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“So, what did you want to ask me?” Kairi asked. She held up her new clothes and smiled. It looked cute, and it also matched what Riku was wearing, which meant it also matched Sora's clothes. The Good Fairies really knew how to coordinate a team.
“What do you mean?” Riku asked through the door. She caught a flash of movement from the crack in her door.
“You're fidgeting. You only do that when you want to say something but aren't sure. I know it's been a while since I've seen it, but we've known each other since we were kids. So, what did you want to ask me?”
Kairi unzipped her dress and shimmied out of it. Riku sighed.
“Its about Sora,” he began. Kairi smiled.
“Are you going to finally tell him how you feel?” she asked. Riku coughed and cleared his throat. She pulled the dress on over her head and settled it on her shoulders and hips. It fit perfectly.
“How did you know?”
Kairi finally gave in and laughed. The door squeaked as Riku opened it. “Is it really that funny?”
“Riku! You're telling me I shouldn't have noticed that everything that you did when our whole adventure started two years ago wasn't because you weren't experiencing a gay panic for Sora?” Kairi sat down on her assigned cot and breathed through her laughter. “The only reason Sora didn't notice is because he's pretty dense! Anyone with two eyes and more than two brain cells could see that you're in love with Sora.”
“Nice to know you find this so funny,” Riku said. He crossed his arms over his chest. Kairi gave him a smile and patted the spot next to her on the cot. Riku resisted for a moment before he caved in and sat next to her.
“You know, for a while, I thought it would be Sora and I together. But, we've grown a lot these last two years, I've hardly seen him, and you two have only grown closer. And I see when he looks at you, he loves you, you know. I don't think he's quite figured it out yet, but he does,” she said.
“And you're okay with that?” Riku asked. His hands were balled into tight fists on his knees. Kairi rested her hand on his.
“I am. Those feelings I have for Sora are different now. I love him, but not the way you do. You should tell him, and do it soon. I get the feeling that you shouldn't leave it for the last minute.”
“Thanks, Kairi,” Riku said. He reached up and wrapped her in a one armed hug.
“Anything for my best friends. Now,” she hopped up and reached for the boots that had been provided for her. “I'm ready for that spark I asked for. Don't go easy on me.”
“You're on,” Riku said with a chuckle.
Riku answered the gummiphone to the sight of Donald and Goofy looking incredibly worried.
“What happened?” he asked.
“We ran into a member of Organization XIII! He used sleep magic to out Sora to sleep and we can't wake him up!” Goofy cried.
“Nothing's worked!” Donald said.
“Can you help us, Riku?” Goofy asked. Riku glanced at Mickey, who only nodded.
“I'm on my way.” Riku hung up and tucked the phone away.
“We'd better hurry,” Mickey said. They drew their keyblades, in preparation for leaving the Realm of Darkness. “We don't want to leave your sleeping beauty waiting.”
Roku felt his ears heat with a blush, but he said nothing. They made it back to the Mysterious Tower and hopped in Mickey's gummiship. It only took a moment to lock on to Sora's sleeping heart, and they were off.
The Kingdom of Corona was a beautiful place, but Riku didn't have time to appreciate it. They arrived on the shore where Donald and Goofy waited. Sora lay between them, fast asleep. Riku raced forward and dropped to his knees.
“They used sleep magic on him and he isn't waking up at all?”
Riku set a hand on Sora's shoulder and shook him. Donald and Goofy shook their heads.
“It's been hours and he hasn't stirred. It's not a normal sleep either, he normally talks in his sleep, but hasn't at all,” Donald said.
“Okay. I'm going to drop into his dreams to see if I can wake him up that way,” Riku said. He drew his keyblade and held it over Sora's head. “Here we go.”
The drop was quick and Riku found himself standing on the play island beach of their childhood. He looked around to see Sora sitting on the curve of the paopu tree, watching the sunset.
Riku ran into the shack and up the stairs as fast as he could.
“Sora!” he called. Sora turned around and waved to him.
“Riku! You're here!” Sora smiled and beckoned him closer. Riku approached, and like Kairi had done just a few days before, Sora patted the spot next to him. Riku hopped up and sat next to him.
“You sound like you weren't expecting me,” Riku said.
“Well, I wasn't sure you'd come,” Sora said. He smiled again, but Riku could see that Sora was nervous about something.
“I always will,” Roku told him. That nervousness eased. Sora shifted and held out a paopu fruit to him.
“I asked you to meet me here because I um, I like you a lot Riku. More than anyone, and I wanted to ask you if you wanted to share this paopu with me.”
