A/N: Written last year due to my insatiable, month-long craving for pumpkin pie. Also, Riku may be more reminiscent of his KH1 self.
Enjoy!
x - x - x
The chill of Autumn swept through the islands in a gold-fluttered breeze. Leaves glided down from the trees like paper hearts caught in the sun's setting grace, casting an earthen flush across the mainlands as they landed in soft heaps along the grass.
Riku, dutiful as always, was trying to rake the mess into neat piles outside of his home before some sorry kid slipped on a leaf and broke his neck trick-or-treating.
...Well, that's what Kairi told him, anyways.
There was a flash of chestnut spikes and blue eyes before all his hard work disappeared in a whirlwind of auburn. "Happy Halloween, Riku!" the voice chimed and popped out of the ruined pile of leaves.
Sputtering, Riku spit out a stray gold leaf that had landed in his mouth and sighed. "Sora, you realize I spent the last hour raking those leaves, right?" He cast the rake aside and crossed his arms. "What's so great about Halloween anyways? It's only purpose in my book is to give people cavities and nightmares."
Sora pretended to roll his eyes. "C"mon, Riku, don't be such a spoilsport," he chided and pulled his friend down into the haphazard pile of leaves. "Besides, we're not trick-or-treating this year. Kairi said we could bake a pumpkin pie instead!"
The older boy flailed for a moment, before losing his balance and tumbling into the leaf pile with Sora. His pale cheeks were ruddy from the cold and his humiliation, though the glare quickly dissolved from his face. "You're such a kid, Sora," he joked. "Only you would be this excited about baking a pie."
"Am not!" He jutted his lip out in protest. "Baking pie is manly! We have to actually go out and find a pumpkin in the wilderness."
Riku quirked a brow. "And by wilderness, you mean the local—"
"Same thing," he huffed, cheeks glowing pink.
Riku couldn't help but smile at the display of embarrassment, resisting the urge to reach out and ruffle his friend's chestnut spikes. He grabbed a fistful of leaves and showered them in his face instead. "Then what are we waiting for?" he asked teasingly. "Let's go and pick one before all the good ones are taken."
Sora shook the leaves from his head like a dog shaking water off its fur. "'Okay!"
The silver-haired boy rose from the gold and crimson foliage and brushed himself off, offering a hand for his companion to take. Sora made a mess of himself as he clumsily tried to dust the leaves away from his clothes.
"There's a leaf stuck to your hair," Riku commented as he hoisted his friend up. He gently picked off the lone leaf and studied it like a piece of evidence.
"Gee, I wonder why," Sora muttered, smiling up at his friend. Giving into his earlier temptations, Riku reached out and affectionately ruffled his soft spikes.
"Alright, come on." He motioned.
And together, they followed the maple-rusted path and headed towards the local pumpkin patch.
x - x - x
A while later, Riku remembered they lived on an island where pumpkins seldom grew; hence the reason all the orange, gourd-like fruits were disfigured and... well, unpumpkin-like.
He glanced around the barren field with mild distaste, gazing at the vines sprawled over the pumpkins like tendrils of darkness.
"Sora, these pumpkins all suck," he said flatly. "We're better off buying one from the grocery store."
The brunet huffed in protest, lifting his gaze from the misshapen pumpkin he was inspecting. "You know we can't do that. Pumpkins are only magical if they're picked straight from the patch," he answered with a prideful grin, like a child trying to uphold the dignity of his favorite fairy-tale.
"Really," Riku leaned in with a teasing smirk. "And who told you that? Your mother?"
"No way," he replied, sweeping his arm to the side. "The Fairy Godmother told me that. She said that with a bit of work, the perfect pumpkin can make your dreams come true."
The older boy was silent for a moment, before bursting into a fit of unbridled laughter. "I can't believe you'd listen to that old kook. She's just about as crazy as Merlin is."
Sora flushed in embarrassment. "It happened to Cinderella," he said stubbornly, averting his eyes. "It can happen to me, too."
A long silence hung in the air, broken only by the crinkle of leaves and squish-squish of the moistened earth beneath their feet. Sora refused to speak or glance up as he perused the field for his pumpkin, lest Riku laughed at him or made another snide remark.
