Sora was lying on his couch, the bright sun shining through the large windows and blanketing his body in warmth. He set the book he was reading on the oak coffee table and closed his eyes, his hands folded over his stomach, a small smile on his face. He allowed his mind to wander, drifting over the events throughout the past couple years. He thought back to all the battles won, the friends made, the enemies defeated. His train of thought ground to a halt when he realized that he was becoming depressed and regretful. So he switched to thinking only about his friends. He had gained so many friends over the sixteen years of his life, but there were only two that he would really consider best friends. Kairi and Riku had been his friends for over a decade and he trusted them with his life. It didn't matter that Riku had tried to kill him more than once; he had only done so because he was either being manipulated by Maleficent or possessed by Ansem. Riku would never really try to harm him; he was too good of a person for that. Despite the fact that even Riku doubted himself, Sora knew in his heart that Riku was strong and good and…cared…about him.

He was in a cell inside the Castle of Oblivion, sitting against a grimy wall to conserve energy. He had been there a week and had barely been fed. He had actually been driven to licking the damp stone of the walls in an attempt to get some water. His stomach was aching from hunger, his breathing labored, his hands shaking, his hope wavering. He was always so optimistic ad happy, but here in this damp, dark cell, having eaten almost nothing for an entire week, he was starting to lose faith, and that scared him than almost anything.

Suddenly, the door to the cells opened and two of Maleficent's hideous servants entered. Sora squinted against the sudden flood of light and attempted to raise his shaky hand to shield his eyes. The servants approached the door to his cell and stared at him, laughing at his weakness.

When they'd had their fun, one of the servants opened the door while the other went in and grabbed Sora's arms, pulling him to his feet. He was brought out of the cell and the door was shut again with a loud clang. As he was led down the stone corridor lit only by torches, he realized he was being led to his death. A part of him had always known that he would be killed in this castle, but now that it was actually happening, he wanted—needed—to do everything in his power to survive. He scrambled to find something to give him strength and his mind almost immediately landed on Riku.

The thought of Riku's face, the sound of his voice, the warmth of his body, sent brilliant bolts of strength pulsing through his body, bringing power and life back to his wasting form. As the adrenaline shot through his body, Sora tore out of the servants' grip and blasted down the corridor. He could hear the servants behind them, but he paid them no attention as he flew down the corridors and burst through a door. Cold air slammed into him like an iceberg, the wind whipping his hair and clothes and stinging tears from his eyes. He turned and made sure the door was shut tight before running to the low stonewall and looking down. Desperately looking through the darkness of the night, Sora saw that he was ten stories up, which he knew he would never be able to survive.

He sensed a presence behind him and turned around. Somehow, despite the darkness, he could perfectly see every detail of Riku's face and body.

"Riku!" he yelled over the wind. "We need to get out of here!"

"Why?" Riku's voice was quiet and yet it somehow cut through the wind like a blade. It was also eerily calm.

"Because the guards are coming!" Sora cried desperately.

"But they're not coming for me," Riku said in that same disturbingly calm voice.

"What are you talking about?" Sora exclaimed as a violent bang shook the heavy wooden door. "Riku, we need to get out of here!" He turned back to the wall, not really knowing what he was going to do.

"You're not going anywhere."

Sora froze at the sinister tone in his friend's voice. He slowly turned back around and saw Riku standing right in front of him, a deadly smile on his face, his eyes glowing a bright red.

"Ansem," Sora said quietly, fearfully.

"Guess again," Riku said before punching Sora hard enough to throw him over the wall, sending him hurdling towards the ground.

'Riku, I love you,' he thought as he and the ground approached each other.

"Sora. Sora. Sora!"

Sora jumped and gasped and blinked rapidly, slowly processing the fact that Riku was on his knees beside him, his blue-green eyes filled with concern, his forehead crinkled with worry.

"You okay?" he asked carefully, his voice also compassion-filled.

"Yeah," Sora said after a moment, his respiration slowing, his panic fading.

"It seemed like you were having a really bad dream," Riku said, his hands on his legs.

"Yeah," Sora said again, propping himself up on his elbows and regarding his friend with a slight suspicion. "Yeah, I was."

"You wanna talk about it?" Riku asked, either not noticing or not acknowledging Sora's look of distrust.

"Umm…" Sora knew that he could trust Riku, and yet some part of him had been affected by his dream and didn't want to reveal anything to Riku.

