#marell

Heart on his Sleeve

By your Students you’ll be Taught Part 1

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It had been nearly five years.

Sora was back, settled for the most part in the Land of Departure. Riku still traveled the worlds, rebuilding relationships he’d broken when he fell to Darkness.

After defeating Xehanort, it was as if the Light from Kingdom Hearts exploded; new keyblade wielders started showing up around the Worlds, and they needed to be trained.

Sora took up that mantle, an amazingly good teacher for the newest wielders, having them focus on stance and magic rather than combat.

That would come when they were more comfortable with their blade; enough that they wouldn’t accidentally hurt their opponents.

Then it was time to find somewhere they could let loose.  

“It probably needs to be fixed up first,” Aqua explained when Sora asked her where the students could spar, “but the Mirage Arena should work. It held up pretty well against Terra and I when we sparred.”

Sora smiled. “That’s great! I’ll go check it out, see what we can do.”

“Remember, it can also help them to watch a match. Get someone to demonstrate.”

“I will!”

He bounded off, checking on his students briefly before calling Riku.

“Sora? What’s up?”

“Nothing much. Just miss you.”

“I miss you too.” Riku replied. “What about the students?”

“They’re doing well. In fact—”

They were interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Master Sora?”

He looked at Riku through the phone, who nodded.

“Come in! It’s open.” Sora sat up straighter and propped the phone up so Riku could see as well.

Corita poked her head in, eye widening when she saw who was on the phone. “O-oh. Should I come back later?”

“No, you’re fine. What can we do for you?”

“I’m umm… still having trouble with magic. I get tired really easily after using it. I don’t think anyone else does.”

“Well,” Sora responded, “everyone’s different. You have to build up your mana to be able to use different spells. Which ones are you trying to cast?”

“Cure, mostly. Helles and Marell keep getting hurt.”

“Cure takes a lot of mana,” Riku said. “Maybe you should start with something simpler.”

“But…”

“I’ll deal with Helles and Marell. If you want to learn magic, start with Fire. But on the training grounds, please. Don’t burn down the castle.”

Corita giggled. “I won’t!”

“Go on.” He nodded to the door. “You classes are done for now, but if you want to practice Fire, grab Aqua. I’ll be out as soon as I’m done on the phone.”

“Alright! Thank you, Master Sora. Bye Master Riku!”

“Bye Corita. Be careful!”

She ran out of the room and Sora turned back to Riku.

“She’s a good kid.”

“Yeah.”

“What about Helles and Marell?”

“That’s what I called you about. I think they’re sparring. We need a place for them to be able to do that safely. It’s still too stable here.”

“It’s been five years since it was destroyed.”

“Yeah, but it was never whole to begin with. This is a piece of Scalla Ad Caelum.”

“Ah. Where are you thinking, then?”

“Well, Aqua had a place- the Mirage Arena. Have you ever heard of it?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Huh. I haven’t either. I wonder where it is.”

“I can look for it, if you want. It’ll mean I’m home a little later though.”

Sora pouted. “I don’t know…”

“Sora…”

“I want to look for it together!”

Riku smiled, shaking his head. “Alright. I’ll be home in a few days.”

“Good.”

“I have to go now. Love you, Sor.”

“Yeah. Love you too. See you soon, ‘Ku.”

The Masters arrived back to the Land of Departure in shifts.

Lea arrived first, crashing Sora’s lesson on different stances—find the one that worked best for you—with a flash of Firaga.

“Master Lea!” the students chorused, dropping their stances to tackle him to the ground.

“Hey, kids! How go the lessons?”

“Much better before you came back,” Sora admonished, helping him back up. “Go take a break, kids. I have to check on Lea.”

“Aww but we want to hang out with Lea!” Fidria complained.

Lea grinned, “I think Master Terra went straight to the kitchen if you can catch him.”

They all laughed and ran off, leaving Sora to shake his head.

“Terra’s going to kill you.”

“Nah, he’s good with them.”

“Doesn’t mean he likes it.” Sora scanned Lea’s posture, noticing he favored his left side. “What happened?”

“Ok, he does like it, he just doesn’t show it,” Lea responded. “And I think I broke my leg. We set it before healing it but by then we’d used up our mega-potions and neither of us are great at healing magic so it’s still a little tender.”

“Let me see.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now. If we wait it’ll only get worse.” Sora sighed. “We can go inside if you want, though.”

“Thanks.”

“So how were the Worlds? Which ones did you go to?”

“They were good. Pretty stable. We went to the Dalmations’ home world, the Pridelands, and a new world you’d like. It’s called Montonuii; it’s all islands.”

Sora laughed as he helped Lea settle in a chair and looked at his leg. “That sounds nice. And it looks like just some bruising. Want me to heal it?”

“Please. It’s a kind of painful.”

“Of course,” the green glow of healing magic flashed and the bruises faded from Lea’s leg. “Better?”

“Much, thanks.”

“No need to thank me, Lea.”

He smiled. “Honestly though, how are the kids doing? They looked pretty comfortable with those keyblades.”

“They’re doing well. I’m looking for a place for them to spar, but I think they’ve been sparring already.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Only because they’re getting hurt and not coming to me or Aqua.”

