Chapter Text
Sora’s brown hair danced over Riku’s arm, as he carried the boy through the dilapidated city. “Don’t give up on me, Sora,” Riku begged, breathing heavy, fear and panic making its way up his spine, settling in a cold sweat behind his neck.
Riku ran around the broken down cars, fallen buildings, and jumped over the places the ground had begun to separate. He held Sora to his chest, the boy’s feet dangling lifelessly.
Sora’s breath had become shallow, and his tanned skin was slowly turning pale, pale, pale, blue. “We’ll be home soon. Hold on. Hold on.” Riku’s boots pounded into the broken concrete, running as fast as he could, hoping he was fast enough, and he’d made it there soon enough.
✿ spring ✿
A few months. That’s what they had said.
“You’re doing better than we expected,” the doctor reported, on Sora’s fifth full day in the intensive care unit. “I anticipate a complete recovery in a matter of months.”
Months. Sora could do anything for a few months.
“Months,” Riku echoed, taking a moment to look back at the crowd of people that had piled into Sora’s tiny hospital room. Someone was always in Sora’s room, no matter the hour. He was never alone. Kairi, Aqua- maybe Terra, or Ven, or Roxas- but the one constant was Riku.
Riku hadn’t left the hospital since they’d arrived.
The staff had practically pried Riku off Sora when they finally got there; Riku didn’t want Sora out of his sight, but it wasn’t one-sided. Sora, as it turns out, had also developed an (almost) unhealthy attachment to Riku. How could he not?
Riku, who had pulled him from the depths of darkness multiple times.
Riku, who had launched himself into Quadratum to save Sora.
Riku, who carried Sora’s lifeless body out of the city and back into their reality.
When they fell through the portal and back into the Final World, Riku took one look at the pale and limp boy in his arms and cried out to the other Keyblade masters that were anxiously awaiting their return. “Please, help. Help him, he’s dying!”
Terra scooped Sora up and instructed the Fairy Godmother to bring everyone home. It was quickly apparent that Sora’s condition was not something that could be cured with elixirs or potions or magic.
Quadratum had been unexpectedly hard on Sora’s health. The “real world” was not as kind on the human body as the worlds they were used to. Sora returned exhausted, malnourished, and on the brink of death from all the injuries he’d sustained while fighting. A hospital in San Fransokyo was the best they could find for him. Within ten minutes of being admitted, Sora was being poked and prodded and examined in the ICU.
By nightfall, Riku was numb, eyes bloodshot, teetering on the edge of having been awake for 48 hours.
“I don’t expect him to be fully conscious for a while,” Sora’s nurse told Riku, the first night at the hospital. “You should go home and get some rest, hon.” A manicured hand rested on Riku’s shoulder, and he nodded.
“Okay. I will in a while.”
“Sure,” she said, but she still brought Riku a couple pillows and some spare blankets.
Sora’s features looked completely drained of color in his dimly lit room. The staff had cleaned and dressed the worst of his injuries, and stitched up a few gashes along his cheek and forehead. They’d hooked him up to a few liters of oxygen, and inserted a feeding tube into his stomach, since no one was entirely sure how long he would remain in this comatose state. It was a heartbreaking sight for Sora’s protector; Sora’s dream eater, Sora’s best friend. At least Riku got a comfy recliner and heated blankets. Sora’s arms had IVs in both, and Riku had learned the name of all the medications he was getting, and the dosage. Riku didn’t pretend to know a lot about medicine, but he wanted to know as much about Sora’s condition as he could. Over the next two days, he would watch the clock and memorize what was next.
Vancomycin, for 8 hours a day, intravenously. For his blood infection.
Lactated ringers, drip, replacing his lost electrolytes.
Blood transfusion, O+, two liters.
They came in two times a day to get blood from him; once at four in the morning, and another at six at night.
Nurses changed shifts at 6:45. Physicians made rounds at 10 A.M..
Every time Sora groaned or moved or seemed uncomfortable, Riku was calling the nurses’ station. They were incredibly patient with him; taking quick notice of his wary eyes and table full of notes. “It won’t be long,” they said. “He’ll come around soon.”
On day three, Sora slowly started opening his eyes. Whenever Sora woke, Riku was there. Sora managed small, weak smiles. Kairi brought Riku dinner, and they ate on opposite sides of Sora’s bed. “I thought you might like some real food,” she smiled, and he graciously took it. He had survived on orange juice cups and peanut butter crackers since Sora was admitted. On the third night, they fell asleep against Sora’s legs. Sora placed a hand on each of their heads.
