Snowflakes and Gingerbread

Summary: Sora decides to take Riku on a trip to Halloween Town. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it's December and Christmas is just around the corner. Honest!

Featuring wolf tails, hot cocoa, twinkle lights, and maybe even some mistletoe. Sora/Riku, set sometime during KH3.

Notes: I had an urge to write overly sappy Christmas fic with these two even though I'm sure it's been done at least thirty times before. But what's one more, right?! Besides, who can resist werewolf Riku and Sora shoving Santa's existence in his friend's face. ;)

On one of the rare occasions – extremely rare, too rare – that Sora and Riku managed to find themselves at Yen Sid's tower at the same time, Sora wasted no time hooking his arm around Riku's neck and hauling him over to the gummi ship that Donald had conveniently left wide open and easily accessible. He shoved him inside despite the older boy's protesting, and then turned with a yelp at the sound of someone clearing their throat nearby.

Damn, so maybe not that wide open after all…

"And just where do you think you're going?" Donald asked, hands propped on his hips, foot tapping away.

Sora clasped his hands together in front of him and tried to look as desperate as possible. "Please, Donald! Come on, just let me borrow it for a few hours!"

"You can't just take off, we need to–"

"One day," Sora pleaded, and Donald's eyes narrowed.

"Wak! Now it's a whole day, huh?"

"Sora." Riku hovered behind his shoulder, scowling and looking slightly ruffled as he rubbed at his neck. "What the heck are you doing?"

"Not important, don't worry about it." Sora flapped a hand at him in what was probably supposed to be some kind of reassurance, but Riku just eyed him doubtfully. "We're going on a field trip!"

Riku sighed. "Now's kind of not the time…" Which, okay, Sora knew that. But he also knew that look in Riku's eyes, could see the exhaustion etched into the lines of his face.

He needed a break. They were allowed breaks, briefly, every so often. Sora knew better than anyone that it often felt like the walls were closing in around them, always too little time left to accomplish what they still needed to accomplish. But there was only so much they'd be able to do if they were all running on fumes, constantly fighting and thinking ahead to the next step without giving themselves time to recover both physically and mentally.

It was okay to hit the pause button once in a while.

Donald grumbled noisily under his breath for a moment, but when he looked back up at them Sora knew he was going to let them go. "And what if we need the ship? Did you think of that?"

"Call me and we'll come straight back," Sora swore, bouncing on his feet a little. "I promise."

"Hmmm." Donald eyed him. "Fine. But you have to tell me where you're going!"

Sora grinned. "Yes!" he cheered, punching a fist into the air, and he heard Riku let out a breath. "We're just gonna go see Jack!"

"…Captain Jack?"

"No, no. Jack Skellington!"

Donald considered that for a moment. Gave him a narrow look. "It's December."

"–Ahaha." Sora scratched the back of his head and pointedly turned his gaze skyward. "Is it? Gosh, who knew."

"You're not going to see Jack."

"I am! We are. We definitely are."

"Sora…" Donald said, and then abruptly threw his hands up. "Wak! Whatever, I guess it's okay. Just don't get in his way!"

"As if I would ever," Sora said, holding a hand to his chest and making sure it was completely obvious how thoroughly offended he was by such an outrageous statement. Donald's brows arched as he and Sora stared at each other for a beat, then the moment abruptly broke as Donald started snickering. Sora gave him a wide grin.

"…I have no idea what's happening," Riku murmured faintly, leaning against the opposite side of the hatch's doorway and letting his head tip to rest on it, as well. He looked so, so tired, skin paler than usual and his eyes drooping. It made Sora's heart ache.

"He's never been, huh?" Donald asked.

Sora shook his head. He knew that because he'd sat Riku down at some point and demanded he tell him in great detail about every world he'd had the opportunity to visit. Several of them overlapped with Sora's experiences, of course, but there were a few that didn't.All of them sounded exciting. Sora was still determined to go solar surfing with this Jim Hawkins guy one day, and if he got to play pirates again – on FLYING hybrid space-pirate ship things this time – well. He would certainly have no complaints.

Why was being a pirate so much fun?

Eh, except maybe for that time he'd been on Captain Hook's also flying pirate ship, but…that was different. And he'd been kind of a dick.

So had Riku, for that matter.

But anyway. The point was that Riku had never been to Halloween Town so it was time that Sora introduced him to the fine folks over there. He gestured at Riku impatiently, still speaking to Donald as he did. "So can you do the thing?"

"Wait," Riku said, suddenly alarmed. "What thing? What's the thing?"

"Yeah, yeah." Donald pointed his wand at Riku, who was still busy spluttering about having nonconsensual magic performed on him, and gave it a fancy little wave. "There, he's good to go."

"Thanks, Donald!" Sora turned, slipping his arm through Riku's and pulling him away from the door. "See you when we get back!"

"Be careful!" Donald called after him, always the overprotective parental-like figure in Sora's life.

Sora waved and slammed his hand against the button that would close the hatch. Then he marched Riku over to the cockpit and deposited him into one of the seats there.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you..." Though Sora hadn't exactly given him a chance to express any such thoughts, since the second he'd seen him he'd launched into the half-formed plan of stealing the gummi ship for the day. Riku slumped into the chair, resting his cheek on his hand as he peered up at Sora. "But what brought this on?"

"I wanted to hang out with you," Sora said simply. He dropped into the pilot's seat and starting flicking various switches and knobs on the dashboard. "It's been awhile."

