Kingdom Hearts fic: Connections of the Heart - Chapter 3

[mistressofmuses]

In chapter 3: The negotiations between Kairi and Eclenna begin in earnest... And the relationship between Riku and Kairi only feels more complicated.

---

Kairi knew she couldn’t focus too much on the letter from the council, though that was easier said than done. How could she not, now that everything was riding on this?

She’d been truthful in what she’d said to Riku. She knew this was only being offered because the council didn’t think there was any real chance that she would succeed. But by making the offer—even if it was made in bad faith—they ensured she could never claim she’d been denied an opportunity to take the throne.

She fixed her eyeliner and smoothed down a wisp of hair.

Sora had also been truthful: the letter didn’t change anything, because they were always going to succeed.

The first several days in Eclenna promised to be extraordinarily busy, judging by the itinerary that Amara brought by, listing out events, locations, and bits of information like what attire would be appropriate.

Kairi supposed this was the sort of thing most monarchs had staff to coordinate, and for the first time she briefly regretted that she hadn’t brought anyone else with her. Aerith or Yuna or any number of others in Radiant Garden would have been helpful at keeping track of those kinds of logistics.

Though of course, they couldn’t have brought anyone else, because then the entire ruse would have fallen apart.

Riku and Sora leaned in on either side, while she read through the itinerary, and the upcoming events they needed to prepare for.

First up, both Riku and Kairi would accompany Queen Lyshen to an Eclennan history and cultural museum. After that, there would be an informal luncheon back at the palace, where they could begin to discuss the potential alliance. In the evening would be the first of the formal balls, full of dancing and introductions to important people.

“Better both of you than me,” Sora said, when she’d finished describing everything happening just that day.

He pressed a kiss against the side of her head, careful not to mess her hair up.

After another deep breath, Kairi offered a hand to Riku, and they went to meet Lyshen and Amara.

---

The museum was everything Riku had even vaguely considered hoping for when he heard it was their destination.

The first wing was a hall of history, rooms containing artifacts and portraits and stories of famous Eclennan figures, dating back to even before the nation had been founded. The first rooms were dedicated to the oldest parts, describing figures and events from centuries before. Some aspects took on an almost mythological tone, describing the amazing feats and magics of the founders of the nation.

The founding of Eclenna itself had, according to the museum, been an act of love. Two beings, who may or may not have been human, had been locked into opposing sides of an ancestral war. Somehow the two had found each other, and come to care more for each other than for their sides in the conflict they were meant to uphold. The two had decided to abandon the war and create what would become Eclenna.

It certainly set the tone for the connections of the heart that the nation prized.

As the path wound on through the rooms, the stories contained in them grew more concrete, the artifacts more complete and better preserved. Actual copies—even originals—of treaties and proclamations. Contemporary portraits, mostly of couples. Sometimes preserved articles of clothing, or other personal effects.

If the alliance happened—When the alliance happened, he corrected himself—he wondered if he might be able to collect the stories the museum contained, to write a book for Radiant Garden. They’d read the three volumes that Kairi had dug out of the library cover to cover, and nothing in any of them had given him even a fraction of an idea of what Eclenna was like, not compared to just the brief stretch of walking through the museum. If—when—Eclenna and Radiant Garden were officially allied, and needing to learn about each other, something like this would be better than the scraps of information Radiant Garden had right now.

After the history hall came a section devoted to astronomy. Star-mapping, they called it. From what Riku could tell, next to the connections between hearts, this was the most important thing to Eclenna as a whole.

The maps themselves were intricate, stars and the paths they followed traced out in the finest of gold and silver lines. Dates and positions in the sky labeled each map.

The most magnificent of the star-maps were physical works of art, in a variety of mediums: paint, or colored stone and wire, or delicate fiber work. But other sections were magical, three-dimensional maps that could be controlled with a wave of a hand.

Lyshen showed them how to control it, to change their vantage point, or the date that the map showed. As Kairi stepped into the center of the map, scrolling to different dates, the delight on her face lit up brighter than any of the stars it sent wheeling around her. The brightest star among any. He wanted to chastise himself for being sappy, or ridiculous. It wasn’t his place, anyway. But it still felt true.

---

“The museum was amazing,” Kairi gushed. “The history of star-mapping was extraordinary; I had no idea that had been such a focus in Eclenna’s history.”

“I’m glad you found it so interesting!” Lyshen said. “Is there something similar in Radiant Garden? Some study that has persisted through the ages?”

Kairi weighed her potential responses. “Yes and no. The name of our country gives a bit of it away. We are continually adding to our gardens, in the palace and through the country as a whole. Tending what’s been grown before, as well as new variations and discoveries, has always been important. And we do also put a lot of emphasis on scientific advancement, discoveries about the world and ways to do things. Though in that regard, the interests of each monarch tend to guide us in different directions, rather than a constant cultural goal.”

Amara poured both Riku and Kairi some sort of hot drink.

Riku took the cue when she set the pot down, and poured for both Amara and Lyshen.

“And what will your goals be?” Lyshen asked, taking a sip.

Kairi took a sip of her own. Fortunately it was a drinkable temperature, rather than threatening to scald her tongue. The mingled spicy and sweet flavors were much stronger than the herbal teas she was used to, but in a way she definitely found pleasant.

