#so it left him and went to sora much to riku's dismay

[goldensunset]

i need to make a full outline for what i’d headcanon kh characters’ pokémon teams to look like at some point

[sorathemasterofmasters]

Have any of the Foretellers or Luxu ever called MoM 'dad' or anything close to it? You've referred to them as your kids in the past, so is their relationship with him a father-children one (adopted/father figure/etc) or a mentor one that sometimes blurs into being a parent figure?

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Master Report – Adopting Ava It seems my mother was right in her sentiment of my ability to take in strays or rather my inability to not take in strays. Since arriving in this world, I have spent the time researching for a way to return to my own timeline, reading multiple libraries worth of content as well as anything the Moggles can be convinced to lend me. Indeed I’ve formed quite a fine working relationship with the Moggles though that may be my decision to share advanced potion recipes from the future. Anyway back to my ability to take in strays which only Riku with his infinite patience and cold hard logic could ever dissuade, It was not a particularly conscious decision on my part, I had just celebrated another birthday by using the kitchen of the local bakery to make a rather nice cake. I headed to the bridge overlooking the river to eat it in peace. I did not react as fast as I could have to what happened next mainly because I had never been a victim of such an audacious daylight robbery before. I gave chase and soon cornered the ambitious thief only to be surprised by the culprit, Clad in scruffy clothes and more than a little undernourished, the thief in question was a small child. She was a tiny little thing and I could tell not proud of her theft despite the fact that she had clearly not been eating right and consistently in a long time, she clearly begrudged the act though not the necessity. Coaxing her out to the nearest park bench we began to talk. The child, emboldened by the cake or more likely the sugar in it told me about her life. Of her life as an orphan and the near squalid conditions of Daybreak Towns orphanage and the uncaring matron to her eventually wandering on the streets. Now had Riku been here he would have likely tried to stop me from my next course of action, had Kairi been here she.. would likely be cheering me on the entire time. Nevertheless, I maintain walking up to that orphanages doors and walking out with the adoption papers for my little Ava was the most righteous act I have performed in my entire life. I expected the actual process to be much harder but I am known in this town as a respected figure in good standing with the Moggles Guild and a skilled warrior both so that very likely sped up the process.

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Master Report – Adopting Ira, Gula and Invi In my own time, they talk about The Age of Fairytales like the entire era was a utopian ideal, it was not, I cannot stress that fact enough. Thankfully neither Ira, Gula or Invi remember their families and perhaps that is for the best, at most they know that their traveling convoy was ambushed by monsters on the roads between settlements, not an uncommon tale, unfortunately. That is enough, I see no need to put them through more senseless trauma in explaining the whys and hows. For the first time in a while, I used my Keyblade to travel between the settlements looking for any living relations who could take them in, I was unsuccessful. I already knew the deplorable state of Daybreak Town’s orphanage, my daughter Ava still wakes with nightmares, and knew they would not get the care and support they desperately needed there, at least this way I don't have to bother with the paperwork though and Ava will be pleased to have some playmates.

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Master Report – Adopting Aced and Luxu I get the feeling that at this point even Kairi would be agreeing with Riku on the issue of picking up strays. Two boys both recent arrivals in Daybreak Town, were left behind when one of the trading caravans left without them, thinking it an accident I used the Keyblade to catch up with the group and left them more than a little infuriated by what I found. The boys had been left behind intentionally, Luxu’s parents who had been members of the caravan had perished recently leaving him as an extra mouth to feed with no one who cared for him. They called him an extra expense, I call them scum. Now, while leaving Luxu behind in an established settlement safe from monsters is preferable to abandoning him in the wilderness their next action with Aced was reprehensible. Aced was left behind because he was loud. He is a six-year-old child. Rambunctious and happy as can be child and they left him behind because they wanted to save money on monster repellent. ‘They’ being his father, grandparents and older sisters. I don't even have the words for how furious I was then I heard that. I told them to leave Daybreak Town and never return, else I would deal with them. As far as Aced and Luxu know the entire caravan left them behind by mistake and was set upon by monsters leaving no survivors. They are mine now.

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The Master of Masters sighed exaggeratedly placing his hands on his hips “I seem to have lost something” He announced loudly, quiet giggling alerted him to the location of one hider. “Oh Ava, Invi, Ira, Aced, Gula, Luxu” The Master of Masters called “Where have you all gone?” More giggling “Sshh, quiet Gula! Papa’s gonna find us!” The Master of Masters grinned and dramatically swooned in place with faux woe “Its so sad, without my children I fear allll those warm chocolate cookies I baked might just go to waste” The Master of Masters paused for dramatic effect “I suppose I’ll just eat them all myself then” Aced barrelled into his legs from behind with a warcry of protest to the dismay of the other hiders, The Master of Master reached around as he stumbled and fell and grabbed the squealing child mercilessly tickling him into gales of laughter. “Oh Lookie Lookie I found a ticklish little bear cub, Looks like I’m not going to be eating the cookies alone after all” The Master of Masters stood up putting the pouting Aced under one arm like a bag and noogieing him gently “Let us go cub, for chocolate awaits!” The Master of Masters paused and looked closely at the couch cushions reaching a hand in to pull out “Ohhh look cub, a snake hatchling, how adorable!” The Masters cooed Invi blushed as she was also picked up. The Master of Masters yelped as Gula sprinted out of cover from under a table and leapt onto his back scaling his way up until he sat on the Master of Masters shoulders gripping his hair like reigns to keep his balance “I gotcha papa!” Gula announced triumphantly “Yes, you did little my little sky leopard” Gula pouted The Master of Master paused then had a idea “I'm so very short, can you see any unicorns or foxes running about from up there, Little Sky leopard?” Indignant cries of “Papa!” and “That's Cheating!” rang around the room and two missiles collided with both his legs Ava staring up from his left with a pout and Ira looking up reproachfully from the right the Master of Masters laughed “Oh dear, I must have forgotten the rules, there's only one thing for it” The children looked confused before their expressions brightened to glee as the Master of Masters announced seriously “Cookies and milk for all and a bedtime story!” the children cheered loudly “Wait? Where's Luxu” asked Ava confused The Master of Master paused thoughtfully then gasped as though stunned “It seems Luxu won at hide and seek that means he gets to choose the bedtime story this time” The five children groaned as the Master of Masters chuckled and lowered the children carefully to the ground “Now if I go get the cookies and milk ready will you find Luxu and tell him to pick a story?” Five sets of eyes shone happily “Yes Papa!” Chorused the group before they scattered around the room looking for Luxu, The Master of Masters chuckled warmly and went to the kitchen wondering what story Luxu would pick this time.

