"Where am I? Why am I on dry land? Shouldn't my body be too dry to move? And yet I can move my fingers and sit up… What's this weird feeling? It's like I don't have a tail." Glancing down suspiciously, his eyes widened in shock and he nearly let out a scream of panic. That is, he would have screamed. If only a hand wasn't blocking his mouth before he could form the words.
"Don't you dare scream." The familiar voice sounded bored as he left his hand rest across Sora's lips. Leaning over the boy's shoulder as he sat behind him, Riku continued. "If I take my hand away, promise you won't be loud. The guards are still looking for me in Agrabah's main city nearby."
Unable to fully process the situation, Sora nodded numbly, his words lost in his throat. "Why do I have legs?" he whispered in disbelief, gazing down at the pair of pale legs he'd woken up with.
"There's a girl here. Her name's Kai-…", he hadn't had a chance to finish before Sora was standing up, wobbling uneasily toward the familiar girl, sprawled wearily across the golden sand, separated from it by a small powder pink blanket. She looked to be sleeping, her face a mix of relaxation and dreaminess.
Fortunately enough, Sora had wrapped his own blanket around himself before standing, now kneeling beside the girl to examine her more closely. Behind him, still seated on the straw mat, Riku was extremely close to a nosebleed, covering his beet red face with both hands.
"Kairi… I remember seeing her in my dreams. She told me not to worry, and that I would find a good home and friends and get stronger… Was it Kairi who gave me my legs, Riku?" the sound of his voice whispering Riku's name shot right through the silver haired boy, snapping him back to look at Sora, who was still turned away from him, hunched over the girl.
"Yes… It was Kairi. She showed up late last night and we talked a while. She said Ariel had given her a charm infused with a spell that would allow you to trade your fins for legs. All you have to avoid is the bay water and the sea water. It'll also help you heal faster."
"Thank you, Kairi…" he whispered gratefully, kissing her forehead. For some reason or another made Riku's blood boil, watching his lips touch Kairi's face gently.
In response to Sora's words, Kairi shifted slightly and smiled, probably still dreaming. She would have had to travel a long way to find Sora. She at least deserved to rest a while. However the fear that she might take Sora away still lingered with Riku as he retrieved the bananas from his bag, approaching Sora slowly.
"She also said you like fruit… I went last night and picked these for you to have for breakfast. Kairi made you an aroma medicine for you to use later, but first you need to eat." Taking the smaller by his bare shoulder, Riku guided him into a standing position, steadying him as he helped him walk across the warm dry sand, towards the straw mat and the bananas. "We'll wait for Kairi to wake up and then plan out where we're going from here."
…
"Yummy." It was almost comical how Sora nibbled on his banana, holding it in both hands as he sat cross-legged on the mat, Riku facing him as he ate the neglected loaf of bread and his own piece of fruit.
"Have you ever had food from dry land before, Sora?" he asked, taking in the boy's innocent eyes, focusing on tasting the fruit.
"Yeah; an apple that fell off a human's trading boat. It was huge and bright red. It was delicious. Nice and juicy. I got to eat it and watch the humans on shore that day." He explained, savoring the banana.
"Sora, you're awake." It was an obvious deduction, but none the less, Kairi felt she should do something to interfere, if only to get on Riku's nerves. "You're looking stronger already. Has Riku been mean to you?" she almost sounded like a grown-up, making sure a child wasn't hurt by a bug bight or something.
"We're fine, Kairi. And no, I haven't been mean to him. Not once this morning did I yell at him!" he declared proudly, although truthfully it had been difficult for him to keep from yelling at Sora when he would run around in only the blanket, having quickly gotten used to his legs. And oh, was he curious, being able to see all the unique plants on land.
"Kairi, can I stay with Riku?" the boy in question found himself wrapped in Sora's arms from behind, his head resting on Riku's shoulder comfortably.
"I-idiot; don't fondle me like that!" just as quickly as he'd said it was he taking it back, eyes wide as Kairi glared at him over her banana. "I-I mean, don't grope me like that."
"Kairi, Riku's being mean again!" Sora exclaimed, detaching himself from Riku in order to scoot over beside Kairi, who hugged him and tried to convince him that Riku hadn't meant it. Glancing over Sora's shoulder as she hugged him, Kairi mouthed her silent threat. 'I told you not to be mean to him! I can take him away, you know!'
This got Riku's attention, the words escaping before he could stop them. "Sora, I didn't mean to yell at you, honest. I'm sorry." He sweat-dropped wondering how the smaller boy would react.
"Riku, you dummy!" he whined, lightly punching Riku's forearm before sitting between the two. "I think it's just natural for you to be mean." Finishing his banana, he tossed the peel into the trees to decompose.
Unable to keep from laughing at the face Sora made as he pouted beside him, Riku grinned and reached for his newly dry clothes, still on the nearby rock. "Here, blanket boy, put that on and maybe we can start thinking up a plan. We have to find you a more permanent place to stay. More importantly, we have to make sure you aren't found."
Always adventurous it seemed, Sora's face instantly lightened, large blue eyes widening at the possibility that he would get to explore somewhere that wasn't the sea.