Riku groaned as he dragged Naminé into a storage room off of the courtyard in the Kingdom of Dreams where Anastasia was currently putting on a demonstration of her abilities for King Mickey. A part of him felt guilty for using the future student as a distraction for his oldest friend, but the conversation he needed to have with Naminé was long overdue. And also something best done in private, and he hadn't had a chance to get her alone since Radiant Garden. First he had to act like he wasn't a mess as he flew Tidus and Selphie back to the Islands, then he had to continue to put up a front as he tried to comfort the fears of some very distraught parents, and by that point Naminé had been falling asleep on her feet and he had been forced to wait until the next day. He portaled over to his little hut on the play island and probably managed around two hours of good sleep between screaming himself awake in his nightmares, but come sunrise he was planning on getting to Naminé's and talking to her first thing in the morning.

Of course, having made up his mind, Mickey decided to throw a wrench in his plans by landing the Gummi ship on the play island just before dawn. Apparently Queen Minnie had somehow managed to work through whatever magical block was affecting him, and Riku was glad to see his friend looking much better after taking such a massive hit for him, but Mickey was almost all business as he focused entirely on what they would need to do when the encountered Maleficent. Riku wasn't quite sure why he was getting so invested—sure, Maleficent kept a presence at Enchanted Dominion the whole time he was working under her despite her main base of operation being Hollow Bastion, but the evil fairy wasn't likely to engage them in a fight over it. Even back then she had been incredibly wary of directly fighting against the Keyblade—which only made sense considering how Ven and Aqua had been shown to be able to exceed her power—and after losing to Sora she certainly wouldn't turn around and decide to fight against two Keyblade Masters backed up by another Keyblade wielder. Riku told his friend as much and pointed out the most they would likely run into is a group of Maleficent's pig-like minions led by someone like her raven Diablo instead of running into the witch herself.

Still, as Mickey pointed out, Maleficent had recently taken more of an active role in attacking the worlds—as evidenced by Kairi's most recent adventure—so they couldn't afford to be complacent. The king was adamant that they be as prepared as possible, and had practically marched alongside Riku as he went to pick up Naminé and then spent the entire flight to the Kingdom of Dreams discussing strategy. Normally Riku would have listened attentively to his older friend, but with the conversation with Naminé looming in his mind he really wished for some alone time first. That was what had spurned him to suggest that Anastasia join them on their trip as an introduction to dealing with other worlds. Sure, it was potentially putting her in a dangerous situation, but between her basic grasp of magic and her improving skill with her replica Keyblade she was probably in better shape than the standard bodyguards Riku was sure would be accompanying Princess Aurora on her journey.

Of course, Mickey hadn't been keen on adding someone untested to their party, and when he couldn't argue down Riku's points he had decided to see what Anastasia was capable of first before they left. With the King watching over the new trainee, Riku was finally able to ask Naminé to talk for a minute and took her to what seemed to be an empty room. Now that he finally had his chance, the words seemed to stick in his throat, but he forced himself to spit them out anyway.

"Naminé, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I know I've been clinging on to you way too much and you're too nice to tell people when they're imposing, so I'm trying to stop doing that."

Naminé's eyes widened and she let out a gasp of shock, and Riku was prepared for her to fall back into her old habits of shrinking away and blaming herself for everything even though he was trying to stop that. What he wasn't prepared for was for her to raise her voice and glare at him with more fire than Kairi had back when she had to be the lone voice of reason when he and Sora got up to something particularly idiotic on the islands.

"Oh no, you do NOT get to do that. I spent most of my existence convinced everything was my fault, and you were the only person who seemed to think I should exist. You do not get me to stop thinking that, and give me things I really enjoy in the hugs and handholding, and then take it all away like it's somehow your fault!"

Riku hadn't felt that knocked off of his feet since Lexaeus had violently introduced him to a ceiling. "Wait, what? You...enjoyed all this?"

Naminé's face lit up in a cute blush as she started stammering. "Wait, no! I mean, Yes, but… that's not…" She took a deep breath before letting out in a rush. "I guess on a selfish level yes I really enjoyed you being close to me like that. But it wasn't just that! I know you're going through some stuff and I also really enjoyed knowing that you trusted me enough that you were willing to lean on me when you needed help and I really enjoyed that I meant that much to you!" She started panting trying to catch all the breath she had just forced out in one sentence, and Riku could feel the start of a stupid looking grin on his face.

