Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom hearts, it's the property of square Enix and Disney. No money has or will exchange hands as this story was purely written for entertainment value. Original characters, worlds and storylines do belong to me.

Author Note: Thank you so much to all those who reviewed the first chapter, I wasn't expecting any reviews and those I received were lovely. I will say now that I had no idea I would continue this but I think it will be staying as a two parter, it feels finished now whereas before I think it felt almost but not quite there. It is very much still Sora/Riku/Kairi and there are once again things I've never attempted to write about before.

Destiny's Embrace

Kairi drifts slowly into a warm and comfortable consciousness, the steady rhythm just underneath her ear telling her that she is lying against someone, their arm curled around her back and holding her close. She smiles as she feels a hand holding hers, the angle and the feel of the smooth skin telling her still drowsy mind that it belongs to a different person than she's curled up against and she smiles again, eyes still closed but not finding any reason to open them just yet.

She falls back into a comfortable doze instead, content to enjoy this precious warmth, it hasn't been like this since they were much younger. They used to spend Saturday mornings on the play Island curled up this way. Kairi would sometime have nightmares of the fall of a world she couldn't remember and Riku would bring her into his arms in the middle of the night, Sora joining in behind her to make her feel safe. Riku may have been quiet and short with her sometimes but even then Kairi had known it was only because he didn't know how to express himself, he was always the first one to wake those nights and always held her without question.

It seemed pretty apt that another of her nightmares had brought them together, only this time Riku was the one in the middle and Kairi was fast admitting to herself that she preferred it this way.

"Kairi." Sora whispers, finally tempting her violet eyes open.

"Yeah?" He's wearing a beaming smile on his face and he shifts just a little closer so they're lying facing each other against Riku's chest. His heart rhythm stays steady so they're both pretty sure he's asleep.

"Riku is lying on my other arm, I can't feel it anymore." Sora's grumbles make Kairi giggle and she presses her head closer to Riku's chest to muffle her laughter. She's beginning to wonder whether or not he's listening in to them and has practiced silence and stillness in his travels. "It's not that funny Kairi." But his fake hurt expression only continues to make her smile.

"I did tell you last night that Riku is heavier than me." She squeezes Sora's hand in reassurance and feels muscles beneath them twitch. "I'm going to head for the shower first, if you guys really can't wait you can use the one in the guest room and the main house bathroom."

"We know Kairi, we've been here before." Sora releases her hand, moving his and brushes away the strand of hair that fell in front of her face. Kairi closes her eyes again breathing out before she gently covers Sora's hand with hers.

"You should probably stay until Riku wakes up properly." Kairi shifts her head and places a kiss into Sora's palm, she marvels at the roughness of his fingers and smooth skin of his palm and although she's aware his gloves are the reason why it still fascinates her.

Kairi slides carefully underneath Riku's firm hold. She doesn't bother to pull down her nightdress when it rides up in the process - it isn't anything either boy hasn't seen before. She finds that for the first time since they settled down to sleep she can see Riku's face. Kneeling at his side Kairi smiles, lacing her fingers once again with Sora's as she bends to place a kiss against Riku's lips.

Neither she nor Sora are surprised when he stirs and aquamarine flickers into view. So he was asleep all this time. It was a sign of trust as much as anything else.

"I'll be in the shower." She says leaning to kiss him once again and this time feeling his lips move against hers, brief although it is it puts a smile on her face as she stands and heads for the stairs to her bedroom.

The first thing that Sora does is to move, starting to slide his left arm out from underneath his best friend. He can tell that Riku is half awake because he arches his back slightly to help him, mumbling something or another that Sora is trying to understand but can't.

Sora flexes his fingers and grits his teeth against the pins and needles sweeping up and down his arm, he knows there is a faster way to get rid of it but at the same time he is very much aware that he shouldn't leave Riku and their makeshift bed.

So after a minute or two Sora scoots himself closer, smiling as his friend turns to be facing him. Sora places one arm around him and rests the other one carefully between them. Whether instinctual or not he feels a strong pair of arms hold him close and although it feels different compared to how Kairi holds him it's the good kind of different. He thinks though that it's better when all three of them are together - but then it always has been. Kairi was just a little bit better at figuring out exactly what to do to fix it.

Sora had felt terrible for weeks, worried that he had done something to hurt his best friend, unable to explain how or why it could hurt so much he'd confided in Kairi, who, with tears in her eyes had explained that it was because Sora loved Riku just like she did - the same way they loved each other. Once she'd said it everything suddenly seemed clearer and Sora could remember falling to the ground with her and sitting on her bedroom floor crying and holding each other.

