Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
Chapter 4 - Agrabah
A sea of sand surrounded Agrabah that, if Riku squinted, he could almost believe belonged on the beach at home. If it weren't for the dry heat in the air and the lack of water anywhere except in jars. He almost wanted to find out where the water they had came from instead of walking to the palace with his friends where he would most certainly be attacked once Jasmine recognized him.
He had argued for Land of the Dragons, but Kairi wanted to visit the other Princesses of Heart – or at least the ones she could. Sora had stayed out of it altogether, and Riku sent him another glare to remind him he did not appreciate the lack of back up. Sora caught it and smiled apologetically – and rolled his eyes as Riku turned his head away. The taller boy caught in from the corner of his eyes and ground his teeth. He was not being childish about it. He didn't see why he had to go anyway. Kairi's idea that he had to apologize was silly.
"There it is!" Kairi exclaimed as the Palace gate came into view. "I hope they're home!"
Riku looked at the setting sun in the west and rolled his eyes when he was sure Kairi wouldn't see him. One was a princess. Where else would she be once it started becoming dark? She probably wasn't allowed to wander about alone even during the day – once it started getting dark she was sure to be kept inside the palace walls, boyfriend with a genie or not.
"I'm sure they are, Kairi," Sora offered agreeably. He had briefly stopped to look at part of one wall where a space had been taken out and a wooden pole went up into a building. Riku cocked his head, wondering what was up there that had Sora looking like he wanted to shimmy up.
"It will be fun to visit the palace. I hope Jasmine doesn't mind if I take up some of her time this week. I have some questions I want to ask her." Riku grimaced as Kairi spoke. He didn't want to make Kairi unhappy, but he really didn't want to spend all his time cooped up in the palace.
Sora seemed to agree. "Hey, Kairi, you don't mind if we don't spend the whole week there, do you? I mean, you don't have to come if you want to stay, but actually I wanted to show you two the rest of Agrabah, and the Cave of Wonders."
Riku paused and shot a questioning look at Sora, who nodded in return. So, that was what that cave was called. Well, he supposed he could explore different areas there – he hadn't exactly been sightseeing the first time he had gone through it. And well… a little treasure never hurt anyone.
Kairi paused and looked at them both. Riku felt distinctly as if she was reading their minds when she stared into his eyes for a few moments. Finally she stepped back from peering at them and smiled. "Boring for you two to be standing around all the time, isn't it?"
"Yes," Riku answered, smirking, before Sora could try and wiggle his way into giving an answer that wasn't really an answer at all. Sora shot him a sour look that told Riku that he had indeed been planning on trying to make Kairi feel better about them wanting to explore without actually lying.
"Okay, but you have to promise me one thing." She looked at them expectantly. Riku raised an eyebrow and clapped a hand on Sora's shoulder to stop him from agreeing.
"You have to spend at least one day in the city with me." She smiled, and despite the look in her eyes, Riku relaxed. That wasn't hard at all. He still liked spending time with Kairi, but maybe she needed to be reminded of that.
"Sure," Sora answered for them both, and then added with a knowing sigh. "Why?"
Riku blinked, shooting him a look. That wasn't like Sora, why would he act like that when Kairi just wanted to – "Shopping. You two have all of our munny."
Oh.
"Glad to know we're useful, Kairi," Riku responded dryly.
"Aw, come on Riku, you'll enjoy it! We can get you two some desert clothes, and take home some souvenirs…" Kairi trailed off meaningfully and Riku contemplated dropping all of his pride and running away like a little girl. He regarded Sora and his resigned expression for a minute and reluctantly decided he wouldn't be able to do that. He couldn't leave Sora alone to face Kairi and shopping. Besides, he should at least see how his munny was going to be spent.
They were almost to the gate when familiar dark portals appeared. All three of them stepped back in surprise as a pack of Heartless appeared. Riku didn't even wait to fully recognize what they were before calling Way to the Dawn and throwing himself into the middle of them. He was aware of Sora working on the two that had appeared closest to them and he automatically moved to attack the opposite end, assuming Sora would keep track of Kairi.
