Summary: What was supposed to be a smooth training session for Lea and Riku turned into a crash landing. And all over a silly sandwich. LeaKu (LeaxRiku). Canon worlds. Rated M for later chapters.
A.N.: Hello guys and Merry Christmas! Here is a special first chapter of my short canon story of Lea and Riku (LeaKu) that I have promised for the longest time. Tell me what you think so far. This is my first canon(ish) story, and if there are mistakes about story plot, I apologize! Just tell me in a PM and I'll fix it ASAP. I know the story, but not having played the game in a while, I may have incorrectly written something. In any case, I hope viewers enjoy. Also, I'll be working on the sequel to "Latte Boy" at the same time, so if you read that story, I'll be posting it soon as well. Double Christmas story special.
Lea was preparing his duffel bag for the long trip ahead of him.
The redhead was exhausted from the week before. Stopping Xehanort temporarily in his tracks from causing another catastrophe as well as his childhood best friend, Isa...or Saïx, opposing against him made his mind heavy. His shoulders carried an overwhelming responsibility since he was now one of the seven lights to oppose the thirteen darknesses. Lea was somehow claimed as one of the wielders of the Keyblade, something he could barely decipher. The basic information he knew was that the Keyblade was able to fight off the Heartless, Nobodies, anything that manifested darkness.
But, he didn't know how to use the damn thing yet. It only seemed to appear in his hand randomly. This Keyblade of his was something so different from the Chakrams he was accustomed to. But, the main reasoning for his trip was to receive instruction and advice on how to use this newfound weapon that had an uncanny ability to appear whenever it wanted to. So he was to go to the Colloseum with Riku and train with some guy named Hercules...was that his name?
Lea folded the rest of his clothing, squeezing them into the remaining space of his bag. He blew out one long breath, not looking forward to the hard work that came with the journey ahead of him. Learning how to fight with a foreign weapon of light was no easy task and it was sure to tire him out. He would much rather stay in bed and kick back, much like the old days when he used to be in Organization XIII. But, he couldn't just say no; he really didn't have any say on the matter when the worlds were in impeccable danger. And worse, themselves.
Lea threw the bag over his shoulder, going down the spiral staircase of the Mysterious Tower. With a small smile on his face, he exited the door of the tower, about to step onto the peaceful small field in front. However, he felt the heat of a swift Fire spell that just shot right past his cheek, making his eyes widen right on the spot. "Holy shi-"
"Lea! Are you okay?" Kairi called from the opposite side of the field. So much for the start of a peaceful day.
"Yeah, but what are you doing practicing without Sora looking after you?"
Kairi gulped in response, hiding her floral designed Keyblade behind her small figure. "Let's keep it a secret between the both of us, huh?" As Lea opened his mouth to respond, he heard the door open and close behind him. He turned around to see Riku with a matching duffel bag of his own, slinging it over his broad shoulder with Sora following shortly after him. Riku slowly inspected the two, his eyes seeming to know the secrets of what just occurred. Sea-green eyes squinted as he saw the scorched mark from the Fire spell on the door. Riku blamed the redhead with an accusatory glare, walking past him with a snort.
"But it was Ka- Oh sure, blame the pyromaniac," he muttered underneath his breath, to which Riku simply ignored or did not catch. Whether he was oblivious to the cover for Kairi or simply did not care, Lea did not know. But, Kairi was getting her share of a sigh of relief, thanking the taller male with a smile. The redhead smiled back before he heard the high whir of the Gummi ship, knowing fully it was now time to go. "Looks like that's my cue to go save the world and stuff," he joked.
"At least try to say it seriously. For your sake," Kairi giggled, her eyes flitting over to Riku and Sora. Lea followed her stare, his lips twisting to the side in distaste. "I know what you're thinking. Riku's just not a people person. He'll warm up to you in no time, especially if you're serious about being a Keyblade wielder."
Lea nodded, continuing to stare at the silver haired male, whom was now smiling widely at the brunette. Lea had to admit, the guy looked a lot less intimidating with a smile on his face. He wished he were able to make the male smile as well, knowing full well it would save him a lot of silence and awkwardness on the upcoming trip. Maybe that was something he should work on.
"Good luck you guys! And train hard!" Sora said as a farewell, waving as the two climbed into the Gummi ship. Lea uncomfortably settled into his seat, his long legs bent too far for his own taste. He glanced at the male on his right to see how he fared, which caused him to bite on his own tongue from laughing. Riku had about just as much trouble as he did, trying to adjust the position of his legs and settling for crossing them with an annoyed huff.
"Well, this is roomy," Lea joked, placing his bag on the small gap in between the both of their chairs. Riku said nothing in return, his hands going to the buttons in front of him on the dashboard.
"Well, it would be a lot roomier if Sora was here instead of you. He's way smaller," Riku commented. Lea's eyebrow twitched in response, but he allowed it to slide.
"You calling me fat?" Lea chuckled. Riku turned to shoot an odd look at the redhead. He then sighed, the corner of his lip lifting up in the SLIGHTEST bit that faded just as quickly. It wasn't exactly a smile, but Lea would take anything at this point.
"Let's keep our spirits up then. This ship runs on smiles," Riku instructed as he pressed more buttons. Lea felt the vehicle lift and looked out the window to confirm that they were starting to take off.
"Wait, shouldn't there be a countdown or-"
"Blast off."