The fourth day, Riku smelled. Riku woke up to the sound of Sora’s raspy voice telling him: “You should shower.”
So, he did. Sora still had a feeding tube, but the nurses were ready for him to try drinking something. They had entered and set up for Sora’s first attempt at drinking when Riku exited the bathroom. “You want some water?” Riku asked, shaking out his wet hair.
“Okay,” Sora said. Sora’s nurse handed him a Styrofoam cup.
“It might burn a little at first,” the nurse warned. “We had a bit of trouble inserting your tube.” He reached for the cup, grasped it, and it slipped right through his fingers. Water soaked his white knit blanket.
“Oh, um…”
“That’s okay, Sora,” his nurse said. “Try again.”
She brought another cup, and helped his fingers close around it. Still, his grip was not strong enough to hold it.
“What’s wrong with him?” Riku asked, panicked.
“Peripheral neuropathy,” the doctor said, on day five. “He has weakness and numbness in both of his legs, feet, and hands.” Despite this, Sora had improved slightly in the last twenty-four hours, now being able to hold the cup for a few seconds before dropping it. Which was why they had said, “a matter of months.”
Kairi, Lea, and Aqua stood in the corner of Sora’s room later that night, talking over each other while Sora took his time maneuvering a plastic spoon of Jell-O into his mouth. Riku rested his head on the arm of Sora’s hospital bed, his tired eyes starting to close.
“Where do we take him after this?” Aqua asked.
“I don’t know. He can’t live by himself,” Lea said.
“I would love for him to live with me,” Kairi responded. “If everyone thinks that would be best.”
“Would sending him back to the islands be most beneficial? Somewhere comforting and familiar?” Lea interjected.
“To live with his mother? Because that’s the only person left there he knows,” Kairi said.
“I’m not a child,” Sora seethed. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.”
Sora’s nurse disconnected his drip. “I don’t always know best, but…” She hung the tubing around the IV machine. “I think he should go with Riku.”
Riku lifted his head. “Me?”
“Oh, I don’t think he can,” Aqua said. “Right? He’s going to be expected to return to work.”
“I can… ask for time off?” Riku suggested, already feeling the pit of anxiety about having to ask Mickey for another favor.
“You would let me stay with you?” Sora asked, his spoon falling into the cup.
Riku held back the urge to insist that he came with him.
“I wouldn’t mind.”
Aqua sat on the edge of Sora’s bed. “What would you like to do, Sora?” she asked, flattening the boy’s hair onto his head.
“I… I would like to stay with Riku.”
"That sounds like a great idea," Mickey said, emerging from behind the privacy curtain.
"Your majesty," Aqua greeted. "You came."
"Of course I did. I wanted to come sooner. I'm sorry, everyone."
An occupational therapist had come in to help Sora with dinner. Mickey and the others spoke in hushed tones by the entrance, so Sora wasn't really focused on his therapy; he was trying to hear what was being said.
"...there's been a situation," Mickey said. "It's why I'm late. I wanted to come as soon as I heard."
"That's alright," Kairi assured.
"I know Riku will be taking personal leave... but I need someone to go, to help with this sudden influx of heartless.”
Immediately, Sora spoke up, "I'll go!" and, instantly, everyone shot back, "Absolutely not."
"Actually, that's something I came to discuss with you, Sora..." Mickey lifted himself into the chair that Riku had made home for the last seven days. "Master Yen Sid and I have spoken, and... we think it would be best if you took some time off."
Riku glanced at Kairi; he could see how nervous Mickey was to tell Sora this news.
"How much time off?" Sora pressed.
Mickey tapped his fingers together. "A year."
It was a long night.
The longest night they'd had at the hospital since the first.
Kairi held Sora, pressed tightly into her side, but still carefully enough as not to hurt him. Riku was working to ignore the pulling sensation in his chest telling him to hold Sora himself, but instead of doing so, he busied his hands by packing Sora's things into patient belonging bags.
"I can't," Sora cried. "A year? They said it would just be a few months."
Kairi struggled for words. "Well, a few months to recover, physically, but-"
"I'm fine," Sora insisted, but they could clearly see he was not, considering he was unable to even hold a tissue long enough to wipe his face.
"A break could be a good thing, Sora," Kairi said. "Aren't you tired?"
And he was. But...
"I don't want to let anyone down," he concluded.
"Oh, Sora, you're not going to let anyone down," Kairi reassured, rubbing her thumb in circles on his hand. Sora looked towards Riku, who had just finished placing all the bags by the door. Sora said nothing, but Riku crossed his arms over his chest, and told Sora what he needed to hear, from Riku's mouth, specifically.