It was a disappointingly short fight. Almost all were Neo Shadows, and one single Fat Bandit, which Sora had easily dispatched with a couple of Blizzaga attacks. It wasn't often they even found enemies on the worlds anymore, and despite the danger Heartless posed, Riku almost wished the fight had just been a little harder.
He caught Sora picking up an item from the ground and stepped closer. "What'd we get?"
"Just an Ether," Sora said casually, tucking it into his left pouch. "A few synthesis items, too."
Riku resisted the urge to point out that an Ether was never "just" anything because unlike him, not everyone had pockets and pouches that could fit practically anything and everything inside. In fact he and Kairi could only hold a few items each. But pointing that out to Sora would probably get him feeling guilty for something that wasn't his fault.
"Ether's the one that gives you magical energy, right?" Kairi asked, and Riku turned aqua eyes toward her incredulously. She immediately looked defensive as Sora turned a similar gaze on her. "Hey, its not like you two ever sat down and explained it all to me."
She had a point. They had told her what happened (in general terms when the subject became a bit sensitive and they weren't ready to talk about it. Riku still wasn't sure how much of Sora's vague responses were because he wanted all of this to be a surprise and how much was him not wanting to think about it.) But they hadn't really explained much about the items and though everyone knew what a Potion was, they hadn't know what magic was before the island had been destroyed.
"Ethers give magical energy, Elixirs both heal you physically and replenish your energy. Anything with a Mega in front of the name have enough doses for three people," Riku explained, summarizing it – though he briefly considered a more lengthy explanation, if only because it would prevent them from entering the palace that much longer.
The creaking of the gates cut off any response Kairi might have made. Riku glanced over and scowled as Sora smiled sheepishly and stopped pushing the gates open. "I just thought we should get it over with."
"You have no patience," Kairi sighed, but lifted her chin and stepped inside the gates. Sora looked at Riku expectantly.
"I could stay out here," Riku suggested, trying to look innocent. By the amusement in Sora's eyes, he didn't do it very well.
The brunet stepped toward him, invading his personal space, his hands behind his spiky hair as he stared up knowingly at the now scowling Riku. "Riku, out of everything for you to be scared of, you choose a Princess?"
"I'm not scared," Riku snapped defensively, adding after a moment of Sora staring in disbelief, "And her boyfriend has an all powerful genie you know."
"You'reridiculous," Sora muttered, dropping his hands from behind his head. Riku almost stepped back when those same hands were placed on his shoulders. What was Sora doing now? His eyes widened as he realized exactly what Sora was doing when the shorter boy pulled him down and leaned up at the same moment for a brief, fierce kiss that seemed more like a promise than anything. If only Riku could figure out what Sora was promising. In lieu of figuring it out, he chose instead to take full advantage of Sora's willingness and pulled him closer.
"Ah, you two might want to stop that. Jasmine and Aladdin are waiting just inside. It's a good thing I told Aladdin I would check what was taking you. That wouldn't have been the best way to announce your relationship." Riku snapped his head back and away from Sora, scowling at their friend. Sora released his shoulders and stepped back, laughing sheepishly as he flushed.
"Sorry about that," Riku lied – with a smirk. Kairi rolled her eyes and waggled a finger silently at them both.
"Sure you are. Now come on. You can run away later." She scampered back inside and Riku was left trying to find more than an inarticulate growl to express his denial. He stopped glaring at the quiet laughter beside him and crossed his arms to turn a pointed look on the other boy.
"Come on, the sooner we go in, the sooner we know what Jasmine's reaction will be," Sora pointed out, nudging him briefly with his shoulder as he passed through the gates. At that point, there wasn't really a choice for Riku. He followed his friends through.
Jasmine had looked up and smiled at them, apparently engrossed in talking to Kairi. For a moment, he hoped his changed appearance was enough. But he saw when Jasmine registered exactly whom he was when she suddenly froze and straightened to stare at him coldly. Sora sighed nearby and stepped closer to him.
"You! You're the one who kidnapped me!" Riku flinched inwardly and resisted the urge to take a step back when Aladdin looked up sharply.