Riku made a vague sound in agreement. "I know it has… Where's Kairi?"

"The Land of the Dead with Lea, apparently. Master Yen Sid sent them." Sora paused. "Which is not the same place as the Underworld where Hades lives. I got them confused before." No, the Land of the Dead was different – bright and colorful and just overall ridiculously pretty, if the pictures Kairi had sent him were anything to go by. Sora was dying (ha) to go there, too, one day.

But alas, today was not that day. He had a different skeleton to visit.

"How is she?" Riku asked. "When's the last time you saw her?"

"She's good. I took her to visit Ariel about a month ago." Another field trip, the last time he and Kairi had managed to be in the same place at the same time. He'd been wholly unprepared for the sight of Kairi with a mermaid tail and wearing a seashell bikini top, to be honest. Even thinking about it now made his cheeks flush. Kairi had squawked rather indignantly at him when they'd first gotten there and the magic had taken hold, but they'd spent most of their lives running around Destiny Islands in bathing suits so it quickly became a nonissue.

Kairi just hadn't really filled out her swimsuits like thatbefore.

He idly wondered how Riku would look if he ever went there, and his still flushed cheeks promptly burned even hotter.

Right, okay. Next time. Definitely.

Riku was quiet as Sora got the gummi ship into the air, and when he glanced over at him he found the other boy's eyes were half-closed, glazed over as he stared at nothing in particular.

"You can sleep," Sora said. "Take a nap. It'll be an hour or so."

"Copilots should stay awake," was Riku's immediate reply, and Sora rolled his eyes.

"I'm not gonna crash, Riku, geez. I'll be fine!"

Riku looked like he wanted to argue, but he also looked like he could fall asleep standing up if given the chance, and Sora watched the flashes of expression cross his face as an internal debate waged before he finally caved to the exhaustion. "Alright… One hour."

"One hour!" Sora repeated cheerfully. "I'll wake you, don't worry."

"You'd better." Riku shifted, making himself comfortable in his seat as his eyes finally slid shut. "Don't want to waste the only time we get together."

A warm feeling bloomed in his chest at that, and Sora smiled even though Riku wouldn't see it.

"Don't worry," he said again. "I won't let that happen."

xXxXx

"What the fuck."

Sora was too busy eagerly circling Riku to say anything about the sudden expletive, eyeing him up and down and examining every detail of his new look. Riku hadn't even seemed to notice his own additions yet, too busy staring at Sora as he was. His mouth was hanging open, every trace of rumpled sleepiness having vanished the second they'd stepped off the gummi ship and he'd glanced in Sora's direction and immediately had to do a double take.

"You have fangs."

"Yeah." Sora laughed and then grinned sharply, showing them off. "You have a tail." He reached out to curl his fingers gently around the end of it, lifting it for Riku to see. It was a shaggy looking thing, covered in long, gray hair that was soft to the touch. Very dog-like. Riku let out a strangled sound at the sight of it, his new appendage twitching in Sora's grasp. "Guess you're some kind of werewolf."

Riku was still recovering from having grown an extra limb in the last two minutes, or maybe it was the fact that Sora was absently stroking the fur there that had him somewhat distracted and blinking hard as he visibly tried to shake himself out of his stupor. "Werewolf?" he repeated. His ears twitched. They were, Sora very abruptly noticed, now perched on the top of his head, furry pointed triangles covered in the same silvery gray hair that his tail was.

Oh no.

Sora wanted to pet them. Or maybe give Riku scritches.

His grin widened, stretching across his face as he let out a bubbly array of sounds that probably qualified as helpless giggling. Oh no.

"Have – have you never been to a world where you needed to adjust your appearance to match the environment?" Sora said through gleeful snickering. He let go of Riku's tail so he could cover his mouth with his fist instead, trying to smother his laughter.

"Of course, but… Not really like this, I guess." Riku held his hands out in front of him, examining the ragged claws that his fingernails had morphed into. His clothes were strategically ripped in places, color bled away and replaced by shades of dark gloom and doom. Even his skin was shadowed in places, similar to how Sora knew his own was. It was particularly obvious around his eyes, which only highlighted their bright color and made them stand out in the otherwise dim midday light. Was it never sunny here? "Usually it's just an outfit change. Is this because of Donald?"

"Yeah. So no body modifications, huh? We'll have to visit Simba sometime. Bet you'd get a kick out of that." Sora pointed at the top of Riku's head. "You, uh…"

"Simba would be the…lion, right? That world?"

"Yeah, but. Riku."

Riku looked at him finally, arms dropping to his sides and his tail perking up a bit. God. "What?"

"Your ears."

"Huh?" He lifted his hands, feeling around the top of his head, and his eyes slowly went impossibly wide as realization set in that he now had a pair of wolf ears in place of his nice, usual, normal human ones. "Holy shi– Sora."

Sora snickered some more. "Riku."

"Did you seriously bring me here just to see what the hell kind of Halloween creature I'd turn into?" Riku demanded. He was running his fingers behind the back of his ears, brow drawn down as he scowled. One of the ears twitched suddenly, shifting and angling slightly to the side, and then Riku's gaze snapped in that direction, as well. Sora watched, fascinated, completely forgetting to check and make sure it was nothing serious. Considering he hadn't heard anything himself, he figured it was a gust of wind or a branch breaking or something else totally inconsequential.

