Sanctuary

Meh, I don't like the song – by Utada Hikaru, for the KHII opening… - since I like Passion better, but Sanctuary had that few lines that were fit for fan fiction. All right, here we go.

Note: If you haven't noticed, it's RikuSora. Boy, I haven't written fan fiction based on that pairing in a while…

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Squeenix; the song Sanctuary belongs to Utada Hikaru.

Summary: Here, in your arms, is where I feel like I'm in that sacred sanctuary, where everything melts away…

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In you and I there's a new land… Angels in flight… I need more affection than you know… My sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah…

Waves continuously crashed against the fine sand, leaving imprints and castaway shells of scrambling shellfish, only to retreat back into the great ocean and leave the coast. Footprints were washed away as it bid farewell to the last group it dropped off, and the squelching of the creation of more footsteps was all that echoed in the silent day.

Trees swayed and the vivid green of the leaves danced in the breezy wind that had too left in a second. The squishing stopped, and feet stood still, until chilling water touched the toes, singeing it like fire. Taking a step back, the footprints had once again broken down and disappeared along with the wave.

A longing sigh.

"Sora!"

Turning around, said boy eagerly ran up to the one who had called him; Riku, his best friend, was waiting with him, smiling just as brightly as he was, holding up his backpack from school. Panting, the brunet doubled over and tried to catch his breath as Riku continued laughing, rubbing his back in soft circles.

"There, there, no need to overexert yourself, Sora."

However the energetic Keyblade wielder shot him a look, jokingly snapping, "It's worth it if you come and visit!"

The silver haired teen rolled his eyes, which had meant, "Like I don't come here everyday?"

Instead of forming the words and verbally saying it, Riku leaned forward and put out his hand, his smiling widening even more as Sora clasped onto it for dear life, clinging desperately in fear he would fall and roll down the sand dune again. Together they walked, hand in hand, to somewhere they did not know, until the silver haired boy stopped and exclaimed,

"No matter how many times you look, this place holds so many memories. Right?"

Sora giggled, throwing his head back as a breeze played with his unruly spikes of hair, and replied with a simple nod of affirmation. He twirled carelessly, forgetting where he was, but remembering who was there, as he stood in place; Riku had to catch him before he fell with a "Whoo", the dizziness consuming him whole. They both laughed.

Stacked together were the wooden swords they used to play with, placed near the same old tree they always rested on to talk about the day or what they were planning to do next. The bubbly brunet was the first to hop onto the slanted Paopu tree, kicking his legs over so he sat with his back facing the hideout behind him; with a pale hand he patted the spot beside him, flashing a bright smile that only Riku saw constantly.

Not too long after, he was right beside him, shifting the find the right spot until finally relaxing to enjoy whatever was around him. He closed his eyes.

The sand, the crystalline water, the seagulls that cawed and picked at shells on the beach, Sora.

A split second later, his emerald eyes were open again as they immediately looked down at the mess of brown leaning on his shoulder. For once an unusual feeling had kicked him in the gut with a boot, as hard as it could, which made him blush full force. Sora stood still, his breathes even.

However, Riku's heart was pounding repeatedly like a motor, causing nausea to rock his head; the scarlet blush that spread across his cheeks was one thing, but the fact he was ridiculously embarrassed by one simple action was something totally different that threw him off.

"Uh, Sora?"

Wide, cerulean eyes met his own, and all the silver haired boy could do was to whip his head around to eye the vast horizon of the west. Sora nudged him in the ribs, catching his attention again, but he did not dare look in his direction. Who knew, he could pass out off the tree if he stared at him pout.

"Yeah, Riku?"

He still would not look back, for he knew that the second he did, he would have no choice but to fall off the tree and drown in the water, or hug Sora right there.

Riku screwed his eyes shut and slowly, slowly turned his head to face the confused blond; was he that dense? Could he not notice the intensifying blush that had suddenly seemed like a fire spreading across his face? He sighed – yes, the naïve Sora really could be dense – and cracked open one eye at a time. His eye locked onto the image of the brunet playing with a freshly picked Paopu fruit that dangled between his fingers. Riku gulped.

"Y'know how you were… just…"

"Hmm?"

Again he looked up – Riku tried not to be a sissy and stared back as well – with a questioning frown on his face as he leaned closer, inspecting the peculiar blush on the pale boy's face.

"Hey, Riku, you're blushing!"

