Part 1 (Revised & Reposted)
A Kingdom Hearts Fanfic
By Meruhesae
Pairings: Riku x Sora
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Warnings: Yaoi, shounen-ai, AU-ish, lime/lemon in later parts, Sora being an angst bitch. Well, at first anyway. ^_~
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Squaresoft, Disney, Sony, Tetsuya Nomura, the guys in the animation department that do the really cool CG effects, and a partridge in a pear tree.
NOTES: If you are reading this on FF.net: I once had this fic posted under a different name several months ago, but it got deleted, which still confuses me to this day since there was absolutely NO basis for it being taken off. You can thank Uzumaki-sama and her constant nagging for convincing me to post here again, otherwise this fic may have vanished off the face of the earth. ^^; Anyway, I am revising the first five parts that I had written, starting with this one, and I will be reposting them about a week apart. That will give me time to work on part 6, which needs some serious work and fine-tuning. But if you read and reviewed this fic before, PLEASE do so again, as I am very grateful to everyone who read and liked this story.
Now, I said this before, and I'll say it again now: When I get lemon chapters up I will post links to them here. I will not be posting ANY content above the rating of R here at FF.net. Okay? Okay.
Other noteworthy things: this picks up immediately after Sora & Co. escape from Monstro, and from that point on the timeline becomes completely AU. More Square/FF characters appear. That's all I can say without spoiling things. ^^;
Thanks go to Lost Angel for beta-ing, and to Uzumaki-sama for helping me revise and for convincing me to repost. ^_^
I think that's it. Happy reading!
=||=
"Riku! Riku, where are you!?"
Sora panicked as everything around him shook violently, with absolutely no trace of his friend anywhere.
"No... RIKUUUUUUUU!!!!"
The next few minutes went by in a blur... he barely noticed someone grabbing him and pulling him back, hardly realized that he was now back on the Gummi Ship with his companions.
"I sure hope Geppetto and Pinocchio are okay," Goofy said.
"Yeah, hopefully they landed safely somewhere," Donald added.
Sora was oblivious to their conversation, as the events of what just happened played over and over in his mind.
Do you even want to save Kairi?
How could Riku say such a thing? Why was his friend so mad at him anyway? He hadn't done anything wrong... or had he?
You only seem interested in running around and showing off that Keyblade these days.
"Riku..."
Goofy and Donald turned their attention to him when they heard him mutter his friend's name sadly.
"Aw, Sora... I'm sure Riku's okay," Goofy told him, trying to offer some comfort to the distraught boy.
"Riku. Why... why is he mad at me?"
"Bah, who needs him!? All he did was get in our way!" Donald fumed.
"Cheer up, Sora. I'm sure things'll work out," Goofy said, putting a hand on Sora's shoulder.
"Thanks," Sora said, although he didn't feel very reassured. How had Riku followed them all the way inside of Monstro? Had he really found Kairi? And more importantly, what had Sora done to suddenly make his friend turn against him like this?
He'd lost Riku again, and they'd only just found each other. To his surprise, that hurt much more than the possibility of losing Kairi. If he lost Riku... gods, Sora didn't know what he would do. He'd known Riku since he was in diapers, and the older boy knew him better than Kairi did on many levels. Not only that, but... he needed Riku. Riku was his role model, his hero, and his reason for wanting to be a stronger person. What would he do, if the person he looked up to more than anything hated him?
=||=
Sora was in no better shape by the time they got back to town. He was exhausted, and couldn't get his confrontation with Riku out of his mind.
Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience.
A conscience?
You might not hear it, but right now it's loud and clear. And it's telling me you're on the wrong side!
They had said some really harsh things to each other; they'd had fights before but never like this. This was far more serious. Had the enemy really gotten to Riku? Could Maleficent have convinced him to join her somehow? It would explain why he had been able to follow them so easily. But Sora didn't want to believe it, didn't want to think Riku would do such a thing.
"You look really tired, Sora. Maybe you should go and get some rest, huh?" Goofy said, patting his shoulder.
"Hey, guys!"
They saw Yuffie waving at them from the front of the accessory shop, Leon and Aerith standing with her.
"Whoa, Sora. You sure look down. What happened?" she asked.
Sora just shook his head, not really wanting to talk about it. It wasn't like anybody could help or do anything about it.
