beginning note:
Ahoy there, maties! This be a new story! Okay, enough with the pirate talk. Ahem. This is a new, long, mult-chaptered story I decided to write! The first chapter may seem a bit confusing, but all the blotchy parts will be filled in, as they always are. Bear with the errors. I tried to sift through all of the words, on the search for errors. I'm pretty sure I got most of them. Anyhow, i really love this new story and the plot, so hopefully you will as well. The whole story is a new type for me, as you will see in the near future.

warnings; stuff that m-rated fanfics usually have. sexual content, language, and the works. be warned.
pairings; main (riku x sora) sides; akusora , others along the way. hush hush.
finished fanfiction: may 16, 2008

ending note:
(over all, after having finished heavenly, I find that the experience was well worth it. not only is the story about angels and life and second chances, but it also taught me a lot about not only writing, but life in general. it also taught me many things about myself that i wasn't aware of--my personal beliefs and whatnot. i hope this story tickles your fancy and is half as much fun to read as it was to write. there's many twists in store for you readers, so be warned. they may be obvious to some, but they are truly what give the story it's meaning and purpose. have fun)

Heavenly

People always seemed to be enthralled by the concept of after-life. Debates often spurred on the matter of whether heaven or hell existed. Ghost, angels, and demons were also shoved into that heated argument. Did such things exist? Surely they did, for how could these things become so wide-spread if they were not real? Religion had to have its true parts as well. One person could not have concocted a belief /that/ religious. Regardless, life always puzzled humans, young and old alike. For one to say they understood the entirety of life, death, and the in-between would give evidence that that person must be on an ego-trip the size of South America and Europe combined.

Sora Kayaki often wondered what it'd be like to die. Did your mind shut off automatically? Were you unable to think anymore? Did you enter an endless dream? Did you become reborn with no memories of your prior life? Or did you become a ghost and haunt the living? Perhaps you became an angel. Life just couldn't /end/ with death. It just could not.

And at the age of thirteen, Sora found his answer.

Sora did not like remembering the gruesome details of his death. Nor did he like remembering the people who had been involved. The very thought of these memories made Sora's stomach churn. Such events should be forgotten and never thought upon again.

So where did this leave young Sora Kayaki now that he had died?

In heaven, of course.

A year had passed in the heavenly land—pun intended. Despite contrary belief, heaven was not composed of clouds, singing choirs, and halos. Heaven was like your ordinary place. Except it felt like you were in a colossal building and you could occasionally peer out the windows of the building, down at the world below. Within this 'building' were /other/ buildings that served as homes. Heaven was not what Sora had expected. Not one ounce.

During his first year, Sora had lived with his cousin, who had died one year prior. Cloud was the cousin's name. The pair of relatives would often discuss the finer points in their deceased lives. Cloud had been, regretfully, preparing Sora for the most difficult task in his entire after-life. Sora had to deem himself worthy of remaining the non-existent pearly gates (which really was just a crowded doorway—nothing all too grand).

And that left the now 'fourteen' year old brunet boy standing before one of the head honchos up here in heaven. The tall man had gritty hair and piercing green eyes that he hid behind tick-rimmed glasses. The man appeared to be more of a spy than an angel in appearance.

"You do know why you're here, correct?" asked the curt man who was currently sitting behind an expansive desk that, at the front, bore his name in pretty gold letters. Heaven seemed more like an office-building than paradise.

"Cloud told me the basics," Sora answered restlessly, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Hah, another belief thwarted. Angels were not all adorned in silky white dresses, as demonstrated by Sora's t-shirt and the man's suit. Fashion was big wherever you were.

"Great. That saves me a good hour," said the stout man as he began fiddling with a letter opener that had been resting upon his desk. "So you are aware that you must return to Earth for a month and fufill your heavnly duties? You know, a kind of guardian angel type deal? You know, keeping a simple-mind from making reckless decisions and or committing sins that'll have them end up in the incinerator."

Common Heaven term for hell—the incinerator. How blunt.

"Yes sir," Sora said quietly, his blue eyes staring reluctantly at the glasses-wearing man. "Cloud told me all about the process."

"Good." The man ran his fingers along the sharp edge of the opener. "How young were you when you died? And how long ago was it?" His eyes lifted from the dangerous, shiny metal object that was in his clutches.

"I died in 1999, sir. That was…what? A year ago. Yeah, a year ago. I was thirteen when I died, but I just turned fourteen a month ago," Sora explained rather calmly for a person who was speaking of their own death.