"It's fine," Riku said stoically, looking down at his lap. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No, I—I just…" Sora stammered, not wanting Riku to think he didn't trust him."

"No, really," Riku insisted, still looking down. "I mean, it makes sense that you wouldn't trust me." He exhaled a sardonic chuckle, his voice and face filled with a depressed resignation. "I mean, I did try to kill you more than once."

"You were possessed," Sora said gently, his voice full of compassion.

"I let myself get possessed," Riku said sadly, fingering a loose thread dangling from the bottom of the sofa. "I trusted Maleficent over you and let the darkness overwhelm me."

"But you fought back against it," Sora protested, reaching over and placing a hand on his friend's arm. "You fought back and I helped you and now you're free. You're free from the darkness and you're never going back there. I won't let you go back there."

Riku just smiled softly, finally looking up at his friend. "Sometimes I forget just how good you are at lifting people up. You really are the best friend ever."

"You know," Sora said after a moment, also smiling. "That dream that I had? In it, you killed me. At first I thought it was Ansem, but then you said, 'Guess again,' and punched me off a cliff."

"And that's a reason to smile?" Riku asked, confusion crinkling his delicate brow.

"It is because I know that you would never do anything like that," Sora explained, his eyes twinkling with joy.

"Unless I go to the dark side again," Riku said sadly, looking down again.

"No," Sora said firmly, moving his hand to Riku's cheek and curling two fingers under the other boy's chin, gently pulling his head up and looking into his eyes. "Riku, don't you see? You won't go to the dark side again."

"I might," Riku disagreed; his magical eyes shining with unshed tears.

"No, you won't," Sora said confidently. "And you know why? Because when I look into your eyes, the only thing I see is purity and goodness and a desire to do the right thing. You won't listen to the darkness again because there's no more darkness to listen to."

"You think so?" Riku asked, his eyes shining with hope.

"I know so," Sora replied intently, caressing Riku's cheek. "I believe in you, Riku."

Riku moved forward and pressed his lips to Sora's. He stayed like that for several seconds before realizing what he was doing and pulling away in shame.

"I-I'm sorry," Riku said, quickly getting up and turning to go.

"Riku." Riku turned around to see Sora standing in front of the couch, a smile on his face and a paopu fruit in his hands.

Riku was speechless and just stood staring incredulously at the other boy.

"But…what about Kairi?" Riku asked, wavering between brain-melting joy and heart-stopping disbelief.

"She's nice and I like her as a friend," Sora said, walking up to Riku and stopping in front of him, his voice lowering to a sultry, musical paradise. "But she's not you."

His heart and mind swelling with joy; Riku put his hands on Sora's face and kissed him deeply. He soared high on clouds of blessed euphoria; experiencing Heaven right here with the one person he loved most in the world.

As they kissed, Riku became aware of a warm, glowing feeling in his lips that rapidly spread throughout the rest of his body, cascading through his veins and banishing every negative thought or feeling, continuing until all that remained was a peace and love brighter and more pure than anything he had ever experienced. He also felt hope. Hope for the wonderful, beautiful future that he now saw himself having. And not just any future, but one with Sora, one where they lived together not as friends, but as partners. A future where they could go out to dinner and have it mean more than just two friends having dinner. A future where they could marry and even adopt a child if they wanted. He knew he and Sora could give each other this, this peace and love and happiness that Riku didn't even realize he was missing. Sora could make him complete.

After an infinite amount of time that was probably only twenty or thirty seconds, the two young men separated. They gazed into each other's eyes in shock, both having experienced the same revelatory rush of emotion. Riku noticed that Sora's pupils were blown slightly and marveled at the fact that he could do that to someone.

They gazed into each other's eyes and, with wordless agreement; Sora took Riku's hand and led him into the bedroom. Riku sat on the bed while Sora closed the door before coming to sit next to Riku. They began kissing slowly and sweetly, removing each other's clothes before uniting in the most intimate way possible.

Hours later, they lay curled up together on the bed, holding each other, stroking, gazing and smiling, needing each other's presence and nothing else.

"What about the paopu fruit?" Sora asked after a while.

By way of response, Riku curled up tighter against Sora, lovingly stroking his hair and looking deep into his eyes.

"You know, I don't think we really need the fruit to tell us what we already know," Riku said contentedly, rubbing noses with his one and only true love.