Pairings: Riku/Sora, Leon/Cloud, Axel/Roxas, more pairings later?

Warnings: AU, I guess spoilers or something for people who haven't seen all the way through the end of the game, medieval stuff, possibilities of violence and bloodshed and sexiness

Author's Comments: Yay only two days late this time. Had to edit alot of uh...changes. Thanks for the patiences! :)

Princely Garbs 36

Warmth. Comforting, shielding warmth. That's what Sora felt like he was being wrapped in. If he had a choice he'd stay like this forever. But he had to go. He couldn't bask in this warmth forever. Something…no someone was waiting for him…someone special…somehow who he….

"Sora…?"

"Ri...ku…?"

The name had slipped from his lips, the name itself bringing an extra beat to his heart as his eyes slowly fluttered open before squinting shut. It took him a moment to adjust to the brightness of the sunlight flooding through...a window? He wasn't sure. It felt like he was lying on a bed, but by the looks of the room he wasn't in Hallow Bastion anymore. Then…where was he? It felt familiar.

"Sora, you-ow!"

At the sight of the platinum haired prince hovered over him staring down at him, he'd moved too quickly and bumped his head against the other's…hard.

"You ok?" Riku asked. Sora glanced up at him still rubbing at the painful bump on his head. Riku was rubbing his head as well even though his eyes screamed with concern. He didn't say anything else. He was waiting for an answer.

"Y-Yeah," Sora said softly, blushing a bit as he looked around to distract himself from the staring blue eyes he longed for. The glow of white walls felt familiar to him. He'd been here before, but he couldn't place in his mind when that had been. "Where are we?"

"Kingdom Hearts." Ah…that's why it felt familiar. It was his home…or former home anyway. When he looked at Riku again he found the eyes still staring at him. Aside from the concern, there was another emotion there, one he couldn't quite catch hold of. "You've been out for about three days now."

"Oh…" Sora frowned glancing down at the bed. That would explain the worried look then. He must have passed out after his battle with Sephiroth. He was barely able to even register what else happened then. Sora clenched his hands in the sheets. He still needed to talk to Riku about his feelings. Riku was sitting on the bed now, so close and yet unreachable in Sora's mind. He wanted to change that though, if he could help it.

"Riku, I-"

The words stopped short when Riku leaned forward resting his forehead on Sora's shoulder. The suddenness of the action alarmed Sora. He started to reach down to see if he was ok.

"It's over," The body below him said forcing his hand to freeze in the air.

"…Huh?"

Riku reached up his arms and wrapped them around Sora tugging him into a light hug before he repeated his words. "It's finally over. We defeated Xemnas and Sephiroth. We won."

"We won?" Sora was confused for a moment, but as he sat there truly thinking about the words, a small smile grew on his lips. The smile escalated turning into his trademark grin. "We won!" He laughed then and hugged Riku in return pulling him closer. "We did it!"

Riku laughed too, the sound making his body tremble. The infectious laugh only made Sora giggle louder before it died down when Riku pulled back. Riku reached up brushing the hair out of Sora's eyes as he leaned forward. His gaze kept Sora frozen in place. The young brunet felt his heart slamming in his chest as Riku leaned close, just barely feeling the brush of cool lips.

The door flew open making the two boys jump back from each other. "Riku, dinner's….oh my god!" Two heads turned as one to look at the door. They probably looked like a pair of mischievous puppies their eyes were so wide. Selphie was standing there with the most excited expression on her face. She gawked at Sora. He felt nervous, his cheeks heating up. When he glanced at Riku he saw the other was blushing and looking away. "Sora, you're awake!"

"I…I am…?" In the next instance, he was being pulled away towards the door by the hyperactive girl.

"Come on! We've gotta tell everyone!" As she pulled him he felt like his legs had turned to jelly. He felt lightheaded and for a moment his vision swam. His legs wobbled under him. Did staying in bed for three days really have to make him feel so feeble?

Suddenly Sora was being swooped up and carried bridal style after Selphie. He looked up seeing the older prince staring straight ahead with apple colored cheeks.

"R-Riku!"

"You're still weak. Let me help."

Sora flushed. Selphie giggled at them as she led them down the hallway to where the others were waiting.

