises his hand towards the Master, though it’s more for stability than anything else as he reaches inside himself. He searches for the feeling he remembers from when he lost his heart—when it wrenched itself from his chest and left behind a shell. He hears the Master choke on his own breath, and Sora opens his eyes to see the Master’s heart. Floating outside his body.

A rush of heat consumes Sora, and with a bright, golden light surrounding him, he glances towards Strelitzia. He barely registers her stunned expression, but she catches on immediately. She tosses the Kosmokrator at the Master’s heart, and it acts exactly as it did when it trapped Luxord. 

The Master screeches. The sound is grating, otherworldly, and it nearly breaks Sora’s concentration. He grits his teeth and blood drips from his nose as he fights the Master’s heart, keeping it in place until the Kosmokrator has it entirely encapsulated and his screams dissipate.

Sora feels the absence of his heart like a gasp of fresh air after being tumbled inside the crest of a wave. He recovers quickly, keeping the Master’s corporal form as he drags Lauriam’s heart from the depths. 

There’s another blinding light, and Sora’s head erupts with pain from overexertion. He falls to his knees as the light fades, and though his vision is blurry and darkening, he hears Strelitzia over the ringing in his ears.

“Lauriam!”

The next thing Sora knows, he’s wrapped up in Riku’s arms. Kingdom Key fades in a flash of light. He feels his boyfriend cup his face, and hears his voice like he’s underwater. Sora senses another presence by his side—Kairi—who keeps a hand firm on his chest.

He manages to catch a glimpse of Strelitzia, who is currently on her knees, clutching at what was the Master’s body just moments ago. In his place, with his hood down, stunned and awed as he stares down at her, is Lauriam.

“I tried to find you,” she sobs against him. “I couldn’t—he took you from me—!”

Lauriam’s bright blue eyes fill with tears as he grips her tight, cradling her head against his chest. “I-I’m okay. Litz, I’m okay, I promise.”

Sora turns his attention back to Riku and Kairi, who are staring at him like he’s a bomb they have to diffuse. By now, though, his strength has restored enough for him to sit upright. He’s exhausted, but he’s alive, and the Master is gone.

“What was that?” Kairi asks, apprehensive.

Sora offers a gentle smile. “I figured it might be time to remember the whole ‘reincarnated cosmic entity’ thing.”

“You used…Kingdom Hearts?” Riku’s expression is unreadable—a cross between admiration and religious worship. “You literally replaced the Master’s heart with Lauriam’s.”

“It was already there. I did it with Ven. It happened with Roxas.” Sora shrugs weakly. “Figured it wouldn’t be too hard to do it again.”

“You trapped him,” Riku tells him in awe, as if he needs reminding. “You trapped both of them.”

Sora nods. “He’s gone. It’s done.”

And just like that, the endless cycle breaks.

Chapter Text

The smell of coffee brings Sora into a twilight state of waking, but the final blow comes when he rolls over and gets assaulted by a beam of sunlight.

He winces and quickly turns the other direction to hide under the blanket. While their new apartment has plenty of natural light, there’s an obvious downside—they really need some blackout curtains. 

Sora reaches for his phone. It’s absolutely an acceptable time to wake up, but Sora wishes it were still dawn, so he could indulge in a few more hours. After they made it back from Quadratum, he hasn’t been able to get enough sleep, no matter what he tries.

His nightmares have been vague. Even when Riku appears within the darkness, his Dream Eater gets confused, and usually just finds Sora to wake him before the vibes get worse. 

Today, Naminé will be investigating.

It takes an embarrassingly long amount of time for him to get ready to head to the kitchen. He half-asses it, though. He brushes his teeth and throws on a t-shirt, providing just enough clothing so he’s not giving a peep show to neighbors if he happens to walk past the window.

Riku, by contrast, is fully dressed and groomed. Because of course he is. If there’s one thing Sora’s learned by living with Riku, it’s that he’s almost annoyingly immaculate. More than once, he’s chided Sora for leaving a glass in his freshly washed-and-empty kitchen sink.

(“I’m not gonna waste dish soap for one glass!”

“Dish soap is, like, three dollars. You can use a little bit.”)