Maybe a squirrel had scurried across the top of one of the gravestones, he thought, feeling delirious and making every attempt to hold back another explosion of giggling laughter. A skeletal squirrel, perhaps.

"No!" Sora insisted when Riku eventually glanced back at him again, eyebrow arched expectantly. "That's not why! This is all just a bonus." He scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. "I was maybe just a little curious. But there's something else I want to show you."

Riku looked like he didn't believe that for a second, but Sora just rolled his eyes at him since it was the truth.

"Fine, don't believe me," he said. "But you're gonna miss out." He turned to head out of the cemetery, and only a couple of seconds ticked by before he heard Riku sigh dramatically and follow after him.

"This is so weird." Sora glanced back at him, only to find Riku looking over his own shoulder down at his tail. It swayed gently with each step he took. "It's just kind of doing its own thing."

"Probably reacts to however you're feeling," Sora said, thinking of the Dalmatian puppies he'd had to rescue a couple years ago and how their tiny little tails had wagged furiously every time they'd so much as laid eyes on him. Curious now, Sora slowed until Riku was walking alongside him and hooked his elbow around the other boy's. "I'm really happy we get to hang out today."

Sure enough, Riku's tail perked up again, swishing from one side to the other with a noticeable increase in speed. Sora was very obviously watching it and didn't bother trying to hide this fact as he smiled brightly up at Riku, whose face was currently contorting into an odd expression Sora didn't think he'd ever seen before. His cheeks flushed, as well, just the lightest pink infusing them as he groaned and dragged his free hand over the bridge of his nose.

"That's super inconvenient," he grumbled, shooting Sora a dark look.

Sora chuckled. "I like it."

"Shut up," Riku said. "I thought the town was the other way?"

"It is. We're going somewhere else, but we can stop by and visit Jack and the others on the way out maybe." Sora had led them into a barren looking forest, and just ahead of them was a familiar break in the trees.

Riku eyed the more prominent trees in front of them curiously as they made their way over, taking in the ones that had various designs drawn onto their trunks. There was a brightly patterned oval shape, a heart, a four-leaf clover… Riku's head tipped to the side. "Is that a turkey?"

"Yeah." Sora nodded. "I don't know what that's about. We're going here." He stopped in front of the best tree – the one with a decorated pine plastered across the front of it.

"These are doors," Riku said, noticing the doorknobs. "Halloween Town… Are these different holidays?" At the realization, his gaze snapped over to look at the Christmas tree door. "It's December… Wait. Wait."

Sora let go of Riku and bounced over to the door in question, a giddy feeling flooding his chest. "Just wait until you see, Riku, it's so cool!"

"You can't be serious." Riku trailed after him, eyes slightly wide with a light Sora didn't often see in them. Excitement, eagerness… He looked like he was on the verge of bouncing himself, and that was usually just Sora's job.

"Yep!" Sora reached out and yanked the door open. A cool, crisp breeze instantly brushed past his cheeks, bringing with it a snowflake or two and something that smelled like cinnamon. "Ready?" He didn't wait for an answer, knowing that Riku would be right on his heels as he jumped through the opening.

A swirling vortex greeted him, drawing him down and closer to a place full of childlike wonder. The snowflakes increased in number, billowing around him, and then quite suddenly things tipped sideways as the world lurched and Sora found himself spat out onto a snow-covered hillside. He landed on his stomach, never quite able to gracefully find his feet in these situations, and then Riku's heavy weight slammed into him before he could get out of the way.

"Oof." Sora grunted, struggling up onto his elbows. He heard Riku gasp behind him as he took in their dazzling ice-covered surroundings and the twinkling lights of the village below. "Cool, right?"

"Sora…" Riku sat back, straddling the back of Sora's knees, but at least that allowed Sora to twist his torso around a bit so he could watch Riku's reactions – which were totally worth this entire excursion. His eyes were still wide, lips slightly parted as his breath steamed the air in front of his face with every exhale. There was a black Santa hat perched atop his head now, though it was smaller than the one Sora had that flopped down to cover half his face. No, Riku's was nestled carefully between his wolf ears and made Sora simultaneously want to groan and coo at his friend. He wasn't sure either sound would be appreciated.

"Merry Christmas," Sora said, oddly breathless. "It's early, but that's not my fault."

Riku looked down at him and finally scooted off, falling back onto his bum in the snow. "This is incredible," he said, watching as his hands landed in the cold, fluffy white stuff. He promptly scooped some of it up and held it an inch in front of his nose so he could examine it. "Was this the first world you saw snow in?"

"Mm, no." Sora sat up, crisscrossing his legs in front of him. Riku had a striped scarf wrapped around his neck now, too. It looked warm, the long ends of it dangling over his chest. "I guess that would've been Mulan's world."

"Same." Riku dug up some more snow, adding it to his other handful and forming all of it into a compact little ball. "But I didn't have much time to enjoy it. It's kind of strange, isn't it? So cold."

"Super cold," Sora said, nodding. "We should build a snowman if we have time." He pushed himself up to his feet, dusting the ice crystals off his pants.

"If we have time?" Riku repeated, looking up at him. Sora really wanted to pet him behind the ears and had to force himself to keep his hands by his sides. "You mean there's more?"

"Obviously. This is Christmas Town, Riku! That means we have to go see Santa!"

Riku choked, the snowball falling from his hands. Sora beamed at him. "…Santa?" he said, voice somewhat strained.

"Mmhmm! Remember him?" The expression on Sora's face shifted, becoming something that could almost qualify as devious. "Remember how you told me there was no such thing as Santa Claus?"

