got this idea while drinking. as most of my ideas usually come in this fashion. I just had a vision of the destiny trio getting tipsy on wine they snuck out to the play islands and then Talking About Things. and so I latched onto this instead of the many, many other wips I have to work on and cranked this out in two days.

for once, the title didn't come from a song! but rather a poem - 'ode to wine' by pablo neruda. a banger poem if you ask me.

"Sora?"

"I'm here." He answered, automatic, tearing his eyes away from the piece of ocean he could see through the small window to answer Kairi's call. Pressed against his back, Riku slept on, unaware, leaning against one of the walls of the treehouse while Sora reclined against his chest. His breathing was slow and even, ruffling the back of his head, and Sora bit back a smile as Kairi climbed into the treehouse, shouldering a large duffle bag.

"Oh, good." She sighed, and he watched her shoulders drop a little as she relaxed. "I know I texted you on the gummiphone, and you responded, but I just wanted to be sure –"

"I know. It's okay." And it was. He knows Riku and Kairi are trying not to be overbearing, but they can't help it, constantly checking on him these past few days, making sure he –

Well.

He understood. It was okay.

He smiles, just a small thing to reassure her, and Kairi grins back, the purple bruising around her eye creasing with the motion.

She was still a little beat up and bruised, still a little tired – Sora could tell. Riku was feeling the same way; it was why he was draped across his back, snoring quietly. Sora felt a little tired, too, but he didn't think that he deserved to feel that way. He wasn't the one that had to travel through different realities because he –

Sora must have been staring, must have been quiet for too long, because Kairi's smile fell a little, started to falter. So he tried to perk up, jerking his chin at the bag she was holding. "You got everything you need for the night?"

"Oh – yeah. Maybe even a couple extra things."

"Huh?"

There was a mischievous light in Kairi's eyes as she opened the bag, kneeling on one of the many blankets he and Riku laid across the floor. They had also set up string lights across the space as well, so they could still see when it got dark, and the area was filled with soft golden light. "I had a little help," she explained as she pulled a few plastic cups from the bag, and Sora raised a curious eyebrow. "Selphie was able to get her hands on some of this for me –"

Sora's eyebrows rose even higher as Kairi pulls out a large glass bottle, the liquid inside a pale gold shade.

"What is that?"

"This," Kairi declares proudly, "is paopu wine."

"Wine?" Sora yelps, and then quickly lowers his voice when Riku sleepily murmurs into the back of his head. "Where – how did you – Kairi!"

"Yeah?"

"We're not old enough." He hisses, trying not to jostle Riku's arms loosely wrapped around his waist as he squirmed nervously. "What if we get in trouble?"

"Who's around to get mad at us?" Kairi makes a face. "We're on the play islands. And we're gonna be here all night. We're not going to get caught. Plus –"

She draws herself up a little, squaring her shoulders. "I think we deserve to live a little, after everything. Don't you?"

Kairi stares at him, daring to argue further, and Sora lets out a sigh, sinking back into Riku's chest. "Well…as long as we don't get in trouble."

"We won't." She promises. "Wake Riku up, will you? I didn't know he was so tired."

"Aren't you tired too, Kairi?" Sora prodded, and she hummed, shrugging one shoulder.

"I'm a little tired, I guess." She conceded. "It's only been a few days since we – since we got back. So I guess, you know. It makes sense. We're still recovering."

The air between them grew a little stilted and somber as they remembered the last few days, and Kairi sharply turned her face away, picking up the bottle of wine. "I'll pour us some glasses."

The 'crack!' of Kairi twisting the cap off the bottle was loud, the soft 'glug, glug' following as she filled the plastic cups to the brim. Placing his hands on Riku's arms, Sora gently shook him, jostling him awake. "Riku." He called. "Wake up, Riku, come on."

Riku hummed, deep in his chest, slowly waking up. "Sora?"

His hands moved, slowly dragging up Sora's belly, his chest, until they were pressed over his heart, just in time to feel it pick up in tempo at his touch. He shivered a little as Riku dropped his head, the ends of his hair tickling a little as he pressed his mouth against Sora's pulse – not to kiss him, not this time. Just to feel his heartbeat. They've been doing this a lot, too – always checking his pulse, to make sure his heart was beating as strong as ever.

"I'm here." Sora promised, placing his hands over Riku's. "Kairi brought us something to drink."