Kairi had been the one to suggest it, talking to him alone on the Play Island. He had spent half an hour pacing on the mainland dock before jumping in his boat and heading after them, sitting on the small pier he'd sat and waited, nervousness churning in his stomach and fear. In the same way as Kairi Sora didn't know how he would stand it if Riku had left them again.

Now though he's feeling a new kind of nervous. Riku's breathing is even, gently blowing his hair out and into place and Sora has to admit to himself how content he is lying against the slender chest in front of him. His fingers start to roam up and down Riku's side, following the line of the scar that cut across it, they tingle slightly but not at all unpleasantly and the warm feeling he's used to with Kairi is spreading through him.

"Morning Sora." Riku mumbles into his hair, clearly starting to get more of an idea of Kairi had meant yesterday. Her kissing him before heading to the shower had started to confirm it and now with Sora snuggled up against him Riku was almost positive what this meant. It was more than a little daunting and everything he'd never thought would happen all at once. He was missing Kairi's warmth as he was sure Sora did too but this was the first time he'd really had to be alone with him.

"You awake properly now?" Sora asks him, craning his neck so he can look directly at him.

"Yeah, I've been drifting in and out for a while now, since Kairi headed to the shower." He's watching Sora carefully as he speaks, looking at his reaction. The brunette just smiles though and slides his arm around to the middle of Riku's back holding him closer. Maybe a little too close.

"Sora?" Riku sounds slightly breathless.

"Hmm?" Is Sora's only response and Riku is fighting not to release himself from his friends hold, there is something fragile about what's developing between them and he doesn't want something as silly and embarrassing as this to be a problem.

"Could you um…. you're a little too close Sora." The brunettes blue eyes meet his in confusion before realisation dawns and he loosens his hold, cheeks heating up. "Sorry… I've just woken up so… and with you and Kairi…"

"It's okay Riku." Sora is smiling again and nuzzles his chest just a little, careful to keep a safe distance further down. "Kairi said we can use the other bathrooms to shower if we want."

"Sounds like a good idea, the spare towels and things are still in the downstairs guest room right?" Riku asks, knowing the change in subject will distract Sora.

"Yes, There's some of my stuff in there as well, If Kairi's parents are here I have to sleep in there." Riku laughs into his hair.

"I think we should get up, if we don't Kairi will be on her own when she comes back down." Riku doesn't want that, he has a feeling they should all spend this weekend together for as much of it as possible.

"I'll head upstairs then." Sora loosens his hold, and slides just a little bit backwards. In turn Riku does the same but doesn't quite know what to do next. He half considers what it would be like to kiss him, now he has some small clue of how it felt with Kairi but that had been brief and almost a flash from a dream.

Sora feels the change in mood even before Riku meets his eyes with a very uncertain look in them. So Sora just smiles, not his beaming ear to ear smile but the soft one he uses sometimes, the one Riku has always thought was only for Kairi but now realises has probably been equally for him all this time.

Riku slides his left arm free and runs it all the way up Sora's side, his shoulder and finally brings it to rest on his cheek. He doesn't want to admit that despite his age and world experience that he has never really done this before and certainly not with another boy. He's thought about it, what it would feel like to kiss them both but there's a difference and a certainty in dreams that doesn't exist in reality. In his dreams there can be no rejection, there he can't get it wrong.

Sora's skin is soft and he's still smiling, waiting patiently for Riku. It's odd, Riku considers, he doesn't think he's ever seen him so calm and so still. So he carefully moves his head, tilting Sora's up slightly - angling so he doesn't bump his nose and slowly, a lot slower than Kairi had he moves. The brunette is holding his breath as Riku's lips line up with his and press down, noting somewhere in the back of his mind that Sora's lips are smooth and that he's pressing back.

It's a rush and it lasts longer because he doesn't know what else to do, just happy to be staying right where he is, half waiting for Sora to do something. Anything.

The brunette moves just a little to breathe and he's smiling before moving very quickly back and taking Riku a little by surprise and kissing him again with just a little more pressure before he's gone again and smiling at him. A smile that reaches right to his eyes.

"I'll be down soon." He tells Riku, sliding out of the covers and out of his arms.

"Sure." Riku watches as Sora heads up the stairs, turning every few to look back at Riku and smile again. He can't be sure but he thinks he's blushing.