"What? Of course I would be willing to lean on you. You're...special to me, but that's part of the problem." Seeing Naminé flinch back and realizing how exactly that could have sounded, Riku felt his own face start to heat up as he quickly tried to course correct. "No, not like that! I mean, it was only a problem in how I treated it! It's not a problem that you're special to me! It's great! I...feel like I'm digging myself deeper. Am I digging myself deeper?"

Naminé giggled, and Riku suddenly felt his babbling had served an important purpose. "I think it will be okay. But if you don't mind me asking, why is it hitting you like this? I know things are rough for you especially right now, but I also saw what you were like last time when you were separated from Sora and Kairi and that was a lot different than this time."

Riku fought to get the words out, but he knew Naminé deserved the truth. "Actually, this is a lot like what I felt back then. The only difference is how I cope with it. Back then, I at least had a tangible goal I was always working towards—keeping Sora safe. I just kept telling myself that I could break down after Sora was awake, and I had plenty of missions to spy on the Organization or threats to dispose of. Once we got back to the islands...well, let's just say I crashed hard when I finally had time to process everything. This time around, blindly searching for Sora isn't enough, and I guess between Kairi sleeping, Sora missing, seeing Mickey take what I was sure would be a fatal blow for me, and then finding out we did lose someone in the fight I guess it all crashed on me at once…"

"Well gosh, Riku. You didn't have to worry that much. I'm not sure why, but people from my world tend to be a lot more durable than people from other worlds."

Riku practically jumped out of his skin hearing Mickey respond to what he thought was a private conversation, and a glance to the door showed he wasn't the only one as Anastasia had her face buried in her hands while Mickey looked like he was unaware of doing anything wrong. He supposed it was good information to know—and explained how easily Goofy had been able to shake off a boulder to the head that one time—but Riku really could have dealt with having that revealed to him in the Gummi Ship or basically any other time. Still, he knew now wasn't the time to push the two newcomers out of the room, so he swallowed his feelings and tried to focus on the mission.

"So, how'd the test go? Did you prove yourself ready to join us?"

Anastasia nodded while still keeping a glare on Mickey. "Yep! Well, combat wise. I'm still not sure of how well it will go culturally. This is a whole different world, and they might have some things that are viewed differently there. What if I do something to accidentally offend our hosts, or do something stupid like interrupting what was clearly going to be a romantic moment?" At this, Anastasia turned her eyes and shot Riku a wink, and Riku felt his face heat up. Was that where that had been headed? He found his eyes drawn to Naminé, who also seemed to be blushing at the implication but with a small smile on her face. If that had been going into romantic territory, would that have been a bad thing?

Riku was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize Mickey was talking until Anastasia clapped her hands. "Okay, forget I asked. I really don't need any theories about how the different worlds were connected, affecting certain technological, cultural, or magical oddities between what looks like it should be hundreds of years apart in history. I guess we'll just hope for the best."

Riku just sent his occasional student a smile. He had long since stopped bothering with why things were the way they were. As long as you didn't try too hard to do anything crazy, you could usually make things work with the "traveler from far away" excuse and in this case they would be accompanying Aurora who knew exactly who they were so they wouldn't really need to worry about breaking world order. With everything seeming to be ready, he started heading back for the Gummi Ship only for Naminé to call out.

"Wait, I just realized. We could do more to get you ready for this!" He turned to see her holding out her hand towards Anastasia like she was about to summon a Keyblade, but nothing happened for a few seconds. Naminé did that cute thing where she scrunched up her face when she was concentrating really hard, and...

Wait, did he really just think that? Like, he knew people could often say things without really thinking, but he just consciously thought she was cute, and if that was the case maybe it wasn't so much of a question on if there was something more there between them but even if he was thinking that would she think the same way and…

Riku was almost glad for the familiar shing of a Keyblade materializing as Destiny's Embrace appeared in Naminé's hand, as it gave him something more tangible to focus on than his mounting panic. Of course, that something more tangible was Naminé sweating a little bit and panting, which probably would have made things worse if he wasn't worried about why something as simple as summoning a Keyblade seemed to warrant that reaction.

