They've been home for a week. The most difficult times are passing, and life is shuddering and halting and starting again, trying its best to continue on the way it had been, when they were children, before life began and ended and started all over again for the three of them.
Riku is perched on the Paopu tree's bent trunk, staring out over the sea. Sora is leaning back against it beside him. There's a sense of déjà vu when Sora looks back at his older friend, sunlight straining his vision and replacing long hair with shorter, white shirt with yellow, maturity with innocence. Riku looks down at him, not moving his head, and smiles, and the Riku of before is replaced with the Riku of now, and Sora smiles back, bright to Riku's soft, and then turns back toward the ocean.
Kairi's in the water, playing with Selphie and Tidus and Wakka, laughing and grinning, like she used to, but it's all different somehow. The time has taken its toll on the cheerful girl as well and sometimes when Sora looks at her he feels something tug and wonders if it's him longing for the old days or Roxas longing for Naminé or some combination of both. Regardless, he feels warm, and happy, and like things are how they're supposed to be, even if they're different now.
"Kairi's changed," he says abruptly to the older boy behind him. Riku blinks, looking down at the back of his spiky brown head and smiles.
"Yeah, she has."
"So have you," Sora continues, turning back around to face his silver-haired friend again, smile wide.
Riku's smile turns to a grin and he laughs lightly. "You too," he says fondly, and almost reaches out to touch Sora's hair, but doesn't, contenting himself with just looking.
Sora notices the silent hesitation but doesn't mind, knowing that Riku will be Riku and will do what he wants when he's ready. He turns back around, folding his arms behind his head lazily, casting his gaze about the island. "This place sure hasn't, though," he comments, and it really hasn't. It's only gotten older. They have, too, but they've grown in so many ways compared to the calm constancy of their world.
"Of course not." Riku grins again and reaches out to ruffle Sora's hair this time, laughing. "You don't have to be so sappy about it."
"I'm not that sappy!" Sora pouts at his friend, earning another laugh.
"Yes you are. You're King Sap," Riku smirks his haughty smirk and Sora knows from spending years with the other—even after all that's happened and all the changes they've gone through—exactly where this is headed.
"Am not!" he cries and leaps valiantly on top of the other, knocking him off the tree trunk and onto the dirt. They wrestle playfully for a few moments before accidentally rolling off the side and into the water.
They surface quickly, sputtering and laughing, and a few meters away Kairi, Selphie, Tidus and Wakka laugh too, and it feels like a million years and not a single day have passed.
+gasp+ It's not Axel/Roxas! Scandal!
When Kingdom Hearts came out, gosh, four years ago? I wrote pretty much nothing but Riku/Sora and Sora/Kairi (with the occaisional Ansem/Riku or other weird things). Now I write pretty much nothing but Axel/Roxas or Xigbar/Demyx with the occaisional weird pairing like Axel/Demyx. Writing the Destiny Islands kids (especially Riku and Sora) again is like putting on an old T-shirt you used to wear a lot and discovering it still fits and looks nice and has gotten more comfortable with age. I just love this gang so much.