"Hey, it's Sora!" Tidus yelled out sounding as excited as Selphie had sounded earlier. "He's awake!"

"How are ya feeling, ya?" Wakka asked.

"I…I'm ok." He felt suddenly embarrassed being carried by Riku. Riku seemed to notice his reaction and lowered him to stand. He stayed closed by though.

The next thing he knew, Tidus had thrown an arm around his shoulders throwing him off balance. "You missed it! There were heartless everywhere! They were on the walls and the ceiling and everything!" He let go moving in front of Sora and puffed out his chest doing his best champion pose. "Naturally, I took them all out myself."

"More like you stood by and did nothing," a figure said bumping into Tidus with no consideration. "Now, move it loser."

"Gah!" Tidus almost fell over from Seifer's rudeness. "Jerk face!"

Seifer seemed to smirk giving Sora the sense that he actually enjoyed the response. But that couldn't be it, not with Seifer anyway. Then again…it was surprising that Seifer was even talking to any of them at all. He was usually the type to stay as far away from them as possible. "Good." Seifer grabbed the back of Tidus's shirt and dragged him down the hallway. "Now come on. I got some more work for your lazy butt."

"I don't wanna!" It wasn't an option. They were already out of sight. From the sound of things, the two had been working together for a bit now. Which was strange considering that Seifer couldn't stand Tidus the most because of his loud mouth. At least…that's how it had been in the past.

"…Well…that was strangely amusing." Riku looked at the others lifting an eyebrow curiously. "What happened to cause that change?"

"Oh yeah…I forgot you've been watching Sora these past few days." Sora stared. Riku blushed. It'd become routine now. "It definitely happened during the attack, ya know? Some male bonding or something I guess, ya." Wakka shrugged and left it at that.

Yeah, I guess when people get attacked they do tend to…wait…

"You guys were attacked?" Sora was shocked but it was a little too much for him as he swayed slightly leaning on Riku for support. Riku didn't seem to mind even resting his hand on Sora's head. "Is…is everyone…ok? Where's…where's Kairi?"

"Everyone's ok thanks to Seifer, surprisingly," Wakka said. Wakka was one of the few that could actually tolerate Seifer. That didn't mean they were talked to each other much. "He took care of protecting everyone here, ya know?"

Selphie giggled at some hidden joke before she looked at Sora and beamed. "It got Tidus frustrated because Seifer wouldn't let him do anything. Kairi's safe, she's in the kitchen helping make breakfast right now."

"It's been a while since you got to eat a real meal," Riku said looking down at him. "You hungry?" As soon as the words were spoken, Sora's stomach gave a thunderous growl.

"Guess I could use a little something." He rubbed his head sheepishly. The others laughed at that.

"Come on," Wakka said starting to walk down the hall. "Let's go grab a bite before those Organization dudes eat it all, ya."

"They're here too?" Sora followed with the others though his pace was a lot slower. He had to get used to moving around again.

"Ya. Everyone was suspicious at first, but after Riku explained everything, they'd calmed down. They're kinda like a bunch of big kids, ya. They're still trying to learn how to do things."

The adoration Sora knew was in his eyes when he looked at Riku made the other blush. "I know how they must have felt with their emotions controlled by darkness," Riku said as if obligated to explain. "They were controlled for a longer time." He looks at Sora again, his tired eyes. "I just wanted them to feel human."

Sora stumbled again falling against Riku. He panted tiredly closing his eyes. He probably shouldn't be out of bed, at least not right after he woke up. But he was determined to see everyone, to make sure everyone was ok.

"Sora?" Riku reached out catching hold of him. "You sure you're ok? Maybe it's better if you lay down a while."

"N-No I'm fine." Sora swallowed waiting until the dizziness went away. "I still feel a little…weak, that's all. I'm ok."

"…"

"R-Riku!" He'd been picked up again, his eyes shooting up to stare at the older boy with a blush.

"I-I'll…" Riku smiled at him shyly. "I'll…be your leverage." He leaned closing hiding his face against Sora's neck as he started to walk again. He was moving slower putting some distance between them and the others as he spoke in a low voice. "Use my strength, my light, and my darkness," he whispered against Sora's neck. A shiver ran through Sora's body as he remembered the words he'd heard Riku say to him back when he was fighting Sephiroth.