"Oh my god."

"I've met him now," Sora said, still smirking. He pointed an accusing finger at Riku. "You almost got me permanently put on the naughty list."

"Oh my god," Riku said again. "What – that wasn't my fault! My parents told me he wasn't real! I wasn't about to suffer alone that year."

"I bet you're still on his naughty list," Sora continued blithely, ignoring him. "You're gonna have to do some serious groveling to get back on Santa's good side."

"He's really real?" Riku shoved himself up to his feet. "You're not just messing with me?"

Sora gasped, making a show of being overly offended. "Riku! I would never." Then he grinned and grabbed Riku's wrist. "Come on, let's go say hi."

They crunched through the snow, accompanied now by a soft jingling sound which had both of them pausing after a few steps. Riku looked down, lifting his foot. "…There are bells on my shoes," he said, voice flat, and Sora snorted. Sure enough, the ends of Riku's shoes had changed, curled up at the ends with tiny little bells at the tips.

"Adorable," Sora declared. "I love this place."

Riku grinned, as well, unable to help himself. It was honestly impossible to be a grump in a world like this, with the lights twinkling cheerily at them as they wandered through the town. Their bright colors reflected off the snow, leaving patches of reds, greens, blues, and everything else dancing merrily around their feet. Holly was strung from building to building, and warm lights blazed upon the top of candy cane lampposts as tiny groups of carol singers serenaded them and the intermingled scents of peppermint, cinnamon, and gingerbread took turns wafting through the air. A train chugged along the outskirts of the town, puffing billowing steam up into the sky.

"Destiny Islands definitely doesn't do it up like this," Riku said, eyes jumping from one Christmas spectacle to the next.

"I know, right?" Sora skipped ahead a couple feet, turning to face Riku and spreading his arms wide. "I think we have to take charge of decorating next year. Show everyone how it's supposed to be done. Like this!"

The thought of even being home for Christmas in a year's time was a nice one, if a little sad. It tugged at Sora's heart, making a wave of homesickness and nostalgia wash over him. Would they be home? Or would they still be fighting?

Would they all still be ali–

Sora cut that thought off before it could fully form. It was a stupid question anyway, because Sora wouldn't accept any possible outcome other than the one where everybody returned home in one piece, safe and sound. If he believed it with enough bullheaded stubbornness, then it would have to come true, right?

There were a few little shops along the main street of town offering baked goods and warm drinks to anyone passing by. Riku eyed them with interest, but Sora propelled him along toward the large building at the end of the block first. He noticed Riku's feet seemed to drag the closer they got, his tail starting to droop a little, as well.

"You nervous or something?" Sora asked, and Riku blinked over at him.

"What gives you that idea?"

"Your sad tail," Sora pointed out.

Riku cursed. "This stupid thing!"

"Your ears, too." Sora had just realized they were angled back against Riku's head, like he was a dog who had just been scolded. "Man, too bad you don't have these things all the time. They make you way easier to read."

"This is the wooorst," Riku groaned, reaching up to cup his ears protectively. "Stop looking at them!"

"Aw, come on. Don't be scared, Riku!"

"I'm not," Riku insisted, glowering in Sora's direction a little. "I just. It's Santa." His nose wrinkled after he said it, as though he couldn't believe that at seventeen years old he was actually worried about meeting someone who had been explained away to him as a childhood fantasy. "I've done a lot of things that would get me a permanent place on his…bad list or whatever…" He trailed off in a grumble, and Sora rolled his eyes.

"You're such a dummy. Stop thinking like that." Sora drew to a stop, waiting until Riku paused, as well, before poking him hard in the chest. "I was only kidding before, it's not like Santa was mad at you. He told me to give you his best wishes." Sora prodded him again. "He told me not to give up when I was looking for you, because if I believed in you then I would find you. Well, I always believed in you, Riku, and I did find you, and now I'm going to thank Santa because he was right all along."

Riku batted Sora's hand away, but he had a bashful sort of look on his face and rubbed at the back of his neck as he turned to stare at the heavily decorated door a few feet away from them. "This is it?"

"Yep."

"Okay." Riku drew in a deep breath, steeling himself. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Cool." Sora reached forward, twisting the knob and pushing the door open. But he gave Riku a considering look before taking a step inside. "Hmm. Actually, you can wait out here."

Riku blinked and stared at him blankly for a few extended seconds before his jaw dropped open. "What, why?!"

"Shun the nonbelievers," Sora said, very seriously, and Riku's eyes narrowed as his ears flattened further against his head.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered.

"Shun!" Sora repeated, pointing, shoving his hand into Riku's face so that he nearly bopped him on the nose. "Unless you believe now?"

"Sora…" Riku growled. Sora belatedly noticed that he actually had fangs of his own, too – or, well, more like enlarged canines. They weren't quite as vampiric as Sora's.

"You gotta say it," Sora insisted.

"This is stupid," Riku said, crossing his arms over his chest, the epitome of moody pigheadedness. He huffed, breath blowing upwards and ruffling his fringe.

"Saaay it." Sora raised his eyebrows. "How can I possibly let you through this door if you can't admit that he's real? You gotta believe without seeing the proof first!"

"Augh, fine!" Riku threw his hands skyward and then propped them on his hips, tipping his head backwards and glaring up at nothing in particular. "I believe in Santa Claus! There, are you happy?"

