The Girl

They changed into dry clothes, but Riku still felt the salty sting of the waves in his skin. He couldn't get rid of that feeling. His hair was clogged with it too. But they didn't have the fresh water to spare to wash more than their faces, and even then, Riku hadn't wanted to disturb the mysterious sleeping girl.

Instead, they dropped anchor, and were sat in the bow of the ship. The bow sprit had been snapped off, and the foremast was drooping. They'd also lost the crow's nest in the storm, and half a sail. Apparently, they could still make do.

Sora was frowning and staring up at the dusk sky, waiting for the stars to appear so that he could figure out how turned around they had gotten in the storm. He had star charts spread out in front of him and was tapping a pencil against his lips as he waited impatiently.

Riku was sat with his back to the rail. King Mickey had made a home in his hair and he was trying not to think about that. Tiny paws in his tangled hair. Not that he had time to – there were a thousand other things running through his mind.

"Did you know we would find…her?" he asked.

"No."

"Are you going to tell me who she looks exactly like?"

Sora finally looked back from the heavens, his mouth a firm line. "No."

It was starting to get at Riku – that he wasn't told anything at all. But then again, it was hardly like he had been forthcoming with Sora, either. If he wanted to get information, he had to give it up. That was the way things seemed to work on this ship.

So, he played the words over and over in his head before he said them, just to make sure that they were right. To make sure they were worth something.

"When I was twelve, I fell down a flight of stairs and fractured my spine." As Riku spoke, Sora watched his face intently. Too intently. It made him look away. "My hair went white overnight."

"You fell?" Sora repeated.

"I'm – clumsy." It was what he had always been told, so it must have been true.

"We just sailed through a near on hurricane, and you didn't fall. You stumbled, but you didn't fall. I fell. Several times. You don't strike me as a clumsy person."

It was like he knew. Like he had a sixth sense, or could just see into Riku's mind. He ran his finger along the line of the planks. "Are you a clumsy person?"

"No." Sora's voice was soft. It sounded like the crash of the waves around them. "But I know a lot of people who were."

"I wasn't pushed." It didn't sound believable, even to Riku. "But I was – running – I shouldn't have been, I wasn't allowed to, the house – she only grabbed my arm to stop me. It was an accident."

"Is that how you remember it?"

He looked up at Sora. He was sat crossed legged, the dusk turning him into shades of grey and dark blue, just like the night they had met. It was more like talking to a fae than a boy.

Riku pulled his legs more tightly against his chest. "That's how I remember it."

"Why were you running?" Sora pressed, still in that soft voice. A part of Riku knew that he meant well – that Sora was the one that could be trusted, but it made him cringe away. No, that was the part that no one asked about. That was the question that picked the perfectly rehearsed story apart. "Riku, why were you running?"

"Because I was in trouble." He could barely hear himself, now, either. His voice sounded raspy. It was like Sora had some kind of power – as long as Riku was looking him in the eye, he couldn't stop himself from speaking. From unravelling years of practice.

"Were you?"

"I had –" What had he done? He couldn't remember. It was something – it had been something that had made terror spread through every part of him, filling him until it almost hurt. It was terror that had made him run. "I don't know, but I didn't want – I was in trouble to begin with and I didn't want to be…there was a…"

"Cupboard?"

Riku tightened in on himself even more, until his knees felt like they were breaking through his ribs. His heart was pounding. This wasn't how it was meant to go.

"She was trying to stop me from getting hurt," he whispered.

Sora finally relented. He heaved a large breath and looked back up at the sky, when he spoke, it was in that same small, soft voice.

"I was born in Havana. Cuba," he said. "I don't know who my parents were. No one really kept an eye on me. But I had a friend. We used to play on the beach together. And when I was old enough to work on a ship, she would always be there. Waiting for me. She was…the reason I wanted to come home. I wanted to get enough money for us to get our own ship – go wherever we wanted to go."

It took Riku longer than it should to realise that he was feeling a sting of jealousy. Someone who had known Sora when he was young – grown up with him.

