Enamis09: Glad you liked it! I like your idea, but I'm not sure if that's something I'll be able to do. Firstly, I'm not sure if I could do such a big AU justice in just a oneshot. Second, I don't know if I could do it without accidentally copying another story I've read just like that. You should definitely check that out, though. It's called Eclipse of the Heart by FadedPhantom. Her OC, Aila, has some fun and adorable reactions to meeting her favorite characters, plus it has a really compelling AU storyline.
Nevquariel: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, even in canon I wish there were more happy moments for us to see.
This week we have our first request from Nevquariel. She asked for the last chapter of Sorrow's Promise – the reunion – from Riku's perspective. This one definitely has more angst than the last one, and also whump because I've always loved the end of KH2 and I couldn't help myself. But don't worry, the whole last part of it is pure fluff.
Chapter 54 ReMix
(Runs parallel to chapter 54)
Riku's perspective
Silence had fallen between Sora and me for a while. There was nothing more to say, really. After all, we had been wandering through the Realm of Darkness for what seemed like hours with nothing better to do than talk, and now we were, as far as I could tell, stuck. Stuck on a lonely, gloomy, darkness-infested beach, an immeasurable distance from the people we longed to be with.
Leaning onto my hands, I tipped my head back to gaze up at the black sky. There weren't even any stars to break up the void. It was much more pleasant if I closed my eyes. I could focus more then on the sound of the waves, and imagine that I was back on Destiny Islands for the first time in two years. The surf was frigid cold, washing all the way up nearly to my hips and completely soaking my shoes and the hems of my pants, but I didn't care. It took my mind off of the pain that throbbed in my shoulder, seared across my lower back, and periodically shot down into my left leg.
A new sensation jolted my brain out of thoughts of home and Meli. Sitting up straighter with a wince, I spotted a blue glass bottle afloat in the waves, bumping up against my foot. It looked like a piece of paper was inside. I never would have expected to find a message way out here in the middle of nowhere, but I wasn't about to pass up seeing what it was.
Sora remained oblivious, his own eyes closed, while I yanked out the cork and pried out the paper with stiff fingers. The handwriting immediately struck me as familiar, making my heart skip a beat with surprise, and a quick scan of the message showed what was likely a poem and an even more familiar signature. Tempted as I was to read the whole thing myself, I knew that it wasn't meant for my eyes.
"Sora?" He blinked open his eyes and turned them toward me, his eyebrows raising as he spotted the paper. "I think it's for you."
Taking the message carefully in his fingers, he turned it over and studied it. "Thinking of you, wherever you are..." He trailed off then, reading the remainder silently.
Kairi. If anyone could somehow send a message in a bottle from the Realm of Light and have it chase after the boy I knew she secretly loved all the way to a beach in the Realm of Darkness, it was her. That girl had always had some kind of magic in her, way before we even knew magic was a real thing.
Meli had that same something special about her, which was no surprise considering their relation. It was difficult to put a finger on what it was, but there was just something about them that made me think they were destined for great things. In fact, if there were any two people that I could believe would actually be able to get us out of this mess and back home, it would be the two of them.
Or at least get Sora back home. I wasn't confident that I would make it long enough for that, not unless one of us came up with some healing magic really soon. The good news about a wound from Xemnas' blades was that it was mostly instantly cauterized. Despite that, I could still feel sluggish bleeding from my back, especially, every time I moved. And if we were attacked by Heartless here on their home turf, I could barely even stand on my own, much less fight. If only we hadn't both depleted our magic to the point of exhaustion.
My morose train of thought was interrupted by a sudden blinding light. It appeared as a thin streak above the water to begin with, but quickly grew in width, like a door opening.
"Light." The sight was so foreign in this dark world that it was all I could think of to say.
"The door to light..." Sora was on his feet an instant later, still clutching the paper. Turning to me, he held out his free hand. "We'll go together."
I looked up at his eager face, and for a moment I wondered if I should even bother. Could I even make it out there to the door? What if I slowed Sora down too much, and he missed his chance? Then I thought of this boy in front of me, of how he had never ever given up on me. I thought of our home and our friends that were waiting for us. I thought of Meli and the relationship that I still had a glimmer of hope could survive.