"Extremely," Sora said, grinning and pushing through the open door. "My eight year old self feels very avenged.

They walked into the sitting room where a crackling fire greeted them, just as a short, round man dressed all in red was coming through another door that Sora knew led down to the workshop.

"Oh," Santa said, looking slightly surprised at the two boys standing in the middle of his home. But he recognized Sora quickly enough and a warm smile spread across his rosy cheeks. "Oh, Sora! My, it's good to see you. You've come at quite the time, though, my boy."

"Santa!" Sora cried excitedly, hands curled into fists that bounced eagerly in front of him. "I know, I know, it's almost Christmas, I'm sure you're busy! But I had to come! It was the only chance we had!" He gestured at Riku who had gone still beside him, gaping across the room. "I wanted to tell you – I found him!"

Santa peered at them, bringing a hand up to stroke his long, white beard. "Riku, I presume?"

"Uh," Riku stuttered, and Sora reached out to grab his shoulder and shove him forward. "I – yeah. I'm Riku. Um, hi…Santa?"

"Well, I must say," Santa started, settling himself into a cozy looking chair by the fireplace. It made Riku loom even taller before him and he shuffled his feet awkwardly. "I'm very glad Sora found you. He was rather worried the last time he visited me!"

"You said I just had to believe." Sora stepped forward, wrapping his arm around Riku's. "So I did." He grinned up at Riku. "Turns out he was watching over me the whole time and I just didn't know it."

"I suppose we have something in common, then." Santa chuckled, his laughter a booming sound that filled the room and seemed to make the colored lights strung about glow a little brighter.

Riku scuffed a foot against the ground and looked like he wasn't quite sure what to do with his hands. He scratched the back of his head with the one Sora wasn't clinging to, cheeks a light pink and his tail twitching from one side to the other almost nervously. "It was the least I could do," he eventually mumbled, eyes darting around the room. "After everything. I just wanted to make sure he was safe."

"Mm." Santa eyed him in a speculative way, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth as he nodded a little. "An admirable thing to do, of course. Though perhaps keeping yourself hidden from him wasn't entirely necessary."

"…It felt like it was," Riku said. His hand dropped, clenching at his side.

"Riku," Santa said kindly. "It is not unusual for us to punish ourselves far more than our loved ones surrounding us would. We're always our own harshest critic." Riku lifted his head from where he'd been staring at the floor and let his surprised gaze focus on Santa instead. "Though I'm sure I'm not saying anything different than what your friends have already told you."

"It's true," Sora said, swaying into Riku's side, bumping his shoulder against the older boy's. "I tell him this stuff constantly but he likes to mope."

"Hey," Riku chided, a small, helpless grin finally starting to tug at his lips. "I've gotten better about it."

"He's afraid he's gonna be on your naughty list, Santa."

"Oh?" Santa said as Riku spluttered indignantly.

"Yeah," Sora replied. "Since he said you weren't real and all."

"That's not why!" Riku hissed through clenched teeth, elbowing Sora in the side.

Sora rolled his eyes. "And all that other stuff."

"Let me ask you this." Santa picked up a pair of glasses from a side table and slid them on, then reached down to find a rolled up scroll of paper. "Which list do you think you belong on?"

Riku hesitated, looking uncertain, his tailed drooped and curled listlessly against the inside of his leg. "…Aren't you supposed to tell me?"

"I shouldn't have to be the one to judge your character," Santa said, giving him a look over the top of his glasses. "Naughty and nice are such limited words when it comes to describing anyone. There's much more to you than what either of those defines. They're meant to be a gentle push in the right direction – a guide, if you will, for children. But you're perhaps a little too old to be relying on an old man like me to put you on the correct path." Santa smiled, his eyes twinkling. "You already know which road you're traveling, I'm sure."

"I guess," Riku mumbled. Then he sighed and twisted out of Sora's grasp, taking a step away so he could look at both of them. "You're right. Spending so much time in the Realm of Darkness is starting to get to me, I think – it's been kind of hard to keep my head on straight lately. I keep getting pulled into all sorts of bad memories while I'm there." The corner of his mouth lifted. "But that's all they are. Memories. It's in the past, and I have to keep moving forward. I know where my heart stands."

"Riku…" Sora grinned at him even though his chest hurt suddenly. He hadn't known… Or rather, he knew Riku and Mickey were spending most of their time in the Realm of Darkness, of course, trying to find someone by the name of Aqua. But he hadn't known, he hadn't thought how it might be affecting him.

He wished he could chain Riku to one of the candy cane lampposts outside and never let him go back to that horrible place.

Santa's eyebrows arched. "Your answer, then?"

"The nice list," Riku said. "It's gotta be that."

"Hmm." Santa hummed, unfurling his list and scanning it for a moment. It didn't take him long to find Riku's name and he gave him a warm smile as he nodded. "Indeed. Sora, as well."

"Ha! See, I knew it!" Sora slammed into Riku's side again, arms circling around him to give him a squeeze. "Of course you're on Santa's nice list."

"Alright, alright," Riku said, laughing. "Get off me, you monkey."

Sora released him and turned back to Santa. "Does that mean we get what we want for Christmas?"

"Well," Santa said with a chuckle. "I can only offer what my elves make in the workshop. I have a feeling what you truly want can't be wrapped in a present." He set his list down and gave the pair of them another one of those knowing looks over his glasses. "I dare say that's up to both of you."