"1999, huh?" The black-haired man tapped the bridge of his nose. "Sucks that you didn't get to live until the new century. Oh well," he drawled. "Hate to break it to you, kid, but year's 2007. December first, to be exact. So you're, I'd say…twenty one now?"

Sora's jaw dropped as he stumbled into a vacant chair, at once gripping tightly onto the armrest. "But!! It's only been a year!" the brunet attempted to refute.

"Time here passes slower," said the dark haired man. "It's 2007. December. You are twenty-one. It'd do you good to remember that when you head back down. I really don't feel like repeating myself for the third time."

"S-sir," Sora attempted. "What happens if I don't succeed?" A nervous gulp.

"Mostly everyone does," said the lanky man, his eye twinkling furtively behind his glasses. "Don't think about the what ifs, kid. Just think positive and focus on your task, that's all you need to do to succeed."

Sora gulped down a large lump of nerves. "Do I at least get to know the name of the person I'm going to be stuck following around for an entire month?"

The man smirked and proceeded to pull out a file from his desk, appearing rather amused. The angel then gestured for Sora to get up off his seat and come over to take a peek. "This is basically like work, kid. Even angel's have jobs, you know." The man chuckled at his own wit, but handed Sora the file regardless. "From this day forward you will be this man's person stalker," pause, "congrats."

All that was given was a name, address, phone number, age, and places recently visited by this man. Oh yeah, and there was a photo as well. Sora froze and then proceeded to turn a off-shade of white. "M-may I have a different person?" Sora stuttered uncomfortably.

The man arched an eyebrow. "Why?"

"N-no reason," Sora lied, his grip on the file that had been handed to him tightening by the second.

The man sighed. "Sorry, kid. This guy is yours and yours only. These files choose the angels, I swear. One day I come into work and a file is on my desk. And on that file is an angel's name. It's like a twisted destiny, don't you think? Anyhow, this is your guy. Let's just move onto the rules and regulations seeing I am sensing a migraine coming on. All right. One, you may not tell, or imply to this man that you are an angel, not like he'd believe you or anything. We don't need an uproar on Earth. Second, you are not allowed to visit relatives or friends. They've coped with your death. Don't disrupt them. Third, you are /not/ allowed to have sex with anyone, you hear me? I don't know what it is about you angels, but the minute you return to earth you feel this intensive need to drop your pants. Don't. If a human has sex with an angel, they'll die. It's just the way it is, kid. If you feel like murdering someone, go right ahead. I won't stop ya."

Sora swallowed thickly and blinked cautiously.

"And I know what you're thinking. The big, bad angel didn't say anything about bjs and hjs," the man mocked a giggle before returning to glaring, "if you do either of those, kid, you'll be risking your afterlife as an angel and the human's life as well. Remember that well."

Sora nodded once again, smiling uneasily at the other angel.

"Or another note, I'd like to tell you that you are going to be faced with many hardships in the future. Hell, I'll doubt that you'll even want to come back here after you've been back on Earth for awhile. That's why you shouldn't allow yourself to become attached to anyone while you're done there."

"All right," Sora whispered uncertainly. "I'll try my best." Sora was in no hurry to return to Earth and be reunited with his…well…

A moment of silence before Sora chose to speak once more. "Sir… what if he," Sora motioned to the picture, "already knows me. Or he knew me, more like it… I know it was eight years ago but…"

"Lie and say it wasn't you." Simple.

"B-but I'm /pretty/ sure he'll…"

"Lie."

Sora sighed miserably and nodded. "Okay," he said despondently, loosely holding onto the paper that had been given to him regarding his 'man'. "When do I leave?"

"Now."

And before Sora even had time to respond, he completely blacked out.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

The first thing Sora remembered about New York City was that it was /always/ colder there than anywhere else on the East Coast. It was just a matter of fact. Or at least it felt colder there. When the wind blew, it swept through the city, between cracks and crevices made by the towering buildings that reached up into the heavens. The wind tended to beat against the sensitive skins of the tourists that wandered through the colossal city. On a single day the temperature could range from zero degrees to twenty, depending on wind chill. He did /not/ miss the cold. Sora was more of a summer person, honestly. Heat was better than no heat, Sora reminded himself.

The thing was, Sora didn't know exactly where he was in New York City at this moment. He could be anywhere, practically. Thirtieth street. Sixtieth street. Anywhere. Sighing, Sora hugged his arms tightly to his skinny body. That was when the brunet noticed several substantial differences. He was no longer in the body of a thirteen year old boy, but a twenty-one year old young adult. The brunet had grown a good six inches—he was no a respectable five foot seven. If Sora had had a mirror on hand he would have noticed the loss of chubby baby fat that he used to sport. Sure, he still had an abundant amount of childish charm, but he had acquired a dash of handsome.

