Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
Author's Note: I blame Roxas for everything in this chapter. He started the "let's expand this section" thing, and then – this.
Chapter Twenty
Sora blinked fuzzily, but all he could see was white. The last thing he remembered was Alcexan, and a lot of pain – then nothing. Now he was in... white. That was all there was. He didn't see walls, really, it was more like a mist, and it was all white. Distracted from wondering how badly he had been injured, he stared around and wondered out loud, "Where am I?"
It was as he spoke that he realized there was something else wrong, and he stiffened, panicked, before a voice came from behind him to say, "You're in our mind."
A second or two passed as Sora stared around him and then turned to face Roxas. "I guess I really do have an empty head, huh?"
Roxas didn't find it funny. He was scowling, and it looked different than usual – considering Roxas was wearing the Organization coat, maybe it just looked more serious and less like his own pout. "Don't joke, Sora. We could die."
"W-what?" He hadn't expected that. He remembered Alcexan's claws flashing and pain - and then nothing. "Why?"
"I only see what you see. But I can feel our body better than you can." It was left unspoken that maybe that was because he had only been a body and a soul for over a year. The heart had been around, but not with him, so it had been a very loose connection.
Sora sat down heavily, stretching one leg in front of him while the other stayed bent and he placed his chin on it, gazing at Roxas as the other boy carefully sat down, his coat moving with him as if it was a part of him. Roxas glanced up. "It is."
The brunet looked down. "I know."
"There's no help on Wonderland, and they've probably used most of our healing supplies. We can only hope that Kairi's magic can keep us alive long enough." Roxas was angry, his face screwed up in frustration and his hands clenched by his side.
Sora eyed him and scooted closer. "So why is everything white?"
"Don't you care?" Roxas shouted, jumping to his feet. "We're dying, Sora!"
"Is there anything we can do?" Sora asked, feeling oddly calm.
His Nobody stared at him, and then shook his head. "No."
"Then I'm not going to worry about it," Sora proclaimed firmly. "So why's everything washed out?"
The other boy shrugged. "Whenever I imagined a place in our mind to stay, it was always white. I don't know why."
Sora wondered if it would be a good idea to ask him why Roxas had felt the need to create an imaginary place in their mind where he had an imaginary body – but he figured he knew the answer and Roxas wouldn't take kindly to him bringing it up. It did explain some things – why there was space in their heart and mind that felt like Roxas, and how that space disappeared when Roxas hid himself – he was letting go of the imaginary body he made. Seeing Roxas begin to glare at him he remembered nervously that Roxas could hear what he thought. "Especially when you're thinking it so loudly."
He swallowed. Though, if he thought about it, he wasn't really swallowing, was he? This was in his mind, this body wasn't real because he was dying out there and this was like a dream – "Stop that! Don't over think it or you'll disappear from here and it was hard enough to get you in here."
"Right." Shifting uncomfortably at the note of near panic beneath Roxas's stern words he asked, "So, can I change it? Do you mind?"
The blond blinked, as if surprised by the idea. Which, Sora knew, he was. But he tried not to focus on what Roxas was feeling – if he didn't feel them, it made the two of them more separate and he liked them separate. Roxas smiled, a small thing, just a twitch of his lips, but those familiar blue eyes had lit up. "Yeah. If you think you can, go ahead."
He had to think a moment, and decide what he wanted. For a moment he wanted to make the island beach – it was familiar and easy to make but... It just felt wrong now. But a beach, that was nice – and a paopu tree. He liked that too. Fine white sand, but a moon that was familiar to Roxas first and then him, but neither of them really liked the darkness, so maybe sunset was good, and then a few rocks to sit on – and they couldn't forget some fish and a few plants, not tropical in nature, mostly grass-like thing.
Sora didn't realize her had closed his eyes until he was opening them in tandem with Roxas. He quirked an eyebrow at Roxas, who was flushing slightly. "Thanks for the help."
"Sorry. You started doing it and I could feel it and I just – Sorry," Roxas nearly squeaked, his whole face red. Sora almost laughed but knew that would be a mistake. He smiled gently and reached out a hand toward Roxas's face, turning the other boy to look at him.
"I'm not mad. I thought it was neat. I like us working together." He realized after he stopped speaking that holding Roxas's face was a mistake. The blond was staring at him, the intent stare reminding him of their fight before he even knew who Roxas was. He had just been another Organization member – he hadn't even realized it was in their mind – but real as well.
Roxas leaned into the touch and Sora dropped his hand quickly. Roxas was still staring at him and had it been anyone else he would have turned away and tried to pass it off as nothing – but he couldn't lie to his Nobody. Roxas smiled, but it was twisted and his eyes dark, his voice bitter. "You should be mad. It would be easier sometimes if you weren't so damned friendly."
