Chapter 10

Just a Dream?

Riku sat and watched Rhiara, for the second time now.

He seemed to be developing a habit of that.

They were all waiting for the King. Aerith had directed the group into Merlin's small cottage as they waited and everyone huddled over to the computer screens that Cid still had meticulously set up from last time. Sora, Goofy, and Donald we're being updated on the group's previous affairs; in the meantime Cid and Yuffie tried explaining the town's defense system to the two guardian girls. Felicity was enthralled. Malia, obviously, was listening little and her focus seemed else where.

Leon was on his own solo computer working on something heatedly, yet solemnly. He still seemed to be brooding over the past events with Felicity. She could still tell this, and cringed uncomfortably each time she glanced in his direction.

Either way, from the aura he seemed to be emanating, everyone decided it would be best if he was let be till the King arrived.

Aerith insisted Riku place Rhiara someplace comfortable, so he stretched her out against the small single bed along the wall and sat upon the foot of it. Aerith and Kairi hovered over her temporarily, giving her current injuries a double check. Aerith tried in her own way to find a connection for the princess's unconscious state, but was un-successful. Eventually Aerith, had at least pronounced her stable until she woke up to ease Riku's worries, then drifted to the huddle on the other side of the room to try to get more into the recollection of the group.

Kairi floated faithfully to Sora's side on her own account, knowing very well that it was best for Riku to be lost in his own mind right now.

This brought us to the current state he was in now. Just sitting and watching her, as his instinct seemed to persist.

He kept going over in his mind all of the things she had said. At the mention of her "sister", the tone in her voice had seemed so strange. It was as if she had been speaking in a trance like state. So many images dancing before her mind.

He had experienced the same thing being around her. That same trance like state of images. It was every time he touched her. Every time she stirred or murmured. Each time he looked at her. Even at the mere mention of her name.

Rhiara…

It was a name shrouded in darkness. Not an evil darkness, just a mysterious type. The Heartless back in Traverse Town didn't seem to be able to touch her, yet her aura reeked of darkness. Riku was confused. He could somewhat sense what was in her heart and there was no darkness of corruption. She seemed to simply just be dark.

And Riku knew plenty about darkness. Sadly though, he had been one of the victims of the evil kind. His heart corrupted in a fruitless quest. A path of destruction he had paved for himself.

He had always wondered why the heartless were never able to take over his heart in the beginning. He had willed them and controlled them, and even though most of the power had been bestowed by Maleficent, some of it was of his own right. He had his own power and abilities that made him a walker of Twilight. Perfectly suited for using the darkness with out being over taken by it.

For some reason, in Riku's mind, he wondered if there had been some hidden source of his control. Some type of ability. Some type of assistance. Some type of ...hidden…presence…

Again his mind drifted back in thought to the presence. It had been so long ago. He didn't think it could be possible, but there had never been another feeling like this since then.

It had been way back during his first journey.

When the islands were first destroyed, when he had just begun to find out about his Twilight abilities. There had been an invisible feeling around him that he could only describe now as a guardian of some sort. At first he had mistaken it for Kairi's aura, perhaps reaching out to him as he searched for her heart. But in time he realized a major difference.

It was a presence all its own. It was supporting almost. He could find strength sometimes when he never knew himself capable. Yet, he had never seen what caused it. But he could feel it. The undeniable aura that had been with him from the beginning.

That was until…Ansem…had completely taken him over. It hadn't been by force. It had been by his will. When he willingly submitted to Ansem's darkness and transformed into the puppet for the rest of Ansem's evil purpose.

He remembered almost hearing the figure scream in protest.

There had been one solid scene running through his mind, over and over again. It was starting to clear up, but the images were stilled blurred in the color and formation. It was the last thing he had seen before the Door to Darkness had been closed, with him behind it.

It had been a girl. Yes…

No…

Wait…

Yes…he was sure it had been.

He had just finished telling Sora to take care of Kairi. He was ready to be submerged in the eternal darkness, but at that last second, he had seen this figure.

