On Family
by Pellegryn
It had been a week since Sora, Riku, and Kairi had found their way back home. The time had been…eventful…to say the least. And the reaction of their families…had not been amusing. They had been glad to see them, but for Riku and Sora the disbelief and hurt on their faces had been difficult.
Sora's mother had been especially difficult. She nearly had a nervous breakdown upon discovering that she'd forgotten her son, her only child. Sora had lived alone with his mom for as long as he could remember. The look on her face had been overjoyed, and yet heartbreaking. He'd felt terrible for having left her alone.
Out of all the families, Kairi's had taken it the best. She'd been gone the least amount of time, after all. Her father had scooped her up in his arms the minute he spotted her while her grandfather watched with a smile so knowing that it made Sora a little suspicious. He was the only one to notice however. Kairi was being glomped by her father after all.
And Riku? Frankly, he was too busy being buried under a pile of bodies.
The trio's other acquaintances would no doubt be astonished to know that out of all of them Riku had the most normal home life. His family consisted of his parents and a mob of younger sibling. He was the oldest of the eight other kids by almost five years. His parents hadn't exactly expected the triplets. Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj were the youngest. At the time Riku had left they'd been screeching toddlers with a fondness for hair pulling.
No wonder Riku had wanted to get away from it all.
Now though, he was regretting all that he'd missed. They had grown a great deal. The way they had stood clustered around his father's legs while the rest of the family latched on to him made it obvious they didn't really know what was going on. They didn't know him. He shut that thought out quickly. At the moment, he was preoccupied with trying to wrap his arms around a sobbing mother and sister at the same time. With a great deal of shock, he found it was rather easier than he remembered. He practically towered over his mother now, though before they'd been on eye level.
"Riku, Riku, Riku," she had muttered into his chest between sobs. Then she'd look up into his face with a watery smile and whispered, "Welcome home."
And he'd never been so glad to be there.