He restrained himself from whacking his head against the trunk of the Paopu fruit tree; instead, he hastily wrapped his arms around Sora's waist and held him still, trying desperately hard to mask the shaking and thumping of his heart.

"What're you doing, Riku?" was all Sora asked; Riku felt his heart plunge into total defeat.

However, the brunet quickly got accustomed to the warmth all over his body despite the heat that radiated from the sun in the sky already, and wiggled in closer the embrace, pressing his body flush against the emerald eyed boy.

"I'm hugging you, what does it look like?" he muttered almost impatiently, his hug tightening even more. Sora sighed and felt all his tense muscles relax in the grip as he rested his mess of chestnut hair against Riku's broad chest.

"I like this, really," the brunet whispered into his neck, "though I'm confused why you do it now."

For a while Riku thought as another wind picked up his strands of silver hair and tousled it around, and slowly, hesitantly replied,

"Because you make me feel all jittery inside, I guess. Today, especially. Your smile always takes my breath and just yanks it out before I could swallow it. It's like you're slowly killing me, So.

And it's not like this is the first time I've wanted to do this. Ever since we got back, the first thing I wanted to do in the mornings was to hug you, to see if you were really there and that it wasn't a dream. Pretty sappy, huh?"

Sora hummed – Riku chuckled as the quivering lips against his bare skin tickled him – and literally sing-sang,

"Your girly looks always make me wanna take your hair, braid it, and steal Kairi's makeup just to smother your face with that powdery stuff." He stuck his tongue out in disgust.

The hugger gave him a look, one that read, "What the?" as the one being hugged simply shrugged and grinned back.

"What, I thought it was some confession time!"

Riku rolled his eyes.

"I feel that," Sora whispered as he shifted around until his back touched Riku's chest, "whenever I sit next to you or talk to you, I have that wanting gnawing at my chest; I just wanna give you a bear hug and crush your bones or something."

"… Is that a good thing?"

Sora jumped up and shouted, "Of course!"

The silver haired teen laughed; leaning back again, Sora listened intently to the rumbling trapped in his throat.

"I've come to the conclusion that I like everything about you, Riku. Your face, your hair, your body, your laugh, your voice. Whenever I hear you call my name or laugh, I can't help but feel that I've… fallen." He held out one hand, blocking the sunlight that shone in his eyes, as he clenched and unclenched it as a fist. Soon after the other hand came down to where Riku's was resting on his hip and wrapped itself around it tightly.

"Y'know what I mean, Riku? I suddenly feel so free, like I'm dancing in the wind or something, like this grand chariot just landed to sweep me off my feet."

Sora tilted his head back and looked at Riku straight in the eye, murmuring, "And you're like that angel who steered the chariot around into my heart."

For a while they were silent, enjoying the sight of yellow slowly becoming a scarlet red similar to what was staining Riku's cheeks early, the fuchsia mixing in with the dark blue that stretched along the endless horizon. Together they sighed in unison – Sora burst into giggles as Riku merely rolled his eyes and smiled.

"So, did you get that line from some romance novel?"

Sora flustered, stammering a quick, "No!"

Again silence reigned until Sora fumbled with the Paopu fruit and ripped it in half carelessly, tossing it up behind him. A pale hand shot up to catch it almost instantly, and then brought it down to the older teen's lips, where he gracefully smiled against the cut fruit.

"Thanks, So."

"You're welcome, Ri-Ri."

Riku froze – the devious brunet felt his arms stiffen around his waist and he giggled – before that blush washed over his face like the waves against the shoreline.

"R-Ri-Ri? Where the heck did you get that from?"

"Kairi's diary."

He decided to leave it at that, and not ask the snickering boy when he had looked through the poor girl's journal.

Simply, the boy bit into the yellow fruit and held onto the brunet tightly, breathing in that cinnamon scent, as the waves hit the shore, leaving shells of intricate designs and colours once again, like every day, and left without a trace.

Where fears and lies melt away… Music in time… What's left of me…?

What's left of us now…?

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Eugh, a quickie. Sorry if it was extremely cheesy/corny/cliché/boring/sappy/mushy. I usually don't plan on writing this stuff in the future, but c'mon, it's Utada Hikaru's Sanctuary and RikuSora.

Just RikuSora alone leads to fluff, gosh darn it.

Hope you review, something, a favourite (Oh my!) Though what I really don't get is why people put up an alert… when it's a one shot. –Laughs- Oh, that amuses me so…

Yeesh, this fluff is killing me.

-Muffinizer coochie, coochie, nibble…