"And he's very sorry about it," Kairi interrupted quickly when Aladdin's eyes narrowed. Sora, usually one to have said something immediately, was ominously silent. Riku briefly glanced over to find him matching stares with Aladdin. He relaxed slightly – Sora could handle that part of it. He turned back toward Jasmine and cleared his throat, hesitantly taking a step forward. There was some immediate tensing on all sides and he stopped.
"Your Highness – " He could be polite. He could apologize – if they let him.
"I don't want your apology. I don't know what you've said to Sora that he would be traveling with you but it's your fault Hollow Bastion's keyhole – " Despite the fact he did blame himself for all of it, it still hurt to hear it from someone else.
"It wasn't!" Both of his friends exclaimed at once, bristling at the words they had worked so long to try and convince him weren't true. Sora added angrily, "He was trying to get Kairi back! He made a deal with the wrong people but it wasn't his fault. It was Maleficent and that damned Xehanort!"
There was a moment of silence after Sora's passionate defense of his friend and Aladdin and Jasmine glanced at each other uneasily. Riku frowned slightly as they failed to come back with angry words for him. Sora had more influence than he thought. But he always had easily made friends – and apparently ones that were loath to make him angry. Finally Aladdin said, "Sora, he did kidnap her."
"He did. But it was nearly two years ago, and you don't have to accept his apology but you can't put all the blame on what happened after that on him. He's my best friend and I won't let you do anything to him." Riku was pretty sure he was the only one who heard Sora add under his breath, "Not that you could."
Riku had to fight down a smile at Sora's confidence in him. He never gave up, him or Kairi. Anyone else would have let all the blame be put on him. Sora shot him a quick smile, as if he had felt Riku's eyes on him, and said, "Look, we just came to say we were in the city and maybe visit. But me and Riku can find somewhere else to sleep… But Kairi really did want to meet you and visit the palace, Princess Jasmine."
The silver haired boy had to wonder how Sora could change a situation so fast. The two looked almost guilty now, and Sora was hanging his head slightly. The thing was, Riku was at least half convinced Sora didn't actually know what he was doing – he just said what he thought. That probably made it all the more effective.
"Well, I can't really feel comfortable with the idea of… your friend here, but you and Kairi are certainly welcome to stay in the palace," The princess offered. Sora shook his head, surprising Riku, who had resigned himself to sleeping in the gummi ship alone with his nightmares.
"No, I'll stay with Riku. If we don't find a place, we can sleep in the ship," Sora returned, smiling a bit apologetically at Jasmine, who bit her lip and looked torn.
"I know! Why don't you and…" Aladdin paused, obviously trying to remember his name. Riku almost offered it, but then the man continued. "… Riku sleep in my old place? It's not the best place to sleep, but it has a view and it's not that far away so you can visit Kairi whenever you want."
There was a crafty grin on Aladdin's face that Riku was sure Jasmine couldn't see. He was surprised to see Sora grin in return, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Aqua eyes narrowed suspiciously. He was missing something.
"That sounds fine. At least it has more room than the gummi ship," Sora agreed. "C'mon Riku. Let's go."
Since it was obvious any apology he could come up with (was there even a way he could apologize for what happened?) he let Sora herd him outside the gate – and then had to run to keep up as Sora bolted back the way they had come. "Don't be so slow, Riku!"
He narrowed his eyes at the taunt. He had longer legs, and as long as Sora didn't cheat and use that too-fast-to-be-possible running ability, he was sure he could match him stride for stride – beat him if he knew where they were going. However, he had forgotten that Sora was a lean and wiry boy and cut around corners more sharply than he possibly could – and the smaller size of his body gave him an advantage in weight. In the end, Riku ended up staying a foot behind him at all times.
He almost knocked the shorter boy over when Sora skidded to a stop. Apparently, he had also been ready for Riku's inability to stop as quick and kept them both upright with a hand on Riku's chest and another on the wall of a nearby building. Riku scowled down at him and found a grin given in return. "Come on, Aladdin's old place is just up here."
