Chapter Text
Sora docked the Gummi Ship in a cave behind a waterfall.
“Nice hiding spot,” Riku said, watching the curtain of water run over them through the dome window.
“It reminds me of home,” Sora said, powering the ship down.
“You know, I was just thinking that,” Riku said and gave Sora a small smile. Sora grinned back.
“It’s also a really easy place to do the magic to turn us into mermen.” Sora said and hopped up from the pilot’s seat, hands balled into fists. “You ready?”
Riku nodded and stood. “Yeah, but… are you sure you have a good grip on this magic Donald taught you?”
“Yeah, of course I do!” Sora said, clumsily slapping at the cockpit door button to let them out into the damp cave. “I watched Donald do it a ton of times, and he just taught it to me, so it’s still fresh in my mind!”
“Yeah, he just taught it to you,” Riku said, descending the stairs after Sora. “And he only taught it to you because Goofy talked him into it. He was super mad when we showed up at the castle. He didn’t even know we were coming, did he?”
“He knew!” Sora said. “I texted him before we left the Islands.”
“Ah,” Riku said, folding his arms. “He knew about an hour before we got there.”
Sora shrugged. “He still taught me.”
“But you’ve never done it before.”
“I just did it! On that hedge I practiced on!”
“Which became a turtle.”
“Yeah, it transformed!”
“You were trying to turn it into a cow.”
Sora pouted. “I got it eventually.”
Riku sighed and shook his head, but he was smiling. “Just do me a favor and transform yourself first. I’m not going to be your first non-hedge experiment,” he said. He leaned against the side of the ship and put his hands in his pockets.
“Where’s your adventurer’s spirit?” Sora asked, throwing up his hands.
“I left it back at Disney Castle, when your second transformation spell made the hedge bleed.”
Sora sputtered. “It didn’t bleed a lot!”
Riku looked at him expectantly. “Do yourself first, and if it works, then you can turn me into a merman and we can start our world-hopping adventure. If it doesn’t, then I will down elixirs and cast healing spells on you until we reach Disney Castle so Donald can put your back together. Deal?”
Sora rolled his eyes, but nodded. “Deal.”
Sora sat on the edge of the pool inside the cave, closed his eyes, and raised his hand above his head. He pointed a single finger upward and used it to draw a circle of light, concentrating on the form he wanted to take. Once he closed the circle, he made a fist in the air and pulled, grabbing the light and dragging it down over his body. He felt the buzz of magic flow over him and heard Riku’s choked gasp.
Cracking open one eye, he looked down and found a blue fishtail waving at him from where his feet used to be.
“I did it!” Sora yelled, pumping his fist in the air. He turned to Riku, a huge grin on his face. “How do I look?”
“Uh,” Riku started smartly, blinking in surprise. He pushed off from the Gummiship’s wing and stumbled a little closer to Sora. “You sure did it.”
Sora laughed delightedly at Riku’s inarticulate response. “Ready for yours?”
“Um, sure.” Riku said. Sora patted the rocks next to him and Riku sat down.
“Does it feel weird?” Riku asked.
“No,” Sora said. “It feels like any other magic.”
Riku dragged his eyes back up from Sora’s tail to his face. “No, I mean having a tail instead of legs.”
“It’s a little weird at first,” Sora said, smiling and putting his hand on Riku’s shoulder. “But you get used to it quickly. And then it’s a lot of fun!”
Riku smiled. “Okay,” he said, letting his eyes slip closed. “I’m ready. Don’t mutilate me.”
“Pssh,” Sora said. “As if I could make you look worse.”
Riku reached out blindly and punched Sora in the side none-too-gently. There was a moment of slap fighting and laughter before Sora grabbed Riku’s hands and held them still as best he could.
“I give!” Sora yelled. “Stop flailing so I don’t accidentally turn you into a horse or something.”
Riku grimaced and pulled his hands from Sora’s grasp. “Oh my God. Have you ever been a horse?”
“No,” Sora said, “but I’ve been a lion.”
Riku shook his head. “Don’t take me to that world. I only want to walk on two feet.”
“Or swim on none?”
Riku gave him a blank stare. “Sora.”
“Okay, okay,” Sora laughed. “Sit still.”
Riku stilled and shut his eyes again. Sora drew the same circle around Riku’s head, grasped it, and cast it down his body. He watched as Riku’s clothes melted away to a bare human chest and a blue fishtail in lieu of legs.
“Nice!” Sora said.
Riku cracked open an eye and glanced nervously in Sora’s direction. “Did you do it?” He asked.
Sora gestured at Riku’s tail. “See for yourself.”
Riku slowly opened both eyes and looked down at his lap. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened, and Sora chuckled at his stunned expression. “What do you think?” He asked.