It was the figure of a girl, who looked to be about Sora's age. She'd had dark, dark skin and shoulder length auburn colored hair.

He didn't quite catch all the details because the girl had been moving rapidly. Because she had been running toward the door.

She had been running to the door and reaching out in a desperate manner, her auburn tresses cascading in waves behind her.

And she had been calling out. Calling out his name distinctly.

Riku!

Riku!

And she had been crying. The mystery figure had been weeping panicked tears, scrambling to try to reach the door in time, and calling out to him in a sobbing, almost heart breaking attempt.

Riku!

Please…No!

Riku!

Riku…

Her voice came back to him as part of the memory. Ringing in its dark but warming timbre.

The first thing Riku had thought about before the door was shut,

"Who would shed tears for me? After…what I've done…"

But the figure still persisted. Crying even more, begging even more in that millisecond for the door to stop closing.

And then, as the light of the world had been lost to him, and the hinges of the door locked, Riku had smiled. Because he had felt some strange comfort, that whatever he had seen, whoever this figure was…it had been the last thing he had seen before being swallowed into the darkness.

And he had thought he had lost that presence forever. But now…this girl….

How could it be possible?

All of the sudden the torrents of his thoughts were interrupted by a presence of some one approaching him. It was Sora. He had been so unaware of the room that he hadn't seen his best friend coming up to him and sitting on the stool by the edge of the bed.

Sora decided that Riku needed to talk to some one. Whether he wanted to or not. He seemed so lost in his own thoughts; it was almost depressing to watch his look of complete confusion. The thought of contemplation was clearly seen plaguing his mind through his silent face.

One could only wonder what he was thinking about, but Sora wasn't just anyone. He knew Riku better than any one. The fact that he hadn't let the princess girl out of his sight for a minute since finding her also gave away a pretty large hint.

"Riku…" Sora questioned, now slightly prodding Riku's shoulder to get Riku to look at him.

"Oh. What is it Sora?" Riku said almost abruptly. He went to try to push the platinum hair astray from his eyes, to try to make himself look more in composure than he really was.

"Riku, I just want to know if you're alright." Sora stated softly, the rest of group by the computers drowning the murmur between the two. It was better that way.

Riku merely shrugged.

"I'm fine." He answered.

Sora could detect the hesitance in his voice. Riku wasn't really one to go right out and admit a personal hindrance of any kind. He wouldn't just let you see his weak points. Sora decided if he wanted to really find out what was on Riku's mind, he'd have to make the topic Riku's current focus.

He glanced over at the dark sleeping girl. "I think she's gonna be okay." He said reassuringly, indicating towards Rhiara.

"What I want to know is why." Riku stated, still staring intently at her.

"Well, the King's going to clear that up I'm sure." Sora put in. "I mean…he has to know something."

Riku looked up from Rhiara and straight at Sora, with questioning eyes.

"But does he know enough? Or even more specifically, can he answer what I need to know?"

Sora looked at Rhiara, then Riku carefully. The ability to sense Light and Dark he had received from being the Key bearer perked. Right now he got an undeniable, yet vague sense of connection between the princess and Riku. What was more; he could almost feel as if her dark energy ran in a pattern compatible to his.

"Seriously Riku, what's on your mind?" Sora asked again. "It's got to be her."

Riku gave Sora an odd look, like he was surprised. Sora merely smiled.

"Come on Riku, I know more than you think I do. I can sense the connection. What's going on with you?"

Riku shook his head in doubt. "You're going to think I'm crazy…"

Sora almost laughed a little. "I'd think you'd give me a little more credit man. After all of the crazy stuff we've faced until now, nothing is impossible."

Riku sighed again and looked directly at Sora.

"I think I've seen her before. This is the short version. Remember right when the door had closed the first time, and I had told you to take care of Kairi?"

Sora nodded. "How could I forget? It took us forever to find you again."

"Well, right before the door closed, I think I saw something. I saw some one. And what I saw was a girl who had looked a lot like this one does now." Riku said intensely, obviously reaching a climax of intrigue in his story.