A girl. That was the sticking point. Sora had a girl who he wanted to come home to. It made him feel foolish.

"So, are you trying to get back to her?" he asked, hoping the jealousy – the hunger to know anything more about this boy didn't show through.

Sora looked back down, and for once his eyes were completely focused. "She went missing. Three years ago. I came back home and according to everyone she had just – walked into a cave down by the sea one day as though she was possessed…I searched them all for her – over and over and she wasn't there. She'd just…disappeared. But there was a note. She'd left a note for me, in our hide out."

"You mentioned that before."

"It was a riddle. Maybe I got it wrong. But I was sure that it meant that in three years, three months and three days, there would be a storm. The storm that brought Pandora's Box – Davy Jones' chest – whatever all of the stories said was out there. A storm on a blue moon. That's tonight."

Riku had unfurled as he had listened, leaning forward to hear better.

"But that's – she's not –"

"She looks just like Kairi," Sora murmured. "But she had red hair – bright red hair."

Kairi. Even her name was pretty. Pretty name with pretty hair. There was that sting again that Riku pushed to the side. It didn't matter. It wasn't like he and Sora –

"Is that why you left England?" Sora asked, suddenly. "Because you're clumsy?"

The suddenness of the question caught Riku off-guard. No doubt it was meant to. He found himself replying before he could think it through and hide some of the truth. "One of the reasons. It's definitely why I can't go back. Not now."

"Better hope we're going in the right direction, then." Sora frowned up at the sky, as though he could will the stars into view. "A clumsy Whig – that's all there was?"

"Is that not enough?" His voice was testy. Careful.

Sora leant forward then, his hands on the deck between them like two dark starfish. He was still frowning, and it made Riku's stomach squirm. It was scary, when he was serious like this.

"You overheard my conversation with Captain Barbossa, which was foul play on your part. Now you know that I like lads as much as lasses."

He might as well have slapped Riku across the face. No one had ever said it so directly – so normally, as if they were talking about what meat they prefer with a roast.

"And since you were eavesdropping." Sora seemed to be leaning even closer. Riku was pinned against the back of the ship, with nowhere to go. "It's only fair you return the favour."

It didn't make sense – Sora had a girl – Sora had a girl he wanted to go home to, and yet he was so determined to find out who Riku was. What Riku was. His face was warm. He couldn't tell if he was imagining Sora's breath fanning against his cheeks, but the thought didn't help. There was nowhere to go and no way to slip out of the demand. That was what he told himself.

But there was a small – maybe not so small – part of him that wanted to say it. It wanted to be truthful, because Sora's world seemed to have a place for it. Aqua had high romances with French ladies and no one batted an eyelash. They had only been angry that Sora had said Riku had gotten away – not any of the rest.

Maybe he didn't have to run away from it all.

As he opened his mouth, there was a creak. They both looked to the other side of the ship, where the cabin door was opening. As always, Donald and Goofy sloped out of the opening to lounge about the ship.

The girl was standing there, looking more elfin than ever in the dusk. But at least she had stopped glowing.

They both leapt up, away from each other and across the ship.

"You'll catch your death out here – let me find you a coat." Sora was flapping his arms like a mother hen when the girl opened her mouth –

"Sora."

He froze. His eyes were wide and his face had gone a few shades paler than usual.

"How do you know that?" There was a desperation in his voice that made Riku's chest hurt. He was staring at this girl like she was the answer of all of his problems – everything was riding on her shoulders. But she just looked lost and confused.

"I don't know." Her voice was soft and gentle. It reminded Riku of a calm sea running across the shore.

Sora's face was unreadable. Or rather, there were too many emotions at war with each other to read it clearly.

"You must be hungry," Riku said. His hand hovered above the girl's bare shoulder. Surely, he couldn't touch her there. Not her bare skin. "Let's get you something to eat and drink."

"Aye," Sora said. "I'll – find Little Chief, and the better rum."

He crossed over to the entrance of the hold, walking ever so slightly stiffly. Riku guided the girl back inside without touching her, as though he was trying to guide the wind. Well, he thought, they did find her in a chest in a storm.