“Wow…” Riku said, dipping his tail in the water. He lifted it and let the water run off. “Sora, this is amazing.”
Sora flushed at the compliment, but smiled wider. “Aw, it was nothing.”
Riku smiled back, pushed off the rocks, and slid into the water. He went under so fast, Sora gave a little yelp and threw himself forward, sure Riku was going to drown. Riku resurfaced at the exact moment it occured to Sora that as a merman, it would be impossible for him to drown.
“Oh,” Riku said, touching a piece of hair that stuck to his face. “You made my hair long.”
Sora shrugged. “It kind of fits the whole merman thing.”
Riku nodded, apparently satisfied with that answer. He swam in a circle around the underground pool. “Are you gonna join me?”
Sora nodded. “Um, yeah, in a sec. Just take a minute to get used to your tail.”
“Okay,” Riku said and dove back under. Sora watched him swim for a few minutes in a daze.
Holy shit, Sora thought, forcing himself to look away from Riku’s slowly circling shadow. What is it about being a merman that makes Riku so much hotter?
Riku surfaced, water sliding off his chest and arms, slowly dragging down the dips and curves of his muscles. His hair, even wetter now, clung to his neck, shoulders and chest.
Ah, Sora thought, staring openly, that’s it.
“Are you coming or what?” Riku asked, crossing his arms. “We’re from an island, in case you forgot. I’ve been swimming since infancy.”
Sora chuckled and smiled fondly. “I’m coming.” He pushed off the edge of the pool and slipped underwater.
“Okay, first rule of being a merman is don’t let humans see you.” Sora said as he and Riku left the cave.
“There are humans in this world?” Riku asked. “Not just merpeople?”
“Yep.” Sora said, pointing downward to indicate they were going to dive deeper. “And they don’t really know about merpeople. Ariel told me she went up to watch humans a lot, but her father always warned her that she couldn’t let them see her or she’d get killed.”
“And her father—he’s the king of the merpeople?”
“Well, he’s the king of Atlantica, which is where all the merpeople I’ve met live.” Sora said. “But I think there are other kingdoms too? I just haven’t met anyone outside of Ariel’s family, and I never got to ask. But today I bet we’ll get to see lots of merpeople!”
“I am interested in seeing what a mermaid society looks like…” Riku said, looking off into the distance and furrowing his brow in thought. “Are we not going to meet Ariel?”
“I don’t know if she’ll be there.” Sora said. “She met someone and got married.”
“So she doesn’t live in Atlantica anymore?”
“Yeah, she lives on land now.” Sora said and laughed when Riku did a double take. “There was this whole thing with a sea witch, and long story short, she has legs now.”
“Hm,” Riku said. He turned onto his back but continued swimming, the thoughtful look back on his face. “Is it going to be a while before we reach Atlantica?”
“Yeah, probably about an hour. Why?”
Riku grinned at Sora, and Sora’s heart fluttered a little. “Then why not tell me the long version?”
*
“So Ursula was the sea witch we fought at the start of our Mark of Mastery exam?”
“Yeah, that was her, but I don’t thi—Oh, we’re here!” Over the reef in front of them stood the gates of Atlantica, the spires and pathways gleaming gold. Riku’s jaw dropped and Sora couldn’t help but chuckle. “Impressive, right?”
“You could say that,” Riku said, closing his mouth and looking away from Sora, his face burning. Sora laughed again.
They swam closer and were soon surrounded by merpeople of every kind. They joined a throng entering and exiting the city, swept along by the bustle of activity. They passed an underwater market, complete with floating food stalls.
“I’ve never eaten while down here,” Sora said, stopping to inspect some of the stalls. “Do you want to try something?”
Riku nodded. “I could eat. What kind of food do they have? Fish?”
Sora choked a little on his words. “Uh, no. Fish are like… Fish talk here.”
“Fish talk here?” Riku asked.
“Fish talk here.” Sora confirmed.
“Wow.” Riku said.
“Well, we do hang out with animal people a lot. Your dad is a mouse.” Sora said.
“My da—? How many times are you going to make that joke?” Riku said, levelling Sora with a sour look.
“As long as I find it funny!”
“Oh, so forever. Great.”
Sora laughed obnoxiously and Riku rolled his eyes, but while doing so, caught sight of something big and light blue in the distance. “Oh! Sora, is that—?” He pointed.
Sora peered past the merpeople in his way, and when he noticed what Riku was pointing out, he turned to him in surprise. “No way.”
They grinned at each other and tore past shoppers as they swam towards the light blue sign in the distance.
Sora managed to arrive first, since he was smaller and could thread between floating merpeople faster. Riku nearly knocked into him when he arrived a few seconds later.
