A sizzling mixture of vegetables, sauce, and spices sizzled at the bottom of a rounded pan. Isa maneuvered the wok by its handle, flicking his wrist repeatedly to mix the ingredients with a little flourish. The long ladle in his other hand was used to make sure everything was cooked evenly.
His red-headed cohort had been lured into the kitchen by the enticing aroma. Leaning against the counter next to Isa, Lea snuck a peak into the pan, but nearly wretched at what he saw. "All veggies!? Come on, man, where's the protein?" he complained.
Isa swung the ladle deliberately in Lea's direction to shoo him away. "Calm down, I have a roast in the oven, too. I'm trying to get Roxas and Xion to eat more vegetables, because thanks to you, all they like to eat is ice cream," he explained in an accusatory tone.
"Hey, just because I let them have one treat after a hard day's work doesn't make it my fault their diets suck! Did you see the kind of slop they used to serve in the 'Kitchen That Never Was'?" Lea crossed his arms. "If someone had ordered a better menu, maybe Roxas and Xion wouldn't have such a sweet tooth!"
Isa grunted in disapproval, turning his attention back to the pan in front of him.
There was a brief silence, save for the sizzling sounds from the pan, leaving Lea and Isa to stew.
After about a minute, Lea spoke up again.
"You think they're going to be alright?"
Isa replied dismissively, "You would know better than me—"
"Oh, come off it already!" Lea scolded, turning away from Isa petulantly. "I'm looking for real input here; if you're just gonna gimme snark, don't even bother..."
After another short silence, Isa finally sighed. "Look, we both know how strong Roxas and Xion are. It's going to take more than a little teenage drama to unravel them." Isa kept his attention on the pan in front of him, but smiled softly as he assured Lea, "Whatever the outcome, those two will be fine."
Lea was still getting used to hearing his old friend speak so highly of his new ones, and couldn't resist a smile of his own. "Isn't that funny?" he chuckled, "You being genuine is making me feel like more of an idiot than when you're actually trying to. You're just telling me what I already know."
"I'm impressed that you finally caught on, and not just to you being an idiot," Isa smirked, casting a teasing glance over at Lea.
"And there it is! Unbelievable…"
Just then, they heard voices outside the front door of the apartment, right before the knob started to turn. Roxas entered through the open door, followed by an enormous, round, dog-like creature being carried by Xion.
Lea pushed off the counter to move towards them. "Hey, good timing! We were just starting to wonder about you two," he greeted playfully.
"Hey, Axel!" Roxas smiled and waved from across the room.
Placing her Meowjesty plush comfortably on the couch, Xion shouted, "Hello!"
The sweet smell in the air finally caught Roxas' attention. "Mmm, that smells great! What's cooking?" he asked.
Lea glanced over at the pan as he responded, "Uh, Isa's making an all veggie dish for you guys to enjoy, while he and I enjoy the nice, marinated roast beef he's been slow cooking for hours!" he lauded, savoring his words like the flavorful meat he was describing.
"Quit teasing them; everything is for everybody," Isa interjected forcefully, then turned around to address Roxas and Xion directly, "Hello, you two. Dinner's almost ready. Roxas, would you set the table, please?"
Roxas groaned as he went to wash his hands in the kitchen sink. "Eugh, I don't believe it. No way those vegetables taste half as good as they smell…" he complained. Once his hands were dry, Roxas retrieved a stack of four white plates in the upper cabinet near the stove.
Isa eyed him sternly, "Well then, I certainly hope you'll be surprised."
"Yeah, yeah…" muttered Roxas as he grabbed a handful of utensils and headed to the kitchen table.
Taking Roxas' place at the sink, Xion spoke up with an innocent inflection as she washed her hands, "Hey, um, I'm not that hungry, since I had kind of a big meal a few hours ago, so I'm just going to have some of the—"
Isa cut her off, "You're having vegetables too."
"Noooo…" Xion cried quietly, letting her hands sink under the water.
"Yeees," Isa insisted. "I'm sure you had some kind of fried junk food earlier, did you not?" He raised an eyebrow at her as he gave the pan one last good stir.
Xion finished drying her hands and then sadly trudged over to the table.
