Disclaimer: We own nothing.

A/N: As always, this was written with my best friend, scatterxthexashes.


Sora stared at the empty space in front of him and Riku. It was finally over. Xemnas was gone, as were any remaining nobodies. The area was almost dizzying to look at, so instead, he turned his gaze to Riku. His eyes wore a look of a concern as soon as he realized Riku was hurt.

Sora walked closer to him, reaching out a hand to help him. Riku ignored it, attempting to stand up on his own.

"Riku, you're hurt." Sora moved even closer now, still trying to help the elder of the two even though Sora's efforts were continuing to be ignored.

"No, no, I'm fine," Riku insisted, his voice obviously impacted by his injury.

"No, you're not," Sora pressed, wrapping his arm around Riku's waist and pulling him to a stand despite the older boy's refusal to be helped.

Riku rolled his eyes as Sora began pulling him along, despite there seemingly being no exit to the area and no end to it either. While Sora could only hope that they would eventually come across a way out, Riku didn't believe there even was one.

They walked without direction for what had seemed like an eternity, even though it was only a few minutes at the most. Sora turned his head to look at Riku. He noticed that despite all the fuss he had made about not wanting to be helped, he seemed quite content -- as content as one could while being in pain, at least.

"Hey. Look there," Riku pointed straight ahead as he turned his gaze to meet Sora's.

Sora's eyes lit up when he realized what it was: a way out. He grinned, helping Riku to straighten up a bit so they could walk at a faster pace. "Come on."

They gradually made their way toward the portal of light that had appeared before them, elated to have found their way out of the expanse of nothingness that they had been left in.

Riku winced slightly as Sora helped him through the portal. The pair had made it through just in time, for right after they walked through, it closed behind them.

"Good. Now we'll never be stuck there again," Riku remarked as he watched the portal close, leaning against Sora.

"Yeah, but now where are we?" Sora questioned, his eyes scanning the area around them.

"I think we're on the other side." Riku answered, not bothering to examine the area as Sora was. He seemed more interested in looking at Sora than anything else.

Sora looked around once more, a smile slowly making its way onto his lips. "At least we're out of there." He turned to Riku, their eyes connecting briefly. Before Riku could get any words out, Sora had begun pulling him in the direction of the water.

"Wait, Sora. I can walk," Riku informed, smiling appreciatively as Sora hesitantly let go of his waist.

"If you say so," Sora replied skeptically, walking on ahead towards the water. However, before he had even taken a few steps, a groan and a loud thudding stopped him. Sora immediately pivoted, before letting out a small laugh.

"You know how I hate to say I told you so," Sora smirked teasingly down at Riku before helping him up once more.

"Yeah, yeah," Riku rolled his eyes, allowing himself to helped once again by the brunette. It may have been his imagination, but Riku could have sworn that Sora's hand was lower that time, even if just by a little.

Sora carried Riku the short distance to the water, setting him down when they reached the edge of the shore. Sora sat at a comfortably close distance next to Riku, immediately setting his eyes upon the captivating moonlight that was visible just above the endless span of water. Sora smiled to himself; it felt just like it had back at the Islands.

Neither Riku nor Sora spoke for a while. The only sound around them was of the gentle lapping of the waves back and forth greeting and leaving the tips of their feet.

"I like it here," Riku spoke, deciding to eventually interrupt the waves.

"Huh?" Sora replied, clearly being disturbed from his thoughts.

"This place. It's peaceful." Riku smiled, staring out at the waves.

"Yeah... it is," Sora agreed, turning to look at Riku. To Sora's relief, he seemed better somehow. Sora didn't question how; as long as Riku was alright.

Riku leaned back, supporting himself by his hands. He looked out at the ocean momentarily before closing his eyes and simply listening to the soothing sound of the waves.

"I would like to live in a place like this," he spoke, embracing the refreshing feeling of the wind. "It seems fitting for me."

Sora turned once again to look at Riku, his expression questioning. "What do you mean, fitting?"

"Because it's like me, Sora," Riku replied calmly. His gaze turned to meet Sora's, who was most obviously still confused. "I know the darkness here would more than willingly welcome me. I have nothing to worry about here. We have nothing to worry about here."

Sora finally understood him now; he nodded his head to show that he was listening.

"I really don't care if we never get back." Riku smiled at nothing in particular, leaning back a little bit more against his own hands.

Sora's gaze remained fixed on Riku. "But what about Kairi? Don't you want to see her again?"

Riku was silent for a moment, possibly contemplating a response. Sora waited patiently; Riku always had been the thinking type.

Riku shrugged as he answered. "I guess, but. I never really was that close with her. What about you? If we never get out of here, would you miss her?"

