My first story. Please be kind, though I do welcome critiques with open arms.

Let it be noted that I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters.

Riku woke suddenly, the smell of darkness lingering before a breeze blew it away. Blinking, he craned his neck backwards and saw the source: an open window. With a groan, he looked up at Sora's unoccupied bed and reluctantly wormed out of his sleeping bag.

Tiptoeing to the window, so as to not wake Kairi, dozing on the other side of the bed, Riku peered outside. Eyes squinting in the darkness, he searched for his friend's familiar shape in the moonlit yard. Not seeing it, Riku sighed before he bit back a startled yelp when Sora's voice sounded somewhere above and behind him.

"What are you doing awake?" Sora's quiet murmur drifted through the cool night air.

"I should be asking you that," Riku twisted and scrambled onto the roof, glaring without much heat at his friend. Sora grinned at him, working an arm out of his blanket cocoon to pat the space beside him. "I asked first."

Crawling over to the boy, Riku sat down with a sigh. "Bad dream," he stated simply. He could feel Sora look at him, understanding and a tiny bit of sadness in his eyes. Riku glanced at him before staring at the ground below. "Now you answer my question."

Sora blinked before gazing up at the clear sky, gently clearing his throat before replying, "Just checking the worlds are all still there." Riku's eyes widened a little before tilting his head up. Perhaps, just for a moment, the stars sparkled brighter to reassure the two Keyblade masters that, yes, the worlds were at peace now. He couldn't help but smile, thinking that he had missed these quiet moments. The times where it was two best friends and they just were. When Riku could simply breathe, content with being alive.

Next to him, Sora shifted and turned towards him again. "You don't really think that was it, do you?"

Forehead crinkling, he asked, "What do you mean?" Head inquisitively tilted to the right, Riku continued to stare at the stars. He wondered if he could see Hollow Bastion up there, thinking it'd definitely be one of the brighter ones. He figured that despite the damage, the Restoration Committee was sure to be doing a good job rebuilding the castle and surrounding town.

"Well," Sora hesitantly began, "We can't just be done with being heroes or whatever. Something's going to go wrong somewhere, right? And then we'll have to go fix it, with King Mickey or someone," he paused, "And I don't want to be retired already!"

"Don't pout," Riku chuckled, eyes crinkling at his best friend. "Besides, you're not old enough to retire, Sora."

"Riku!" Sora whined, still pouting. "I'm trying to ask you a serious question!"

Said boy grinned and replied, "Shh. You're going to wake Kairi up, moron." Sora growled quietly, but kept his lips closed. Riku's smile faded as he thought about Sora's question. They'd returned to Destiny Islands some months ago, slowly getting used to their old lives. Except, their adventures had changed them and it was impossible to be exactly like they used to. Riku's dreams, for example, that woke him in the middle of the night. That made him leap out of bed, stumbling over whatever was lying in his room, rushing to the bathroom mirror to check for Ansem in his eyes.

Kairi wasn't as restless as the boys, but she looked at the water differently. Cautious, but fascinated, because she remembered where their last attempt at exploring took them.

And Sora. Sora was as cheerful as ever, but Riku saw how he sometimes held out his arm, waiting for the Keyblade to appear. When it didn't, Sora would frown, disappointed, and flex his fingers before folding his hands behind his head, smile lighting his face once more.

What they all felt though, Riku knew, was a slight stillness in the air. The calm before the storm, he figured. The three of them, Riku especially, now knew about the dark forces in the worlds and they were all waiting for them to come out of hiding.

Nearby, an owl hooted as it took flight, snapping Riku out of his thoughts. Shaking his head a little, he sighed before saying, "No, I don't think that was it Sora. But we can't do anything but wait until we're needed. The roads are closed for now, so we're stuck here." Sora was silent.

Getting to his feet, Riku gingerly made his way to the window before Sora piped up, "What do you mean, stuck?" Riku's eyebrows rose at the indignant note in Sora's voice. "Do you mean to tell me that being here is so terrible?" Unwrapping himself from his blanket, Sora started towards Riku, a short protest leaving his throat when silver hair disappeared back through the window. Scowling, Sora crept after his friend.

Once inside, Riku checked that Kairi was still sleeping peacefully, grimacing when he remembered how she looked when she lost her heart. She shifted, the blankets rustling, and he relaxed. A muffled 'oof!' sounded behind him and he turned, stifling a laugh when he saw Sora crumpled under the open window.

Untangling himself from the blanket, trying to be as silent as possible, Sora shot a glare at Riku before whispering harshly, "Help me up, stupid." Still grinning, Riku helped his friend up, closing the window when Sora managed to stumble back into his bed. Riku followed his lead and wrapped his sleeping bag around himself again.

He was almost asleep when Sora's muffled voice floated out from underneath his blanket.

"...Riku?"

"Hmm?"

"What are we going to do until King Mickey needs us?"

Eyes still closed, Riku replied, "We're going to stick together, that's what. And we're going to keep a watch on the stars and hang out the rest of the time. Sounds good, right?"

Sora shifted, facing Riku in the dark room and grinned, "Yeah. That sounds good."

Riku grinned in return, murmuring a last 'good' before falling fast asleep.