Summary: Zootopia part 4

What it says on the tin :)

See the end of the chapter for notes.

Full overhead sun woke Riku up first. Wrinkling his nose, he tried to shut his eyes tighter against the blinding glow coming through the cabin's glass roof. When that did nothing, he threw an arm over his face. It took him a few moments to realize why it felt so quiet despite being able to hear his friends' breathing.

Another day for you to hopelessly struggle against me, Xehanort's Heartless used to say. Giving up now would be so much easier.

Now, there was only silence as he woke. He'd wanted that silence in his heart and in his mind. It would have proved - no, it did prove- that he had won, his long battle with his darkness was over, and he had come out the victor. He controlled his own body, heart, and mind. All of this was true, and he was proud of it.

But something in him still missed the routine of it all. And sometimes Xehanort's Heartless was just snarky enough to be amusing.

There had been times when it was nice, to not be alone.

You're not alone now, he reminded himself. He uncovered his eyes and glanced over at Sora. Even as a bunny, he'd managed to twist and roll and throw his blankets off his bed. His ears dangled over one side of the mattress with his head lolling on its edge. His pillow was occupied by one arm, while the other was tucked up by his shoulder and his legs were equally akimbo. Riku smiled, watching him sleep for a moment before glancing over at Kairi's curtain. He didn't like that he couldn't see her, that she could disappear again and he wouldn't know right away. What if- No, he cut off his restless anxiety, refusing to give it room to grow. He could hear her, breathing faintly across the room. It was strange how different her and Sora's breathing sounded here, large lion lungs versus tiny rabbit ones. He could smell her too, though he stopped doing that almost as soon as he had started. His sense of smell had been… different since he'd be possessed but here it was almost excessively intense. He found it somewhat uncomfortable when he paid attention to it. There were some things he'd rather not know.

So he listened instead, following the steady in and out of his friends' breathing as he laid on his back. The sky was cloudless, giving him nothing else to focus on. He had the feeling that if he stopped listening, they would stop breathing. It was a stupid thought, but he felt it all the same. Before he spiraled any further into pointless anxiety, he heard Kairi's breathing shift. She woke up, sitting up and stretching with a muffled yawn.

A few moments later she pulled back her curtain, giggling quietly when she caught sight of Sora sprawled on his back. Riku gave her a small wave as a silent "good morning". Waving back, she stood and gathered stuff from her locker before heading downstairs. Riku stayed where he was, wondering how much noise they would have to make to wake up this lazy bum.

Riku took it upon himself to make breakfast, utilizing the camp stove Chip and Dale had packed for them. The smell of food finally woke Sora up, and the three of them ate in a half-asleep haze. That finished, Kairi pulled out a map that she'd had the presence of mind to grab yesterday from the Savannah Central Station. They spread it on the floor between them, weighing down the corners with pouches of munny and other small but hefty bric-a-brac.

"This is a really big world…" Sora murmured into the quiet as they stared at the map. Kairi shifted her weight, nervously gripping her wrist. Riku frowned, eyes darting back and forth across the paper. Sora and Kairi looked between him and the map, waiting for him to say something, old habits forming into new roles.

Finally, Riku said, "We need to know this place inside and out if we're going to protect it. We'll just have to take it one piece at a time. Let's start here," he pointed to the area labeled 'Downtown,' "and fan out."

"Right," Sora agreed as he and Kairi nodded.

"Could we cloak the gummi ship and land somewhere closer?" Kairi asked as they began picking up the map, "I don't want to keep taking the late night subway."

"Good idea," Riku agreed. Unsure of what else to say, the three friends set about cleaning quietly. They folded mattresses back into lockers and washed dishes in record time, dividing tasks equally and instinctively between them. Kairi wondering when they all got so quiet even as her own throat put up a wall around any words she wanted to say.