"…Ah," Sora said, quite abruptly feeling overheated. He decided he could just blame it on the flames dancing merrily in the fireplace if anyone noticed.

Riku cleared his throat, very pointedly not looking at Sora. "You like to be mysterious, huh?"

Santa's eyes did that twinkling thing again and he gave them a wink. "It's one of the many joys of being Santa Claus." He let out a jolly laugh and then made a shooing gesture toward the door. "Off with you now! There are only a couple weeks left until Christmas and I've still got a lot to do. Go enjoy the festivities in town."

"Right! Thanks, Santa! I'm glad I got to see you again!" Sora exclaimed.

"Likewise, Sora. And it was a pleasure meeting you, as well, Riku."

"Thanks," Riku said, his grin coming more easily now. "We'll let you get back to the important stuff." He followed Sora as he bounded out of the room, shivering a little as the cold winter air welcomed them outside Santa's home.

"He's so cool," Sora said, his arms swinging excitedly back and forth. "Isn't he awesome, Riku? Santa Claus, can you believe it?" He sidled up to Riku again, mostly because it was chilly and the other boy was a good source of body heat. There was definitely no ulterior motive there.

"He's…yeah," Riku said lamely. He cleared his throat again and slung an arm around Sora's shoulder. "Pretty cool guy. And definitely very real."

"I told you."

"So you did." Riku lifted his hand to Sora's head, ruffling his hair and knocking his Santa hat askew. "You dork. Guess I can't ever doubt you again." His tail thwapped cheerfully against the back of Sora's legs, which made Sora snicker and had Riku's expression scrunching up into one of pained embarrassment again.

"Hey, don't, it's fine," Sora said, leaning into him. "You're happy. It's nice."

"I usually am when I'm with you," Riku said, and then immediately groaned and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Gross, too much."

Sora laughed again, finally reaching up to return the favor as he threaded his fingers back into Riku's hair. He'd intended to muss it up, same as Riku had done to him, but really that was just an excuse to gently brush against the back of one of his ears. It twitched under the attention and Riku made a strangled sort of sound, abrupt and cut off in the back of his throat. "What, you can't handle the sap?" Sora asked, trying to distract Riku from the fact that he was definitely about two seconds away from outright petting him. He scratched a bit, gently rubbing behind his ears and marveling at how soft they were, and was nice enough not to mention how Riku's tail wagged a little faster.

"I cannot," Riku replied, his voice ragged in a way Sora wasn't used to hearing. He swallowed thickly and let out a breath that seemed a little shaky, unconsciously tipping his head further into Sora's touch. It made something in Sora's gut squirm and he finally let his hand drop back down to grip the back of Riku's shirt instead.

"Shame there aren't any Heartless popping up," Sora said. "We could've beaten them up to regain our manliness."

Riku snorted and gave his head a light shake, slowly recovering from Sora's wandering hands. His ears perked up, flicking in the direction of the stalls they had passed earlier, and then Riku lifted his chin a bit and sniffed at the air, too. "I smell gingerbread cookies."

"Oh hell yes." Sora tugged at the arm Riku still had curled over his shoulder. "Good boy. Lead the way!"

With a roll of his eyes, Riku did as told. They meandered through the streets, the faint jingling of the bells on Riku's shoes accompanying their every step. It blended with the songs the carolers were singing, the lights along the rooftops twinkling in time with the beat. Snowflakes were starting to fall around them, drifting lazily through the air and melting against Sora's hand when he lifted it up in an attempt to catch a few.

Eventually they stopped by one of the shops and procured bags full of Christmas cookies and cups of steaming hot cocoa. Sora brushed the snow off one of the benches in the town center and sat down, waiting for Riku to sit beside him before he settled in against his side.

"This was worth it, right?" he asked, blowing on his cocoa and taking a big gulp that nearly burned the back of his throat. It was delicious enough that he didn't even care, rich and chocolaty and warm.

"Yeah," Riku said. "I wish I had more days off like this."

Sora hummed softly. "Me, too," he murmured. "I miss you when you're not around."

Riku was silent for a moment. He kicked at a snowdrift and shoved a cookie into his mouth, his cheeks flushed pink again. Sora wanted to touch one of them and found himself reaching out to do so, not bothering to hold back this time. The pads of his fingers brushed against heated skin for a brief moment, just a flash in time before Riku inhaled sharply and jerked his head around to look at him.

"…Sorry," Sora whispered, hiding behind his cup of hot cocoa.

"I miss you, too," Riku blurted out. "Always. All the fucking time, it's the worst."

Sora's eyebrows rose. "Where'd that mouth come from?" he asked, and Riku let out a frustrated sound. "There's no way you get that from King Mickey."

"Sora," Riku said impatiently. "Just. Eat a cookie already."

"What do you think Santa meant?" Sora dug into one of the bags, pulling out a handful of sugar cookies that were shaped like reindeer and had meticulous lines of frosting decorating their surface. He nibbled on one of them, watching Riku closely. "Before, when he said that thing about how it's up to us to get what we want for Christmas."

"I'm sure it was just…you know. About how material things aren't a true source of happiness," Riku said, looking away. "Something generic like that."

Now Sora was the impatient one. He carefully set his cocoa down, placing the bag of cookies off to the side, too. "So there's nothing you want? Nothing that would make you happy even if it's something you can't unwrap?"

"There's plenty I want," Riku replied. Muttered, really. He dropped his chin onto his hand, watching the ice skaters twirling around the giant Christmas tree in the center of town. "Doesn't mean I can have it."

