Fireside Festivities

AN: A holiday oneshot with Sora and Riku, set after 3D. The fireplace lit up Sora's eager face, but with light, there are always shadows – just like the ones in Riku's heart. It's always been hard for him to brave the light after the events of the past.

"Aw, dang it, the roof collapsed again!" the frustrated boy exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat. A little pout was forming around the jutting fangs under his upper lip. His ashen complexion was only marred by a slight flush of exertion from the concentration on his task, and the soft glow of the crackling fire warming the decorated hearth beside them, casting shadows along his young face.

The other teen absentmindedly responded, "Just use more icing to support the base, Sora. You can do it."

The struggling boy quickly picked up his icing bag, pumped his fist and nodded enthusiastically, ignoring the vigorous bobbing of the pompom on his Santa hat. His annoyance had already been replaced by fierce determination. "Yeah, you're right Riku! What's a little gingerbread house next to fighting some Heartless? A Keyblade Master like me can do it!"

"Keyblade wielder, Sora – at this rate, maybe I should talk to Master Yen Sid about revoking that title as well," Riku replied, calmly dodging a gumdrop which was promptly flung at his head.

Sora stuck his tongue out, the childish grin on his face making his ghastly Halloween Town appearance seem to fade away next to his brilliant expression. "Whatever, Master Riku! I'll be a Keyblade Master too pretty soon, just you wait!" He paused, turning back towards the mess of cookie and candy pieces in front of him. "Well… maybe after I'm done making this." And with that, he was back to work on his little gingerbread house.

Riku chuckled half-heartedly, shaking his head at his current situation. Although they had yet to find the chance to go back to Destiny Islands to celebrate Christmas with their families, chasing down a small infestation of Heartless in the back alleys of Port Royal had given Sora the idea of visiting the nearby Halloween Town and, by extension, Christmas Town.

When they were younger, every year had been spent in either Sora's or Riku's home around a brightly lit, festive tree, making gingerbread houses and cookies to leave for Santa (even though Riku hadn't believed in the idea that the man had existed – how did a rather round, jolly man who was constantly laughing manage to slide down his tiny chimney without waking anyone up?) beside a tall glass of milk on the mantle.

However, after the darkness had consumed Riku and their home, they had yet to find the time to celebrate the holiday whatsoever. So, seeing the opportunity, Sora – who was very excited to visit Santa (who, much to Riku's chagrin, was apparently real) – decided to try and head over for some Christmas festivities.

While Riku claimed that he had been less than pleased at the idea of skipping out on some potential training for his friend, he couldn't deny the eagerness in the brunet's eyes; after the Heartless had been cleared out, he had finally granted the younger permission to visit the nearby world with a smile.

That smile, however, had been anything but real.

In reality, when hearing about Sora's wish, Riku couldn't help but shiver in trepidation. He had never visited the place except for in Castle Oblivion, but that had been a world built off of Sora's memories, and it was a world lacking the magic of the original city. And that magic was what he had been the most frightened of – the magic that turned every creature in that world, breathing or otherwise, into spooky caricatures of Halloween attractions. It was unclear where that power came from, as Sora explained that it likely caused the darkness in peoples' hearts to come to life and give them a new form fitting for the world. For most citizens, or those like Sora with little darkness in them, their costumes didn't mask their endearing personalities and truly warm hearts, whereas for those with malicious intentions allowed their evil to truly shine through in the worst of ways.

But what would Riku look like?

Would he enter the world alongside his best friend, only to find himself decked out in the same rings of eyeshadow and vampire fangs as Sora? Would he be a different creature – a zombie, or a ghost, or a skeleton, or something else of a similar nature?

Maybe instead, he would find himself wearing the skin-tight shroud of blue-purple darkness which had clothed him back when he had mistakenly fallen under Maleficent's thumb. Maybe even more than that, he'd suddenly change from pale skin and clear aquamarine eyes to the giant tanned husk of Ansem. Would he find himself suddenly embodying the true Seeker of Darkness once more?

The thought of him returning to that foolish, self-inflicted state of despair terrified him. However, what horrified him even more was a different possibility entirely.

Would he find himself, eyes shut against the tight fabric of that blindfold, leather of the Organization on his skin, heart devoid of hope? Would that be the darkness which emerged – an visible sign of the empty husk he himself had become a year earlier, so close to losing himself in order to gain more power?

He hadn't wanted to find out.

Before he could say anything, however, Sora had already set the destination in the Gummi ship to Halloween Town, and all Riku could do was fake a smile and pray.

Fortunately, his prayers were answered, and he had found himself similarly attired to Sora. Thankfully he lacked the silly pumpkin mask which obscured half of his friend's face, instead opting to have his silver locks cover his darkened eyes, the sweeping cape and harsh fangs of a silent vampire exposing his silly costume. Sora had immediately dragged the elder into – a tree, it felt like? – and suddenly, there had been snow, and a man that looked awfully like Santa Claus was wagging a stubby finger at him.

"Look who told poor Sora that I didn't exist all those years ago," the elderly man had chided before scuffling away to read more lists, leaving a dazed and confused Riku stupefied in the snow where he had landed.