"Yeah." The moment was over in the blink of an eye, and I clasped onto his outstretched hand and accepted the help up.
The light seemed to grow, spilling out of the door, over the water, and up onto the beach where we stood. With it came a revitalizing energy that I breathed in gratefully. My injuries were still very much present, but I felt like I could actually walk forward on my own. A few steps into the water, side by side with Sora, into the light...
And we were falling. The abrupt change in sensation stole my breath and made my stomach turn a somersault. When the white light cleared from my vision, I could see water straight below us, but this time it wasn't black and dreary. This was aqua blue water, tinged with orange from the setting sun. Before I had more of a chance to decide where we were, Sora and I both hit the water at top speed. The impact stung every exposed patch of skin on my body and left a momentary ache in my bones.
Breaking the surface with a gasp for air, I started treading water and attempted to shake my long, wet hair out of my face while looking around. We were...home. In the middle of the ocean, yes, but our ocean, right in front of our play island. The last time I had seen that little island, it had been breaking apart and being sucked into a dark vortex, but there it was, bright and welcoming. And best of all, Meli and Kairi were on the beach.
"Sora! Riku!" Kairi yelled, waving happily.
Sora laughed and turned to grin at me, and all I could do was make a little noise of disbelief. He took off swimming as fast as he could paddle. I followed with the steady stroke that had been ingrained into me since I could walk, ignoring the screaming of my shoulder. I could handle a little pain right now. Meli was just a few yards away.
By the time the water grew too shallow to swim and I forced myself to my feet, she was standing next to Kairi, looking just as dumbfounded as I felt. I wished I could run to her like Sora was running to Kairi right then, but the burst of energy was quickly wearing off and it was all I could do to trudge through the knee-deep water.
The next thing I knew, Sora was being tackled down into the shallows by a very enthusiastic Donald and Goofy, and Mickey was barreling toward me. I just barely caught him in mid-air, letting his momentum spin me around.
"Good to have ya back, pal!" he exclaimed.
I smiled and gave a nod. "Good to be back."
My real focus was still on Meli, though, who was still standing back on the beach with one hand gripping the other arm. Setting Mickey down, I watched her carefully, wondering what she was thinking. She somehow already looked so much healthier than she had a few hours ago, I could tell that even from this distance. But as for where we stood, I had no idea. Things in the Castle had been so confusing, and even though she seemed to have been warming back up to me toward the end, I didn't want to get my hopes up too soon.
Finally she met my eyes for the first time, and something sparked. She broke into a run, pounding through the water, and before I could let myself believe that she was actually running to see me, she was jumping straight into my chest and clinging to me with her legs. I didn't even feel the pain when I hit the sand. All I felt was her warmth underneath my hands, her fingers clutching desperately to my vest, her body pressed as close to mine as it could possibly get, her lips slipping between mine over and over again. Forget our first kiss. This was the moment that I wanted to remember forever, the kiss that she had initiated, the moment that I knew she must feel the same way about me as I felt about her. I dug in hard to the final kiss, sliding my tongue along her bottom lip, wanting to just inhale her whole being.
She broke away after that, tucking her head up in between my jaw and shoulder, and I couldn't help but kiss the bare expanse of neck in front of me. I had dreamed of this so many times. Now I could barely believe it was happening – the whole last several minutes seemed like a dream that I was bound to wake up from at any time.
Meli's hands went sliding up my scalp, sending a shiver down my spine, and she took a firm but gentle hold of my hair as her forehead pressed into mine. "You came back," she whispered, breath nearly hitching in her throat. "I didn't think I was ever going to see you again."
"I wasn't sure if I would see you again, either." Pulling away slightly, I let my eyes roam over her tear-streaked face, bringing one hand up to squeeze the back of her neck. "I'm so happy that you're okay."
"I'm glad you're okay, too." Her brow furrowed. "You...are okay, right? We thought it had to have been Xemnas..."
"Yeah, yeah we're fine," I assured her, not wanting her to worry anymore.
"No he's not!" I shut my eyes and clenched my jaw shut at Sora's interruption. So much for not making her worry. "He could barely walk just a few minutes ago."
Meli jerked her head back around from looking at Sora to stare wide-eyed at me, frantically scooting herself off of my lap an instant later. I saw the moment that she found the wound on my shoulder. "Grim, why didn't you say something?"
