A/N: I apologize this came out so late. First I procrastinated on it, then the site didn't want to let me copy and paste it into my doc manager.
Valentines
In order to celebrate one year of himself and Sora dating, Riku takes Sora to a special world themed after Valentines Day.
"Hey, Riku, tomorrow marks one year of you and Sora dating, right?"
Riku glanced up at Kairi as she entered his room. "I believe so," he responded, not bothering to address her by her title as he could already tell this would be an informal meeting. "Why?"
"Ever heard of Valentines Town?" she asked. "It's part of the set of holiday-themed worlds."
"I think I read about it once," Riku replied- the name seemed vaguely familiar. "I've never been there, though."
"I know that," the light goddess laughed. "I'm pretty sure I could name all the worlds you've been to. You really need to get out more often. Anyway, Queen Minnie was telling me about it. I think you should take Sora there. I think he'd love it."
"And what about me?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow, although he could already predict her answer.
"You'd enjoy it just because Sora was," she replied, exactly how he'd expected. "Seriously, you should take Sora there. Just bring back bucketfuls of chocolate water for me."
"You do realize too much chocolate will rot out your teeth, right?"
"I don't care. Now, go give your boyfriend some love. He's lonely."
"Kairi, I'm trying to-"
"Go." Oh, dying stars. She was using The Tone.
"Yes, Kairi."
Riku woke up the next morning with a yawn, orienting himself quickly. Sunlight filtered through the window onto his face. Okay, this was Sora's room. The sky god was the only person he knew who slept under a window. There was a reason he did it, that being that his powers needed line of sight. Sora had positioned his bed so that he could do his job while also being lazy.
It wasn't uncommon for the two of them to share a bed, in an entirely innocent manner. Hence the reason there was a lump in the blankets beside him, with brunet spikes peeking out the top.
"Sora, you awake?" he asked. Sora was generally unreliable in the morning. Sometimes he went back to sleep after raising the sun.
"No," came the muffled reply. Riku chuckled. Typical Sora.
"Do you remember what today is?" It wouldn't be the first time he'd forgotten an important date.
"Saturday?" the sky god tried.
"Yes, but what else?" Riku replied patiently.
"No idea," Sora mumbled. "Tell me."
"It's been one year since we started dating, you dork," Riku laughed.
"Seriously?" Sora questioned, sleepily snuggling closer to the other. "It feels like it's been so much longer."
"I can agree with that," the silveret conceded. "Still, I wanted to take you somewhere to celebrate. You up for it?"
"Where would we go?" Sora asked. Riku shook his head, denying him an answer.
"It's a secret, but I promise you'll like it." The balance god knew that the brunet loved surprises.
"Fine, but… five more minutes?" Sora also loved sleeping.
"Trust me, Sora. This is better than sleep." Or so says Kairi. Riku hoped she had been right.
Sora's reply was predictable- "What could be better than sleep?" Still, the lump in the blankets shifted, the brunet's head and shoulders becoming visible as he sat up and yawned hugely.
Riku chuckled- the combination of that and Sora's bedhead in the morning made him look like a lion.
"What's with the laugh?" Sora groused, giving him a look.
"Nothing," Riku said immediately, biting back a playfully snarky reply; he knew Sora hated it when Riku started a snark battle and Sora couldn't finish it.
Either way, the silveret was content that he was sufficiently motivated. Riku got out of the bed, walking to the door. "I'm going to change clothes." He'd slept in his day outfit, meaning it was all wrinkled. "Be ready when I get back."
Much to his surprise, when Riku returned, Sora actually was ready. Given that the prince normally took forever in the mornings, 'be ready when I get back' was mostly a habitual phrase.
"Someone's excited for their surprise," he teased, smiling as Sora opened his mouth to defend himself. "It's okay- this is worth it. Close your eyes." He reached for the brunet's hand as he obeyed, entwining their fingers.
Every world had a magical essence that a Keybearer could lock onto. However, they all twisted together to form the universe. As such, you needed to have a somewhat detailed description of your desired world in mind.
It took him a few tries, but Riku managed to find Valentines Town's signature. He reached out for it, bracing himself for the usual sensation of being momentarily torn from reality.
His surroundings blurred before solidifying into an unfamiliar location. It seemed like some sort of town square, the ground blanketed by pink petals, probably fallen from the cherry blossoms that grew out as far as he could see. There was a fountain spouting liquefied chocolate, and little flowers with candy hearts growing on them. Most of the residents had red or pink hair, and there were many kinds of couples walking down the street holding hands. It was before dawn, casting the world in darkness, but strings of red lanterns lined the streets, illuminating the area. Kairi's right. Sora will love this place. "You can open your eyes, Sora."
A second later, Riku heard a gasp of awe from the shorter brunet. "Whoa, this place looks amazing, Riku!" he exclaimed in excitement.
"I told you you'd like it," the silveret told him with a smile. "Anyway, you lead. I'm fine with going wherever you want to go."
"But Riku! There's so much we could do," the prince despaired. "How am I meant to choose what to do first?"
Riku chuckled, the answer being a motto he had been taught since he was a child. "Let your heart decide."
Sora contemplated this for a moment, before nodding. "Okay, I think I know what I want to do," he announced. "Follow me!" He released Riku's hand, darting off. The silveret shook his head in fond exasperation, before making his way after the young sky god.