He approaches Riku from behind and wraps his bony arms around his boyfriend’s waist. For a split second, Riku stiffens, not expecting to be touched—but he quickly melts into Sora and leans back, careful not to spill his coffee.

“Mornin’,” Sora mumbles.

“More like afternoon,” Riku replies fondly. “Almost, anyway.”

“Exactly. Almost. I’m basically an early riser.”

“Yeah, you’re a real go-getter the second the sun comes up.”

Sora dismissively blows out a puff of air and detaches himself to go sit at the kitchen island. The granite is cold, and there are a few dried rice kernels scattered across the surface from their dinner the night before. He remembers belatedly that it was his turn to wipe down the counter. While Riku’s back is turned, he surreptitiously wipes them off the island and onto the floor.

“You’re vacuuming that, by the way.”

Sora gapes. “No way you saw that.”

“I don’t have to see it. I know you.”

“So, when are we going to see Naminé?” Sora asks to quickly change the subject. Riku turns to blink at him, realizes Sora’s blinding smile is a conversation diverter, and rolls his eyes.

“Probably in a few hours,” he says. “She’s with Ven and Vanitas right now. I think she’s helping them figure out…whatever weird link they have going on.”

Right. Because Vanitas is made from the same stuff as Riku, which means rekindling his relationship with Ven has been a work in progress. The working theory is that, when Ven housed himself inside Sora’s heart way back when, Sora’s light affected him somehow. Naminé’s been asking to see Vanitas for weeks and he’s finally agreed to let her take a look at their bond.

Sora has also fielded quite a few late night text conversations from Ven about this very topic. The first came in the form of a rushed wall of words, and that’s when Sora learned that Vanitas used Ven to kill Strelitzia, centuries ago.

And, well, that opened an entirely new dilemma. Time travel, and Keyblade unions, and war—Lauriam tried to explain it over a group dinner but Sora’s eyes glazed over. He barely has the mental capacity to worry about his own eternal impact on the universe.

Sora taps the island counter with his nail.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing them,” Sora says.

And that’s all it takes. Sora loves dating Riku because he never has to ask. Riku reads his mind. In the next ten minutes, they’re ready to leave the apartment, with the intention of arriving early and catching their other friends. It’s that simple.

He’s wearing Riku’s track pants, partially because none of his are clean, and partially because he thinks there’s some sort of magic that makes them more comfortable than his own. Sora holds Riku’s hand and swings it between them as they walk through the streets of Twilight Town. He isn’t embarrassed to show public displays of affection, after all—not like Riku, who still blushes if Sora kisses his cheek when they’re on the tram.

Though, that may just be because he’s a gay disaster. It’s up in the air.

When they get to the mansion and enter Naminé’s lab, they aren’t greeted by Ven or Vanitas. Instead, Sora sees a familiar auburn ponytail, and a grin cracks across his face. 

“Kairi!” he exclaims, and she has just enough time to turn around before Sora is crashing into her with a hug. “You’re back!”

“Olette’s working extra today,” she tells him, and he can’t see her face, but he knows she’s smiling too. “I figured I’d come to visit for a few hours.”

“And you weren’t gonna tell us?” Sora asks, pushing her back to arm’s length. 

“I wanted it to be a surprise! Besides, I know you like sleeping in.”

Sora pouts. 

“How’s life over there?” Riku asks. Time is different in Radiant Garden, after all, so there’s plenty of catching up to do. It’s only been three weeks in Twilight Town, but on Kairi’s world, it’s already been a month and a half.

She shrugs. “Same old. I think the vet office wants to promote Olette—so, that would make rent a lot less stressful.”

Naminé then pokes her head out from behind her computer monitor. “You guys just missed Ven and Vanitas, by the way. Vanitas said they had a lot to talk about.”

“Oh, boy,” Sora winces.

“I think it was the good kind of talk.” Naminé shuts down the monitor and steps closer. “We were right about your light affecting Ven, which means it also affected Vanitas. Their link is totally different from what you guys have—it’s way more volatile.”

Sora mentally embraces their link and a blossom of warmth spreads between himself and Riku. He’s grateful their connection is solid and stable. They don’t often have deep, intricate conversations about where they want their lives to go—they’re already on the same page. 

