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I’d get on my knees
Confess my love
I’d know where to be
It’s the sheer and utter longing lingering deep and dark in his veins and the powerful, all-consuming wish to hold Sora close just one more time that causes Riku to just grab the other man by his arms and press his forehead into his shoulder.
Sora stands frozen in his hands, a small gasp on his lips, then a quiet hum, then a gentle, careful “Riku?”
The voice sounds fine enough, considering that Riku just dragged an almost lifeless body out of a crystal. There is warmth between his fingers, the faint trickle of crystal shards falling off Sora like a meteor shower. Falling and falling and falling and pooling at their feet in a pale blue, still glowing dust.
Sora's feet are still encased in crystal, still vaguely see-through, still all sharp angles and painful edges digging into Riku’s shins but he doesn’t care.
He doesn’t care.
Because the only thing that really, truly matters in this moment is the fact that his nightmares have been for naught, that all his fears of blood and bones and the creeping shadows reaching through the mist, holding hostage the person he has been looking for for months upon months, praying to every single god he may know for his safety.
He is not safe.
He is actually very out of it and his expression is somewhat floaty and not quite there, but he is alive. He is alive and he is whispering his name, that soft chanting of “Riku, Riku, Riku” echoing in his ears, calling, calling, calling.
Crystal dust and meteor showers.
The faint clink of glass breaking as another shard dissolves at Sora’s waist and Riku watches it peel off and shatter into yet another million pieces.
“I promised I would protect you…” He breathes and thinks of a childhood dream of sunlight and forever and desperately tries to hold back the sob threatening to break out of his throat.
His hands are clammy, his chest twists horribly around the thought of loss as his throat forms half formed, shredded tries to say anything louder than a whisper.
What comes out is a whimper.
A whimper echoed by hands reaching up, skimming over Riku’s chest, until they are both wrapped around each other in the loosest definition of a hug.
Well.
Honestly, that’s where he breaks. Riku envelopes Sora into a tight embrace, nothing but sudden, staggered movements and trembling breaths and fingers clutching onto freshly freed fabric, still smelling of rain and earth and something unfamiliar, something not quite right and not quite Sora, something too close to the realm of darkness to be comfortable. Riku holds him tighter. Presses his weight into Sora, his own face smushed into Sora’s hair, breathing, living the thought of alive, alive, alive, he is alive, I didn't lose him, please, no more, no more, I can’T do this any longer, I can’t lose him again.
And it hurts. It hurts so much. It burns under his skin, a shooting star buried in his body, the wealth of emotions an inferno of too much terror and desperation and the willingness to step back into the dark if it meant that he would get to see Sora smile one last time.
The realisation that he won’t have to, fills him with elation. The knowledge sinking in, that Sora is here with him, that they are back in one world, back in one moment, it’s sunlight, its warmth, it’s home.
Hugging Sora is like coming home and Sora hugs him back, holds him close, careful in his movements as if Riku is the one about to shatter. As if Riku is the one who went missing for more than a year, as if Riku is the one found encased in crystal, heartbeat still and cold, expression unsmiling and horribly foreign.
Letting go is an impossible task, but Riku manages, he also ignores the deep rooted urge to kiss Sora’s hair, to do anything but reach up to hold his face in his hands, to make this wonderful, beautiful, kind man look at him and to make sure that this is real.
That he is not dreaming.
After all, his dreams brought him here, his dreams brought him to this point in time, the childhood dream of standing by Sora’s side forever, the dream of keeping his place in Sora’s life, the dream of earning a spot in Sora’s heart, no matter how small.
A dream of a city cast in starlight and billboards and rainfall, miles and miles away from the boy he treasures most.
In a move akin to worship, he swipes his thumb over Sora’s cheek, skims his jaw with his knuckles, stares down into beloved eyes, drowning in his thoughts until their foreheads touch.
Time grinds to a halt and Riku finally finds his words.
“I looked for you.” He mutters into the quiet space between them, “I looked everywhere for you.”
An echo of a moment far in the past, only this time they are surrounded by the darkness of unreality instead of the sterile, stark white of a world that should not exist in the first place.
It’s a mirror image, one of Riku’s darkest moments back then, one of Sora’s darkest moments now.
“I didn’t think… I would have to be… found?” Sora blinks, his face still a mixture between sleepy and empty and lost, but slowly, he seems to wake up, blinking, flexing his hands buried in Riku’s hair, holding still until the rest of the crystal shatters and Riku is finally able to lift him up.
Now if only he had the strength to let go of Sora’s face, that would be great.
Sora stumbles against him, face landing right in Riku’s chest with a startled yelp, taking that decision right out of Riku’s hands. Out of both of their hands, because they have been ripped out of their position and now they are just up in the air with nowhere to go.
Dust, glowing, blue white, crystallised loss, whirls up around them, swirls around their feet and, still smothered in Rikus chest, Sora laughs.
“You’re comfy.” He giggles and squeezes even closer. Both of their hands are in the air from the stumble, both of them must look ridiculous and overwhelmed and Riku is just staring down at Sora, who is now looking up at him with a smile.
It’s a smile.
It’s so good and so bright and so utterly perfect that Riku wants to kiss it from the sheer happiness of seeing it again.
He can’t, of course, but he answers it with a laugh of his own and now there is awe in that soft laughter, wide eyes and now Sora is the one touching Riku’s face, tracing the corners of his mouth up.
“I haven’t seen you laugh in… ages.” He says, “Not like this.”
“I didn’t have any reason to.” Riku answers, “I have one now.”
Happy, he is so happy he is floating, he is so happy he could destroy any meteor coming their way with a swing of his keyblade. He has Sora in his arms, he has Sora safe and sound and right before him and he can do this. He can keep his promise.
Of course he is happy.
Sora shivers when Riku gives into his urge to touch and wraps his arms around him, when he gives in and kisses him on the forehead, lingering there for as long as he dares to, basking in the moment and uncaring of the consequences.
“I found you.” He smiles and kisses Sora’s hair, ignores the tears in his eyes and the clump in his throat and the ache in his chest, “I looked everywhere for you and I found you, Sora.”
My sanctuary,
You're holy to me
If you were church,
I'd get on my knees