Sora was now adorned in a thick, black wind-breaker. The right pocket seemed to bulge out. Sora glanced curiously at the pocket before cautiously shuffling his hand into his jacket. Seconds later, the brunet's hand emerged with a leather-bound wallet.

"A wallet, huh?" Sora murmured and flipped it open.

Its contents consisted of a license (That bore his name, a 'new picture' and his information. Heaven was sure thorough when it came to these things. They didn't take any chances…) Other than the license was a bronze house key (33B-. And behind that key was a slip of paper that gave the location of the brunet's new apartment. Sly. Heaven was very sly. So did that make Sora sly as well? He begged to differ.

Also, stashed away in that wallet was a credit card and a note. Questioningly, Sora opened it.

We have provided you with a card and license that will get you by this month. You'll probably find your stalkee at 'D's Bar' down on63rd street. Either walk or take a taxi. Good luck, kid/.

Sora sighed as he crumpled the note and tossed it over his shoulder. And we all knew who wrote that note… "Figures that he'd be an alcoholic," Sora murmured as he began his quiet trudge up countless blocks. Once he had reached the end of the current street he had been on, Sora recognized where he was and just followed the street numbers up in sequential order. It was elementary. It wouldn't take that long. Besides, Sora missed simple things such as walking.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

It took barely under a half an hour to reach D's bar in respectable time. Sora had momentarily stopped to gander at the Rockefeller Tree (it was lovely to be able to see the magnificent tree once more. It seemed so much larger than Sora had remembered when he was younger…so many things he had missed being up in heaven…).

So here he was. Outside of a bar. For the first time ever. He still felt like a fourteen year old but apparently he was a twenty-one year old now. Now all Sora was waiting for was for his mind to catch up with his body in terms of aging. Oh yeah. He was also waiting to build up enough nerves to enter the bar. He was /legal/ now. It shouldn't be that big of a deal. Oh, but it was.

"Here goes nothing," Sora murmured as he pushed open the door, leaving the windy city outside, along with his trepidation.

At once Sora's senses were engulfed in alcohol and warmth. A toxic mixture, certainly. Alcohol. How familiar the smell.

Sora's blue gaze finally locked onto its target. Nestled amongst a few crowded tables, in the back, was a bar counter, and at that counter was /just/ the man he was looking for. Sora's throat tightened at once as he stood there, suddenly feeling a bit queasy. Why had he agreed to this again? After a moment of tough deliberation, Sora unceremoniously marched up and over to the counter. Quietly, the brunet sat down a few stools down from his target, observing him from afar, for now.

The 'target' sat at the bar, baring a smug grin. The man's silver hair fell down to his shoulders and cascaded gracefully onto the very top of his collar. Sharp and seemingly pensive, aquamarine eyes remained locked with several empty shot-glasses. The man was wearing the typical jacket and dark black jeans, along with the occasional chain. Nothing too thought-provoking or label worthy.

"One more round," urged the redhead beside the silver haired male.

The bartender turned to the pair of men, shooting them both a scowl. Her hands flew to her hips at once. "If you both drink anymore you'll be at risk for bloody alcohol poisoning," she seethed warningly, though a bit of affection was in her tone.

"Who needs health?" remarked the silveret who had begun to beat his eyelashes at the woman. A tapping of his fingers soon followed in beat with his fluttering.

"You both have already wasted my entire stock of Smirnoff, I'd like you to know. I'm down to /this/ much on the last bottle!" she complained, sending both men a menacing look. "That's just not /healthy/!"

Sora tensed, his mind becoming a tad bit fuzzy. /So much…alcohol…I…/ "Stop haggling the lady, would you? I'm taking the last of that bottle, thank you," Sora found himself saying, Those were not his own words, however, and he had not spoken on his own free will. /I don't need help!/ Sora shouted angrily in his mind. Heaven. Pft.

The red-haired man rolled his eyes curtly. "Whatever. I'm out of here. If we're not having any more drinks I'm not staying. Call me later," he said to the silveret as he arose to his feet, sending the other a devious smile. "Remember. Behave yourself."

The silver haired male sighed, nodded, and saluted the red-head off as Sora was carded by the bartender and then given his drink at last. /Some thing's don't change../ Sora thought dryly as he took a long swig from the glass. That was when Sora became aware of two, frantic aquamarine eyes set upon him. Sora lowered his glass from his lips and chanced a look over at the silveret, only to find him staring rudely at him.