Riku moves quickly as soon as the other boy is out of sight and heads to the guest room, knowing he takes less time in the shower than Sora and wanting to be back before Kairi.

She moves down the stairs at a leisurely pace, choosing to wear a light white and pink flowery dress rather than her usual one, she knows Sora and Riku will be wearing similarly casual clothes. They never say anything but weekends like these are their downtime. They are no more than two minutes away from their usual clothes and their Keyblades are already with them. Kairi knows she can summon hers in an instant just as she has seen the boys do time and time again. Only her usual necklace, the one she knows she will never remove remains from her usual outfit.

The shower upstairs was still running but she couldn't hear the guest rooms. Which means which ever of the boys was in there would be out soon. Kairi considers making breakfast but can't really see much point in it, they can make pancakes later if they want - her parents had, as they always did, made sure the kitchen was well stocked.

She pads slowly across the plush carpet to the front room again, it's open plan at least to the staircase with the kitchen to the side and behind the staircase and the guest room off a corridor from the large room.

Kairi sits herself down on top of the duvet and cushions, noting that someone has straightened them out and it now looks like one large low set bed with the sofa behind as the headboard. She leans back and closes her eyes, letting the quiet and the peace wash over her.

"Morning." It's Riku who's walking towards her. She opens her eyes again smiling as he comes to stand by her and Kairi pats the duvet next to her. He doesn't comment but he does sit down, not thinking Kairi immediately leans her head on his shoulder, or at least the top of his arm, he is, after all taller than Sora. She notes that he's wearing a dark blue short sleeved shirt and light denim trousers that come down to just past his knees.

"Kairi." Riku manages to say after moments of silence in which he tried to put his thoughts from his time in the shower into words.

She shifts to look at him, the same knowing look in her eyes from yesterday and at once Riku knows that Kairi has simply been waiting for him to talk to her. She moves away from his shoulder and instead shifts to siting front of him, crossing her legs and prompting him to do the same. Kairi ends up with her knees almost touching his.

"Can I?" He asks, holding his hands out to hers and she nods, just a small smile on her lips but her hands reach for his and hold on tight, letting their joined hands bridge the gap between them. "I wanted to talk to Sora about this as well but I'm not really sure how to do it without saying the wrong thing…" His eyes are focussed on their hands and his slightly damp hair covers far more of his face than it normally does.

"It's fine Riku." He knows she's looking at him with the soft expression he's wanted to see directed at him just as much as Sora's special smile but despite the warmth spreading through him he still has no idea what is happening or more precisely why.

"I know what I think is happening, I know what I want to happen but I don't see how my distance made you both…" He takes a deep breath and continues, determined to get this at least to a level where Kairi has enough information to answer him. She has always been the one to make sense of him and Sora. "Want what I think you want, You and Sora, you both kissed me this morning, you let me hold you whilst we slept and you haven't done that for years and well, you took my hands and you're still holding them." He lifts his eyes to hers and she's looking a little more serious.

"Sora wanted you to just figure it out and for it to happen naturally, he says it's always worked better for us that way… he misses when we were younger the most. When we were ten he took me to one side and asked why he wasn't allowed to hold your hand anymore and why you shrugged him off every time he tried to hug you in public."

"It's better when adults aren't telling you to act or telling what you should do right?" He agrees, squeezing her hands in agreement and a little in apology.

"Yeah, but we all do stupid things as we grow up." There is an apology both ways this time - even though he doesn't think he deserves it he excepts it anyway but mostly because Kairi needs him to.

"I don't want ruin the atmosphere by talking about it but I need to know where I stand." He doesn't want to see things that aren't there, doesn't want to suspect them of anything, he's asking for a very different sort of permission than he has ever asked them before.

"We love you." Kairi tells him, eyes searching his out.

"Kairi…" He needs her to be more direct and she nods, she now has to agree with Sora, it would have been easier if he had just figured it out himself - if they all had because saying it makes her face heat up and wish that Sora was back from his shower and here to help her… she even wonders if he's delaying on purpose so he doesn't have to be the one to do this. At some point along the line he's going to have to be a part of discussions like this.

"I'd suspected for a while and I knew as soon as you started to pull away from us that it's only right when all three of us are together." She chooses to focus on his shoulder and the seam of the sleeve on his shirt. It's better than looking at his face, she's sure she's about to be the same colour as her hair. Riku only holds her hands tighter. "I know what my parents views are and I have a feeling yours are very similar… but not everyone on this Island has a problem with two men or two women to live together… and I'm pretty sure no one will notice if it's the three of us." His head snaps up at that.