Roxas finished setting their places, then joined Xion and Lea as they took their seats. Isa came around with the pan of sauteed vegetables in his hand, serving a hearty scoop onto everyone's plates. As he went to retrieve the meat from the oven, the three at the table exchanged hesitant glances.
"So, who wants to go first?" Lea challenged, leaning his right elbow on the table.
Roxas grimaced at the mushy pile on his plate, but the rumbling of his stomach was impossible to ignore. Bravely picking up his fork, Roxas took a small chunk from the veggies, hesitating for a moment, then closed his eyes as he put the forkful in his mouth. Lea and Xion watched intently as Roxas chewed, his expression changing from discomfort into awe.
"That's… actually good!" exclaimed Roxas, wide-eyed.
Isa chuckled, placing the platter of beef in the middle of the table before taking his seat with the rest. "Seems you were surprised after all."
Xion tried the vegetables for herself and was just as impressed. "Wow, Isa! This is delicious," she complimented, savoring the delicate bite.
"Thank you, Xion," Isa replied, cutting the roast into servable slices.
As everyone helped themselves, the table became quiet. Lea and Isa were reluctant to bring up a potentially disastrous situation, while Xion and Roxas wanted to bring it up but didn't know where to begin. The awkward silence lingered for a few minutes while everyone ate their meals, until Isa finally broke the ice.
"So, Roxas, Xion… how was the rest of the day?" he asked politely.
The two teens looked pensively at each other.
Roxas answered bluntly, "Xion and I went to the carnival."
"Yeah, it was fun!" Xion added, turning to Roxas with a smile, "I'm glad we did that."
Isa watched them carefully, taking note of how they avoided mentioning the date. Worried about upsetting them, Isa wondered how best to approach the situation.
Lea, however, beat him to it.
"So are you two dating or what?" he asked bluntly.
"W-What!?" Roxas gawked.
Xion dropped her fork, covering her mouth in shock.
Isa slammed his fist down hard enough to shake the table. "Lea!" he scolded.
"Whaaat?" whined Lea, gesturing across the table defensively. "I'm addressing the issue; isn't that what you wanted?"
Isa pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, but there is such a thing called 'tact', which I expected you to at least try to use," he argued.
At the same time, Roxas turned to Xion abruptly, "Geez, Xion. Did you tell everyone about our personal drama?"
"Hey, I needed advice!" Xion fired back, "Where else was I supposed to go?"
Lea finally threw up his hands in order to reign in the conversation. "Alright, alright! Regardless of who said what, we're all on the same page now, yeah? Why don't we all just calm down and hash this out," he appeased.
Everyone else looked at each other in silent agreement.
"Good. Now with that out of the way…" Lea then focused on Roxas and Xion sitting across from him, "You two, tell us what happened."
Feeling that Lea's approach was too insensitive, Isa interjected to assure them, "Remember: we aren't here to judge, only to help. You may be as honest as you wish."
Looking to one other again, Roxas and Xion both nodded.
"Okay..." Xion took the initiative and started off. "We went on the date, and it actually was a lot of fun," she confirmed, "But the longer it went on, the more I realized I was only enjoying myself when I stopped thinking of it as a date, date. I was happy just to spend time with my best friend," she explained thoughtfully.
As Xion paused, Roxas jumped in with his side of the story. "I felt a similar way, but I was too committed to the idea of a date and kept trying to push it as one. We ended up riding the Ferris Wheel together, and that's where everything came to a head," he cast his eyes downward, thinking back on how quickly it all fell apart at that point.
Xion picked up the story again, "We were trying to force something that wasn't meant to be, so we both agreed just to accept our friendship as it was."
"I was pretty bummed about it at first," Roxas remarked, "But I realized that what I thought I wanted wasn't really what I wanted."
Lea tilted his head curiously. "Oh yeah? What's that?" he asked.
Roxas leaned his elbows on the table. "Well, I thought I wanted to date Xion, but what I really wanted was to date… period. All that stuff you do on a date is really… uh…" Lea and Isa's intrigued staring made Roxas feel embarrassed, and he quickly blurted out, "I liked it, okay!?"
