This is a gift for my good friend Aison Armigen.

A few warnings are angst, shounen-ai, Riku/Sora, and Kingdom Hearts II spoilers.

I do not own Kingdom Hearts II. So sad.

That's all I've got. TIAT.

Home

They had made it so far, and yet, it seemed like they could go no farther. Just inches away from the finish line, fingers so close they could swear they could feel it, and they were trapped. Statue-like and unmoving, rooted to the Earth even as they desperately clawed at the ground to free themselves.

At first, after Sora had gently set Riku on the ground, they had both looked, in their own ways. Sora went exploring, and Riku visually examined everything, pointing to places that his brunet friend might need to explore. Every nook and cranny in the rocky, dark stone was explored, examined, studied. There was no way out.

Sora walked around the entire island they were on, finding that after only a few moments, he was right back where he had started; on the night lit beach with his best friend, the moon hanging just above the black waters.

They sat together, then, leaning side by side, Sora's head resting on Riku's shoulder while his rested on the spiky brown locks that made up Sora's hair. It was almost like a dream, and both waited, half awake and half asleep, occasionally wondering what they were waiting for.

It didn't take long for Sora to get up again, this time wading into the water to perhaps make it… somewhere, anywhere. Or to just try and assure himself that this was just an island, and not the prison it felt like.

The dark water reflected the moon's light at him as it lapped against his shoes, then his knees, thighs, and finally he was completely swimming, going out as far as he could. It had been a while since he had swam without a tail to help him.

It was impossible to swim across an ocean; Sora knew this. But he still had to try. The island with Riku on it was just beginning to look a little smaller when the waves picked up, knocking the precarious balance he'd held away and sending him tumbling in the icy salt water, eyes screwed shut and mouth clamped in a firm line.

The waves carried him all the way back to the shore. Sora knelt in the shallow water for a moment, the waves just reaching the middle of his thighs. Glaring, with tears of frustration – or maybe some salt had gotten into his eyes – brimming in his blue eyes, he punched the water and wet sand beneath it. The tears began falling down his face, choked sobs leaking out as he continued his assault on the ground.

They had been so close! He had finally found them all… Riku… Kairi; they had been together again, for the short time it was. The battle that had been going on for over two years was finally over, won and finished for good. Xemnas and the rest of the Organization were gone. No Nobodies or Heartless would pray on them again.

Sora had been so close to his home. This entire time, through the fighting and the pain, the sacrifices and mysteries, all he wanted was to be home. To see his family again. To hug his mother and father, grinning ear to ear as they scolded him through tears of relief. He wanted his old friends and his old life back. Riku, and Kairi, and the rest of Destiny Islands. He had fought so hard.

And for what? The one thing he truly wanted; the one thing that had kept him going and kept him from giving up and losing faith was out of his reach, seemingly forever. There was no escape from this island. And they had been so close!

He kept sobbing and screaming, clawing at the ground beneath him, heedless of the way the course sand dug into his knees and fingers. He wanted to hurt something, he wanted to make something suffer, he wanted the entire world to know how he felt, how much this hurt.

"It's not fair! It's not fair!" Sora cried, sorrow and anger lacing his voice. It was the first time he had ever said this aloud, and the first time he had ever let his thoughts dwell on this thought since he was first drug away from his home.

"We fought so hard! We did so much! Don't we deserve to go home! Why? Why is this happening! Didn't we do enough? I just to go home! Why, why why why?"

Riku, who had been allowing his friend to work out his rage, limped over to the distraught hero, grabbing Sora's hand and pulling them into one of his own before yanking the boy none-too-softly into an embrace.

"Calm down Sora… I know, it's not fair, I know," he whispered, running his fingers through Sora's brown hair.

"But… we worked so hard. Only for it to come to nothing." The reply was muffled against Riku's chest as Sora hid his face, tears mingling with salt water to dampen his friend's shirt.

