A/N: Well, this isn't the FMA fic I was supposed to be writing...
Warnings for vomiting/illness, mental health instability and issues.
The Foolish Traveler
On the bad days, Riku woke up to hear only silence. On the worst days, Riku woke up to the sound of screaming. He always jumped out of bed and rushed to the adjacent room to try and stop the piercing cries. Sora would be there, usually sitting upright in bed, screeching indiscernibly and sobbing hysterically at the walls. Some days, Sora would realize right away that Riku was there and he would collapse into his arms and sob into his shirt. Other days, Sora would fight him and Riku would end up bruised and bleeding from the punches his friend threw. Then there were the silent days. Those were the days he wouldn't take notice of Riku's presence at all and Riku would pick Sora up out of the bed and carry him outside. On those days, Sora would go completely still and quiet. Riku then knew it was going to be a day of no progress.
Once outside, they would sit on the grass and watch the stars and thick clouds move around Yen Sid's tower. Sora never sat up himself. He leaned against Riku as if he had no strength and he would stare blankly at nothing. Once Riku's shoulder grew tired and ached from supporting him, he would let Sora stretch out on the grass and rest his head on Riku's leg.
Riku felt a pain in his heart as he watched his friend drift off to sleep again.
"One of these days," Riku said quietly, "you're going to snap out of this and you're going to be really embarrassed about acting like this all the time."
When the journey had become difficult, Sora would proclaim: "They need me." Then, no matter how difficult things became or how impossible the road ahead seemed, Sora would continue on. Through darkness and despair he fought his way through danger and pain.
And in the end, he succeeded. He accomplished what he set out to do. He saved everyone. He gave everyone back the lives that they had lost.
Ventus was made whole again and Roxas was given his own heart and his own life to live. No one knew how Sora had managed it, the only thing they did know was that Sora was not the same after that. He turned up at Yen Sid's tower, nearly catatonic and being dragged along by a confused and frightened Roxas. Roxas claimed he had no memory of what happened, just that they were separated now and Sora wouldn't wake up.
As Sora lay in a borrowed bed in the tower, the ones he saved drifted around him, hoping he would open his eyes and join them again. Weeks passed and Sora didn't wake. He remained pale and unmoving; it seemed he was on the verge of slipping away from them.
Riku refused to leave to help train or go on any missions until Sora woke up. However, nobody could break Sora's deep sleep. It was Kairi who spoke up first in that dimly lit room one day.
"Maybe he gave too much away. Maybe there's not enough left for himself," she whispered to Riku. Riku sat up a bit straighter in his chair. He couldn't argue with her. He had been thinking the same thoughts. Ventus reminded Riku a lot of Sora and Riku had begun to wonder if Sora acted like Ventus or if Ventus acted like Sora. Take away Ventus and Roxas and who was Sora? Did he have a personality of his own? Of course he does. Riku knew he did…
Didn't he?
Weeks passed before Sora awoke. When his blue eyes finally opened, he stared dully at the ceiling and that's when Riku knew.
Sora wasn't really there anymore.
Sora shifted in his sleep and Riku noticed his fingers twitch restlessly. Sora hadn't summoned the keyblade in months. Riku was slightly relieved at this. The broken young man was harmful enough without any kind of weapon. He wasn't sure what Sora would do if he woke up one of these mornings screaming and brandishing the keyblade as well.
Sora began to mumble in his sleep. Riku gently placed a hand on top of his friend's hair.
"You're alright," Riku comforted. "It's just a dream."
Sora then stopped his slight tremoring and Riku sighed in relief. Comforting words didn't always work and he was grateful when they did.
Riku closed his eyes and listened to the silence. For not the first time, Riku wondered if Sora would have a better chance of recovery if he took him back to Destiny Islands or another world… anywhere where you could hear the sound of waves hitting the sand. The eerie quiet of Yen Sid's tower could sometimes feel stifling. Looking out into that clouded abyss, it made you wonder if this world was quite larger then it seemed or small enough that it was closing in around you. Riku wished the wind would pick up. Surely a breeze would alleviate the trapped sensation he was feeling.
Riku must have drifted off into his own trancelike state for longer than he meant to because he suddenly became aware that a familiar voice was saying his name near his shoulder. He turned suddenly to see a set of large eyes staring back at him in concern.
"Your Majesty," Riku mumbled, trying not to appear too startled. Mickey smiled gently.
