The following year had other plans for the boys.
The cries of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty grew louder and louder, until one day Britain finally listened; the Stamp Act was repealed on March 17th, just eleven days before Sora's sixteenth birthday.
Tension grew thick in the colonies, and Sora's fear of losing his best friend and lover overwhelmed him.
On a particular day, he returned to the Destiny Inn and Tavern from an errand to find Riku at the counter, his back turned. Having no one around, Sora placed the package on a table, crept up to Riku, leaped, and threw his arms around him.
"Riku! I'm home!" He announced.
But Riku did not answer.
"Riku...?" Sora's grip eased, and his arms fell to his side.
"Sora..." Riku turned to him, holding a letter in his hand.
"What...is that?" Sora's smile vanished.
"Orders," Riku replied, "I am to return to Britain to continue training. I...I must report at the docks tomorrow."
"No...I...I refuse to let you leave me..." Tears pooled in Sora's eyes. "I can't...I can't let you go..."
"I must," Riku protested softly, "I'm sorry, but I can't disobey orders directly from Captain Sephiroth. If I don't comply, I could be hanged for treason."
Sora's heart clenched. "Stop, just stop! No! You can't leave me now! Not before my birthday, not after telling me you love me!"
"I'm so sorry..." Riku took Sora in his arms, and Sora sobbed into Riku's chest.
"No...please..." Sora wept.
Riku's gentle hand stroked Sora's hair, and he hummed the lullaby he knew.
"I love you, I always will love you." Riku promised. "I'll write to you every day, I promise. It may take a while for the letters to reach you, but when they do, you'll know how much I miss you."
"I love you; I'll write you, too," Sora sniffled.
Riku tilted Sora's head up to face him, and he brushed away Sora's tears. "There...don't cry, Sora. Even though we're far apart, we'll still be in each other's hearts."
"I know..." Sora mumbled. "Kairi used to say something like, 'The world shares one sky, one sky, one destiny', or something like that...I never understood what it meant..."
"Well, I think it means, when I look up at the sky I'll think of you." Riku decided.
"And I'll think of you..." Sora agreed.
Riku gave him a smile. "Smile for me, Sora; don't let me remember your sad face."
Sora smiled weakly.
"That's the Sora I want to remember."
"Can we...celebrate my birthday early?" Sora asked.
"What do you have in mind...?" Riku wondered.
"I want you...to touch me one last time." Sora whispered.
Riku glanced around. "Let me close the tavern first. I shall meet you upstairs."
A wide grin spread across Sora's face, and he gave a quick nod. He dashed upstairs and waited for his lover to meet him.
Riku collapsed and rolled to Sora's side, panting. He clasped Sora's hand in his, refusing to let go.
"I'll never forget that..." Sora joked.
"I won't either," Riku agreed. He turned his head, kissing Sora softly. "I love you."
"I love you, too. Make sure you write me every day."
"I will."
Sora suddenly realized something. "Do you think...people will see those letters and you'll get in trouble for loving a man...?"
"I don't know," Riku admitted, "I suppose we could write in code, but I think your name sounds enough like a girl's name that our secret will be kept."
"I think it would be fun to make up a code between us." Sora decided, "Just in case."
"Alright, what should it look like?" Riku asked.
Sora thought for a moment. "How about the last paragraph should have a secret code so the letters running down the left hand side all create a secret message?"
"That doesn't seem too difficult to decode." Riku said. "But what if someone sees the paper while I'm writing the message down?"
Sora pouted. "I suppose we leave enough room to tear off part of the letter. I would burn the slip on which I decoded the paragraph."
"I shall do the same."
Sora curled up into his lover's embrace, savoring the feeling for the last time in a while.
When Sora woke, he found Riku still sleeping next to him. He reached out to stroke Riku's face. Riku's eyes fluttered open at Sora's touch.
"Good morning," Riku smiled.
"Good morning," Sora echoed. "So...you leave today?"
"Unfortunately," Riku answered.
Sora embraced Riku, dreading to let go. He tilted his head up, and Riku met his lips. He savored Riku's taste, a taste he would surely crave once Riku left.
"I love you so, so much..." Sora whispered.
Riku murmured, "I love you, too."
At nine in the morning, Sora gathered his friends and family at the dock to send Riku off.
"Riku, it was a pleasure having you work and maintain the tavern for me. I shall never find a better employee." Cloud said, shaking Riku's hand.
"What about me, Father?" Sora protested, hiding his sadness behind a joke.