This was way before MoM!Sora started to get visions of the future, at this point in time the Foretellers and Luxu are teeny tiny tots and toddlers (I am leaving the ages ambiguous) This is my headcanon territory in this AU and Nomura can rip it from my cold dead fingers. As far as MoM!Sora is concerned they're his babies and he’ll happily murder anyone who suggests otherwise which make what's about to happen in the future all the more heartbreaking.

Suffice to say I was in a big mood when I wrote this.

[thefinalkey16]

My thoughts on why Rikai should be just as popular as Soriku and Sokai, based on the evidence from the games.

KH1

The games literally start of with Riku flirting with Kairi and her responding positively. His first line specifically said to her is said in a teasing tone with his hands on his hips, and he even leans down so he can get closer to her face, to which Kairi gets all bashful, giggles, and smiles as she responds. In the very beginning of the game, we’re shown that this boy has a crush, and she is definitely not uninterested.

He races his friend and does other things to get her attention, such as naming the raft, which she proceeds to comment to Sora is a cool name, and searching for the materials his crush asked him to get. He’s even waiting at their usual hangout spot, as though hoping she’ll come visit him while Sora takes forever to get the materials!

At the end of the day, he always looks up whenever she talks, his lips quirking up as he hears her speak. He credits her with the idea for building a raft and other worlds, to which she gets a lil flustered when he Thanks her for it.

When the Islands fall, he doesn’t plan on leaving her behind. He fully plans on her coming with him and Sora, I just.. I don’t think he imagined to be taken away so fast, and how destructive the power he unleashed was.

When he finds out she’s not with Sora, he’s shocked. I know a lot of people think he left because of Donald saying he can’t come, but has anyone considered that he went to confront Maleficent and ask for her help to find his best friend? As far as he knows, his best friend and crush is lost somewhere, alone on another world. Maybe he wasn’t angry solely upon the thought of being replaced by Sora’s friends, but because Sora just learned that Kairi’s missing, and he’s joking around with friends and chilling.

From this point on in the game, Riku has only one goal in mind: Finding Kairi. He kidnaps the Princesses because Maleficent says that if he helps her with it he’ll find Kairi. He doesn’t know these girls, he doesn’t know if Maleficent will hurt them. He sees that she puts them to sleep, and they’re safe and unharmed, why would he be worried?

When he does find her, and learns about her missing her heart, he immediately searches for a replacement. When he sees Pinocchio, he doesn’t think Pinocchio is real at all, he thinks it’s just hosting a heart his best friend desperately needs. It’s just a block of wood, why does it need a heart?

From here on out he starts to keep Kairi closeby, as if worried that if he’s away for too long, she’ll slip away. He cradled her in his arms, holding her close and making sure she’s rested on comfortable pillows and comforters. Even if she doesn’t have a heart, he can’t just let her lay on the filthy ship floor.

He talks to her while she’s asleep, reassuring her that he’s here, that he’s trying to help her. He doesn’t know if she can hear him, if she’s conscious at all, but he doesn’t want her to be scared. So he promises her that he’s coming, that he’s finding a way to wake her up.

At this point, he’s furious because Sora is not concerned with the fact that Kairi lost her heart. He offers Sora a chance, pleading to join him to save their friend, whom he knows loves her too, only to be insulted and refused, dismissed. Why does it matter what way he takes to get Kairi back? All that matters is her waking up safely, and if the darkness helps with that, what could be so wrong with it?

Seeing as the darkness alone isn’t enough, he takes Sora’s keyblade. Since everyone keeps fawning over the keyblade wielder, maybe it’s powerful enough to help wake her up. At this point though, he doesn’t want Sora even coming near Kairi. A traitor like him doesnt deserve to get close.

So he fights him, and to his dismay, loses. How can his heart not be strong enough? He’s fighting with all he has to get her heart back! And then, he’s approached by someone.. something, and it promises to help, to make him and his heart stronger. If it gets Kairi back, it’s worth it, so he immediately agrees.

With this new strength, comes new knowledge. His crush.. his best friend.. is a Princess. And his former best friend has her heart trapped inside him. Only a villain would take a Princess’s heart, so Sora must be a villain! And if so,. That means he’s the hero, the Prince! Working tirelessly to retrieve and return the Princess’s heart.

He faces Sora again, determined to win and get back her heart, only to fail. He watches as Sora sacrifices himself, and he gets confused. Why would a Villain sacrifice himself for his Princess? It’s only when Ansem takes control of him, changing his form and approaches Kairi that he realizes his grave error.

He’s the Villain in this fairytale.

He’s forced to watch as this.. this thing controlling his body, tells Kairi that her purpose is over. He sees what Andem’s planning to do. He’s going to kill her. He’ll hurt her and keep her and the Princesses for his own scenes.

He won’t let anyone hurt her, not even himself.

With everything he has, he takes control, managing to appear and stop Ansem. He tells Kairi to run, pleading for her to get out of here. The heartless are coming! He-I-is going to hurt you! Please Kairi, run!

He watches as she runs away, Donald and Goofy at her side to protect her. They protected Sora from him, he knows she’s safe with them. As they leave the room, his strength goes out. The darkness has taken its toll. He falls... falls... into darkness.

He awakens in this dark world. He doesn’t know where he is. He hears a voice and runs towards it. After running for what feels like hours, he sees a door. A way out!

Running to it, he hears voices. It’s.. it’s Sora. He’s okay, he’s alive! But.. but he watched him die.. no time to think about it. He hurries and immediately focuses on helping them. He’s done so much wrong, maybe.. maybe helping them will make him a little more good.

As the door closes, he knows there isn’t any time left. One wish comes to mind, so he gives Sora his one request before he’s sealed off from them forever. His one request as he passes on his duties to someone who may actually be able to succeed.

“Take care of her.”

[binbou-kun]

Nothing More, Nothing Less

Rating: General Summary: Riku doesn't understand his feelings. He loves Sora, even as his best friend, but there was something else there that he couldn't describe. Sora knows what to make of his own feelings, but when he confesses, he reconsiders. Love was a thin tightrope for these two, but a tight gust of wind full of second guesses and miscommunication pushes them off and they barely hang on. Word Count: 1760 Read on AO3! Please support me on Ko-fi if you enjoy my work! Excerpt: Yes, he loved his best friend. So doesn’t anyone else. So why was it hard for him to wrap his head around such a simple concept? Why did his body tingle when he first met up with Sora in the morning? Why did his breath hitch in his throat every time he saw Sora stretch? Why did his hands get clammy when he heard Sora speak? Sora was his best friend. Nothing more, nothing less.

