Riku can't sleep. He'd spent the last three hours wondering how he could help Sora. He'd never really stopped. He still can't think of anything, but he gets this feeling like Sora needs him around midnight, so he gets dressed and sneaks out of his house.
It's not far to Sora's house from his, but it is a few turns here and there. Then again, most people aren't used to walking like Riku is. He'd spent months walking in the Realm of Darkness in penance. Of course, it hadn't been months in the realm of light, but it had been months for Riku. Or had it only felt like months?
When Riku gets to Sora's house, it's an easy jump up to Sora's bedroom window. Then again most people can't jump like Riku can, either.
Riku knocks a few times before sliding it open with ease.
Riku wonders if Sora had forgotten to lock his window before he sees that Sora isn't even in his room. Riku hops inside before one of the neighbors sees him and tells his parents on him (again) and closes the window behind him.
Riku looks around the room and wonders when Sora stopped being such a slob. Sure, the room wasn't pristine, but it was a hell of a lot cleaner compared to before they started their journey. Riku silently makes his way over to Sora's bathroom to find it empty, too. Sora's bedroom door opens and Sora's mother peeks inside.
"Oh, Riku." She smiles, kindly.
Sora's mother is kind and inviting and has absolutely no problems with Riku coming over at insane hours of the night. Sora's father and Riku's parents, however, have a huge problem with it. They think it's not natural for two boys to be so close.
"Sora went for a walk around ten, and he hasn't been back. You're welcome to stay here. Should I check in at the usual time?"
"Maybe. I'm not sure. I'm going to go look for Sora. Sleep well."
"You, too." He wonders if he has to use the window again.
"My husbands' asleep. You can use the front door." She smiles, making her way down the hallway as he leaves out the front door.
He locks it behind him and wonders which way Sora could have gone. He wanders, letting his mind do the same, and ends up making his way to the docks. He finds that one of their small boats is missing.
Getting into his own, Riku makes his way out to their island. It doesn't take him more than a minute to locate Sora on their little get-away Island. He's standing on the lone isle connected to the Island by only a bridge. Riku worries when he sees Sora is standing there staring at his Keyblade.
He quickly jumps up onto the bridge, foregoing using the little shack with the stairs, and makes his way over to Sora.
"Sora!" Riku calls.
Sora quickly turns around, looking surprised that Riku is there, as the Keyblade disappears in a flash of light. Riku feels a twinge of jealousy that his own disappears in a mist of Darkness while Sora's flashes away.
"You weren't in your room when I came to visit."
Sora looks away, out to the ocean like it's supposed to do something for him.
"Riku?"
"Yeah?" He asks, walking closer to Sora.
"I can tell you anything, right?"
Riku doesn't think he's ever heard Sora sound so unsure of himself.
"Always, Sora." Riku crosses what little distance between them and wraps his arms around Sora.
His heart does a little flip as Sora turns around and hugs him back. The silver haired boy smiles and rests his chin on top of Sora's head. He'd always had a special place in his heart for Sora, but over the course of their journeys, his measly little crush had evolved beyond anything he'd ever imagined was possible. Sure, he'd love to be able to hold Sora in his arms and show the brunet how much he loves him romantically, but Riku knows about Sora's feelings for Kairi and would never give up what he has with Sora. That's not to say Sora would distance himself, but Riku knows their dynamic would change. Sora wouldn't feel comfortable hugging him or casually touching him like he does now.
His feelings for Sora go beyond adoration and affection. He loves Sora more than he ever thought he could love anyone. He wouldn't hesitate to give up the entire island again if it meant protecting Sora. The only people he'd worry about would be Kairi and possibly Sora's mom. Perhaps his family too, but only a little.
"I feel like I need to be doing something." Sora confesses, voice small and thoughtful.
"What do you mean? Like you've got pent up energy?"
Sora shakes his head, jostling Riku a bit, "I need to be doing something important. Something specific but I can't figure out what it is. I know it has something to do with the dreams I've been having but they aren't coherent enough to tell me anything and I know that it's not on the island."
Riku decides to tackle Sora's problem one part at a time.
"What kind of dreams?"
"It's kind of like when I visited Hallow Bastion and Twilight Town. I'd never been somewhere but I had so many feelings and emotions tied to the people and places I'd seen. I could see people I'd never met before but I couldn't hear anything. It's always too short to get anything useful."
"Alright. So you think these dreams are trying to get you to do something. Something that's not on the island."
Sora nods and Riku backs up a little, keeping his hands on Sora's shoulders.
"Then tomorrow, we'll talk to Kairi, and we'll figure out how to get off the island again without using a passage of darkness. We'll find where you feel you need to be, Sora, I promise."
Sora looks up at him in awe and smiles before hugging him again.
"Thanks, Riku. I was afraid you'd laugh." Riku pushes him back just a bit again, to look at his face.
"What? Sora, when have I – okay, bad question. If this is as serious as you're acting it is, how could I laugh at you? This is obviously bothering you and has been for the past week at the very least."
"I don't know, everyone seems to laugh off the feelings I get. Donald and Goofy on our adventures, everyone on the island, and even Kairi has laughed a few times."
