Part. two / three
Part title. Faded
Authour. ~sushisama~ (sushivice@netscape.net)
Notes. This was originally going to be a lemon, but...  don't know.  Just couldn't finish it when I had it half done.  It didn't seem to fit.  So I wrote a better scenario.  *shrugs*  I still have that lemon to write for 'Fangs', so my fellow perverts will get their fill soon enough.  And sorry I didn't get this out sooner - I was going to be done with it last night, but I fell asleep...  Hieh.

/ / = thoughts
::*~~*::

            Sora lay on his back in the calm waters that lie underneath the streets of Traverse Town.  His eyes were closed, his bare chest moving as slow as his breath as he relaxed.  This moment was such a rarity that the brunette did nothing but try to enjoy it.  No Donald...  No Goofy...  It was truly peaceful.
            The Keyblade master couldn't help but feel like he was being watched, though...
            On the stone shore of the underground passage a silver-haired male stood, staring intently at the teen in the waters.  His crystal blue eyes were empty of emotion, his lips pursed together in an indifferent line.
            When Sora came back to the shoreline to get out of the cold waters, he searched for his jacket to find that it was gone.  Shit.  And it was starting to get really cold...
            "Looking for something?" a cold voice asked from behind him.  Sora whipped around to see whoever it was.
            "R...riku?"
            Before him stood his rival and best friend, holding his jacket loosely at his side.  He had his normal smirk in place.  "Hello again, Sora."
            "Riku..."  He came closer to embrace his lost friend.  Though he had really found him earlier that day, the older boy had disappeared suddenly before they could finish their conversation.  His arms went tightly around him but Riku did not return the hug.  He pulled back to look into his friend's eyes with concern.  "What's wrong...?"
            Riku was silent for a moment before he answered, "Don't act so friendly with me..."  He shoved the smaller boy away.  "Did you even bother looking for Kairi or me?  Or were you too busy playing with your new friends?"
            "How... how can you accuse me like that, Riku?"  Sora looked down at the ground, not sure why Riku was acting in such a way.  Riku had always understood the circumstances to everything...  He wouldn't misunderstand this, would he...?  "I was looking for you!  But... but I have to help Goofy and Donald as well..."
            Riku looked disbelieving.  "It still seems to me that you forgot about us..."  He turned around, Sora's jacket still in hand, and started to leave.
            "Riku!" Sora shouted, reaching out for his friend's hand.  "Riku, I would never forget you!"  He wrapped his arms around the taller male's waist, pulling him closer so he could lay his head on Riku's shoulder blades.  "...don't you remember the Paopu fruit?  We're stuck with each other..."
            Riku stiffened in Sora's arms, remembering that night...  And the morning after.  The one where he woke up and thought on what he had done.  He didn't think Sora would have understood the full impact of the fruit nor the kiss.  So, when Sora had awoken, he treated it like any other time they had stayed out and just asked him to a fight when he was awake enough.  Not a word of the night before had come to his lips.  And Sora didn't say anything, either.
            / He forgot...  I even asked him later when the last time he had tried the Paopu fruit was and he said the same thing he had that one night...  'A few years ago'... /
            "I thought..." Riku slowly turned around so he was facing Sora.  "...you had forgotten?"
            Riku shook his head.  "I didn't forget anything about it..."  He lowered his head, loosening his grip on Riku's frame.  "It's just... you didn't say anything... and it looked like you kind of regretted it..."
            Riku put a finger underneath Sora's chin and tilted his face upwards and a bit to the side as he pressed a light kiss to his lips.  "I didn't regret it... I just thought you wouldn't understand."
            Sora wrapped his arms around the taller boy and laid his head on his chest.  "I understood... and I felt the same.  You should've said something..."  He tightened his grip, to be closer to Riku and his heat.  Though he would've clung to him anyway, he was starting to get really cold and wanted to steal some of the warmth that was coming from his friend.
            Riku returned the embrace, pulling the boy as close to him as he could.  "Sora..." he whispered into his ear in a low voice, "you don't know how long I've wanted to hold you like this...  To touch you..."
            Riku held onto the younger boy for a long time, just enjoying the feeling of him so close.  He had what he wanted now.  Nothing could stand in his way.  Except... Maleficent would demand his presence soon.  And Kairi...
            "Sora," the silver-haired boy called softly, pushing Sora back a bit so he could look him in the eyes, "will you join me?"
            Sora shook his head regretfully.  "I can't.  I want to... but..."
            Riku's brows furrowed a little.  "But what?  Your new friends?  Are they more important than finding Kairi?"
            The brunette shook his head more violently.  "No!  I want to find Kairi.  And I'm doing it, along side of helping them.  I have the Keyblade, Riku... I have to seal these worlds."  He clung tightly to his friend.  "Why don't you join us...?"
            Riku had considered the idea before.  Of asking Sora if he may join them.  And then the boy had started to converse with them freely, and for a moment, he felt that he had been forgotten.  So he left.  He felt bad about leaving, though, and thought he had over-reacted to such a simple thing.  So, again, he sought Sora out to talk to him.  When he found his friend, though, he was chatting with more of his new friends.  It seemed like he wasn't even making an effort to find him.
            That was when he had decided to join Maleficent.  And he would not change his mind.
            "No...  Maleficent is helping me, Sora.  Helping me to find Kairi.  I will not leave her."
            "Maleficent...?"  Sora looked into his friend's eyes with surprise.  "Riku... I'm supposed to stop her.  That means... that we're enemies..."  His grip tightened around Riku's neck.  "I don't want to be your enemy..."
            "That’s why you should join me."
            "I can't leave my other friends behind, Riku.  No matter what I feel for you."
            "...I see."  The taller boy shoved the brunette away, taking a few steps back.  "They do mean more to you than I do."
            "No!"  Sora reached for Riku's arm, trying to get closer to his friend.  "Riku, that's not true.  You mean a lot to me.  But I still have to help them.  Why can't you understand that?"
            Riku pulled his arm to him, pulling Sora along with it.  He placed a harsh, bruising kiss on the surprised teen's lips.  Sora opened his mouth in protest as the initial reaction which allowed Riku to slip his tongue into his mouth, deepening the kiss even further.  He wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him close, exploring and outlining the wet chamber into his mind.
            The silver-haired boy finally pulled away, and whispered into the brunette's ear, "I want you all to myself."  He nipped at his neck, making Sora moan quietly in pleasure.  "Join me."
            "...I can't..." Sora said with much effort, honestly wanting to take Riku up on his offer.
            Riku pushed away from home once more and turned away.  "Then I guess we're enemies."  He turned his head around for a moment to say, " Don't take it too personally, Sora."  He turned back and began to wonder off.
            "...is this how we're going to spend our eternity together?" Sora asked quietly, head lowered.
            Riku stopped.  "I hope not," he admitted.  "I still love you, Sora.  But there are things I have to do."
            "When this is all over... will you still care about me the same way?"
            "How could I not?"
            Sora didn't answer.
            Riku sighed.  "Sora... when this all ends..."  He turned to face the sullen boy, "I will be the best lover you could ever dream of."  He took a step closer to him.  "I will give you everything you want."  Another step.  "And I will take better care of you than even your mother could."  He stopped right in front of him.  "I promise."  He kissed the top of the brunette's head.  "So don't forget this time, all right?"  Riku smiled lightly. 
             "I... I won't..." Sora stuttered, looking up at his friend through his thick bangs.  "I won't forget again."
            "Good."  Riku took something off his neck and placed it around Sora's.  Sora picked up the silvery object and inspected it.  He looked at it questioningly before giving Riku the same look.  "For luck.  From me to you."
            Sora nodded solemnly.  "I hope this ends soon..."
            "I know.  I can't wait to be with you."