He really didn't want to have this conversation, but he made himself stay still, available for Roxas to rant at and talk to him – but the boy only sighed, and leaned forward. Sora froze, but suddenly knew Roxas wouldn't kiss him, wouldn't give him the opportunity to reject him. Instead he touched their foreheads together and muttered, "Let's spend some time on this beach of yours. Teach me how to fish with my hands?"
Smiling brightly, Sora leaned away, but grabbed Roxas's wrist. "Sure! Come on, you'll love it!"
Roxas was eyeing the bright moon in the sunset sky with amusement. "You know, I think our beach is a little messed up."
Coming out more seriously than he meant it, Sora replied, "So are we a bit."
Roxas stopped and Sora let his hand fall from his Nobody's wrist. He waited for Roxas to speak, but he didn't, walking by and stepping to the edge of the water. It splashed against his Organization issued boots and Sora came to stand beside him. He hesitated briefly before taking a glimpse at the thoughts running through his mind. Roxas was remembering Axel.
"Hey, you remember in Hades, that soul we felt?" Roxas asked suddenly. "Do you think the rest of their souls are there too?"
He wanted to answer yes, to give him hope – but he couldn't lie and what came out was, "He died in Betwixt and Between. I – I don't know if souls can... maybe there's an in-between underworld?"
Roxas sucked in a breath, and Sora knew that Roxas had never considered that, had been hoping somehow that maybe he could say his goodbyes to Axel someday if they found the right soul – and now the hope shattered and Sora felt it like it was making cuts in their heart and soul, cutting deep into Roxas as the boy just stayed absolutely still, and said nothing except a single word, more breath of released air than anything. "Oh."
"I – Roxas, I'm sorry. If I'd know you were there at the time, known what we could do I would have switched and – "
"I wasn't. Or, I was, but until the fight in The World That Never Was, we wouldn't have been able to switch or talk." Roxas's voice was flat, and Sora moved a way a few paces, leaving him alone.
The water felt a little cold, which was right, but the air didn't feel like anything despite the sunset sky and the bright moon. He made the air hotter, like it should be when someone went to the beach. Roxas's voice floated over to him. "I'm going to burn up with all this on."
"Change clothes then," Sora suggested with a grin as he did just that – red swimming trunks suddenly on him while the rest of his clothes disappeared. He raised a challenging eyebrow at his Nobody, who smirked, and suddenly was in gray swimming trunks.
"Gray? C'mon, Roxas, you can do better than that!" And suddenly Roxas's trunks were yellow, and Roxas yelped in outrage – and Sora's turned white.
That seemed to be the breaking point, because suddenly they were wrestling in the shallows of the water, their swimming trunks changing colors rapidly – and sometimes other clothes appeared as well. When Roxas ended up in a dress he paused and glared at his Other. "You are so gonna get it."
"But Miss Roxas, you just look so pretty to – ack!" Sora bolted as Roxas's clothes changed back to trunks and the boy sprang for him. Too late - he was pushed down and got a mouth full of salt water.
It wasn't really real, and they knew this – but it was fun to pretend, and Sora knew it didn't do any good to worry about it.
Sora was honestly surprised when he went to bed on the beach one "night" and didn't wake up on it. He wondered how long he had been out, and could feel Roxas's excitement in the back of his mind. 'You're awake. Truly awake. We both are. Sit up, let's see where we are.'
Rolling his eyes at the order, Sora did, surprised when a thin blanket that had been placed on him slid down his bare chest and he saw bandages. It still hurt a little, but was mostly healed. Weird, that it wasn't healed all the way. Had Alcexan found someway to counteract that?
The bed's smooth sheets wrinkled as he slowly moved his legs sideways and stood up, clad only in boxers. The floor was cold as his bare feet touched down, but he didn't wince. His legs felt a little shaky, but he didn't fall. He kept a supporting hand on the bed and took a good look around.
He recognized the house. It was Leon's. That meant they were back in Radiant Garden. He was confused at first – but then it made sense. If he had been hurt badly, Aerith was the best healer they knew. His eyes continued roving about the room and he blinked as he spotted a figuring sleeping in a wooden chair. "Leon?"
He winced as he heard his own voice, weak, scratchy and hoarse – but it was enough to wake the man and gray eyes sprang open, a hand going for the Gunblade set beside the chair. Then he froze, and Sora smiled nervously. Leon rose slowly, his eyes studying him intently. Then the man took a few strides to his side and didn't say a thing, just put a hand on his head first, ruffling his spikes as if to make sure he was real.
Seconds later, to his surprise he was pulled gently against a hard body and Leon's voice hissed, "Idiot."
When Leon didn't say anything more, but continued to hold him still, he let himself lean against the man who had taught him what Heartless were, taught him to survive and looked out for him like a brother. He wrapped his own arms around Leon's back after a few moments and said sheepishly, "Sorry."
"Better be," Leon said gruffly, but the bite was taken out by the gentle hands on his back still holding him and Sora smiled. He guessed he must really have worried everyone if Leon was actually hugging him – sure, the man had come a long way and smiled a bit more, but touching? He must have nearly died.
