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Sometimes Riku would wake up to his left hand hurting; it was an insidious type of pain, something akin to the slow burn before wildfire in one's nerves. He hadn't cried out the first time it had happened because he had been in bed with Kairi and Sora, the two closest to his heart. He hadn't wanted them to wake up and worry.
The sea breeze, golden sunlight and vibrant color of Destiny Islands was something Riku was grateful for, because if he had been in a colder place the ache might have been worse. Instead, he could venture out to that private corner of his with the palm trees and sit where the wind constantly journeyed, listening to the sea gulls. Sora often came around to tease him on how he appeared to have become an old man since the deal with Kingdom Hearts. Riku never failed to have a good come back at hand and sometimes added a little more than that, just to see Sora blush and retreat. He would be reprimanded by Kairi at the end of the day (she never failed to pick up on that sort of thing) but that too, was a reward.
They idled their days away in a similar fashion to their younger days, when they had been innocent enough to think they were prisoners of their world and could therefore dream of journeying to others. Sometimes the pain in his hand was bad enough to make Riku brood and remember. And then Sora would goof up or Kairi would laugh and he would forget all about it.