Author's note: I have not played Chain of Memories because I can't quite justify buying a Gameboy Advanced just to play one game, so the references to what happened between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II are probably wrong.
Also, standard disclaimer: All characters belong to Square Enix and Disney.
Edit: 7/28/08 This story had been revised. The only substantial changes are in chapter five, although there are a few continuity changes here and there.
Ch 1: Homecoming
Riku slept through his first week home. Fitful, uneasy sleep, that more often than not ended in him starting awake, keyblade in hand. He still slept. After three years of catching an hour here and an hour there, wherever he happened to be, sleeping in a clean, dry bed was a luxury.
He hadn't known what to expect from his parents when he had knocked on his front door that night, after reassuring Sora for the umpteenth time that he was fine and sending him home to his own parents, whom he was desperate to see. Riku didn't know what Kairi had told his parents, and as horrible as it sounded, he wasn't sure they had missed him all that much.
He had never been close to them. He had never found much in common with them and had as little time for them as they did for him. He didn't think they had ever really known what to do with him. He was so different from them and from everyone else on the island. Some part of him thought it must have been a relief to not have him there.
His father had cried. Riku had never seen his father cry. His mother had held him like she was never going to let go. Riku didn't have any solid memories of his mother holding him, only vague childhood moments, intangible, and separated from him by a lifetime.
He felt guilty then, that he had so easily left them behind, that he had been so desperate to leave their tiny world that he hadn't given them a second thought. He knew he had missed them. Mickey had told him he cried for them sometimes in his sleep, but he hadn't really felt the loss until he was sitting between them on their couch, and his father kept staring at all the small fighting scars on his hands and wrists, and his mother couldn't stop repeating that he had grown so much.
Riku hadn't really processed any of it yet. He had slept. He had been so tired for so long that there was nothing else for him to do. He probably wouldn't have even gotten up to eat, except more often than not he woke to find Sora sprawled on his stomach beside him reading, or leaning over him, gripping his wrist gently and pushing Road to Dawn safely away from both of them. Sora, it seemed, was perpetually hungry and had decided if he was hungry, then Riku should eat. The logic of that escaped Riku, but it didn't seem worth the effort to point this out to Sora.
Riku woke Sunday to the smell of bacon and remembered that his mother always made a big breakfast on Sundays, because it was the only day his father didn't work. He remembered big glasses of orange juice, bacon and eggs, and hash browns. Sometimes fish too, fried crispy in the bacon drippings, because when you lived on an island, there was fish with almost every meal. He was hungry before he opened his eyes, and that was even more surprising than him remembering what Sundays were like. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually felt hungry.
Sunlight slipped into his room in narrow rows, falling from between the slats of his blinds and across his bed. For the first time since he had collapsed into bed, he contemplated getting up without Sora insisting. When he did get up, he was just as sore and stiff as he expected, but sore and stiff were nothing new to him, and the bacon smelt good.
He padded into the kitchen, barefoot and in just his pajama pants, tying his hair back sloppily as he walked. He hesitated in the door, standing in the slanted shadows of the hallway, watching his parents. His father stood at the stove, frying bacon and flipping hash browns, while his mother was at the counter peeling oranges and slicing up papaya. He wondered if they had done this every Sunday since their world had been pulled from darkness, if they had gone on just like always, just like nothing had happened.
"You're awake," his mother looked up at him and smiled. "Are you hungry?" There was something hopeful in her voice, something needy.
"Yeah," Riku stepped into the kitchen.
"Well, sit down. It's almost ready," his father motioned him over to the kitchen table, then frowned. "Are you…?"
Riku realized his father was staring at the bandages wrapped around his chest and stomach. His injuries were still painfully tender, but Mickey and Donald had both looked at them before they had left and done what they could with them. They hadn't been able to heal them completely, but they were confident they would heal given time. Riku hadn't given them a second thought since Mickey had made him promise he would take it easy until he was well.
"It's fine," Riku self-consciously brushed his fingers over the bandages as he sat down at the table, wishing he had thought to put a shirt on.
"You're sure?" his mother looked unconvinced.
"I'm sure," Riku said, and for the first time in a long time, almost believed it.
"Then let's eat," his father flipped the last of the bacon onto a plate, forestalling any protest from his wife.
"… so then Tidus said there was no way a girl could ever beat him…" Selphie continued her story, oblivious to having lost her audience.
Behind her, Wakka rolled his eyes and mimicked talking with his hands. Kairi managed to stop herself from laughing. Not only had she heard this story half a dozen times today alone, but she had been there when it happened. Poor Tidus faired worse with every telling.
"Then Kairi said 'you wanna bet' and Tidus was like…" Selphie trailed off, her gaze fixed over Kairi's shoulder.
Kairi glanced behind her and grinned. Riku and Sora were walking up the beach towards them, Sora walking backwards, hands laced behind his head, talking cheerfully. It certainly wasn't Sora Selphie was staring at though. Riku had grown a lot in the last three years.
"Riku!" Selphie's ear-splitting squeal made Kairi and Wakka both wince.
She bolted for Riku, only to be brought up short by Sora, who caught her easily with one arm and set her on the ground.
"No flying tackles Selphie," Sora informed her.
"Hi Selphie," Riku said mildly.
At least he remembers her, Kairi thought dryly. She knew there were still some gaps in Riku's memories of home. She wondered if he remembered that Selphie had never shown this much interest in him before.
"Hi Riku!" Selphie grinned, oblivious to Sora who hadn't quite moved from between she and Riku. "Wow you've gotten hot… tall, I mean tall!" her cheeks colored only slightly.
Riku gave her a bewildered, wary look that Kairi found adorable. Wakka fell on the sand laughing.
"Oh shut up!" Selphie spun on him, smacking him hard with her purse.
"Ow!" Wakka yelped between laugher. "Watch it girl."
"So you finally decided to get up, hm Sleepy Head?" Kairi linked an arm through Riku's, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek.
"Yeah," Riku shrugged. "Couldn't sleep forever, I guess."
"Selphie don't…" Sora tried unsuccessfully to pull Selphie off of Wakka, who was still laughing, despite being beaten. "You'll miss him if you kill him. You won't have anyone to buy you ice cream."
"Tidus will," Selphie took another swing at Wakka, despite Sora having lifted her off the ground.
"Where is Tidus?" Riku asked.
"He's been scarce the last few days," Kairi grinned, leaning slightly against Riku's shoulder. "See, he was going on and on about how there was no possible way that a girl could beat him, and he had already beaten Selphie, so, you know, I just felt the need to stand up for girl-kind everywhere. It's not like I used my keyblade or anything."
Riku ducked his head and laughed softly.
"We're going to the Play Island," Sora set Selphie down behind him, safely away from Wakka. "Do you guys want to come?"
"No man," Wakka pushed himself up off the ground, brushing sand from his shorts. "That place is creepy. No one goes there anymore."
"I keep telling you it's safe," Kairi shook her head.
"It's still creepy." Selphie insisted.
"Alright," Sora shrugged. "We'll see you later then."