"Like I said, I shall never find a better employee." Cloud jested.
Aerith held out her arms. "Oh Riku, you've become like another son to me."
"Thank you, Aerith. I'll miss you greatly. I'm sure there won't be homemade meals as good as yours where I am headed." Riku said, hugging Aerith.
Then Kairi smirked, stretching out her arms. "I'll miss you, Riku."
"I'll miss you, too. You are such a charming young lady, and the man you marry will be a lucky gentleman." Riku said.
Kairi leaned in close to Riku, whispering something in his ear. Riku whispered something in return.
Riku turned to Axel and Reno, who both shook his hand and wiped a single tear from their eyes.
Lastly, it came to Sora. Sora's heart clenched as if someone had reached into his chest and squeezed it. He fought back tears as they exchanged their tamest goodbyes. Sora already craved one last goodbye kiss, but they could not in the presence of Sora's family.
"Will I see you again?" Sora asked.
"I'm sure we will meet again someday." Riku answered. "I wish I could say goodbye to Roxas and Prompto."
"I'll be sure to tell them you said goodbye when they come to visit," Sora said.
"Thank you." Riku nodded.
"Lockhart! Come aboard this instant!" A voice shouted from the ship.
"Well, I must go. Thank you all again for everything." Riku smiled.
He turned, boarding the ship. He peered over the edge as the ship began to drift away from port. He mouthed the words "I love you" to Sora, and the gates that had held Sora's tears broke. He fell to his knees, tears rushing down his face.
"Oh, Sora..." Aerith knelt to her son, holding him in her arms.
Sora remembered how Riku had said he wanted to remember a smiling face, and he lifted his head to the ship again. With all his might, he forced a smile. The silver-haired boy in the distance seemed to smile back, and he disappeared beyond the horizon.
Sora's sixteenth birthday came with much less celebration than his fifteenth.
Roxas and Prompto came to visit, and Roxas was the first to ask, "Where's Riku?"
Silence fell over the boys.
Axel spoke, "It's...kind of a touchy subject, Rox..."
Roxas understood in seconds. "Oh Sora, I'm so sorry..."
"It's alright, he said he would write me every day. And we have a special code so our secret is safe." Sora offered.
"Ooh, what's your special code?" Axel nudged Sora lightly.
"I can't tell you," Sora replied, "otherwise you'll be able to read our letters!"
"Speaking of codes, we received a letter from the Sons of Liberty for our next meeting plans, but we can't decipher where it's supposed to be." Reno said, handing Sora a slip of paper.
Sora looked it over, analyzing each possible outcome for a location. Finally, he tried his and Riku's decoding trick out of curiosity: to his surprise, it worked.
"It's at the abandoned barn past town," Sora answered.
"How did you figure that out?" Reno asked, astonished.
"I went down the left hand side of the letter, looking at the first letter in each line. They spell 'BARN PAST TOWN'." Sora explained.
"Sora, you're a genius!" Roxas announced.
"No, I'm not," Sora dismissed.
Suddenly, the tavern doors swung open to reveal Kairi, who doubled over, panting.
"Kairi! What's wrong?" Sora asked, rushing to his sister's side.
"Mother...and...Father..." she huffed, "Your...birthday...gift..."
"What? Kairi, I don't understand..." Sora said, guiding her sister to a chair to sit down.
Once Kairi had caught her breath, she repeated, "Mother and Father's birthday gift to you...you aren't going to like it."
"What? Why?" Sora wondered.
The doors burst open again to reveal Cloud and Aerith standing in the doorway.
"Sora? We have a very special surprise for you." Aerith announced.
Sora slid off his chair. "What is it, Mother?"
"Well, your father and I decided that it was time you became betrothed..." Aerith began. She glanced at Cloud.
Cloud continued, "So, we spoke with a very good friend of ours; do you remember Ansem, the man who lives down the street and supplies us with our grain?"
"Yes..." Sora replied cautiously.
"Ansem has a daughter Kairi's age we think you will be very pleased to meet." Aerith stepped aside. "Naminé, this is Sora."
A slim blonde girl in a pale blue dress stepped forward. "Oh Sora, I remember you! I came to your birthday party last year."
"Oh yeah, I remember. It's very nice to meet you again, Naminé." Sora took her hand, kissing the top.
"We and Ansem decided that you and Naminé are to have each other's hands in marriage." Cloud finished.
"What?!" Sora shouted.
"Sora, that is no way to speak around your betrothed." Aerith scolded.