Feelings were difficult for Riku to portray. It was hard for him to tell someone he was bored or he was upset about something because he didn’t want to interrupt their fun or ruin the moment. Much to his dismay, he would put himself through situations he preferred to stay away from just to appease others. This was something he did for years, something he was used to doing.

One of the hardest things for him to say was, simple as it sounds, “I love you”. Three words, but three words that have several meanings to it. I love you as a friend. I love you as family. I love you as my significant other.

Riku had a hard time explaining how he felt to others, only because he sheltered himself. Growing up with Sora in his early childhood brought up several feelings, some of which he could not understand. Sora was his best friend, of course, but there was another feeling there that he couldn’t quite put a finger on. It was something that made him swell when he would think about Sora in general.

Yes, he loved his best friend. So doesn’t anyone else. So why was it hard for him to wrap his head around such a simple concept? Why did his body tingle when he first met up with Sora in the morning? Why did his breath hitch in his throat every time he saw Sora stretch? Why did his hands get clammy when he heard Sora speak?

Sora was his best friend.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Although that seemed a little harsh to think, Riku had to put his foot down. They were best friends since their early childhood. Sure, he wanted to protect Sora. But who else wouldn’t want to protect their best friend?

Sora obviously loved Kairi, right? That’s how it worked, right? Even though Riku was there first? Even though Kairi never used to be in the picture? Riku couldn’t help but feel some sort of resentment towards the innocent girl. She did nothing wrong, but Riku felt robbed. He didn’t hate Kairi, and hate was a strong word, but he did feel upset by her presence.

But wait, wasn’t Kairi his best friend too? He shouldn’t be feeling this way, because he also wants to protect her. He cared for her as much as he cared for Sora.

He thought, anyway.

Emotions made no sense to Riku. Maybe he was the one in the wrong. Maybe it was because of his failed sense of feelings that made him so messed up.

So, when Sora said that he loved Riku one day, it left him feeling confused. Hurt, maybe. But happy? His heart throbbed with joy, but he wanted to cry, and his throat felt closed off, and his fist would clench but was it out of happiness or sadness? He laughed, and then he frowned. Sora probably thought he was crazy.

“Riku?”

His voice, that beautiful voice. It was hurt. He loved Sora, and Sora loved him. But which was it, out of friendship or love?

Riku couldn’t say anything. It was a double-edged sword that threatened to pierce his weak heart. He would be the one hurt, or Sora would be the one hurt. It all depended on what way he understood it. Dare he ask? Or just go along with it and say, “I love you, too” without further questioning Sora’s intent?

Come to think of it, he never did hear Sora say that to Kairi once since her arrival on the island. It very well could be that they kept their relationship hidden from Riku, but why would they do that? They hung out together nearly all hours of the day, so where was the love in that if they never showed it? Sora would have told Riku—

“Hey, Riku?”

--if they were together. Sora told Riku everything. Maybe there was some hope in that. Riku felt somewhat less insecure about their relationship. Maybe he would reply and see how Sora took it after that.

He saw a hand come up in the corner of his vision. “Are you okay?” Riku realized that a faint voice had been calling him this entire time.

Riku gasped and Sora came back into focus. How long was he alone with his thoughts? “Y-yeah?” He sputtered as he noticed Sora’s hand frozen by his shoulder.

Sora giggled as he put down his hand. “Are you okay? I was trying to talk to you for, like, five minutes and you didn’t say anything.”

Riku knew what he said. He needed to say something. He nervously chuckled and scratched the back of his head. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“Oh, you heard me,” Sora rolled his eyes and smiled. “I said, ‘I love you’, Riku!”

There were no romantic intentions behind that innocent smile. There was no way.

Hesitantly, he replied with a subtly sullen, “…I love you too, Sora.”

And so there were no romantic intentions behind that response.

 ___

Sora knew he loved Riku. There was no doubt about it. Ever since Riku promised he would protect him when they were children, he couldn’t help but feel some sort of love for him. As the years went on, that attraction only got stronger, and he could confidently say that he romantically loved his best friend.

He just wasn’t sure if Riku felt the same way. He always seemed distant and he often never spoke about how he felt. He let others do the talking for him, but Sora never brought it up because he didn’t want to upset Riku. Nobody brought it up, but maybe they never noticed.

Sora attempted to ask Kairi multiple times if something seemed off about Riku, but she often responded with a, “No…? He seems like his usual self today”. So Sora would leave it to the idea of his imagination running wild.

But days like today were one of those where Sora knew something was wrong with Riku. There were times where Riku looked like he wanted to say something, but he would just put on such a fake smile.

Sora knew that, as soon as Kairi moved to Destiny Islands, Riku’s attitude changed. He couldn’t figure out why. He cursed himself because he knew he should have asked, but didn’t out of irrational fear. Why should he be afraid of asking his best friend what was wrong?

Sora noticed the sad, longing glance whenever he would talk to Kairi. Sora noticed the look of frustration whenever Kairi butted in on their conversation. It was blatantly obvious, but Sora lacked the courage to speak up about it in case he was wrong on his end. Also, partly because they never got a chance to talk about it because Sora would forget to ask in the moment, or because Kairi was always with them.

“I love you,” he told Riku with a big smile. Those three words were exactly what he meant, he loved Riku. He wanted to take care of him, be with him forever, go out on fun dates and be happy together as a couple. While he was coming to terms with his feelings (after being told that it was ‘weird’ to love another man, in which Sora decided he would never associate with that idiot ever again), he realized more and more just how much he loved Riku and how being around him always made him happy.

He had hoped Riku felt the same way.

When he saw Riku silently reply with a blank stare, save for some random facial twitches now and then, it worried Sora. He knew messed up. He ruined their close friendship. He would have to laugh it off and pretend that meant something different entirely, otherwise there would be some sort of weird unresolved strain between them that would hinder their relationship.

Sora felt a sense of urgency, as if he wanted Riku to hurry up and say what he was going to say. He wanted this situation to end, and he hated it. Why did he get so brave? Why did he do that? His heart sunk. How could he be so inconsiderate of Riku’s feelings and their close-knit friendship? How could he compromise it like this? The same worries repeated over and over in his head like a broken record.

“Riku?” He tried to get his attention, but to no avail. Sora had waved his hand in front of Riku’s eyes, but his pupils didn’t follow. He was totally lost. Sora had a feeling that Riku didn’t know how to respond. Maybe he was having the same mental fight that he was having? Impossible.

Riku probably thought Sora was gross for loving him, another man, his best friend, and was trying to figure out what to say to make it hurt less.

Riku only saw them as friends, obviously. Why hadn’t he noticed it sooner? Is that why he always distanced himself? Is that why he always looked so upset, because he saw Sora hanging out with Kairi often and he was jealous because Kairi just nabbed him away like that, in the blink of an eye?