It was dark in the cabin, so he lit the collection of candles on the table. He found that she was staring at him with impossibly wide, blue eyes. The same impossible blue as Sora's. She was pretty – objectively, Riku decided. Her lashes were dark and long, her nose slender, her lips full.

It was a shame that he preferred Sora. Preferred his tanned skin and hair that resembled a sleeping animal more than anything else. Preferred his wink and his laugh.

He wished he had been able to get it out. To tell him – tell anyone and not risk everything.

"You I don't know," the girl said, examining him with scrutiny.

"My name is Riku," he replied. "Do you know who you are?"

"My name is Naminé, if that's what you mean." She paused, concentrating hard. "But I'm afraid I can't say who I am, because I'm not sure myself."

She was so small, Riku realised. She was a good head and a bit smaller than him, and half the width. There was a small, lost, confused girl in front of him and he had no idea what to say. He'd never even been unchaperoned around a woman.

"I'm sorry, this is – well, unorthodox – this whole thing is strange and – I'm sorry, this must be confusing for you. It must be – horrible to wake up on a boat in the middle of the ocean with two people you've never met." He was rambling, but he was standing alone with a barely clothed girl and he wasn't sure what else to do.

Naminé crossed over to one of the chairs, running her hand over the back of it.

"How can it be horrible when it is all I remember?" she asked.

Which stunned Riku. "But – you know your name, and Sora's name."

She shook her head, her blonde hair cascading in a shower down her shoulder. "Knowing things is different to remembering things."

That was when she spotted the seal sat on the table and picked it up, running it between her fingers and staring at the bottom of it.

Sora came back into the cabin, a bottle tucked under one arm and balancing a collection of damp looking dried meats and biscuits under his chin.

"There's a slight leak in the bilge," he said. Depositing the food on the table.

"There's a leak?"

"A slight one," Sora repeated. "It's easily patched until we make dock. And all of the best ships have bilge water. It's what keeps the bilge rats away."

However slight the thing, panic was crawling at Riku's guts. He didn't want to point out that they already had a rat on board – and that it was as valued a member of the crew as he was.

"This is Naminé," he managed to choke out, gesturing to the girl.

"And you didn't even offer her a coat." Sora tutted, peered around on the floor and then kicked one up to himself. He placed it around Naminé's shoulders as though it was natural. As though he wasn't disappointed at all. He was back to being happy-go-lucky with his crooked grin. "Bad show, Master Riku."

Naminé smiled slightly, and pulled the coat closer around her. "Is this yours?"

She held the seal up. Sora nodded, and put it back where it had been carefully.

"Where did it come from?" Riku asked. In truth, he had forgotten about it, but now that he saw it again he remembered just how out of place it was on this ship.

Sora shrugged. "Had it since I was a kid."

Since that was all he said, Riku decided to sink into the other chair, his mind still focused on the fact that water was coming into the ship.

"What do you remember?" Sora asked, sinking into a crouch in front of her.

"Waking up."

Sora glanced at Riku. He stared helplessly back.

"You were in a chest – a treasure chest? We pulled you onboard during a storm."

Naminé stayed very still, staring at the candles in front of her. The flame reflected in her eyes.

"So we can assume that you saved me," she said, as though by saying it out loud the pieces would become clear.

"We don't know that," Sora said. "There was probably a reason that you were in the middle of that storm. And things in the middle of storms usually have strings attached."

Naminé stayed quiet for so long that Riku wondered if she had forgotten to speak at all. But then she shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I don't remember." She looked down at Sora, her pink lips parted. "Did I disappoint you?"

To Riku's surprise again, Sora shook his head.

"More like worried me." He sat back on his heels. "I'm scared we've made you hit your head and given you brain damage."

Naminé's attention turned back to the flames. Her eyes followed the movement as though she couldn't understand what she was seeing.

"I don't know if creatures found in storms can have brain damage," she said.

Which actually made Riku smile a little.