The gummi ship shot off, the scenery outside their window turning to a fast blur. Lea didn't know it was possible to be sucked into his seat anymore than he did, but it happened. His legs were tucked into himself, his hands gripped the arm rests of his chair, and his mouth was forced open in a comedic way. The whole ship shook with a force as it shot off into space that Lea shut his eyes tightly.
And then silence. There was no more rumbling, his body wasn't forced against the chair. Two green eyes opened tentatively and examined his surroundings, and he murmured out, "Woah. That was quick."
Lea stared out the ship's windows. They were actually in space. Vast blacks, purples, and blues filled with stars. Off in the distance, he could see the other worlds, circular, colorful, and spinning. This was the first time seeing the worlds from the outside...
Lea leaned back with a smile, appreciating the view. He looked over at Riku, who was doing the exact opposite. He stiffly had his hands on the wheel and paid attentively to the "road" ahead. "Hey, why so stiff?" Lea asked curiously. "Don't you see this amazing view?"
"I'm not stiff," Riku argued lightly, his eyebrow arching. "And the view is...nothing special."
Lea pursed his lips at the reaction of the fantastic view. He soon understood what Riku meant, however. The view was spectacular for about five minutes before the redhead stifled a big yawn. He leaned over to the silver haired male, who still appeared to be in concentration even if the path was clear and uneventful, and smirked as he pointed in a direction purposely in front of Riku's line of vision.
"You know, that galaxy over there. It sort of looks like a pe-"
Riku's hand went to cover Lea's mouth just in time, his eyebrows knitting together in disapproval. He shoved Lea's hand away. "No...it does not," he coughed out, taking his hand off Lea's mouth.
Lea's stomach then growled. He instinctively reached for his duffel bag and opened it, digging out a sandwich. Riku glanced and did a double take as he saw Lea unwrap the aluminum foil.
"No eating in the gummi ship," Riku said as he grabbed Lea's sandwich.
"And why not?" whined the redhead as he clutched at his growling stomach.
"The amount of crumbs and sticky spots I had to clean for this damn ship to be clean...don't want to do that again."
"And how long do we have until we get there?"
"Probably some hours."
Lea scoffed, reaching for his sandwich and successfully grabbing it. "No way am I waiting hours to eat. I'm having food now."
Riku narrowed his eyes as he let go of the wheel. He pulled a lever for autopilot and turned around in his chair to face Lea. "Listen. My gummi ship, Highwind. My rules. Got it?"
"I thought it was Excalibur," Lea taunted with accentuated syllables.
"It's HIGHWIND," Riku growled, grabbing for the sandwich. Lea held it right out of his grasp with an extended tongue. Riku sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not in the mood for this, Axel."
"Lea," Lea corrected.
"Whatever. I just don't want you to eat-" Lea then took a purposeful bite out of his sandwich, some microscopical crumbs, that Riku's eyes suddenly had the ability to see, fall onto the controls. "No, no, you're already making Highwind dirty!" Riku disgustedly said.
"Excalibur," Lea corrected with a full mouth, wiping his fingers on the dashboard.
"You are getting on my last nerve," Riku growled out.
Lea rolled his eyes and laughed lightly, but he soon yelled as Riku lunged out of his seat and onto him. He had to admire the dedication the silver haired male had to get the sandwich back.
Because it was a small area to work with, Riku leaned in so closely to Lea that the redhead noticed it right off the bat. Lea's eyes bulged as the silver haired male nearly straddled him with an angry look on his face, reaching for the sandwich. Lea saw the beads of sweat on the other's neck, smelled the manly scented cologne of Riku's skin, heard the grunting of Riku's tenor voice...
Lea felt confused as his own body reacted down in his southern region. He was also confused why the gummi ship had stopped moving maybe a minute ago?
Riku finally grabbed the sandwich and ripped it away from the redhead, frowning at him. "Don't you dare do that agai-..." Riku noticed the blank stare in Lea's eyes and stopped mid-sentence. He raised his eyebrow at the redheaded male. "Axel?"
Not even bothering to correct his own name, Lea looked past Riku's shoulder and murmured, "Riku, we stopped moving."
Puzzled, the silver haired male climbed off of Lea and stared out the window. The ship did seem to be still, but Riku soon noticed they were starting to descend slowly. That's when the whirring alarm of the ship started. Panicked, Riku grabbed Lea's shoulders and growled out, "Quick. Smile or something!"
"I can't feel happy on an empty stomach," Lea argued, his green eyes moving from Riku to the window. "Y-you're captain! YOU do something!"
"Why do you have to be- we wouldn't be falling if you just listened to me!" The gummi ship rattled as it bumped against some debris, making Riku lose balance and hold onto the dashboard with all his might.
"Well, maybe if you gave me my sandwich!" Lea yelled over the alarm, standing up unsteadily while holding onto his seat. Riku looked menacingly at the redhead, but his expression turned fearful as another bump threatened to throw off his balance again.
"I'm going to do a crash landing!" Riku shouted, shuffling to the pilot's seat carefully. He threw on his seatbelt, turning off autopilot and grabbing the wheel with such intensity, his knuckles turned ice-white. "Hold on!"
Lea strapped his seatbelt across his frame, his body bouncing roughly as they were entering the world's atmosphere. They were driving head first towards a world that he did not recognize, the gravity soon pulling them in. The turbulence of their crash landing soon became too much for Lea to handle and then his head made contact with the dashboard. Harsh.
"LEA!" he heard Riku scream before the dull ringing inside his ear became higher and higher, until he fell unconscious.