Riku followed his gaze to the wooden pole he had seen earlier, and before he could ask a question, Sora was scrambling up the pole as if he had been climbing all his life – which was mostly true since Riku had a vague memory of urging Sora up a tree when they were only a few years old to see a seagull nest – he hadn't counted on the seagulls getting a bit angry. Curiosity drove him to follow Sora, who was already out of sight before Riku was a few feet off the ground. Either it wasn't very high up or Sora was part squirrel. Personally, he was leaning toward part squirrel. It would explain so many things.
His head lifted above the four walls that enclosed him as he climbed and he blinked before surveying the room briefly – and the boy grinning at him lazily from where he hung half over the edge of a broken wall. One silver eyebrow went up slightly. "If you fall, I'll laugh."
"Hey, I can glide. Falling isn't a very big deal for me," Sora responded easily.
Riku frowned, beginning to glower. "That's no excuse for becoming careless, Sora. You can't always depend on those abilities. What if they're only attached to those clothes?"
"They aren't. I checked that. I can't change into the four forms without them – " He saw Sora pause, and his eyes darkened. Riku's eyes narrowed as Sora shook it off and continued, "But anything I gained I gained as my own."
"You checked? I never see you out of those clothes, when did you check?" Riku sat on the steps below Sora's position and looked up through his bangs at the other boy.
"Hey, I don't wear them on the days we actually plan to go swimming," Sora protested. "And gliding is easier than using the rowboat half the time. And I figured if I can glide without the clothes, I could run too, and I'd jumped higher and done aerial dodge to get more air for gliding, so all it took was a quick check of the running. It wasn't a big deal, I just wish I could figure out how to synch blade without transforming."
"Roxas had two keyblades and you still beat him," Riku pointed out, feeling a bit envious that Sora had been the one given the opportunity to gather all those abilities.
"Mmm. True, but Roxas was more surprised than anything else. He walked away from the fight in the end. Plus it was all in my head, sort of. And I kinda want to try and learn it soon, instead of later when it might be too late to focus on it." Sora was pointedly not looking at him, and his usual smile had faded slightly.
"Nothing has happened yet. We still have time," Riku responded, not bothering to ask what Sora meant. Riku was the one most in tune with the darkness, but Kairi's light felt it as the opposite to her, and Sora had spent too much time fighting the dark to not be able to sense when something was gathering.
"Yet. But it will. There will never really be an end to it – just breaks. Who knows? Maybe this break will be for longer – or maybe the next one. But there will always be someone who wants the power darkness offers." Sora flashed him a bright smile. "And we'll be ready for them, won't we?"
"Always," He confirmed, a smirk firmly in place.
There were a couple of minutes of comfortable and contemplative silence before Sora broke it by pointing and saying, "That's the palace from here. The wall isn't too tall so when we need to speak to Kairi I can probably glide over, and you can probably jump over from some of the nearer buildings."
"I think Aladdin and Jasmine might mind," Riku pointed out dryly.
"I doubt it. Jasmine maybe, but Aladdin doesn't. He basically encouraged me to find my own way in," Sora explained, and suddenly the shared smiles were explained.
"Figures you would team up with a troublemaker," He teased. Predictably, Sora took the bait, if only to keep up the façade of a rivalry they had going on.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Sora protested, sitting up. Riku shrugged and deliberately turned his back to his friend in a silent and obvious challenge. He expected that Sora would take some sort of action that would lead to a brief spar – even if it was just more words. He didn't expect the foot that planted itself on his back and pushed him off the steps and onto the stone floor. He probably should have.
Quick reflexes saved him from having his nose end up meeting the floor and turned to glare at Sora, already feeling as if Way to the Dawn was in his hand – he glanced over to make sure it wasn't – but found Sora was once again casually lounging on the edge of the broken wall and not paying him a bit of attention. With a noise that was somewhere between annoyed and angry he lunged at Sora, completely forgetting his earlier comment about falling.