"Use my light and my darkness…and…and my…"

"A-And your love?" Riku tripped and almost stumbled from the words, blushing like a ripe tomato.

"Y-Yes…" he said, "that too." Sora reddened and opened his mouth to say something in response. Instead he was rushed by the sound of cheers as they walked into the kitchen.

"Welcome back!" The room erupted.

"W-Wha-" Every one of his friends were there. They smiled at him, cheering and clapping and waving their hands. It almost seemed like a mini festival. He'd never realized he had so many friends. Even the people still alive from Radiant Garden.

"Welcome back!" Kairi said smiling as she came up and hugged Sora as soon as he was put down. "We missed you."

"I…I missed you guys too," Sora replied hugging her back. "But what is this for?" He looked at her then looked around the room confused.

"A thank you...for a lot of things," Leon said stopping behind Kairi, arms folded. He looked like he was brooding as usual but the slight twitch of his mouth showed that he did feel happy to see him. "For one, bringing everyone here alive."

"Stopping the Organization and returning our hearts from the darkness would be another," Roxas added in smirking from where he was standing with the other former members of the Organization. Axel was standing beside Roxas looking at him with a look Sora assumed his own face showed when he looked at Riku.

"You returned Kingdom Hearts and Radiant Garden to the people and gave me my life back," another voice said. When Sora looked towards the voice his eyes almost bugged out of his head.

"Auron!" he yelled out. "You're alive!"

"A lot happened while you were out," Cloud joined in moving to stop beside Auron and offering him a smile. "But thanks to you I gained my true memories back. It was enough to nullify the spell and return Auron's soul in full to itself. I learned not to dwell on my past mistakes but to learn from them."

"All of it," Auron said glancing at Cloud with his one eye before looking at Sora again, "is thanks to you…my prince." Auron and Cloud bowed to him and Sora felt himself heat up with embarrassment. He'd never get used to all this prince stuff.

"Well," Sora said looking around at everyone. "I couldn't have done any of it without you all. You guys gave me the strength to continue even when I felt like giving up." He bowed his head showing his gratitude. "Really…thank you everyone." He looked up at Riku. "And…thanks Riku for…supporting me all this time."

Riku blushed. "Welcome home…Sora." He was staring again.

"T-Thanks," Sora stuttered staring back.

Mickey walked over distracting Sora as he rested his human hand on the young prince's head. "Well…shall we prepare a festival?"

"Festival?" Sora tilted his head comically.

Mickey stared at him a moment before he laughed ruffling his hair making a mess of it. "To celebrate this moment." He gestured for Roxas to come over. The twin looked hesitant but he came over only to have his hair assaulted the same way Sora's had been. "Besides, Kingdom Hearts is overdue for their annual festival. I think it needs the healing."

Sora didn't even know that Kingdom Hearts had annual festivals. It sounded like a fun idea. He was curious about what Mickey meant by Kingdom Hearts "needing the healing." Apparently, his twin brother was thinking the same thing having the exact same expression Sora felt on his own face.

Roxas frowned after Mickey's words, looking confused. "But how is it going to-"

"Alright!" Mickey interrupted quickly clapping his hands on both their backs and smiling. "Merlin can help us out with some outfits. Donald and Goofy will be organizing for food and to be transported from Magic Kingdom. If I can get everyone to help out with bringing decorations and music, we can have some fun with this."

"…Wouldn't it be easier to just have it at Magic Kingdom," Riku asked.

Mickey winked at him. "Trust me. It'll be better to do it here."

"But-"

"Alright, everyone! Let's get to it! Let's have as much of it ready by tonight as we can. Which this many people, I'm sure we can make it!" With the must motivation put into it, everyone in the room was cheering in excitement. Not that Sora was able to stay completely focused on it. He was already starting to fall asleep resting against Riku's side. A small smile grazed his lips at the soft petting to his hair but he barely noticed it.

He should rest up a bit while he had time. He loved festivals. He didn't want to miss this one. Tonight was going to be fun.

TBC….

This chapter changed…a lot! Originally a certain person was in this chapter but with the change of last chapter and the removal of said person, this changed the rest of the story a lot for me DX much editing to do now. Much much much! Also this ice cream sandwich I'm eating is delicious. Yum. :D