“Anyways. You wanted me to check out your nightmares?”

Sora shifts his weight under Kairi’s interrogatory gaze. He hasn’t told her, yet. “I just can’t seem to get good sleep ever since we got back. It’s like something’s eating at me.”

And maybe it’s the fact that Sora used cosmic powers he didn’t know he had. He still remembers casting a fire spell for the first time when he was fourteen, and how he didn’t recognize himself in the mirror for a few days. It’s like that, but magnified on an impossibly grand scale. More than once, he’s entertained a nagging worry that he’s broken himself somehow. That he won’t be able to dream anymore. 

Naminé steps closer and, for a split second, Sora almost pushes her away. He can’t help but feel like he’s a time bomb. He’s 130 pounds soaking wet—the idea that he houses the eternal light of Kingdom Hearts within himself is both terrifying and worrying.

But when Naminé’s palm touches his chest, and the familiar buzz of her powers course through him, his mind is put at ease. Her eyes close, and her eyelids flutter, like she’s having a vivid dream.

Finally, she backs away and opens her eyes, her expression carefully curated. “You said you trapped them in an illusion?”

“That’s what Strelitzia said,” Riku says. 

“It’s guilt.” Naminé folds her arms across her chest. “You feel wrong for doing it. And I think it’s causing you to experience what the Master and Luxord are experiencing.”

Sora blinks.

He doesn’t know what illusions he thought were being created within the Kosmokrator. Frankly, he’d pushed the idea out of his mind, because adjusting to the Realm of Light again was a struggle he hadn’t been expecting. But, his nightmares…everlasting darkness? A void of unease and howling winds? The thought sends cold ice down his spine.

There might not be anything physically wrong with him, but Sora doesn’t know how any empathetic human being would be able to shove that down.

“You don’t need to feel guilty,” Kairi says. “He’s been stealing your link through multiple lifetimes. He had it coming.”

Sora pauses. Then, “Does anyone have that coming?”

“I mean, he also told Luxord to use the cops as bait,” Riku reminds Sora. “That was pretty fucked up.”

“Yeah, but—it feels like I basically condemned him to Hell.” Sora absently rubs at his chest where Naminé had just touched. “Maybe there’s another way. Maybe we can—”

“Sora, you don’t always have to forgive,” Riku interrupts.

“I know that. But I don’t want to leave them trapped in that thing. I can’t. It’s not in me.”

Riku’s silence is the first time since they returned that causes Sora to feel the straining tug of a disagreement. Because Sora is implying he wants to release the Master and Luxord from their prison, and Riku’s entire soul has been etched to protect him, and that would put him in danger. Again. 

“We can talk to Strelitzia,” is all Riku says, and it feels like enough give.

–

“Fuck no.”

“You didn’t even listen to me!” Sora accuses, exasperated. 

“I heard you. You think he doesn’t deserve what he got.”

“I did not say that.”

Strelitzia rolls her eyes and turns her back on Sora, moving towards the kitchen. She and Lauriam have been sharing an apartment with Ven and Vanitas—being roommates was described as some sort of healing mechanism, and with Lauriam back for good, they’ve had plenty of time to bond. 

Still. Sora’s shoulders tense when Vanitas strides into the room, brushing past Riku standing in the doorway. Sora knows it’s different, now. Sora knows Ven’s link with Vanitas made him better. But ever since Sora found out how Strelitzia had been murdered, he can’t help but stay extra alert around his lookalike.

Ven still looks at Vanitas like he hung the stars, though. He’s close in tow, moving with Vanitas into the kitchen like they’re magnetically attached to one another. Sora can’t question it too much, though. Selfishly, he can’t think of anything Riku could do to push him away—especially if that action happened a lifetime ago.

“What’s the drama?” Vanitas asks, heading to the fridge to grab an energy drink. 

“Sora wants to release the Master,” Strelitzia says.

“No, I don’t.” Sora sighs dramatically to punctuate his point. “I just don’t think anyone deserves that.”

Strelitzia narrows her eyes. “After what he did to Lauriam? To you? Sora, be serious.”