It was obvious Sora had been expecting it by the way he dodged into a roll and came up behind. Riku whirled around and gauged his friend's mood and found himself confused. He didn't look like he really wanted to spar at all. Cautiously, he relaxed and cocked his head, searching Sora's face for clues. All he found was an exasperating grin and a general aura of calm from his body language.
"This place isn't the best spot for sleeping. It still has more space, so if we don't want to sleep on the floor we can just bring stuff down from the gummi ship," Sora commented. Riku tried to express using only facial expression that he was a bit confused. His friend continued being oblivious – or at least pretending to be. It was hard to tell with Sora.
"The Cave of Wonders will take a while to get to. Do you want to start early and rest at midday or just wait until afternoon? 'Cause I'll tell you right now I'm not going anywhere during the middle of the day around here, even if we're on Carpet," Sora said after a few moments of silence. Diverted from the earlier almost-spar, Riku took up the new chain of conversation.
"Carpet? Who or what is Carpet?" His friend met the strangest people. What kind of name was Carpet, even if it was a pet of some kind?
"Oh, Carpet is Aladdin's flying carpet. Except Carpet thinks and has a mind of its own, so it'll do us the favor," Sora tossed back confidently. The brunet was leaning against a small dresser of some kind – it looked a bit old, but so did everything in this place.
"You want us to sit on a flying rug and trust it to take us across the desert? A flying, sentient, rug?" Sometimes, Riku wasn't sure that all of those hits Sora had taken during all his battles had left him entirely sane. There was no way he was going to set foot onto a sentient piece of cloth.
"Hey! Carpet's my friend! He wouldn't hurt us!" Sora defended.
Riku raised an eyebrow but decided not to contest his view anymore. "Alright. I guess I'll se tomorrow anyway." He paused, remembering the earlier questions as Sora relaxed. "We'll get up early. That gives us more time to explore."
Glaring into the room filled with treasure didn't do any good when Sora was set on not being found. So far he had searched two treasure rooms, many trapped hallways, and some waterways below, and Sora was still nowhere to be found. Partly this was his fault – after taking most of the day, even on Carpet, to get across the desert, what had he found a few rooms in. One of the green transportation beacons they used to get back and forth to the gummi ship.
"I thought it would be fun if we did it the normal way. We shouldn't get lazy just because we have the gummi ship," Sora had said. Riku had twitched and lunged – and the boy had taken off laughing.
Riku sighed and sat on a pile of gold, bring one knee up to rest his head on as he mapped the place out in his mind. There were a few paths back near the beginning he hadn't checked out – but at this point Sora had to have realized Riku had lost track of him – and since the brunet knew his way around much better, he could find Riku.
Satisfied with his plan, he rolled off the pile of gold sand and settled in between it and another mound. For once he had a pack on his shoulders, considering they had both agreed the journey was too long to head back and forth – and Sora had climbed over the walls to leave Kairi a note before they left saying they would meet her in a few days while Riku packed and shopped for the trip. Packing that wasn't precisely needful, he had found out later. But he was glad for it, since the cave was colder than the rest of Agrabah and the desert, and he had packed a couple of blankets.
One he used now, smirking after a yawn. Let Sora find him instead. They had been up early, and he could use a nap.
He had no idea how long he had slept, but he awoke to the vague feeling someone was watching him. Usually this would have made him tense and get up with keyblade in hand – but he smelled no darkness, and the scent he did recognize had him waking up slowly before he consciously even put a name to it. He cracked an eye open and saw a grinning boyish face, spiky brown hair, and blue eyes.
"What are doing?" He asked before he realized he should be asking how long he had been there, what time of day it was, and by the Keyblades, where the hell he had been.
"Watching you sleep," Sora replied cheerfully before bouncing out of view. Riku sat up, shaking long silver locks away from his eyes as he twisted to keep Sora in view. He hadn't gone far, picking something up from the middle of the floor before walking back toward him. Something small was in the palm of his hand and aqua eyes narrowed as he noticed some small bits of dried blood on Sora's hand.
"What's that?" Riku asked suspiciously. Sora's eyes widened slightly before he covered it with a grin and tucked the small object – was that a chain hanging off of it? – into one of his pouches.
