16.

Riku knew Ienzo couldn't stay here forever, at least not yet. He was correct when he said that organizing everything would be an absolute, chaotic mess. But a good type of chaos, for once.

The notion of having him here, at arm's length, well. Was appealing.

They spent their days relaxing, exploring the island. Having someone new here made Riku see it with a different perspective. This place wasn't a prison anymore; it was home. Helped along greatly by the fact that he knew he had the ability to leave any time.

He didn't quite want to.

It was hard to figure out what he wanted to do for himself. Finish general school, he figured, but then what? Try to seek his fortune? Get a boring office job? What was he even good at? What was he truly passionate about?

Riku didn't really know, and this was the terrifying thing. "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up," he said to Ienzo one evening after they'd made love. Whatever realization Ienzo'd had that day at the university had carried over, and he was able to finish mostly every time. Riku was almost as relieved as he was; part of him had thought he was just bad at sex.

Ienzo stroked his hair. "It's a hard question."

"I just… I'm not an artist, I don't feel driven to create something. I'm not good enough at math to be a scientist. I don't like people enough to work in retail, or a restaurant. I can't just keep mowing lawns forever, you know." He tried to laugh, but it sounded a little strangled.

"Well, do you like doing that? Gardening and landscaping is a respectable profession."

"I don't really feel any way about it."

"What do you feel strongly about?"

"You."

Ienzo groaned at the lame joke. "I'm afraid I'm not a job."

"You feel like it sometimes."

Ienzo kicked him, but gently. "As a Keyblade master you're entitled to create your own world, and take on apprentices," he said.

Riku sighed. Pressed against Ienzo's chest, he heard his heart beating. "Mickey's brought it up a few times in his letters."

"How does that sound to you?"

"Like a lot of responsibility."

"Riku, you're one of the most responsible people I know."

"Yeah, but these would be people. Kids. And anyway… what would they need this training for?"

"They could study it for the art of it. Kind of like recreational martial artists do."

"Not sure how sustainable that is as a business model."

"Riku, I think you're letting doors close for yourself before thinking through it completely."

He sighed. "You're probably right."

"Besides. There's no rush. You're still recovering from what you went through, and you're young. We're both young. Nobody expects you to have your whole life figured out at eighteen."

"...I guess not."

Ienzo pressed a kiss against his head.

"You have to go soon, don't you?" Riku asked softly.

He let out a long breath. "I've been here nearly a month. At some point vacationing just becomes mooching."

"You know I don't mind."

"I know. But I…"

Riku sat up so he could look at him.

Ienzo's face was drawn. "I have things I need to take care of, to put to bed, so I can start my life over," he said.

"What, paperwork? That won't take long."

"More than… paperwork." He pressed his hand to his chest. "I guess now works as well as any time," he said to himself. "You know what we did as apprentices, yes?"

He blinked. "You mean the experiments?"

Ienzo took a deep breath. And explained.

Riku knew they had all been manipulated by the Xehanort that had inhabited Terra's body, and moreover, the older apprentices had manipulated Ienzo when he was a small child. Hearing Ienzo talk about how the experiments had morphed from a way to understand memory into a cruel and torturous experiment… it was hard to synthesize the person sitting across from him with the person who had been part of all that.

But Riku knew all too well the pulse and pull of darkness, how it could bring out all the worst parts of someone, make them do things they never would've if they hadn't gotten onto that path. It would be hypocritical for him to be horrified, not after what he'd done himself under Ansem's influence. How many lives had his Heartless "play" affected? Or the way he'd treated Roxas and Xion, like objects, like less than people?

They'd both been pawns in a bigger game. He had to accept that.

"I can't just… bring my victims back," Ienzo said, looking pained. "Nothing I do will help make up for those lives, for the hurt I've inflicted on their loved ones. I need to… face it head on, somehow."

"Have you gone back down to that lab since?"

Slowly, he shook his head.

"Maybe we should."

His head snapped up. "We?"

"It'll be a hard thing to do, even harder if you're alone," he said. "Besides, if that place was so full of darkness… you might need the protection."

"You'd be willing to do that?"

"I had to face my own problems with darkness alone, and it was almost impossible because I wouldn't let anyone help me. I don't want you to have to do that too."

"It might change how you see me."

"For some reason I doubt that." Riku took his hand and squeezed it hard. "You're a different person now. Just like I was a different person when I was dealing with it."

He thought a moment, still gazing into his lap. "Perhaps if I could… retrieve the records, of the victims," he said slowly, "I could release them, and give their living relatives closure. I could… find a way to memorialize them. It's not even close to making up for it."

"But it's a start."

Ienzo nodded. "Yes. I guess it is."

They spent their last few days together mostly alone, going on dates or just relaxing on the beach. They tried going to a pub, once, and quickly discovered how fun tipsily making out could be. "I feel like I'm monopolizing you," Ienzo said. They were at the island today, alone; Sora and Kairi were starting school again.

"Well, you're going to be gone for a long time. Gotta stock up."

He rolled his eyes. "Will you write me letters?" he asked, in a somewhat teasing voice.

"Letters, essays. I doubt I'll have much to report on my end."

"I liked those texts. I printed them."

"...Really? It happened because I didn't know the messages could be short."

"I thought they were sweet. Hence why I played along." He leaned over to kiss him, and Riku kissed him back, hard, and before long they were basically making out in broad daylight on the shore.