They took the gummi ship into the city and landed it in a vacant lot on the edge of the downtown area and Sahara Square. Leaving it in cloaking mode, they piled out and started combing the area, learning street names and observing the animals that lived here. They worked three streets at a time, coming back together at regular intervals. At first they were mostly around apartment complexes with business on the ground floor- pawn shops, track phone stores, tobacco parlors, nail salons, etc. Things were a little run down, but lively, as people called out to friends and chatted in doorways without care for who else was around them. Everyone seemed to know each other, and they all fit together despite the wide variety of species. The warm sense of community reminded the three of them of home.

The majority of animals here were predators, but they still gave Riku and Kairi cautious looks, knowing instantly from their stance and clothes that they didn't belong here. When they noticed Sora at all, they watched him the same way the trio had watched members of Organization XIII - like he couldn't be trusted. It made both Riku and Kairi nervous, especially since Sora himself didn't seem to notice. He smiled and nodded at anyone who made eye contact. Kairi didn't even feel her fur starting to stand on edge until Riku elbowed her gently. She dropped her gaze from the group of coyotes glowering at Sora from across the street.

Moving forward, they soon crossed over into more affluent areas. Prey were the more common sight here, coming out of shops with elegant window displays and offices that towered over the street. People in neat clothes moved in smaller groups and made a point of ignoring others around them, stepping carefully on the well maintained sidewalks. The teens moved faster here, keeping up with the crowds as they tried to navigate this alien world. Riku had the easiest time, as his unnaturally colored eyes and serious expression made prey and predator alike look away and walk a little faster.

Kairi struggled as smaller, more nervous animals skittered out of her way no matter how polite and friendly she was. Too tall and too wide, she constantly bumped into other people and things and felt mortified when a camel muttered "I thought cats were supposed to be graceful," after she apologized.

Sora fought against the opposite problem. He was the least noticeable of the three of them, and while no one seemed frightened, they also didn't appreciate his friendliness. No one returned his smiles and waves. Bigger herbivores ignored him entirely, nearly trampling him several times. He learned to start getting out of the way rather than expecting them to move.

Despite all of that, there were plenty of interesting things to see between store window displays and colorful restaurant fronts, community statues and murals, and no heartless anywhere. They reconvened in front of a row of restaurants around one in the afternoon.

"Anything to report?" Riku asked.

Kairi shook her head, frowning. "Nothing that I saw."

"No heartless, but," Sora threw his hands behind his head and grinned, "there was a really good smelling restaurant on Dama Dama street. It looked like they grill fish kinda like we do back on the Islands."

"Can you even eat fish here?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh," Sora frowned, dropping his hands in disappointment, "I don't know."

Kairi shook her head. "Probably not, sorry," she gave him an encouraging smile. "There was a buffet down the block that might have good food," she suggested, pointing.

Sora grinned, "I'll take anything. I'm starving!" and as he spoke his stomach gurgled, making Riku and Kairi chuckle.

"Let's go check out this buffet," Riku agreed.

The buffet was rooted in some other country's cuisine, with a stone fountain in the entryway and decorations that reminded Sora of the Land of Dragons. It had food stations and bars spread out along the entire left third, with the rest of the space crowded with booths and tables. A host's station at the front took their payment and explained a few common sense rules before letting them enter. They stuck together reflexively, going along the stations against the wall before weaving through the center bars of food.

It was immediately apparent that the buffet catered to herbivores, but there were some cricket and fish options for carnivores. Riku built his plate around a cricket and veggie stir-fry, adding rice and a pumpkin based side that he'd never heard of before as well as some of the heartier vegetable dishes. Kairi pretty quickly discovered that anything plant related smelled just a little off and ended up being steered away from the smoothie station completely by the puma working there. "All of our smoothies are grass based, so I wouldn't recommend them for felines and other obligate carnivores. You'll make yourself sick," he informed her. She grabbed lots of grilled fish and shrimp, as well as a cricket and grain dish that was supposed to mimic mashed potatoes. Sora piled his plate high with grilled squash and veggie kabobs, roasted carrots and sautéed mushrooms, fruit he'd never seen and just brought out sweet bread made with bananas and pumpkin and quinoa and cranberries.

