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A year away had led Riku to appreciate Destiny Islands so much more. He was sure he’d never lose his lust for adventure – though he tried to keep it under control now – but he now knew the value of having a home waiting for him. He could view the place not as a tiny prison, but the important first step of his journey. If he hadn’t grown up here, would he still be who he was?
He shuddered. If he hadn’t been who he was, so many people would have been spared so much heartache. The islands would never have fallen to darkness. Their families would have been safe. And Sora and Kairi… They’d been through so much because of him, it was hard not to think they’d be better off if they’d never met him at all. They’d have lived their lives happily and peacefully, never getting kidnapped or losing their hearts or turning into Heartless or sleeping for a year or –
‘Heya, Riku!’ came Sora’s voice, and soon Sora himself popped into view, hopping up to the little island and sitting next to Riku on the tree.
‘Sora,’ said Riku, who couldn’t help but smile. Sora had a knack for showing up right when he was getting stuck in his own head again. ‘What’s up? You need something?’
Sora laughed and gave Riku a little shove; when they were younger, Riku would sometimes fall back on purpose when he did that, but now he didn’t need to. Before he could ponder too deeply on it, though, Sora said, ‘I need a reason to see one of my best friends?’
‘Guess it was a dumb question,’ said Riku, and when he stretched back he could have sworn he saw Sora look down for a second.
‘Well, I actually did have something I wanted to ask you, though.’ Sora put his hands on his lap and looked right at Riku, taking a moment to go on. As Riku was about to say something he said, ‘I was gonna go see my friends in the other worlds. You wanna come with?’
One moment Riku’s heart soared, the next it crashed down to earth. A trip across the worlds, with Sora, and no strings attached this time. It was what he’d always wanted. But experience had taught him that, when he lets himself have what he wants, people get hurt. Thus he only replied, turning away a little, ‘Seriously? Feels like we only just got back.’
Sora took a moment to reply. ‘This time we can stop home whenever we want! It’ll be like a big vacation!’ Quietly he finished, ‘I mean, I’m not gonna force you or anything.’
Sora’s voice shook Riku’s heart. Quickly he turned back to face Sora and said, ‘No! I mean, yes. I wanna come with you. But what about Kairi?’
Sora’s eyes opened wide and lit up as he took one of Riku’s hands in both of his, almost seeming to bounce where he sat. ‘She said she’s a little busy now, but she’ll join us on the next trip!’
The next trip? There’d be more? Riku used his free hand to pinch himself, to which Sora grinned.
‘Heh, this your dream come true?’
‘Shut up,’ said Riku in a cheerful tone as he returned the shove from earlier, which made Sora laugh. Sora soon let go and broke off running, and Riku had to dash off to catch up. ‘Hey, no head starts! Where are you even going?’
‘To the gummi ship!’
Wait, that meant… ‘You had it ready?’
‘I knew you’d say yes!’
Riku’s heart missed a beat. That might have sounded presumptuous, in any other circumstances. But he knew it mean Sora knew him. Sora trusted him. Sora trusted him, even though he knew him. He welcomed the derailment of that train of thought by the sight of the gummi ship coming into view.
It was… bigger, in person, and looking at it put a slight sinking feeling in Riku’s chest. How could something so big and so heavy fly? He wouldn’t have trusted it to float on water. But he did trust Sora, and Sora was smiling and laughing and running for it without a hint of doubt. Riku took a deep breath as he followed behind.
‘Captain Sora speaking!’ said Sora as he climbed inside, cupping a hand around his mouth. ‘All passengers, please board in an orderly manner, and we hope you enjoy your flight!’
There wasn’t exactly much chaos to get up to when it was just Riku, but he smiled nonetheless. His chest still felt tight, but having Sora here helped. Inside there were three seats at the cockpit, one for the pilot; Sora that in that one, naturally. Riku went ahead and took the seat to his left, trying not to jump too much when he heard the door shutting.
‘Chip and Dale reportin’!’ called a pair of squeaky voices from somewhere, in unison. ‘All passengers, buckle up, ‘cause we’re about to prepare for liftoff!’
Riku fastened his seatbelt, but a sense of dread was keeping through him. Logically he knew these things made the ride more safe, not less. But with the door shutting and the seatbelt around him, a feeling like there was nowhere to run shot through him. He looked at Sora, whose expression of utmost confidence helped – but it didn’t chase the feeling away entirely.
Then the ship started moving. It was bumpy and fast, and getting faster and faster and faster and Riku had to hold on to the armrests, shutting his eyes tight. This was so much faster than any ship had a right to be, and then –
The ship took off, leaving the ground entirely at a diagonal angle. Riku could almost have sworn his body had been flung into the air, a wave of dizziness washing over his mind as he hung on for dear life.
Next thing he knew, he felt arms around him. ‘It’s okay, hey, Riku…’
Hyperventilating, Riku opened his eyes to the sight of Sora, hugging him. The ship had slowed down a lot, to a speed more reminiscent of a boat adrift at sea. Much more in Riku’s element. He lifted up his arms and found himself returning the hug before he could think. ‘I’m – I’m sorry, Sora, I…’
‘Don’t worry about it!’ Sora’s voice was soft, and he patted Riku’s back. ‘And I mean, I’m sorry. I should have thought about how you’d never flown before.