"Are you okay?" Riku almost immediately wanted to kick himself for asking what sounded to him like the dumbest possible question, but Naminé didn't seem to mind. She stared at the Keyblade for a few seconds before holding out to him. "I...think so? I've got something I want to try. Can you hold this for a second?" Riku grabbed the offered Keyblade, and he wasn't sure if the warmth that entered his heart was due to the connection with Kairi's heart through her Keyblade or the simple fact that his hand brushed against Naminé's in the exchange and that was somehow enough to bring back the emotional spiral he seemed to be stuck in.

Still, as soon as he took Destiny's Embrace away, Naminé summoned Way to the Dawn with seemingly no effort. She sighed in relief. "Okay, at least I know it's not just me. For some reason, when I tried to summon Destiny's Embrace, it was like I hit a wall or something. Whatever it was, it felt slippery, and I had to almost...reach around it? It's hard to explain. But summoning Way to the Dawn felt the same as always does, so maybe I'll just have to stick with using it for now?"

Anastasia cleared her throat. "Okay, it's good you have a solution to this problem, but how exactly does that relate to doing something for me?"

Naminé blushed. "Oh, right. Anyway, I was thinking it might be better for you to use a real Keyblade rather than just a weapon that looks like one, and since I can use either Destiny's Embrace or Way to the Dawn I thought it would make sense to lend one of them to you for this mission."

Anastasia shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll be better off with my own. Sure, it can't do any of the really fancy stuff a real Keyblade can do, but Fairy Godmother did work plenty of enchantments on my Stroke of Midnight so it's a lot more than just the hunk of metal it started as." She paused and then put on a sheepish smile. "Plus, I'm far from being the most graceful in—well, I was going to say a fight, but really anything—so I'd rather not have to try adjusting to a new weapon. If we do run into a locked door I think I'll just rely on one of you three to take care of it."

Riku just shrugged. "That's probably for the best. But if you don't want it," he turned to Naminé, "would you mind if I used Destiny's Embrace on this mission? It would probably be a good idea for me to branch out a little more, and maybe this will help me get a little better at using light based attacks." Naminé looked a little confused for a second, but then Riku noticed her eyes light up a bit as she nodded. Clearly she was figuring out one of the main reasons he was suggesting this—after all, his talk with Naminé had helped, but what better way to try and remind himself that he hadn't lost Kairi than using her Keyblade? It would be best if he asked Kairi before using it long-term, but he knew she wouldn't mind if he held onto it for a little while.

Mickey interrupted Riku's thoughts. "Okay, but we should really get going. I know we were a bit early, but now we could end up being late if we run into any problems on the flight over and I'd rather not keep Princess Aurora waiting."

Riku had a feeling that Mickey was more trying to hurry along so he could finally get to fight Maleficent than worrying about potentially offending another monarch, but he supposed his friend did make a good point. There were still plenty of Heartless roaming the Ocean Between, and they'd had smooth sailing so far so they might be due for a giant one to attack their Gummi Ship soon. He wasn't too surprised when Mickey rushed into the Gummi Ship first and immediately sat himself in the pilot's seat, but he was a little surprised to see Anastasia in just as big of a hurry. The trainee Keyblade Wielder quickly strapped herself into a seat before shooting a smirk at him and winking, and Riku didn't really see why until he turned to get in the other seat. The ONLY other seat. That Naminé currently had her hand on.

Riku sighed. "It's fine. You can take the chair, and I'll just...brace myself between the seats I guess?"

Naminé's eyes widened. "What? No, no, we can't do that. What if we get into a fight?" She glanced at the chair and Riku noticed her cheeks start to light up. "I mean, the seat's on the bigger side, so maybe we could...share?"

Riku felt like he was missing something. "Okay, but the restraints aren't made to hold two people like that. The only way that would actually be safe would be if you sat on...my...lap…"

OH. Well, that would certainly explain the blush on Naminé's—and now his own—face. But if she was offering, and it really was the safer option, could he really afford to turn her down?


It was only halfway through the flight that Riku realized there had been a far simpler solution since either of them could have just taken a Dark Corridor, but they had already made it this far and he wasn't about to change the current situation, even if he had to pointedly ignore Anastasia just barely holding in her laughter...and probably deal with some fallout when she posted that picture where people could see it…