Riku got his wish, and by the end of that day Sora's cough had disappeared and his fever had finally begun to fade. After so many days of nothing but sleeping and being bullied in to eating when he was awake, he had thankfully regained some of the weight that had fallen off him in the previous few weeks. His face was no longer gaunt, and with the flush of the fever gone he looked almost healthy, aside from the hollowness of his eyes.
They had known this long rest wouldn't be enough to relieve all his pain, but considering just how worn down Sora had been Riku and Aqua were sure it would lessen it. And they were right. The next day Sora was amazed to find himself feeling better than he had at any point in the past few weeks.
He woke to the warm feeling of someone lying next to him, with their arm around his waist and his around their shoulders. He opened his eyes and found his vision partially obscured by silvery blue hair.
He smiled at Riku, sleeping with his head on his shoulder, and then peered around the room. It was definitely his bedroom, and as he gazed around he found Kairi lying in bed on his other side. Her hand was close to his and he guessed they'd fallen asleep holding hands. He took hers again, thankful that they were both there with him.
It was a relief to know for sure that they hadn't changed their minds since hearing about Rage, and decided he was a monster who must be avoided. He'd known they wouldn't, but it was still wonderful to be certain.
The past few days were a blur, he wasn't even entirely sure how long he'd been sick. He vaguely recalled Kairi and Riku taking care of him, for which he was immensely grateful. He was sure he'd spent some of that time talking to them and the other three as well. He had no idea what about though and hoped he'd been asleep most of the time and wasn't going to have to hear about any embarrassing things he may have said...
Other than that, the only thing he clearly remembered was painful coughing, and Riku holding his hand as he lay with his head in his lap.
What he would have given to wake up like this a few months ago, rather than be dragged awake by clattering claws on rooftops, or the sight of towers of Heartless amongst city skyscrapers, outside the window of a lonely apartment building.
He turned to stare out a very different window, at what looked like a perfect blue-skied morning. The ache in his heart had been ever-present back then, but he hadn't given it a second thought. It had made sense then, the lead weight in his chest, the deep pit of dull sadness.
Now, it made no sense. The pain was still there.
Although, the ache did seem to hurt less now than before. It hurt less since he had confided in his friends about Rage, and then collapsed from exhaustion and illness. Waking up today, everything felt just a little more bearable.
Aqua had said one day he would feel like himself again, even if that felt impossible to believe right now. Now, for the first time, he found himself truly believing her.
There was something he'd been wanting to do for a long time now, and he was hopeful today he might finally get the chance.
He pressed his face into Riku's hair and waited for the others to wake up.
As Kairi and Riku had suspected, the past few days were hazy for Sora, to say the least. He barely remembered where he had been, let alone any of the things he had said. To Riku's great annoyance, the end of his sickness had lined up exactly with another summons to Yen Sid's tower. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have gone, expecting Yen Sid would get over it and the other three masters would understand.
But apparently today there were particularly important things to discuss and Aqua had told him, sympathetically, that he needed to be there.
They at least got to all have breakfast together before he, Aqua, and Terra had to leave. Sora seemed completely recovered from his illness and had regained the power to follow a normal conversation. He was subdued and his eyes gave away his low mood, but he would still break into the occasional smile as the six of them chatted together.
Riku hugged him tightly when they said goodbye, hoping they wouldn't have to be away too long, and Sora returned it with the small amount of enthusiasm he could muster. He was sad to see him go, but also relieved. If Riku was away he'd be able to go through with his plan while he was gone.
He, Kairi, and Ven waved the others off as they left on their gliders, then headed back inside.
Despite Yen Sid's insistence that this was a meeting of great import, Riku's mind began wandering the moment it started. He could get the details from Terra and Aqua later. But when Yen Sid placed an old and tattered book on the desk he found himself pulled away from his musings. They had found hundreds, possibly thousands of books in that world, why was this one important enough to call attention to?
