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The sun was setting over a glimmering white castle, its conical blue roofs topped with multicolored flags. Lavish gilding glinted warmly as Sora, Riku and Kairi passed under its shadow.
“Splash Mountain?” Kairi was asking, “or Space Mountain again?”
Sora hummed, hands tucked behind his head. He rocked back and forth, thinking.
“Let’s try something new,” Riku suggested. “We’re in space enough as it is.”
Kairi chuckled. “That’s true.” She and Riku changed direction, heading towards Critter Country. Sora had stopped behind them, staring confused at something to their right.
“Rapunzel?” he asked, not really expecting an answer. Not waiting for his friends either, he dove through the crowd and disappeared.
“Sora, wait!” Kairi called, quickly dashing after him. Riku was on her heels, using his height to keep sight of Sora’s hair.
The new Princess of Heart wasn’t far away. She looked just as surprised as the three Keyblade Wielders were. “Sora? What are you doing here?” she was asking as Riku and Kairi reached them.
“Rapunzel, this is Riku and Kairi. We’re, ah,” he hesitated, forgetting what he was about to say. Rapunzel just smiled.
“Don’t worry,” she said in almost teasing tone of voice, “I know what you’re up to.” Bouncing, she added, “It’s so good to see you!”
Sora beamed. “You too! I was worried I wouldn’t get to say goodbye.”
“Good-bye?” Rapunzel asked, tilting her head and stopping just short of hugging him.
“Didn’t you say goodbye before you left her world?” Kairi asked, leaning over to peer at him.
Sora laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Of course I did. I wouldn’t just leave!”
Rapunzel put a hand on his arm. “You’re not going anywhere, right?”
“Right,” he nodded, but his expression was grim. Riku’s stomach churned. Recovering quickly, Sora asked, “Wanna come ride Splash Mountain with us?”
“Oh, I wish I could! But I’ve gotta finish saying hello to all my friends.” She gestured behind her, where a huge line of children were waiting quietly. “Sorry!”
Sora waved a hand. “That’s alright. We’ll come back later. Have fun!”
“It was good to see you,” Kairi chimed.
“You too,” Rapunzel said. Quickly, she gave each of them a hug, lingering on Sora last. “I hope your new dream comes true,” Riku heard her whisper.
Sora straightened as if nothing had happened, but his smile was a little dimmer. “Bye!” he chimed, waving, as he lead Riku and Kairi away.
“You okay?” Riku asked him quietly.
Sora flashed him a huge grin. “Of course. We’re having the best day ever, right?”
Kairi leaned in from his other side. “Right!”
“It’s been too long,” Riku agreed. But the weight in his stomach didn’t go away.
The landscape around them faded to rocky ridges covered in moss and quaint little homes dug into the cliffside. They wove around a river, passing thorny brambles and a home built in the ruins of a long-dead tree. A ruddy colored mountain with a huge waterfall soared over all of it. The ride itself was a blur, other than the slow dark climb and the exhilarating drop. Then they were out and walking through Fantasyland again. The sun hadn’t moved, its warm light saturating everything.
Sora was laughing, head tipped back, a spoonful of ice cream half-way to his mouth. Kairi elbowed him, hiding her giggles behind an identical treat. Riku smiled and took a bite of his own Critter Sundae - a cup full of chocolate crumbles covered in spiraled chocolate and vanilla ice cream, topped with chocolate sprinkles and a churro shaped like a Lucky Emblem.
“There’s no way you actually saw her!” Sora insisted, gesturing quickly enough that his bite of ice cream almost went flying. His dark grey jacket and thick red sweatshirt should have been too warm for this perfect summer day, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“It really was Jasmine!” Kairi insisted. “I saw her from the top of Splash Mountain! She was swarmed by all these little kids and her top had these beautiful gold shoulder pieces. She was right back there, I promise.” She pointed behind them, where the wide grey-bricked paths disappeared around a quaint little building.
“We could go back and look for her,” Riku offered once he’d swallowed his bite of ice cream. “Then we’d know for sure.”
Sora pouted a little. “But we haven’t gone on Peter Pan’s Flight yet. I wanted to teach you two to fly.” He scooped up an even bigger bite of ice cream and stuffed it in his mouth.
“We can go afterwards,” Kairi suggested, bumping her shoulder against his gently. “It shouldn’t take long.”
“But what about the line?” Sora whined around his mouthful of food.
Riku glanced over at the ride as they drew closer to it. "What line?” he asked. There weren’t any people in front of the building - there wasn’t even a place for a queue to form. Just a group of cast members standing in front of a painted backdrop with silk sacks of pixie dust to sprinkle on guests.
