Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts in any way, shape, or form. I wish I did though...

Summery: What do you do you love someone more than you love life itself? What do you do when that someone has no idea how you feel? And what do you do when that someone agrees to marry someone else?

Pairing: I'm not gonna tell!

A Matter of Marriage

The setting sun sparkled on the ocean and the waves lapping against the shore. A lone figure stood on the beach staring out to sea.

Riku sighed as he gazed at the water, not really even seeing it. It had been years since the three of them—Sora, Kairi, and him—had returned to Destiny Islands. In the years of peace that had followed, they had all grown up. Grown up, and things had changed. It was pretty obvious to the silver-haired young man the way things were going to end up. The signs were all there. So it shouldn't be such a surprise to him. He should have expected it. Still, the news of Sora and Kairi's engagement was a blow.

Riku had seen them getting closer. But still, he had held out hope. Hope that maybe, after all that had happened, it might be possible for him to have a happy ending. Dammit! He had been there the whole time as well! What made Riku so different? Why hadn't it been him chosen?!

Riku sighed, collapsing cross-legged onto the sand. He knew why it hadn't been him. Neither of the others had given in to the darkness, like he had. Those who existed in the light were destined to be together. But he had hoped… Sora had never seemed to be angry at him. Kairi hadn't seemed so scared of him back then; why so now? Why so much that she had chosen Sora? And Sora… Why had Sora done this? He should have known Riku's feelings, so why hadn't it been Riku?!!

"Hey."

Riku turned to see the subject of his internal ranting standing behind him. "Hey Sora."

Sora walked down the beach to sit beside him. Softly, he said, "You heard the news?"

"I heard." Riku had to try hard to keep the bitterness and sadness out of his voice. "Congratulations."

"Yeah." Sora stared down at the sand. "Thanks." There was a period of awkward silence, then Sora said abruptly, "She asked me you know."

Riku glanced at him, trying to keep his face unreadable. "Well, you were the one who said yes."

Sora jumped up, flustered, and began pacing back and forth. "Well—well—she just asked me. And, I mean, I—I didn't really know what to say. I just said yes before I really thought about it. I was really surprised. I mean—I mean…" he trailed off and sighed. Riku remained silent as well, not trusting himself to speak.

There was a short silence, then Sora asked quietly, "Are you jealous?"

Riku stood up, facing away from Sora. "Of you Sora?" he looked over his shoulder, a mocking smile on his face. "Not at all."

He turned away again, his smile fading. It was true. He was not jealous of Sora at all. Kairi, however… Yes, Riku was very jealous of Kairi. Kairi, who had always been like a little sister to him. Kairi, who they had always been friends with. Kairi, who had always liked Sora. Kairi, who now got Sora.

Riku had always known that Sora was his best friend. But it wasn't until the time that Sora had been asleep for a year, regaining his memories, that Riku had realized just how much he cared. He cared so much that he would give anything to get Sora to wake up. Even let himself give in to the darkness, and take on the hated body of Ansem. He cared so much that he was terrified of what would happen if Sora found out what had happened to Riku. However, Sora's reaction when he found out had surprised him. He had expected anger, or even disgust, but Sora had surprised him. He had completely forgiven Riku, and had even seemed happy to see him! That was when Riku realized that he was in love with Sora.

He had tried to tell the spiky-haired brunette his feelings, but fear had seized him and kept him from speaking the words. If only he hadn't been so afraid, none of this might be happening right now. Then again, it still might be. He had no idea whether Sora loved him in return. Every time over the years that he had tried to tell Sora, the fear of rejection had stopped him. And now it was too late. Sora and Kairi were engaged, and Riku had lost his chance.

Wait a minute! Sora had seemed to be trying to emphasize the fact that Kairi had asked him, not the other way around. And didn't he say something about speaking without thinking? Maybe there was still a chance!

Riku turned around, alight with new hope. Sora was still there, looking confused. Riku almost laughed at how adorable he looked.

"But Riku, I—I always thought you liked Kairi. So why-" Suddenly he stopped, and his face lit up for a moment, but it fell almost immediately. He turned to the side, and, muttering to himself, said, "No. No there's no way." Riku could barely hear the words, but they gave him another rush of hope.

Apparently ignoring Sora's comment and question, Riku stepped forward to look seriously into Sora's eyes and ask a question of hi own.

"Sora, do you really want to marry Kairi?"

Sora blushed at Riku's proximity and looked down shyly. He stuttered for a minute, then sighed and said quietly, with his eyes fixed on the ground, "Not really."

"Why not?" Riku asked, trying to sound merely curious instead of euphoric.

"Because, well…" Sora took a deep breath, then said in a rush, "Because I'm in love with someone else."

Riku felt like he could jump for joy. He wasn't an idiot, he knew who Sora was talking about. And it made him happier than anything else had in a long time. It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt almost giddy with relief and happiness. He felt so light that he began to tease Sora.

"Well, if you're in love with someone else, then why'd you say yes to Kairi?" Not giving Sora a chance to answer, Riku continued thoughtfully. "Hmm, I think I might know the answer." He paused to smirk at the slightly stunned Sora. "It's because you're such a pushover, right?"

