It was a beautiful night.
The stars were shining, there was a beautiful breeze, and he had the island to himself. Well, with the exception of his boyfriend of course. They had snuck out and met up on the beach. Riku had kissed his forehead when he rowed up in his small boat. Hand in hand they walked to the smaller palm tree island. The bent paopu tree was their place. Together, they had spent many similar nights just enjoying each other's company.
Sora loved coming here with Riku. They would sit together and just talk. Sometimes they didn't even do that. Riku would hold Sora in his arms, and slowly kiss his head. Words of sweet nothings could barely be heard over the tide of the waters. In this place, Sora truly believed he was in heaven.
Tonight was different though. He couldn't help wondering about that. For some reason, the stars, the breeze, even the ocean rolling back and forth was reminding him. The way Axel had looked when he faded away. He couldn't forget. He felt he knew Axel, though it was only from Roxas' partial memories of him. Axel seemed so sad, but so relieved at the same time. It was if he'd been freed from all his burdens.
"What are you thinking about?" Riku could tell something was on Sora's mind. His eyes looked distant. Sora had usually made a comment about the beauty around them. How he loved Sora's carefree, giving attitude. Everything was beautiful in his eyes.
"Where do you think they go?" Sora couldn't ask Riku why Axel had looked at him like that. First off, he'd have no idea what he was talking about and Riku would probably get possessive and revive Axel just to kill him himself. Of course, if he could stop the re-killing, that wasn't such a bad idea.
"Who are you talking about, Sora?" Riku really didn't understand his boyfriend sometimes. He thought about some of the strangest things. Then again, once he explained his train of thought, things usually made sense. The little brunette was actually a lot smarter than most people thought. He wasn't most people, though; he was Sora's best friend, boy friend, and one-day lover. He knew more about Sora than anyone else in all the worlds.
"Nobodies… When they fade, where do you think they go? Heartless fade back to darkness, but nobodies are nothingness itself. Where's their final resting place?" This wasn't the question that Sora had on his mind originally, but as he thought about it more, the more he needed an answer. He had sent the Organization XIII members somewhere, but where was it. From what he could tell, they couldn't be brought back in an afterlife, so what happened? Did they fade into non-existence? That couldn't be it. If they faded to not exist, he shouldn't remember them as much as he did. Especially Axel; how that look tore his heart out.
"Sora, I don't know how to answer that."
The brunette and the silver haired boy sat in silence for some time. Both were lost in their own train of thoughts. Unaware of their dilemma, the stars continued to shine, and the ocean continued to roll. The breeze rustled the paopu on its branches and tossed the boys' hair around as if it were dancing. Finally, one spoke.
"Maybe they just died like a normal person."
"They weren't normal people Sora." It killed him to see Sora look at him like that. His eyes said volumes to Riku. Sadness and guilt, pain over the fact that he caused these "people" to fade and they had nowhere to go because of it. Sometimes he wondered if Sora's heart was too big. Then he would remind himself, that his big heart was one of the many reasons Riku loved Sora. How could he take away Sora's pain? How could he stop the guilt?
"Sora…"
"Hm…"
"I think I do have an answer for you. Look around you Sora, what do you see?"
"The sky, the paopu tree, the beach, just different parts of nature..."
"I think that's what happens to nobodies when they fade."
"What?"
"Nature has no heart, no emotion. It is merely a cycle of different elements all playing out their roles. It isn't nothing, but at the same time we can't consider it human. Nobodies were the same. They weren't human, but they still existed, even if it was a short time."
"Oh…"
"It's like the wind Sora. When it stops blowing, you know it'll come back at some point. It just doesn't exist at that point. When a nobody fades, they become a part of nature. Not really there, but still living on the wind. Coming and going as they please, and living forever in a beautiful cycle. Does that make sense?"
"Yep, thanks Riku." Every time Sora kissed him, he was in ecstasy. Kissing Sora was like a flood of happiness. He tasted of vanilla and cinnamon with the most childish aftertaste, but that's why Riku his brunette. He never wanted this moment to end, but Sora pulled away and looked him in the eyes.
"I love you Riku." Right then and there, he knew Sora would be ok. Everything would be fine. His boyfriend was no longer sad or guilty; in fact he almost looked happy. Riku was pleased that his answer had helped Sora, sort things out.
"I love you too, Sora." And under the glistening stars, above the rolling tides, and within the bush of the gentle breeze, two boys fell asleep, wrapped tightly in each other's arms. Both too comfortable and tired, to hear a soft chuckle lose itself among the paopu fruit.
THISISSUPPOSEDTOBEALINE
So do you like it? This is my first one-shot, so be gentle. I realy think that nobodies fade to nature, but that's just my personal view on the subject. This was inspired by Shadow of the Day by Linkin Park, and by my friend Allana's Story on Deviantart. Very good read. It's in my favorites, and I have the same username on their if you wanna check it out.