“Hey, Riku?” Sora asked, trying to guide him out of his daze. What should he do? He wasn’t responding to anything. Sora didn’t know how to handle this situation, but he couldn’t just leave Riku here like this. That would be too cruel.

“Are you okay?” Sora went to grab Riku’s shoulder but he froze when he saw Riku gasp for air, as if he wasn’t breathing for a solid two minutes.

“Y-yeah?” Riku had finally responded.

Sora had to act normal. He went numb, erased his thoughts, and he giggled as an attempt to regain his composure.

“Oh, you heard me,” He rolled his eyes in typical Sora fashion. He added a smile to make it seem believable. “I said, ‘I love you’, Riku!” He knew Riku had heard what he said, but he played it cool. Hopefully.

But, that was it. He didn’t explain himself any further. He left it at that and hoped Riku would either figure it out on his own, or drop it and let them continue their friendship the way that it was without this incident holding them back.

“…I love you too, Sora.”

No enthusiasm. An empty response. Sora held that fake smile. Of course, Riku didn’t feel that way. It was wrong of him to assume so in the first place.

Sora and Riku were best friends.

Nothing more, nothing less.

[landprince]

if you’re still taking prompts: #9 distracting kiss for soriku please? :D

TYPES OF KISSES PROMPTS

Distracting Kiss - When you are competing, maybe playing video games or something so you press kisses anywhere available; arms, nose, knees, ears, knuckles, temple, just anywhere to distract them. 

Thanks for the request, Anon! I hope you enjoy this. (๑´ω`๑)

“You forgot an item back there,” Riku drawled as he watched Sora continue on. Sora made no indication he listened to Riku’s statement as he moved on in the game, opening a door and heading into the next level of the dungeon. “It might’ve been more health potions.”

Riku had been laying on Sora’s bed for the better part of an hour watching Sora play one of the new games the brunet had gotten recently. The two of them had been trying to get past a certain level for days now, neither of them able to get past a particularly strong mini-boss. The two of them had been holed up in Sora’s room, discussing strategies and looking up guides that would help them move on.

But so far, it had been nothing but fruitless endeavors on their part. After the third loss, Sora had gotten up from his spot on the bed next to Riku and moved to sit on the floor at the foot of the bed, hoping that if he was closer to the screen he could see some trick or flaw in the mini-boss that would allow him to snatch victory.

Grunting as he both ignored and acknowledged the statement Riku made, Sora triggered a random fight after the screen loaded and he took a few steps into the new area. The screen flashed, breaking into a million pieces as battle music blared through the television speakers. Riku watched Sora’s character spit out a cheesy one-liner and drop into a battle stance before the enemies appeared out of thin air.

The enemies that spawned on the field were weak little things, creatures that Sora’s character would crush underfoot with little problem. It would be a very uninteresting match that would take only a few minutes to move on from.

Scooting forward on his belly, Riku stretched out across Sora’s bed, reaching his arms out to lay them over Sora’s shoulders so he could mess with the buttons on the controller the brunet was holding. Even though he enjoyed staying in and playing games with his best friend, he had gotten frustrated to the point of pure boredom with it.

He was becoming restless. Video games no longer able to capture his attention like they managed to do earlier in the day, and now he wanted Sora’s focus to move from the screen to himself.

“Riku!” Sora cried out in dismay as Riku caused his character to miss an attack and take damage. Clenching the controller in his hands, he shoved his hands forward in an attempt at keeping his best friend from pressing any more random buttons and messing with his fight.

Twisting his body, Sora turned to glare at his best friend who was grinning at him with a self satisfied smirk. “Don’t look so smug.”

Shrugging, Riku immediately wiped the smile from his lips and wrapped his arms around Sora’s shoulders, head resting atop the brunet’s own spiky mess of hair as the younger teen went back to his game.

“It’s fine. You didn’t die or nothing.” Riku watched with half lidded eyes as his best friend found his figurative feet once more after the slip up Riku caused and sliced through an enemy. The creatures death cries echoed around the room for a moment before a victory fanfare played.

“See? You’re doing fine,” Riku said with a kiss to the back of Sora’s neck, right above the chain of the necklace he always wore. He could feel the skin pimple from the tender affection, the slight shudder that coursed through Sora’s body as his lips made contact with flesh.

Sora nodded mutely, jostling Riku and causing the older boy to let out an annoyed noise from being dislodged from his spot. In retribution, Riku leaned forward and latched onto Sora’s earlobe and gently biting.

The controller clattered to the floor, a sharp gasp being ripped from Sora’s lungs as Riku’s teeth dug into the sensitive flesh. The brunet seized in his arms, head cocking to the side and opening himself up more, allowing Riku’s tongue to snake out and rasp against the shell.

Sora’s body gave a powerful shudder, his thigh bumping into the controller and making his character walk around in a random direction. Riku barely paid attention to the battle music that started up once more as another random battle was triggered.

Pressing a kiss to the lobe, Riku nuzzled his nose in the sensitive skin behind Sora’s ear, letting out a throaty laugh as Sora’s breathing quickened. “You should start playing again. You’re in a fight and your character is going to be killed at this rate.”

Riku’s hand slid down Sora’s chest, fingers wrapping around the crown pendant on his necklace and giving a tug. “Aren’t you going to play? And here I thought you wanted to get through this level today.”

“How am I supposed to focus when you do things like that to me?” Sora asked, voice lower than usual as he grabbed the controller from its spot on the floor.

The character on screen moved in sloppy steps, as if Sora wasn’t entirely able to focus on the game in front of him.

Good, Riku thought as his fingers toyed with Sora’s pendant. He was greedy for Sora’s attention, but too proud to ask for it outright while his best friend was still partially enraptured by the game that had stolen his attention all day.

Pained grunts fell from pixelated lips as Sora desperately tried to fight off the creatures that had surrounded him in the short time Riku had distracted him. He was soon gaining the upper hand in the fight as monster after monster fell to his character’s attacks, bodies piling up for several seconds before disintegrating into millions of pixels.

Sora’s eyes were glazing over slightly; obviously falling trap to the flashing lights and rhythm of synthesized fights. That definitely wouldn’t do. Riku had only stolen a minuscule scrap of attention from his best friend, and was hungry for more.

Twisting the chain of the necklace around his fingers, Riku gave another gentle pull, silently delighting as Sora faltered in button smashing for a moment. Searching lips fell to lavish tiny, biting kisses against Sora’s neck.

Riku felt Sora’s body react; the brunet tensed, shook, and the pulse against his mouth beat wildly beneath the skin. A tiny whimper left Sora as the boy’s head lolled to the side, giving Riku full access to the expanse of skin at the nape of his neck. Riku greedily accepted the gesture and attached lips and teeth to olive hued skin.