::*~~*::

            Sora put a hand to his chest as it ached a little.  "Kairi... Kairi's inside of me...?"  He looked to his fallen companion then to the entity before him.  It looked like Riku, but... it couldn't be...
            "I know all that there is to know."  Riku's crystal blue eyes, the ones that had been so full of affection that night in the alleyway, were now empty as a void.  He wasn't the same person.
            "Riku...  How can you act like this?  Why are you against me now?"  He lowered his gaze to the floor.  "I thought..."
            He understood when Riku had told him they would be enemies.  But now... he wanted him destroyed?  No...  He wouldn't do that... nor want that...

"This is only for my benefit, Sora," came the harsh reply.
            "But... but what about the other night?  Everything we said?"
            Riku slowly approached his friend, only to have Donald get in his path.  The obstacle was easily removed as he shoved the duck outside of the barrier.  He was now left alone to be with the Keyblade master, which is what he had wished for - this battle was meant only for the two.
            "I have no idea what you are talking about," Riku said coldly.
            "You... forgot...?"  Sora looked up at the now-stranger Riku.  "How could you forget...?  Everything we did...?"  He felt like crying.  He had finally admitted all of his feelings for Riku only for them to be forgotten.  / This must've been how he felt after he thought I'd forgotten the Paopu fruit... /
            "You aren't my Riku," Sora stated firmly.  "Who are you?"
            "It is I, Ansem, seeker of darkness."
            Sora lowered his head again, feeling helpless suddenly.  His Riku was gone...?  It couldn't be... not forever...
            While the brunette was in thought, the older boy readied his weapon to strike him.  "So, now I shall release you, Princess.  Complete the keyhole with your power.  Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!"
            As he brought down his sword, a voice cried out in Sora's mind, shouting his name, stirring him from his reverie.  He deflected the strike with his keyblade and threw the imposter Riku away.  He stood up and glared at him, shouting, "Give me back my Riku!"
            He ran forward, initiating the battle.  They fought for what seemed like forever with graceful moves and techniques, Riku displaying his new dark powers and Sora showing his skills as the Keyblade master. 
            Riku was the first to run out of stamina, dropping his blade and falling to his knees.  "No... I can't lose..."
            "Riku..." Sora called gently, kneeling beside his friend.  "Don't let him win... push him out..."  He wrapped his arms around Riku's neck, pulling him close.  Riku fell easily into his embrace, blood staining Sora's clothes.  "Come back to me...  Please..."
            / He's begging... /  Riku fought his way through the darkness that was Ansem to the front of his mind, brought there by Sora's calling.
            "Sora..." Riku said weakly, reaching a hand out to touch his face.  "I'm sorry... that I can't keep my promise..."
            "Riku...?"
            The silver-haired beauty's image began to fade.  Sora tried to hold him closer, begging him to stay.  But soon, the fighter was gone completely.
            Sora stayed in the same position as Donald and Goofy made their way next to him.
            "Sora..." Goofy whispered, sympathy in his voice.
            "It's okay, Sora," Donald reassured, putting his hand on the teen's shoulder.  "We'll get him back... he's not gone."
            Sora didn't answer.  "...let's... get Kairi back her heart.  And the other princesses'.  And lock the keyhole..."  His voice was scarily monotone.  Donald and Goofy backed away from him, half surprised by his indifference, half frightened by it.
            As Sora stood up, he thought, / I'll find you again, Riku...  And I'll bring you back to me... /  He sighed, choking back the need to cry.  / Because... /
            The image of Riku's smile the other night came to his mind.  When he had said all those things.  Everything he would do when this was all over.
            / ...you have to keep your promise... /