"You won't."
X
Sora was discharged into Riku’s care the next morning. The hospital had offered Sora a wheelchair to have at home, but Sora declined, instead choosing to walk very slowly, attached to Riku’s arm like a lifeline.
Before they departed for home, Riku took a call from the King, and Sora sat, trying to get his foot to press down on the ship’s pedals like he used to do. Riku paced outside, rubbing the back of his head. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, your majesty.”
“Nonsense, Riku. Take all the time you need.”
“Two months should be plenty of time. Thank you.”
Sora raised his head. Riku was taking off two months?
“Are you ready to go?” Riku asked, and Sora only nodded his head. Riku ruffled Sora’s hair. “Alright.”
It made the most sense for everyone to settle in Radiant Garden.
Lea had lived in Radiant Garden before joining the Organization, so he had a home to return to, and Kairi chose to stay with her grandmother. Residing in Radiant Garden was convenient; especially during the time Kairi was asleep, being studied, and Riku was working tirelessly to help Yuffie and Cid with Sora’s data.
He spent most of his nights asleep in Merlin’s study, but occasionally, he would stroll down to Kairi’s grandmother’s house for a home-cooked meal and a bed. “Riku, I was thinking…,” she said, one night, over dinner. “I have a small cottage at the edge of this world, that’s been unused for years. Would you be interested in it?”
“You want to give me a house?”
“You can’t keep sleeping at a desk, Riku,” she reasoned. “You’re almost twenty-two. And you look so tired, my dear.”
Riku’s house was akin to Merlin’s study, in the sense that it was a little run-down, but cozy all the same. The house was constructed entirely of stone, which insulated it well and kept it cool in the summers and warm in the winter. There was a wood-burning fireplace, that Riku spent a lot of winter nights curled up in front of, wondering if Sora was cold wherever he was. The first month there were lots of repairs; lots of dusting and cleaning of the hundred-year-old hardwood floors. It was not large; there was a front room, a tiny kitchen, a small bathroom, and one bedroom. The backyard was the largest part of the whole lot: about an acre of green grass and tall dandelions.
Riku was afraid to bring Sora home. He rarely ever brought anyone back to his place, afraid they would think badly of it. Riku unlocked the door and pushed it open, helping Sora up the two stairs and into the front room. “It’s not much,” Riku apologized. “But it’s home.” Riku hadn’t returned in a while, so everything appeared untouched- there was a half-melted candle on the side table and a stack of books on the floor. He still had a wicker basket of laundry he never finished putting up from six months ago, when he left to go find Sora.
Kairi helped obtain as much furniture as she could for Riku’s home, but most of it, he had to find himself. Riku’s self-made bookshelf was filled with items he’d collected; a bucket full of seashells from Destiny Islands, some dried wildflowers from Corona that he’d pressed between books from Beast’s Castle that Belle had lent him.
“So, are you going to show me around?” Sora smiled.
“Oh, um… yeah, sure.” Riku led Sora through the kitchen, down the hallway, and into his room. Sora sat on the end of Riku’s bed, feeling the fabric of the patchwork quilt on it. Riku pushed the window open, letting the air out. “Aerith made that for me,” Riku explained, wiping the dust on his shirt. “She worked on it for a few weeks while we were busy searching for you.”
Aerith was the most worried about Riku on the nights he fell asleep at the keyboard of Cid’s computer, and she was even more appalled once she found out Riku was sleeping on a bed he’d built himself, with no blankets. Riku had noticed her sewing, but didn’t find it surprising. He stayed up until five in the morning, endlessly searching through Sora’s files, comparing notes, and coding until his eyes couldn’t take anymore blue light. He rested his head on his crossed arms.
Aerith finished his quilt at daybreak and tiptoed across Merlin’s study to drape the blanket over Riku’s shoulders. It was some much needed comfort in a time of great pain for him.
“You have new clothes,” Sora remarked, motioning towards Riku’s closet.
“Oh. Yeah. I had the good fairies make me some. I didn’t see much sense in wearing the same thing every day when I have time to like… shower.”
“Time,” Sora repeated. He had been wearing the same thing for almost a year, only getting the chance to wash it in large bodies of water or a few times at his apartment in Quadratum. He hadn’t had the time to think about what he would wear if he wasn’t busy trying to survive.
“I can ask them to make some for you, too,” Riku said. “If you want.”
“I’d like that.”