Distantly Riku could hear the discordant notes of a death hymn as Sora’s character was obliterated, killed by his lack of action. The controller was still clutched in his best friend’s hands, but his fingers were locked in a death hold around the grips instead of pressing any buttons to defend or attack.

Sora’s eyes were shut, his lower lip trapped between his teeth as he exhaled shaky breath while Riku kissed his neck. Reaching down, Riku took the controller out of Sora’s hands and placed it aside. He knew Sora would be absolutely infuriated if somehow it busted and he had to buy another one.

Placing one last lingering kiss to bruised skin, Riku bumped his forehead affectionately against the back of Sora’s shoulder, humming in delight at the disappointed grumble that escaped Sora. Blue eyes suddenly bore into his own teal ones as Sora turned, rising up on his knees as their mouths met.

Satisfaction coursed in heady waves through Riku, stroking his ego and allowing him to relax against the mattress as Sora’s tongue slid against his own. A content haze settled around them as the -at first- eager and desperate kissing turned into something languid that caused warmth to pool in the center of his stomach.

Before long the two were trading chaste pecks that were punctuated by soft laughter and even softer touches as they caressed one another’s faces. The hurried, eager kissing had made way for much needed affection.

“You could have told me you were bored,” Sora said as he rested their foreheads together and gazed into Riku’s eyes. “I would have stopped playing if you wanted to do something else.” 

Riku had employed this tactic multiple times after the two of them started dating. It was somewhat predictable at times, but still caused wonderful reactions from Sora that both of them seemed to enjoy.

“Yeah, we’ve spent all day holed up in here. Wanna go grab dinner?” Riku leaned forward slightly, just enough that their noses bumped against each other and he gave Sora a small bunny kiss.

Sora patted his cheeks, smiling brightly before hopping to his feet and dancing out of Riku’s grasp when he reached for Sora in an attempt at pulling him back down again.

“Yeah! Let’s go out!” Sora readily agreed, nodding excitedly as he bounced about the room looking for some socks. “There’s this pizza place that opened up downtown that I’ve been dying to try.”

[a-crack-in-the-universe]

Terraqua: An Analysis

Note: This is an extremely long half-summary, half-exploration, half-creative piece on the development of Terra and Aqua’s relationship in the series. I really wanted to post something for Terraqua Day but I couldn't think up any good Terraqua fic ideas, so I decided to write a thought-post about Terraqua instead.

-------

Once there was a boy and a girl. They were best friends, long before Ventus came into the picture, and they lived together with their master (and adoptive father), Eraqus, in the Land of Departure.   

They lay underneath the stars together every night and dreamed of becoming Keyblade Masters together. When Ven arrived their dream became his too. (The two of them likely looked after Ven while he was recovering from his heart-trauma, and helped train him to wield a keyblade. That probably helped bring them closer together.) 

Only Aqua showed the Mark of Mastery, however. It was probably a huge surprise. Neither of them (or Eraqus) predicted that Terra wouldn't pass the Mark of Mastery exam. (They didn’t know that Master Xehanort had rigged the test so that Terra would fail.)  

Their relationship was bound to be strained by this. Aqua probably felt guilty for passing when Terra didn't, and Terra probably felt the sting of his dented pride.  He behaved pretty well though, compared to what could have been. He only lost it at her in Radiant Garden, and only after she'd admitting to spying on him. And even then he never swore at her, never insulted her. 

Shortly after Terra left the Land of Departure, Eraqus told Aqua about Terra's darkness, that it was deeper than he expected. He tasked Aqua with keeping an eye on Terra, and bringing him back to the Land of Departure if he got into trouble/couldn't handle the darkness inside of him. Aqua didn't want to spy on Terra, but Eraqus convinced her it was for the best when he told her that he didn't want to lose any of them to the darkness. Because Aqua was also afraid of losing Terra to the darkness, she agreed. She promised that she would bring him back.

Aqua and Terra were briefly reunited in Castle of Dreams. It was awkward between them at first, but before he left Terra told Aqua about his encounter with Cinderella and how she taught him to believe in dreams. Aqua however never told him that she was tasked with spying on him.  

In Radiant Garden, they, along with Ven, were reunited again. Everything was fine between them, until Aqua heard Terra mention Vanitas. It’s unclear how she knew about Vanitas at this point, but she looked scared when Terra revealed that he knew about ‘the boy in the mask’. So she snarked at him. Terra didn’t react badly to this. I like to think that he knew that she was reacting that way because she was scared, even if he didn’t know why she was feeling that way. I mean, they’ve supposed to have known each other for so many years, you’d expect them to be able to tell what they’re really feeling. But this is just speculation.

It wasn’t until Aqua accidentally admitted to spying on Terra that Terra finally snapped at her.  It might have gone better if Aqua had told him about her orders the first time they reunited. But she didn't. As said in Days by Roxas, "Friends are supposed to be honest with each other!" Aqua wasn't honest with Terra and Terra had to be angry and hurt about that. Terra was also angry about her lack of trust in him. That she didn’t trust him to handle his own problems.           

(I find it interesting that Aqua assumed that Terra was hurt that Eraqus didn’t trust him, because it’s clear in this scene that Terra was angry about Aqua spying on him and not trusting him. He certainly was not thinking about Eraqus.) 

Later, when Ven told Aqua that Terra had left the world, Aqua was dismayed and immediately turned her attention to going after Terra. She didn’t even take Ven back to the Land of Departure like she promised Eraqus she would--she just told him to go back home and left. (It doesn’t explicitly state why she wanted to chase after Terra, but I think it was probably to explain herself. And maybe she still wanted to keep an eye on Terra?) 

 After the Radiant Garden fight, Terra and Aqua’s relationship was even more strained. Terra was feeling angry and betrayed; Aqua guilty (and probably still worried about Terra). Terra thought that he was done with their friendship; Aqua thought that Terra thought poorly of her and that she had lost his friendship and trust for good. 

In Deep Space, Terra realised that he still cared about Aqua and their friendship. When she went to Deep Space, Aqua learned that Terra had called her his friend, and that he cherished the wayfinder she gave him. It gave her relief and hope. Terra didn’t hate her like she thought he did. Maybe she could still mend their fracturing relationship.       

On Destiny Islands, Terra met Riku, and rediscovered his main reason for wanting to be stronger: to keep the people he cared about safe (ie. his friends). When Aqua found herself on DI, she too met Riku and also met Sora, and compared them to herself and Terra. Aqua thought a lot about her and Terra’s relationship while on Destiny Islands. She regretted the conflict between them, and acknowledged that part of it was because they were both keyblade wielders. Then she also showed her vulnerable side, asking Terra, ‘What’s to become of us?’ We don’t really know what she meant by that--though she was most likely thinking about her and Terra’s relationship, seeing how her Destiny Islands segment was heavily focused on her and Terra. (Of course, she may also have been thinking of TAV’s friendship as a whole, but since this post is about Terraqua I’m going with the first option.) 