“Is it too forward to say that I hope to devote myself to cultural understanding? I don’t want to sound like I’m… I don’t know, pandering? Trying to flatter? But I do genuinely feel like Radiant Garden has grown insular. Our study of other countries and cultures has been almost purely academic. I’d like for there to be more to it than that. A richer, more robust connection to other nations would strengthen Radiant Garden for its people as well.”

Lyshen laughed, though not meanly. “I think that sounds like a very noble goal for a future ruler to have. I’m glad that Eclenna is the first nation to welcome you across its borders. Though I’ll hazard a guess that we won’t be the last.”

Kairi felt suddenly shy, and she tried to hide it behind another sip of her drink. “That’s kind of you to say.”

Riku reached out and touched her arm. She flashed him a grateful smile, turning her wrist so that he could slide his hand into hers.

Amara smiled. “I’m glad to see you have someone supporting you.”

“Me too,” Kairi said, looking at Riku, and also thinking of Sora.

Her fiancé had supported her in everything she’d ever wanted or needed to do. Even now, when it meant he was staying behind in their rooms. But Riku’s support was just as genuine. She really was extremely lucky.

“Of course,” Kairi added, “I think that Radiant Garden has things to offer as well. All that academic study we do, that pursuit of knowledge, means we have a wealth of information on a wide spread of subjects. We also have people with experience and skills related to that research, and would be happy to turn their abilities toward things that help our friends. Radiant Garden is a beautiful nation, and I’d like people beyond its borders to recognize and appreciate it.”

“All the good intentions in the world can mean very little without the strength of the heart behind them,” said Lyshen.

There it was. “I understand that the strength of the heart, and the connections between hearts are very important in Eclenna. Even at the museum, that was a clear thread through everything. The history of Eclenna’s various rulers, even the star-maps themselves, they all emphasized strength of heart and connections between people.”

“This is true,” Lyshen agreed. “The strength of connection is the most important thing there is. Caring about people—even a single person—can be the greatest force for change. To see someone and decide you love them so much you would do anything to make their world better”—she reached out and brushed a strand of Amara’s hair back—“that is a strength that very few other things can compare to.”

“When you put it that way, it’s hard to argue with,” Riku said.

And he was looking at Kairi like he knew exactly what Queen Lyshen was talking about.

Kairi hoped the heat in her cheeks wasn’t as visible as it felt.

“On that note, perhaps it’s time to retire for the afternoon?” Amara suggested. “I feel like the morning has given us all some things to reflect on. The event tonight is bound to be a late one, so we should all come into it well-rested.”

Lyshen nodded and stood. Kairi and Riku did the same.

“My wife is frequently the one to remind me when a break is in order. There’s certainly no reason to rush through any of our business or discussion. I look forward to this evening, and I hope the both of you have a pleasant afternoon.” She wrapped an arm around Amara’s waist.

“Do you need any help getting back to your rooms?” Amara asked. “Though of course the rest of the palace and the gardens are also open to you.”

“Returning to our rooms would be lovely,” Kairi said. “But I think we can find our way.”

“Then we will see you in a few hours.”

---

“They certainly made the ‘connections of the heart’ thing pretty clear,” Riku said.

Kairi was taking Amara’s advice and taking a nap, but he’d been unable to even think of sleeping. So instead, he was filling Sora in on the events of the morning.

“Was it like they made it suspiciously clear, like they think something is up? Or just like they wanted to make sure you understood?”

Riku paused to consider. “The latter. Maybe. I don’t think they’re suspicious, anyway.”

And with you making heart-eyes at her, they probably won’t be, he berated himself. At least you’re helping to sell the bit, you hopeless, love-struck idiot.

“Riku, they can’t be suspicious. If they are, then this is all for nothing!”

“What if it’s not?” Riku asked. “What if we just… come clean about it? Lyshen and Amara have been perfectly kind and seem to want the alliance to work.”

“You can’t be serious!” Sora snapped. “You just told me they started talking about the connections of the heart. And remember what Kairi told us? They refused to ally with Ansem the Wise because he wasn’t married. So how can you think it wouldn’t matter to them, finding out that you weren’t really her fiancé?”

Riku resisted the urge to curl up on himself. “I just don’t know that I can do it, all right?” I thought I could, but what if I can’t!?”

“What can’t you do?” Sora asked. “You’re perfect at all of this. That’s the whole point.”

“The… being close. It’s not fair.” Riku winced. He hadn’t meant to say that last bit.

“Not fair? We all agreed, Riku. I’m not… mad about it, if that’s what you think.”

“That’s not what— All right. Thanks.” Better that Sora think that’s what he meant.

“Let’s practice, then.”

“What.” He couldn’t even make it sound like a question.

“That’s what we were doing back in Radiant Garden, right? You helped me practice so that I could be better at everything I was supposed to do here. So now let me help you practice.”

“I don’t—”

Sora sidled closer on the loveseat, until his leg was practically pressed against Riku’s. “You said you don’t know how to ‘be close.’ So we’ll practice.”

“Yeah, I know how to be close. Physical proximity isn’t what I meant.”

Sora rolled his eyes. “Me either.” Then he reached out and ran his fingers through a bit of Riku’s hair, brushing it back from his face.

It reminded him so strongly of Lyshen and Amara at lunch that he almost jumped, though instead he just froze. He wanted to lean into the touch. But as soon as he was capable of moving, he twitched his head away. “What are you doing?”

