Just as Sora thought the last of the Heartless was dead, he saw a new wave approaching on the horizon.

"Aw, give us a break," he breathed as he scanned the crowd. There were all sorts- a clusterfuck of purebloods and emblems of every kind he knew; shadows, red lanterns, large bodies, footsoldiers...they could be here for a while.

"Are you guys ready?" Riku asked with a glance to his friends. They both nodded and tightened their grips on their weapons. It didn't need to be said, but their thoughts were with their allies. Leon and Cid were hard at work on the program to de-rez the MCP. It was vital that they kept the Heartless at bay. The others were on the other side of the burrow- Donald, Goofy, Yuffie, Aerith and Cloud- where they were defending the area from other waves. Sora spared a moment of thought to hope they were okay.

The Heartless were close now. Sora fixed his gaze on a shadow that was getting ever the nearer. Just in case the worst happened, he found a special place in his heart and committed the moment to memory. He was standing with his two best friends in the world and that was all that mattered.

With that thought, he charged forward and put the keyblade to work.

Sora woke up in Merlin's house to the vague sound of chatter and the cold, hard feeling of the floor. The instant his eyelids flopped open, there were sounds of interest from all around. One in particular caught his attention, though, and it was Donald's quack of,"Sora!" as he rushed forward to hug him. Sora put an awkward arm around the duck's feathery shoulders.

"The Heartless overwhelmed you, Mr Big Tough Wielder of the Keyblade. You just conked out." A familiar voice, one that made Sora look. His heart jumped a little. It was Riku, and he was okay.

"I had to carry you back home," Kairi said. "So Riku had to hold the Heartless off all alone for a bit."

"The Heartless," Sora echoed. "Hang on...the Heartless! Where are they-"

Aerith jumped in, her voice a reassurance. "Don't worry. We took care of them."

"What about the MCP?"

"De-rezzed," Riku said. "Leon and Yuffie helped Tron install the program. They're still down in Ansem's lab now. And you were sleeping. Nice job, Sora."

"Aw, don't tease him. He's still kinda out of it." Kairi patted Sora on the shoulder.

"You know, there could well be some shadows left lurking," said Aerith. "We should go out and take care of those."

"Good point." Sora used the keyblade to help himself stand up. "I'll-"

"No," Kairi said with authority. "You need to rest."

"Uhm, guys?" Goofy stepped forward and heads turned in his direction. "Someone should stay behind with Sora and make sure he's okay, a-hyuck!"

Kairi turned to Riku. "You've already done enough today. You stay here."

He scoffed. "Fine."

"Right." Kairi smiled at him. "Well, we'll be back as soon as," she said. "Cmon, let's get going!" With that she dashed out through the door, the sword that had previously lay disregarded on the floor back between her capable hands. The remainder of the restoration committee followed on after her, and Riku stretched.

"How long was I out for?" Sora asked.

"I dunno. A while."

"Thanks."

"We're alone," Riku mused. "That's not happened in a while."

"Yeah. Not since...uh..."

"Not since we were at the Beast's castle and we snuck off to the-"

"Okay, I remember!"

"And then we-"

"Shhhh!"

"Calm down! There's no-one else here," Riku reminded him. "And even if there was, you know they wouldn't give a fuck about us."

"I know, but..."

"But?"

Sora took a deep breath. "I'm worried we might hurt Kairi. I kinda think she might, uh, have a crush on me."

Riku blinked at him. For a moment he stared, expression blank, until a huge (and quite frankly disconcerting) grin spread across his face. He started laughing. Hard.

"Riku! Im serious!"

But Riku just doubled over, laughing so hard he wasn't even making a sound anymore. "I know you're serious," he gasped, somehow still sounding sorta casual. "That's what's so funny!"

Sora frowned. "I don't get it."

It was as if Riku just turned the laughter off. He looked Sora straight in the eye. "Kairi is not interested in you. Kairi is interested in Selphie. Maybe you'd know that if you weren't always getting knocked out."

"Selphie?"

"Yeah. It's their anniversary in two months." He ruffled Sora's hair. "You know, just because a girl pays attention to you doesn't mean she wants to bone you."

Sora sighed. "That's a relief."

"So now we're over that little speed bump..."

He smiled at Riku a little. "It's been a while since I've felt like I've been able to say this, but-"

"Here it comes," Riku announced to the empty room. "The sappiness. You'll see."

Sora gave probably the world's dorkiest smile. "I Kingdom Heart you!"

Riku laughed. "You 'Kingdom Heart' me? That's a new one."

"It was good!"

"It was not."

"It was, because it's like the big interweaving of hearts the Organisation want-"

"I got it Sora, it just wasn't funny."

"It was a little funny."

"The only thing funny here is your hair."

"I'm offended," Sora said through a laugh. He stepped right up close to Riku and hugged him.

"Always so sappy..." Riku, nevertheless, hugged him back.

"You're sappy, too, you just won't admit it."

Riku smiled. "Maybe." He tilted Sora's chin upwards and kissed him. On. The. Mouth.

"I've missed this," Sora whispered. He found Riku's hand and intertwined their fingers. "We should do it more often."

"Only if you get a haircut. Your spikes keep tickling my damn neck."

"Oh, I'm the one who needs a haircut, am I, Riku?"

"What are you implying?"

"Hmm...that you look like a constipated silver lion?"

"You've got some pretty weird fetishes, then." With that they kissed again, for a little longer this time.

"Oh, I guess I'm interrupting something." That came from a voice by the door.

Sora spun around. "Kairi!"

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'm just here to get a potion. I wouldn't want to intrude on your fun." She giggled.

He shuffled. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Since 'constipated silver lion', I think. Okay, got the potion. Bye!"

"Well, that was...something," Sora said after he was sure she was gone.

"See? She didn't care!"

"You're right."

"Now." Riku ruffled Sora's hair for the millionth time. "I guess I should probably say that I Kingdom Heart you as well."