Now that Sora was working on his project again, Riku leaned back in his armchair, comfortable besides the tight squeeze. It had been nice of the elves to allow the pair of disheveled boys to invade their living room and cozy up by their beautifully lit tree, giving the two boys a mug of hot chocolate and the items for Sora's current task. The mug in Riku's hands sat comfortingly warm against his cold skin, but did little to ease the nervousness which had overcome his mind before entering this world.

After what felt like an eternity, Sora fell back onto the plush carpet, hands splayed out in relief and weariness. "I did it! I finally finished it!"

Glancing over at the finished product, a small, absentminded smile crept onto Riku's lips. "Well, no one can say that it isn't yours," he commented wryly, smirking wider as the copious amounts of red and green frosting on the windows dripped downwards. They left gruesomely festive trails of dying red and green against the dull brown of the cookie wall.

"Hey, cut me some slack, Riku! We haven't done this since we were kids!" Sora huffed, puffing his chest out in pride. "It's not like I've done this recently. And I tried really hard, okay?"

Raising an eyebrow and the haphazard lean the entire structure had, Riku nodded. "I know you tried…" he trailed off, knowing it would evoke an indignant reaction out of the brunet.

Before he could slip back into his anxious thoughts, Sora grabbed the mug out of his hands, placed it down and pulled Riku onto the carpet by the low table his creation sat on. "Help me finish it," he urged, placing a piece of candy into Riku's hand.

The silver-haired teen opened his palm, examining the little yellow star gummy which sat there. "I'm sorry, I can't say that you're the one I'd like to get a paopu fruit from," he commented, deadpan.

"No, dummy!" Sora nearly shrieked in defense, shoving his best friend's shoulder before pointing at the house. "The tree!"

On the front 'lawn' of the display (marked by messy trails of green splayed around the cardboard base of the gingerbread house) sat a tree made of similar gummies, all stars of greens and reds and blues to mimic lights on a traditionally decorated pine tree. It was probably the best thing about the whole mess of colour sitting in front of Riku's eyes at the moment.

Riku laughed out loud this time at Sora's predictable reaction, short but sweet. The elder dabbed some frosting onto the base of the gummy and, with much more precision than the younger could ever really achieve, he balanced the yellow star on top of the tree and sat back, admiring the quaintness of the creation.

Standing up and dusting off his vampire's cape (which had been lined with fur and velvet due to Christmas Town's magic and was just collecting dust everywhere) he remarked, "You know, Sora, with that tree the whole thing's actually not that ba-"

And then Sora's sneaking form shoved the entire gummy tree into his open mouth.

With a victorious glint in his eye, Sora sat back down cross-legged and watched as Riku stifled his coughs and tried to chew through the dense candy, coated with buttercream frosting. "I'm glad you liked the tree, Riku!"

The elder fell back on the ground, chewing through the makeshift weapon ferociously and growling as soon as he was able to breathe properly once more.

"See, and you call me silly all the time! Well look who's laughing now, Riku!" The smile on his face was wide, infectious – if this had been two years earlier, Riku would have pushed Sora onto the carpet and wrestled him into submission. He would've made a large fuss, would've challenged Sora to a competition the younger couldn't win, and then relish in watching the brunet get frustrated as revenge for the little prank.

But two years changed a lot of things. Instead of grappling with the younger, Riku cleared his throat and leaned back against the base of the armchair he had been sitting in previously, examining the younger's expression.

Wild, infectious… but his eyes were soft.

Sora's gaze swept over the elder, taking in the view of his best friend, reclined elegantly (even in dishevelment) against the armchair, and Riku could feel the quiet, awkward tenderness in his gaze. "We haven't done this since we were kids," Sora murmured for the second time that night.

Riku looked away awkwardly. He was never very good at dealing with Sora's bursts of intuition, and he knew by the younger's expression that he had probably sensed Riku's discomfort. "Yeah," he whispered at last.

"And yet after all these years we're still here. We're still doing this together, you and me." Crawling over to sit next to Riku, Sora leaned back, arm touching the elder's just enough to show his presence through the contact. "After all this time, I'm still me."

He looked into the hooded eyes of his best friend, a warm smile on his lips as he playfully elbowed the elder in his side. "And you'll always be you, Riku. Nothing will ever change that."

Sora had never minded his descent into darkness, his decision to lock the door from the inside of the Realm of Darkness – his appearance as the Seeker of Darkness when they had met again a year later. All Sora had ever done was smile, nod, slap him out of his confusion, and chase after him. He had never pushed Riku aside, no matter what the elder had done to hurt him, no matter what mistakes he had made, no matter what form he had assumed due to the shadows in his heart.

Riku smiled, a genuinely happy expression appearing at last, easing the troubled crease perpetually engrained in his forehead. "Yeah," he murmured once more, but with conviction, strength… and faith. "We promised. No matter what happens from now on, we'll go together."

"Yeah," Sora affirmed, turned his eyes back to the softly flickering flames in the hearth, the twinkling of the tree lights casting the room in a safe, homey glow.

Riku followed his gaze towards the fire, licking his lips and settling comfortably against the armchair. The gummy in his mouth – that bright yellow star on top of that little tree – had left a fruity aftertaste, one that wasn't overpowering or cloying. It was sweet – this was sweet. Sitting here by Sora's side, safe and sound and whole, after all the struggles they had been through and before all the ones they had yet to face.

This was home.