"Don't worry about it." Sora peered at him and gave a small sigh. "I'll tell you later, okay? It's not ready yet."
And with that cryptic statement, Riku had to be content because Sora was folding up the blanket before he had a chance to question him further. Annoyed that the boy was avoiding his gaze now, he stood up and brushed gold sand from his pants, glaring at each and every speck as he did so. Sora wasn't supposed to keep secrets from them, the only time he ever did was when it was a surprise for one of them, and not something that apparently caused him to bleed.
"Come on, I want to show you something." The brunet was moving before he finished speaking, heading towards the exit. Riku scowled darkly, disliking the fact that Sora automatically believed he would follow – which was usually true and was in this case as well, but he wanted Sora to stop and tell him what was going on.
When they started heading down and even began treading the water, he had to wonder where Sora was leading him. But the boy had been eerily silent the whole trip down and when they reached the water he sent him little sidelong glances but said nothing, annoying Riku a great deal. Suddenly Sora stopped and stared down into the water. "See that spot that's a little darker than the rest? It's an entrance to a tunnel."
The brunet looked up and was grinning when Riku stopped staring at the water in an attempt to find the darker spot. Sora grabbed his hand under the water. "C'mon, I'll show you. After Atlantica, a little swim like this is nothing. Right, Riku?"
Sora had tilted his head slightly, and there was a challenging note in his voice that Riku never could resist. He glanced sideways at Sora, though he managed not to follow his first impulse and dive to find that spot before Sora. The brunet grinned as if he could hear his thoughts and ducked under the water, tugging on Riku's hand to indicate he should follow.
Icy water rushed to cover his silver hair and soak every inch of his body. Ignoring his body's sudden clamor for warmth and sunlight, he kept a tight hold on Sora's hand and followed his friend down into the depths of the water. He felt the change around him more than he saw it, and was relieved to find he was right as his free hand reached out to touch the wall of the tunnel they were in. Smirking, he let go of Sora's hand – which turned out to be a bad idea since only a few more seconds down his hands felt a fork in the path.
He winced as for a brief moment there was light and he turned, his Keyblade ready – but the light was already fading and he saw Sora reaching for his hand. He let Way to the Dawn fade and groped for Sora's hand. He felt a rush of relief when there was a familiar tug on his hand and this time he didn't let go until his head broke out of the water – and even then it was Sora who was the one pulling away. He fought the impulse to pull him back and let go of the younger boy's hand, taking long, slow breaths as he tried to see in what seemed to be nothing but darkness.
He knew it wasn't really – it was dark, but not the kind of dark they fought. It smelled clean, normal. Despite the reassurances his common sense sent him, he reached out for land, not liking the way the water made his limbs feel numb and cold. They were heavy too, with the weight of the water. It still reminded him too much of his time in the darkness and he wished Sora didn't have the same reflexes he did, and the instinctual need to be quiet as they moved.
His hand felt something hard and he pulled himself towards it, and on top of it. Somewhere in front of him there was a faint metallic sound and a rush of light. This time it stayed, Ultima glowing faintly. Hiding his relief with a cocky smirk, Riku stood up and sauntered over. "Nice flashlight there."
"Hey, I'll have you know this is an awesome flashlight," Sora shot back, grinning when Riku rolled his eyes. "Now, would you like to be a smartass some more, or can I show you something?"
"Show away. Since you dragged me here, you really should at least try and give me something in... Oh. Damn." Sora hadn't waited for Riku to finish speaking and instead there had been a flare that Riku recognized as Firaga, lighting something on the floor beneath them. Sora had pushed them back a step as the spell finished and Riku was forced to stop speaking as the fire spread up the walls and was reflected back at them from glowing threads in the wall. "What...?"
"Some kind of gems in their natural look, I guess. Or something else. I don't know. But it's cool looking, isn't it? The fire doesn't seem to go out, either. I wish I knew what was used to keep it going like that." Sora was practically bouncing as different colors shimmered in the air around them.
"So would I," Riku murmured before saying more loudly, "We should sleep in here."