"Forgive me, Mother, but I was unaware this was happening..." Sora said.
"Naminé did not know until today, either." Aerith mentioned.
"So...she thinks this is just as outrageous as I do, doesn't she?" Sora asked.
"Actually, I was quite happy to hear that we are betrothed." Naminé admitted.
Sora's face flushed in embarrassment. "Forgive me, I must seem quite rude. I just wish I had known this sooner...When is the wedding?"
"We did not plan it for at least a few years," Aerith explained.
"I see...l look forward to it." Sora offered, hoping to appease his mother.
"Well, I shall be in the kitchen preparing your birthday dinner." Aerith hurried past with Cloud following.
Silence hung in the room like thick fog. Finally Sora spoke, "Kairi, can I speak to you upstairs? Alone?"
Kairi nodded, rushing up the stairs with her brother.
"Kairi! What am I going to do? I can't marry Naminé, I don't have feelings for her!" Sora hissed.
"Maybe your attraction will grow as you spend time together?" Kairi offered.
"Kairi, I seem to remember that you were the one who pointed out I have no attraction for girls - at all!" Sora waved his arms frantically.
"You're right..." Kairi sighed. "Well, I suppose you could just pretend..."
"But I don't want to lie," Sora said. "Naminé seemed like such a nice girl at my party last year, I can't just tell her I don't want to marry her."
"I'm sure she would understand if you told her the truth." Kairi suggested.
Sora almost screamed. "No! Even if she does, our parents wouldn't! Kairi...I love Riku so much, but I could never recreate that feeling for someone else, especially Naminé..."
Kairi took her brother into her arms, holding him as he began to cry softly. "I know, I'm sorry...If it makes you feel any better, Mother and Father have chosen someone for me, as well."
"Who?"
"The general store owner's son, Zack Fair."
Sora remembered seeing Zack restocking shelves at the store; he was an athletically-built young man around Sora's age, though he appeared older. He had a messy mane of black hair and striking blue eyes.
Sora nodded. "There's a difference, though: I distinctly remember you having a crush on Zack when we were kids."
Kairi blushed. "I don't deny it, but you did, too, now that I look back!"
Sora shrugged. "He's attractive."
Kairi stamped her foot. "This isn't what we were talking about."
"You brought it up," Sora mentioned.
Kairi shook her head. "Sora, the least you can do is pretend and go along with the marriage. Maybe - and I'm sorry if this is too soon, but - maybe she'll help you forget about Riku..."
Sora's eyes widened. "How could I forget Riku?"
Kairi tread cautiously with her words. "I'm just saying that, in the case that Riku doesn't return, maybe having a backup isn't such a bad thing?"
Anger filled Sora's heart. "How could you say that? You were the one who encouraged me to take the risk and confess my feelings to Riku!"
"I know, and had I known that he would leave someday, I wouldn't have..." Kairi admitted.
"I don't know what to believe, now! Was it a good or bad idea to confess to Riku? Because now he's gone and you're saying he's never coming back, so I should just suck up my feelings and lie?!" Sora's voice was rising now, and Kairi held up her hands.
"Sora, quiet down, she might hear you..." She warned.
"I don't care anymore, Kairi! I can't just pretend!" Hot tears dripped down Sora's cheeks. His voice fell. "I loved him, and if he really is gone, then..."
Kairi held her brother again, squeezing him tighter. "I'm so sorry..."
When she released him, she said, "I'm going to go downstairs and see if anyone heard us yelling. When you come down, I think you should apologize for causing a scene. You don't have to tell them what we were talking about, especially Naminé. Someday you can tell her the truth, but for now, I wouldn't break her heart, even if it breaks yours to forget Riku."
Sora nodded. "I suppose I'll play the game, then..."
Kairi returned the nod. "Maybe Riku will come back and everything will turn out alright somehow."
Sora shook his head. "A nice fantasy, but maybe we should face reality. After all, I'll be married and more than an adult in a few years."
Kairi placed a hand on Sora's shoulder, squeezing it. "I'll see you downstairs for dinner."
She hurried down the steps, and Sora turned to the first room on the right: Riku's room. It was empty, it had been since he left.
He opened the door, the stale emptiness overwhelming. The bed had been made, and the blankets and sheets washed, but he knelt by the bed and clenched the sheets, holding it up to his face in hopes just a bit of Riku's scent still lingered in the fabric. But nothing came to him.
He rested his head on the bed and let out his remaining tears.