"Sora just needs rest, and he'll be back to his old self again!" Goofy said, patting Sora on his back.
"C'mon, we'll walk you guys to the hotel," Yuffie said. "You all do look pretty worn out. This mission sure must be eating up all your energy. But still, I wish I could go with you guys too, seeing other worlds! I'll bet it's pretty exciting, huh?"
Sora froze; two words in Yuffie's seemingly innocent statement making him go pale.
Other worlds.
Oh, gods.
Oh, GODS! That was it; that had to be it. How could he be so stupid!?
Before this whole mess had happened, he had been getting ready to go off with Riku and Kairi on their own adventure. And now, here he was doing his own thing with a new set of friends, and leaving Riku behind.
Sora was so happy he'd found Riku. Now that they were together, they'd find Kairi for sure. "You're coming with us, right?"
Donald's protest interrupted the happy moment.
"No! He can't come! Forget it!"
"Aw, come on! He's my friend!"
And suddenly, Riku was gone.
At the memory, Sora felt his heart shatter in his chest. Why didn't he see it before?
Why didn't he realize?
He should have fought harder to make them accept Riku, he should have thought more about the other boy's feelings. Now Riku hated him, and Sora had no one to blame but himself. His own actions made him feel sick, in his heart and in his mind.
All my fault. It's... all my... fault. Riku... I'm so sorry.
And that was his last thought as his world went dark.
=||=
Everyone turned around when they heard a distinct thud behind them.
"Sora!" they cried, hurrying over to his collapsed form.
Leon turned him on his back, and seeing that the boy's cheeks were tinted bright red, the older man placed a hand to his forehead.
"He's burning up. We have to get him medical attention," Leon said, picking up Sora's unconscious form in his arms.
"Is he going to be okay?" Yuffie asked, her voice filled with concern.
"I don't know. Aerith, go find Merlin and bring him to the hotel. He's the closest thing to a doctor we've got here."
"All right," Aerith agreed, not needing to be told twice.
"I'll go too," Yuffie offered, following Aerith as the others hurried to get Sora to the hotel and into a bed.
=||=
After Yuffie and Aerith brought Merlin to the hotel, everyone stayed in the hallway, waiting for news on Sora. Goofy and Donald were pacing back and forth worriedly, while Cid tried to reassure Yuffie that Sora would be fine.
After a few moments, Merlin emerged from the Green Room, a somewhat grim look on his face.
"How is he?" Cid asked.
The wizard sighed. "He is completely exhausted, both mentally and physically. The stress of this quest seems to have taken quite a toll on him. I gave him something for his fever but his body did not seem to respond to it. I have to suggest a week's worth of bed rest so he can recuperate properly."
"A week!?" Donald blurted out.
"Yes, I am afraid so. I strongly believe that he was close to having a nervous breakdown; you don't want to take any chances with him. All you can do is take turns tending to him until his fever breaks and make sure he eats and gets the rest he needs."
"We'll take good care of him, don't worry!" Yuffie said determinedly.
"Try to keep him as cool as possible, and try to make him eat broth at the very least. He won't have much of an appetite for a while, but he needs to get nourishment somehow," Merlin added.
It was decided that Aerith and Yuffie would take the evening shift to look after Sora, Donald and Goofy would take over in the morning and Leon and Cid in the afternoon.
However, despite their vigorous efforts, Sora's condition seemed to worsen. He slept constantly, and he wouldn't eat anything they brought him whenever he was aware enough to do so. And the most frightening thing, no matter how much fever medicine they gave him, it didn't seem to make a difference.
Come on, Sora. Pull through. You have to. Leon thought, putting a new wet washcloth on the boy's forehead, hearing him utter one single word in his fevered sleep.
"Riku..."
=||=
"You went about it all wrong."
The dark-clad figure turned to look at him, giving a slight glare at the person who dared to question her carefully schemed plan.
"Is that so? It seems to be working fine so far. The boy is on our side now, is he not?"
"Yes, but this is a second failure at an attempt to gain the Keyblade, Maleficent. Tell me, how many more of your brilliant ideas must we hear before we finally acquire it? You made a mistake when you tried to turn him against the boy. That might work under normal circumstances, but their situation is... different."