"You're not a creature," he said. "You're a girl."

"Hm." Naminé's large eyes half-closed. "That can't be the wholly true. Girls don't survive in treasure chests."

"Well, part of you is a girl and that makes you not a creature," Sora said. The distinction was important, but neither of them knew why.

"You said, you know things, not remember them," Riku said. "Do you know anything else?"

Sora caught on, light twinkling in his eyes again. "Do you know the name Kairi?"

Naminé nodded. "I know Kairi."

Sora was almost bouncing off of the floor. "What do you know about her? What do you know about Kairi?"

"She had to be safe." Naminé spoke as if she was in a trance. "There were people, who wanted her, so she made herself safe. She is in a safe place."

"Where? Where is this safe place, Naminé? How do we get there?"

Naminé opened her mouth, and then she blinked. She continued blinking rapidly, and frowned. She even had a pretty frown.

"I'm sorry. I know that I know but I can't think. I can't – remember."

If Sora was heartbroken, he didn't show it. Instead he shook his head and stood up.

"No, I'm sorry Naminé. You've just woken up – just arrived into this world and we're already pestering you. Take your time, have something to eat."

"I'm sorry," Naminé said again, but nodded. She hesitantly reached out for one of the crackers, then something caught her eye. She stared at Riku, like he was the one they'd found glowing in a treasure chest. "You have a mouse in your hair."

"Yes, that's King Mickey," Riku said before he could think – he was developing a habit of doing that.

And then he realised how crazy that sounded.

He'd only been on this ship for three days, but already he was losing his mind.

Kairi was safe. Kairi was safe. Kairi was safe.

The words had lifted years of worry from Sora's shoulders. He felt a whole stone lighter. Kairi was safe, and they were on their way to rescue her. He'd get her back. It was possible.

After he repaired the leak as best as he could with only a few planks of wood and a handful of nails on hand, he checked the stars and reset their course. Well, the course needed resetting anyway. Now that they had a leak, he'd decided it was best to stop off at Morocco for repairs. They might have been able to make it all the way to New York, but by the time they got there, news of Riku might have gotten there ahead of them. Morocco was safer.

They had strung their hammocks in the crew's quarters instead, at the other end of the ship, to give Naminé some privacy. Though she had looked nervous – terrified really, when they had said goodnight. Riku had grazed his fingers against her shoulder in some semblance of a pat, and she had looked for a moment like she was going to cling onto his hand and never let it go.

But then Goofy had nuzzled against her leg. She scratched him behind the ear and he leant into the touch. She had seemed better for that.

She would be fine. With Donald and Goofy to take care of her.

"Morocco?" Riku asked. He was in his hammock, swinging it gently.

"Aye," Sora said. He was thinking about Riku's hand grazing Naminé's shoulder – Riku's hand around his shoulders earlier that day – and trying not to feel jealous. "Casablanca, Morocco. We need to get this repaired. Should make it there in about a week."

"That's not very far."

"I do apologise, my lord." Sora let sarcasm drip from his tongue. "But I don't see how we'll get very far without a bowsprit."

Riku frowned as him, then turned back to the ceiling. King Mickey was curled up on his chest, asleep. They never seemed to go anywhere without each other now.

"Besides," Sora said. "It's a Spanish colony – they won't care about some English school boy."

"And you can speak Spanish, can you?"

"Si. I lived in Cuba, remember? And speaking of things I can do that you can't-"

"Oh no."

"-You can't swim?"

"Lots of men who join the navy can't swim."

"Aye, I'm sure that works well for them."

"I'm on a boat, I'm not swimming to Morocco." Riku sounded exasperated.

Sora just shook his head. He couldn't understand it. Swimming was as just like walking – it was just as natural and he couldn't imagine not being able to. There was a whole world completely blocked off to Riku that he didn't know about.

That would have to be fixed as soon as they made port. At least it was warm in Morocco – Sora was already sick of the British weather.