"Hey, no judgements here!" Lea held up his hands with a smirk, then leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed casually. "I'm actually glad to hear that. I was afraid you'd be taking this a lot harder," he admitted.
Roxas looked down again, wondering aloud, "Why does everyone think that?"
Isa interjected. "Well, you do have a history of reacting emotionally to certain things…"
"Plus, I'm guessing you won that monstrosity just to impress Xion," Lea pointed out the large stuffed animal on the couch behind them.
Turning to look at what they were referring to, Roxas shook his head, "Oh, I didn't win that…"
"I traded Riku for it!" Xion exclaimed.
Lea, who was about to start eating again, suddenly stopped. "Wait, Riku?" he asked incredulously. This was an unexpected development.
"Yeah, I ran into him and Naminé at the Bistro," replied Xion, who was reminded of her own food in front of her and went to take a bite.
Lea did another double take, "Naminé, too?!"
Xion nodded, still chewing. "I could've sworn they were on a date, but they told me it was just a casual hangout. Kinda surprising if you ask me, but I guess I can relate, huh?" she mused with a full mouth.
"Yeah, I hear ya…" Lea trailed off, sharing a skeptical side glance with Isa.
Xion waved the thought away and returned to the original subject. "Anyway, Riku won the big prize, but I managed to get him to trade me for mine," she recounted proudly.
Roxas reached into his pocket and pulled out the little Jestabocky plush he had completely forgotten about. "Xion won something more like this," he added, holding up the ghostly clown for scale. Suddenly, Roxas let out a disappointed groan. "I should've given mine to Naminé!" he lamented to himself out loud.
The outburst intrigued his older companions, who looked at each other again.
"Oh? And why should you have done that, Roxas?" Lea asked teasingly.
Roxas felt a familiar warmth creep onto his face. "Well, after the Ferris Wheel ride, I split up with Xion and went to Sunset Hill for some time alone," he explained, awkwardly sifting through the food on his plate, "But then Naminé showed up out of nowhere, and we started talking..."
Xion excitedly interjected, "For the record, I was the one who suggested that Naminé go talk to him!"
"That's great; no one asked!" Roxas bluntly replied, flicking the lock of dark hair hanging in front of Xion's eyes.
Isa finally spoke up again, "So, Xion, while Roxas was with Naminé, was it just you and Riku?"
The question caught Xion off guard, and the phrasing cued her into what Isa was really asking. "I-I mean, we hung out for a little while, yeah…" she admitted, looking away shyly.
"And you took him to the Station Tower for ice cream, riiiight~?" Roxas leaned into Xion intrusively, taking advantage of the opportunity to tease her back.
Xion was having none of it. "Roxas, you did the exact same thing with Naminé!" she shot back.
Briefly stunned by the retort, Roxas added, "W-Well, you still did it first!"
Lea stepped in to quell the bickering, "Okay, you're both corny; we've established that. But let me see if I have this straight: You two went on a date with each other, and ended up going on dates with two different people, who were also on a date with each other prior to when you all met up. Is that right?" he asked.
"They weren't on date!" Roxas and Xion both exclaimed in unison.
"Fine, if you say so!" Lea relented, putting up his hands in surrender.
Xion then answered the question frankly, "But, yes, that about sums it up."
Lea let out a laborious exhale, slumping back in his chair as he silently acknowledged the awkward new installment in Roxas and Xion's already complicated lives. Ultimately, concluded, "You know, that actually sounds like pretty basic teen drama."
Roxas piped up, "That's what I've been saying!"
Isa chuckled. "In any case, I'm happy to hear that you two were able to resolve your romance troubles amicably," he smiled to himself, calmly cutting into the meat on his plate.
"Thank you, Isa," Xion smiled warmly at him, "I'm happy, too."
"Same here," Roxas nodded, having already gone back to eating his food.
After a short but comfortable silence, Lea remarked, "I will say that I'm a little peeved that you used our group hangout spot to impress your dates, but I'll let it slide this time."