"Yeah, the pack needs to be dried out now anyway. We'll have a hard time getting anything in here, since there's no gummi transport, but..."
"Nothing can get us in here either, not easily," Riku finished, ignoring the comment about the pack. He would lay the blankets out and they would dry – the fire that had been set wasn't terribly hot, but if he – or Sora, since it was his fault they were wet – stood there with them, they should dry out by the time the two were really tired. And this place at least would be warmer than the rest of the cave – though thankfully not as hot as the surface was in the daytime.
"And tomorrow we can explore more of the Cave," Sora said, and stretched. "So, want to spar?"
"Yes," was the immediate and predictable answer.
Shopping, while it wasn't as bad as Riku had feared, was not what he would have preferred doing. Not that there had been much in the Cave they hadn't seen yet, but Riku had been enjoying himself – somehow, no matter how far apart they were in the room, by the time they woke up Riku usually found that he and Sora were no more than a couple of inches apart, and usually wrapped around each other. Despite the potential embarrassment in that situation, Riku had enjoyed himself – and refused to admit that he was the one moving in his sleep, despite the fact they usually appeared not to be far from where Sora had gone to sleep.
Of course, the shopping at least was a break from the mischief Sora insisted on getting into. Riku swore that the boy had set off every trap in the Cave at least twice by the time it was decided they should go back. And despite the fact it was the younger boy setting them off, Riku seemed to take the brunt of the effects.
"There's nothing like this at home!" Kairi exclaimed, peering into one stall filled with long bolts of cloth.
"Mmm-Hmm," Sora hummed agreeably from nearby, his eyes glazed with a small smile on his face. It was obvious he hadn't heard a word she said. Kairi glanced at Riku, who met her eyes and then tilted his head toward Sora questioningly when she grinned. The girl nodded.
"It's very beautiful. It matches your eyes," Kairi continued. Riku smirked, expecting that would at least cause Sora to listen to see if he had heard right. No such luck – instead, he just made another noise of agreement and Riku blinked – and then grinned silent encouragement at Kairi.
"In fact you should wear it. We can have it made into a dress. I know a dress would just look beautiful on you," Kairi said, and they both waited as Kairi continued to peer at the cloth and Riku held in a snort. A dress? On Sora? While a bit on the short side, he definitely didn't have a girl's body.
"Okay, Kairi... Wait." Sora blinked and looked up as Riku began to laugh behind him and Kairi giggled maniacally – and started to buy the material. "What did I just agree to?"
"You just agreed to wear a dress. Congratulations," Riku drawled, smirking as Sora's eyes widened in horror. The smirk fell at Sora's next words.
"What? Why me? Riku would look better in a dress than I would! He has the hair for it!" Sora's shouts had the effect of momentarily stopping Kairi's giggles. Riku was glad someone else was gaping at Sora; it gave him time to formulate a reply that didn't sound like a whine.
"Are you calling my hair girly?" Well, that wasn't exactly a whine, but not as good as it could have been. Riku tried again. "Hell, I think people might notice I was a bit too muscular to be a girl!"
"Are you saying girls can't be muscular?" Kairi demanded, but at the same time Sora muttered, "I never said anything about being girly, I just said you'd look good in a dress."
It was amazing to see Kairi's thoughts derailed, Riku noted in one part of his mind as her eyes went very wide. Sora was looking mildly shocked – probably that he had just said that out loud. Riku took a moment to come out of his own shock and reevaluate the brunet. Then he double-checked his memory, just to make sure he wasn't hearing things. Finally, he slowly began to smirk as Sora avoided his eyes.
"So... What would you do if I did?" Riku asked, pushing the items he was carrying into Kairi's hands – they were hers anyway. He took a step forward as Sora's eyes snapped back to his searchingly.
"Did what?" An unsure Sora asked.
"Wore a dress," Riku commented, as if he was talking about the weather. It was becoming almost a game to see how much he could get Sora to blush.
"You? You wouldn't," Sora scoffed.