"Sora, I will never, ever laugh at you if you come to me telling me you have a bad feeling or if you're feeling down. Never. I promise you that. Now come on, your mom's worried about you and I'm feeling tired after looking all over for you."
Sora grins at him, that bright one that takes over his whole face and body, before agreeing and the two make their way over to the docks where their boats are tethered.
Sora sighs as Riku, Kairi and himself make their way to the small secluded island connected to their getaway island. He feels antsy, more so than he had last night when he'd talked to Riku. Of course, that doesn't mean he's any closer to figuring out what the hell his heart wants him to do.
It would probably be easier if he could dream more fluidly. Maybe then he could tell where he's supposed to actually be instead of wasting time. Then again, even if he knew where he was supposed to be, he has no way of getting off the island without a Gummi ship.
"Earth to Sora!" Sora snaps out of this thoughts to turn and sees Kairi looking at him with worry.
"It must be worse than Riku told me. You've been silent all day."
"I'm just trying to work things out."
"Don't hurt yourself trying too hard." Kairi teases him, but it still hurts a bit.
Instead, he just smiles and huffs out a breath that's meant to sound like a laugh.
"So tell me about these dreams you've been having." Kairi asks, hopping up onto the bent Paopu tree trunk.
"Well…" Sora starts.
"I mean everything, Sora. Even if it seems insignificant to you, it could be a clue." Kairi gives him – what he's dubbed – a 'Royal Glare' which is her way of trying to look like she's in charge.
"Well, it's kind of like reliving a memory. Only, it's more like a nightmare." Sora rests his hands behind his head and lets himself recall what he can from his dreams, "There are two people our age. A guy and a girl and they're both always really happy to see me. There's an older man who looks like he could be their mentor and they all used Keyblades. Something bad happened, but I don't know what, and they were pitted against each other. I think about them and it hurts sometimes. Like when I think about Axel or when I couldn't find Riku and my entire adventure seemed completely hopeless. I get flashes of a castle every now and then, but it's not in focus, more like I'm not really paying attention to anything happening around me. My heart aches in these dreams. It hurts like I'm underwater, and I'm running out of air, and the surface is right there but I can't reach it." Sora lets himself trail off.
"Wow." Kairi sounds floored so Sora looks at her.
She just grins at him, "I never knew Sora was capable of sounding so smart and philosophical!" She laughs and Sora quickly looks down at his feet.
"That was incredibly rude, Kairi." Riku snaps at her, but Sora just keeps his head down.
"Oh, come off it, Riku. Sora knows I was just kidding, right, Sora?"
Sora just looks out at the ocean.
"Oh." He hears her voice come out quiet and a bit shocked.
Riku makes his way over to Kairi and the two of them walk off a bit, talking with their voices low. Sora turns away, not wanting to know if they're talking about him – which is incredibly likely given the circumstances – and continues to watch the ocean.
He closes his eyes and tries to drown out the sound of the ocean below and the seagulls above. It's not hard, and eventually the waves die out and the gull calls fade into the distance. It's utterly silent ad he could hear a pin drop if it was inclined to do so. It doesn't smell like the ocean or the beach anymore. It smells old and musty, like no one's been there for a really long time. His mouth feels dry, like he hasn't had anything to drink for days.
"Sora."
No, he thinks, that's not right.
The faces from his dreams come to focus and his chest aches again. It feels tight, like he's lost them forever and it's all his fault. Like he couldn't find them and patch things up if he wanted to.
"Sora?"
No, that's not it.
They reach out for him and smile, mouthing something at him. Sora tries to pay attention, but it's fuzzy, like getting a bad picture on his grandpa's old television set.
A woman's voice calls out to him, Ven, you hopeless sleepyhead.
He's pulled out of his reverie when Riku grabs his sleeve and pulls, sending Sora a bit off kilter.
"Were you daydreaming?" Riku looks genuinely concerned and Kairi looks more worried than he'd seen her in a long time.
"I…I think so." Riku looks down and Sora follows to find his gaze drawn to his Keyblade, which he hadn't meant to summon.
He seems to be doing that a lot lately.
"Sora, we need to work out a way to get to other worlds, do you have any ideas?"
Sora shakes his head, willing the Keyblade in his hands to disappear.
"We could try the raft idea again." Is Riku's sarcastic remark, which makes Sora laugh a bit even though he thinks that would be a horrible idea.
"Well what else can we do?"
"What about that letter in a bottle you sent Sora? It reached us in the Realm of Darkness maybe you could send one asking Mickey for help?"
"That is the stupidest idea I have ever hear, Riku. I'll get right on it." Kairi sighs and shakes her head.
"Do you really think it'll work? You guys said you were on a beach when you found it and from what I've heard, castles don't have beaches around them."
"Do you have a better idea?" Riku snarks back and Sora smiles a bit, glad that the three of them are together again. A bit sad that his heart is trying to take him on another adventure that doesn't give him a good feeling.
Of course, he'd left that part out. He couldn't tell Riku and Kairi that he had a feeling of impending doom about this quest his heart was trying to send him on. They'd force him to stay put and not go.
He just smiles and watches Kairi and Riku talk about ways they could possibly contact someone with a Gummi ship and get off the island.