Sora wasn't really sure of what to say. He liked Kairi and all, but when he was with Riku, he felt... different. It wasn't the same with Kairi, but he didn't really want to say that out loud. The last thing Sora wanted was to make things awkward, especially considering he and Riku were the only two there.

Sora continued to be mute for a while longer, hoping that eventually Riku would give up and let the topic go.

"I'm only curious," Riku pushed, his eyes turned to Sora. On account of the darkness surrounding them he wasn't able to see the faint crimson lining the crests of his best friend's cheeks.

"It's kind of complicated," Sora finally replied.

Riku arched an eyebrow, hoping that was more than enough of a response for Sora to elaborate.

"I'd miss her, but... if I had to be stuck here with anyone, then I wouldn't want it to be anyone other than you." Sora's crimson tinge began to increase; he hoped it wasn't too evident.

Riku was taken aback at Sora's response. He had always thought he had a thing for Kairi. Everyone on the Islands had thought so, and so this was an unexpected surprise, though it wasn't unwelcome.

"Well, it's the same for me," Riku smiled, his eyes meeting with Sora's. The pair shared a moment in which they merely stared, their feelings expressing themselves without the use of words.

Just as Sora thought his flushing had died down, it started up again when Riku started looking at him like that.

"So how are you feeling?" Sora asked, choosing the first thing to come to mind to change the topic to. It was also an excuse to look away from Riku's gaze.

Riku blinked, not at first hearing what Sora had said. It was his turn to have been lost in thought. "Oh, not bad. A little better." He smiled sincerely, sitting up slightly.

"Good, good. That's good," Sora repeated, over and over, tripping over his words.

Riku laughed. "Yes, it is."

Sora opted to return to silence, as having repeated the same word over and over had no doubt made him look like a fool. Several more minutes passed, where the two only took in the scenery, losing themselves in their accumulation of thoughts, both revolving around the same subject. Eventually Riku couldn't stand to wonder any longer, and turned to Sora once again.

"So, I thought you liked her?" he prodded, watching in amusement as Sora practically jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Who?" Sora responded, clearly having been completely out of it.

Riku chuckled at Sora's response. At times he wondered how it was he who had saved all the worlds the first time. "Kairi, that's who."

"Oh... right. What about her?" Sora questioned, as confused as always.

"I thought you liked her?"

Sora sighed, leaning forward so his face was out of Riku's sight and looked down toward the sand. "Well, uh..." He paused, thinking hard about how to word his next sentence. "She's nice and all, but..."

Riku's curiosity instantly escalated. He straightened up. "But, what?"

Sora sighed once more; knowing without a doubt that his face was such an intense colour of red that Riku would be able to see it now.

"She's not you, Riku. She's not you ." Sora practically heaved a sigh of relief when he finally got the words out.

Riku smiled, it slowly growing until he was outright beaming. He couldn't think of any words to match Sora's. All he could do was grin.

It was nowhere near the reaction Sora had expected. In fact, it was the complete opposite.

Riku subtly shifted forward along the sand slightly so he was closer to Sora; their eyes remaining fixed upon the pair before them. Sora let out a sigh of contentment as more silence took over; he had finally confessed what he had been holding inside for so long.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Riku asked, breaking the silence again.

Sora shrugged, for once knowing exactly what Riku meant. "Fear? I'm not sure." He moved slightly closer as well, though he wasn't very good at being subtle, and was now nearly on top of the elder.

Riku shook his head. "You know you should never been afraid to tell me anything. And I do mean anything."

Sora let out a short chuckle, shrugging. "How was I supposed to know how you'd react?"

Riku smiled. "You should know me well enough by now to know how I'd react, Sora."

"I know... but still. Some subjects are a little touchy," Sora answered.

Riku nodded in agreement, gazing at Sora. "Well, now you know. And if you ever keep something like that from me, I'll kick your ass." Riku nudged Sora playfully, nearly knocking the brunette into the sand. Sora would have laughed, but he knew Riku wasn't kidding.

Riku grinned, snaking his arm around Sora's shoulders, pulling him close. "You'd better remember that."

Sora blushed at the sudden contact, immediately looking away from Riku in an attempt to hide that fact from him.

Riku smirked at Sora's actions and took hold of his chin so that they faced each other once again. "You didn't seem this shy earlier. Y'know, when you kept grabbing my ass."

Sora's eyes widened to a frighteningly large size, and his blush became several shades brighter. "I -- I what?!"

Riku was still smirking. "Come on, Sora. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

"But I... I was just -- I was... helping you..." Sora stammered, his face reminiscent of a tomato.

"Uh-huh. Helping yourself," Riku remarked, his grin only growing larger.