"What is it?" He asked, raising his head, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

"Paopu wine." Kairi said smugly, two cups in her outstretched hands. Riku's eyebrow ticked up, but he didn't say anything in protest as he reached out and plucked a cup from Kairi's hand, Sora quickly taking the other one so she could grab her own cup. The smell was – unexpected. A sweet scent rose to meet him, reminding him of overripe paopu fruits, and he hummed a little, surprised.

"It smells a lot sweeter than I expected. You sure this is wine?"

"Pretty sure." Kairi takes a swig from her cup and licks her lips. "Why?"

"It's not like any other wines I've smelled."

"Any other wines? You've had wine before, Sora? And you decided to give me all that grief!"

"No! I mean –"

Riku laughed by his ear, and a prickly heat spread across his face. "I haven't had wine! I mean! Not really! There was just one time a while back, when my dad was having wine with dinner, and I wanted to try it, so he let me have a sip, and it was – blech."

He makes a face, his nose crinkling. "It was just so sour."

Kairi giggled at him, low and sweet. "Well, I promise this is much nicer."

Sora hummed a little, considering, looking down at his cup, before perking up. "Oh! Riku, should I move? I don't want to be in the way –"

"No." His hand, still pressed against his chest, pushed down lightly, keeping him in place. "It's fine, you can stay."

Sora peeked up in time to see Riku take a drink from his cup, swiping his tongue across his lower lip. "Hmm." He cocked his head, considering it, before finally nodding, taking another drink. "It's good."

"Right?" Kairi grinned as she scooted across the floor, taking a seat next to Riku and leaning on his arm. "It's a lot nicer than I expected."

Casting one more skeptical glance at his cup, Sora finally brought it to his lips and took a large gulp.

The wine was light and cool, refreshing with the heat in the air, and Sora let out a surprised noise at the sweet taste that coated his tongue. "It's so sweet!" He cried out, quickly taking another sip, and he could feel a pit of heat in his belly where the wine settled. "I wasn't expecting that!"

Kairi giggled again, and Sora reached up to place his free hand back over Riku's, lacing their fingers together. He got halfway through his cup of wine faster than he expected, and he was slowly starting to feel the effects; the warmth in his belly had spread outwards to his arms and legs, and he felt…loose. More relaxed. Sora slouched a little further into Riku's chest, watching Kairi push herself onto her knees and lean forward to snatch up the paopu wine, pouring more into her cup.

"Kairi, gimme some." He held out his cup, still half-full, and she carefully topped off his cup.

"Riku, you want more, too?"

"Yeah." There was a faint, dusky flush beneath his skin, and his movements were a little more relaxed as he held out his cup.

"I feel weird." Sora sighs loudly, bringing his cup to his lips, and Riku snickers. "You're such a lightweight."

"Hey!" He says in affront. "You can't say that to me! Especially with your face all –" he gestures vaguely, not finishing his thought. "Hypocrite! Like you've had any wine before, either."

"Maybe I have." Riku says, his tone smug. "You wouldn't know. I do have a life outside of you, you know."

"Oh, so you found some time while you were running around being a troublemaking jerk? As if!"

He's glad he was holding Riku's hand right now because Sora knew that if he weren't he would be getting the noogie of a lifetime.

"Besides," Sora continues, "out of the three of us, Kairi's the one who's a real bad boy, since she's the one that snuck the wine out here, anyway!"

"Not a boy." Kairi pointed out.

"Oh. Right, that's true. Bad girl?"

She wrinkles her nose. "No, no, that just feels weird."

"Well then, what can I say instead?"

"That Kairi's a sneaky brat." Riku says, and he grunts when Kairi elbows him in the side. For some reason, that sounded like the funniest thing ever to Sora, and he dissolved into laughter, Riku and Kairi soon following him, and the air was full of them laughing for no reason at all.

Soon, they refilled their cups, and the conversation meandered as they sipped away at their wine, hopping from one aimless topic to another.

This was really nice, Sora thinks to himself, just sitting here with two of the most important people in his life. He feels more at ease than he's felt in a really long time. Lazily, his eyes drift out the window, back to that little piece of the sea, watching the surf push back and forth. He feels like he hasn't seen the ocean in ages; he didn't have the words for how much he had missed it when he was…away. He decides to tell Riku and Kairi this.