Straight after leaving Destiny Islands, Aqua found Mickey drifting in the Lanes Between and took him back to Master Yen Sid in Mysterious Tower. There, she heard about Eraqus’ death and Terra’s role in it. She refused to believe it, at first, and got angry at Yen Sid. That anger though was meant to cover her fear. She was terrified of losing Terra (or anyone in her family) to the darkness. In the end, she decided to go after Terra and get the truth out of him. I daresay part of her knew already, but she wouldn’t accept it until she heard it from Terra himself.

She met Terra in the Keyblade Graveyard. Terra admitted to his role in Eraqus’ death, but also told her that he’d been tricked by Master Xehanort. Assuming that Terra had come to the Graveyard to get revenge, Aqua warned him that darkness was just hate and rage and that he would go astray again. Which ended up being true, but she worded it so badly that it sounded like she had no faith in him and believed the worst of him (when she clearly didn’t). 

Ven arrived, and later Master Xehanort and Vanitas, and the battle began. Terra fought Master Xehanort and Vanitas, and later just Master Xehanort. Aqua was defending herself and Ven from Braig. When MX ordered Vanitas to kill Aqua, Terra reacted by running after Vanitas, fully intending to jump off the pillar after him. He would have, if he weren’t stopped by MX. Vanitas almost did kill Aqua, but was stopped by Ven. (We also saw Aqua reacting to Braig’s taunt about Terra by angrily defending him and charging into battle against Braig. And there was also that moment when she put Terra in that barrier bubble to stop him from plummeting from the sky.)

After the battle was over, Ven and Aqua were unconscious and drifting in the Lanes Between. Mickey found them and took them to Mysterious Tower. Upon awakening, Aqua was told that Mickey couldn’t find Terra, and that Ven’s heart was lost and sleeping. Mickey thought that Terra was dead, but Aqua refused to believe so. She believed that her wayfinder could help her find Terra. After hiding Ven in the Land of Departure and turning it into Castle Oblivion, Terra’s heart/spirit/whatever it was called out to her, telling her to put an end to him. Because this is Aqua, we know that there was no way she was killing Terra; she would 100% try to save him. No matter that putting an end to Terra’s body would be best for humanity. He was her friend, damn it, and for once she would follow her heart.

She tracked him to Radiant Garden. In the square, she was met with someone who looked like Terra (except for the eyes and hair) but was not Terra. It unsettled her. She had lost one friend already--she’d hoped that she wouldn’t lose Terra as well. They inevitably fought--herself against the Xehanort controlling Terra’s body. She won. But Xehanort stabbed at his own heart after Terra began fighting back inside of it, which inadvertently opened a portal and dragged them into the Realm of Darkness.   

She followed Terranort into the darkness without a second thought. When she realised that she couldn’t bring both of them back into the Realm of Light, she chose to sacrifice herself and stay behind in the hopes of giving Terra a chance, knowing that Terra was fighting the darkness inside of him. During that bittersweet, heartbreaking scene, Aqua finally showed that she did love Terra, no matter what, even if Terra couldn’t see it. 

(It may have been a morally grey choice, but there wasn’t anything else Aqua could’ve done that would make sense, story-wise. Most of the story had had Aqua and Terra at odds with each other. There needed to be a moment where at least one of them showed that they truly cared about each other despite the conflict and misunderstanding between them. The BBS portion of their friendship arc culminated in that one moment.)

So, Aqua gave Terra her keyblade and armour, told him that she was with him, and sent him back into the Realm of Light in her place. She was left stranded in the Realm of Darkness because of this, unable to return to Ven to safeguard him and eventually wake him up. 

If she hadn’t cared about Terra that much, she might have chosen to leave him behind in the RoD. Though, seeing as this is Aqua, I’m not sure she would have left any innocent person there. But still. Because it was Terra she sacrificed herself for, Terra who she’d had conflict with and (understandably) doubted for a lot of the game, this moment became very significant and poignant.       

ooooo

After the events of BBS, ten years passed. Aqua wandered the Realm of Darkness, while Terra was first in Apprentice Nort, then split into Ansem Seeker of Darkness and Xemnas. For the longest time, Aqua thought that she had saved Terra and refused to believe otherwise. (Aqua's reactions to the Terra illusion in Castle of Dreams and Phantom Aqua's thoughts ("I couldn't save Terra") in 0.2 suggest that she knew the truth deep down and was really in denial.)

(I always find it interesting how Aqua acts when she sees the Terra and Ven illusions. When she sees Terra, she panics and then almost breaks down when she realises that he isn’t real. When she sees Ven she smiles a little and tells him that he’s what’s keeping her going. I don’t think it’s romantic, because her reaction to the Terra illusion is comparable to Sora’s reaction to seeing Riku again in KH2.)      

Aqua then met the real Terra in Enchanted Dominion. She was happy to see him, but confused because Terra was acting strangely. He told her that he was ‘lost in shadow’, that she was seeing him the way she remembered him. He also told her that Xehanort was searching for Ven. Because she trusted him, she told him where she hid Ven. This was a mistake, because Xehanort had hijacked the conversation and heard what she said. Before Xehanort could cause more trouble, though, Terra (Lingering Will) appeared and restrained him, but not before Aqua was thrown into darkness.                  

(Now this scene is my favorite 0.2 scene, because it gives us some sweet Terraqua interaction and is just plain angsty. Their interaction was… pretty sad. Aqua seemed so desperate to believe that Terra and Ven are safe in the Realm of Light. And Terra seemed depressed. There was just something about them meeting again, after ten years of hardship that had changed them.

Also, Aqua trusted Terra with the location of Ven’s body. He was the only one she trusted with that secret. She never even told Mickey when they met after the Enchanted Dominion scene. It speaks volumes about how close Terra and Aqua were, that she would share this secret with him without hesitating.)                  

After Enchanted Dominion, Aqua drifted in the darkness. She was about to finally give in to it, when Mickey found and saved her. (Maybe I’m just biased, but I like to think that Aqua’s despair was at least partly because she’d had to face the fact that she hadn’t saved Terra and that he wasn’t safe like she hoped he was.) She told Mickey that she wanted to give Terra a fighting chance and that was why she sacrificed herself for him. She sounded so sad and hopeless, during those few moments. 

Aqua eventually perked up though, optimistically telling Mickey that Terra would beat his darkness, showing that she still had faith in him. 