X
Riku was glad Sora had gotten his charisma back.
The last twenty-four hours in Quadratum, Sora was not speaking, and half of that time he wasn’t even moving, and hardly breathing, but now, Sora would not stop fucking talking.
He wasn’t talking about what he needed to talk about, like Quadratum and almost dying (again), and how Sora had started to get a little anxious whenever Riku left the room.
No, he didn’t talk about all that.
Instead, he chose to talk about coffee.
“Riku, have you ever had coffee?”
Riku placed a cast-iron pot on the woodstove. “Uh. I think once, maybe. Why?”
“Well, I had coffee all the time with Strelitzia. I thought it could only be hot, ya know?” Sora used his entire upper body to rock back and forth in his chair. “But like, it’s not. You can get it like, cold, or flavored, or blended. It’s like ice cream, Riku.”
Riku chuckled. “You do not need coffee.”
“What’s that supposed to mean!?”
Riku was grateful to see Sora’s personality returning, sure, but he was quietly hung up on the side of Sora he saw earlier that day. Riku had left Sora alone for less than an hour that afternoon, to run down to the Marketplace and get something for them to eat. “I’ll be back in a bit,” Riku said, watching as Sora’s entire demeanor changed in an instant. “You going to be okay right there?” Riku had brought Sora a glass of water, with a straw, and a couple of books to the table for him to try and work through. He was able to turn the pages, it just took him a few minutes to do so.
Sora had also proved he was able to get around the cottage well enough; he pressed his palms into the walls and moved one foot at a time, carefully, precisely, as if his foot had fallen asleep and it was just waking up.
“I- um, yeah. I’m okay. I’ll be okay.” Sora was nodding, furiously so, as if he was trying to convince himself that he would be just fine.
“I promise, I won’t be long. I have my Gummiphone.”
Sora could feel his heart rate quickening, and a thick heat building along the back of his neck, but he still forced a smile to Riku as he closed the front door.
Going to the Marketplace. He’ll be right back. I will be okay. I’m okay here.
Sora reached into his pocket and palmed for his Gummiphone, only able to get a grip with his thumb and pinkie to pull it out. He dropped it onto the table, and stared at the screen, like it would miraculously bring Riku home.
What’s wrong with me?
Riku felt nauseous the whole way to the Marketplace, and hardly registered what the merchants said to him as he purchased a chicken and some vegetables. He resisted the urge to call Sora and make sure he was okay, because he wasn’t sure that Sora could even answer the phone yet, and secondly, he didn’t want to seem like was coddling him.
So he didn’t want to seem like he was coddling him now, sitting at the kitchen table, placing a bowl of chicken soup in front of Sora and a spoon, and choosing to say nothing instead of offering to feed him like an infant. The doctor had told him, “He has to grow the strength to do things on his own, Riku,” so that’s what Riku was going to do.
Riku made some conversation, took a few bites, and Sora had not once touched his food. “Do you need help?” Riku asked, while Sora stared down into his bowl.
“No,” he replied, but still did not make any movement towards his spoon.
“Okay.”
Riku ate, and Sora sat, quietly, until the only sounds in the house were the sounds of Riku’s spoon against his bowl, and then-
Sora sniffled, and Riku’s head shot up, to see Sora’s shaking hand with a tight grip around the spoon, trying, trying, trying to lift it up, only for the contents to fall back into the bowl.
“Sora.”
“I can do it.”
Riku nodded. “Okay.”
Watching Sora struggle was heartbreaking. Sora was the one person he knew that, without fail, could always make his own way. He could do anything he set his mind to. His heart was just strong like that. But, the strength he needed now was not that of the heart.
“Let me help you,” Riku pleaded.
Sora shook his head. He looked like a petulant child. “No. I need to do it myself. That’s the only way.”
Riku stood, moving to crouch down next to him. “That’s true. But, it’s your first day home.”
“So?”
“So, it takes time,” Riku said. “Let me help you. Just for a while.” Riku set his hand out, motioning for Sora to let him take over.
Sora’s hand shook around the spoon, before he reluctantly let it drop into Riku’s open palm.
“Open up,” Riku instructed. Sora’s heart fluttered in his chest, and it almost made him choke on the spoonful Riku had just given him. “It’s not too hot, is it?” Sora shook his head no.
Sora’s throat was still a little sore from having the feeding tube removed, but he wanted to make Riku proud, so he ate it all, anyway.
“Is it good?” Riku asked. “I’m not much of a chef like you, Mister Five Star Bistro…”
“It’s great!” Sora said. “I don’t know how to cook. Lil Chef does.”