Sora looked blank for a moment and then scowled. "Riku!" he threw a punch at his silver-haired friend, but Riku easily dodged, laughing. "I am not a pushover!"

Riku laughed again, dodging another punch. "Yes, you are. Admit it, Sora, you're a complete pushover."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are, Sora. I bet you'd marry me if I asked you to."

Riku looked up at the sudden cessation of punches to find Sora staring at him with shock painted all over his face. He cursed inwardly. Crap! Had he misjudged Sora? He didn't want to scare his friend off. Better apologize soon. He had just opened his mouth to speak when Sora beat him to it.

"How the heck did you know?"

Riku stared at him for a moment with his mouth still open, then started laughing.

"Hey, what's so funny?"

"That," Riku gasped between laughs, "was not what I expected you to say. And you do know I was joking right?"

Sora went bright red and clapped a hand over his mouth. "Sorry," he mumbled from behind it. "I—I didn't mean-"

Riku put a hand on his shorter friend's shoulder, still smiling slightly. "But," he said, forcing the blushing brunette to look at him, "it can not be a joke if you want it to."

"Riku…" Sora whispered. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Riku smiled again and nodded, then leaned down to whisper in Sora's ear, "I love you, Sora."

The brunette looked shyly up at the taller young man. "Really, really?"

"Really, really." And then Riku did something he never believed he would have the courage to do. He leaned down and lightly pressed his lips against Sora's. Riku's arm slid over Sora's shoulder to wrap around his neck as the other arm encircled his waist. Sora hesitated, and then decidedly slid both of his arms around Riku's waist to hold him firmly close. The kiss was meant to be short, but was drawn out as both of their long-pent-up emotions came through. Long moments passed in a blissful happiness until finally they broke apart, looking at each other in some awe.

"I—I love you too Riku," Sora said shakily. "Heh, would you believe me if I told you that I've loved you for years and have been afraid to tell you?"

Riku laughed softly. "Would you believe me if I told you the exact same thing?"

Sora sighed, and leaned his head against Riku's chest. "I guess we were both scared. I know I certainly was. I always thought that you liked Kairi instead of me." Then his head shot up as he remembered something. "Wait, omigosh, Kairi! The engagement! I don't want to get married to her, but I also don't want to hurt her! She's like a sister to me! What do I do?"

Riku was silent for a moment, then he said, "I don't want to hurt her either, but we've go to tell her the truth. It's the only fair thing to do. We'll just have to hope that she understands." Riku looked down at the brunette that he had loved for so long and said gently, "Would you like to do it alone, or would you rather I came with you?"

Sora thought for a minute, and then said quietly, "I think I should do it alone. It'd just be…better."

Riku smiled. "I thought you'd say that. Well, better sooner than later. Good luck, and remember that whatever happens, I'll always love you." And with that, he gave Sora one more kiss, short and sweet. Then he smiled encouragingly, and gave Sora a small push up that beach. "I'll be waiting," he called after the retreating figure.

Night had fallen, but Riku was still standing on the beach where he had been ever since Sora had left. A full moon had risen in the sky, giving the whole scene a silvery, romantic ambience. He was just about to give up waiting and go home, when the soft pattering of feet on the sand alerted him to another's presence. He turned around just in time to be knocked back a couple feet by the excited cannonball that was Sora.

"She said yes! She said yes! She said yes!" Sora yelled excitedly, jumping up and down and hugging Riku. "It'll be okay!"

"Whoa, whoa, Sora, calm down," Riku said soothingly, placing his hands firmly on Sora's shoulders to keep him still. "Just take a deep breath, and tell me what happened."

Sora took a deep breath, then let it all out in a whoosh. Once he was sufficiently calm enough, he looked up at Riku and said happily, "So I went and told Kairi that I wasn't really prepared when she asked me, and that when I thought about it realized that I just loved her like a sister. Then I told her that I was really sorry but I couldn't marry her because the one I was really in love with was you. She got all teary and everything, but then said that we were both her best friends and all she wanted was for us to be happy. She said that she would break the engagement with me and told me to tell you congratulations." Sora took another deep breath, the first he'd taken since the beginning of his speech. He smiled at Riku happily, "Isn't it great?"

Riku smiled back at him. "Yes, it is great." He gathered Sora close in his arms and murmured, "I'm glad Kairi gave you up so easily. Because even if she hadn't, I wasn't gonna let you go. I love you Sora, and I'm so sorry I didn't tell you before now."

Sora pulled away just enough to look seriously up into Riku's face, "Don't apologize. I'm just as much to blame as you are. But it doesn't matter anymore, because we told each other, and everything is going to turn out okay. I love you, got it?"

Riku smiled gratefully at him. "I got it. I love you too. And I'll love you forever, no matter what."

Then Sora kissed him again, and words no longer mattered.

So, did you like it? I'm sorry if you don't like yaoi, but I'm a die-hard soriku fan, so nah-nah. I might do a companion piece from Sora's pov if I get enough reviews. Hint, hint!