"Not in public," Riku agreed. He ignored Kairi's wide eyes because he had just found a weak spot of Sora's and in private he was definitely going to exploit this. A dress wasn't exactly something he felt comfortable thinking about, but if it was just for Sora he was sure he would be smugger about what he could trade for it.
"W-what?" Sora stuttered, his eyes wide with the implications. Riku took another step toward him until only a few inches separated them.
"You heard me. But you didn't answer. What would you do if I did?" Riku tilted his head and leaned forward and down, stopping with his breath fanning over Sora's face as he stared into the blue eyes.
Sora's eyes went from wide to narrowed in an instant and Riku only had a moment to wonder about it before he was pulled forward the remaining distance into a searing kiss. He almost jerked back in surprise, but he was pretty sure if Sora had a moment to think on it they wouldn't be returning to the kiss anytime soon. Riku took a moment to feel proud of himself for inciting a sudden reaction from Sora – but quickly stopped feeling anything but sudden heat when Sora bit his lip and his mouth was invaded by the shorter boy's warm tongue caressing his own.
"Um, guys." Kairi's voice sounded far off. Riku ignored it to put his arms around Sora's waist and pull him closer, letting his eyes drift shut. A hand somehow had made its way into his hair – and his groan was half of surprise when another slid under his shirt. Sora's lips widened against his own into what he knew was a grin – like the other boy had just won something.
"Guys!" Kairi squeaked, and Riku opened his eyes when both hands and mouth were taken away. Disappointed, he turned to glare at Kairi, still keeping his arms around Sora – who wasn't protesting – only to see her staring around them.
He glanced around, aqua eyes meeting many pairs of brown that were staring straight at him and Sora in something that was a mix between shock and horror. His eyes narrowed and he glared right back. He hissed, "They should mind their own business."
"I don't think it's them Kairi was worried about," Sora murmured in his ear. Riku followed the direction of his gaze and flushed as he saw Sora's friends staring at him. He doubted this was exactly the way Sora had wanted to tell them that he was not only with a boy, but also with a boy who had been on the wrong side for a while and had in fact kidnapped one of them.
"Sorry," He muttered under his breath. He felt Sora shake his head, the brown spikes lightly brushing his face.
"Not your fault. It's not a big deal, anyway. They're my friends," Sora responded optimistically. That optimism was all well and good but as Riku reluctantly released him, he couldn't help but worry it would prove wrong all too soon.
"Sora?" Aladdin asked as the two boys put a bit of distance between each other. "Are you alright?"
Riku resisted the urge to glare. Sora was fine. He was the one who started kissing him, and damn if they both wouldn't have probably been a bit more than "alright". That was the first time either of them had put a hand under clothes – though in Riku's case that was as much because of Sora's multi-layered magical clothing as because he was unsure how Sora would react.
People were still staring at them, and some were muttering. Riku tightened his fists and didn't call Way to the Dawn at the evident threatening tones in some of their voices. With their Princess and her fiancé standing nearby, no one was doing anything, but Riku was glad their stay in Agrabah was nearly over. As it was they would probably be leaving immediately once Sora's confrontation with his friends was over.
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Sora asked Aladdin and Riku slid his gaze back to the brunet. There was a slight challenging look in Sora's eye, practically daring his friend to start something. Riku flinched slightly. Sora really did need to learn when fights should be public, and when they shouldn't be.
Aladdin and Jasmine were staring as if they didn't know quite what to make of it all. Riku was relieved when he felt Kairi touch his shoulder and saw her hand tugging on Sora's sleeve. "Why don't we go somewhere else? We can explain everything there. It's... different here, Sora, and this isn't a discussion to have with Aladdin and Jasmine in the middle of the street.
Riku offered her a tense smile as the only thanks he could give for her interruption without taking his eyes off the surrounding crowds. Low, and almost under his breath he said, "She's right, Sora."
For a moment he though the brunet would disagree. But his head jerked down into a nod and Riku set himself on one side while Kairi was on his other – flanking him, guiding him as they walked away, expecting the pair would follow on their own if they wish. Riku almost wished they wouldn't. Things could have gone much better.
End Part Four.