Sora stared bewildered. "Seriously? Why do you think you would have seen her?"

Riku ran a hand through his hair in thought. "I don't know, that's the weird part. But the girl I had seen had been running to the door. Calling out my name and crying. It was crazy. I thought it might have just been a hallucination on my senses before being pulled in the darkness…but now…seeing her…"

Riku shook his head, unable to explain further to Sora. He didn't know if Sora could truly understand what he was feeling right now. The past 24 hours had been full events that seemed incredibly impossible for him to comprehend. It was almost overwhelming.

Meanwhile, Sora was just nodding, looking off blankly as if thinking to himself in agreement.

" I know what you're feeling. That strange feeling, that you're not supposed to know who she is but…something is saying you definitely know her some how."

Sora then met his gaze straight to Riku and kept agreeing. "I get it Riku. It's really weird. I can get what you're saying. I had the same confusion with what Rhiara said. About her sister. The one I'm some how supposed to know."

Riku looked back down at Rhiara concerned, remembering the girls shocking episode. Her face had looked so strange, like she was trapped in some kind of daze. And she had been so worried and panicked, surely that panic couldn't be false…but…still…

Sora rested his head in his hand and sighed, he looked off across the room to the group, straight to gaze at Kairi. She was smiling and telling something animated to Aerith, Felicity, and Yuffie. She seemed so care free. As if absolutely nothing had been bothering her just a short time ago.

Sora breathed out defeated, seeming to finally be taken over by the day's confusion.

"I remember the look on Kairi's face. I don't think she knew that I saw, but it was confused. Hurt almost. Like I might have tried to keep something from her on purpose."

"We're all confused right now Sora," Riku reassured.

Rhiara shifted her head slightly to the right suddenly, and seemed to shiver again. Riku instinctively seemed to brush away the lock of hair from her face, and prepared to say something softly to her again. But then she began to murmur on her own.

"Is she saying something?" Sora exclaimed, watching her intently.

Riku nodded and shushed Sora. They both bent into listen, hoping whatever she might say in a subconscious state would give away something.

"She knows…" Rhiara whispered faintly. Her voice was so small the two could barely make out anything.

"She knows…how…can…she know…" she continued to breathe faintly.

"Who knows Rhiara?" Riku questioned softly in Rhiara's ear.

"…I'm there…" Rhiara finished her statement, not giving an answer to Riku's question.

"I don't think we can get much from her right now Riku," Sora said, noticing that whatever Riku might ask her would go unanswered.

Riku agreed, but in a disappointed manner. He had hoped that whatever he had been saying would get through to her and eventually help them figure out why she was continuously blacking out.

"She must be too into her dream. Man, this is so confusing. " He merely sighed, giving his bangs a final exasperated toss.

"Sora," he questioned his best friend. "How is it that we're always getting ourselves into situations like these?"

Sora merely laughed a little and shook his head. "I really don't know Riku. I guess when you have one of these," he pointed to the Keyblade Rhiara still hugged to her chest. "The trouble come in droves."

"Guess we're stuck with it," Riku said, with almost a smile on his face as he looked at Rhiara. Indicating that he didn't really mind at all.

Just then the door of Merlin's cottage was opened again, and in came a figure in a black robe. He spoke in a somewhat high, but commanding voice that still contained a friendly aura.

"Hey everyone! Sorry it took me a while to get here, but the trouble just seems to keep comin my way."

He lifted his hood and everyone in the room went to greet him. The pondering of Rhiara seemed as if it might come to an end. Their questions would soon be answered.

Because the King was here.

Oh my sweet lord…I updated something. I really have nothing to say other than I'm really sorry! Everything got deleted guys!

I want to punch my computer! I have to write the next big explanation scene all over again!

*sob

I'm sooo sick of this!

Oh!

On a light note the new KH story I had been talking about is already beginning to be published and underway. Check it out. You guys will probably love it more than this one^^

-Tasia