As they stared down at the book's blue cover, embossed in silver with a symbol of a winged heart, a shiver ran down each of their spines. There was something different about this book.
"I found it in one of the libraries. It was lying under one of the desks instead of on the shelves," Mickey explained. "It seemed like someone had just thrown it away. It didn't look all that special but when I picked it up..." he trailed off and they all nodded, knowing what he meant. An aura of power seemed to emanate from it, a power both fascinating and foreboding.
"It appears to be written in our language, but an old dialect. This, along with the damage, has made it difficult to interpret," Yen Sid told them as he opened the book carefully. It was certainly damaged. The ink was faded and running in some places, as though it had come into contact with water, and quite a few of the pages seemed to have been torn out.
"But from my examination, I have determined several things. This book details many events, events which could not have occurred before it was written. It contains information which at that time told the future, and possibly of events that have not yet come to pass." He raised his head now to look his fellow masters in the eye. "These events all pertain to the battle between light and darkness, and the Keyblade War."
There was silence in the room, the immensity of Yen Sid's words hanging in the air. He looked back down and turned several pages of the book, some of which contained nothing but faded text, and others which depicted various Heartless, symbols, and diagrams of what appeared to be Keyblades.
"Is there any way to read exactly what these predictions are?" Aqua asked.
"I believe the best person to answer that question would be Ansem the Wise. He and his apprentices at the lab in Radiant Garden may be able to extract more information from the damaged pages. His extensive knowledge of the Heartless may allow him to interpret more of the text as well."
They continued to discuss the book, each taking some time to examine it themselves, though none of them were able to ascertain more than Yen Sid already had. Once they came to an agreement that passing the book to Ansem the Wise was the best course of action, and Mickey volunteered to deliver it to him, they moved on to less engrossing discussions, and Riku's mind drifted away again.
It wasn't until early afternoon that they were finally able to leave, and Riku summoned his glider impatiently, desperate to get back to the Departure Castle.
Riku swooped down and landed right outside the Castle doorway, having already done a quick scan of the grounds to check if the others were outside. Aqua and Terra followed him down a little slower, sharing amused looks at Riku in such a rush. When he entered the Castle the others weren't in the entranceway or main living room, so he made a beeline for the corridor where all their bedrooms were, guessing Sora was in his room.
As he came around the corner he found Kairi knocking on Sora's door already. She grinned when she saw him. "Hey! I was just coming to let him know you guys were back." She turned back to the door and called out "Sora! Wake up!" There was no reply and when Riku reached her Kairi rolled her eyes at him. "Lazy bum's been asleep for ages."
"He's still that tired?" Maybe he wasn't completely better after all... Riku knocked as well and when there was no answer again he opened the door, assuming Sora was simply too out of it for their knocking to rouse him.
But the room was empty. "Sora?" he called out, looking around, though it was obvious no one was there.
"He's not there?" Kairi poked her head around his side. "Maybe he went for a walk or-"
She stopped as Riku dashed across the room, and snatched something up from the bed. Kairi hurried after him, and watched as he unfolded the paper he had just picked up. He held it out in front of them so they could read the short note together.
Hi guys! Sorry for sneaking off, but there's something I need to do today. Nothing reckless, promise! I'll be back tonight. - Sora
They were both silent for a moment, not quite sure what to do with this information. A year and a half ago a note like this would have made them roll their eyes rather than worry, knowing that despite his risk-taking nature Sora could take care of himself. But right now they were horrified. Sora's definition of reckless didn't match most other people's. He was barely over his sickness, completely unable to fight, and possibly miserable enough to not care that he couldn't.
"We've got to find him."
Kairi nodded, already taking out her phone to call him. He didn't answer, and their anxiety intensified.
"Where the hell would he have gone?" Riku said angrily, moving to the window and looking out towards the mountains and forests beyond the castle.
"Let's go, I saw him just a few hours ago and he'll be on foot, he can't have gone far!"