The three teens settled in a booth and tore straight into their food. Sora kept almost choking on bites that would have been small for a human, but were far too big for his over-eager rabbit muzzle. After the third time, Kairi couldn't help laughing, covering her mouth with one hand.

"Kairi!" Sora whined once he'd finally managed to swallow. She just laughed harder, bringing up her other hand as if that would help her hold the giggles in. Riku shook his head and smiled at both of them.

"I see Donald and Goofy didn't teach you any manners," he teased, grinning with glinting fangs. Sora scowled at him until Kairi dropped a piece of fish off her too-small fork and grumbled.

"See?" he gestured, "She can't eat right either!"

"At least she's polite," Riku countered. "This place was practically built for you. You don't really have an excuse."

Sora harrumphed before taking another bite, this one a little more manageable. Mouth still full of food, he started digging through his pockets, saying, "Wait! I meant to take pictures of our food for Little Chef." He had to stand on the bench seat to get a good angle, snapping a wide shot of all three plates and then individual shots of each one. He managed to get a couple pictures of Riku and Kairi across from him before they complained and Riku tried to pry the camera out of his hand over the table. They struggled until Sora stuck his elbow in Kairi's plate of food, and then she claimed the gummi phone, refusing to give it back to Sora until they'd all finished eating. Sora cleaned off his elbow with napkins from the dispenser on the table, and Kairi ate all her food, unconcerned that it had been stabbed, though she did have to pick a few brown hairs out. By that time, Riku was telling them a story about him and Wakka going fishing when they were kids and nearly lighting a dock on fire, and soon they were laughing and talking around their meal.

"So wait," Kairi asked Sora a little bit later, "you were a fish?"

"Sort of. I was half dolphin. It was pretty cool. I could swim crazy fast."

"What about the others?" Riku asked.

"Donald was half squid," Sora explained around another mouthful of food, "and Goofy was a turtle."

"Weird," Kairi mused.

Sora nodded, swallowing. "Whenever we're animals, Goofy's always a turtle. No clue why though."

"I thought he was a dog," Riku remarked quietly. Sora just shrugged at him, and Riku shook his head and grinned.

"We'll have to see what you two are!" Sora enthused.

"If we go," Riku said.

"Of course we're going! I haven't seen Ariel in ages."

"I'd like to meet her," Kairi added softly.

Sora grinned. "You'll like her! She fights with magic like you." He gave Riku a pointed smirk and added, "And she's almost as stubborn as you are." Riku flicked a pea at him with his spoon in retaliation.

"No food fights!" Kairi ordered immediately. "We're in public!" The boys just laughed, but no more food was thrown.

The rest of the afternoon quickly deteriorated from focused reconnaissance to three kids seeing a huge city for the first time. They tried splitting up like they had before, but the first time they reconvened Kairi ran up to both of them smelling of fear and clutching her necklace.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked, dashing over to meet her half-way. She just shook her head, pulling out a thin smile. Both boys checked her right hand a dozen times, but no keyblade appeared there.

"You ok?" Riku asked quietly.

"I'm fine," Kairi insisted, taking a steadying breath and letting go of her pendant. "There weren't any heartless or anything," Sora reached out towards her hand, but then stopped, uncertain. Both boys watched her face, trying to understand.

Kairi summoned up a better smile, "I'm ok, really. Sorry to worry you." She tucked her arms behind her back.

"Let's take the next few streets together," Riku offered.

Walking together soon had them talking again. Sora was eager to tell them about all the worlds he'd been to and the friends he'd made, pulling out his gummi phone on occasion to show them pictures he'd taken. This quickly led to him wanting selfies of the three of them standing by statues and in front of interesting store displays. They got a very good one in front of a huge mural that framed the three of them in outspread wings with a small lucky emblem hidden above their heads. Even Riku's sideways smile was genuine.

