Riku doesn’t make promises anymore.
After he and Sora promised to keep the Secret Place on the play islands a secret , Sora went ahead and told Kairi, took her inside the cave , where they drew all those pictures. Riku comes in by himself later on and sees all the drawings. “What ? Who could have done this? Only Sora and I know of this place…?” And then he sees the drawing. Of Sora and Kairi. And that’s when it began. Somthing as simple as this , was a huge moment for Riku and his Trust. This ate at him for years until the moment the islands fell to darkness. Because of Rikus anger. After hearing “let’s take the raft and go, just the two of us” from Kairi, Riku couldn’t take it anymore. He never once blamed her ever, but it still hurt to see her also wanting to leave, Without Him. His supposed two best friends want nothing to do with him? Well fine. So the islands starts to destroy itself , and the first thing Sora does when he sees Riku is scream “Wheres Kairi?!” Riku scoffs. Of course , you only think about Her now. He never will be mad at Kairi for this. It’s not her fault. It’s Soras fault. It’s always Soras fault. “He broke our promise like it was nothing! He forgot everything I said to him like it didn’t even matter!! He only cares about her! Well what about me?! “And thus begins KH1. A tale with jealousy and anger . Rikus story. This is why Riku doesn’t make promises anymore.
Promises are Forgotten. But an Oath is somthing that will never break. So by the time Dream drop distance comes , Riku has been on his path of remedemtion . He atoned for his jealousy and anger. Learned to control it, turn it into something new. Turn it to light, into to love. Love for sora.
He accepts that Sora and Kairi are… well . In Rikus eyes , they are each others precious person. Riku has spent years coming to terms with this. And he’s okay with it. Sorta. He still clenches his fists when faced with the reality. It still hurts in his heart. He cannot control that. But Riku pushes away. It doesn’t matter what Riku wants now. He will only do what needs to be done, and that is protect Sora in his own way. Love him in his own way. Ways the others could never do. Dive into Soras dreams to protect him from nightmares? Yeah just Riku things.
So when it comes time to look for Sora in Kh3, Riku is fully ready to risk everything for Sora. No one else has the power of waking . It has to be Riku. It’s time to follow Rikus dreams.
Remember when Sora asks Herc, “How did you get your strength back to jump in and save Meg?” And herc says somthing like “Im not sure, you’ll have to figure it out for yourself” ?
“His Feelings for Meg Resotored his strength” to protect what mattered most to him. . . Somthing Sora needs to learn on his own….. Somthing Riku already has. The Power Of Waking. Love. True Love. Disney true love kiss stuff.
Riku will wake Sora , somehow… but it will not be easy. There will be tears. And pain. But everything will be okay in the end. The truth will set them free… Rikus hidden feelings for Years will come to light.
Riku doesn’t Make Promises anymore. Promises are for making other people happy. He made an Vow for himself. An oath to protect what matters most. No, To Protect Who Matters Most.
“What I'm saying now isn't something merely borrowed from anyone else, And it's no promise- it's a vow , I can't return to being the liar I used to be , Let's just get rings in the same colour as the morning sun” - Chikai by Utada





















