The cold moonlight washed over Riku. The small lake in front of him shimmered like the night sky above. He had told Sora and Kairi to go to bed and not wait up for him. He'd be back eventually, needing to recharge his healing crystals as well as himself under the full moon. Feeling a familiar sensation on his left arm, he opened one eye to glance down at the symbol etched into his skin on the lower part of his bicep. In the moonlight, it glowed a faint pink. He had never known a day without, being born with it for whatever reason. His time before being found and taken in by Elf King Terra was fuzzy and fragmented. He had remembered some wizard saying it marked him as what he called a "dream eater."
"Your power as a dream eater could be an essential part to restoring this world to its proper balance. Light and darkness must exist in balance. You cannot have one without the other; however it is when one gains more power that the world can be thrown into chaos. The day will come, so be prepared," he had said before taking his leave. Damn wizards. Always walking in, saying some cryptic shit, then immediately leaving to leave the rest to everyone else. Riku grasped at some grass beneath him, throwing it towards the water. He torn up blades danced through the still night air, only rippling the surface of the water slightly. As Riku watched the ripple effects, he noticed something else there. He squinted in an attempt to focus, eyes widening when he saw a sinister grin along with two bright yellow eyes. He whipped around, nearly falling backwards into the lake in the process. One hand reached back and dug into the gravel. The tiny rocks scraped against his skin, making him wince slightly, but he didn't take his eyes off of someone far too familiar, someone he knew he would have to meet again, but not like this..not this soon.
"Vanitas," he said, more in a growl than anything else. He felt the pain of old injuries resurfacing just by looking at him.
"Well, well, the graceful Prince Riku himself. I thought I spied an elf basking in the moonlight." Vanitas' laugh was as hollow and cold as Riku remembered. He instinctively skidded back a bit as he stepped forward. His steps were deliberate and made almost no noise even against the gravel shore. "Careful now. That is, unless you want to go for a midnight swim."
"What do you want?" Riku went straight to the point. If given the opportunity, he knew Vanitas would banter with him all he wanted.
"I'm simply rounding up the runaways and bringing them back home is all. You, those two annoying twins, and even Axel has run off." He shook his head with a less than sincere expression of concern.
"Please, I was never 'with' you guys, and you know that. I was essentially a spy." It was a time Riku would rather forget.
"Let's get real here, Riku. You know you could've been so much more powerful with us. I was only tough on you because I liked you. We could've been something great: a force to be reckoned with along with the others." Vanitas knelt down in front of him, a bit too close for Riku's comfort. In one quick motion, he reached out to grab his chin. "You have everything in place. You have the little prince and princess right nearby. I'm sure all will be forgiven if you come back with me and deliver them to my father. With your dream eater abilities, we can find the other kingdoms and make this world ours."
"Heh, too bad your charms never worked on me." Riku grabbed onto his wrist with a force that was almost enough to crush it, ripping his hand away. With a deep breath, he got onto his feet, though he couldn't hide the way his legs trembled slightly. "Not now. Not ever, Vanitas. I'll never take them to Xehanort."
"Have it your way, Riku, but I'm at least taking you back there one way or the other. I wonder..what they'll think of you when they find out you used to be on our side, though." Vanitas let out a cackle. It echoed through the air, across the lake, and sending a chill down Riku's spine. "Just think of the drama. In fact, I'll wait a little while to drag you back just to see it. I'm on Ventus and Roxas' trail anyway." He continued to laugh, looking quite pleased with himself. Riku jumped as he was suddenly right next to him, clasping a hand onto his shoulder with an iron grip. "I can't wait to watch you struggle just like back then." Riku grit his teeth at the soft whisper by his ear. He was about to retaliate with a fist, but by the time he swung his arm, Vanitas was gone.
Riku's breath was ragged as he looked around wildly to make sure he was really gone. His legs finally just collapsed as he knelt on the ground. His fist collided with the gravel below. The impact of the stones against his knuckles sent a sharp pain through his arm, but in that moment, it didn't feel like much. He knew what Vanitas was doing always planting his seeds of doubt. Like hell he was going to go back there of his own volition. Gazing at the town, he could feel Sora sleeping soundly. There was a slight pang in his chest, knowing that Vanitas was right in that sooner or later, he'd have to tell them about his past. How would they take it? Would they hate him? He wouldn't blame them. After all, all he had to do was get them to his Elven kingdom, and they could part ways if need be. They might even be safer without him. Yet, he remembered the mural a seer had painted when he returned there after his time in Oblivion Kingdom. It was the strangest thing seeing himself depicted with Sora and Kairi, even with his new keyblade that hadn't even been forged yet. And Sora..it was like he sort of already knew him even after just meeting him in person. Would he really be able to just leave them even if it was for the best? He quickly shook his head, taking a moment before standing up. That could wait.