Ienzo was breathless. "Is there… somewhere we can go, I recall you mentioning something about "nooks and crannies"?"

His face flushed, and his heart gave a particularly loud beat, his dick hardening further still. "Yes. Yeah. Come on." He got up, seeing Ienzo's eyes flick to his crotch, a smirk crossing his face. "Ugh, yes, I know." He shook the sand out of the blanket they'd been lying on and draped it over his arm. Riku grasped Ienzo's hand.

How many times had he as a teenager fantasized about a moment like this? He was fairly sure they all had-he'd seen Sora and Kairi sneak away into the secret place several times since they'd gotten together. Riku brought Ienzo into one of the harder-to-find caves, the front of it grown over with ivy. He spread the blanket out on the cool floor only for Ienzo to immediately pull him into his arms.

Well. Alright. Riku tried to ease Ienzo onto the floor for once. "I bet you've thought about this," Ienzo teased, letting him do it. He kissed him down along his throat, to the small patch of chest that showed through this shirt.

"A horny teenage mind has a limitless imagination."

"Well, seeing as it's your fantasy, " he all but purred. "I'll leave it up to you, then."

Riku got more of a thrill than he thought he would, seeing Ienzo beneath him. He undid the buttons of his shirt with one trembling hand, trailing his hand down his chest. Ienzo gasped a little, his eyes falling shut. Riku brushed the bangs out of his face so he could see all of it. It was a little difficult, keeping balance like this without pressing weight into him. He let his hand slide down Ienzo's waistband, stroking him softly. Ienzo made a not-quite-audible noise.

Riku felt him fumble to take out his dick, touching it maddeningly gently.

"I… I want to do this," Riku stuttered. "But I didn't bring-"

"I think-once-it'll be fine," Ienzo said breathlessly, his hips arching against Riku's wrist. "It's almost impossible anyway-"

"...I'll be careful."

Ienzo tugged his shorts off almost violently, and Riku did the same for him. "You're shaking."

"I'm just really-"

Ienzo laughed at him. "Then take it."

He did so, moaning against Ienzo's shoulder. The sensation was different, more intense. Ienzo's breathing hitched a little.

"Oh. I-I see," he said. He drew him into a kiss.

Riku wasn't used to being in control. He brought his other hand up under Ienzo's back, trying to give them a better angle. "Help me," he said, breathless.

"Just kind of… faster, and harder." In the dim light, his face was pink.

"...Right." God, this wasn't fair. Already he felt himself getting closer, tension tightening into a knot. It didn't help that Ienzo now had his hands buried in his hair, and the slight, subconscious pull only turned him on further.

Ienzo pressed against him harder. Riku felt it getting a little tighter, beautiful friction and pressure. He refused to let himself cum until Ienzo did, but pushing into him deeper, wasn't sure how possible that was.

Ienzo jerked a little against him, a small and breathless moan not-quite passing his lips. Riku felt him start to-

Clumsily, he pulled himself out, everything in his body sort of going slack, the world going dizzy for a moment as it burned through him.

"All-" He heard Ienzo swallow. "Alright?"

"Yeah-I just-did you-"

"Yes."

"Good. That's good."

"Sit for a minute."

He did, feeling utterly weak. Ienzo propped himself up. "The way it felt… without-"

He smirked. "Yes, you seemed quite involved."

"I just wish it were safe to… feel you finish."

"I could investigate other forms of contraception. I rather liked that too."

Riku smoothed the hair from his face. "It's not fair that you have to do that."

Ienzo shrugged, smiling sadly. "Unfortunately for the foreseeable future that's the way things will be," he said. "Unless I can conclude, without a doubt, that nothing will ever happen… well. I'd rather play to the side of caution."

"Right, right." He cleared his throat.

"Did that live up to your expectations?" There was a teasing glint in Ienzo's eye.

"Yeah, I… yes."

He reached for his shorts, then swore. "All full of sand. "

Riku laughed. "Occupational hazard."

The last night Ienzo was in Destiny Islands, Riku helped him cook a more Radiant Garden style meal. They had trouble finding some of the ingredients and had to make substitutions. "I dearly hope this isn't questionable," Ienzo said.

"I thought you were a gourmet cook."

"...You're funny."

He made a sort of roast with a complicated type of marinade, mashed potatoes, and some kind of green Riku had never really eaten before. He tried to help, but once it was clear he was just getting in Ienzo's way, he settled for peeling the potatoes, though Ienzo criticized his knife cuts.

Though the meal turned out to be quite good, though more structured than Riku was used to.

"Thank you again for hosting me for so long," Ienzo said. "I didn't realize… how open-ended my stay would be."

"Oh, please, we can barely tell you're here," Mariko said. "You're welcome in our home any time."

After dinner, and dessert, they went upstairs and made love one last time. He'd miss this, holding him, the quiet intimacy of conversations after. But the separation wouldn't be nearly as long this time, and with the letters, and the video, it wouldn't be as difficult either.

"Remember you can visit me, " Ienzo said. He pressed a kiss against his forehead.

They held each other in silence for a long time. "Do you think…" Riku began.

"Yes?"

"Would you be ready to… confront it when we go back? Or is it too soon?"

Ienzo blinked. "I… you know. I think I've had enough space, enough perspective. I think I'm ready."

"It's going to be okay."

"...I know."