"Either I'm entirely knocked off my ass or you're…" The silveret rubbed his forehead repeatedly. "I thought I was /done/ with you." Was that fear in the silver haired man's voice?

Sora cleared his throat. "I've never met you before, sorry." Lie, lie, lie. He was going to be doing a lot of that in the near future. Better get used to it now.

"Right," answered the other man. "Of course you aren't him. Sorry." The man grumbled something else and began tracing the edge of his empty glass, appearing honestly perturbed all of a sudden.

"Come here a lot?" Sora asked in as casual as a voice he could muster up at that moment. Lying was one thing but having a full conversation? This was not what Sora was expecting. Expect the unexpected, he supposed.

The man turned his gaze back to the brunet and rolled his shoulders into a shrug. "I suppose I do. I've never seen you here before. Tourist?" asked the silveret with a cocked, thin eyebrow.

"Nah. I just don't come here often," Sora explained as he tapped his fingers upon the bar counter. Yes, the conversation was very awkward, yet at the same time it seemed casual. The contradiction bothered Sora and he figured it was only awkward to him because of reasons he didn't feel like remembering.

Riku nodded, showing that he understood what the other young adult had said. "I'd like to say the same but hey, I like my alcohol." The silveret offered a devious smirk at Sora and then glanced back down at the empty shot-glass almost thoughtfully. "The name's Riku, by the way."

Sora stiffened but managed to hide the action very well as he took another sip of his drink. The taste was becoming all too familiar. The brunet was about to offer his name as well, but quickly caught himself and instead supplied, "Roxas. My name's Roxas."

When Sora had been little, his cousin—Cloud—had often called Sora by that nickname. The blond was the only person to have ever called Sora by it, so Sora figured Riku wouldn't be able to recognize the name. Why Cloud had ever settled upon that name…Sora never knew. And he never bothered asking, either. Not even when he had lived with Cloud in heaven had he thought to ask. Oh well.

"Cool," Riku answered simply, running his dexterous fingers along the rim. "If you don't come here often, then why's tonight special? What's the occasion?" Riku wondered curiously, turning his sea green eyes over to Sora expectantly.

"Celebrating," Sora said, saying the first thing to come to mind. To hide his unease, Sora took a third sip from his glass, hoping it would somehow distract Riku.

"Celebrating what? If you don't mind me asking," Riku said rather suavely, his intense gaze remaining centered upon the brunet male beside him. Riku's gaze never faltered—Sora was surprised by that. Riku had…changed, in some aspects, Sora concluded mentally.

"Twenty first birthday," Sora replied, remembering that the birth date on the license had said the first of December. And that was today. Sneaky, yes. However, Sora's real birthday had been the second of November, meaning he would have already been twenty-one for an entire month—but heaven probably assumed anyone that had known Sora would pick up on the alike birth date. Yes, they were thorough.

Riku blinked in surprise then hoisted his empty glass into the air towards Sora. "Congratulations then. First time legally drinking." A beautiful smirk played onto Riku's lips as he tapped Sora's half full glass with his own, making a small ringing noise sound. And for some reason, Sora liked that sound.

"Yeah," Sora murmured in response to Riku's question, the words hitting far too close to home.

"So, Roxas, why would a man such as yourself come here alone?" Riku asked, leaning his elbows up onto the counter. Those aquamarine eyes turned to Sora, glittering furtively.

"All my other friends are studying for midterms," Sora lied.

"Bummer," Riku retorted with a mock frown. "Well, it's not good to drink alone. I figure you already know that, but yeah." The silveret offered another brilliant grin and then turned to his empty glasses. "I'd drink with you but Tifa cut off my supply for the night."

Sora chuckled under his breath. "That sucks."

"It does," Riku agreed, sadly poking the empty glass. "I'm not even fully drunk yet. I swear I've built up a tolerance for this crap," he complained, shaking his head. "Sometimes I wish I was able to get drink quickly. It'd be a hell lot more fun then sitting around, waiting for the alcohol to kick in…if ever."

Sora nodded. "Perhaps you should try something stronger?" he suggested.

"Tried," Riku said with a dejected sigh. "I'm not that rich, and most of the really strong shit is expensive nowadays. I'll just stick to what tastes good."

"I see," Sora answered with a sharp nod and glanced around the bar. "That guy that was with you… I assume he's a close friend?" the brunet asked, arching a brow a bit shyly. He didn't want to seem too outgoing, nor did he want to reveal his true demeanor—a shy, somewhat stutter-producing brunet.