(You get the feeling that she always will have that faith in him. No matter what.)

ooooo

We don’t really see much of Terraqua from Terra’s side of things. Probably because he isn’t featured much in games other than BBS. We see in KH2 that Xemnas kept Aqua’s armour—that could be a sign of Terra’s influence. We don’t know for sure, though. We know that Terra cherished the wayfinder Aqua gave him at the beginning of BBS. We know that Namine asked him to guide Aqua in the Realm of Darkness and even encouraged him by saying that Aqua was still believing in him and that they would both make it to the same place (would Namine have really said that if Terra didn’t care so much about Aqua?).   

ooooo

To me, Terraqua isn't memorable just as a romantic ship. Yes, I like shipping it, because I think they'd made a great couple, but to me Terraqua is more than a romantic ship. Terra and Aqua care about each other so much, and are willing to make sacrifices to help each other. Even though they have this conflict in their story, in the end they show that they still care a lot about one another.  

I find their arc very compelling, because of the conflict they have. Aqua and Terra start off as friends, then their friendship becomes strained because of misunderstanding and their innate differences and flaws. And before they can manage to come to a place where they could begin to mend their relationship, Terra is possessed. So Aqua shows her unconditional love for him in the only way she can—by sacrificing herself.

They are so close that I can fully believe that their hearts could be connected in a special way (I'm not trying to exclude Ven because he is important to them both too but Terra and Aqua's relationship with each other is different than what they have with Ven. Equal in love, but different.) I don't really see that sort of connection as much in Sora and Riku's relationship (maybe because platonic Soriku is a male/male friendship and not male/female). Soriku is the typical ‘best friends’ pairing and they don’t really rely on each other like Terra and Aqua do. Terra and Aqua seem to depend on each other emotionally, though not in an unhealthy way, and there is deep unconditional love between them. I think that’s part of why I love Terraqua so much: they show unconditional love for one another in a way that isn’t shown as much in other pairings.

Now, seeing how (to me, anyway) they've built up Terraqua in BBS and 0.2, I personally think that Aqua should play a major role in saving Terra. Aqua is the one who is most closely connected to Terra (Riku is probably second), and it'd feel weird if they chose not to focus on Aqua and Terra's bond after so much time building it up and also Aqua's determination to save her friends from their fates.

Their relationship/friendship arc started out in BBS, KH0.2 continued it, and KH3 needs to conclude it. And what better way than to have Aqua play a major role in saving Terra?

I will be furious if Nomura sidelines Aqua and Terra's bond just to give Terra and Riku some screentime. I wouldn't mind if Aqua and Riku save Terra together but I don't want Aqua to be left behind in RG just to put focus on Terra and Riku's connection (or even Terra and Ven’s friendship). And besides, Lea will probably be the one to try to save Isa from his nortification, so it’d be unfair if Aqua never got a chance to save Terra herself.

(though even if she doesn’t get that chance, she really needs a moment with Terra to conclude their relationship arc. Like what Riku and Sora had at the end of KH2. There’s so much between them that needs to be resolved.)

ooooo

So, to conclude:

I hope I've shown clearly enough why I love Terraqua, my interpretations of how it's been developed in the games, and my hopes for it in KH3. Terraqua is a beautiful pairing and I enjoy posting about it. Thank you to anyone who's read this far! :) I know this post is extremely long and I appreciate anyone and everyone who takes the time to read it.

[landprince]

By now Riku was actively seeking out the spiky brown hair that belonged to his human. It had scarcely been a full day since he last saw Sora, but he missed the boy and watched to show off his latest achievement.

The sun was high in the cloudless sky; its warm rays heating up the tropical waters that surrounded the islands and invigorating the merman. He loved the warmth the waters brought him when the sun rose to its midday point, while it sometimes made him lazy and sleepy, he also found burst of energy and raced around his territory, making sure to keep other predators at bay.

For Riku, there couldn’t have been a more perfect day. Now if only Sora would show up….

In his eagerness to see the human, there were nearly a few times he started following one of the many rowboats that had made their way to his island. However, after trailing them for a few meters, he was able to see it wasn’t Sora that maneuvered the boats and he was starting to become restless and anxious as the day wore on and his human hadn’t shown up.

After the third mistaken boat, he decided to fill the time with chasing around small fish, snapping up those that were too slow to outswim him, and searching the murky silt and sand on the ocean floor for small, shiny objects and bits of coral he could use to give as a gift to his human.

Even now, two weeks into their friendship, Sora was delighted and turned the softest shade of red whenever Riku brought him something. Which only made Riku more eager to bring more items for his human, especially when Sora wore them.

The reverence Sora always gave the items Riku brought to him had the merman’s stomach dropping low and filling him with a sense of accomplishment. While he still couldn’t always make out what the human was thinking or saying with just expressions and gestures, Riku could tell Sora always enjoyed the small gifts brought to him.

So wrist deep in the silt, Riku sifted through it, coming up with little scraps of sodden wood, water smoothed stones, and old shells of crabs and sea snails. He picked several small, brightly colored cone shaped shells and quickly swam off to his resting area, tucking the precious items away in a seaweed bed. Later he would return and bring them to his human, but for now he didn’t want to be taxed with holding them.

Satisfied that he wouldn’t be overburdened with his presents until later, he went back to lazily swimming around the island as he waited for Sora to show up, actively ignoring the few brave fish that crept up to him and began to nip at the silver scales that made up his lower body. They were picking away grime and parasites that might have cling to him, and Riku wouldn’t hinder their meticulous cleaning.

While he usually kept on top of his hygeine, even a little extra help was appreciated by the fish that plucked off little bits he might have missed. Letting his eyes fall shut, he lazed about near the bottom of the seafloor and allowed fish to slide against his skin and scales and clean him.

Time passed in warm, soothing waves. His tail continued to tread water and pushed him forward in short intervals, and he slowly moved around the island to keep himself awake as he waited for Sora to arrive.

Finally familiar brown spikes caught his keen eyes from underwater after his third or fourth lap around the island. Riku’s heart thundered behind his ribcage and he rushed forward, breaching the surface of calm seawater and shouting his greeting to Sora.

"Sora!” The name that spilled from the merman’s lips still sounded off. The S was hissed out more than actually pronounced properly, and the R sounded gravelly and rough, like a growl. But he had practiced all night, trying his best to give the name the respect needed to actually say. It wasn’t the best, in fact it was from from it in his opinion, but he had quite some time to better learn how to give the name the due care it deserved.

“Sora!” He shouted again. He heard a startled scream and watched as the boat rocked violently on the water as Sora scrambled to stand. His hands gripped the edge of the boat and Sora leaned over the edge, face flushed and brows furrowed as shouted words were hurled Riku’s way.

