Summary: On return to Destiny Islands, Sora finds himself more and more drawn to an injured Riku in the surprisingly unfamiliar atmosphere, and Kairi still holds tightly to a promise he's unintentionally made to her. SoraxRiku

Warning: I like my angst, and I like my hurt/comfort, and mostly, I like my SoraxRiku.

AN: I realize that KH2 came out not too long ago, but if you're reading fanfiction, I assume you've either finished the game, or have been sufficiently spoiled to understand what's going on. K? Cool. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Square Enix is god. Disney is sort of a demigod I guess. I am but a lowly servant.

"Italicized" - Means it's a quote from the game.

Everyday
Chapter 1

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"We'll be together everyday, right Sora?"

"Uh… yeah!"

Famous last words? You might think so, but you have to understand, I'd been looking for Kairi for so long. World after world, one adventure to the next. I never stopped looking for her, thinking about her, worrying about her.

She was one of my best friends. Riku, Kairi, and I, we used to be inseparable, and for last few years, all we'd done was be separated. And the funny thing? We'd thought we wanted it. We'd built that raft, named it, and prepared to set out to sea. Set out for a bigger world. Boy, did we get a bigger world! But after that, we'd lost each other. And it became pretty obvious it wasn't the size of your world that mattered, but the size of your heart.

Lost and confused in that new world, I had searched for Kairi, fought for her, saved her from the darkness. She'd meant everything to me back then. I was so happy to get her back to the island, to finally succeed, even if I had lost her…

And then, I had to start all over again. Because even with Kairi safe, Riku, Riku still wasn't. Nothing's ever easy with Riku.

So then I fought for Riku. Searched for him and worried about him. Just like I had Kairi. The whole ordeal, all over again. A friend missing, and me, flying all over the universe trying to find them and help them. Because that's what friends do. Or at least, that's what me and my friends do, I don't know about you? We're a bit out of the ordinary.

And after all that, when we where finally back together, together in a castle of nothingness maybe, but still together, yes, I wanted more than anything to spend every second of my life with my friends. So when Kairi asked to be together everyday? Sure, maybe it was a little excessive, but who knew she would take my words so seriously?

I sure didn't.

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When Riku and I got back to the island, swimming up to shore and quickly being welcomed by our friends, I was…well, ecstatic. Come on, we won, we were back together again, everything was great! Go us! Tell me you wouldn't feel the same!

Things weren't so perfect for long though.

"Well," said King Mickey, in that comically high voice of his as Riku and I lay on the beach, drying off in the sun. "I'd say it's about time we move on, the sooner the better."

"What! But… can't we have a little while to say goodbye?" The final battle, the defeat of Organization XIII and Xemnas, all the work we'd done, everything we'd suffered through, just to get to this moment, and now, now they were just going to walk away? It wasn't fair.

"Gawrsh King Mickey, can't we stay a little longer, we're sure gonna miss Sora!" Goofy sighed, a big frown on his silly face. I nodded my agreement, shaking seawater from my hair as I did so.

"Yeah!" Donald squawked, not usually one to question the King. None of us wanted to be split up, not after being together for so long...

"Gosh, I'm sorry guys, but it's really best we go as soon as possible. Now that everything's back in order, we don't want to upset the balance of our worlds anymore than absolutely necessary." Mickey sighed, looking genuinely sorry to be the bearer of bad news, as he often was, and I slumped, realizing I really would have to say goodbye to my friends.

"I'm gonna miss you guys…" I said through a sad smile, grabbing the two characters into a tight hug. And I would miss them. Donald and Goofy had been with me through all the worlds I'd traveled and all the adventures I'd taken. It would be weird not having them around. Lonely. I hadn't been lonely in a long time, even while searching desperately for Kairi and Riku, I'd always had those two.

"Aw, don't be sad Sora." Donald frowned up at me, and I smiled, because I knew he would miss me just as much as I would miss him.

"Yup, we'll always be with you in your heart Sora!" Goofy informed me with forced cheerfulness, and I gave him a grin for his efforts. Then Riku grabbed the King into one last hug, and we waved a final goodbye. They boarded what had once been my own gummi ship, and they were gone. Really gone.

I was alone.

No Goofy.

No Donald.

Just me.

Sora.

And then there was a warm solid hand on my right shoulder, Riku, and a light touch on my left hand, Kairi, and a smile spread across my face.

Wrong, I was wrong. I wasn't loosing friends here, I was getting my old friends back. As much as I loved Donald and Goofy, they weren't from my world, and they weren't Kairi and Riku.

"You guys are the best!" I yelled, throwing my arms around both of them and squeezing them tightly. Kairi giggled sweetly, Riku grunted and collapsed at my feet. I flinched in surprise, immediately letting go of both of them. Woops?

"Riku!" Kairi cried, falling down next to him and holding a small hand out, wanting to help and not sure what to do. I just stood there, looking down at the top of both of their heads and thinking I really should have remembered Riku was injured. He'd gotten hurt saving me after all.

Boy, did I feel stupid.

"Er, sorry," I laughed nervously, finally coming out of my trance and sitting down cross legged in front of the hunched Riku and the worrying Kairi.

"S'fine" He muttered, and Kairi just looked at me. What? She knows I do stupid things sometimes! I said I was sorry! I just sort of… forgot he was hurt…

"We'd better get him off the island and back home Kairi." I commanded her, trying to look like less of an idiot. See, I have things under control. Really, I do. This definitely isn't my fault. Riku should have been healed by now anyway… "Riku, why didn't you take a potion?"