The trip from Twilight Town back to Radiant Garden was short—just long enough for Riku and Naminé to each share their own accounts of what happened after they split up at the Bistro. Naminé spoke of how she acted on what she wanted, helped Roxas to understand what he wanted, and how both of them ended up getting what they wanted, together. Riku told a fun story about his exploits with Xion: fighting Nobodies at the Carnival, eating sea salt ice cream on the Station Tower, and facing off in a (mostly) friendly game of Struggle. His tale concluded just as they arrived in Radiant Garden.
Landing the Gummi Ship gently in the small court just beyond the castle gates, the cockpit hatch popped open, and the occupants climbed out. Riku helped Naminé down again, and the two of them started up the massive set of stairs leading up to the castle front doors.
"I'm really proud of you, Naminé," said Riku with a warm smile as they climbed. "You listened to your heart, and you seem so much happier for it. I know it wasn't easy thinking about yourself for once," he joked.
Naminé shook her head. "I'll always be worried about how my actions affect other people, but now I understand that going after what I want doesn't necessarily mean I'm harming anyone. Sometimes the things that make you happy can make someone else happy, too." She turned up at Riku sincerely, "I never would've realized that if it wasn't for you."
"Sure you would; it just might have taken you a little longer," Riku joked.
As they cleared the top step, Riku caught wind of two scents that were rapidly approaching. Instinctively, he stepped firmly in front of Naminé and used his left arm to nudge her closely behind him. "Someone's coming," he warned. One of the scents was vaguely familiar.
Suddenly, two large men came crashing down in front of Riku and Naminé. The one to their left had black dreadlocks hanging down in a ponytail in the back of his head with a single loose strand in the front. An angular beard framed his chiseled face, and he was wielding three lances by holding two in one hand. The stone-faced man on the right had short, red hair that stuck out in a ring of coarse strands on the back of his head, and an impressively large axe resting firmly on his broad shoulders. The men wore identical grey uniforms.
Riku was familiar with the castle guards—Dilan and Aeleus—but their aggressive greeting was enough to put him on guard himself, glancing back and forth between them.
Dilan suddenly spoke up in a blunt tone, "You're late."
Aeleus elaborated firmly, "You were given clear instructions by Lord Ansem to have Miss Naminé home by no later than eight o' clock."
Realizing he wasn't in immediate mortal danger, Riku held up his hands in surrender, expecting to get chewed out. "Take it easy, guys. We were just—"
"Dilan! Aeleus!" shouted Naminé, catching them and Riku by surprise. After a pause, she lightened her tone and politely requested, "Please refrain from drawing your weapons on my friends."
Dilan and Aeleus looked between each other in confusion, but quickly dispelled their weapons, and bowed formally at her.
"Our apologies, Miss Naminé," Aeleus dictated sincerely on behalf of Dilan and himself.
Naminé stood there proudly, having successfully asserted herself yet again.
Riku was much less surprised by her outburst, and he was the first to notice the new arrivals: Ienzo, Even, and Ansem the Wise, walking out the castle doors towards them. Mildly annoyed, he wondered why this situation called for five people.
Fortunately, Naminé seemed to share that sentiment. "Don't tell me you're all here to scold Riku," she sighed, balling her fists at her sides.
Ienzo responded, "Actually, I came to scold Dilan and Aeleus for doing so, but I can see you've already taken care of that," he said, crossing his arms with an amused grin. "As for these two," he added, now scowling as he turned towards his elders, "I have no idea why they felt the need to come out here."
Even took that as his cue to step forward. "Forgive the intrusion, Miss Naminé, but Lord Ansem and I had been awaiting your return," he bowed courteously, explaining, "We are simply eager to hear about how your date went."
"Well, you could've waited for her to step foot in the castle before prying," Ienzo sniped.
Even turned to him bombastically, "Prying!? Well, excuse you!? What exactly is wrong with taking an interest?"
Ienzo shot back, "You're being invasive! This could be a delicate subject for them; surely you must realize how embarrassing it is to be asked about something like that!"
"Oh, I understand," Even remarked, smirking at Ienzo, "This is about that time when you were younger, isn't it?"
Ienzo looked aghast, "Wha—!? T-This has nothing to do with me!"
As the scholars argued, Riku and Naminé looked at each other bemused.
Ansem the wise held his forehead in exasperation.
