Standard Disclaimer: This universe belongs to Disney and Square-Enix…I am not them…you figure out the rest.
:Reciprocation:
On nights when the darkness and memories became too much to bear, Sora was always there to bring Riku back out of his own head, reminding him that they were home and safe. When Kairi fell into guilt over the actions of her Nobody and what those actions had cost all of them, Sora was there to reassure her, reminding her that if things had happened differently, they might never have found each other again.
When the town's people continued pressing them for information about were they'd been, it was Sora who stepped forward with a disarming smile to turn them away. It was Sora who reassured Kairi's parents that she had not been harmed. It was Sora who explained to Riku's parents that Riku would need his space for a while, but would come around eventually. It was Sora who had been their light and support since their return home and long before, and Riku and Kairi were both grateful that they had him back by their side.
Sora never allowed them to see his smiles falter. He reminded himself constantly that their ship ran on happy faces, and he knew that his friends had enough on their plates already without needing to deal with his issues as well. That's why he smiled through his moments of aching wanderlust. That's why he made a point to sooth away as many of the fears of others as he could, because the more he told others that everything was okay, the more he believed it himself.
On nights when they had sleepovers at his or Riku or Kari's house, he would stay awake late into the night to make sure that Riku didn't have one of his bad nights and so that exhaustion would ensure that he wouldn't have a bad night of his own. Even still, he found himself sometimes waking in the dark, shaking; convinced that his hands had become black talons and that the glowing yellow of his eyes was illuminating the room. On such nights, he would stagger to the bathroom, turn on the lights and stare at himself in the mirror, muttering over and over again the placating words of reassurance he always told everyone else.
He always made sure to smile brightest after those nights, surreptitiously checking his eyes in every mirror he came across to assure himself that they held no hint of yellow. He never spoke of missing his friends. He never spoke of the haunting eyes of those he hadn't been able to save. He never mentioned the memories he had of companions half of him had made and the other half had slain. Such things were in the past and he would allow them to stay that way. They were all safe now. That was all that mattered.
"I wish you would trust us," Kairi said one day as they all sat beside the paopu tree.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked, smiling innocently.
"She means that you should stop lying to us and yourself," Riku told him. "Do you really think we haven't noticed?" Sora looked at them both, smile fading from his lips.
"We're not stupid, Sora," Kairi said. 'We know how you are. You've always been too damn self-sacrificing for your own good, but it ends now! We love you, and we will always be grateful for your support, but it's completely unfair to all of us that you don't let us reciprocate." Sora looked to Riku and saw the same words spoken through his eyes. It seemed that they weren't willing to drop the matter, and there was a part of Sora that was eternally grateful.
On nights when the darkness and memories became too much to bear, Sora was always there to bring Riku back out of his own head. When Kairi fell into guilt over the actions of her nobody and what those actions had cost all of them, Sora was there to reassure her. On nights when Sora woke certain that his hands had again turned to dark talons, Riku and Kairi were there to take one of his hands in one of theirs and assure him that his eyes held no hint of yellow. Sora was the light and support of all of them, but he was all the stronger once he had support as well.