"Because you haven't even tried," Sora said. He leaned forward, trying to catch Riku's eyes. "You're too stuck in your own head. Follow your heart, right?"

"It's not that easy!"

"Isn't it?" Sora reached out, grabbing Riku's shoulder and turning him so that he had no choice but to meet Sora's eyes. "I don't want you going back to the Realm of Darkness, Riku."

Well. That wasn't exactly what he'd meant to say, but there was no denying he'd been thinking it. So there it was, out in the open between them now, hanging heavily in the air as Riku's brow furrowed.

"I have to," he said.

"Why?" Sora demanded, voice slipping sideways a notch and becoming something dangerously close to desperate. "We could take turns, I could help! It doesn't always have to be you!"

"Yes, it does," Riku said. He sounded tired. "I'm used to it, I'll be fine. There's just – sometimes it gets bad, sure, but I can usually bring myself out of it."

"And if you can't?"

Riku paused, a second or two ticking by before he reached out to poke Sora in the forehead. "That's why I have you. Who does Aqua have? She's been stuck in that place for ten years. I have to find her."

"You don't have to keep protecting me all the time," Sora said. His eyes felt wet, but he stubbornly held Riku's gaze. "I could handle the darkness as well as you."

"Maybe, but I don't want you to." Riku shrugged, like it was just that simple, like he automatically had the final say the same way it had been back when they were children deciding the rules of a game. Sora's jaw clenched, but after a moment he forced the tension out of his shoulders and made himself relax, huffing out a breath, his cheeks puffing out as he did. He didn't want to argue with Riku, he really didn't. Not when they only had a limited amount of time to spend with each other. Riku watched all of this with slightly arched eyebrows, and when it seemed like Sora wasn't about to explode from frustration anymore he spoke again. "It'll always be my job to protect you, Sora. Whether you want me to or not."

Sora looked at him. "Fine. But if you get lost in there – or in your head again. Or anywhere. I'll find you." He shifted, leaning in closer. "Riku, I will always find you."

Riku blinked. Sora watched the line of his throat as he swallowed. "Deal," he said faintly. "Doubt I could stop you anyway."

"Riku."

"Sora?"

Sora straightened up, overly aware of their positions all of a sudden. Of how close they were. Riku was leaning back just slightly, away from Sora's advances, drawing in quick, shallow breaths. He seemed to be staring at the candy cane lamppost behind Sora rather than looking right at him, and his nose was red, though that was possibly just because it was cold.

It was also possibly because he, too, had noticed how Sora had steadily been moving toward him. Closing the distance.

Riku was his best friend.

And Sora wanted to kiss him so, so badly.

A tiny giggling sound interrupted them, coming from somewhere up above. Sora glanced up and caught sight of an elf quickly disappearing behind a strand of holly on the building their bench was situated in front of. It had left something behind – a long stick was protruding from one of the frost-covered windows, extending out far enough that it reached where Sora and Riku were sitting. Sora followed it, his face scrunched up in confusion until he reached the end where a long string hung down from the end of the stick.

He blinked.

At the end of the string, hovering there innocently about two feet above their heads, dangled a single sprig of mistletoe.

Oh.

"And Santa thought he couldn't give me a present this year," Sora murmured under his breath. A giddy feeling was ballooning in his chest as Riku dropped wide, alarmed eyes from the mistletoe down to stare at Sora.

"What?" he asked, voice several octaves too high. And then: "Oh," when Sora began to lean in again, a determined expression flashing across his face. "Oh shit. Wait–"

"Shut up, Riku." Sora reached out, hands cupping Riku's cheeks to draw him in. "Listen to the goddamn mistletoe."

Then he kissed him.

Their lips bumped together, Sora pushing into the other boy while Riku gasped against his mouth. When Sora cracked an eye open to peek at him he found Riku still stuck with that same owl-eyed look on his face. He sat back after only a moment or two, unsure how exactly this was supposed to go – particularly since Riku hadn't seemed to be very involved in the whole thing.

Sora frowned. "Hey," he said, prodding the other boy's shoulder. Riku blinked once, twice, and then abruptly sucked in a breath. He seemed dazed. Sora poked him again. "You alive in there?"

"I dropped my cocoa," Riku said, which just had absolutely nothing to do with anything. Sora let out an exasperated sigh. Riku looked at him finally. "Did you just…" He shook his head as awareness started to creep back in, and ended up scowling a little. "Was that because of the – that?" The question was punctuated with a jerky gesture toward the mistletoe that hung above them. "Because." Riku's chest heaved. "You don't have to – for my sake, I don't–"

"Riku," Sora interrupted, frowning again. He slid his hand from Riku's shoulder back up to his cheek. "I kissed you because I wanted to. Because I've been wanting to, you dork."

Riku couldn't seem to make sense of that. His brow furrowed and his mouth worked soundlessly for the space of a breath or two. "You…really?"

Sora's frown vanished. Riku sounded so shocked by it, like it was just so hard to believe or something. It made Sora's everything ache. He wanted to wrap his arms around Riku and never let him go, bury his face against the side of his neck and just breathe in his familiar scent for the rest of forever. "Yes," is what he said instead, voice wobbly and too full of emotion. "Of course, geez, you don't have to be so surprised."

"I didn't think…" Riku's expression cleared. Hell, his entire face seemed to brighten, a smile threatening to curve the corners of his mouth. Sora's heart skipped a beat and he grinned back at him, and Riku lurched forward, shifting onto one knee–

Thump, thump, thump went his tail against the back of the bench.