"Gosh, Riku. Where were you just now? We've been talking to you."
Riku lifted his head and noticed Kairi hovering a few paces away. She gave him a sad smile and a small wave. Riku gave his head a shake in an attempt too clear it.
"I think I was out in space. It was quiet there." Riku looked up at the stars overhead. They never seemed to move the way stars did back on the islands.
"Have you eaten lunch yet?" Kairi asked.
"Not yet," Riku didn't particularly feel hungry, but knew it was awhile since he had eaten.
"I'll go get something for everyone! Be right back!" King Mickey volunteered over enthusiastically. After watching him leave, Kairi knelt down beside Riku. She leaned over her friend to get a look at Sora's sleeping face. Riku sat perfectly still waiting for her to finish assessing their friend.
"Bad day?" Kairi asked as she sat fully back on the grass.
"Could be better," Riku muttered, brushing a bit of grass from Sora's hair.
"I can take care of him too you know," Kairi said after a moment. "You don't have to stay here with him all the time. You can go help train the others. Travel with them…"
"I can't."
"Why not?" Kairi tilted her head, trying to see into Riku's eyes, but Riku kept his face turned down.
"Because he asks for me. Even when I'm the one sitting right next to him, he asks for me." He cries for me and he's so scared, he's so scared because he thinks I'm gone. Lost in darkness somewhere.
"He never asks for the others? Donald, Goofy or me either?"
"No… but I think he knows you're all alright. It's me he doesn't know about… like he forgets that he found me."
"That must be difficult," Kairi finally said. Sora shifted then, but did not wake. Kairi sighed and leaned her cheek on Riku's shoulder. Riku hesitated before gently resting his chin atop her head. They stayed that way until food was brought down to them.
Riku was able to get Sora to drink half of his bowl of broth that day.
Piercing screams awoke Riku that night. It was still the middle of the night. That was rare. Despite nightmares, Sora usually slept until the early morning at least.
"They're crying. They're crying. They're crying." Sora was sitting up in his bed with tears rolling down his face as he addressed the air in front of him.
"Nobody is crying, Sora. You're alright," Riku blearily stumbled into the room, blinking hard to rid his eyes of the tiredness he felt. He placed his hands on his friend's shoulders to attempt to push back onto the mattress.
"I'm cold. It's cold and dark," Sora rattled on.
"Sora," Riku felt dread fill his stomach. Sora was burning up. Riku could feel the heat of Sora's fevered skin through his nightshirt. A moan then escaped Sora's mouth and Riku jumped back out of the way while Sora rolled and then puked on the floor. Riku ignored the mess and jumped forward to stop his friend from falling out of bed. He pushed him back onto his sweat soaked pillow.
"They're gone. He's crying," Sora rasped.
"Who's crying?" Riku asked as he wiped vomit from his friend's chin with the hem of his own shirt.
"Sora!" Sora wailed and then he began crying harder than before, choking on spit and bile.
"No, you're Sora. You're still you." Riku brushed his friend's hair from his too warm forehead.
"Riku… I have to find him." Sora was looking at him, but it was like he was looking through him.
"Sora, I'm here." Riku wiped tears from his friend's cheeks. He gently placed his hands on either side of Sora's face. "I'm right here."
A glimmer of recognition passed through Sora's fever bright eyes.
"Riku… Riku's here."
"Yes, I'm here. I'll always be here."
With a great shudder Sora stopped crying as he desperately grasped hold of one of Riku's hands and held it harshly to his own chest, over his rapidly beating heart. Riku used his free hand to wipe away an escaped tear that had started to fall down his own cheek. This was not the time to be weak. He would be strong. Always, for Sora he could be strong.
"One of these days," Riku whispered, "you're going to wake up and you're going to snap out of this. And everything will go back to the way it used to be."
The night passed on, but Riku stayed where he was. He sat with his friend long after he heard the early movements of the other occupants of the tower that he knew signaled the arrival of dawn.
Sora slept on.
The End
A/N:This one-shot was just something I had in mind for awhile. I wrote this because people seem to want Sora to get a happy ending. That's not what I want for him. Because I'm a messed up person I kind of want to see him break completely. Also, people in my fics tend to throw up at some point... pretty much always. Poor Sora.
Bonus points if you can tell me where I took the title from! Thank you and please review!