"I missed the ocean so much." He takes another sip of his wine, smacking his lips a little. His lips were starting to feel a little numb. "I feel like…I didn't realize how much I had missed it. Until I couldn't see it anymore."

He could feel Riku and Kairi's attention focus onto him, but Sora continued to stare out at the sea. It was dark out, now, and stars shined brightly in the sky, the waxing moon turning the ocean silver. It was pretty. He's lucky that their parents were okay with letting them out of their sight for the evening – especially his parents. They've been a little clingy, since his return, and he can't blame them for feeling that way, never – he knows he scared them, being gone for so long.

"I just feel really lucky." He continues, tracing a finger around the rim of his cup. "That I get to – see the ocean again, and my parents, and. And that I get to sit with you two again. I –"

Sora finally tears his eyes away from the window, focuses back on his friends. "I don't know if I've even said this – I can't remember. But – thank you, for – for coming to get me."

It feels important, that he tells them this – it feels necessary. Because – he screwed up. He knows he did. Chirithy told him the rules, and he broke them with a smile. And he would do it all again, do it a thousand times, if it meant that the people he loved got to live.

If they had left him where he was, he would've understood. If they had moved on, he would've been fine, because they were still here. That meant enough.

But instead, they searched for him. They found him, brought him home.

Riku and Kairi were staring at him, the looks on their face indescribable. "…Why are you thanking us?" Riku asked slowly. "Of course we would come get you. We weren't going to just leave you behind. Not after everything we went through."

He shrugged, taking another sip of his wine. "I would've understood. If you didn't."

"What -?"

"Sora, don't say such ridiculous things!" Kairi says, her voice sharp. "We weren't going to leave you. That was never an option! What brought this on, huh?"

"I dunno." He shrugged, a roll of his shoulders. "I've been thinking about it, on and off. I'm sorry. I know I scared you."

"You did." Riku says, his voice quiet. "You did scare us. We – I shouldn't have let you go, that day. After the war."

Sora looked up at him, and Riku's eyes were bright and glassy as he stared him down. "Riku –"

"No, I shouldn't have! We – we have no idea what the power of waking does -"

"No one does, it looks like." Sora butts back in. "No one knows, and yet they expect us to know – and when we don't know, we get into trouble, we get blamed for it, like we're supposed to find out on our own. Like we're supposed to know everything."

A little bitterness crept into his tone at the end, and Sora drank deep from his wine, trying to drown it out with the sweet taste.

"Still!" Riku continued to protest, "I shouldn't have just – let you go. We could have – we could've figured out something, found another way if we just had the time. I shouldn't have let you just – run off. You always want to run off without us, Sora."

"It worked out, didn't it?" Sora asked idly. "Everyone made it. We won the war. I made up for my screwups in the exam."

What did the cost matter, if he was finally able to prove himself, in the end? That he was able to protect the people that give him worth?

"Wh – you didn't screw up."

"Then why does it feel like I did?"

That bitter feeling rose in him again, and Sora drank more of his wine. He can still feel it – that stinging combination of humiliation and frustration. It was different when people were laughing at you instead of with you.

Riku squeezed his hand, and it felt something like an apology. "You didn't. And…and at the very least, I – I couldn't. I shouldn't have let you go by yourself. I could've gone with you."

"What, so you could both leave me that day?" Kairi bursts out.

Sora pulls his eyes away from Riku, focuses on Kairi instead, and she's glaring at both of them, sparks in her violet eyes. The only sign he got that the wine was affecting her was the deep flush in her cheeks, slightly darker now that she was getting worked up.

"Kairi –"

"I'm sick of being left behind." She spits. "You two are always leaving me – weren't we supposed to fight side by side? Weren't we supposed to stay together? Didn't we say that? But you two keep leaving me! And -"

She sniffed, taking a deep gulp from her cup, and Sora's heart sank when he saw her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"And it was my fault, anyway." She choked out. "It was my fault. Because I wasn't strong enough."

Sora gapes at her. "It wasn't –"

Riku made a soft noise of protest. "Kairi, no –"

"It was, Riku! It was my fault that Sora – that he –"

She let out a frustrated noise, raking a hand through her hair. She looked so small then, curling up in herself as she hunched against the wall. "Because I wasn't fast enough, or strong enough to fight back, Sora had to come and find me! He shouldn't have had to!"