“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself. It had to have been partly you, right?”
And so, they launched back into their normal, playful banter. It would have been a completely normal night for the two of them, had Riku not been feeding Sora chicken soup and helping him stand up out of the dining room chair. “What does it feel like?” Riku asked, holding his arm out for Sora to hold on to.
“Um…” Sora shrugged. “It feels like… pins and needles. Like I can’t fully feel all my limbs. But, sometimes, it’s also painful? Like, my hands or my feet will cramp up, and stuff…”
Riku frowned. “That sounds awful.”
“Kinda is.”
Sora allowed Riku to clean his face with a washcloth and comb the tangles out of his hair. Sora insisted on brushing his own teeth, losing grip on the toothbrush a few times, but still getting the job done. Riku offered Sora one of his new shirts to sleep in, which Sora more than happily took. Riku made a mental note to wash Sora’s clothes more than once, as they had clearly been very loved.
Riku left Sora in the bathroom to use the toilet and finish getting ready for bed, and Riku excused himself to the bedroom, to strip off the day’s clothes and find himself something to wear. He pulled his shirt over his head and started to pick through the shirts hanging in the closet. Riku ran his hands through his hair, heaving in a cleansing sigh. Sora, unknown to him, had maneuvered himself down the hallway, slowly, and was now sheepishly standing in the doorway.
“Oh, um, sorry,” he mumbled.
Riku closed the closet door. “Sora, it’s alright. You can come in.”
Riku offered him a hand from the doorway to the bed.
Sora’s face felt hot, and he briefly thought about asking Riku to open the window again for some fresh air. “Crawl on in,” Riku said, pulling the quilt back.
“’Kay.”
Sora seemed completely unbothered by the idea of sharing the same bed, and honestly, Riku hadn’t even realized that there was nowhere else for him to sleep- so he tried to not feel awkward about crawling into bed (shirtless) next to his twenty-year old best friend. They used to sleep quite literally on top of each other when they were kids; piled into the same twin sized bed, or on each other’s shoulders on a couch. But that was almost fifteen years ago.
Riku blew out the candles on their bedside tables, and laid down next to Sora, as far away as he could get without seeming like he was completely disgusted by him. Riku was staring a hole through the ceiling and trying not to think about how Sora was utterly swallowed by the grey t-shirt that he’d lent him, and right as he turned over to say, “goodnight, Sora,” Sora snored.
Riku smiled to himself, and turned on his side, deciding he’d find more things to worry about tomorrow.
X
Sora stole Riku’s blanket.
A few weeks had gone by, and Sora’s mobility had improved. It had improved enough that Riku didn’t stir every time Sora got out of bed, worried he was going to get injured or need help putting on clothes. Sora had settled into a new routine, which involved pulling the quilt off the bed, dragging it out into the tall grass in the backyard, and then bringing two or three of the books off Riku’s bookshelf outside as well. Sora spent 90% of his time outside, reading.
And Riku thought it was fucking adorable.
Sora did only have a seventh-grade education, so occasionally he would call for Riku, (“Riiiiiiiikuuuuuu!”), so he could ask him questions like, “Riku, what does serendipitously mean?”
Riku picked splinters out of his hand. He had been fixing the front steps to make them easier for Sora to get up and down, when he heard his name being called. “Well, um… it basically means like, ‘by accident,’ or, like, ‘fortuitous.”
“Oh. Okay.” Sora was nodding. “Hey, Riku?”
“Yeah?”
“What does fortuitous mean?”
Riku rolled his eyes, leaning down to pinch Sora’s cheek. “Listen, I have a few errands to run today, okay?”
“Huh?”
“I won’t be gone very long,” Riku explained. “You’ll be okay here?”
Sora didn’t move. “…you’ve been running a lot of errands lately.”
“Have I…?” And yes, admittedly, he had. But for good reason.
Two weeks ago, Riku stopped by Merlin’s study on his way home from the Marketplace. He hadn’t originally set out to stop by, (Sora had sent him out to get more popsicles), but it had been a while since he’d checked in. He pushed open the heavy wooden door and was met with high-pitched squealing. “Riku!” Yuffie threw her arms around his neck. “How are ya doing?”
“Ah, I’m alright.”
“Riku.” Aerith turned around from where she was sitting at the sewing table. “It’s good to see you.”
Something clicked in Riku’s head, then.
“Hey, Aerith? Are you busy?”
“No, not at all. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. I just need your help with something.”
