Sora shot forward, gasping for breath.
"Ah!", a startled, youthful silver boy reacted, sitting backwards. Sora panted, shaking his head too quickly take stock of his surroundings. The skies were black and gnarled, with sparks of white lighting them at random intervals. He was in a grey beach-like area, next to a pitched liquid of unfathomable depths.
"I'm," he heaved, hunching forward and hugging his shoulders. "I'm back."
"You were asleep for a while," the other Riku informed him. "Being in someone else's heart too long is dangerous. You can lose yourself."
Sora gazed at him, dumbfounded. "Thanks for telling me earlier."
The younger Riku laughed. "Sorry about that," he breathed, tone sobering. "But, did you see anything?", he asked.
"I, I saw Kairi," Sora sighed, looking down.
"You don't look very happy about that," the other observed in slight amusement.
"She was different. Forceful, mean," Sora sighed. "At first, I thought she was upset because she didn't think I returned her feelings, but," he faced the silver boy, serious. "I think that was the vision of Kairi that Riku holds."
The other Riku stared at him. "Or maybe he heard you say you don't know how you feel," he guessed.
"How helpful," Sora grimaced. "Whichever it was, his insecurity is worrying," he stated hollowly before continuing on. "But, I guess it did help me to figure things out about Kairi," he breathed, trying to smile.
Sora looked for a signalled interest before rambling. When the silver boy nodded, he went on, thankful. "I always thought I liked her," Sora mumbled. "We made all sorts of promises, and, after everything began, she felt like this inextinguishable light, always guiding us back home." He paused. "She felt like the most important person in the world" he smiled wistfully.
"But?" the other Riku asked.
"But," Sora agreed. "I don't know. Mentally, it feels like she wasn't fazed or affected by anything that happened."
The youthful silver nodded. "So she's like remnant of the past."
"That's what I think," Sora nodded. "And I wanted to be with her. Back then, everything just made sense. Being close to her was the way things were," he smiled sadly. "As the only way things could be," he breathed. "But then I finally found Riku and we went back to the islands," he paused. "After everything that happened, both that place and Kairi felt unchanged. It's almost alien," he chuckled dryly. "I wondered why, but, I think that in the end, I'm the one who changed."
The other Riku stared.
Sora laughed derisively. "I didn't even think that hearts could shift, and I almost went along with what I once decided was the truth." He looked at the image of his youthful friend. "Kairi was actually the one who told me that people can change," Sora said bitterly.
The one who listened didn't move.
Sora looked out at the horizon. "I haven't been able to calm down at all," he breathed, quickly moving onto his next thought. "I want to see more worlds. I want to explore them all," he exclaimed excitedly. "And whenever I think about that, the one I see by my side is-", he stopped, catching his breath, surprised at his own ramblings and where they led.
Sora looked up at the other Riku, his eyes resolute. "I want Riku to keep smiling."
The silver boy's expression softened, and he finally spoke up. "It's good that you want to support him. He's-", he searched for the words. "Not very nice to himself," he settled.
"I can believe that, if that's how he thinks Kairi sees him," Sora mumbled before setting his eyes forward. "I'll just have to wake him up to the truth," he proclaimed, turning to the vision of his friend.
The other Riku smiled. "I see."
"But first, I have a question for you," Sora ventured.
"Oh?", the silver boy replied, unmoving.
"You care about Riku, but why? If he doesn't like himself very much."
"Well, first of all," the silver boy smirked. "I'm not Riku. Second of all, I'm in his debt."
"Debt?", Sora questioned.
"Let's just say he took me in," he replied, peeking unsurely at Sora from his peripheral.
Sora beamed. "Riku really is amazing, isn't he?"
Startled, the other Riku turned to him, eyes widened. "You don't think he's strange?"
Sora tilted his head. "Strange?"
"You know how he feels about you, right?"
Sora's hands shot up, physically waving away the embarrassment he felt. "Um, yeah," he chuckled.
"And that isn't strange?", the silver boy queried.
"Huh?" Sora wondered aloud. "Why would it be?"
The other Riku's mouth opened momentarily to ask another question, before he thought better of it. "I guess I can see why he's attached to you," he remarked, smiling despite himself.
Sora's face turned red, his grin frozen in place.
"Heh," the silver boy chuckled, the sound snapping the blushing boy from his stupor.
"I think I've rested enough," Sora stated, quickly moving to get up. "Will you come with me?"
The other Riku shook his head. "Wouldn't do any good," he sighed, resolved to it. "He's never heard my voice before. Definitely won't now."
Sora nodded. "Thanks for talking to me," he smiled. "I think best that way."
As he moved to walk away, the other Riku called after him. "Just make sure, whatever you decide, that you don't turn away from the real him."
Sora stopped, looking back to him before chuckling and nodding firmly. "Leave it to me," he grinned.
He took off running, shouting into the distance. "I'll help Riku see how great he is!"
The doppelgänger nodded in affirmation as the determined boy ran off towards the eye of the storm.
"I didn't even tell you he was over there," he whispered to himself, smiling all the while.