"Kairi," he says softly, "Kairi, I wasn't going to leave you behind. I couldn't."

"Maybe you should have!" She cries desperately. "Maybe you should have because I couldn't even keep my promise! Didn't I say I would protect you, Sora? Didn't I promise to keep you safe? And I couldn't even do that! And then I couldn't even help because I wasn't strong enough."

There was a tension in the air now, the lightness and easy laughter that the wine provided replaced by rapid bursts of honesty.

"I couldn't hold on to you that day, Sora." Kairi says softly. "When you disappeared. And I couldn't go with Riku to Quadratum, to save you. Not until the very last second. And I'm sick of being left behind, of not having the strength – and that's. That's what it always comes back to, doesn't it?" She says, bitter. "Having strength."

"Strength to protect what matters." Riku recites softly, and Kairi hums a noncommittal noise. "Kairi, I'm sorry. You know I would've brought you with me if I could have."

"Yeah, I know." She says, but she still sounds so frustrated. "I understood, Riku, but I still wasn't happy about it. That I had to stay behind, again – it hurt. I feel like I'm always chasing after you two. Like I'll never be able to catch up."

"Kairi." Sora says softly. He drains the last of his wine and puts his cup aside, stretching out his hand and wiggling his fingers until Kairi places her hand in his with a resigned laugh. "You are strong. And you did keep me safe." He says, running a thumb across her knuckles, and Kairi scoffs in disbelief in response. "You did." He insists. "Would I ever lie to you?"

"I didn't." She insisted. "Not during the war – not when –"

"You did keep me safe during the war. And you kept me safe after that. You always protected me when it counted. You – that means something. To me. So."

Kairi stared at him, an unreadable expression on her face, and between one blink and the next, her face crumpled, big, fat tears clinging to her lashes.

"Oh –"

"Sora," she bawled, "I missed you so much! The past year was so hard, I – I don't want us to be apart anymore!"

Her face was red to the roots of her hair, and Sora clutched at her hand helplessly. "Kairi – it's okay, don't cry – how much did we – oh."

Looking at the bottle of paopu wine, Sora's eyes widened a little when he realized that over half of the liquid inside was gone. "Oh." He said faintly. "That explains why I can't feel my lips."

Riku choked out a laugh, and part of Sora wanted to laugh too, but Kairi was still crying so hard, great, big sobs that rattled in her chest, and he – they had to do something.

"Kairi, come over here." Sora coaxed, pulling at her hand. "Riku, let me go really quick – we gotta make room for Kairi."

Riku's movements were slow and languid as he let Sora go, and he looked up at him, eyebrow quirked as he took in the flush on his face and his hooded eyes. "You okay?"

"Fine." He mumbled, blinking slowly. "I'm just…kinda tired."

Wine makes Riku sleepy, Sora thinks fondly, and Kairi weepy. How cute.

It took a few more insistent tugs before Kairi scooted over on her knees, tears still dripping off her chin, and soon the three of them were smooshed together, legs overlapping each other's as they leaned into each other.

"You were holding that in for a long time," Riku gently inquires, "weren't you, Kairi?"

"I –" she hiccups, clumsily swiping at her cheeks as she nodded jerkily, "I've been – I was so worried. But – but everyone was doing their best and working so hard to try and find Sora. I wanted to – I had to do what I could, too, no matter how scared I was."

She curled into Sora, pressing her wet cheek into the crook of his neck. "I'm just tired. We never got enough time – it was. It was always just little bits. And then we got torn apart again. I don't want you to leave me behind anymore. Either of you."

"We're not." Sora promises as Riku strokes Kairi's hair. "We said we'd always be together, didn't we? We'll never leave you behind."

Kairi sniffles once, twice, and then she mumbles into Sora's neck. "This was supposed to be fun. I brought us wine so we can have fun and relax."

"I'm having fun!" Sora protests as Riku laughs. "I always have fun with you two."

"Even when we're talking about stuff like this?"

"Even then." He confirms. "Do you want to eat something? Or drink some water?" They didn't have anything to eat, before Kairi cracked open that wine – maybe that's why it hit him harder than he expected.

"No, I –" Kairi pulls her face away from his neck, sitting up sharply, and her eyes were bright with – something. "I wanna – I wanna do something first. Sora. Can I kiss you?"

