"Don't give up." Sora pulled on Riku's shirt. Riku's breath hitched, his skin prickled.
They say that there are two separate parts of us that remember. Our bodies, and our minds.
Riku's mind tried to forget, but the memory leaked into his thoughts.
Riku's body tried to forget, but every person shoved against him only spurred his body's cowering reaction.
It takes more than strength to live. It takes friendship to heal a heart. It takes love. It takes something more than a single person can conjure to keep us whole- at the very least, alive.
Strength can weaken, can be taken away.
But it can always be rebuilt.
"Don't give up." Sora repeated, watching Riku's tense reaction. "I think that... when bad things happen, it can be fixed. It can be fixed with the strength of two people's hearts working together, pushing against the current."
They were alone. They had begun to walk to school together, silently sometimes, but other times it was filled with laughter or quite musings. Riku never talked about the sounds coming from Sora's house, and Sora didn't ask why Riku didn't want to walk alone. They completed eachother- Sora wanted someone to escape to and Riku wanted someone to stay with him.
It was warmth they both craved. They hid behind their plastic facades, running from reality. Both craved warmth, while one couldn't touch and the other was too scarred to be touched.
But while shells are made out of plastic, they can be melted from the hearts within.
There is always the ultimatum. Plastic can melt off, or it can melt onto them.
"I was walking to your house when it happened." Riku whispered silently, his eyes roaming the cracks on the pavement as they walked forward slowly. "I never forgot you, you know? It's been what- 4, 5 years? I missed you. I missed your stubbornness, your strength. When you left, everyone wanted to be my new best friend. But they were different. One quick smile in their direction, and they forgot their resolve. They forgot what mattered, all because of a pretty face." Riku kicked a stone in his path, watching it as it ricocheted against the ground. "I didn't want to give you up. I don't know why it took so long for me to finally get up my nerve and hunt you down. Maybe I was afraid that it was something I did, that you hated me. Your eyes were so dark, so tormented. You used to look like you wanted to fly but something began to pull you down."
Sora watched as Riku toyed with a silver strand before putting his hands in his pockets and staring at the sky. Sora said nothing, simply walking along with him.
"I decided that I wasn't going to let you pull us apart. We were stronger than that, and we would always be together. I was going to march on over to your house and drag you to our playground and remind you of our declaration for a never-ending friendship. It was so warm, so hot that day." Riku's eyes began to darken. His hands slid out of his pockets and clenched into a fist. "I always thought I was so strong. I was an athlete, I could take on anything and anyone. I was wrong."
Sora's throat tightened. He hoped that he was wrong, wished that he was wrong. He wanted nothing more than to be wrong at that moment. And from that moment on, Sora cursed the day that he turned 10.
"I can still remember his arms around me, constricting my body. I could feel the sinews in his flesh as I shuddered beneath him." Riku shivered from the memory. "I'll never forget it. Not while I live. Not even after I die. It'll never go away. When he entered me, he ripped something away." Riku paused, taking a deep breath.
"I've nearly lost myself, again and again. But you keep pushing against me, keeping me alive. I'm not sure that's a good thing anymore, me being the way I am now. But thank you. I owe you my life." Riku finally looked into Sora's eyes. They were deep and blue, like standing at the edge of a cliff and into the tumbling waves below.
"You didn't stop being human. I'm not going to let you- not even if you try to stop yourself." Riku nearly laughed at Sora's grim determination before remembering the situation.
"What creates a human? Memories? Free will? Feelings? A soul?" Riku shook his head. "My soul is long since ruined. I don't even think I have one anymore."
"You can't love someone if they don't have a soul. You can't hold someone's heart in your hands if you don't have one of your own. You're still human. It's painful and beautiful but it will never go away. And even when it seems like the rest of the world doesn't accept you, I'll still be there." Sora placed his arms on Riku's shoulders, and held on despite the flinching. He pulled Riku against him, placing his arms around Riku in a tight hugs. Riku strained against Sora before he finally gave in to the warm body. "You held me when I was dying. You forgot your problems, if only for an instant, to help me. I'm going to help you. I remember that oath we made on the playground that day. And I'm going to keep it."
The sun glittered above them. When you stare into the abyss, the abyss also stares into you. But that doesn't mean you have to be swallowed by the darkness.
...
Use your magic powers and type a few words up. It hardly takes time but does create a smile.