“I told you. Practice. Get comfortable with closeness.”

It was ridiculous. Nothing should feel any different than it had for the last twenty-plus years. He knew that at one point he would have thought nothing of hugging or holding hands or cuddling with Sora or Kairi or both. When had that changed? He wasn’t sure, just knew that it had.

Sora leaned against his shoulder, far hand coming up to rest on Riku’s arm, and Riku’s face burned. “It’s the little things, right? That show off how close you are. How connected you are,” he emphasized. “It’s not the big showy stuff.”

That was wiser than Riku would expect to hear from Sora, but he was thinking about Lyshen and Amara again. Lyshen brushing Amara’s hair back, her arm around her wife as the pair left for the afternoon. And then he was thinking about touching Kairi’s arm, how he hadn’t even thought about it before just reaching out to do it, the feeling of his fingers laced with hers…

“Put your arm over my shoulder,” said Sora.

Riku complied before thinking better of it, hand naturally falling to Sora’s shoulder, like he was pulling him in. Then his brain caught up and he went to move his arm back up.

Sora tightened his grip on the arm he was holding, so that Riku would have had to really pull to break the hold. “Pretend I’m Kairi. If your fiancée cuddled up to you and you pulled away, what do you think that would look like?”

Riku settled his arm back down. He imagined Kairi curled up at his side, soft hair brushing his shoulder. But it was Sora’s wiry-strong arm under his fingers, and his spicy-fruity shampoo Riku could smell. And he wanted both so badly.

You are going to fuck this all up.

He thought about asking ‘what happened to no pretending in private?’ but instead he tightened his fingers to bring Sora closer. “Can’t leave my ‘fiancée’ looking unloved.”

Sora beamed up at him. “Exactly. And you know Kairi. She’d spend her life moving hug to hug if she could.”

Riku brushed his fingers up and down Sora’s arm. This is okay right now. It’s not real, but it’s okay. “She would,” he agreed.

Sora nodded. “And that’s good. You’ve known Kairi just as long as I have.”

Riku’s throat grew tight. But she chose you. You chose her.

“So why do you think you don’t know how to be close?”

“It isn’t that.” Riku’s voice was so quiet he could hardly hear it himself. Then before Sora could reply, he continued, “But you’re right. Everything is different, but it’s all still the same.”

Sora huffed at that, like Riku was still missing something that he should have understood.

“It’s all the same,” Riku repeated, and wished desperately that it was true. And tried even more desperately to quash the wish that it wasn’t.

“Fine. But if it’s the same as ever, then you shouldn’t have any trouble, right?” Sora said. “Let everyone see it, and they’ll know just how connected you are.”

“Sure,” Riku agreed. He punctuated it with a squeeze to Sora’s shoulder.

You hopeless, love-struck idiot.

---

The formal ball that evening was everything that had been promised. The hall it was held in had arched ceilings that rose several stories above the floor, with glinting gold and silver lights floating in the top ten feet or so. They were clearly magical in nature, less bright than the sunshine-bright lights of their suite, but still illuminating the whole room. They drifted gently around each other, looking like stars against the dark paneling of the ceiling itself.

Kairi almost wondered if the décor had been chosen after she’d expressed so much interest in the star-mapping on display in the Eclennan history museum. She knew that was a silly thought, even in passing. It was far more likely it had been chosen as a deliberate allusion to that history, not to her interest in it.

She certainly felt dressed to match, though. Her gown was long, brushing the ground at her feet. It was a deep, midnight blue, with celestial patterns of stars and moons and constellations picked out in silver.

It probably looked to everyone else like she’d chosen the dress based on the star-maps, but truthfully it was the first dress she’d decided to bring. It was one she’d always loved, but never had the opportunity to wear at home in Radiant Garden. It was a coincidence that it suited Eclennan sensibilities so well.

Riku’s attire was less dramatic, but matched to hers. A fitted jacket and long trousers in the same dark blue, with silver accents at the collar, cuffs, and waist. The patterns on his clothing was more geometric, but still hinted at similar celestial figures.

Kairi caught Riku’s gaze from across the room. There were more people here than there had been even at the welcome dinner, mostly clustered in small groups. She watched the patterns of socializing, how people effortlessly moved between clusters, making introductions and small talk, before drifting to a new group. It was certainly its own kind of dance, even though the real dancing hadn’t started yet.

Yet her eye was drawn to Riku more than to anyone else. Understandable, not only because he was familiar, but because he was also absolutely beautiful. The dark blue set off his silver hair, almost brighter than the silver accents on his coat. He looked like a prince out of a fairytale. Well, even more so than usual.

He raised his wine glass toward her in a silent toast across the room and she returned the gesture. Then he turned back to his conversation, some pleasant-looking, animated discussion with one of the lords and his wife.

The currents of the room shifted, and a new conversational partner drifted toward her. She recognized the woman; one of the members of the greeting party when they’d first arrived.

“Lovely to see you again, beloved Lady Nathalie.” Kairi curtseyed.

“Beloved Princess Kairi, I hope you’ve settled well into Eclenna. Have you met my partner? This is Layrde Aubrin.”

“Lovely to meet you.”