Finally Leon twitched and his hands moved back a little and Sora took it as the appropriate time to let go and take a step back, asking the question now bothering him, "Where's everyone else?"
"If 'everyone' means Riku and Kairi, they're in the next room. They worried too much. We put them to bed." Now Leon sounded almost amused, but Sora was already making his wobbly way to the door.
He was hauled by with a sigh of exasperation. "In the morning."
"But – " Sora tried to protest. Leon shook his head and Sora sighed, understanding. He didn't really feel tired though. He pressed a hand to the bandages around his middle instead. "Why isn't it healed all the way?"
"Aerith will explain. Tomorrow." Leon was glaring pointedly at the bed. Sora rolled his eyes but went back to bed, laying down. He wasn't really tired – but he forced himself to relax and breathe evenly until the door clicked closed. Only then did he get up, as silently and carefully as he could, and crept toward the door.
Leaning his head against it, he didn't hear anything for a few minutes, and finally decided he was going to be left alone now that he had woken up. He opened the door – and came face to face with Cloud, whose hand was poised to grab the doorknob. The blond raised an eyebrow. Sora smiled sheepishly.
Cloud rolled his eyes, but tilted his head to one side and stepped back, glancing pointedly to the side. Sora took an unsteady step into the hallway, not surprised to feel Cloud suddenly holding his shoulder. He didn't shake it off, but took the few quick steps to the next door with Cloud supporting him.
When the door opened, he wasn't surprised to find Riku and Kairi's beds pushed together and the two of them nearly touching in their sleep. He forgot all about Cloud's presence as he closed the distance between their beds and the door. Looking down at them he sighed only half audibly at the clear signs of worry and stress on their faces even in sleep. Riku's hair was in disarray, cast over the pillow in messy tangles. He was curled up, and Sora frowned as he saw one hand was clenched around something.
He leaned over just enough to see the tips of familiar bloodied metal – Slender Thorn's keychain. "He's been holding it since they brought you here."
Sora almost jumped out of his skin. He had forgotten Cloud was there. He turned wide eyes toward the blond, who raised an eyebrow casually as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Are you gonna wake them up or what?"
Trying to glare, his lip curled outward into a pout. He shifted, legs brushing the edge of Riku's bed, and stared hard at his friends. Kairi's hair was in a similar state to Riku's, and she looked pale and drawn. And a little like she had lost weight – which was strange because he hadn't thought he'd been out that long, and Riku still looked the same. He was paler as well – but nothing compared to Kairi's sickly appearance. "What's wrong with her?"
"Overuse of magic." Simple, matter of the fact, but Sora had no idea what he was talking about. So he reached out and ran a hand down Riku's face gently. He would know – and he didn't want to wake Kairi if she was sick.
"Who's tha'?" Riku mumbled. Sora smiled, thought it was a little weird. Riku usually woke up right away. He must have been really tired. Sleepy aqua eyes focused on him. "Sora? What time is it?"
Lips curving into a smile, Sora leaned down and kissed him. He could tell the moment Riku came fully awake when the kiss changed from a gentle touch to lips suddenly pressing up none too gently, and hands pulling him down. He winced and pulled away as his bandage-clad stomach was pushed against the metal frame. Ignoring the pain, he grinned at Riku and softly said, "Hey, Riku."
"Sorry," Riku said, and Sora was stunned to see Riku had dropped his hands altogether back to the sheets and was clinging to the white fabric, not looking at him, mouth twisted into a bitter line and his expression radiating guilt. "I pulled you down and it hurt, I saw it did, and I couldn't stop Alcexan and I'm sorry."
It came out in a rush and Sora's lips twitched. He wanted to be amused, to laugh – but he couldn't. He just didn't feel it there, not when Riku was looking like he really was feeling guilty and blaming himself. "Riku, none of this was your fault."
"You say that. You always say that but it is. I should have put up a dark shield, or gotten you to Roxas faster before that – or just stopped Alcexan from going into the dark portal before that." Riku's voice edged closer to depressed than Sora had heard in a long time.
"And maybe I should have finished him off the first time I met him," Sora returned softly, leaning closer. "Maybe I should have turned faster or maybe I should have gotten to Roxas faster, before I was unconscious. If you want to get into the blame game, I've got more when it comes to Alcexan. It wasn't your fault. Now scoot over and lemme lay down. And tell me what happened to Kairi."
He was surprised when Riku actually did, sliding right to the edge of the bed, nearly onto Kairi's. It was a small space and Sora thanked his father and mother for the genetics that made him so scrawny. He still had to get right next to Riku and lean onto him, which wasn't any sort of hassle. Getting himself comfortable, one arm curled over Riku's chest and feeling his body heat seeping through the thin cloth between them he sighed happily. "So? You going to drop the guilt."