Going back to their room at the inn, Riku tread lightly to keep from waking either of them up. He peeked in slightly to be sure they were both asleep. Of course, he could hear snoring from both of them from outside the door. The most beds a room could offer was one big one and a smaller one. It was agreed that Kairi would get the lone bed while Sora and Riku would share the bigger one much to Riku's own embarrassment. He didn't dare take off much clothing, just his boots and jacket, leaving him in just his pants and tank top. Getting in the other side of the bed that Sora wasn't occupying, he realized how cold he had been, limbs shivering as he draped the covers over himself. For a moment, he lied on his side to admire Sora sleeping there. His brows furrowed every now and then as he dreamt, but the look on his face was serene. Riku could feel the serenity of his dreams, a soft smile on his face.
"You deserve the sweetest of dreams," he said in the softest of whispers. He reached over to brush his bangs out of his face in the gentlest way to not wake him up by accident. Riku himself knew his own dreams were probably not going to be as sweet, but knowing he needed sleep as much as them, he closed his eyes and drifted off.
As morning light shone into the room, Riku awoke to quite the surprise. Due to inevitability of them shifting around in their sleep, Riku opened his eyes to find Sora still sleeping soundly but curled up right by his side. The logical part of this made sense since he was another body providing warmth, but most of him was in a moment of panic. His body was completely frozen, not even daring to look at Sora. He kept his eyes glued to the ceiling above them, trying to find the right way to..well, wake him up. It didn't help that he spied Kairi sitting by the window with a ridiculous grin on her face.
"Sora's a pretty sound sleeper if you couldn't tell," she laughed, rather amused at Riku's predicament.
"Oh, you don't say?" Riku said through gritted teeth. He was about ready to just die right there when Sora hummed softly and nuzzled against him. "Would you mind helping me out, then?"
"I don't know. I think you're capable of waking him up yourself. I mean, you're right there." She mimicked Riku's own sarcastic tone. The two of them stared each other down for a moment until Riku gave in seeing that Kairi was definitely going to win this one. Riku half heartedly nudged Sora with his arm which had no results whatsoever. He watched as he just moved Sora a bit who continued to breathe softly. He bit the inside of his cheek as he tilted his head down towards his face. Riku's face was radiating heat onto Sora.
"Sora, it's time to get up," he said softly at first then again louder. To his relief, Sora scrunched his eyes until they slowly opened. Deep blue met bright topaz as they stared at each other for a moment before Sora finally realized the situation. His cheeks went scarlet, quicky pulling away his hand that had been resting on Riku's chest.
"Ah! G-good morning! Sorry. You must've come in while I was already asleep. I didn't mean to get so close to you," Sora sputtered, pulling away before he could say anything embarrassing. Kairi giggled to herself as she watched the two of them awkwardly pull away and start to get out of bed.
"D-don't worry about it. These things happen," Riku said quickly. He busied himself with getting his boots and jacket back on. That at least took his mind off the events of last night. He couldn't help but chuckle at the pouting flushed face of Sora's.
"Riku! Quit laughing at me! You too, Kairi." Sora stomped his foot once he had put his shoes on.
"Come on, Sora. It was like something straight out of a cheesy romance novel." Kairi walked over to pat his shoulder.
"Yeah, funny for you. Sorry again, Riku. I don't know if you have a special someone already, but if you do, I apologize to them too!" Sora immediately bowed. It was easy to forget that Riku was a prince. He was probably betrothed to some princess or something. He was..handsome to say the least.
"It's alright, Sora. I'm single, so no big deal," Riku said with a shrug. He still felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest.
"Woah, you look like that, and you're single?" Riku nearly burst out laughing at Sora's genuine look of surprise.
"It can happen, Sora. I think Riku needs to work on his sarcasm if he's ever going to not be single," Kairi jabbed, slinging on her backpack.
Riku simply rolled his eyes and slung his keyblade in its scabbard across his back. For now, letting them in on the truth could wait until they reached their destination. He could only hope that Vanitas wouldn't show up again. That's all he could do was hope. Sora and Kairi were still bright eyed and ready to go. That's all that mattered right now.