"I did." The taller boy muttered, straightening up so slowly it looked painful. Already taken a potion? Something had to be wrong with him... We needed to get him back to the mainland. There would be time to reminisce on the island later.

"What happened?" Kairi questioned, big blue eyes searching my face for all the answers in the world. I'd forgotten she wasn't there for the final battle, and so she hadn't seen him get hurt. It was for the best, really. Although Kairi had slain a few Heartless, I doubted she was ready for much more than that. Certainly not seeing her friends get hurt. Even I wasn't ready for that.

"Xemnas. Xemnas happened." And you Sora. You should have taken better care of Riku. You're the Chosen One, the Keyblade Master, you should have protected him. He wasn't prepared to fight the darkness like you were, he needed you, and you let him get hurt, you let him down…

I shook my head furiously and gave Riku a hand up, supporting him on my shoulder as Kairi walked around to his other side. I would make it up to him. I was with my friends now, I could protect them from the darkness, be with them. I had all the time in the world.

Together, Kairi and I helped Riku to the boat and set off for the mainland.

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"He's grown," Kairi gasped, trying to pull Riku from the bottom of the boat, where he'd fallen asleep, and onto the dock. And man, had he grown! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little jealous. I felt short in comparison. Unfortunately, he was a lot heavier now.

"Here, you grab his left arm, I'll get his right, and we'll both pull on three. Ready?" I asked, bracing myself against the dock.

"Right!" Kairi cried, grasping Riku's wrist with he tiny hands. I sighed. She wasn't going to be much help. Oh well, at least she was trying.

"One… Two… Three!" We both pulled harshly on Riku's arms at the same time, and apparently, I didn't know my own strength, because the silver haired boy went flying. He came crashing down hard on the dock, right on top of me, his face buried in my stomach. For some reason I blushed.

Riku lifted his head slowly, looking at me with bleary eyes. For a moment, there was something there. Understanding, friendship of the deepest kind, maybe even something more. Our hearts connected…

And then he promptly rolled over and vomited onto the dock.

"Ew!" Kairi cried from not too far away. I'd almost forgotten she was there. Again, Kairi didn't seem too sure what to do, she wanted to help, I could tell, but girls and vomit? They just don't mix. Riku's was clutching his side tightly, breathing hard and looking generally ill.

"Kairi, I think you better go get help."

"Um, right! Who…?" She looked frightened, and I felt bad for her.

"Hospital." Riku croaked out and we both looked at him in surprise. There was a moment of silence while Kairi waited for my consensus, and then I nodded. If potions weren't working, what else could we do?

"Yeah, do what he says. Tell them to send an ambulance okay?" The word 'ambulance' on my lips gave me butterflies, making the situation all the more real. Kairi took off at a run immediately upon hearing my words.

And then we were alone.

Riku lay next to me, clammy and ill from pain, and I couldn't imagine what I should do. Even when we'd traveled, I'd never come across an injury that couldn't be healed with a potion…

"What about Curaga?" I asked, excited. Maybe that would fix him.

"Huh?" Riku muttered, his eyes closed against the harsh sun.

"Did you try Curaga?" I asserted again.

"No, haven't got the powerful of magic…" He mumbled back. Oh. Of course not. I'm the only one that powerful. I'm the one who should have protected him in the fight. Without the darkness inside him, he's…

"Let me try." I said, trying to sound sure of myself when I felt anything but. I immediately cast the spell on him and watched closely for any sign that it might be working. In other words, I stared. I got what I was looking for though. The lines of pain around his eyes loosened, his fists unclenched and Riku sighed, rolling onto his back and looking up at me with clear blue eyes once again.

"Nice. You gotta teach me how to do that." He smirked, and I grinned stupidly back.

"You're better!" I fixed it, I fixed it, I fixed it! Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh! Who's your daddy? That's right!

"Sort of. Feel about how I did at the beach. Think you could help me up? We're a little to close to last night's dinner for my comfort." Riku interrupted my celebrating with a soft snort and a shake of his head. Guess he was embarrassed.

Disillusioned, I nodded and helped him across the dock away from the puddle of vomit. Fine by me.

Riku seemed clearer now, certainly in less pain. We must have hurt him dropping him on the dock like that. (Will my guilt never end today?) But whatever was wrong with him after we'd fought Xemnas, the Curaga hadn't fixed it, that much was clear.

"…Hey Sora?" Riku said after a long while, so long that I was starting to wonder what was keeping Kairi.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to miss the darkness." He said it quietly, as if he thought I was going to be angry. I wasn't. I understood, if anyone could. I had been there with him, and darkness and light? They weren't so different.

"I'm going to miss Donald and Goofy." Was my only answer, and it was good enough.

"I'm going to miss Mickey."

"I'm going to miss Leon's Crew."

"I'm going to miss Ansem the Wise."

"I'm going to miss seeing other worlds."

"I'm going to miss working undercover."

"I'm going to miss Sea-Salt Ice Cream."

"…Huh?" Riku asked, giving me a confused look.

"Never mind." I laughed, because not even I knew the answer to that one.

So we sat together on the dock, Riku resting against me in the afternoon sun, thinking of all the things we would miss, and all the things we'd lost, even though we'd won. And looking at his silver hair, too long and gleaming in the rays of light, I still couldn't help but be happy.

"Riku."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not going to miss you."

He smiled. "Me neither."

We linked hands. And I was happy.

TBC…