Riku forced out a laugh, hoping to put Sora at ease as he returned the gesture. ‘Y-yeah. Even Hook’s ship felt more like, well, a boat.’
Sora gave him a smile and said, ‘Okay, you need a moment to clear your head? Then we’ll head back –’
‘No!’ As soon as Riku noticed he’d held on tighter, he let go of Sora. ‘I mean, I still want to go with you. I just… I just gotta clear my head.’
‘Sure. As much time as you need.’
There it was. Sora seemed to have a never-ending supply of patience for him. If he ever ended up in the darkness again, Riku was sure Sora would drag him back to the light and smile at him when it was over. It was more than he deserved.
He took some deep breaths, holding on to the armrests again. His ears felt a little weird, but slowly, his heartbeat was returning to normal. One, two, one, two, one, two… ‘Hey, Sora? I’m ready.’
Sora nodded, then held out one arm over to Riku’s side. When Riku just stared at it he said, ‘Here, hold my hand. It might help you keep you steady.’
Riku slowly moved his hand across Sora’s, then clasped his fingers around it. The warmth reminded him that Sora was here, with him, whether he thought he deserved it or not. Sora wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him, and he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to Sora. After a few more deep breaths he said, ‘Let’s go.’
Sora pushed a button and soon the ship began to move. It was less bumpy this time, but the speed growing and growing far beyond anything natural still left Riku disconcerted; he had to hold Sora’s hand tighter to keep himself steady. Before long the ship reached its full speed, and Riku, looking around, felt his heart grow lighter by the second.
‘We’re… we’re really doing it,’ he said, his gaze now falling on his and Sora’s joined hands. ‘It feels like we can fly.’
‘We are flying!’ said Sora with a laugh, and if they hadn't been holding hands Riku was sure he’d have got an affectionate punch for his trouble.
All the worlds looked so small through the windows like this; it almost made travelling between them seem trivial. Riku had spent so much time lamenting being stuck on the islands, when all this other worlds were just a cosmic hop, skip, and a jump away. But now he was travelling, and it was all thanks to Sora. One more reason he felt lucky to be Sora’s friend.
Their path was clear enough that Sora’s one-handed steering was no issue at all. Heartless and Nobodies were both, at least for now, at relative peace, after all. Soon a world came into view, and the squeaky voices returned. ‘Chip and Dale speakin’! If you’ve removed your seatbelts, now’s the time to fasten ‘em up again! We’re gonna start descendin’!’
Just as the anxiety started to crawl through Riku again, Sora squeezed his hand. His chest no longer felt like a vice around his heart, but the relief would not last for long. The ship tilted downward, and as it veered down Riku felt like he was slipping and sliding and falling. A weird, painful feeling filled his ears, and his head felt about ready to split open.
He looked to Sora, though, who gave him a smile as he squeezed his hand before focusing on the landing. Sora knew what he was doing. Riku trusted that. And so he shut his eyes, trying to focus on the warmth of Sora’s hand.
When they landed it sent a quake through Riku’s whole body and he groaned. The bumps and the speed on the ground were still a lot for him, but fortunately they soon gave way and the ship came to a stop. Riku let out a sigh of relief, eyes slipping shut – then felt Sora squeeze insistently on his hand.
‘Riku!’ said Sora, and he kept talking, but Riku couldn’t hear him. He got scared for a moment until Sora pointed to himself, then took a deep breath, held his nose and tried to blow through it. Did he want Riku to do the same?
‘Oww!’ he said at first, as it felt like some invisible walls in his earholes had burst open – but soon there was relief, and he could actually hear Sora’s words.
‘Hey, you okay? Is that better?’
‘It… it is. Thanks, Sora.’ It was now that Riku noticed they were still holding hands, and, a little quickly, he pulled his away to undo his seatbelt. Sora did the same, got out of his seat, and stretched.
‘So, who do you wanna visit first? I’ll tell you all about ‘em!’
Really, if they were Sora’s friends, Riku was sure he’d get along with them fine. There was something else on his mind. ‘Hey, uh, Sora?’
‘Yeah?’
Riku scratched the back of his head. How should he put this? ‘I know I’ve been sort of a pain this trip so I, I wanted to say, thanks for everything.’
‘No problem!’ said Sora, who reached up to poke Riku’s shoulder.
‘Well, I mean, that’s not everything.’ Riku sighed. It would be impossible to sum up everything he felt about Sora in just one sentence. But he wanted to let him know, in however small a way. ‘We’ve been together a long time, and we’ve… been through a lot together. You’ve been there for me through some, you know, tough stuff. I appreciate it? I guess, what I’m trying to say is…’
As Riku trailed off, thinking of how to end that sentence, Sora stood on his tiptoes to kiss his lips. Riku stood there, motionless and wide-eyed, his heart racing but in a far more pleasant way, now.
‘Is that what you’re trying to say?’ said Sora, looking up at Riku with a slight smirk.
You know what? ‘Yeah. Yeah, it is.’ Riku ruffled Sora’s spikes before going in for a kiss of his own, a light and brief peck. This was so much easier than trying to condense it all down into words.
Sora turned around now, reaching behind himself to take Riku’s hand again; Riku gave Sora’s a little squeeze before settling into something comfortable. They set off, and Sora’s voice filled the air.
‘Come on, Riku! The world’s waiting!’