Riku let out a groan. "I wouldn't be so sure of that..." He was staring out the window, and down at the empty spot where his Gummi ship had been that morning.
"Oh no..." Kairi breathed as she joined Riku and saw the ship gone. "He could be anywhere!" She gave Riku a distressed look. "What do we do?"
Riku was thinking hard, where would Sora go right now? How was he meant to find out where to go? And then it came to him.
"I know how to find him."
He turned and ran from the room. "Riku!?" Kairi sprinted after him, with no idea what was going on. She followed him through the Castle, back out the front entranceway, and down the steps to the courtyard where he stopped. "Riku! What do you mean? How..." she stopped as Riku's Keyblade appeared in his hand, and he closed his eyes.
"May my heart be my guiding key..."
He took a deep breath and raised the blade before him, thinking of Sora. He felt a warmth in his chest as his heart called out for the person he loved
And he felt his heart calling back. It called back like music, a melody he had heard once before. He knew where he was now and sighed with relief, knowing he was safe.
When he opened his eyes a beam of light had stretched out from his Keyblade into the air, and he and Kairi watched as a gateway opened in the sky above them. She understood what he had meant now and smiled.
"Maybe it would be better if just one of us went," she said quietly and when Riku turned to her she was tilting her head at him cheekily, clearly hinting at something. It took him a moment to catch her drift, then his cheeks went pink and she giggled. "Let me know when you find him though, OK?" He smiled gratefully and nodded.
He hit the button on his glove and his armour materialised around him as he leapt onto his glider, and he flew through the portal.
He emerged from the gateway and found himself hovering above the sand, looking out to sea. He dismissed his glider and armour and landed on the beach of their island. Even before he had opened the portal, he'd had a feeling this would be where he'd find him.
The Gummi ship was parked on the wooden platform where Tidus used to practice fighting with his staff, so he knew he was in the right place. Sora was nowhere to be seen though. He wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to call out for him or not, he might not want to be found. It was strange being on the island without a single boat tied up at the dock.
By the Paopu tree seemed the most obvious place to check first, but there was no one sitting there. The shed with the staircase up to the bridge was empty too, and so was the secret place. He glanced around at the scribbles all over the walls, and his eyes settled on the drawings Sora and Kairi had done of each other when they were little, and the Paopu fruits they had added later on.
He smiled affectionately. The picture had brought him both joy and pain in the past, happy for his friends whilst plagued by jealousy. Now it just seemed sweet, a memory from a different time. A sort of tribute to their youth, and growing up.
Sora wasn't there though, so he hurried back outside.
The room carved into the huge tree behind the beach was empty too so, without expecting much success, he made his way to the Gummi ship. He'd definitely be having a go at Sora later for taking it without asking. He jumped up onto the wing and, though there was no Sora to be seen, he did spot a Gummi phone lying on the pilot seat, a light on it flashing to indicate his missed calls from Kairi. Riku put a hand to his head and shook it despairingly. Sora might have left it there on purpose, but he thought there was an equally likely chance he'd forgotten it.
That was everywhere Riku could think of here, so he made his way across the beach and through to the other side of the island, to the beginning of the obstacle course where they had raced each other a thousand times, for a thousand different stupid things. Maybe they should try racing each other again sometime. It might be fun to see just how ridiculously fast they would be now compared to when they last competed.
He leapt from platform to platform, doing his best to land quietly in case Sora was nearby.
Then he passed the zip line tower and stopped, as he finally saw him.
He was standing in the water, the small waves lapping at his shins, in the exact spot where they had moored their raft so long ago, shoes and socks discarded on the beach behind him.
Relief crashed over Riku at the sight of him, and he took out his phone to send Kairi a brief message. "Found him on the Island, all OK."
Sora hadn't noticed him and Riku watched him for a while. He seemed transfixed, staring out at the horizon and still as a statue. He had pulled his hood up so most of his face was obscured from Riku's view. One hand was buried in his jacket pocket and in the other, to Riku's surprise, was his Keyblade. The crown-shaped tip was resting on the sand in the shallow water, as he held it loosely at his side.
