Same hypothetical KH3 as Mind (so 3D SPOILERS), seems to be the only thing close to canon I like to write. Also I refuse to refer to Lea as Lea... the only people I'll ever write calling him that are Terra/Aqua/Ven, everyone else he is Axel. I do not give a shit what canon says otherwise.

Pairings: Riku/Sora – I was originally going to go for platonic for this but ah... while not explicitly romantic it's defiantly on the line near the end.

Prompt: Heart

"Sora?" Riku said as he approached his friend sitting on the Paopu tree so to not surprise him. They were only returning to the island briefly, passing through on their way to Castle Oblivion and decided to have a stop and rest and actually see their families again.

"Oh, hey Riku," Sora replied, turning to give Riku what should have been a grin. Instead the keyblader just looked tired, Kairi was right when she said he wasn't coping.

"You okay?" Riku asked, leaning against the tree next to where Sora was sitting but ensuring to keep an eye on him.

"Fine," Sora replied.

"You sure? Kairi's told me you weren't coping."

"I'm fine," Sora repeated and Riku stood up to properly face his friend.

"Sora, you can tell me if you're not," Riku said, gently taking his friends hands.

"I'm fine," Sora said, "it's just... them." Riku knew what he meant, the connection between the four hearts within Sora's heart was both strengthening and weakening with each passing day as they made their actions to remove one of them (although Riku was starting to doubt they would get one without the others). Sora had been able to feel them as separate emotions for months, and he was now able to hold conversation and share memories with them with ease.

"What are they doing?" Riku asked. He didn't entirely trust them. He knew that the majority of them the majority of the time cared for Sora and wanted what was best for him, but he also knew what it was like to be trapped in a body out of your control. He would sleep much easier once he knew they were either separated from Sora or returned to an unreachable subconscious.

"They're not doing anything," Sora said, shaking his head and giving one of his trusting smiles, however it turned sour. "They're just... sad."

"Sad?" Riku asked, and Sora turned his gaze off onto the water. "Why?"

"Different reasons," Sora replied shrugging, and Riku stayed silent, knowing his friend had more to say on the topic. "Roxas misses having his own body, I mean I get to interact with Axel nearly daily and he's inside me watching it all and even if I offer to relay messages for him he doesn't want to cause him more pain then he already feels he does. Xion's the same; I mean she's more content. But they miss it, that friendship they used to have and each time they see him it's like they're being taunted again, reminded of what they did have, what they could have. I think they were more content when he was dead."

Riku never wanted to hear Sora talk about a person being dead like that, a part of him hated the two living in his friend's heart for that. He couldn't fault them though, he remembered what it was like, knowing Sora was out in the worlds somewhere and he couldn't interact with him.

"Ven's different. He misses being able to talk to Aqua, but even with her he knows he wouldn't be happy. He misses Terra too... and he knows we probably won't be able to save him. He knows that one of us will have to fight and kill him and he's mourning it before it even happens. I keep trying to talk to him but he's getting more and more closed off from me, from all of us. I don't even know if he wants to be back in his own body anymore," Sora looked on the verge of tears so Riku reached out to hug him. Sora easily allowed himself to be pulled into the hug, hopping off the tree branch to bury himself further against Riku's chest.

"They're all so sad, and I don't know what to do. I want to help them Riku, all of them and I can't," Riku held his friend close, wishing he could take away the pain. Sora wasn't supposed to be the sad one – he was supposed to be happy and full of light.

Sora pulled away slightly, still settled in his friend's arms but able to look up and see his face. "What do I do Riku?"

"I don't know," Riku answered honestly. He didn't know, he just hoped that the answers they needed were in Castle Oblivion and that it would all be over soon.