"It's not that bad."
"He only says that because the one on his back is a lot worse," Sora called.
"Sora..." It was too late then, Meli was already crawling through the water to reach my back, and my swatting hand wasn't fast enough to keep her from yanking up my shirt to see.
"You can't lie to your girlfriend, Riku. At least not while I'm around. I'm the one who just dragged your butt through the dark realm, remember?"
I shot Sora a withering glare, but he only smirked cheekily with his hands on his hips.
Meli sucked in a gasping breath. "Grim! You...he nearly cut you in half! If this had been a quarter of an inch closer to your spine..."
"I know, I know." I really wasn't sure that it hadn't already done some kind of damage to my spine, based on the near uselessness of my left leg. I hated that I was currently the center of all this attention though, with everyone standing around staring at me. "Don't fuss about it."
Once again, I reached back and attempted to move her hands away and return my shirt to its normal position, but she latched onto my wrist to stop me. "Uh-uh. The tables are turned now. You have to let me take care of you, for once."
The green light of a healing spell erupted over my head and spilled across my body. Immediately the less significant wound on my shoulder healed up, my leg stopped hurting, and the pain in my lower back was reduced to a dull ache.
Meli propped her chin on my shoulder. "How does that feel?"
"Much better," I sighed in relief, turning my head to look at her as best I could. "Thanks..."
Her finger jabbed straight into the spot where the wound had been before I could fully finish my thought. Another jolt of pain shot through my torso at the contact, and I winced without thinking.
"Still hurts, though, doesn't it?" she asked. I couldn't even be mad at her, I was too relieved to have her back to her old, sassy self. "And you guys think I'm bad at accepting help." Another Curaga fell over me, and I breathed in deeply as the last of the pain receded. "Okay, now how does it feel?"
I spun myself around to face her, happy to once again be able to move freely, and grabbed her hands in mine. "Now it feels perfect. Honestly."
She started to smile, but quickly dropped it for a stern look. "You should have let me know that you were hurt before I came and jumped on you like that. If I had known–"
"No, don't you dare." I brushed my thumb across her cheek, relishing the way her eyelids fluttered at the touch. "I would not have traded that moment for anything." That moment would probably go down in history as one of my most cherished.
A little while later, we had all made ourselves comfortable up on the beach. I was more than comfortable, in fact, I was in heaven. Meli's warm body fit perfectly up against mine, her breath whispering across my bare arm from where her head rested against my heart. The conversation had touched on more than one serious subject over the last few minutes, but no one was in much of a hurry to do anything but just enjoy this moment, enjoy finally all being together and at peace.
Squeezing Meli a little tighter in my arms, I dropped a kiss onto her forehead. She obligingly tilted her face back further, and I drank in her features once again. After knowing her for so long without being able to actually look at her, I didn't think I was ever going to get tired of the sight. I brushed my lips down her perfect little nose, then found her lips again, tasting the salt from the ocean that had dried there.
"Ew." A seashell ricocheted off my arm, and I very reluctantly broke the kiss to send another glare at Sora. "You two are going to be 'that couple' at school, aren't you?"
"Aw, give them a break." Kairi slapped Sora's arm, and he rubbed the spot with a wrinkled nose. "They're adorable. And besides, I think they've earned a little PDA."
Whether she thought that because we had apparently been missing for two weeks instead of a few hours, or because maybe she had heard a bit more of our story at some point along the way, I didn't know, but I couldn't care less. I just wanted to get back to kissing my girl. Apparently she had the same thought, because when I turned my attention back to her she was smiling up at me. My girl. My Meli. I still couldn't believe it. I kissed her again, trying to wrap my brain around the thought that I was going to be able to keep kissing her whenever I wanted.
"I love you, Grim."
I stopped breathing for what must have been at least a few seconds, my ears ringing with the words I had waited so long to hear. Tears pricked my eyes, and I buried my face in her soft hair before they could get the best of me. She loved me. I was the happiest guy in the universe. "I love you, Meli."
Please let me know what you thought in a review, and if you have any special requests, shoot them my way! Ideas for scenes can be as vague or specific as you want. I'll try my best to do whatever I receive!