"Sora!" He dropped down from the ledge to make his way over.
"Riku?" Sora turned, Keyblade disappearing and blinking as he came out of his trance. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you of course. What are you doing here?" He stopped by Sora's shoes to kick off his own boots.
Sora leant his head to the side, looking nonplussed as Riku walked out to join him in the water. "Didn't you get my note?"
"Yeah, but did you seriously think we wouldn't be worried?"
"Oh." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, despite the hood covering his hair. "Yeah... I guess I should have thought about that. I thought I'd be back before you guys noticed, must have lost track of time a bit."
Riku crossed his arms and sighed with exasperation as he came to stand next to him, but found himself completely incapable of being mad at him. "It's OK, just ask to borrow the ship next time!"
He gave him a small, abashed smile. "Yeah, sorry about that, I thought you'd probably say no if I asked to take it by myself."
"Probably," he said with a smirk. "What are you doing out here though?"
"I wanted to come back for a bit. I missed hearing the waves." Sora turned back out to the water, staring again at the horizon. The sun had almost set by now, turning both the sea and sky a dark orange. "I missed them all the time while I was there."
Riku assumed he'd meant while he was trapped in Quadratum, alone and so far from anything familiar.
"I thought being here might make me feel a little more me again."
"Did it?"
Sora smiled and nodded. "Yeah, a little." They stood together quietly for a few minutes, watching the sun sink below the sea.
As it disappeared Sora reached out and took Riku's hand, intertwining his fingers in his, and making Riku's heart skip a beat. He inhaled sharply with surprise and glanced down at their hands, then grinned. When he looked back up he found Sora staring down, as he had been, but his expression was closer to mournful than happiness.
"What's wrong?"
Sora kept his gaze down, not wanting to meet Riku's eyes. "Right before you left, I had this dream about the Unversed and that I made them attack you. After that, I was scared that I might hurt you again, in any way..." He trailed off for a moment, he had a confession to make. "When I said I didn't want to see you and I wanted you to leave... I was lying."
"I know, you told me."
"I did?"
Sora frowned at him and Riku smirked. "Yesterday when you were still sick, I thought you might not remember."
"Oh right... I don't remember much of the last couple of days. I didn't say anything too embarrassing did I?"
Riku laughed. "Nah you didn't."
"Phew," Sora let out a small sound of relief, then peered back up at him hesitantly. "When I told you I was lying... did I say anything else?"
Riku thought he knew what Sora wanted to know and turned so his body was facing him instead of the sea. "You said you didn't want me to ever leave again."
"Did I tell you it was OK if you wanted to though?"
"Yeah, you did."
Sora's chest tightened a little. "...And what did you say?"
"I said you're a dummy," he reached up and pulled Sora's hood down, grinning at him, "and I'm not going anywhere." The anxiety melted from Sora's face as Riku squeezed his hand.
Sora's mention of the Unversed had brought another memory back to him. "There's something I forgot to tell you. You thought you were the one who attacked me that night, but actually, I think you were the one who saved me."
"Huh? How?" Sora tilted his head again, looking confused.
"After I fought off the big one I was running back to the portal, but the Unversed were chasing me. There were too many of them and before I got to the portal they surrounded me. They were about to swarm me and I didn't have the strength left to fight them off, so I just sort of closed my eyes and waited for the end... But then I called out your name."
Sora had been grimacing, hating to think what that moment must have been like, but now he was staring at Riku in wonder.
"I called out your name and when I opened my eyes again they were gone. There were thousands, but they just disappeared. I don't know how you did it, but I think you made that happen."
Sora's eyes went round as he remembered. "I heard you!" he gasped. "Right when I was changing back. I heard you!"
"Yeah," Riku smiled, squeezing his hand again. "You saved my life So-"
And then all of a sudden Sora was kissing him, his hand on the back of his neck, lips against his, their chests pressed together. It was soft and quick.