"No. I should have done something. And Kairi – Kairi overused her magic. I should have stopped her." Riku's voice was low, and Sora was wishing he dared chance a fight. He really wanted to hit Riku – which wasn't the best idea considering he was still injured.
Instead, he bit Riku's pajama clad shoulder and after the boy stiffened in shock, he let go and said, "Stop Kairi? She's as stubborn as either of us, sometimes more stubborn than both of us put together. If she was determined to do something, you couldn't have stopped her. You know that. And Alcexan hit me – so what? I'm alive. Is he?"
It was actually something he was anxious about. The Nobody had trailed them for too long, and if he could be hurt like this, so could the other two. And he knew what Alcexan had done to Roxas – and what he had insinuated he would do, just to hurt him. The kiss, the hint of more – no matter what Kamxis had said to Roxas about it, Sora didn't trust that the Nobody wouldn't do something worse to either of his friends just to hurt him
"He's dead. Very much so," Riku said, and there was a hint of smug amusement there, enough that Sora could figure out what had happened. Riku had been the one to do it. He relaxed fully, sighing into Riku's neck as he rested his head against the boy's broader shoulders. Wrapping an arm around Riku and throwing a leg over his, he squirmed a little until he felt perfectly comfortable and closed his eyes.
"What are you doing?" Riku asked, a little sharply.
Sora ignored the tone and replied contently, "Going to sleep. And so are you. We can talk more in the morning."
"Look – " Riku was interrupted by a shadow blocking the light from the hallway. Sora opened his eyes to slits to see a familiar blond head, blue eyes almost expressionless – but there was a faint hint of a smile on Cloud's lips.
"Sora's right. Go to sleep. It's my shift." Cloud brushed a hand over Riku's bangs, and Sora didn't even bother to hide his gaping jaw when Riku didn't do more than glare. Cloud chuckled and suddenly the hand was ruffling his own brown spikes. "Don't have nightmares."
It sounded like an order. Sora, curled over Riku, was perfectly happy to take that order as the door closed and darkness washed over them.
In the "morning" – which was actually early afternoon – he was still wrapped around Riku, Kairi was still asleep, and there were loud arguments coming from the hallway. Feeling grumpy that his sleep was interrupted he slipped off the bed, stomped over to the door, opened it, and glared sullenly out at the adults. "You're loud."
'I think you spent too much time on the beach with me. Picking up my habits,' Roxas mused, laughing in the back of his mind. Giggling, if Sora had to put a name for it. And as he thought that loudly, the laughter stopped and he felt Roxas grumbling in the back of his mind.
Four pairs of surprised eyes were on him – and Cloud's were beginning to look faintly amused as well. "Good afternoon."
Scowling, he rubbed at his eyes and glanced over his shoulder. The other two were still asleep, so he could forgive his four friends for being a little loud. He stepped into the hallway and closed the door, leaning back against it. "So what's up? What's going on?"
"Here," Cid said before anyone could get another word in, and shoved his black outfit onto him, metal clinking together in a grating melody. "Put these on and then talk to us. You have a big damn hole in your stomach, kid. You don't need to get sick as well."
He would have pointed out it wasn't that cold – but he wasn't going to argue with them and he put the clothes on right then and there, feeling a little better with them on. He brushed his fingers against the fabric over his stomach. It felt as good as new – just like it always did. His eyes flicked around the four until Leon cleared his throat. "I found the needles and thread for it."
Since that had been the question he was about to ask, he shrugged and looked at them. "So, what's going on? How long have we been here? Why is Kairi sick?"
All three men turned to look at Aerith, who shook her head, eyes rolling and lips twitching into a smile as the three men unanimously and silently decided she would speak for them. "You've been here for about a week and a half. Riku and Kairi made it back here in record time."
"Nearly wrecked the ship doing it," Cid grumbled.
Cloud hissed, "And Sora would be dead if they hadn't."
Aerith's stare quelled the beginning of an argument and she continued, "Kairi and Riku had been keeping you alive on magic and Potions until then. They used up every thing they had. Riku conjured potions, and they both drank ethers until there was nothing left. But they made it in time – we bandaged you up and used everything we had to keep you alive. Kairi kept using magic, even though it wasn't working too well, because it was still working better than the potions. She collapsed yesterday afternoon. She was drawing out more magical energy than she had, and taking a little bit of her life force to do it each time."
Sora paled and was glad the door was behind him to keep him up. Aerith quickly continued, "She'll be fine, she didn't do any lasting harm. While you heal up all the way, I'll teach her more about magic. She needs more knowledge – you all do. Do you know why you're not healing?"
He shook his head, and she didn't look surprised. "Magic – and potions are magic in their own way – always has side affects. Most are obvious – fire you sometimes burn yourself, Blizzard and you find yourself unable to get warm. You have a good instinctual grasp on these things, so you probably barely feel side affects. Cure magic is different – any healing magic is. It's speeding up the body's natural healing process. This does two things – it puts foreign magic in your system, and it makes the body do something it wouldn't normally be able to do without more side affects. The problem is, you do this too much, and your body will refuse more. Not permanently – but the magic has to dissipate fully, and your body needs to remember how it normally works. So being healed so many times in one day made the magic less effective. Your own body was resisting the magic. It was too much at once."
