A/N: This comes from KH II. Nothing spoilery, just that Santa tells Sora that a long time ago, his friend told him (Sora) that Santa didn't exist. I wrote that and just…totally warped it, haha! Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Must I? NothingbelongstomeIwishitdidRiku'ssogodlyTheEnd.
No Such Thing"Oh wow! It's so exciting Riku! Almost Christmas!"
"Mm."
"I mean, presents! And not lame ones like socks and stuff. But things that are actually cool!"
"Yea."
"Wouldn't it be so cool if we got things we could use at the island? What if I got a surfboard and I could surf to the island? Oh man, Tidus and Wakka would be so jealous!" Sora let out a loud guffaw, grinning and slapping his knee. "Man, that's insane!"
Riku only nodded, his head bent low in a book. The two sat beside each other, feet dangling off the edge of the pier at the island. The sun was high in the sky and the sky was a clear blue; so blue the ocean and sky seemed to melt into one. Birds and seagulls chirped in the background, hunting among the humming nature of the island. Even though it was December, no snow laid to rest in their world.
Sora looked over at Riku excitedly, only to frown slightly when his friend still didn't acknowledge his grand scheme. "Hey, I can lend you the board if you want," he muttered out grudgingly, his bare foot skimming the water as he swung it.
Riku's sharp eyes finally focused on Sora. He smirked, and Sora was caught off guard.
"What?" he asked defensively, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Sora," was all he murmured in a humorous way, turning back to his book.
He ignored Riku's muttered words and instead tugged at the book. Riku's grip tightened on the edges. "What book?" Sora asked, trying to lift it up and peek at the back. Riku managed to lay it flat on his lap.
"Sora," warned Riku, this time his tone completely different; more forceful then amused.
"Whaaaat?" Sora whined, continuing to jerk at the book. "I just wanna know what you're looking at!"
Riku gave a grunt of disgust and ripped his book out of Sora's fingertips to show him the front. Sora grinned triumphantly, but his smile faltered at the book title.
"…Maps?"
"Yea. Maps," Riku agreed, his tone considerably happier. "Of different places! Places we'll see some day."
Sora blinked, turning his gaze to their home across the stretch of water. He saw smoke billowing out of the small homes, children playing on the beach under the watchful eye of their parents…
Parents.
"Yea," he agreed absent-mindedly, feeling something sting at his heart. "Someday."
A silence settled over the two. Riku was so absorbed in his book he didn't notice Sora sliding away and padding down the pier to the sand. Only when he felt the breeze rush at him from the side Sora was supposed to be did he look up. Startled, he glanced to his left to see Sora wading into the ocean. He chuckled.
"What are you doing?"
"Wading," Sora replied simply, stretching his arms out to balance him as he started to go deeper. Riku grinned, setting his book down to gaze around them for a bit.
"Sora," he began, "You seem excited for Christmas."
"Oh yea!" Sora was hyper again immediately, bouncing around in the water to wade over to Riku. He winced.
"Stop! You're splashing!"
Sora ignored him, continuing to run in the water until he was right beside the pier – and Riku. "Yea, Santa's gonna bring tons of presents! At least, I hope so. 'Specially a surfboard! Maybe I'll let everyone borrow it." Sora's face puckered into a pout. "Do you think Santa knows about surfboards? I mean, I hear he has snow 'n' stuff. Will that be a big problem, d'ya think?"
Riku's face alighted with that all too familiar smirk that sent Sora on edge. "Sora…there's no such thing as Santa Clause." With these words he tossed his silver hair back, glancing up to the sky. "Obviously," he added.
Sora felt as if someone had punctured his heart. He glared up at his friend, hands on his hips.
"As if you know," he scoffed, looking at the surface of the ocean instead of into his friend's face. No such thing as Santa? How could there be such a thing? No! It was completely wrong!
"I do know," Riku said, his tone taunting as he poked Sora's head. "I mean, who does all the reading around here?"
"So?" Sora cried, feeling fear and uncertainty creep into his body. "Like anyone would write a book about Santa's non-existence anyway!"
"Sora, you're…what? Twelve?"
"Thirteen!" Sora cried, exasperated. At Riku's grin, he knew he had fallen into his trap.
"Yea…thirteen," Riku murmured. "I'm fourteen. I haven't believed in Santa since I was tiny," he emphasised his words by squeezing his thumb and forefinger barely an inch apart. "Get it?"
"You don't have to lie!" Sora yelled grumpily, his legs turning numb from the water. He started to walk out of the ocean, his shorts slapping against his skin as he climbed back onto the warm pier.
"I'm not lying," Riku replied smoothly, flipping through his book lazily. "Face facts Sora. Do you actually think some fat red guy flies across the sky? With a bag of presents?"
"It could happen!" Sora snapped, crawling towards Riku on all fours. "If you can travel to other worlds, Santa can travel to ours!" He knew he had hit Riku in a sore spot, but he wouldn't stop. "And like we can travel to other worlds! What're we gonna do, pop out of a bubble and find ourselves in a 'new' bubble? If you want me to grow up, look at yourself!"
A heavy silence rang around the two. Sora's eyes widened, but Riku's narrowed and lowered. He had gone too far, and he knew it. But…who wants to stop believing in Santa? Sora had a strong opinion to be a kid as long as possible. And Riku was wrecking that for him.
"Look—um…I didn't mean…"
"Whatever," Riku replied airily, snapping his book shut. Sora gulped. He knew he was in trouble.
"I'm sure that traveling to other worlds is…ya know…possible…" He squeaked out the last part, but Riku wouldn't look at him and all Sora could see was his back. He hated getting the cold shoulder from people.
What had this come from, anyway? A little tiff about Santa? Sora bit his bottom lip in thought, leaning back so he didn't have to be in the vicinity of a swinging arm. He needed to make this better. He hated being in fights with people.
Getting back on all fours, Sora crawled to sit in his previous spot beside Riku. Riku seemed to flinch and turn his shoulder a bit, but he didn't move.
"Hey," Sora said softly, dipping his toes into the water. He sat on his hands nervously, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. Riku didn't acknowledge him, just like Sora knew he wouldn't. "I'll make you a bet," he continued quietly, switching his gaze to the fish that darted in the shimmering waters below.
There was a long silence before Riku replied, almost scathingly, "Oh yea? What kind of bet?"
Sora smiled. "When we travel to other worlds, we'll ask about Santa. Maybe they'll know."
Riku looked up and grinned at Sora. "You're so lame," he chided, but his pink face proved that he had forgiven Sora and all his cheesiness.
"Yea, well, it's true!" he replied perkily, blinking slowly as he continued to watch the fish. "Who knows what could be in other worlds? Santa…dragons…anything at all, really."
Riku nodded with agreement. "Yea…anything could exist."
"In other worlds," Sora added chirpily.
Riku beamed. "In other worlds."