Least to say, he was surprised to see a perfectly round, ripe pumpkin being staunchly offered before him. It was a bit on the small side, but it was the perfect shade of orange—not too red, not too yellow—and just big enough to bake a pie with. Sora blinked in astonishment and traced his eyes up to his tall friend, whose arm was outstretched with the proffered pumpkin.
"You're lucky," Riku declared, not quite looking him in the eye. "Because I also happen to want my best friend's dreams to come true. Take it before I change my mind."
He shoved the pumpkin into Sora's arms before he could respond and started on his way back. "Kairi's waiting for us," he reminded.
Grinning ear-to-ear, Sora bounded after him with the pumpkin held securely to his chest. He fell into step beside his friend, a slight bounce to his gait.
"Thanks, Riku," he said, teeming with happiness. "You're the best."
"Yeah, I know," Riku replied, ever-grateful for the chilly air that masked the color blooming across his cheeks.
x - x - x
Kairi was already icing a batch of freshly baked donuts for the trick-or-treaters by the time they had arrived at her abode. The smell of cinnamon and spice wafted through the air, catching the brunet's attention as he darted past the threshold and into the kitchen, Riku trailing closely behind.
"That smells great, Kairi!" he exclaimed, taking in a whiff of the enticing scent. "What are you making?"
"Gingerbread spice donuts," she replied. The pair watched as she deftly squeezed the frosting out of the piping bag and added rainbow sprinkles, perfecting the treats with impressive expertise.
Riku arched a silver brow. "I wasn't aware we had a master chef on the island," he joked and intercepted Sora as he inched towards the donuts' personal bubble. The brunet gave a small pout.
"Well, I had to do something while you two were away for a year." She smiled coyly and set down her baking implements, stepping back to admire her finished product. "And what better way to spend the time than baking goodies for people?"
"I agree," Sora said as he continued to ogle at said goodies.
"Alright, we'd better start before Sora steals all the donuts," Riku teased.
A little ways later, Kairi had instructed the two boys to prepare the pumpkin and roll out the dough for the pie crust, while she set to work on the actual filling.
Sora and Riku briefly argued over who would get to carve open the pumpkin (the manlier job of the two, they'd said), until Kairi huffed at them and doled the jobs out at complete random ("eenie meenie minie... okay, Sora gets to do it!"). Thus Riku was stuck with Kairi's emasculating pink rolling pin.
He sighed as he spread the dough over the counter and began flattening it with the flowery utensil, muttering unpleasantries to himself as he worked. Something along the lines of "girly rolling pin" and "god, this is so embarrassing" and "well, at least I'll get a good workout". He glanced over at Sora in his corner of the kitchen.
The brunet harbored a thoughtful expression as he gazed at the pumpkin balanced precariously near the edge of the counter. He nodded to himself and summoned his keyblade in a whirl of sparkles, pointing the blunt weapon towards his target.
Riku's eyes widened and he nearly dropped his rolling pin. "Sora! You can't carve open the pumpkin with—"
There was a quick beam of light as the pumpkin split perfectly into two, both halves toppling gracefully on their sides.
Sora stuck his tongue out and wore his best 'I-told-you-so' look, while Kairi couldn't help but giggle. Riku gave a roll of his eyes and promptly returned to his duties.
A few minutes later, Sora finished scraping out the pumpkin seeds and delivered the two orange halves to Kairi for pureeing. He crept up behind his silver-haired friend and peered over his shoulder.
Riku was currently smoothing the flattened dough into the pan, shaping the edges into ridges for the pie crust. The brunet watched as his companion meticulously scrunched the dough beneath his slender, skillful fingers, causing the older male to blush at Sora's blatant stare.
"Wow! You're really good at this," he commented, crossing his arms behind his head with a grin. "No wonder Kai-ri gave you the girly job."
Riku finished the last ridge on his pie crust and quit stooping over the counter, rising so Sora was rendered too short to peer over his shoulder. "Yeah? Well," he smirked, "at least I'm not the one covered in pumpkin seeds." The silveret tapped him playfully on the cheek where the gooey substance was smeared.