Sora thought he got most of it. "What about potions? They don't work the same, do they?"
"No. They're magic, but of a different kind, made from natural magical products. Plants, mostly. You gain a slow tolerance to them instead. Unfortunately your body sees them as a virus, interrupting the natural order of things, and builds up it's own kind of immunity. Elixirs take much longer to build immunities up – those and hi-potions are the real reason you're alive. Kairi's magic helped a little as well since the time it took to gain back some magical energy was enough time for your body to lose a little resistance. Do you understand?" Aerith's green eyes were gentle, but her voice was firm. He wanted to squirm like a scolded child – but they'd never had time to learn this. They always had to be somewhere.
"Yeah. Um... So eventually potions won't work at all?" Sora asked, having to know.
"They'll be like a high class energy drink," Leon stated. "Cloud's at that point."
"So are you," Cloud pointed out.
Leon's lips curled into a bare smile. "You got there first. Potion junkie."
Ignoring the sudden staring match, Sora looked at Aerith. "So, what do we do?"
"Well, first of all, I train Kairi with her magic more – her Cure spell isn't as good as it could be yet, and hers will be even more powerful than yours when it reaches it's limit. Well, the limit of what I can teach. I sometimes wonder if the three of you have limits." Shaking her head with a fond smile on her lips, she continued, "You go see a few people around down about getting the moogles to carry X-Potions – they're the strongest type of potion publicly sold. I've never heard of anyone getting to the point where X-Potions don't work. Elixirs are the same way, but for some reason, it's actually harder to make a pure X-Potion. Riku should see what he can learn in the library. I'm afraid his magic is a little unconventional."
Sora grinned at that. Riku in general was unconventional – Sora's magic, powerful as it was, was downright ordinary compared to Kairi and Riku's. "But, um, what now?"
"Oh!" Aerith giggled. "Now, you come down and eat – we're going to have to watch what you eat until you're fully healed."
"I'm sure I've had worse," Sora proclaimed, his thoughts on eating raw animals and bugs in lion form – and grass in deer form. It had seemed so tasty at the time. As had the seaweed in Atlantica. Eating with Jack on the Black Pearl had not been tasty at all though. Ever. Nothing could be worse than that.
Ultima met the Gunblade strike for strike, blocking it every time. Leon raised an eyebrow. "Kairi said something interesting yesterday."
Sora was surprised that Leon would talk during a spar – he rarely did except correcting comments on his mistakes. Those came less and less, but weren't as rare as Sora wanted them to be. As had been pointed out. Riku's style was much more efficient and he was less likely to come to harm – but Sora's was likely to have more power in each stroke and slash. He just left himself open too often. "What about?"
They were making sure Sora was up to his normal strength before they gave him a clean bill of health. They hadn't used magic on him since he woke up until a week before, which had healed the rest of his wound right up. He still had a scar. Leon flicked the Gunblade toward his neck. Sora blocked and he twitched yearningly at the opening on Leon – but he couldn't move Ultima fast enough to take it.
"Why aren't you calling two?" Sudden startling questions used to make him paused. This time he continued with his strike – but Leon didn't block and he froze before Ultima could strike the man's middle, a little shaken. But Leon's gray eyes were demanding an answer and he backed off a step. Apparently this was more important than continuing the spar.
He had to think about it – but he didn't really have an answer. He shrugged. "I've always sparred with one."
In fact, usually he sparred with Kingdom Key. But they had insisted he spar with Ultima – and when Leon stared at him, waiting, he knew this would be insisted upon as well. He took a hand off Ultima to hold in front of him. He shifted Ultima automatically to the side so that Oblivion came up held defensively forward while Ultima was held back, ready to strike out with a full swing behind it.
Leon's lips widened into a familiar smirk and then the Gunblade lashed out. Sora caught it automatically but was surprised to realize Leon was going all out – and he was keeping up just fine. He had been for a while, sure, but usually it was a better run than this. With both Keyblades, it just wasn't the same. Then Leon jerked a foot toward him and he danced back, surprised. "You don't use the rest of your body enough. You defend with it, but you use your Keyblades as your only weapon. We're going to fix that.
"We?" Sora asked, dread filling his stomach.
"Yeah, we!" Two familiar voices popped up and he almost whimpered as he saw Tifa and Yuffie. Tifa was enormously strong – and Yuffie and Tifa were both fast. Had he been thinking a minute ago he needed a new sparring partner? Apparently "be careful what you wish for" really was a terrible thing.
"C'mon Sora, we won't hurt you," Tifa said, taking a position to his left.
Yuffie stood to his right. "Much."
