It was just after they left Castle Oblivion. Riku and King Mickey had set off on the road to Dawn. The problem was, neither of them knew where that road led, what they were looking for, where to stop. It was just a long, peaceful walk to nowhere.
At least, on the surface.
All the time doing nothing, what felt like the first break from all of the fighting, and the chaos, and the adventure; it gave Riku time to think. Time to reflect. Time he didn't want.
This road, between light and darkness, why is Mickey walking it with me? Doesn't he have a home to go back to? Isn't he as full of light as Sora is?
Riku looked at the short mouse walking beside him; wearing the same black cloak as he was, walking with a grim expression that matched his new attire, looking determinedly into the road ahead. The road to Dawn.
Maybe he thinks I'm weak? That he needs to protect me?
"Riku? What's the matter?" Mickey's voice snapped Riku out of his thoughts with a start.
"What? Hey, were you reading my mind?"
"No, it's just that you were staring so intently that I could feel your eyes boring holes into my head!" Mickey laughed a bit as he said this, and Riku's tense look softened into a smile. Riku had quickly learned though traveling with the mouse that his optimism was contagious.
"I'm just… I'm worried. Worried that I've… contaminated you. With the darkness in my heart." Riku stared down at his chest, gripping the place where his heart was.
"That's silly, Riku!"
"No, but-" Riku gripped harder at the black fabric under his fingers, memories quickly flooding back to him. "We're connected there, aren't we? In our hearts?" Mickey now looked down in thought, his eyes closed as he too touched above his heart, as if searching for Riku there.
"No… maybe not." Riku stopped, shocked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that we usually think of love as being in the heart, but if the forces of light and dark are in there, then maybe that's not true? I'm not tied to the darkness, or the light in your heart. Our bond is deeper than either of those; that's why I'll follow you through the deepest darkness, or the brightest light! I'm in the place closer to you than anything in your heart, I'm with you, Riku!"
Riku felt powerful emotions begin to rise in him. "Your Ma-"
"Ah ah ah!"
"I mean, Mickey…"
"Yes?" Mickey looked up at him expectantly, that expectation mixed with satisfaction of hearing Riku saying his name.
Riku sighed. "I love you."
"I love you too, Riku!"
Mickey marched down the road with a grin on his face and a spring in his step, while Riku watched from behind, the contagious grin spreading to his face as well.
"Jeez…"