For Day 21 of the Kingdom Hearts 3 Countdown Challenge - Old Friends. Contains spoilers for the D23 Japan 2018 Theme Song Reveal Trailer and the E3 2018 Frozen Trailer.
"Mickey, you okay there?"
Mickey's ears drooped as he tried to pick himself up, only to trip over one of the shattered pieces of Way to the Dawn and tumble to the ground. The cold grainy sand of the Dark Margin stuck to his clothes and face, and he didn't even bother brushing it off.
Riku offered him a hand up. "Hey, what happened to Aqua isn't your fault."
He took Riku's hand. "Gosh, I don't know. I think it kinda is my fault. I don't blame her for holdin' a grudge against me."
"Well, if it's your fault, then it's mine, too. If she hadn't sacrificed herself for me, she could have gotten out of the realm of darkness before it was too late."
Mickey was silent, and Riku didn't know what else to say.
They'd failed. Master Yen Sid had counted on them to save her, and they couldn't even do that. Couldn't even save one person.
Some master he was. Sure, it was his first full assignment, but he was already starting to wonder if he really deserved the title.
"Riku, don't go blamin' yourself now," Mickey said as he searched his face.
Riku nodded. "Yeah. It's just easy to, you know? Old habits die hard. But we can't give up hope. We'll just have to find another way to save her."
Sure, it wasn't really his fault, but he still felt bad about Aqua's fate. She'd chosen to protect him, and now, it was time time he returned the favor. And that meant he couldn't give up now. They had to keep searching for a way to save her, no matter how hard it might be.
"We'll just hafta go back to Master Yen Sid and tell him what happened," Mickey said. "Get new Keyblades and try again."
"Yeah."
They couldn't do too much right now, not after Aqua had stolen Mickey's Keyblade and shattered his.
He picked its broken hilt up and walked over to the water's edge. Knowing this was the right thing to do, though he couldn't fully explain why, he plunged it into the sand.
"Can't use this Keyblade anymore. Might as well leave it here… in case the other me needs it."
"Huh?"
Riku just smiled. "There're a lot of things I didn't get to tell you about my Mark of Mastery exam. Guess now's as good a time as any to get you caught up."
As Riku told the story and they searched for a way out of here, he couldn't help but think how lucky he was to have Mickey here with him. Even defeat wasn't so bad if you had a friend to pick you back up afterwards.
Was he sounding more and more like Sora with all this mushy friend stuff?
Yeah, but really, it wasn't such a bad thing. Not at all.
Mickey and Riku's friendship is one of my favorite things about the series and I haven't given it the love it deserves so here is me making up for that.
Hope you enjoyed!