Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney.

A/N: Since playing Kingdom Hearts, I've been wanting to write a fanfic for the series. After multiple starting drafts, it was only when I rewatched the 2003 live action Peter Pan movie that those many starts finally began to form something cohesive. So the inspiration to finally get this fic going, some imagery, and also the title are all thanks to Peter Pan (2003). I love that movie ^_^


Free Fall

:

It started with a kiss.

It was one that, Sora had to admit, made him feel as though he could fly. He could just burst upwards straight to the sky and float away. For that moment of Kairi's lips pressing against his, he felt as though nothing he had ever experienced in the sixteen years he'd been living could ever top it.

When she moved away, he couldn't help the goofy grin that stretched across his face. He had been smitten with her for as long as he could remember, and he had never felt as happy as learning she felt the same way.

Really, everything in his life right now was absolutely perfect.

After a few more scattered kisses that couldn't wipe the grin off his face, she said goodbye and opened the door to her house, tucking her hair behind her ear and giving him a final, coquettish wave.

Carefully stepping backwards through the porch stairs, he tried not to stumble as he made his way down the walkway, and it was only when he reached the front fence did he finally turn to face forward to head towards his house.

But he felt restless. He wanted to do cartwheels and backflips and skip through imaginary hopscotch drawings on the sidewalk. He wanted to yell out to whomever could be bothered to listen that he was now boyfriend to Kairi—and at that he stopped. Of course, there was one very important person he had to inform about this change in his relationship status: his best friend, Riku.

Usually the three of them walked home together after school. But Riku had joined the blitzball team that Tidus and Wakka formed, and so most of his afternoons had been dedicated to practice and training. Turning back, Sora skipped on towards the public arena their makeshift team had reserved, entering through the double doors and following the signs towards the stadium, blue eyes lighting up at the sight of the open air giant sphere of water where the team had been doing their swimming drills.

Sora checked his watch as he dropped into the nearest seat, noting it would be another forty minutes before the team's practice ended. To pass the time, he took out his phone and proceeded to exchange messages of sweet nothings with Kairi.

So lost was he that he hadn't realized how much time had passed until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hey," greeted Riku. "Saw you from the water. What are you doing here?"

"Oh hey!" grinned Sora, hurriedly clicking 'Send' before rising up and hitching his bag on his shoulder. "I was just waiting for you."

"You were?" Riku's expression became guarded, and it puzzled Sora. The silver-haired almost seemed nervous, green eyes shifting here and there as though afraid to look at him head on.

What's wrong with him? Sora wondered, a look of concern erasing his smile.

But before he could ask, Riku said, "Let's step out. I have something to tell you."

The brunet followed his friend out of the arena. Outside, the sun was spreading oranges and pinks upon the sky as it set, and a soft, cool breeze played with the spikes of his hair. Sora thought it was a perfect sunset to end a perfect day, smiling as he felt his cellphone vibrate in his pocket, knowing Kairi had just replied to his last message.

Gazing forward, he saw the way Riku's shoulders hunched, weighed down with something Sora couldn't even begin to guess, and he picked up his pace, placing a hand on the taller boy's shoulder.

"Hey." He waited until the other boy turned to face him before continuing, "You said you have something to tell me?"

Green eyes roamed, watched cars passing along the street, watched the swarm of people around them heading in the direction of home or stores or restaurants. When they finally met Sora's bright blue eyes, Riku nodded his head to the park across the street, and they both walked towards the empty gazebo at its centre, away from the noise of the children at the playground on the other side.

Sora hopped up the steps, jumping up to try to touch the ceiling, laughing when he failed. He turned, smile becoming small when he saw Riku's unreadable expression.

The green eyes were soft, almost vulnerable. Step by step Riku grew closer, and for once, strangely, Sora felt his breath catch in his throat and an excited spark crawl up his spine. He'd always been shorter than Riku, but this time as he gazed up, he somehow felt...for lack of any other word...delicate.