“You haven’t seen it,” Sora says. “I’ve been having nightmares—Naminé says I’m getting a glimpse of what’s going on inside the Kosmokrator. There has to be something else we can do now that we’ve had a chance to regroup.”

Vanitas takes a long sip of his drink, and Ven hops up to sit on the counter. “Y’know, Castle Oblivion did a pretty stellar job at hiding Ven. It’s not easy to find your way out of there.”

“He’d get out.” Riku gestures between himself and Sora. “ We got out.”

“Because something guided you,” Ven pipes up. “Aqua made Castle Oblivion because Master Eraqus gave her instructions—it was a failsafe. To make sure the world was kept safe if the darkness got too close. The castle is supposed to make sure intruders are ‘lost to oblivion.’”

“Lost in a castle forever?” Sora asks incredulously. “How is that any better?” 

“The cards.” Riku taps his chin like he does when he’s deep in thought. “You don’t remember—but Naminé made these cards that could form rooms out of your memories. At least that way, they wouldn’t be in limbo.”

“I can take the thingy to Aqua,” Ven volunteers. “You guys have been through enough with it. And she’ll make sure they never get out.”

–

Riku tries his best to feel comfortable about handing the Kosmokrator to Ven and Vanitas, but the thought of the Master ever stepping foot outside of the Castle is haunting. Sora is as confident as ever—but that might be because he wants to feel good about the decision. He doesn’t want to be responsible for untold suffering, even if it’s happening to someone who objectively deserves it.

Sora has never been stingy with forgiveness. Riku knows that all too well.

He still needs air. Riku stands on Strelitzia’s balcony overlooking the rest of Twilight Town, bathed in the ever-present gold of the sunset. It’s a far cry from Quadratum, that’s for sure. Riku didn’t mind the other reality, but he definitely didn’t prefer it.

Riku hears the balcony sliding door open. He's expecting Sora, so he jumps when he sees long red hair. Strelitzia has been partial to keeping it in a braid, lately. She doesn’t glance at Riku as she joins him.

“I never thanked you.”

Riku blinks. “For…?”

“Lauriam.” She casts her eyes to the street below. “You told me you’d get him back, and you did.”

“I mean, Sora saved him. Not me.”

She shrugs. “We wouldn’t have Sora without you.”

Riku can’t find words. Instead, he picks at his fingernail and tries not to think about where he’d be right now if Sora had actually died in Quadratum all those weeks ago. It scares him because he can’t promise he’d still be breathing. Just another secret to keep, he supposes.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “For everything. You were right—he belongs here, with you. I was being selfish before.”

“You were protecting him.”

“Still. Just…let me apologize for that.”

He nods. “You belong here, too.”

A distant smile graces her lips and she meets Riku’s eyes for the first time. “Sora told me that. With Lauriam back, I think I’m actually starting to believe it.”

The sliding door opens again, and this time, it is Sora stepping onto the balcony. He glances awkwardly between Strelitzia and Riku, apprehensive, not wanting to interrupt. It’s easier than ever before to send a comforting embrace across their link, and Sora’s shoulders deflate as tension leaves his body.

“I’ll leave you guys to it,” she says, and on her way back into the apartment, she pats Sora’s shoulder.

“Everything okay?” Sora asks as he joins Riku in Strelitzia’s place.

“We’re good. Kinda weird, but good.”

Sora is warm and soft pressed against his side. Riku allows himself this moment to shut off his racing thoughts. Sora is better than a cup of hot tea, or an aromatherapeutic candle, or a quiet bath. Nothing makes Riku feel more at peace than touching Sora. 

“I love you,” Riku tells him. 

Sora’s responding smile is bright and contagious. His freckles form constellations. The barest flicker of magic sparks in his eyes—a sign of something more eternal than either of them completely understands. Despite it all, though, he’s still Sora.  

“I love you, too.” Sora wraps his arm around Riku’s waist. “Sap.”

Riku kisses the crown of Sora’s head. In that moment, the bustle of the streets of Twilight Town fades away. All that matters—all that will ever matter—is keeping Sora by his side. Where he should be. 

Sora will always be more spectacular than any sunset.

THE END