Sora pretended to pout at the remark, though he couldn't hide his smile. He reached up and deftly swiped his pumpkin-coated finger across Riku's nose. "Not anymore," he said with a triumphant grin. Riku feigned a scowl, moving to capture the boy in a headlock, before Kairi intervened and bonked them on the heads with her spoon.
"C'mon, you lazy bums! No flirting in my kitchen until all the work is done!" she scolded, wooden spoon at her hip.
They both blinked in astonishment. "Sorry..." the pair said in unison, guiltily rubbing at their necks, until Riku realized something.
"Wait, we weren't—!"
Kairi merely smiled.
x - x - x
"Wow, you two chose a really tasty pumpkin," she remarked, dipping her finger into the mixing bowl and giving it a contemplative lick. "Impressive."
"I didn't choose it; Riku did!" Sora proudly claimed. "It's Riku's Perfect Pumpkin!" His outburst elicited a face-palm from the older male.
"Yeah, sure, whatever puts you to sleep at night," he muttered. They chuckled at his brusque response, and Kairi went back to work on filling the pie crust with her special batter.
She poured the last of the mixture into the doughy pan and placed it in the oven, swiveling around to face her boys with a wicked grin. "Now that that's done..."
They both gulped. "Um..."
"I just remembered... I, er, have to..." A light bulb appeared over Sora's head. "Feed my cat!"
"And I have to finish raking the leaves," Riku hurriedly added, and the two were practically out the door before Kairi dragged them back in by the necks of their shirts.
"Nope, not until you two pitch in some more!"
So they ended up helping Kairi out around the house like usual; Riku ended up raking Kairi's leaves instead (god forbid), while Sora was in charge of lugging up Halloween decorations from the basement and "Sora, those are Christmas decorations, not Halloween!".
Overall, the work around the house went smoothly; there was no spiky-haired brunet jumping into Riku's leaf pile; Kairi managed to hang up her Jack-O-Lantern lights and other 'spooky' adornments despite Sora's whining; Sora still somehow managed to confuse the Halloween decorations with the Christmas ones because "Kairi, that reindeer sculpture is terrifying. Are you sure that's not a Halloween decoration?".
Thankfully, their efforts were rewarded by the mouth-watering smell of pie drifting through the kitchen.
Donning a pair of oven mitts, Kairi carefully retrieved the pie and set it on the counter beside the donuts. Steam wafted up from the pie's surface, emitting a heavenly aroma of pumpkin and spice as it glistened beneath the kitchen lights.
"Great job, you guys," the princess praised. "Now let's dig in!"
"Cheers to the perfect pumpkin pie!" Sora went to fetch a can of whipped cream and a knife.
"You're still going on about that? Wait, Sora, why are you cutting it into so many—"
"C'mon, Riku, we shouldn't hog this pie all to ourselves. I'm gonna mail a piece to all my friends!"
"Oh, Sora..."
- Later -
"A'hyuck, look what I found, Donald!" Goofy announced, sliding a white pastry box across the mage's desk with a titter. "It's got a weird stamp on it! I wonder where it's from?"
The duck let out a huff and obstinately turned his beak up. "Don't show me that, you big palooka! Show it to the King!"
There was a slight rustling noise. "Hey, it says it's from Sora, Riku, and Kairi! Gawrsh, I sure hope they're doin' alright!"
Donald let out an undignified squawk and scrambled to retrieve the box from his ally, losing feathers in the process. He lifted the lid to reveal a slice of pumpkin pie, still warm around the edges and topped with a perfect dollop of whipped cream.
"What's all the commotion about, fellas?" Mickey questioned and entered Donald's study. They eagerly swiveled the box around.
"A delivery, Your Majesty! From Sora and the gang!" Goofy cheered and pointed to three separate tags attached to the pie slice, all in different colors.
"Thinking of you," signed with a heart.
"Send my regards to the King."
And finally, signed with a tiny smiley face and Sora's endearing scrawl read, "Happy Halloween! I miss you guys!"
Mickey smiled, and the trio spent the next few minutes happily munching on destiny's 'Perfect Pumpkin Pie'.
x - x - x
A/N: Yay! Happy Halloween, everyone! I had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope people had fun reading it. Any comments would be much appreciated. :')
- mystic moogle