“You gotta lay down the ground rules, Sora.”

“I know. We’re working on it.”

“Good,” Lea grinned. “And let me know when you get it sorted out. I’d love to spar some kiddos.”

Sora laughed, “Just make sure you don’t hurt them.”

“I would never!”

“Right. Go check in with Aqua. And send the kids back if you see them.”

“Will do, boss!”

“Not your boss, Lea!” Sora called after him, shaking his head as he walked back to the training grounds.

Kairi arrived next, waving at Sora from behind the class, making sure they didn’t see.

Sora nodded in return, fixing Tierra’s stance.

He found Kairi when he was done teaching, slumping down next to her in the hall.

“So have you figured out how you’re gonna do it?”

He jumped. “No, not yet. I… I’m nervous. What if he says no?”

“Sor, he’s been in love with you since… basically forever. He’s not going to say no.”

“I know that,” Sora replied, pulling a black box out of his pocket, “and that’s not what I’m worried about. You know how he is, Kai. If he says no, it’ll be because he thinks he’s not good enough for me.”

“So don’t take that for an answer. Tell him how you feel, Sor. He won’t say no.”

“I just… I’m scared.”

“What’re you scared of, Master Sora?” A happy voice interrupted them, and Sora nearly dropped the ring.

“Fidrina! Weren’t you guys going to eat lunch?”

“Yeah, but everyone else went to spar and won’t let me join. So I came to find you!” She grinned. “So, what are you scared of?”

Sora chuckled, slipping the ring back in his pocket. “The future. I’m about to make a big change and it’s scary.”

“What’re you gonna do?”

“Well,” he looked around, “if I tell you, you have to promise to keep it a secret.”

Kairi chuckled at the pair as Fidrina’s eyes grew wide.

“I promise! What is it?”

“I’m going to ask Master Riku to marry me.”

She gasped. “That’s so nice! I like Master Riku. Does that mean he’ll be here more?”

“I hope so,” Sora smiled. “Now, go have fun. And remember, it’s a secret.”

Fidrina nodded. “Secret, I promise!” She ran off, almost bouncing.

“You’re so good with them.” Kairi commented.

Sora shrugged. “They’re easy to teach. So curious.”

“Now, about that proposal…”

“Kairi!”

Sora released a soft sigh as he taught the students, causing them to look over.

“You miss Master Riku, don’t you?”

“What—I—Riveraka!” Sora spluttered.

The class giggled.

“Is that funny?” He glared playfully at them while they continued to laugh.

“You think it’s funny?”

Sora charged at them, causing the six to scatter. Within seconds, he stood alone in the middle of the training grounds, chuckling to himself.

“Seems like you’re doing a great job teaching the kids.”

Sora turned. “Riku! You’re home!”

Riku chuckled. “And you seem to be missing your students.”

“We’re… taking a break.”

“Taking a break?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure.”

“We are!”

“Well, then, shall we take a break inside?”

“Yeah.” Sora grinned, taking Riku’s hand and pulling him through the castle.

When they got to their room, Riku wrapped his arms around Sora’s waist.

“Riku?” Sora turned a little. “Are you ok?”

“Tired,” his head fell into the crook of Sora’s neck.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed. Do you need healing?”

Riku shook his head, “Just you. Missed you.”

“Missed you too. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good.” Riku gave Sora a brief kiss before flopping on the bed.

“Shoes, ‘Ku.”

He grumbled, toeing them off and reaching for Sora.

“I have to find the kids so they don’t get into trouble.” He protested.

Riku tugged incessantly. “They’ll be fine. Stay.”

“Riku…”

“Please?”

Sora sighed, climbing into the bed. “Go to sleep, Riku.”

“It’s perfect,” Sora looked around in awe, “It could use some cleaning, but the kids could spar here.”

“They could,” Riku agreed. “It’s called the Mirage Arena, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I wonder why.”

“No idea,” Sora frowned, “It looks kind of… sad.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well it hasn’t been used since Aqua, Terra, and Ven, right? It’s empty.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Sora grinned. “Should we clean it up or get the kids to help?”

“I think we should get the kids. It’ll be good for them. Besides, it will also go faster.”

“You’re right, as always.”

“Took you long enough to figure that out.”

“What? That you’re always right?”

“Exactly.”

Sora snorted, “Yeah, sure.”

“Hey!”

“Come on, Riku, you can’t know everything.”

“Oh yeah?” Riku goaded. “What don’t I know?”

“That I’m going to ask you to marry me.”

The words were out of his mouth before Sora could stop them, and he and Riku stared at each other with twin faces of shock.

“I—you—what—Sora!”

“I—um…” He pulled the ring box out of his pocket and dropped to one knee.

“This isn’t where or how I wanted to do this but… Riku, I’ve loved you since we were kids. You’re my best friend, my soulmate, literally the man of my dreams,” they both chuckled wetly, “and even if you don’t believe it, you deserve all the love in the world.”

“Sora…”

He held up a finger. “So will you so me the honor of becoming my husband?”

Riku shakily knelt in front of Sora, putting them on the same level again, and pulled him into a wet kiss.

Sora wiped his tears when they separated. “You still haven’t given me an answer.”

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