Aerith was patient, and thank god for that, because sewing did not come naturally to Riku. The stitches were uneven, the filling was clumpy in some places, and the scraps of fabric that Riku had chosen for Sora’s quilt did not match at all, but it was finished.
“This is very sweet of you, Riku,” Aerith smiled, folding up the completed blanket.
“I just… wanted to do something for him.”
“So stinkin’ cute!” Yuffie screeched. “Go! Go give it to him!”
“Oh, before you go…,” Aerith brought a few bags out from the wardrobe, and handed it to Riku. “From the good fairies. For Sora.”
“He’ll be so happy. Thanks, guys.”
X
Sora summoned his keyblade, cross-legged on the floor in front of the fireplace.
The interaction felt right, and his hand was more than happy to close around the handle, but the weight of it was too much for his nerves, and it fell to the ground, disappearing back into the void. Sora sighed.
He held his hand out in front of his face, about to will the keyblade to re-appear, when the front door creaked open. Riku appeared, biting back a smile, holding two bags in his hands. Sora twisted at the waist to greet him. “Hi,” he said. “Did you go to the Marketplace?”
“No, not today,” Riku answered, setting the two bags in front of him. “I brought you something.”
“What? You brought me something? A present?”
“Yes, a present. Go ahead. Open it.”
Sora grabbed them by the handles and peered inside. “Ah!”
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather had sent a myriad of clothes for Sora, each stitch laced with special healing powers. There were t-shirts, tailored pants, shorts, pajamas. Underwear! Sora was thrilled. Sora pulled out a blue sweater from the top. “This is great, Riku, thanks.”
“Wait, there’s more. Look.”
Sora dug to the bottom, and lifted the quilt up, setting it gently in his lap. “Riku…”
“It’s not great. In fact, it actually kind of sucks, but Aerith helped me, and…”
“Riku.”
“You just love the one I have so much, so I thought that maybe you might like to have one, too, so-“
Sora clambered over the bags and launched himself directly into Riku. “I love it,” Sora nuzzled into Riku’s chest. “Thank you.”
Riku slowly closed his arms around Sora’s small frame. “Anything for you.”
X
Twice a week, Sora and Riku packed up and flew back to San Fransokyo. The hospital had enrolled Sora in some outpatient physical therapy, to try and speed up his recovery. Sora did not like going to therapy. He liked it even less when he found out the hospitals did not yet utilize Baymax in their nursing staff. The only way that Riku had convinced him to get into the ship this particular day, was by promising that he’d take him to Belle’s library afterwards to pick out some more books. Sora had already exhausted Riku’s collection in the month he’d been there.
The pain that Sora felt twice a week at physical therapy was otherworldly. The physical therapist strategically pulled his fingers outward, and then back in again; the thick calluses on his hands another glaring reminder of what he’d endured. When Sora’s hand paralysis had gotten particularly bad, the physical therapist had given him a brace to wear that forced his hand open, and the first night he had to wear them to bed, he fixated his eyes on the ceiling and tried to ignore the tears pouring down his face, hands cramping up inside the tight cast.
“Good, and again,” the physical therapist instructed, flexing Sora’s fingers backwards.
They moved to Sora’s feet, that had mainly suffered nerve damage from excessive jumping, running, and standing for days on end.
“Ah-“ Sora grit his teeth together, as they worked to move his feet forward, backward, side to side; stretching them as far each way as they could go.
“Painful?” they asked, and Riku gripped his hand into a fist as Sora tried to shrug it off.
“How is he doing at home?” They both looked to Riku for an answer, and he hadn’t been expecting that. “Aren’t you his caregiver?”
Sora stared at him, wide-eyed, expectant. “Oh, um.. I… yes. He’s been doing alright.”
“Getting around okay?”
“Well enough,” Riku remarked, and leaned against the wall. “Takes him some time, but he gets there.”
“Good. I think, when you’re ready, Sora- the two of you should start trying to take walks, outside of the house. Sora, that means walking by yourself. No holding on to Riku. Understand?”
“Can we go to the library now?” Sora asked.
Belle welcomed the two of them into the castle with open arms. Sora wrapped one of his arms around her neck, the other still tightly held onto Riku. She led them through the quickest way to the library, trying to avoid stairs and other obstacles that would make it hard for Sora to get there. “Oh, Sora. I was so sorry to hear about your condition.” Belle unlocked the door to the library to let Sora and Riku step inside. She offered a hand to Sora, helping him come further in. “We were all so worried about you when you disappeared, and oh, poor Riku,” she motioned to the brooding boy by the door. “Riku was so distraught. It was the least I could do to lend him a few books to keep his mind off of you.”