The three spoke for a while, mostly Kairi gushing again about how much she’d adored parts of the museum, and how wonderful she’d found everything in Eclenna so far. Nathalie drifted off, but Aubrin stayed for a while. They also had a deep interest in star-mapping, which gave the two of them a point of commonality. Kairi promised that if the alliance went well, Aubrin could come to the palace in Radiant Garden any time, if they wanted to see the stars from another place.

After they’d stepped away, and Kairi had been pulled to a new knot of conversation, her eyes were drawn back to Riku. He’d moved on to a new group as well, a cluster of ladies who seemed to be showing off different drink and food pairings from the tables of finger-foods that were set up along the wall.

Kairi smiled to herself. Even unable to hear what was being said, it was clear they were all utterly charmed by him. And how could they not be? She tried to shake the dopey, soft look off her face, but she couldn’t quite manage it.

It was like he knew she was looking at him, because he glanced up again, and offered her a crooked smile, the look in his eyes soft and happy. Then he winked at her, quick and gone. She giggled a bit, before returning her attention to the conversation around her.

She was glad he was here with her. She thought Sora could have done better than he believed, but Riku truly was in his element. If partners reflected on each other in Eclenna, the way the books suggested, then Riku was definitely making people like her.

Finally, the rotation brought her into conversation with Lyshen. Kairi curtseyed again.

“Beloved Princess Kairi, how has your evening been?”

“Excellent, beloved Queen. Speaking with so many people has been wonderful.”

“Then I am truly delighted to hear it. Perhaps you would accompany me out to the courtyard for a bit of fresh air?”

There was certainly no turning that invitation down, not that Kairi would have wanted to.

The courtyard was quite a bit cooler than inside, even on the summer evening. It was refreshing though, a gentle breeze carrying the perfume of some night-blooming flowers that Kairi recognized from home.

“I hope we haven’t been putting too many demands on your time,” Lyshen said once they were a few yards away from the doors.

The courtyard was lit by levitating lights like the ones inside, though fewer of them, giving the walled garden a soft, otherworldly quality. Lyshen’s dress was also blue, though a much lighter shade than Kairi’s. The top layer had a rainbow iridescence that the lights set off beautifully.

“That is what we’re here for,” Kairi said. “You’re invited to demand as much of my time as you’d like. And Riku’s as well, of course.”

“Well, we are but human, and exhaustion is no one’s best state.”

“I appreciate that, beloved queen, and I promise to tell you if anything pushes us to that point. Though it’s only the first full day, so we have a bit of endurance left in us.”

Lyshen’s answering laugh was warm. “We’ll aim for better than merely enduring. How has your fiancé been finding things?”

“He’s been as thrilled as I have, I think. I know he was fascinated by the museum, and seems to be charming everyone at the party right now.”

“That much is true. He’s a good partner for you.” Lyshen led them to an ornamental bench placed under an arch of the fairy lights.

Kairi smiled, thinking of Sora as she sat down. “He is. And eventually, everyone will see that.”

“Do some people not?”

Kairi hesitated a beat too long. She didn’t want to give the appearance, accurate though it may be, that she and the council were at odds in any way. But she also didn’t relish more lies than she had to maintain. And maybe the couple glasses of wine had made her a little braver—or blunter—than usual. “I have to admit, the Radiant Garden council didn’t exactly approve of my choice.”

Lyshen made a surprised sound, but didn’t say anything.

“Fortunately, they don’t actually have any sway over whom I choose to marry,” Kairi continued. She’d intended it to be something of a joke, but she could see it didn’t land that way.

“I would hope not!” the queen said, then looked down, embarrassed. “My apologies. That may have sounded judgmental. It strikes me as very… upsetting… to consider someone else deciding whether you were allowed to marry, or whether a particular person was an appropriate candidate.”

Lyshen had been so poised the entire time Kairi had been around her, it was oddly endearing to see her even slightly off-balance.

Kairi tried to make her voice light as she said, “It’s not like they would have approved of anyone I’d chosen.”

Despite being, obviously, well-aware of that, saying it aloud made her consider how true it really was. She glanced in the open doors at the people still inside. She couldn’t quite see Riku from here, but she knew he was there.

Sora had been right when he’d suggested that Riku was perfect for this role. He wasn’t the only one to think that; there’d been plenty of people who expected that she’d someday marry Riku, as an ideal future-consort. A moot point, since she didn’t think Riku would have said yes. He hadn’t ever indicated that he would be interested, at least. Since he’d never been the shy type, surely he would have said something. It was a doubly moot point now.

But in a hypothetical situation where she’d asked the other, equally important person in her life to marry her instead, even knowing how well Riku was suited to the role of consort, she couldn’t imagine the council having approved of him either. There would always have been reasons they didn’t think it was a good idea, and snubs like their refusal to publicly announce Sora’s name.

Though she had also ensured with crystal clarity that they had no actual authority to select a marriage partner for her, or to deny one of her choice.

Maybe knowing that had been a small part of why she’d asked Sora to marry her without so much as mentioning it to the council first. Of course it wasn’t the primary reason; she loved him, and that was why she’d asked him to marry her. But there was still a twinge of satisfaction, knowing she hadn’t even attempted to appease the damn council, because it would have been a losing battle.

She shook her head, painfully aware she’d been lost in thought for an uncomfortably long time. “The council was appointed by my father,” she explained, though Lyshen almost certainly knew that already. “That may have something to do with it.”