"Go," Leon said, and it was his only warning before all three were swarming onto him. Tifa leapt for him and he dodged her fists, managing to bring up Ultima to block the Gunblade, and Oblivion sweeping away the shuriken thrown his way. But he didn't have time to contemplate because they were all gunning for him and he was twisting out of the way, forced to kick Leon away and unable to focus on one opponent – but it wasn't like he'd never been attacked on three sides before. Too bad he wasn't allowed to use magic.
But, if they wanted him to use the rest of his body more, he would. He bent almost double backward as a shuriken came toward him and rebounded off the Gunblade, Leon's movement pausing. Tifa's fist hit Ultima – and the instant the blade took the impact he banished it, catching Tifa by surprise as he managed to throw her over his shoulder – and had her keep pulling him after her until he was slammed into the wall. He shoved off with his feet, the little space all he needed as he rebounded off the wall, both Keyblades in evidence once more.
He avoided getting cornered again, and when Yuffie managed to trip him he kicked out to bring her down. There wasn't enough room to get in a full swing and with Leon's words fresh in his mind he elbowed her face as she came down and jumped up, above the two adults and landed behind Tifa, Keyblades slashing. She jumped away, but Oblivion's side caught her, making her stumble – and he was on her, blades pointed at her throat – and the Gunblade pointed at his. "Forget about me?"
"You're paying too much attention to me and Yuffie, just because we're faster, and new. Never underestimate the opponent you know," Tifa said as he groaned and let the Keyblades vanish. She grinned at him. "Now, step back and let's do it again."
After a few days of constant training with Tifa, Yuffie, and Leon – with Cloud joining in after the first day, and Aerith and Cid dropping by when they could – Sora had waved off sparring for the afternoon and had snuck into the library. Riku didn't talk much about what he was studying. Mostly, Sora thought this was because he didn't want them to see anything until it was absolutely perfect.
So instead of coming in by the front entrance, he climbed up to the top level and used the door in the side, and then crawled out onto the bookcases to watch his boyfriend.
From the looks of it, Riku was doing really well – and he was doing more than just medicine. Sora recognized the books by ones he had casually looked at once and slammed shut. That magic was too complicated in theory for him to understand. Enchantments on the items – like his clothes, though that was higher, more powerful magic than what Riku had there. More like what had been put on Kairi's clothes. Sora had to have Merlin help with that – but if Riku could learn how to do them, they wouldn't need to have anyone else help. They could be self-sufficient. Except for what the moogles did – but then... Why not? The moogles couldn't be everywhere, and someone had to learn how to do it.
Carefully sneaking down and out of Riku's sight, he did look for a few books – and quietly sighed. 'I don't think you're patient enough to learn that kind of magic. Maybe Kairi can do it.'
'Then what do I do?' Sora complained, feeling a little left behind. Except he could feel Roxas grinning in his mind.
'Who says you need too? You have power, and you can sew.' Roxas didn't sound like he felt it was a big deal – but Sora wanted to help more.
'Grow plants,' Roxas suggested, and Sora felt something in his gut twist as he remembered his mother and gardening with her, remember when she told him how wonderful he was doing with his little patch of garden. How long had it been since he had thought of her? How could he forget she had been missing?
'Sora!' Roxas's sharp thought brought him out from that spiral quickly and he took a breath, shaking off the melancholy mood threatening to envelope him.
Focusing on what Roxas had said he asked, 'How will plants help?'
'You really need to listen and read more often. Potions and Ethers and all of their relatives are made from plants. Some can be conjured – and some can't. Ethers can't be conjured. Neither can Elixirs. Other things can probably be made only with plants. You like to garden. And maybe it won't be as useful on the journey – but Kairi's not likely going to have time to synthesize equipment, or Riku to enchant clothing much, either.' There was a pause and then Roxas added, sounding a little awed, 'You're thinking of the future, you know. Long term, what the three of you could do together. So is Riku, I bet. Kairi probably too. You never even think of what you would do if you were apart.'
'We never will be!' Sora stated firmly, climbing back up to the top level by jumping up onto the bookcases and shimmying over to the table on the upper level.
'Really? What if Kairi falls in love? With someone other than you two. What then?' Roxas asked.
Sora stilled in his search for books and bit his lip. 'She probably will someday, won't she? I don't know what we'll do then.'
There was a moment of silence in his mind before Roxas said very quietly, sounding sad, 'No, I don't think she ever will. She'll probably be with you too forever. None of you can even conceive of leaving the other two anymore.'
It should have made Sora happier. It didn't.
When they finally were on their way again, Sora had practiced Water and Earth until Aerith had told him he was in danger of magical exhaustion, practiced until his muscles screamed, and read up on plants with mystical and magical properties until his eyes watered. And he had pushed himself every single day. If his friends were going to train, he was going to make sure he was putting just as much effort in. He had barely seen his friends for the past two weeks. They looked exhausted.