"And how would you know?"
"I make things my business to know. Cleverness does not always mean craftiness. And besides, if the boy was able to defeat Jafar, who's to say he can't beat any of the others? If that happens you will lose your allies one by one."
"Very well then," the cool voice said. "If you're so intelligent... what do you suggest we do?"
The pale man merely smirked in reply.
=||=
"Why do you still care about that boy? He has all but deserted you for the Keyblade and his new companions, after all."
"I don't care about him. I was just messing with him a little."
At least, that's what he kept trying to tell himself. Not even Maleficent seemed to believe him, and he knew he really didn't believe it either.
Gods, seeing that look on Sora's face had torn him apart. That look of hurt and pain... Riku had never felt so low in his life. He had only wanted to make Sora feel bad for leaving him, make him feel what he was feeling. He'd made his point; he'd bested Sora yet again. He was supposed to be happy, right?
But if he was supposed to be happy, why did he feel so... empty?
Riku knew why. It was because deep down, he knew how much he truly loved Sora, even now after all that had happened. But at the same time... Riku felt hurt at Sora's refusal to join him. That had stung, more than anything. Now the damage had been done, and it was probably too late.
Tears began to pool over Riku's eyes, despite the fight he put up to hold them back. He closed his eyes tight as he gave in to weakness and let the warm tears spill down his cheeks. "Sora. I'm sorry. But I've come too far. I can't turn back now."
A knock on his door made Riku straighten up and wipe his face.
"Come in," he said, but scowled when he saw whom the visitor was. "What the hell do you want?"
"Tsk, tsk, Riku dear, is that any way to speak to one of your comrades?"
"I never said you people were anything of the sort. Just because I'm working with you doesn't mean I have to care about you, or like you," Riku snapped. Then with a glare, he added, "And if you call me 'dear' again, I'll kill you."
"Well, you're a touchy one, aren't you?" the man said, amused.
"Is there a reason you came here? State whatever business you have or leave me the hell alone," Riku said, getting more annoyed by the second.
"Fine, I'll get to the point. Maleficent was wrong."
Riku frowned. "Wrong? About what?"
"About Sora abandoning you. He did no such thing."
"I... I don't understand. But... what do you know? You weren't there when..." Riku thought back to when Sora had turned him away while they were inside that big whale. Great gods, that had hurt, too much.
"Listen. It's not the boy's fault the Keyblade chose him. And as I recall, he did want to include you in his journey, did he not?"
Riku only nodded.
"Tell me, who was it that kept that from happening?"
Riku thought, then glared at the thought of Sora's new so-called friends. "Them..."
"Exactly. He wanted so badly for you to come along, but they vehemently refused to allow it. Why do you think that was? They're using him, Riku. They took him from you and now they are poisoning his mind. He will be lost to you unless you do something."
Riku glared. "What do you care, anyway?"
A smile. "Because I like you, Riku. You're quite an interesting boy. You are a lot like myself."
"Don't flatter yourself," Riku spat.
"Fine, don't listen to me. But I just thought you'd like to know... I just came from Traverse Town, and your friend is certainly taking all of this very hard."
Riku's expression changed to one of alarm. "What do you mean?"
"He's feeling hurt, angry, confused, lonely... and he's blaming himself and wallowing in self-pity. Those hooligans he's hanging around aren't making it any better for him, I think. It's pathetic, really. And now because of all that's happened, he's become ill. I understand that he collapsed from exhaustion and hasn't been able to eat anything. He's also got a fever and he's not responding to medications."
He could see Riku clench his fists, as if fighting the emotions inside him.
"Don't bother acting like you don't care, because it's apparent that you do. In fact, I would say that you more than care about that boy, don't you?"
"I don't know what you mean," Riku ground out through clenched teeth.
Laughter. "Oh, please. You may have Maleficent and the others fooled but I'm not as dumb as you think I am. It's plain as day that you're in love, or at least in lust, with that bothersome kid. Not that I blame you. He really is a doll, isn't he? If I were in your shoes I would have jumped him long ago."
"Don't talk that way about him," Riku growled.
"Hit a nerve, I see," the man drawled with a smirk.
"Shut up. Anyway... it's too late now. Sora, he might not forgive me..."