"Nah. We just know each other from here," Riku explained.

"Oh. I get it," Sora said and turned his attention to his now empty glass. "Hm…this sucks…" Sora mumbled under his breath, a small frown appearing. Am I doing a good job? Am I supposed to have casual conversations with him?...Am I going to fail? Sora's mind began to hurt.

"It does," Riku concurred and then stretched his arms above his head boredly. "Happens to me a lot." A smirk.

Sora chortled a bit. "You're…quite the comedian," Sora remarked, choosing his words carefully.

"That's what they tell me," Riku answered promptly, the smirk remaining on his refined lips.

Sora was about to answer when a ringing noise interrupted him. The brunet stared dumbfounded as Riku fished into his pocket, waving his hand dismissively at Sora. Sora watched curiously as Riku's hand returned with a vibrating cell-phone. Blue eyes stared as Riku read a line of words that were written on the display screen of the phone. "Fuck," Riku groaned under his breath.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked, the question being a natural instinct.

"Leon," Riku muttered to himself, rubbing his forehead as he put the phone away. Green eyes then turned to Sora. "Oh, sorry. My boyfriend texted me and wants me back seeing he has work tomorrow," Riku complained, shaking his head in disbelief.

L-leon?... "Oh," Sora drawled, nodding to show that he understood once again. "Then you better go, huh?"

Riku chuckled. "I suppose I better. Don't want my boyfriend ripping me apart. Squall would do that," Riku said and then shook his head, reminiscing. "Anyway, have a good night…Roxas? Yeah, that was your name. See you around sometime?"

Sora felt faint. "Yeah," he whispered, almost choking on his words.

Riku smirked and patted Sora on the shoulder before leaving the bar counter and exiting the bar altogether.

Sora tensed in his bar-stool, his blue eyes going wide. "L-leon?" Sora repeated, choking on his words as he grabbed for his glass. Finding that it was empty, he gestured towards the bartender quickly, managing to ask for a glass of water.

Leon? He's dating Leon? Leon?! Squall?! Sora felt weak as he was given his water. The brunet nodded graciously and took a long sip, his throat finally opening once again. Sora breathed out, clutching his chest weakly as he set the glass back down. Riku's dating Leon… Sora repeated slowly in his brain.

"Sir…If you don't mind me asking, why did you lie to that man?" Tifa asked, leaning her own elbows down against the counter to stare curiously at the brunet who seemed quite flustered. "Usually people don't lie about their names around here. Age, yeah. Occupation, sure. But name? That's a rarity."

Sora lowered his gaze. "It's… just nothing, really. I don't like people knowing my name, that's all," Sora lied and took another sip from the glass of water. "Thanks," he said after a moment, gesturing to the glass.

"No problem," Tifa answered and frowned at Sora. "I wouldn't get caught up with that guy. He's nothing but trouble."

Sora laughed under his breath, "Tell me about it…"

Tifa offered a small, friendly smile at Sora before standing back up fully. "Well, have a goodnight. If you need anything else, just call me over." She offered another friendly grin before meandering away, probably to tend to other customers.

Sora sighed miserably and shoved his wallet back into his pocket. The last thing Sora wanted to do right now was to remain here in this bar. Feeling a bit queasy, Sora got up and made his way to the entrance of the bar, not wanting to have any more drinks. The last thing he needed was to become drunk. Yeah. That'd surely go over well in heaven.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Sora reached his apartment as promptly ten at night. The brunet slipped the key into the whole wordlessly and entered the small apartment, throwing his coat over his back onto the floor. Sora barely remembered to lock the door after himself as he kicked off his shoes and drearily made his way across the living room, not bothering to inspect his new living quarters. Nothing really mattered at this moment, Sora's mind told him as he trekked down a scant hallway in search of a bedroom.

When Sora did find that bedroom, he closed the door after himself and plopped down onto the bed. His head was throbbing and his stomach was twisted into millions of knots. Sora had expected Riku to have a boyfriend, yeah, but Leon? Sora rubbed his temples weakly, age finally beginning to catch up with him.

Riku wasn't just the boy next door anymore. Riku just wasn't the boy who used to pick on him at school. No, they were adults now. Riku was twenty-two and Sora was twenty-one. They were on their own now. Riku had a boyfriend. Riku was no longer the cocky boy Sora had grown up with. Riku had grown up. Riku had gotten over it.

And now Riku was dating Sora's older brother…