Lyshen didn’t seem put off by her mental digression. “To our own merits, and forming our own opinions,” she said, quoting their toast from the previous night. “And our own decisions as well.”

Kairi smiled at her. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“Well, time to head back inside,” Lyshen said, standing gracefully. “I can’t monopolize the guest of honor for the entire evening.”

Inside, the flow of conversational partners was still in motion, and Lyshen easily joined up with a stream that would take her over to Amara, who was now talking with Aubrin. Kairi was content to wait on the sidelines for a moment, just watching everyone in their finery. She took another tall flute of sweet wine from a staff member.

She felt the gentle touch on the back of her shoulder before she’d even realized Riku was there. She smiled up at him, and his fingers glided over her shoulder blades, along the open back of her dress.

She stepped a bit closer, bumping her hip against his. “Hey, you.”

“How are you doing, Princess?”

She giggled a bit at the half-sincere, half-teasing nickname. She was certainly feeling this most recent glass of wine. Nowhere near drunk, but at least to the point of pleasantly relaxed. “Just marvelous. And you?”

“Definitely the same.” He ran his hand down to rest at her waist. “Everyone I’ve met has been wonderfully interesting.”

“Same here.” She leaned into him. He was comfortably solid and warm at her back, where she was just slightly chilled from the colder outside air. She would happily have stood there for the entire night, enjoying the contact. He tightened his fingers just a fraction.

For better or worse, they didn’t have the entire night, as Lyshen announced in her clear, carrying voice that it was time for the dancing to begin.

“Finally, a chance to show off,” Riku murmured in her ear, too soft for anyone else to hear.

She giggled again, and let him pull her toward the rapidly clearing floor.

The first dance was something they didn’t exactly recognize, though the livelier tune coming from the group playing strings and woodwinds set an easy to follow pace.

The individual steps weren’t so different from dances they were familiar with, and watching some of the other couples for a few moments helped them to put the steps together in the right order.

Before more than a minute had gone by, they were moving easily around the floor. Riku led, since it was what they were more familiar with from when they’d practiced together, though Kairi thought they might trade off in future dances.

This dance was a joyful one, with lots of spins and twirls. But as fun as she found it, she couldn’t help imagining Sora in her place, and then she was giggling again.

Riku kept them from faltering, though he gave her a tolerantly amused look.

She leaned in close when the dance allowed it. “Just thinking about how much Sora would hate this.”

Riku’s fingers twitched a bit more tightly on hers and he laughed, too. “You have no idea,” he murmured back. “I’ve danced with him more than probably anyone else at this point. He would hate this.”

The next dance was a slower one, letting everyone recover from the pace of the first, and it was almost identical to a couple of the common dances they’d practiced before, so it was easy to relax into the steps.

Riku’s arms were warm where he held her, and she wanted to just curl into the almost-hug.

No, she reminded herself. It’s just a role. No matter how convincing he can make it feel.

So be convincing back, she argued with herself.

She let the gentle pressure of his fingers continue to nudge her into the right movements, but also pressed just a little bit closer. Certainly not inappropriately close, but just a bit closer than the dance itself asked.

Riku’s breathing hitched, and Kairi could almost believe it wasn’t an act. That he really did want her with him like they were supposed to be pretending.

She squinted her eyes shut, because that hurt. Because she loved Sora more than anything, but she just hadn’t thought Riku could feel that way about her. It all seemed like too much to think about, and she sternly told herself off for even worrying about it. That was foolish, because of course Riku was just doing exactly the thing they were here to do. Lie.

Fortunately the next dance was another lively one, and her introspective brooding was handily knocked aside.

This one involved switching partners, a series of steps she wasn’t quite ready for. At least she didn’t stomp on anyone’s feet. Riku was spun away to dance with Lady Nathalie, as Kairi wound up partnered with a young man whose name she didn’t remember. He had a kind face, and he did a good job of helping make the steps clear, so that when the partners switched again, it went much more smoothly.

This time she was with Amara, who was a wonderful dancer, and clearly a bit of a show-off, as she tossed a couple extra flourishes onto her steps that Kairi did not try to match.

From above, the patterns of dancers must have looked like a flower, or a starburst, everyone spinning in close to the center, then back out to the edge of the floor once they’d switched partners.

Not every dance had a story to it, but she got the sense of this one’s, as each trip back to the center of the floor brought her within inches of Riku, but sent her away with a different partner. She saw him dancing with Lyshen, then with Lord Terida, another from the party that had welcomed them to Eclenna. The theme seemed to be partners being pulled away from each other repeatedly, but always trying to return to each other. Connections of the heart, indeed.

Her theory was confirmed as everyone returned to the center, the pattern landing them back with their original partners, and the dance ended.

It had been energetic enough that Kairi was breathing just a bit harder than normal, and she collapsed forward into Riku with a soft laugh. He hugged her close, equally breathless, also laughing. He pressed a quick kiss to the side of her head, then to her cheek when she turned her face toward him.

And keep it convincing! Sora’s voice echoed in her head.

From there it was easy to turn her face just a bit more and press her lips to his. It felt perfectly easy and right, though when he made a startled noise, she broke away.