"I have to ask," Kairi began, her lips twisted into mild amusement. "Do I looked as bad as you two?"
"Yes," Riku answered with a groan. "I've practiced with Cloud and Leon everyday – and I have no idea how they do it, practicing with both of us, Sora."
"Cloud only practiced with us sometimes, and only in the afternoon. Morning I practiced magic, when you were sparring." Sora stretched aching muscles and settled his packs in their room before going toward the cockpit. There were two other pairs of weary footsteps copying his movements and once the gummi ship was up and running, Kairi sighed loudly, getting Sora and Riku's attention.
"You know, I think we worked them as much as they worked us. I had Leon and Tifa in the evenings. I read in the morning and practiced with Aerith every other afternoon and Merlin on the other days." Kairi leaned back in her chair, staring at them and Sora turned his gaze on Riku.
"What? I sparred with Cloud in the morning. And Leon, sometimes – how the hell did he spar with all of us? Read in the afternoon. Practiced conjuring in the evening. So, was Sora with you in the evenings?" Riku looked toward Kairi and Sora smiled sheepishly at his friends.
"I was reading in the evening," he explained. Roxas added, 'And making sure the moogle spread on that they should start stocking hi-potions and x-potions everywhere. And buying every X-potion, Elixir, and Ether you thought could possibly fit, making a nice dent in our munny. Oh, and buying seeds.'
'Hey, do I report on your evening activities?' Sora shot back, trying to keep the pout off of his face.
Dryly, Roxas responded, 'Those were my evening activities too, since I was the one buying the seeds.'
Sora chose to ignore that, feeling Roxas smiling smugly – now he knew that Roxas really was doing that, even if only in a projected beach in their mind. It was a great beach. 'It's our beach. How could it not be?'
The arrogance there was too much and Sora snorted. When Riku and Kairi both glared at him, he flushed, smiling nervously. He had missed something. "Sorry. Talking to Roxas."
"I asked what you were reading about," Kairi explained, her eyes twinkling with an unreadable emotion.
Sora shrugged, feeling his flush deepen. He quickly pretended to be deeply engrossed in the control panels as he mumbled, "Gardening with plants that are... ya know, magical."
There was a pause, and a snort of laughter from Riku. "Is that all? At least we were reading something important."
"Hey," Kairi protested as Sora bristled mentally but hunkered down, still embarrassed. It was kind of useless.
"Well, what can you make from plants that I won't eventually be able to conjure up?" Riku asked, the amusement in his voice clear. Sora understood it. He thought Sora had just been reading because he had liked to garden, and even mystical plants were just plants.
That didn't stop Sora from snapping, "Elixirs, that's what."
In the following silence, Kairi was the first to speak. "Elixirs are made from plants?"
His head snapped up and he stared at Kairi. "Didn't Aerith explain?"
Kairi squirmed around in her seat and said slowly, "She explained about our bodies gaining immunities – but she didn't say what Elixirs, Potions, or Ethers are made from."
"They're all made from plants," Sora said, shrugging. He guessed Aerith hadn't felt it necessary to tell Kairi – or just hadn't gotten around to it. Seeing both of his friends looking at him strangely – and was that a flash of envy on Riku's face? – he offered, "I brought some books with me if you want to look at them."
"So... you can just grow anything from those plants. Endless supply of Hi-Potions and Ethers." There was something very flat about Riku's tone.
He grimaced, both at Riku's voice and the subject. "Not really. It's kinda... hard. It's more of something to do if I ever have a home. I can't really grow them on the ship. There's not enough sunlight or water. Or room."
"Oh," Riku said, sounding a little relieved – and then he sat up as if he had been stung. "Wait a second – Kairi, are your Light Flares actual light?"
Kairi shook her head. "It's not that kind of light. It's like the light inside of us – not sunlight."
"Oh," Riku repeated, this time sounding disappointed but now Sora's mind was working, trying to remember – then he shook his head. He couldn't remember. Maybe he would look in the elemental spells book later and see if it was something in there. He really needed to thank Riku again for that book.
Sinking back into his chair, they were in silence until Riku asked, "You're healthy now, right Sora?"
Sora blinked his eyes open, honestly surprised and almost laughing. "Oh, um. Yeah. I nearly forgot I was injured."
He didn't realize he had said something wrong until Riku had pinned him to his chair, glowering from above him. "Sora. Are you stupid? You almost died! How the fuck can you forget that?"
"Hey, there was a lot going – "
He didn't get a chance to finish as Kairi appeared over Riku's shoulder. "Died, Sora. We thought you were dead at one point! You – you can't just treat this like it was another injury!"
"But – it kinda was," he said meekly. "I recovered from it, I'm healthy, and I didn't lose a limb."
"No, just all your brain cells," Riku growled. "Damn it, Sora. Don't you even fell a little sorry about missing over a week of your life?"