"Uh." He blinked rapidly, thrown. "Yes? You can kiss me whenever you want?"

"Riku –"

"Yes." He answers immediately, and Kairi softens a little.

"Okay." She says, mostly to herself. "Okay. Let me – I need to get up. I gotta grab the –"

She struggles to get out of the tangle of limbs they became, leaning over to snatch up the bottle of paopu wine. "Kairi," Riku says in warning as she screws off the cap, "don't you think we've had enough? You probably shouldn't –"

"I'm not getting a lot!" She promises. "This is just – I can't get up to go grab the real thing, so this is as close as it's gonna get."

Understanding dawned on Sora at Kairi's half-explanation, slow, and his mouth fell open a little in surprise. "Kairi, we already shared one," he protested, and he felt Riku's breath catch in his chest.

"Then this can be insurance." Kairi says stubbornly. "Just so we're extra sure. It probably counts just as much, right?"

She takes a sip from the bottle, quickly setting the wine aside, and slides into Sora's space, cradling his jaw in her hands as she slots his mouth over hers. His lips parted, reflexive, and Sora's eyes rolled closed as Kairi licked into his mouth, the sweetness of paopu wine coating his tongue. He could feel two of Kairi's fingers slip beneath his jaw, pressed against his pulse, and knew she was feeling his heart beat rabbit fast beneath her fingers – strong as ever. His hands blindly found her waist and curved over the sides, his fingers curling into her shirt as he pulled her closer, a plaintive noise slipping out.

The kiss was over way sooner than he liked, and Sora was left staring blankly into space as Kairi took another sip from the wine bottle, pushing herself onto her knees. She made a soft noise at Riku, reaching for him, and he was meeting her halfway, lips already parted as they met in a soft kiss. Sora stared at them and absently licked his lower lip, chasing after some of the lingering sticky sweetness that clung to it.

"Okay." Kairi breathed, slowly pulling away. Her lower lip was red, like Riku had sunk his teeth into it, and Sora's face burned at the thought. "Now – Sora, Riku. You too."

Sora almost wanted to say that there was no need; that just like with Kairi, Sora is tied irrevocably to Riku. He always has his back, is always there to support him and hold him up whenever he stumbles – perfectly in sync. Hearts always in tune. But like Kairi said – this was to be extra sure.

He fumbles for the wine bottle, searching, and when he finds it, he quickly takes a sip before grabbing the neck of Riku's t-shirt and pulling him down, just in time to feel him laugh against his lips.

It was amazing, Sora thinks, how kissing Riku or Kairi makes him feel more drunk than any wine ever could. The paopu wine passed over their tongues, so sweet, and Sora felt lightheaded as Riku's teeth lightly sank into his lower lip and tugged, a bolt of sensation.

Sora felt a little shaky, after all that, and he hid his face in Riku's neck for a second to compose himself, running his tongue over his tingling lower lip. "If you wanted to kiss us," he hears Riku tell Kari, "you could've just said so, you know."

He peeks over just in time to see Kairi's flush deepen further, and she shoves her face into Riku's chest, blindly clutching at Sora's shirt. "That wasn't –!" She sputtered, "I mean – that was a nice bonus, but I -! I meant it when I said I just…wanted to be sure."

She pinches at Sora's shirt, rubbing it between thumb and forefinger as she pulls back to look at the two of them, and she looked so flustered and sweet that Sora felt his heart melt a little bit. "We know there's probably going to be some – some next big thing, out there in the worlds that we'll have to deal with." Kairi says slowly. "I just – just promise me that whatever happens…if we get split up again, you'll come back to me. Both of you."

Sora turns away from Riku slightly to grab Kairi's hands, lacing their fingers together and squeezing until she looks at him. He smiles, bright and encouraging. "The three of us will always be together." He vows. "We'll always come back to you – I promise!"

"And you have to promise to come back to us, too." Riku says, and Kairi's eyes shine as she uses their joined hands to pull Sora into a tight hug, quickly grabbing a fistful of Riku's shirt and pulling him in until they topple over onto the blankets in a tangle of limbs.

never has one goblet contained you,
one song, one man,
you are choral, gregarious,
at the least, you must be shared.

I hope y'all enjoyed this distraction. comments and kudos are loved and appreciated! I hope you're all doing well.

until next time!