"I think you're wrong about that. But the point is, those people took him from you, and now they have caused him to become sick. He's not going to recover if you don't do something."
"Sora..."
Riku's entire being ached at the thought of Sora being sick. In their younger days, it seemed that he was immune to everything under the sun, but when he did get sick it was never a pretty sight. Sora always hated being bedridden and unable to do anything, for sickness meant weakness and Sora never wanted to be seen as weak. If Sora really were sick, he'd take care of him... especially if those two idiots were the cause of it.
On the other hand, he wasn't exactly sure he could trust this guy. There had to be something, some ulterior motive behind all this.
"Tell me the real reason why you want to help Sora. What's in it for you? I'm not going to listen to a damned word you say until you tell me," Riku demanded.
"Oh, fine. Have it your way." He sat down and made himself comfortable on one of the large chairs, lightly tossing his pale hair over his shoulder. "Sora's Keyblade has the ability to seal Keyholes. I want him to seal the Keyhole in my world."
Riku stared at him in confusion. "I don't get it. You're allied with Maleficent, aren't you? You can control the Heartless, and wreak all the havoc you want in your world. That's why everyone else is here, right? Why do you want to keep the Heartless out of your world? Why are you even here?"
"I can't tell you everything, but there are reasons why I need to keep them out. We already have enough monsters roaming about as it is... the Heartless along with those monsters is more than even I feel like dealing with. They're only making my job harder."
"Your job? What exactly is your job?"
The man merely threw him another one of his trademark smirks, a look that was quite frankly starting to annoy Riku. "I told you, I can't tell you everything. I'll admit, the Heartless were drawn to my world because of things I started, and while I do so enjoy creating havoc, the Heartless are just getting in the way. I am here because Maleficent recognizes my power, and I thought I would join her, if only for a short while, to at least find a way to keep the Heartless out of my world. But I can't do that if the Keyblade Master dies from illness, can I?"
Riku closed his eyes as his body tensed. "Okay, you've made your point."
"Good, it's settled then," the man said, smiling.
"Wait. You forget that there are a few problems with me getting Sora back. First, getting him away from those two won't be easy. I'm sure they're watching over him like a hawk, and once he's gone they'll more than likely go to every world they can looking for him. Not only that, but what about Maleficent? Once she's realized we've gone behind her back, she'll find us and try to punish us."
"Don't worry about Maleficent. I came to an understanding with her. I just convinced her that I have a remarkable plan for getting the Keyblade Master out of her way... and that you were a part of my plan. So she won't come looking for us, at least not for a while. My palace is buried underground, it's near impossible for even the natives of my world to find, so if we keep Sora there it's not likely that those two will find him. As for getting him out of there... we'll need to create some kind of diversion to distract everyone."
"I sure hope you have something in mind," Riku said.
That smug smile widened. "Not to worry, my friend. I have just the distraction you're looking for."
=||=
It had been two days. Two days since Sora had collapsed, and still there was no change in his condition. By now everyone was really worried. Sora could die at this rate, and they had no idea why his fever wouldn't lessen.
Right now, Cid and Leon were looking after him, as Donald and Goofy looked on with concern.
"Goofy, we've gotta figure something out. If Sora doesn't get better..." Donald said.
"I know. But... gawrsh, what can we do? He misses Riku a lot, Donald, a whole lot. Maybe... maybe we should find a way to track him down and bring him here?"
"What!? No way! Why should we, after he endangered all of us in Monstro!?"
"But Donald..."
Suddenly, Yuffie burst into the room, looking frantic.
"You guys! There's something outside! You all have to see this!"
"Calm down, Yuffie. What's going on?" Leon asked.
"Just come outside, all of you!"
They all hurried out of the hotel, and Yuffie pointed upwards.
"Look!"
Gasps and horrified murmurs were heard as they observed what looked like a gigantic eyeball in the sky.
"Wh-wh-wh-what is that!?!" Donald cried.
"It's a ship," Cid said, never taking his eyes off the sky. "And I don't think it's here for a friendly visit."
END PART 1.
Anyone that guesses who the Mystery Man is gets Virtual Pocky! Unless you already read this fic the first time I posted it and already know who he is. ^^; I'll be posting the revised version of part 2 in about a week or so, give or take a day. In the meantime, read, review, and be merry!