"Sora." Riku's voice was soft and deep, sounding exposed, strained, as though his next words would bring some sort of finality that he had been trying to abate. He swallowed, and took a deep breath, briefly closing his eyes. When he opened them, the set of his shoulders had straightened, as though with the exhale that had burst out of him he had made a resolution from which he knew he could never turn back.

"Sora..."

The brunet raised his eyebrows and gave an imperceptible nod to prompt him to continue.

"...I've been—I-I mean for a long time now I've had—I have—"

"Riku?"

"I really like you, Sora."

The shorter boy felt as though the breath had been knocked out of him, and he couldn't help staggering back a step, feeling as though his heart was plummeting out of his chest.

"What I mean to say is that I'm in love with you."

Silence. That was all he could give; that was all that came out of him. He couldn't muster up a choking reply, and no matter how much he opened his mouth to form words, his voice wouldn't sound out.

Riku is in love with me? But...but how can that be? And how long is 'a long time?'

And why now? Just when Kairi—

At that, his eyes fell, unable to meet the waiting green gaze any longer. And it was only then when he was no longer held fast by those eyes that he finally found his voice. "Riku, I'm sorr—"

"—It's okay," the taller boy interjected, stepping back as though to give him space, and Sora could almost feel an invisible wall springing up between them.

Releasing a shaky breath, Riku quickly went on, "I've been bottling my feelings up, and it's been driving me crazy. I mean, I joined blitzball so I can think about other things, but it's just been constantly weighing on me. And I can't hold it in anymore." He forced out a laugh, and Sora grimaced at the underlying pain he heard. "I know you don't feel the same way. And even though there's no chance you'll accept my feelings, I just felt that I had to let you know. Finally."

Sora didn't know what to say, what to think, or how to feel about all this. He wanted so badly to reach out, knowing it must hurt a lot to know beforehand that Riku was going to get rejected. Before the kiss with Kairi, that was what Sora himself had been afraid of, and that was why he hadn't been able to reach out and make his feelings known to her. But this was different. He had gotten his happily ever after, and Riku wouldn't get his, and the last thing he wanted was to cause pain to his friend. But in this situation there really was no helping it.

Riku's voice had grown softer, smaller, dejected. "I know I probably ruined our friendship—"

Sora looked up, alarmed, a sharp breath tightening his chest, and he could only manage to shake his head in denial.

But the taller boy wasn't looking, his head bent down and the long strands of his silver hair covering his face as he continued, "—and I understand if you're disgusted or something and don't want to be friends anymore—"

At this Sora stepped forward and grabbed the front of Riku's shirt, surprising both of them. "D-don't say stupid things like that. You...you just surprised me. I had no idea you f-felt that way, and it's hard to take in." He bit his lip, almost disbelieving at how close they were, almost breathing the same air. Beneath his hand he could feel how hard and how fast Riku's heart pounded in his chest. Licking his lips, he huskily whispered, "But I know I don't want to lose you."

The brunet could just barely make out the green eyes peeking from beneath the silver bangs. "But you're weirded out," pointed out Riku.

"I know I am. B-but just give me time to work through that!" exclaimed Sora, shaking the other boy, letting the feeling of exasperation drown out the sinking feeling of losing control, leaning his forehead over the hands that still held fast to Riku's shirt. In a small voice, he mumbled, "Thank you, I guess...?"

"For what?" asked Riku puzzledly.

"F-for letting know how you—y-you know—a-about me. I-I mean I appreciate it? I think? I guess? I-I don't really know. But. Yeah."

He felt the dip of Riku's chin on his head as he nodded, the reply he breathed out blowing through the brown spikes of his hair. "Sure."

Eventually Riku stepped back, and with an awkward, heavily-laden silence they walked home together.

I can't tell him about me and Kairi, Sora thought. Not yet.

But, what now?


Thanks for reading :)
May/2013