Even smirked, "Doesn't it? I recall you being quite infatuated with that ninja girl, and whenever anyone brought it up—"
"S-Stop talking about it!"
"Yes, exactly like that. By the way, that girl works with the Restoration Committee, doesn't she?"
"I'm well aware, now would you please—"
"GUYS!" Naminé shouted, finally putting an end to Even and Ienzo's back and forth. She sighed, "While I appreciate your interest in my personal life, I'm sorry to say that there's nothing going on between Riku and I that is of any importance. Isn't that right, Riku?" she turned up at him, looking for confirmation.
Riku nodded. "Yep! We were just two good friends hanging out, having so much fun that we lost track of the time," he waved his hand dismissively.
Even looked surprised. "Just… friends?"
"Just friends," Naminé and Riku repeated.
Ansem finally stepped in. "Well, what matters is whether you enjoyed yourself, Naminé, which I'm glad to hear that you did," he said with a warm smile.
"Indeed…" Even added thoughtfully, pulling out his Gummiphone to type something carefully.
Riku then spoke up again, addressing the Lord of Radiant Garden as he would an old friend. "Hey, Ansem. Sorry about missing the curfew, there was a lot going on today," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
Ansem chuckled, "It's quite alright, Riku. The curfew was only a formality. Even as her self-appointed guardians, I don't believe any of us have the right to enforce that kind of rule. While we do care for her safety, Naminé is free to come and go as she pleases," he smiled warmly at the blonde girl.
Naminé beamed back at him, "That means a lot, Ansem…"
Starting to feel like he was overstaying his welcome, Riku awkwardly chimed in, "Okay, so… I've got a bit of a trek to get back home. I think it's time for me to hit the road—er, so to speak…"
"Oh, of course!" Naminé exclaimed, wringing her hands just as awkwardly for a moment before slowly moving in to give Riku a hug. "Thank you for everything, Riku. I had a wonderful day," she cooed softly.
Riku quickly relaxed into Naminé's embrace, hugging her back gently as he replied, "Anytime, Naminé."
The hug lasted long enough that Ansem interrupted them by loudly clearing his throat. "Well then, Naminé, let us retire to the castle," he suggested encouragingly, gesturing for her to follow as he turned back the way he came, "Truthfully, I would like very much to hear about your day."
"Okay!" Naminé obliged, walking up to Ansem's side, and the two of them headed for the castle doors. As they left, she remarked to her guardian, "By the way… I've given it some thought, and I think some new clothes would be a good idea."
"Why, I'm glad to hear it. What was it that changed your mind?"
"I'd prefer not to carry a purse."
Riku listened to Ansem chuckle as they walked out of earshot, watching Dilan and Aeleus follow their lord and young lady away. Curiously, Ienzo and Even stayed put.
"That was a very kind thing to do for Naminé," Ienzo remarked, turning to address Riku, "She's been rather gloomy lately, and I suspected it had something to do with missing her friends. I'm pleased to see that Naminé's friends have been thinking of her as well," he said with a smile.
"Hey, it was my pleasure," Riku answered confidently, "Naminé is a great girl, and I think we're in a good place. Not only that, but she's gotten closer to Roxas and Xion now as well. Maybe she'll wind up spending more time with them, too," he mused, smirking to himself.
Even finally looked up from his Gummiphone.
His curiosity piqued as well, Ienzo inquired, "Roxas and Xion? Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you encountered them, seeing as they live in Twilight Town. I assume they were attending the Carnival as well?"
Riku tilted his head, "Well yeah, but we actually didn't see them at the Carnival. Xion spotted us while we were at that restaurant, then Naminé left for a bit to see Roxas, and we all met back up a little while later," he explained.
"So…" Even unintentionally interjected, still typing away on his phone, "You and Xion… and… Naminé and Roxas…! Yes, that works just as well! I wonder if—tch!" he suddenly realized that Riku and Ienzo were gawking at him thinking out loud. Flustered, Even attempted to excuse himself. "I-I apologize, but I believe I may have left some samples out in the lab. Better store them away before they become contaminated! Thank you so much for your time, Riku! Farewell!" he waved, hurrying back into the castle as the two silver-haired men stared.