Sora stopped mid-stride. “Oh right, no lines today,” he remarked breezily. “C’mon!” Quick as usual, he took off running in the direction Kairi had pointed out earlier. “Race you!”
“No fair!” Kairi blurted, shoving her spoon back into her sundae and dashing after him. A few air-steps put her ahead in a blink. Riku loped easily behind. It didn’t matter if he won - he just wanted to watch them goofing around.
They followed the curving path around Pleasure Island Candies and through a copse of pastel colored trees into a bigger square. Across from them, brightly painted tea cups spun under a circular pavilion filled with dangling lanterns. Tall hoops around the area formed a path for Dumbo and his elephant friends to fly guests through. A pen to the trio’s right was for loading and unloading their passengers.
Kairi sprinted under a wooden archway hung with flowers a full stride before Sora. “I win!”
Her sudden stop made Sora nearly crash into her, but she caught him by the arm. He couldn’t help smiling at her. “Good race!” You’ve really gotten faster, Kairi.”
“Thanks.” She beamed, tucking some hair behind one ear.
Riku came to stop right behind them, and they both turned.
“Were you even trying?” Sora asked him.
He chuckled, smirking. “I wanted to give you two a chance to win something today.”
Sora rolled eyes and took another bite of ice cream instead of responding. Kairi shoved Riku playfully, face scrunch up in mock anger. “I could’ve beat you.”
Riku laughed, swaying easily with the shove. “Next time.”
The three of them glanced around, remembering as one that they were looking for Jasmine. But the tea cups and the loading station and even the square itself were empty. They were the only ones there.
“She’s not here,” Kairi sighed, still looking around. “I really did see her. Riku, you believe me, right?”
“Of course,” Riku said immediately. “She probably just had somewhere else to be.” Weird, why was he relieved to have missed her?
Sora shrugged. “So we can go flying now?”
“Sure,” Riku agreed, turning back the way they came. The other two followed behind him. He felt someone begin tracing a shape on his back.
“This jacket’s new,” Kairi remarked behind him, helping him guess who was doing the tracing. “Where’d you get it?”
“You don’t remember?” Riku asked her, glancing over his shoulder. She was still dragging her finger in broad arcs over his shoulder blades and around his spine. Instinctively, he knew what shape she was making.
She shook her head. “No, I don’t think I’ve seen this design before.”
“He’s had that jacket forever,” Sora countered, puzzled. “It’s from the Good Fairies, just like your dress.”
“Right, sorry,” Kairi murmured.
Riku shrugged one shoulder. “It’s fine.”
“Cheer up,” Sora elbowed her encouragingly. “We’re going to Neverland!”
“Not the real Neverland,” Riku reminded him.
He flopped over dramatically, sighing, “I know…”
“It’ll still be fun!” Kairi insisted, done with her tracing now. “All the rides here are fun.”
Sora bounced back upright right away. “Of course they are. Everything’s fun when it’s the three of us.” His friends smiled at him almost helplessly.
A swell of music sprang up from the foliage around them. On the castle, a door opened and Cinderella stepped out onto a balcony. In a clear voice, she began to sing, the words carrying effortlessly across the theme park.
A dream is a wish your heart makes
when you’re fast asleep
Sora looped one arm through Kairi’s, then picked up speed to match strides with Riku, looping their arms together as well.
In dreams you will lose your heartaches
whatever you wish for you keep
The sky was pink and streaked with clouds. Its warm glow washed over the three of them, saturating the color of their eyes. Lights came on in the trees, like they were wrapped in fields of stars, reflecting off Sora and Kairi’s hair.
“What a perfect day,” Riku found himself saying. “I really missed you.”
Kairi leaned against Sora, drawing all three of them closer together. “Me too.”
“Aw, guys…” Sora murmured, looking at each of them. His fingers tightened on their arms, eyes suddenly wet and shining. “Can we just forget about that for a little longer?”
Riku shifted closer to him. “Sure. Gotta have happy thoughts to fly.”
“Then we won’t have any trouble,” Kairi chimed, expression oddly determined.
“Right,” Riku said, continuing to walk through the tress. The castle was out of view, but he could still hear Cinderella singing.
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
Riku blinked and when he opened his eyes all he could see was darkness. Slowly, his vision adjusted and he took in the shadowy shapes of his bedroom at dawn. He was alone. Worlds away, Kairi lay unconscious. And Sora…
Sora was dead.