“I can’t believe it.” Riku said. “How do you freeze water… underwater? Is it like putting ice in a drink? But that eventually melts into the drink.”
“I find it’s better to not think about those sorts of things.”
They grinned at each other and went to purchase their sea salt ice creams. The stall looked a lot like an ice cream seller’s cart would on land - refrigerated container on the bottom, large sign designed to look just like the ice cream on top. It didn’t include an umbrella, Sora concluded while eating his popsicle, because why would it need one underwater?
“Do you want to go see the palace up close?” Sora asked after they’d finished their popsicles and wound their way through the rest of the bazaar, looking at things but not finding anything else they wanted to eat or purchase.
“Sure,” Riku said. “It’s beautiful.” He peered at it in the distance. “Have you been inside?”
“Sort of?” Sora said, scratching his head. “It kind of doesn’t really have an inside? It’s mostly open air, er—water?”
“Does anything down here have walls?” Riku asked.
“Not that I’ve—” Sora came to an abrupt stop, and swung around, making bubbles rise around him. “Ariel!” He called.
The mermaid he called after stopped and turned, and her eyes lit up. “Sora!” she cried, and swam back towards them with her arms open. “What are you doing here? We haven’t had any trouble with Heartless lately!”
“I’m here on vacation!” Sora said, reaching out to accept Ariel’s hug. Them embraced for a moment, and when they pulled back, Sora gestured to Riku. “This is my best friend, Riku. We’re taking some time off and I’m showing him worlds I’ve been to.”
Ariel smiled sweetly and reached out to shake Riku’s hand. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Riku! Are you a Keyblade wielder too?”
Riku shook her hand, but glanced at Sora with a look on his face that made Sora hear Donald yell “World order!” in his head.
“She guessed we were from another world,” he said, putting his hands behind his head. “We couldn’t exactly hide it.”
Riku nodded and looked back to Ariel. “It’s wonderful to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you and your music.”
Ariel flushed a little at the compliment. “Oh, I hope what you heard was good!”
Riku gave her a small smile. “I heard it’s beautiful.”
Ariel blushed harder and Sora narrowed his eyes at them. Riku and his good looks…
“Well, I wish I could give you a demonstration,” Ariel said, “but I have to be getting back to my husband. I was here visiting my family, but I was just about to leave.”
“We could go with you!” Sora said. “I only ever saw Prince Eric at your wedding. I’d love to be able to meet him one-on-one.”
“Oh, would you?” Ariel asked, clearly delighted by the idea. “I thought you were here on vacation though? Don’t you want to stay and see more of Atlantica?”
Sora glanced at Riku. “We were going to go check out the castle…”
Riku shrugged. “We can always come back after we escort you,” he said. “Is where you’re going far?”
“Oh no, not at all!” Ariel said and she raised her hand and pointed. “All I’m really doing is going up.”
“Sounds good to me,” Riku said.
Sora nodded. “Alright, let’s go!”
As they swam up towards the surface, Sora caught Ariel up on his adventures. “...anyway, long story short, I have my physical form back!”
“Well, that’s very fortunate!” Ariel said with a sweet laugh. “I’m glad Riku was there to save you.”
Riku snorted, which made Sora pout. “Hey, it wasn’t all him! I had to do a whole lot to get my form back together before he showed up in Quadratum! We just had to pool our strength to get home is all!”
Ariel laughed her sweet laugh again and smiled at Sora. “You know, I’ve been pretty busy too. Actually, there’s something I really want to show you when we reach the surface.”
“Really?” Sora said, eyes sparkling in anticipation. “What is it?”
“You’ll see when we get there.” Ariel teased.
“Aw, no fair!”
When they reached the surface, Prince Eric was standing on the shore on a secluded beach, holding bundles of cloth. Ariel waved to him as they broke through the water and swam toward him excitedly. But instead of meeting him on the shore, she diverted to some rocks at the edge of the beach. Eric met her there and handed her one of the cloth bundles once she’d settled on one of the larger rocks. She slipped the cloth over her head, revealing a white dress with a sailor collar.
Once Ariel had the dress on, her tail shimmered, and when the light cleared, she had human legs. Eric took her hand and helped her off the rocks. He placed a pair of slippers on the sand, and Ariel slid her newly-formed feet into them. They kissed and he handed her the other cloth bundle.
Sora and Riku let the tide wash them up to the shore and waited as Eric and Ariel approached them.
Eric raised an eyebrow. “Friends of yours?” he asked Ariel.
Ariel smiled. “Yes, this is Sora and Riku. Sora helped Atlantica when it was overrun with those Heartless monsters.”