"You mean we should live together?"

Kairi shakes her head, cheeks flaming red. "Not yet. I just think no one would see it as anything out of the ordinary - not if it's the three of us." She chances a quick look at him and is pleased by the expression in his eyes. Waiting. "And neither do me and Sora. I can't imagine my life without you and him - can't imagine not being with each of you for the rest of my life and I don't see why we should have to."

"Kairi."

"You say that a lot." and she's looking at him properly now, knowing the heat in her cheeks has cooled.

"I don't know what to say." But he holds her hands tighter.

"You could say you agree with us."

"I do." She smiling and he lets go of her hands. "I wish Sora would hurry up." Kairi giggles as Riku's hands move to cup her face, damp strands of hair are cool against his hands but he doesn't seem to mind enough to move them out of the way.

"He'll just have to wait." She breathes and he's moving his legs to be kneeling in front of her with noses almost touching. Riku moves with more confidence than before and presses his lips to hers in a kiss. It's Kairi that tilts her head this time, parting her lips a little and guiding him to do the same. She kisses him with an almost well practiced ease but at the same time it's new and exhilarating. He notices that she's shifted around to be on her knees and her arms are wrapped around him.

They part slightly, breathing a little faster than they would like and Kairi buries her head in Riku's chest.

"You can come join in if you want." Riku says, speaking to the young man stood mouth half open and gaping at his two best friends at the bottom of the stairs. Kairi's peaking at him from her position and rolls her eyes.

Sora half nods then runs to them, tacking them down to the ground, the luckily soft and padded ground.

For a while all Kairi is aware of are two mouths that take their turn with her's and each others and hands that roam and touch and feel. Riku has abandoned his uncertainty and is learning pretty quickly. There's a lot of rolling around and right now Riku is on her left and Sora her right, both half leaning on her. Riku's hand is roaming Sora's back and his head is burrowed against her neck.

She hums in contentment as Sora kisses her, slow and softly and Kairi know's he's tempering the pace. Riku seems to be doing the same, lips brushing her neck and making her eyes flutter but nothing like his behaviour only a few moments ago.

They don't really move away but they seem to settle down, arms interlinked and wrapped around each other. Kairi is glad for the air con other wise she's sure she'd need to head back to the shower. Sora settles himself against her chest and she laughs, his brown spikes shaking as she does.

"Does he always do that?" Riku asks, half whispering but not really, into Kairi's ear.

"Yes." They both answer in unison. "It's comfy." Adds Sora, poking Riku in the arm.

"I think I'll stay where I am thanks." Kairi laughs knowing exactly where the silver haired boy's line of sight is.

They settle for a while, a new kind of peace settling over and around them. Kairi's hands are playing with Sora's hair and her other arm is around Riku.

"Thank you." Riku says, speaking to them both and Kairi can see his and Sora's arms tightly held together, both boys suddenly holding her a little more securely, each around her waist with fingers curling at her sides.

"For what?" Sora asks nuzzling Kairi's chest and looking upwards to look at Riku properly.

"For letting me in." He tells them. Kairi kisses his hair, something familiar from her other and the first and only sign of Naminé over the past couple of days. But he's not surprised, those sleeping within his friends hearts do tend to keep out of these sorts of things but Riku know's he can talk to her later, perhaps tonight if she's willing.

"It's more like fixing things Riku." Sora says rubbing his hand up and down his back.

"Hmm." Kairi makes a sound of agreement, holding both of her boys close to her and watching them do the same. They don't say anything more about it and Kairi is content that Riku understands what she and Sora want, he's not going anywhere.

"So… what do we do now?" Riku asks them.

"Now now now? or now we're all together?" Sora poses a question in return. His and Riku's legs slip in between Kairi's and she makes a sound of contentment.

"More now now Sora." Riku chuckles.

"We could stay here for a while, eat, watch a movie… I don't really feel like moving."

"I agree with Sora, we can head to the Play Island tomorrow, it'll be too crowded today and we won't have it to ourselves." She moves and kisses Riku on the nose, for no other reason than she can and she wants to.

"Alright." Is all Riku says in response and he breathes in and out slowly, making sure to mark this in his memory. They balance each other perfectly in such a way that had become so familiar to him he'd forgotten it was there, like a favourite perfume or scent used so much it blends into the back ground. Now he knows it'll be the loss of this that would become more noticeable and he's keenly aware that neither of the three of them will stand by and let it happen.

Any comments, constructive criticism are welcome and very much appreciated.