Soon Kairi was asking if they could look inside a store or two for just a moment and then they were cavorting all over, wandering through shops and even stumbling into office buildings that they didn't realize they weren't supposed to be in until they were politely asked to leave. Browsing led to buying- Kairi grabbed a dragonfly plushie and a pink tank top that featured two small sheer panels along the ribs, and a scalloped neckline leading into sheer straps that crossed each other in the back. Sora grabbed gobs and gobs of candy for them to try later, most of it things none of them had even heard of. Riku simply browsed, checking blind corners and dark doorways when he knew they weren't paying attention.

They stopped at a street cart that sold fish and veggie stir-fry for dinner, and wound up trying to go dance at a couple different clubs before a bouncer finally explained to them that you had to be of drinking age to get in, and that none of them were, and finally they wandered back to the gummi ship pleasantly tired. It was a clear night, but none of them could understand how a world could have so few stars when it wasn't that far away from anything. Still, they laid a blanket out on the grass and sprawled side by side, not wanting to go to bed just yet.

"I missed this," Kairi said into the silence that had settled around them as naturally as the breeze.

"It feels like it's been forever," Sora agreed.

"A different lifetime," Riku mused, and the other two nodded.

Kairi giggle-snorted. "I can't believe we thought we'd get anywhere on a raft!"

"Yeah, we were pretty dumb," Sora chuckled, cradling the back of his head in his hands.

"We would have figured it out," Riku said, "but it's better this way."

Sora nodded, "Yeah!"

"It's better now," Kairi amended.

He turned his head to look at her, asking, "What do you mean?"

Kairi hesitated, thinking, then explained, "I mean… it wasn't better when I was kidnapped, or trapped outside my body, or alone on the Islands for a year. It wasn't better when Riku was scared and alone or when you were scared and alone- when we were all scared and alone. I wish I'd never forgotten you, Sora, and that I'd forgiven you sooner, Riku. I wish-" she trailed off, jaw clenching around things she didn't want to say.

Riku scooted, bumping his shoulder against hers. The feeling of fur instead of skin reminded him of their strange circumstances. This had felt so much like old times he'd forgotten for a moment. "There are all things we wish went differently," he said quietly. "What's important is what we do now, together."

"Right, sorry," Kairi said sheepishly.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," Sora admonished, a strange force behind his words. Kairi put a hand on his elbow, and he looked at her again. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she watched him, and she suddenly had the overwhelming urge to cry. She turned her gaze back up to the sky, forcing herself not to, hoping he hadn't seen. He didn't say anything else, but he scooted over until his shoulder was touching hers as well. His arm crossed over hers, and though his hand didn't reach her palm he held on anyway, fingers gripping gently around her forearm. Riku took her other hand in his. They fell asleep watching the stars.

Notes:

Meant to be doing this the whole time but I totally spaced so... ~Animal References!~

-Kiji (the country the kids are pretending to be from) is a Japan analogue. The name is based on what Google Translate gave me for "green pheasant" which is the unofficial national animal of Japan. I know Sora and Co. aren't technically Japanese, but I still thought it was an ok fit... and I was failing at animal puns.

-Dama Dama Street: "Dama Dama" is the scientific name for fallow deer.

Also, big thanks to Hecca on Ao3 and ChunkyFunkyMunky on FFN for my first reviews! I really appreciate it. ChunkyFunkyMunky brought up a good point - why is Sora a rabbit and not a lion? To be honest, I originally had him as a lion, but I felt that for my story I really wanted one of them to be a prey animal, and it was NOT gonna be Kairi (girl gets to be a badass over here. Gotta make up for KH3 somehow...) So, between Sora and Riku, well... you see where I went. He does act a bit like Judy, so I didn't feel like rabbit was too much of a stretch.

Thanks again everyone for reading! I hope you're enjoying it so far.