They froze. Riku flushed deeper than he had all day, the red from his nose bleeding into his cheeks as he covered his face with one hand and let out a low groan. Sora giggled and promptly went about dragging that hand away, letting his fingers interlock with Riku's.

"Don't, don't," he said, curling his free hand around the ends of Riku's scarf and tugging him closer. "I love your stupid tail."

Their second kiss went much better than the first.

They took it slowly, nudging at each other almost cautiously, noses bumping together until Riku tipped his head just a bit and slotted them together even more perfectly. Sora lifted his chin, his lips parting the tiniest amount, and that was all it took for his world to explode in a burst of inviting, slick warmth. He exhaled harshly through his nose and felt Riku do the same as the hand not currently tangled around Sora's came up to palm the side of his neck.

Heat curled in Sora's gut, making the cold air surrounding them fade away. He let his tongue peek out, tentatively meeting Riku's, and the simple action seemed to light a spark in his friend that had him pressing into Sora with a light moan, hand trailing up to dig back into his hair. Sora did the same, yanking free from Riku's grip and releasing his scarf at the same time so that he could bury both hands into silky silver strands.

He found Riku's ears, rubbing behind them, his fingers massaging Riku's scalp, and Riku shuddered against him in a way that made Sora want to run his hands over all the rest of his body just to see what other reactions he could get. Riku broke away from the kiss, their lips parting with a soft, wet sound, before he ducked his head and pressed his nose into Sora's shoulder.

"Stop," he mumbled after a moment, voice muffled against Sora, but he could hear the breathless quality it had. He stilled beneath Riku – noticed for the first time, in fact, that he was beneath Riku, that his friend had pushed him up against the back of the bench and that they'd slumped down enough for Riku to more or less collapse on top of him. Sora let his head fall back against the wooden slats behind him, softly stroking Riku's hair and making sure to leave his ears alone until Riku finally dislodged himself from the junction of Sora's neck and shoulder and pulled back enough to look at him. "…Hey."

"Hi," Sora said. He beamed and watched the color in Riku's cheeks deepen all over again.

"God," Riku choked out. "Stop, that's not fair."

Sora laughed, lifting up to press another quick kiss to Riku's mouth. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said cheerfully when he pulled back, and Riku let out a whole array of frustrated sounds that sent sparks shooting up Sora's spine. He pushed at Riku until the other boy reluctantly sat up, then straightened, as well, and fell in against Riku's side once he was sure his clothes were presentable enough for the general public considering they were out in full view of the entire town.

"Santa was right," Riku murmured, draping his arm around Sora's shoulder.

"He usually is." Sora reached for his cocoa and the cookies he'd abandoned earlier. Luckily his drink hadn't spilled, and even though it had cooled significantly the cup still felt warm against his hands. He passed it off to Riku, who took a sip, and then dug out some cookies to snack on.

After a moment of comfortable silence between the two of them, Riku shifted. Sora glanced up at him as he fiddled with his scarf, watching him unloop it once from around his neck. It was so long that it still wrapped around him two more times, and he took the other end and began circling it around Sora.

"What're you doing?" Sora asked, giddiness bubbling in his voice.

"Making sure you don't catch a cold." Riku finished looping the scarf around Sora's neck and then went back to sitting pressed against him, their sides, hips, and thighs all melded together while Riku's arm stayed curled around Sora's shoulder and somehow hugged him even closer.

"Liar," Sora said softly. "You can handle the sap just fine."

"Only because it's you."

Sora hummed and bit into a cookie. His heart felt like it might burst any second now and thudded loudly against the back of his ribcage.

"I'm glad you brought me here," Riku said.

"Yeah," Sora agreed. "Me, too." He looked up at Riku and smiled. "Merry Christmas, Riku."

Riku's breath caught, his ears perked up and standing at full attention as he stared back down at Sora. The look of faint awe on his face made Sora's smile widen even more.

"You, too," Riku eventually managed to get out. He pushed Sora's Santa hat aside and buried his face in Sora's hair. "You giant dork. You're the best gift."

"I'm sorry, who's the dork?"

"You," Riku insisted, but he was the one who was hiding his face and trying to keep the pure joy in his voice from being too obvious. So.

"Says the guy whose tail won't stop wagging."

"Oh my god."

"Who's a good boy?" Sora teased.

"I hate you."

"You love me."

"Lies and slander.

"Mmhmm."

"Sora." Riku pulled back briefly only to close the distance between them again as he smacked a light kiss to Sora's lips. "You're usually right, too."

Sora blinked. "What?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"No, wait–"

"Merry Christmas, Sora."

"Riku."

But Riku just snickered at him and downed the rest of Sora's hot cocoa. The colorful lights twinkled brightly all around them, and somewhere in the distance they could hear Santa's booming laugh.

Sora grumbled under his breath, but didn't push. It was easier just to rest his head against Riku's shoulder and watch the snow fall gently to the ground. Eventually they would have to leave. They'd have to part again for another indeterminable amount of time as they each went back to their respective duties.

But for now…for now they had this. They had snow and lights and peppermint, mistletoe and carol singers, and most importantly – each other.

They had Christmas together.

(And Sora was definitely taking that mistletoe with him when they left.)

FIN

Watch your step, it's gooey as fuck around here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, Y'ALL!

~ Maxine