For a moment Riku thought he was the one who was dreaming. But this was Sora's dream, not his.
It seemed he had been silent for too long because Sora was pulling away. Riku grabbed his hand and held on. This might just be a dream, but he wasn't going to let this chance slip away.
“Sora, I love you,” he said. “And I would want nothing more than to share a paopu with you.”
Sora leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. Then, he held the fruit between them. There were two ways to share a paopu, on the Destiny Islands, depending on your intentions. The first way, which wasn't as intimate, but no less binding, was for each person involved to feed each other a separate fruit. Riku had a feeling that Kairi would want to do this between the three of them. But the second way, the one that had once been akin to a marriage ritual was to bite into the same fruit at the same time.
Sora and Riku leaned in, and they took a bite, together. The taste was weird. Not at all, sweet, let alone something to encourage the romantic atmosphere.
“Man, what the hell does that taste like?” Sora asked as he chewed.
“Like, if guava and kiwis had a weird baby? And since when do you swear?” Riku asked. Sora giggled.
“Donald is a bad influence,” Sora said. They polished off the fruit, though it wasn't a requirement, and despite the weird taste. Sora leaned against Riku's shoulder. “I don't want to leave.”
They were silent for a bit, then Sora began to hum. Riku didn't recognize what he was humming, but it felt melancholy, and a bit hopeful.
“What song is that?” he asked.
“I don't know, but it feels a little familiar. A dream is a wish your heart makes. I think that's the line,” Sora said. “I don't know where I've heard it before though.”
“A dream, huh?”
Then, Riku felt the sensation of being dragged out of the dream. If entering them was a drop, then being pulled out of them was like being bodily yanked out.
Riku gasped as he opened his eyes. He was still hovering over Sora's prone body, but the other boy wasn't awake.
“What happened?” Riku asked. He turned to the others.
“We don't know, one second you were in his dream, the next you were back. Sora hasn't woken up,” Goofy said. Riku swore.
Then, Sora's words before he was pulled away struck him.
“A dream is a wish your heart makes.” He vaguely recalled one of the Princesses saying something like that once.
“Wait. Mickey, weren't a few of the Princesses of Heart cursed ton sleep before?” Riku asked.
“Yes. If I remember right, there were two of them, why do you ask?”
“How were they woken up? If nothing else is working, what worked for them?”
“I - I think it was something like true love's kiss. Love is an incredibly powerful magic, and almost anyone is capable of it.”
True love's kiss. Riku certainly had never imagined he would have the chance to kiss Sora. Let alone like this. He barely noticed Mickey pushing Donald and Goofy away to give him some semblance of privacy. Riku sighed.
He leaned over slowly and pressed his lips to Sora's. As much as he would have liked to linger, he couldn't. If he was going to kiss Sora, he wanted him aware of it. Riku pulled away as Sora's eyes blinked open.
“Riku? What are you doing here?” he asked. “Did you kiss me?”
“I - yeah, I did.”
“Why?”
“Only true love's kiss can wake a sleeping beauty,” Riku said. He looked away, feeling like the words were too cheesy to have been said out loud.
“True love? You love me?” Sora asked. He looked, dare Riku think, hopeful.
“Yes, more than anything in all the worlds,” Riku said. Sora sat up and dragged Riku in for a kiss. Which was promptly interrupted by the arrival of Flynn and Maximus.
“What are you doing? We gotta save Rapunzel!” Flynn said. Maximus barely waited for the words to be said before he was off.
“Oh no! We gotta help him if the Organization is here!” Sora said. He clambered to his feet and Riku joined him. “Come on!”
In the end, the day was saved, and Gothel, Rapunzel's apparently evil mother was defeated, and Flynn himself saved in the nick of time by Rapunzel's own magic. It was exhausting but Sora was glad things had worked out for the couple.
They escorted the happy couple back to the kingdom capital, and watched as the whole city fell into an even bigger festival in celebration compared to the one from the day before. Mickey and Riku ended up staying and Sora dragged Riku into a dance which impressed Riku with Sora's surprising skill.
“Thank you, for coming to my rescue,” Sora said. They swayed together to a slow, romantic violin. The evening was winding down around them, but there were still revelers out.
“Anything for you, Sora,” Riku said. “I don't want to leave you, but we both still have our missions.”
“Yeah. But when this is all over, I want to spend every moment I can with you. Waking and dreaming,” Sora said.
“Yeah. I can do that.” Riku ducked down and kissed Sora once more.