Sora grinned. “Is that so?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Belle nodded. “Please, take anything you like.”
So he did.
Sora read. He read every book he could get his hands on. He took his blanket and sat on the back porch step, watching the grass blowing back and forth in the yard. He and Riku settled every night in the front room, each reading their separate novels, in the twilight. Riku was enthralled in the novel he’d just started reading, so he barely noticed when Sora had started talking under his breath.
“Help,” Sora mumbled.
“Did you say something?” Riku asked, looking up from his book.
“Help,” Sora said, a bit louder. “Help me.”
Sora’s two fingers had fastened themselves to the ear of the page, and Sora’s wrist was locked and focused on turning it. He tried to force the movement. He knew how to do it. He could do it. His hand shook, creating a small tear in the paper.
“Oh, Sora, hang on.” Riku closed his book and moved to cover Sora’s hand with his own. He helped Sora to mimic the movement of page turning. It was obvious to both of them, though, that Sora would not be able to continue reading on his own. Not tonight, at least. Not for a few hours.
Sora’s bottom lip quivered, and Riku stepped in, then. “It’s alright.” He took the book out of Sora’s open hands. “Where were you at?”
“There,” Sora pressed a knuckle to the top of the page.
“Okay.” Riku sat on the ground beside Sora’s chair. “Let’s see.”
Riku had his hair pulled back, and Sora’s heart felt so full, watching his best friend prepare to read to him. “Chapter 32…”
X
“Let’s go for a walk,” Riku suggested, one night after they had finished cleaning up dinner. “Maybe out towards the gardens?”
“Okay, sure!”
It took twice as long as it should have to get out of the door, as Sora insisted on tying his own shoes. Sora reached his hand out, the way he did when he was ready to grab on to Riku’s arm, and Riku shook his head. “Let me see you do it yourself.”
Sora felt nauseous. Walk, by himself? With nothing to hold on to?
“Okay…”
Sora took a hesitant step forward, and then another. His feet felt dead, like he was dragging them along. They had made it a few yards down the street from their house, and Sora’s legs were starting to feel tired. Tired like he’d just run a marathon tired. “Come on, Sora, I don’t have all day,” Riku teased, stretching his arms above his head. He’d walked a short distance in front of Sora, letting the fresh air run over his face. Sora’s heavy steps had slowed to a stop behind him, and when he finally turned around, it was just in time to find Sora beginning to slowly fall to his knees.
“Sora!”
Riku grabbed him by the underarms, right as Sora let out a heavy sob. “I can’t,” Sora cried. “I can’t go anymore.”
“Hey, that’s alright,” Riku leaned down to pick the smaller boy up under his knees and hoist him up. “That’s okay, Sora.” Sora’s face was so close to Riku’s, and Sora sniffled, unable to cry in the presence of Riku’s soft smile. “You did great, Sora. Okay? Don’t cry.”
Sora nodded.
Weeks passed, and Sora got stronger. The neuropathy went from a constant to an intermittent issue. Sora’s episodes only lasted for a few hours rather than a few days. Every day, the two of them walked further and further. He had gone from having to hold on to Riku’s arm to take a few steps past the front door, to being able to walk a few minutes on his own without stopping for a break. They walked past Merlin’s study, giving a wave to Yuffie and Leon.
“Yes! Go Sora!” Yuffie clapped.
Sora wanted to recover so badly, that he hadn’t even realized it had been two months, and he definitely hadn’t expected to react negatively when the physical therapist finally gave him the green light to be alone.
“So, I can officially return to work, then?” Riku asked, standing by while they walked Sora on the treadmill.
“Yes, I think that would be fine,” Sora’s therapist agreed. “He seems to be steadily regaining feeling; quicker than he was.”
“That’s great to hear,” Riku replied.
“What do you think, Sora? Ready for Riku to leave you alone, finally? Get out of your hair?” The therapist was smiling, and Sora wanted to smile, too, but the thought of Riku returning to missions without him made him feel sick.
“Yeah,” Sora said, instead, and that was Riku’s first clue that the transition to a new normal would be less than smooth.
Sora had read all the books he’d borrowed from Belle and had started re-reading some of the books on Riku’s shelf. He had buried his nose in his favorite one, The Little Prince, and tried to seem as composed as possible as Riku traded in his casual wear for his work clothes. He pulled his jacket over his shoulders, and sat on a wooden stool by the front door to tie his boots. “You gonna be alright?” Riku asked.
