Standard Disclaimer: This universe belongs to Disney and Square-Enix…I am not them…you figure out the rest.
:Nightlight:
Ever since they got back, Riku hated sleeping alone in his room. His room was dark at night and lonely in a way he never expected to feel once he'd gotten home. Sora was never shocked when he woke to find Riku curled on his floor in a sleeping bag when he woke in the morning. It was one of those unspoken things that they both just understood.
Others would mock Riku for such a childish fear, but those would be people who hadn't faced shadows with their own faces or walked the paths of eternal night alone; those would be people who didn't know that monsters really did lurk in the darkness. Sora understood. In the beginning, Riku really hadn't been afraid of the darkness. By the end, he had learned better.
As the summer came to an end, they realized that their sleepovers, planned and impromptu, would have to be limited once school started again. Riku faced those days with stoic trepidation. About a week before classes began, however, Sora surprised him by hopping into his window one night, a small box clutched in his hand. He held it out and Riku took it, quirking a curious eyebrow.
Inside, nested in a bed of tissue, was a small paopu shaped nightlight. Any other nearly 17-year-old boy would likely have scoffed at the gift. Riku, however, was not any other nearly 17-year-old boy. He smiled warmly and bowed his head in thanks.
Riku still hated sleeping alone in his room. The shadows were always creeping and the memories always haunting, but now, he had the cheery yellow glow of his paopu nightlight to ease the loneliness. It was not just any light after all. It was a representation of his light, and Riku could rest knowing that his was a light that would always chase the shadows away.