Summary: "You've always been looking out for me, Riku."

A Friend Like Riku

Seven-year-old Riku used his right hand to ring the doorbell, with one of six-year-old Sora's arms slung across his shoulders. Sora himself had about three packs worth of band aids slapped onto his skinny legs.

"Sora?" Sora's mother, Ciel, came to the front door with a look of disbelief, "What happened to you?"

Her son just looked up at her with his innocent blue eyes.

Riku was the one who spoke up, "Well, y'see, Mrs. Ciel…we were racing to my house and Sora fell reeeeaaally hard on one of the paths."

Ciel knelt down and took notice of all the band aids. She smiled knowingly, "Who bandaged him up?"

"I did."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh," the silver-haired boy nodded proudly, "I even washed his legs first at my house before putting them on!"

"That's very clever of you, Riku," the woman patted his head, "If you don't mind, I'm going to put better bandages on Sora so he'll feel better in no time."

"Okay," he said, letting go of Sora and turning to the door.

"Thanks for taking care of Sora, Riku."

The little boy turned again and gave her a thumbs up, "It's my job."

Riku waved at Sora-who waved back-and walked out before closing the door behind him.

Ciel giggled as she lead her son to the couch and grabbed the first aid kit. Sora remained silent as his mother peeled each band aid off his legs.

"Does it hurt a lot, dear?"

He shook his head, still keeping silent.

After a little while, Sora finally spoke up, "Mommy…why is Riku better at stuff than me?"

Ciel paused her work to look at her only child, "What do you mean?"

He frowned and looked down at his bandaged legs, "Whenever we race or play fight, Riku always wins! And he's really smart too. He can always answer Kairi's questions, but I can't. And he never falls and hurts himself like I do…"

Ciel grabbed the boy's shoulder with a small smile, "Sora…sometimes you try your hardest…and things don't work out the way you want them to…but you know what?"

"What…?" he asked, wiping his eyes.

"You're very lucky to have a friend like Riku," she told him, "He helped you out, and he took care of you when you were hurt, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So even if he does things better than you, he'll always be there for you, understand? That's what it means to be friends."

"You mean best friends!" Sora exclaimed.

"Right. You two are best friends. You'll always be best friends…" she hugged her son.

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"I knew I'd find you snoozing down here."

"Hey, I wasn't snoozing this time!" Sora sat up from the front steps of Yen Sid's tower (the same place Donald and Goofy always sit), grinning at Riku's arrival, "What's up?"

"Not much," he replied, "Master Yen Sid just finished briefing me about some stuff I needed to know as a Master, so I figured I could use this time to process it."

"Oh. What did he say?"

Riku slightly looked away, "Sorry. It's classified. Yen Sid said you have to be a Master to know."

Sora sighed, "Oh…that's okay then."

The newest Keyblade Master frowned as he looked up at the sky, orange with twilight and filled with stars, "Sora…are you really okay with this?"

He perked up, "With what?"

"With me passing the test and you…"

"Of course it is, Ri-"

The older teen narrowed his eyes, "Don't lie."

Sora's mouth snap shut, as he turned to stare at the stars, or more precisely, the worlds, "Well…of course, I'm a little disappointed that I didn't pass…but it's no big deal. It just means I have a little more work to do, like Donald said."

The silver-head chuckled, "You always were the lazy one..."

"Hey!" he playfully punched his best friend's shoulder, "Lemme finish, would you?"

Riku laughed and gestured for him to continue.

"Anyways…it's okay if you passed and I didn't. I'm happy for you, Riku. I really am," Sora told him sincerely, "I mean, a few years ago, you went all evil and stuff. But look at you now! You've improved a lot! You deserve the title, Riku. You earned it."

"But so did you," said the other male, "You've always been fighting for good, and you're more experienced with the Keyblade than I am."

Sora shook his head, causing his brown spikes to bounce a little, "Maybe. But I lost myself during the test…and I even fell asleep! It's a no-brainer that I flunked!" he laughed a little, "Besides, when I fell…even though you knew you were risking your life…you were the one who came to save me, Riku."

He paused, before laughing again, "Hey. Remember that time when we were little and I fell while we were racing to your house?"

Riku nodded, smiling at the memory, "Yeah. I had three packs of band aids in my pocket for some reason and I used all of them on your legs. Then I had to bring you home."

Sora snapped his fingers, "That's it. You've always been looking out for me. If that's the reason why you passed, and I didn't…then I want you to be the Keyblade Master this time. I'm…I'm really lucky to have a friend like you, Riku." He smiled at him.

"…Thanks, Sora. That's…really nice of you to say," Riku sheepishly ran a hand through his short hair, "Only a true sap could say things like that and actually mean it."

"I may be a sap," Sora retorted, "But you're a super sap. I heard you talking while I was asleep. "It's my job to keep him on his toes", huh?"

The new Master smiled, "Always has been."

"I'll let it slide this time, because I owe you," the brunette raised his fist to the sky, "But next time around, I'll be the new true Keyblade Master!"

Riku chuckled, "Alright, Sora. I promise I'll be there to see it."

The two heroes stood side-by-side, underneath the same blaze of stars…

…