Sora sighed. “I’ll be fine.” Sora could feel the tears building in his throat, but swallowed them.
“Promise you’ll call me if you need me.”
“I will.” Sora turned the page of his book.
“I won’t be far. I’m just going to train Kairi and Lea.”
“Okay.” Sora wanted to be there, with the three of them. Sora wanted to be able to be assigned to missions and cheer for Kairi and listen to Lea’s inappropriate banter. More than anything, Sora wanted to be next to Riku. He wanted to watch Riku as he instructed Kairi and Lea, his first students.
“Be good,” Riku said, placing a hand on Sora’s head, and then, he slung his messenger bag over his shoulder and was gone.
X
“Riku!” Kairi grinned as she ran down the pathway to her grandmother’s house, to meet Riku on the sidewalk. “Glad to have you back.”
“Glad to be back,” he said, rolling his shoulders. “Feels kinda weird, though.”
“Ah, you got spoiled on the unemployed life.”
“Hah. Guess so.”
They only had to travel about three or so blocks to get to Lea’s apartment complex. “How is he doing?” Kairi asked, waving a hand at Lea as he exited. “Sora.”
“So far, so good,” Riku said, glancing at his Gummiphone. “I’ve only been gone for about twenty minutes though, so…”
Riku was just a little disappointed that there weren’t any messages from Sora.
Just a little.
“Kairi, run that back,” Riku said, instructing her to move back to the other side of the field. “Lea, loosen up your swing a little, alright?”
“Aye aye, boss,” Lea said, placing two fingers to his temple.
Riku crossed his arms, and the way that Kairi bent down, and held her keyblade just a bit off to the side, reminded Riku of Sora, and he felt his heart tug. He couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to check on him.
He reached into his pocket and typed out a message to him.
How is everything going? You alright?
Sora did not read the message. Riku frowned at the screen, squinting at it in the sunlight. “Hey, Riku, are you even watching?” Kairi yelled, throwing her arms down in defeat.
“Oh, um. Sorry. Hang on.” Riku cupped his hand around the phone screen, just to stand there and smile idiotically at the response.
All good!!!!! (´°ω°`)
X
Riku was fucking exhausted when he returned home that night. Although Kairi and Lea had done the most physical activity, Riku hadn’t realized just how lazy he’d become the last two months, staying home with Sora. He was also a bit late, since Kairi’s grandmother had graciously packed two full bento boxes full of dinner for Sora and Riku. Riku had barely walked in, before Sora was launching at him.
“Oof.”
Sora nuzzled his head into Riku’s chest, hands limply attempting to grab at his shirt. “Hey,” Riku greeted with a soft laugh, placing a hand in Sora’s hair. “Good to see you, too.” Sora mumbled into Riku’s shoulder.
“What was that?”
Sora’s face flushed. He wasn’t sure exactly why, but he chose to not think about that. “Missed you,” Sora said.
“Come on. Let’s walk.”
The first night after Riku returned to work, they walked all the way to the gardens. It felt like a monumental moment. And Sora? Sora had walked the whole way, by himself. “I was super bored today,” Sora said. “I’m out of books.”
“I noticed.” Riku picked one of the windflowers and handed it to Sora.
Sora was standing in the center of the courtyard, looking at the four patches of flowers surrounding him, and the hundreds of blooms sparked an idea.
“Riku. I know what I wanna do while you’re gone.”
X
Sora had never been into gardening.
His mother was an avid gardener when he was growing up; she always had a garden full of vegetables and beds full of fragrant flowers that she tended to religiously. Sora would bring her bags of soil and help her press seeds into the ground, but other than that, he was hardly interested in it.
But he’d been staring out at Riku’s huge backyard for months now, and after reaching the courtyard, he knew that he wanted to turn it into a garden. Lea came by the following Saturday afternoon and helped till up part of the lawn, to create beds for Sora to plant in.
And it was that same Saturday, as the sun began setting, and Sora was sitting cross-legged in his new garden beds, drawing out where he was going to place each flower, each vegetable, each herb; that Riku made a discovery.
He had sat on the back step, looking at Sora so fondly; memorizing every little thing about him. His hair was all in his face, and he kept having to push it out of his eyes to be able to see what he was drawing- and occasionally, he would look back towards Riku and shoot him a toothy grin, and it was on one of those particular occurrences when the sun had settled right behind Sora’s head, that Riku realized that maybe, just maybe, the feelings that he felt for Sora, had turned into something more than friendship.
And maybe Riku didn’t know as much about love as he thought he did.