Unsurprisingly, Sora had led Riku into a candy shop- it was no secret that the brunet had a massive sweet tooth.
"This place is the best I've been to," Sora declared, eyes wide with awe at the wide variety of treats. "Can we just buy everything?"
"Why should I spend that much munny on you?" the balance god teased. It was a joke, and they both knew it. So long as it wouldn't make him broke, Riku would buy the brunet whatever he wanted.
"Because you love me," the sky god implored, lowering his voice to a whisper out of habit.
"I also love my munny," Riku retorted, causing Sora to laugh. "Seriously, though; I'm willing to buy you some candy, but too much will make you sick."
Sora's eyes gleamed. "Okay," he agreed, looking back at the displays of candy. "...Are you going to get some for yourself?"
"Sora, you know I'm not really a person who likes sweet things," the silveret reminded. It was true; the only sweet thing he really liked was dark chocolate due to the contrasting bitterness. Funnily enough, it was also one of the few sweets Sora didn't like.
"Just one of the many mysteries of Riku," the prince sighed. "How can you not like candy?" Before Riku could respond, Sora disappeared into the store's depths.
A smile formed on the older teen's face. Sora… I love you so much. Don't ever change.
"This is the best candy I've ever had!" Sora declared, the statement muffled by the slightly liquefied chunks of chocolate in his mouth. Riku chuckled, sitting next to Sora on the edge of the chocolate fountain.
"It's rude to talk with your mouth full, Sora," he scolded lightly. The sky god swallowed before pouting, residual grains of sugar coating his lips.
So Riku leaned in and kissed him. Sora was caught off guard, though he instinctively moved to return the kiss a second later. When he did, his hands moved to the back of Riku's head, tangling in his hair.
They broke apart for air, breathless. Riku could taste the candy that Sora had been eating on his lips.
Sora whined as Riku pulled away. "Later," he promised. "Don't you want to explore more?"
The brunet thought for a moment, before nodding. "You're right. There's still places I wanna go."
"Where to?" Riku asked, also standing up.
"Um…" Sora looked around. "I dunno. Can we just walk around?"
"Sure. Lead the way," the silveret agreed. The sky god began to walk off in a random direction. Riku quickly caught up, reaching for the brunet's hand and entwining their fingers. He was rewarded with a radiant smile.
Sora knelt by the rose-scented river, utterly enraptured. Riku just stood on the bank, chuckling at the younger god's antics. Kairi was right. He does love this world. He glanced at the sky. The sun was at its middlemost point. Midday. Still, I remember this world is about seven hours behind Kingdom Hearts… so, we should be heading back. "Hey, Sora," he called. The brunet looked up. "We should head back." True, it wasn't like they had a curfew (King Mickey trusted him to keep Sora safe) but it was still a good idea to head back before night fell.
"Do we have to?" he complained.
"Yes, Sora," Riku insisted. "It's going to be night soon and, if nothing else, you need sleep." As did Riku. Unlike most gods, the pair really were the age they looked. As such, they still needed the amount of sleep a mortal boy of their age would require. "Besides, if I recall correctly, I promised you kisses when we went back home?"
That did the trick. If there was one thing Riku had learned whilst dating Sora, it was that the brunet could be easily tempted with kisses. "Alright, fine. Let's go."
"Your affronted tone isn't fooling me, Sora," he teased, smirking. At this, the younger teen resorted to his killer pout and puppy dog eyes combo. Individually, Riku might have been able to resist their power due to constant exposure. However, their combined force was more than enough to make him give in. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You know I'm right though." Seriously, those kinds of looks should be outlawed, but since Sora was going to be the future king, that was highly unlikely.
"If I agree with you, will I get the kisses quicker?" Sora asked, pulling a laugh from the balance god. The brunet's persistence was one of the many things he loved about Sora. Sure, it occasionally led to arguments, but those would have happened anyway. Besides, even if Riku didn't like that aspect of Sora, he wouldn't have wanted it to change. After all, there was a reason there was a saying about loving people for who they were.
"Sure, Sora. If that's what you want."
"In that case, you were right, and I'm sorry for doubting the great and mighty Riku," Sora teased, a challenge sparkling in his eyes. It reminded the silveret of when they were children. Certain things had been lost with age, and while the twinkle in Sora's eyes wasn't one of them, Riku felt like they no longer had that perfect shimmer. It wasn't entirely unexpected, and that gleam had vanished the same day Sora's father had died. Yet Riku was selfish enough to wish for that tiny detail his younger self had adored. It was insignificant, though. His little angel was still the most precious person to him in all the worlds, no matter what. In fact, he should be grateful Sora's eyes still shone at all. The loss of a beloved parent was most likely a very emotionally scarring event for the prince, especially considering his age at the time.
Riku hated that he would never truly understand that feeling of grief, as he didn't even know who his parents were. His earliest memories were of his training with Terra, and his mother and father didn't enter the picture even once. He knew he'd asked questions, as any inquisitive child would, but they'd failed to yield any useful information.
He shook himself from his nostalgia. This was the time nor the place. Besides, right now he had Sora, who was far more important to him than parents he never even knew. "I'm neither of those, Sora, but thank you anyway." In any case, Riku was determined to always cherish what he had. He'd come close to losing Sora once, and it was an event he would never let happen again so long as he breathed.
"You are to me." Such simple words, yet they still made his heart sing, stealing his breath away.