His departure left an awkward silence, which Riku finally ended by asking, "Any idea what that was about…?"
Ienzo scoffed, "As I understand it, Even had some sort of hypothesis about the…relationships between normal humans and replicas...I think it's best not to dwell on it…" he shuddered.
Riku glared at Ienzo, uncomfortable with being told not to worry about some potentially invasive experiment.
"Even means well, I assure you," Ienzo urged. "He's just a little too curious for his own good sometimes. But we are keeping our eyes on him to make sure he doesn't cross anymore ethical boundaries!" he promised.
"Don't I feel better…" Riku mumbled sarcastically.
Another silence ensued.
Riku's mind couldn't help but wander into familiar territory, a topic that was often discussed here in the castle at Radiant Garden. His dearly beloved friend, whose mere existence was now in question. Hanging onto the smallest possible hope, Riku wondered if the researchers had gotten any closer to finding answers.
Meanwhile, Ienzo's eyes darted back and forth, not sure what else to talk about with this former adversary. He let out a dramatic, tired sigh, "Well, I think it's time for me to retire as well. There is much work to do tomorrow, and I don't wish to keep you any longer. Good night, Riku!" he turned to leave hastily.
"W-Wait!" Riku called out, stopping Ienzo in his tracks. He waited a moment for Ienzo to turn around, which he did not, then Riku went ahead and asked, "Have you guys… made any progress?"
Ienzo knew exactly what Riku was talking about, ashamed to not have a better answer for him. Turning his head, Ienzo looked back at Riku with his silver hair flip covering his eyes. "I'm… afraid not. B-But if we make any kind of breakthrough—anything at all—you'll be the first to know!" he promised, finally showing his eyes in earnest.
Riku was already turning to leave as he muttered, "I appreciate that, Ienzo. See you around."
While the distance between Twilight Town and Radiant Garden was half the distance between Radiant Garden and Destiny Islands, this was not what made the trip feel so long for Riku. This time, he was alone, and that made a world of difference.
Nobody was there for Riku to talk to; no way to fill the pensive silence, and no distraction from the train of thought that his last interaction set on its daily schedule through his mind. He briefly considered turning on the Gummi Ship's "radio", but it was only tuned to a station in Disney Town, which had an extremely limited library of songs. Riku could only hear, It's a Small World, so many times before crashing into the next passing asteroid became more appealing.
After half an hour that felt like two, Riku arrived back at Destiny Islands. Unsure what state he would find his roommate in, he quietly entered their beachside residence, and it quickly became apparent that Kairi was already asleep. The poor girl would typically go to bed early these days.
"I hope she's eating at least…" Riku quietly wondered to himself.
Finally back in his own room, Riku shut the door and kicked off his shoes. He dove into his bed, landing perfectly on his back with his head against the pillow. The comfort of his sheets did little to assuage the same troubled thoughts that plagued him night after night. The guilt. The grief. Always wondering if, by some stretch of the imagination, Sora's disappearance was his own fault. What if he had never given into the darkness, how would different would all of their lives be? Maybe things wouldn't have happened the way they did. Maybe he'd be here with them now.
Riku suddenly remembered the Gummiphone; an endless source of trivial distractions was right under his nose the entire time. Reaching into his pocket, Riku pulled out the smart phone and clicked the first icon he touched on his home screen, which just so happened to be Gummigram.
The first thing to greet Riku on his feed was a meme shared by Ventus, with bold text that read, "WHEN YOU LAYING ON THE GROUND AND THEY USE FIRAGA", over an angry-looking White Mushroom Heartless. This was followed by several more posts of a similar caliber by Ventus, which caused Riku to grimace so hard that he nearly abandoned his scrolling altogether.
Fortunately, the next post he saw was from Naminé. A portrait photo of her with multiple filters over it, ultimately creating an effect of hand drawn color and markings on the picture. Riku was amazed by the creative choices she made, and was filled with joy to see Naminé continuing to make choices for herself. Tapping the photo twice with his thumb, Riku liked the post.
