Man, weird how not really liking to talk about things that hurt because they aren't fun pans out into negative feedback because he never get perspective on his own toxic thought patterns! Wild, right?

Anyway. He'd try his best to forget Riku, if the soldier really thought that was for the best, and he'd maybe be able to get it down to a dull ache, but he really, really can't. He'd try, though. He'd try for the rest of his life.

Sora reminds them right back about how it's okay if they don't get any farther and if they stay just like this because they have value now! Hey, he's certain of all of that. "I guess... it's an uphill kind of thing, right?"

It feels like his heart goes back and forth on this. One day he'll feel good, like a whole person, but the next, something reminds him of Riku, of the past, of the Keyblade, of Vanitas, of Skyler, and he spirals back down again. It's like there's a switch in his head that gets shoved back and forth depending on what he's told and what he thinks about and there's nothing in between. He's either a person or he's not. It drives him up a wall. It's his heart. His weak heart. (Or, like, hey, there's a spike up there too, but we don't talk about that.)