Don’t get carried away. She could feel the blush burning in her cheeks, likely matching the one on Riku’s, and she giggled a little nervously. That was enough to break the threatening tension, though. Riku tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, and quirked a smile at her, and everything was fine.

---

The pair of them were laughing again when they returned to their rooms, hours later. There’d been more dancing, breaks to get food and drinks, or to talk with the other partygoers, and then more dancing. The final dance had been another lively one, and Riku still felt near-high from the energy of it.

Once they were inside the suite, Kairi leaned on him as she reached down to pull off her shoes. He was glad she hadn’t worn high heels; if his feet were tired from the long night, he was sure hers were even more so as it was. She overbalanced, trying to unbuckle a strap, and Riku caught her as she devolved into another fit of delighted giggling.

She was clearly not drunk, but probably just slightly tipsy, and maybe just as buzzed as he was from the energy of the party.

Riku held her by the elbows while she got her feet back under her. “You good?” he asked, her laughter contagious enough that he was having a hard time suppressing it.

“Absolutely.” She leaned forward into him for a moment. “It was a great party.”

“It definitely was,” he agreed. “And you should absolutely get to bed.”

She tried to pout up at him, but didn’t hold the expression for long before it turned into a grin. They were just inches apart, and it would have been so easy to close that gap and kiss her again.

He—very vividly—recalled the feeling of the kiss on the dance floor. The one that he’d maybe started, kissing her on the cheek, but she was the one who’d turned it into a real kiss. It had been shockingly natural feeling, in a way it definitely shouldn’t have. And it would be so easy to do it again.

He looked away instead, and moved his hands to her shoulders, helping to steer her back toward the bedroom, where Sora was almost certainly already asleep.

No pretending in private. “Come on, to bed.”

The grin briefly turned back to the pout, but she let herself be steered. There was one gently glowing light on her side of the bed. This time Riku didn’t wait for her to ask, and reached up to unhook the thin straps that crossed over the open back of her dress.

He’d been right, back when he first saw her pick it up, before they’d come to Eclenna; she did look amazing in the gown.

“Thank you,” she said, holding her hair out of the way.

From the bed, Sora mumbled something as he woke up.

Kairi turned and flopped down on the bed next to him, still in her dress, though it was ready to fall off her shoulder. “Sorry to wake you.”

Sora yawned. “It’s fine. How was the ball?”

“Fun,” she said. “There was dancing.”

He made a face.

Riku smiled at the look, then turned to leave.

“Riku?” Sora asked.

Ruku turned back toward the bed.

Sora was reaching a hand out toward him. Riku sighed and took his hand, letting Sora pull him over to the bed, too.

“Did you have fun?”

“Yeah,” Riku answered honestly. “It went really well.”

Sora beamed up at him. “Of course it did! You two are the best.”

Sora’s eyes were already drifting back shut, so Riku disentangled his hand, and resisted the silly urge to press a goodnight kiss to his forehead. Not that he hadn’t done it before, just… well, it felt different now. He contented himself with a whispered “Sleep well,” to them both, and headed for his room.

---

The next several days weren’t quite as busy as that first full day, but they certainly didn’t involve much downtime.

Kairi attended the first official diplomatic meeting, more like a Radiant Garden council session than anything else in Eclenna had been. She was able to formally outline precisely what Radiant Garden was hoping for out of a potential peace agreement—pacts of mutual aid and alliance, a sharing of magical and scientific knowledge, the ability for citizens to travel between nations for purposes of study or leisure.

No one objected to any of the points outright, which was encouraging, even though it looked like there would be quite a lot of refining of the exact terms and language being used. There would be plenty of hypotheticals to examine too, regarding peace or war with other nations, and where the limits of expectations of aid would fall.

After the meeting, Kairi wrote another carefully-worded update to the council. She knew it would be the first of many.

---

While Kairi was locked away in more official meetings for the second day in a row, Amara took Riku through the gardens. He’d hoped to get a chance to see them in more detail than the quick walkthrough when they’d first arrived. Getting the opportunity just a few days into their stay was a nice surprise.

He was familiar with the palace gardens of Radiant Garden, of course. They were breathtaking things, carefully curated to display each flower at its best. Some were organized by color, others by the types of flower, and others by the regions in which the flowers originated. The Purple Garden had always been his favorite, the beds of flowers precisely organized into a perfect gradient through every shade from the palest lilac to the deepest indigo.

But the first thing he’d noticed in the Eclennan gardens was that they felt different compared to the ones in Radiant Garden. It wasn’t anything about the beauty of the flowers, or the quality of the planting. Those were equally high.

He told Amara as much.

“I can’t quite tell what it is, but I can’t quite imagine this garden being in Radiant Garden. And the gardens there would look out of place next to these. Why is that?”

Amara just laughed. “Keep looking. Let me know if you figure it out.”

By the second garden, he had. They crossed over an arched wooden bridge, and had to duck to avoid the trailing branches of a weeping birch tree. Riku could smell the rich scent of damp leaf litter below the trees, and after they’d come around a curve in the path, the bridge was completely out of sight.

Ahead of them was a tangle of flowers at various heights, tall spires of vibrant blue competing with something low and spreading that had spiky green leaves and pink star-shaped blossoms. In the middle were larger bushes of honeysuckle, their shade providing space for shy-looking white flowers that peeked out along the ground. There were probably a dozen other flowers in that same stretch of garden.