As Sora pulled away he left his hand on Riku's shoulder, blushing deeply as he lowered his heels back into the wet sand.
Riku blinked and stared down at him blankly. He couldn't remember what he had been about to say.
"Sorry," Sora said, a little breathlessly, almost as surprised as Riku by what he had just done. "I've just been wanting to do that for a while." He let go of Riku's hand and scratched the side of his face, looking away shyly. "Is... that OK?" He glanced back at Riku's stunned face, beaming up at him, with that stupid, wonderful grin of his, and eyes full of light.
Riku gazed at him, then smiled and pulled him in close. "Yeah..."
In a moment Sora's hands had found his face, cupping his cheeks as Riku wrapped one arm around him and placed a hand behind his head, fingers threaded through his hair.
Their kiss was slightly clumsy in its newness, and joyful in its ease. It smelt of ocean breeze and each other's familiar scents.
When they eventually broke apart they were both flushed and slightly dazed by what had just happened. They stared at each other for a moment, then laughed.
They kept laughing happily as they lowered their arms and took each other's hands, pressing their foreheads together and listening to the sound of the waves.
As Sora pulled on Riku's hands, forcing him to bend down so that he could kiss him again, he realised he didn't feel broken right now.
The cracks were still there. Maybe they always would be. But that was OK.
Right then, at that moment, they both felt whole.
"Ven! Ven wake up!"
"Whaa..?" Ven woke with a start as Kairi shook his arm furiously.
"Look!"
He followed her finger pointing out the window, to the Gummi Ship that was swooping down from the sky.
"What are you two doing?" Terra called out, as he and Aqua poked their heads around the door.
Ven grinned and gestured outside as well. "They're back!"
Terra and Aqua joined them by the window, just glimpsing the ship as it sank out of sight to land in its usual spot down the hill.
"You really shouldn't be spying on them you two," Aqua chastised, but she did it half-heartedly. There was no chance of them listening to her, and she wasn't surprised when they ignored her completely. Their hands and faces were pressed against the window, as they waited for the boys to reach the courtyard.
"Hurry up..." Kairi muttered as the minutes dragged on. "Hurry up you idiots..."
And then, finally, Sora and Riku came into view, talking and laughing, and walking hand in hand.
Kairi and Ven whooped with glee and Terra laughed at them as they high-fived. Aqua smiled at the two boys, who luckily didn't seem to have noticed they were being watched, as they walked through the courtyard. She didn't think she had seen either of them smile so brightly since before Sora disappeared, and hadn't seen that much light in Sora's eyes in a long time.
She knew this didn't mean all their troubles would suddenly be over. Sora wasn't going to recover overnight and wake up miraculously happy and healthy again tomorrow. That light in his eyes would still come and go, and would likely be absent much of the time for a while longer. He and Riku returning hand in hand tonight wasn't going to fix everything. But it would help. The two of them would get through this together. They would all get through this together. That, she was sure of.
6 months later
The knock on Master Yen Sid's tower door was unexpected. He had not been anticipating any visitors this evening. More unexpected still was the man he greeted when he answered the door.
"To what do I owe the pleasure? I do not believe you have ever visited me before, Ansem the Wise."
A Gummi ship was parked on the grass behind Ansem, and it seemed he had come alone.
"I hope you will forgive the intrusion my friend, but there is a matter I must speak of with you. In private." His face and tone were serious.
Yen Sid gave a nod and led him in silence up the stairs to his study. He took a seat at his desk and turned to face Ansem, his expression mirroring his.
"What is this matter you wish to discuss?"
From a bag, Ansem withdrew the battered blue and silver embossed book that had been discovered in Scala ad Caelum, six months before. "It concerns Sora."
He placed the book on the desk before Yen Sid and opened it. "What do you know of the thirteen original Darknesses?"
Chapter 27 and 28 posted on Archive of Our Own