“Oh, that Sora!” Eric’s face lit up and he squatted down to Sora’s level and extended his hand. “It’s great to finally meet you.”
“Great to meet you too!” Sora said, returning the handshake. “I was at the wedding, but I unfortunately couldn’t stay for long.”
“Sounds like you’re a pretty busy guy,” Eric said.
Sora laughed and scratched his head. “Sometimes. Right now I’m on vacation with Riku. He’s my best friend.”
Eric and Riku shook hands and Ariel sat down to join them, still holding the cloth bundle.
“Ready for the surprise, Sora?” she asked.
“Yes!” Sora cheered and Riku chuckled.
“I have to admit I’m curious too,” he said.
Ariel started to unwrap the bundle. Sora and Riku leaned forward and watched as a chubby face surrounded by fine, dark hair emerged.
Sora gasped in delight and shock. “Ariel! Is this…?”
“Sora, Riku, meet Melody, my daughter.”
Sora reached toward Melody immediately and then snatched his hand back. “Oh, can I…?”
“You want to hold her?” Ariel asked, smiling.
“Yeah…” he said, his eyes fixed on the baby. Ariel handed Melody to him, and his face immediately melted. “She’s so beautiful, Ariel…” He held her close to his chest, feeling tears gathering behind his eyes. He blinked a few times, trying to keep them from falling, but only succeeded in letting a few drops slide down his cheeks.
Riku leaned over to get a better look at Melody. She was waving her chubby fists, transfixed by Sora. She reached out and touched one of the tears slowly dripping down his face. Riku chuckled and whispered “You’re such a sap,” to Sora under his breath.
Sora flushed and looked up at Riku, his eyes now red rimmed. “I’d punch you, but I’m holding a baby.” He said, pouting.
Riku laughed softly and reached over to wave a finger at Melody. She reached up and captured it immediately, dragging it toward her mouth.
“Oh,” Riku said, surprised by her dexterity. She gummed at the tip of his finger. He gave her a watery smile.
“Now who’s a sap?” Sora whispered back.
Riku blushed a little too. “You know, I’d punch you, but you’re holding a baby.”
“Looks like she’s hungry,” Eric said.
“Oh, yeah. She probably wants to see her mom, huh?” Sora said, reluctantly holding Melody out to Ariel.
Ariel smiled at Sora as she took Melody back. “Sora, you can come visit her any time. There’s a palace just beyond the hills that enclose this beach. It’s where I live now. Just find Sebastian or Flounder and let them know you want to see me. They’ll get a message to me and we’ll come say hello.”
“Could I come visit you at the palace too?” Sora asked, hands balled into fists.
Ariel laughed. “If you can get yourself some legs, I don’t see why not.”
Sora tapped his chin, “I think I might know a way.”
“Just so long as you don’t make any deals with any sea witches.” Ariel said, and she and Sora smiled at one another.
Riku and Sora waved to Ariel and Eric as they left and let the tide wash them back out.
“Ready to go see the castle?” Sora asked, diving underwater.
Riku followed close behind. “Let’s go.”
*
After an hour or two of seeing the castle and running into Ariel’s various sisters (all of whom, Sora noted with annoyance, fawned over Riku), they decided to return to the Gummiship and get some sleep before they departed for the next world.
“How far are we from the ship?” Riku asked well into their journey back.
“Uh, probably about a five minute swim. Why?”
“Bet I can make it in three,” Riku said and took off.
“Wha-- hey!” Sora cried and raced after him.
Sora won, again relying on his slighter size to bob and weave through underwater obstacles. He emerged from the pool in the cave behind the waterfall, cheering with glee.
“I did it! We’re 2-0 today!”
He could hear Riku’s answering laughter from under the water. Riku surfaced under the waterfall, adding to the water already sluicing off his hair and body, tracing muscles and divots and taut abs and—. Sora forced his brain to stop following the trails of the water sliding down Riku’s body and looked into his eyes instead. Riku was giving him a bemused smile.
“You alright, Sora?” He asked, dipping his head so he could look Sora directly in the eyes.
Sora scrambled to answer. “Yeah! Fine! Why?”
“You didn’t say anything when I conceded that you were the better swimmer. Usually you’d be jumping for joy. Or whatever the merman version of that is, anyway.”
Sora laughed awkwardly. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. We did a lot of swimming today. Guess I’m just tired.”
Riku nodded. “Right. Wanna change us back and get to bed?”
“Yeah. Sounds great.”
Sora reversed his own transformation, gave Riku some grief by insisting on taking pictures, and reversed Riku’s transformation so they could board the ship. Sora lay in his bunk that night, eyes open wide and mind racing long after he heard Riku’s breathing even out. He had a lot to think about.