“It’s wild,” he said aloud. “Or at least it gives the impression of it.”

“I’m not surprised you figured it out.”

And that was it. Radiant Garden was full of perfectly manicured, carefully designed, exactingly specific flowerbeds. They were beautiful works of art, no question. But here, flowers and trees were clearly planted deliberately and encouraged to grow in attractive ways… but they also seemed to be left to their own devices to some degree.

Amara stepped forward and cupped a flower dangling from a large vine. “Artful chaos, and even decay… we cultivate certain things, but appreciate them giving us things we didn’t anticipate as well.”

---

It was rare for Sora to be included on any of Riku or Kairi’s excursions. Everyone had stayed true to the goal of having him not be involved in any of the vaguely-political maneuvering. He’d had several peaceful, solitary days, where the worst he had to do was worry about Kairi and Riku.

Apparently today they were concerned that he would be bored.

It was a lovely day out, and being out in the sunshine was nice for a change. Not that he was a prisoner in their suite; he could have left if he’d wanted to. But that would have risked having to interact with someone, and defeated the purpose of having him not do that.

This was a perfect day for a picnic lunch in a quiet field out on the palace grounds. Ordinarily, this was the kind of thing Sora would have loved. Especially with Riku just next to him, and Kairi just a few feet away to Riku’s left.

That didn’t change the fact that he was seated across from the queen of Eclenna and her wife. They did manage to be less intimidating than the council, so they had that going for them.

He let the small talk wash over him, hoping he wasn’t going to have to participate.

“And you, Sora?” Amara asked, passing him a short glass of a refreshing chilled tea, and killing off that hope. “What is your favorite part of Radiant Garden? If we have the chance to visit, then I’d love to know the best places to go.”

“I love the ocean,” he said. “I mean, I’m sure Eclenna has great beaches too, so maybe it’s not that big a draw. But it really is beautiful. The sea is peaceful, and there are a bunch of small islands off the coast.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Amara agreed. “The sea here is beautiful, but most of our coastline is fairly rugged.”

“We—all three of us—used to spend parts of the summers on the beach in Radiant Garden, and my mom still lives there. I hope you’ll visit the area.”

Stop talking, he willed himself.

“Ah, truly some insider information,” Queen Lyshen said, “if it’s a good enough vacation spot for the future queen and her partner.”

Sora bit his lip, hard, before he could say the wrong thing.

“I miss the beach,” Kairi said. “Those summers were the best.”

“We’ll have to go again.” Riku reached out and grabbed her hand.

Sora couldn’t keep the stupid smile off his face, knowing Riku had clearly taken his advice about casual affection. And then Riku reached over and touched his hand, too. He didn’t hold his hand, but the touch lingered.

“Don’t worry, we’ll drag you along with us,” Riku said.

“I’d love that,” he answered before he’d thought of something wittier to say instead. He didn’t need Riku to reassure him, mid-conversation, in front of the people they had to ensure believed Kairi and Riku were in love… but that didn’t mean he didn’t love to hear it,

It was the kind of thing he’d have said to Riku, if he and Kairi had been talking about going, after all.

---

A week into the negotiations, and Kairi thought things were getting close to an actual agreement. She wrote as much to the council, in updates dutifully written out every other evening. Their responses were less frequent; only one more since their first letter arrived. It had been brief, acknowledging the information she’d passed on and urging her to continue negotiating.

With Eclenna, there’d been more formal meetings, dissecting the language, determining how it would impact hypothetical scenarios. They’d added and taken away various additional clauses. There’d also been more of the relaxed afternoons and evenings in Lyshen (and sometimes Amara’s) company. Kairi knew that those were just as official as the meetings, for all that they were much more enjoyable.

This afternoon was one of those more enjoyable events. Amara had taken Riku and a handful of others out on an excursion outside the palace, to a nature preserve that promised to be absolutely beautiful. Kairi would have been thrilled to go, except that Lyshen asked her to stay behind and have a private late lunch.

They were seated in a small, private room. Windows stretched floor to ceiling along two of the four walls, providing almost as much light as if they’d been outside. Though it was good that they were inside, as the expansive windows also provided a view of thick grey clouds moving across the sky.

Lyshen sliced some fresh fruit, offering half of it to Kairi before delicately cleaning the juice from her hands with a wet cloth.

“I hope you feel things are going well,” Lyshen said. “I certainly do.”

“It’s like you read my mind. I’m glad the feeling is mutual.”

Lyshen also poured Kairi a glass of the sweetened, fruity tea that was served cold on warm days. “I feel it’s been too long since there was an opportunity for a more genuine connection between our countries.”

Kairi returned the favor, pouring a glass for Lyshen. She did not point out that Radiant Garden wasn’t technically her country yet, not in a sense of leadership. Hopefully all of this would guarantee that it was going to be.

“If you don’t mind my asking, why did you choose now?” she asked instead. For as long as she’d been curious about it, she’d never actually asked. “You were the one to make the overture, for which I’m extremely glad. It was also certainly a surprise. So why?”

Lyshen sipped at her tea, and then hummed to herself for a moment. “Do you know why I didn’t reach out before? To King Ansem the Wise, in particular?”

“I heard… well, I was told that you didn’t want to ally with my father because he was unmarried.”

Lyshen snorted. “Typically reductive. Maybe not completely wrong, but it’s not the entire reason, either.”