"It wasn't for nothing. You did great. The entire universe owes you something. I know it isn't fair, but there's nothing we can do now. We might never get home, but just… think of this place as a sanctuary. Look; no Heartless, no Nobodies, no one to annoy us or yell at us. No one but us. You were looking for me, right? Well, I'm right here now," Riku said, hugging his best friend.

Sora didn't answer, instead returning the embrace fully, almost clinging to the older teen. He knew that his friend had a point; they'd found each other. Well, more like Sora finally found Riku, but they were together again. His sobs didn't quiet, but Riku didn't move, allowing them both to get soaked by the tide.

Slowly Sora began to calm down, and both Keyblade Masters left the water, flopping out onto the beach. It didn't seem like anything had changed in the past however-long they had been out there.

"It's kinda like old times again, huh?" Riku mentioned, not moving his gaze from the starry sky above them.

"Huh? Oh… yeah, I guess it is."

Back on Destiny Islands, years ago, when they were first getting to know Kairi, they would spend summer nights out at the beach. It was just the two of them, partly because Kairi was a girl and partly because she wasn't exactly 'best friend material' yet. They would lie out on the beach for hours, staring up at the sky and naming all the constellations they could.

Sometimes, they would wrestle or 'train' with the stars looking on at their displays of 'manliness'. But always, it would end with them lying on their backs, their eyes filled with the reflections of the sky, before finally crawling into the beach hut to sleep for the night.

"I betcha I can name more constellations now," Sora said, propping himself up on one elbow to grin at his friend. Riku merely raised an eyebrow.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Of course it is!" Sora moved his arm, flopping back into the sand while determinedly staring up at the sky. The stars were making no recognizable patterns; they were the same stars that had hovered over the beach when he was young, and they were the same confusing heap of dots as they had been.

Riku, however, had no interest in watching the stars. He merely watched his friend with a small smile on his face, studying the expression of concentration on Sora's face. Truly, it felt as though he had waited an eternity to be with his friend.

Often, he'd been hard-pressed to keep from grabbing his friend, despite being trapped in Ansem's body. But the hate and disgust he felt at giving into the darkness – and using it – to further his own gain kept him at bay. He'd been worried what Sora would think, and ashamed to be seen in the body of the man who caused so much damage.

Now, Riku could see how foolish he had been. Nothing could break apart their friendship. Fighting, hating, taunting, mocking; they had been through everything, and were still there, together.

Suddenly, Riku was overcome with gratitude. He knew all the horrible things he had done; how he had betrayed Sora, and eventually even Kairi, for the sake of power. The power that he had originally wanted to help his friends had consumed him, and that was something that he could never forgive himself for.

Moving almost silently, Riku straddled Sora's hips, leaning down so his face was right in front of Sora's. The younger teen had jumped, his yelp of 'Riku' cut off by a pair of soft lips abruptly pressing against his own.

"Thanks," Riku whispered as he slid off of his friend. They were silent for a long time.

Later, after it seemed like the kiss had been entirely forgotten, Riku found a bottle in the ocean. Frowning, he pulled the letter out of it, unraveling it to read its content. A smile came on his face, and he walked back with it to Sora.

"Here, I think this is for you." Sora looked up in surprise at Riku's words, taking the offered letter from his friend. Quickly, he read over it as the silver haired teen sat down at his side.

Just as he'd finished reading it, a light began to shine from it. A smile beginning to come across his face, Sora held the letter out, watching as it formed the gateway he'd become so used to seeing in his newest journeys.

Both boys sat up together, the light from the gateway making the sand and the sea glimmer brilliantly. Riku began walking towards it first, but a cry of 'wait' from Sora halted him.

"What is it?" he asked, turning around to face his friend. Almost as soon as he turned around, Sora's lips crashed into his own, a mimic of the kiss he'd given his friend hours ago.

"Let's go home," Sora said after pulling back. Riku grinned at him before turning to look back at the gateway.

"Yeah, home."

Tell me what you think of it, please.