Immediately after scrolling past Naminé's post, Riku found that Xion had made one as well. Hers was a slideshow post of multiple pictures that could be scrolled from left and right, all of which depicted a firsthand account of Xion's first Carnival experience. There were pictures of the busy crowds, the colorful booths, the monolithic attractions, and one of her and Roxas with their small stuffed animals, but two in particular stuck out to Riku the most.
The first was the picture he had seen Xion taking earlier that day, of her taking a bite out of a lukewarm chicken tender that she had taken off his hands, which made Riku laugh abruptly. The other picture was the one they had taken together with Roxas and Naminé.
He remembered how Naminé was moved upon seeing it, and couldn't help but feel a similar emotional resonance this time around, strengthening the smile on his face. Riku liked Xion's post as well, and his dark thoughts were swept away by the fresh memories of his truly wonderful day. For the sake of Sora, and all of his close friends, Riku was determined to never give into despair.
Interrupting his valiant realization, Riku's Gummiphone buzzed in his hand, causing him to nearly drop it directly on his face. He then saw that it was a message from Xion, followed by a picture message shortly after. Opening the messages, the first one read:
X: My reaction when he doesn't text back but still likes my post
The picture was of the Meowjesty plush she had gotten from Riku, sitting with a Gummiphone lying in front of it.
Riku shook his head at the ridiculous message, but his amusement was cut short when he registered that Xion was calling him out for not keeping his word. Not wanting to completely concede to her, however, Riku fired back with a message of his own:
R: Alright Ven put the memes away
R: I got home a few minutes ago
Three dots appeared on his screen, disappearing just before Xion's response showed up.
X: Yeah yeah keep up the excuses
The message included an emoji that was snorting in anger.
X: But glad to hear u got home ok
This one had a smiley face wearing sunglasses for some reason.
R: Thanks I couldn't have done it without you
Riku added an emoji that was playfully sticking its tongue out.
R: BTW how'd you take a pic of your phone?
X: Lol I stole Roxas phone
A devilish smiley face ended this one.
R: Nice
Smiling to himself, Riku capped off his message with a laughing emoji before he received another photo, this time of Roxas angrily approaching the camera, presumably to get his Gummiphone back. Three more photos arrived next with minimal delay between them, depicting action shots of Roxas trying to wrest his phone away from Xion's possession. After another pause, Riku's phone recieved one last photo of Xion herself, wearing a dramatically pouty expression, followed by an accompanying message.
X: ROXAS WONT LET ME TEXT NAMINE ON HIS PHONE CAN U BELIEVE HIM
Riku burst out laughing at the sequence of events, responding to her message in kind.
R: LMAO leave the poor kid alone
As he watched the three dots flicker on his screen for the next several moments, Riku remembered something Xion said earlier that day. Something that filled him with hope for their blossoming relationship, even more now than when he first heard it.
"…I could help you forget about everything?"
While Riku would never be able to forget his troubles, this thing with Xion could be more than just a healthy distraction.
—THE END—
AN: Welp, it finally happened. I FINALLY managed to finish one of my multiple chapter fanfics. This was just supposed to be a quick little diversion to get me back into writing TATF like that other oneshot I did, but there was too much I wanted out of this and it just kind of ballooned out of my control. A LOT of life stuff has happened between my last post and now, too, so that's slowed me down more than it should have. I wanted to do some editing of what's already done, but it's as good as it's going to be probably.
Anyway, if you've come this far, thanks for sticking with me! This was a story I'd been thinking about for some time, so I'm glad to finally get it written down, and I hope you enjoyed reading it! I'll be going back to do some major construction on my OTHER multiple chapter fanfic, and hopefully finally finishing it within this decade. Feel free to check that out, you might not have to wait too long for a conclusion to that...
And if you want more KH content, I'm also going to be doing another multi chapter fanfic, which is going to involve Kairi in a non-canon adventure of my own design. Just like MFN, I've got too many ideas to not write it, so maybe towards the tail end of TATF will I start on that. I'll probably get a few chapters done before posting so I can have at least a small buffer, but we'll see.
I think that's enough rambling for now. Thanks for reading, leave a favorite, follow, or a comment if you want. Feedback is always appreciated.
See ya next time.
-Skippy Jones