“What is the entire reason?”

“I hope that you don’t take this as me speaking ill of your father.”

Kairi shook her head.

“But, well, I know that King Ansem the Wise made quite a study of the human heart. In the more… metaphorical sense, not anatomical. It was clearly a subject that fascinated him, and he devoted a great deal of time and energy toward.”

“He did,” Kairi confirmed. Most of her memories of her father were probably of him in his lab coat, always hunting for the next breakthrough about the nature of hearts.

“But his focus was purely academic,” Lyshen said. “A fact he was almost insultingly proud of, to my perspective. I did reach out to him once, were you aware?”

“No.” No one had ever mentioned that, just that Eclenna hadn’t been interested in an alliance while he was king.

“It was when I was younger. Amara and I had just wed, and I was new to the throne. But I had heard about his studies on the heart, and even read one of his treatises on it in a book we’d imported. I was interested in speaking to him about it, so I wrote to him.”

“And what happened?”

“He was startlingly dismissive. At the time, I wanted to know if he’d studied the way hearts connect with each other, because a perspective from outside of Eclenna would have been interesting to know, but the treatise I’d read only concerned hearts in relative isolation.”

She sighed and then continued, “His response was that only in isolation could hearts be understood. That connections between them were just so much white noise, obscuring what was truly important, and that Eclenna’s insistence on connection compromised the necessary objectivity to study them.”

“That sounds…” Kairi wished she could say so unlike him, but that would have been a lie. “Harsh,” she settled on.

“To me, at the time, it was almost horrifying. The idea that a monarch could be so opposed to the idea of connection felt dangerous. It wasn’t that he wasn’t married; it was that he refused to cultivate connections with anyone, and how could someone like that be a fair ruler of his people? It certainly made it clear that he would never be willing to love Eclenna’s people the way we would want an ally to.”

“I can understand why you felt that way. I don’t think he was unable or unwilling to love.” Kairi felt compelled to at least partially defend her father. “But even when it came to me, I think he thought there was an aspect of it that was inconvenient in some way.”

Lyshen’s voice was very careful when she said, “For quite some time, I wondered if his daughter would feel the same way. That connections between hearts were a waste of time, or a distraction, or beneath her as a ruler.”

Kairi tried to match her caution when she answered, “I certainly don’t think that those connections can ever be looked at in a solely academic context.”

“Seeing you and Riku together makes that seem clear. When we heard the announcement that you were engaged, I’d hoped that meant you would at least be more open to something we find so important.”

“Despite the Radiant Garden council not approving.” Kairi quirked a smile. It was a bit ironic.

“Especially,” Lyshen answered, with no trace of levity. “A willingness to seek a connection with someone you love, in the face of opposition? That requires a much stronger connection, and a lot more dedication to it.”

“I suppose that’s true enough.” Kairi sipped at her tea again.

The plan was clearly working: it had given her the chance she’d wanted. And Lyshen’s understanding was completely correct, even. The council’s opposition didn’t matter to her, and would never change her feelings. Yet Lyshen’s understanding was also completely based on deception, and Kairi was starting to hate that more and more.

“Do you ever worry about it? That the council could attempt to keep you from marrying, or anything like that?”

Kairi shrugged. “I suppose it’s frustrating knowing that they might wish they could. They have no actual power to impact my choice; only I can make those decisions. And it’s not like there’s anything they could say or do to make me reconsider. The most they can do is attempt to put it off, but everything will be fine in the end. Ultimately, when they run out of reasons to delay it, they probably won’t have anything to do with the wedding itself, nor will they want to.”

“Is that common? That the council wouldn’t be involved, even in their future ruler’s wedding?”

“If it’s the current council? To be expected. The political and personal are very separate, so while they have opinions about it, it doesn’t really matter to them. If I’ve already been crowned, I’ll have a council of my own, who will probably be more interested and supportive. Though regardless, I’d marry—” Sora “—Riku tomorrow if I could.”

That last bit had meant as a lighthearted joke, so she hadn’t expected Lyshen to take it terribly seriously.

But the queen replied, “Excellent.” She set her glass down with a gentle click. “I think we’re getting very close to finalizing the alliance, don’t you?”

Kairi relaxed back in her seat a bit. “I’ve certainly hoped so.”

“Then I have what I hope will be excellent news for all of us. Eclenna is prepared to approve the signing of the treaty with you as representative of Radiant Garden.”

Kairi’s heart was in her throat—she hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly or apparently unequivocally.

“There will probably be a few more sessions spent making sure the language is precisely what it should be, and ensuring nothing has been left out. And of course we want to give enough notice for there to be a celebration worthy of the event. There are some nobles not in the capital right now who will want to be present.”

Kairi nodded along.

“There was one, well… condition makes it sound a bit extreme. I think it will be something positive, actually.”

“Anything,” Kairi was quick to agree.

“Knowing the council wouldn’t care to be involved in your wedding is something of a relief, since that neatly avoids at least one potential issue of offense.”

Lyshen’s gaze was intense as she continued, “We’d like to host your and Riku’s wedding before the treaty is signed. Ideally as a hybrid of Eclennan and Radiant Garden traditions, we’d like it to be the feature of the celebration leading up to the alliance.”

And it felt like the floor dropped out from under her.

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