Though Britain had brought him Riku, which was either a blessing or a curse. A blessing because they just worked together. It was like he had known him all his life – they had fallen into an easy back and forth banter, that was, when Riku wasn't too flustered. And when he was too flustered, Sora was treated to posh stammers and pink cheeks. He was treated to someone who understood. Impossibly – because they came from such opposite worlds – Riku understood Sora. At least, partly – and that was more than anyone other than Kairi had done.

And Sora understood Riku. Now that he had revealed just what his home life was like, Sora understood him. Understood the way he talked around a subject and had stayed reserved all this time – until the storm had pushed them together. There had been something about Riku curled into himself as he spoke about the accident that had made Sora's chest ache. It had made it hard to breathe.

He was desperate to clear that look from Riku's eyes. He couldn't explain why, but he needed to bandage those wounds and help them heal into scars. It never took much for Sora to take in a waif or stray – it was how he ended up with a ship full of animals, but this was different. This was urgent. This was because, yes, Riku was pretty, but he was also gentle and caring – yet witty and sharp when he needed to be. Because he made Sora genuinely laugh, instead of the false one he was so used to putting on not to worry anyone. Because he made Sora's stomach and chest flutter as though it was full of hatching butterflies.

And that was why Riku was a curse. Because here they were, stuck in that horrible question of, 'are you queer, sir?' And Riku wasn't ready to reply. But he had also let his gaze linger on Sora just a moment longer than it needed to constantly. They were stuck in this no man's land and it was driving him insane.

"About – about earlier." It was like Riku could read his mind. He flopped his head to the side to see him, but Riku was still staring at the ceiling, his face in the shadows. "It was – that was the main reason I was going to be expelled."

Sora stayed quiet. He tried to breath as quietly as possible, as though breathing loudly would spook Riku like a horse.

"I'd – I'd been caught a couple of times, with a couple of different boys. Though they always spun it so that – it looked like it was just me. That was why I was going to be sent home."

"And you couldn't go home." Sora let the words drip from his tongue as the pieces slid into place.

Riku nodded. He took a breath like it pained him, and then closed his eyes. "So, we're even now."

They were. But that didn't stop Sora's head from racing. So Riku was, then. He was, but he wasn't going to notice Sora's attempts to coax him out of his shell. He was, but now they had Naminé onboard, and didn't that just make everything more complicated?

As if anything about Naminé was simple. He had been expecting a map. Or a compass. Or – anything that wasn't a real, live human.

He wished Terra were here. Terra or Aqua would know what to do. But they would be leaving England as soon as they made port in Morocco – there wasn't any way to reach them now.

"I was lucky," Sora said, just to make it a little more even. "Aqua was the one who saw me kiss a lad for the first time. And he was the one who started it. I guess I was the one who continued it."

"Aqua seems nice."

"She just laughed about how awkward we both looked. Then she told me to be careful. There's only certain people you can trust with it."

There was a silence.

"How do you know who?" Riku asked.

"It's – more like a feeling. You just – get a feeling off of someone. That they're – like you."

Another silence. So long that Sora could hear the ship creaking beneath them.

"You're the first person I told. Properly told, I mean."

He felt a flutter in his chest. Trust. That was a good start. To any friendship – any relationship.

"I'm honoured, Master Riku."

He could hear Riku's smirk in the way he said it: "it's my pleasure, Captain Sora."

And despite the fact that they were nowhere near closer to what they had been looking for – despite the fact that they had nearly capsized, nearly drowned in a storm – Sora smiled to himself.

He was sure that he fell asleep smiling.

(A/N): I know they're fourteen in the first game, but I'm ageing them up to sixteen/seventeen, because - it just works better for this story.
In terms of sailing times, it is a rough estimate. I did try and calculate them but I write, not do maths, and I ended up getting muddled.
And I think that's the only notes I have right now. I can say the next chapter will bring some new faces (and I am excited! For it!)
Thank you so so much for all of the support! It literally means the world to me and I can't begin to explain how happy I am that people are reading this and liking it!
I hope you also enjoyed this chapter, please let me know - I'm really enjoying Namine uvu - and I'll see you next week! xx