Sora was about to point out he had lost a year of his life and taken it with no more than a few confused glances at the date and grumbling about people's memory loss, but Riku was already stalking off. Panicked, he glanced at Kairi, who smiled slightly. "Go after him. We can talk later. Just – don't take it so lightly anymore, okay? I don't think either of us can stand it."
Sora scrambled up from his seat and paused to kiss Kairi on the cheek in a quick show of gratitude before racing after his boyfriend. Except Riku definitely didn't want company, because the door was locked. Rolling his eyes, he took out Ultima. The first thing Leon had taught him was that he could open treasure boxes with it – door locks were no different, mechanical or not. He stomped in – and slammed right into a dark shield.
Dazedly, as he stared at it from the floor, he wondered how much of an energy drain that was to keep it sustained – or how much it wasn't. How good had Riku become with it?
He found out when he tried again and the shield was down. Riku was inside their room, trying desperately to beat up the wall. "You know, the wall's kinda defenseless."
"Any Nobodies or Heartless? No? Then the damn wall can take it." Riku slammed his fist into the wall. The metal dented slightly.
"I don't know about that – but if you're mad at me, hit me." It wasn't like they hadn't ever fought or wrestled before.
Riku shook his head, his wild mane of silver hair going everywhere. Sora shrugged, deciding he couldn't force his friend into a nice match – not when he was this angry. "When was the last time you brushed your hair?"
Riku's fist paused just before hitting the metal wall again and Sora patted himself on the back. Even if Riku was giving him a long considering look, like he was thinking his best friend was a little nuts. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"C'mere. I'll brush it out." Sora was already going through Riku's bags for a brush, ignoring the sounds of discontent from the older boy.
"I'm not a girl," Riku protested as Sora pushed him back to sit on a bed.
Sora raised an eyebrow and then leaned forward, putting his hands on either side of Riku's hips and when their lips nearly touched he whispered, "Really?"
Pressing his lips firmly against Riku's, he was aggressive in the kiss, his tongue pushing into Riku's mouth – and Riku gave as much as he got, trying to pull Sora forward and press their mouths more firmly together, tongues sliding against each other. Sora forgot about brushing Riku's hair, only pausing to pull back and whisper, "I couldn't tell."
The snarl from Riku's mouth made Sora swallow thickly. His boyfriend's angry sounds should not sound so good. But they did and Sora let Riku pull him down, and urged them both further back on the bed so they weren't half hanging off. He didn't even mind when Riku tore his shirt trying to get it over his head. He could fix it later. Fingers and a clever mouth danced across his chest. He really didn't mind the expression Riku made when he worked a hand into his boyfriend's pants.
And he forgot to mind anything at all when Riku slipped off his shorts and returned the favor with his mouth.
Forgot to mind everything including, unfortunately, the lock. He was reminded of this as he was sluggishly reaching for his clothes.
"Agh! Damn it, you two! Lock the door next time!" Kairi stomped her foot, blushing brightly – and took just a second too long to stare at them before suddenly squeaking and bolting out of the room.
Sora was trying to suffocate himself by way of pillow when Riku asked thoughtfully, "Did she just check us out?"
"No. She didn't check us out because that didn't happen because we remembered to lock the door," Sora said firmly.
'No you didn't,' Roxas supplied helpfully just before Riku said, "No, it was definitely unlocked.
"I'm never going to be able to look at her again," Sora moaned. "At least you had pants on."
Sora took his head out from the pillow in time to see Riku look down at his undone pants and shrug. "Mostly."
Sitting upright, Sora tried to take it like a man. But his words were almost a whimper. "We should apologize."
His wrist was grabbed as he tried to get up and he scowled back at Riku. "What?"
"Showers first. And clothes, we should definitely be wearing clothes this time." Riku was grinning as he spoke and Sora flushed again. Part was embarrassment and part was exasperation because Riku's grin was anything but apologetic and could better be described as lusty. "Or, we could lock the door and – "
"Showers," Sora said firmly, and his lips twitched as Riku descended into a pout. "It's Kairi's room too."
"Yeah, I know. Just hoping we get some privacy soon. For her sake as well as ours." Riku was already swaggering toward the shower, evidently deciding he was getting it first.
"Me too," Sora agreed, thinking of Kairi's shocked face – and more guiltily of the lube in one of his bags. He was really hoping the next world was both peaceful and human.
They could all do with a rest. He just doubted they would get it.
End Chapter.
You know, this chapter? Totally wasn't supposed to be this long. And the content in it? Was supposed to take up only part of the chapter. A couple of things jumped me though. So hopefully it wasn't too bad considering the main plot didn't get moving much this chapter. Though, it all was kind of important and will come up later – if not in the story, in the side stories. I did enjoy finally fully explaining my take on potions though. Potions in game only give back a certain amount of HP so as you gain more HP, the potions do less. So I thought, how would this translate to a ore realistic approach? And that's what this was. I have the strange need to tie in the game mechanics realistically.