Sora was becoming quite uncomfortable with the conversation, and also the position he and Riku were in. He slowly shifted across the sand and momentarily out of Riku's touch, but the other's persistence took over and Riku found himself following Sora until the point that he was practically laying on top of him.

Sora looked curiously up at Riku, whose eyes held an unfathomable message. "Riku... W-what are you doing...?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Riku commented, his grin as wide as ever.

Sora wasn't even to get a whole sentence out, let alone a word or two. His tongue continued to trip over the syllables and ended up saying something that resembled the word cucumbers.

Riku chuckled. Sora may have been imagining things, but their faces seemed much closer to each other's than they had only seconds before.

Riku smiled genuinely. "You're even more adorable when you blush, you know."

His words only caused Sora's blush to enhance, and to create more unintelligible mutterings to escape from his mouth.

Riku cooed softly, caressing Sora's cheek gently. He moved in closer so that his mouth replaced his hand on Sora's cheek.

Sora felt that if he blushed any more that his face would burst into flames. As uncomfortable as Riku was making him, his actions weren't unwanted. Sora just wasn't sure how to react. It was different when Riku was unaware – or, well, when Sora thought Riku was unaware. It also didn't help that Riku didn't even give him any time to think.

Riku kissed Sora's cheek again, his mouth trailing before it was passing over his lips and moving to his other cheek.

Though Sora still felt incredibly awkward, he still didn't tell Riku to stop. Probably because he didn't exactly want him to. He felt his heartbeat quicken as Riku pulled back to once again stare down at him, a clear smile of contentment adorning his lips as he leant down once more.

Sora could feel Riku's breath heating his face -- as if it had needed any help. Their faces were now mere centimetres apart. Riku smiled once more; both were taking the moment in to gaze at each other.

"Now I know I like this place better." Riku spoke quietly before closing the remaining distance to brush his lips lightly against Sora's.

Sora was in shock, unable to find the power to utter any words. After years of longing for something to happen between he and Riku, it finally had, and he hadn't even returned Riku's action. He wondered if the same thoughts were going through Riku's head right then, and if he had completely messed things up.

Sora sat up slightly to look over at Riku. The silver-haired boy was staring up at the sky, his hands placed comfortably behind his head. He didn't seem flustered or discouraged at all. It was almost as if he knew how Sora would react before Sora himself knew. Sora chuckled softly so that only he would hear. It figured that his best friend knew him better than he did himself.

Eventually, Riku noticed Sora gazing at him and smiled. "You okay?"

Sora merely stared for a few moments before Riku's words fully registered. "I, uh... Why wouldn't I be?"

Riku smiled again, it lingering this time. "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable or anything." He laughed softly, hoping by not being excessively serious that the situation wouldn't be incredibly awkward.

Sora shook his head. "I wasn't uncomfortable. More like... shocked." He shared Riku's laugh, smiling as well.

Riku arched an eyebrow. "Shocked, Sora?"

Sora shrugged, nodding. "Yeah. You kind of caught me off guard."

Riku grinned, glad to hear that Sora's reason for not kissing him back wasn't because he wasn't interested. "Well, if I do it again, you won't be caught off guard, right?"

Sora's eyebrows rose, his cheeks once again brightening in colour. "U-um... No?"

Riku sat up, wearing a look that Sora had never seen him use before. "And if you're not shocked next time, you'll kiss back, right?"

As much as Riku was grinning, Sora was flushing, if not even more so. He slowly nodded, for he suddenly found himself incapable of words for the moment.

In the middle of Sora's nod, Riku climbed back over him, planting a soft kiss upon his lips. Sora's eyes widened, but slowly closed when he felt himself kissing back this time.

His arms rose to slip around Riku's neck, pulling him closer to himself. Riku smiled into the kiss, pleased to find that it was no longer one-sided, and made use of the arm that he wasn't using to hold himself up by running it through Sora's hair.

To both Riku and Sora's dismay, their kiss was put on hold, for out of the corner of both their eyes, a bright light appeared out of thin air.

Sora merely stared at it in confusion. It felt as if days had passed before they had seen a light other than the moon, even though, in reality, it was only a few hours.

"It's a portal," Riku spoke, as if reading Sora's mind. He turned to gaze at the brunette who was still staring at the light.

When he felt Riku's eyes upon him, he focused his attention upon Riku instead of the portal. "I think it'll be there a while, don't you?"

Riku smirked. As always, he knew exactly what Sora had in mind.


A/N: For those of you who might not have noticed in my profile--I had mentioned that ScatterxthexAshes and I are willing to do pairing requests from our readers. We can't guarantee that we'll do it, but the ideas are more than welcome. Also, don't forget to review after reading!