The waves that surrounded him helped push him closer to the small boat in the middle of the water. With one magnificent flick of his tail Riku bolted forward, doing a few laps around the boat and building up more momentum before launching himself out of the water.

He wanted to surprise Sora, the delight that coursed through him at learning how to actually pronounce his name in such little time had the merman veritably trembling in elation to show off his newfound skills in human language.

Riku slithered into the rowboat the human had been using, immediately wanting to press, not only his face, but his entire body against the little human’s as pride and excitement reverberated throughout his entire being. Water splashed everywhere, and he heard a slight cry of alarm come from Sora as he clambered into the boat.

The human grabbed at a large amount of cloth with a concerned yelp, picking it up and hugging it to his chest as Riku closed in. The oars were abandoned in the process and clattered atop Riku’s large tail as the merman quickly made himself as comfortable as possible in the tiny area, sidled up close against the brunet’s side and beaming in joy as he began to chatter.

Puffing his chest out, he grinned up at Sora, sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight. The concern that had once occupied the human’s expression quickly was overcame by his own brilliant smile.

“I’ve been practicing,” he said, trying his best to keep his own enthusiasm down about his ability to now somewhat pronounce Sora’s name. Riku wriggled for a moment as he tried to tell Sora about how he spent all night practicing saying the name properly, no longer to keep back the bodily excitement.

Even his own chirps and chatters started to slur and stutter from his excitement.

Reaching a hand out, he calmed down enough so he wouldn’t accidentally scratch the human and gently cupped Sora’s face, brushing a clawed thumb against the soft skin there. “Sorry it’s not the best, but considering I only had one night to work on it…”

The human leaned into the touch, dark lashes falling shut over his eyes. It seemed Riku’s sudden appearance and immediate need to reform their social bond was forgiven as Sora smiled softly and nuzzled against the cold palm against his jaw. His hand came up to cover the merman’s own, but after one rather turbulent wave Sora released Riku and shook off the hand against his face so he could finish rowing his way to the island.

Riku’s long tail draped itself over the side of the boat, twitching back and forth in the ocean as Sora grabbed the oars so he could carry them both to the island. The other humans were already there, Riku saw two of them show up early with a round object and run the length of the shoreline while trying to take it from one another.

He was usually careful to keep himself submerged so the other children wouldn’t spot him, but now that Sora was here, his whole world hyperfocused to the single point that was Sora. While he would still be cautious about his presence, he was more lax in order to be with the human as much as possible.

Keen ears picked up the high pitched screams of play from the other children. As long as he made his way into the water once Sora got closer to the island he should be fine.

The cloth that Sora had been holding was now sitting on the seat beside him, well out of the small puddle of water that had accumulated in the bottom of the boat after the merman climbed into it.

He had a few minutes to wait as Sora rowed them to the shore, so he grabbed the item and began rifling through it. Usually when he gave his human gifts, the boy would put them in here. Obviously it was used to carry thing without over encumbering his hands, he just didn’t know what it was called.

Riku fumbled with the strings that kept it closed, careful not to shred the delicate material, and began pulling things out.

A hand came into his vision and smacked his own.

“What?” He scowled, gripping the cloth tighter and bringing it protectively to his chest when Sora tried to take it from him. Another swipe and Riku reached out with a hand to ward the human off. He starting to click angrily at the human’s actions and spoke to him in his usual whistles and high pitched keens,“I’m not going to break it, I just want to see what’s in it. Are all the things I gave you still here?”

The merman flipped it upside down and began to shake it, trying to get the contents inside to tumble out to the water filled bottom of the boat. With only one hand, it was the only way he could think of to get what he wanted without struggling to keep the cloth on his person without sliding off.

“Stop!” Another cry of dismay came from his human, and he found the bag ripped from his hands. Several long strips of cloth still clung to his claws from how forceful Sora was with taking it away from him.

The guttural, primitive words Sora spoke were hurled at him. Riku didn’t understand a single word, but guilt crept up his stomach and latched onto his heart.

He made soft apologetic clicks and moved closer. Sora was glaring at him, blue eyes filled with anger, and he half-heartedly shoved at Riku each time he pressed close and made soft keening noises of distress at his actions.

“Sora---” Riku said, this time forcing the name out in his most proper human voice.

An exasperated sigh left the human. Sora threw his hands up into the air and slumped against the side of the boat. Even Riku could tell the human was pouting, no longer able to stay mad at the merman for an accident yet unwilling to give up on being angry.

Riku butted his head against his human’s arm. “Sora.”

The human whirled around then, grabbing Riku’s face and squishing his cheeks. He pulled on his face, forcing Riku to make marvelous expressions, and fell into a fit of giggles after a few moments of Riku being too surprised to do much more than allow it to happen before trying to make his own sour expression.

“It’s okay.” He said while gesturing at the item. He repeated the words a few times, fingers stroking Riku’s cheek for a moment before letting his hands fall so he could grab at the, now shredded, cloth once again.

Sora began pulling things out. Two small square things wrapped in more brightly colored cloth were pulled out. Multiple colors and patterns were on the cloth squares, and before Riku could grab at them, one was put into his hands.

“Unwrap,” Sora said, then began untying the knots that kept the cloth on.

Riku eagerly began unwrapping the square, only to reveal a see-through box inside.

Sora got his attention again, and demonstrated to Riku how to remove the top with his own box, and soon the scent of food wafted upwards. His stomach rumbled, even though he had eaten scarcely two hours ago.

He could catch the scent of prey and seaweed, yet was unsure what the other food items were. Or even if they were food.

“Fish.” Sora pointed out to some stick looking food. “Fiiiiish.”

“Shhh-- Ffffsh---” Riku mimicked, nodding knowingly as he grabbed a handful and shoved them into his mouth and noisily ate.

It sort of tasted like some of the small fish Riku ate earlier. Yet there was something about it that tasted better, and Riku was quickly trying to get the few that Sora had as well.

However, the food his human had was kept far from Riku’s reach and after seeing the scowl on Sora’ face, the merman went back to eating the other bits of food in the box. It tasted good, and he was delighted the human brought him food.

His tail flicked water onto the both of them after he finished scarfing down the rest of the food. Since Sora brought them a snack, it seemed only fair that Riku did the same.

Before the night ended, he planned on bringing back a large fish for the two of them to eat. It wouldn’t be hard at all, and he knew the best places to go for decent sized prey.

“Sora,” Riku suddenly lurched forward, nearly knocking the human out of the boat and making it rock dangerously. “Sora! Feesh!”

He nodded decisively after his words.

It was a promise to get Sora the biggest fish he could manage.