The next 24 hours dragged on mercilessly. Riku kept switching between anxious and down right petrified. He went through the motions. Paid a couple bills, organized a few papers, flipped through the TV approximately 50,000 times. He kept glancing at the clock. 8 am, 8:30, 9, 9:30, 10, 10:15, 10:20, it seemed like time was slowing down just to torture him. Finally, at 11:05 Sara honked out front. Riku took a deep breath and raced to the car.

"Took you long enough." He hastily buckled his seat belt.

"Well, good morning to you too sunshine. Sleep well?" Sara laughed as she ruffled Riku's already mussed hair. He glanced over at her and took her in. There was a slight crinkle to the corner of her left eye and at the left corner of her mouth. The same thing that happened when Sora was nervous and didn't want anyone to know. It brought a smile to Riku's face.

"Just nervous. I don't like being in the dark. Though I'm pretty sure I figured out the deep dark secret." Riku chuckled.

"Oh? And what would that be?" She gave him a sidelong glance, voice tense. He just smiled and stayed quiet the entire ride to Sora's.

They pulled up outside the ranch style house in about 20 minutes and Riku stared dumbfounded as Sara parked her car next to the identical blue lancer in the driveway. He let out a low chuckle.

Riku and Sara walked up the driveway and stopped on the front porch. They looked at each other both wondering if they should just walk in, or if they should knock. Tsuzumi didn't give them either option as she pulled the front door open and stood there smiling at the both of them. Riku took in the sight of his adoptive mom. Her brown hair graying at the temples, and small laugh lines were forming around her eyes. No matter how old he got, the sight of her just made him feel at home. Like no matter what, she'd always love him. He smiled back and gripped her in a tight hug.

"Hey Ma." He felt a lump in his throat, but swallowed it down. She pulled back and patted his cheek. She turned then to Sara and just stared, her smile never faltering. They stood like that for a few minutes, Sara shuffling from foot to foot.

"Oh stop looking like a startled rabbit and give me a damn hug girl! I am NOT going to bite." Tsuzumi practically tackled Sara as she pulled her into a tight embrace. Riku saw tears trickle out of Tsuzumi's eyes to run down her cheeks and chin. She snuffled at she pulled back and looked at Tsuzumi.

"Enough standing around. There's tea in the house and it's getting cold." Tsuzumi led the pair of them into the house. They head straight into the kitchen following Tsuzumi who busied herself with putting everything on a tray. The tea kettle, three teacups, a sippy cup (assumably for Sora) and some tea cookies. Riku reached out and took the tray from her and she smiled and pointed out the door before leading the way down the hall to Sora's room.

"I want to talk to all of you." She looks pointedly at Riku and manages to make him blush. He manages to look contrite as she opens the door. The sight before him is almost heartbreaking. The doctor was right. Pretty much everything is either in a cast or stitches. A black eye blossoms across both of Sora's lower eyelids and cheeks beside his broken and stitched nose. There are a few stitches across his eyebrow and the right side of his lip. The neck brace an off white atrocity obscuring Sora's neck. His left arm was wrapped in a solid ivory cast from the knuckles of his fingers all the way up to his armpit.

Sora shifted his head to the side as much as the neck brace would allow and smiled shyly as his eyes lit upon Riku.

"Hey Buddy." He croaked out happily. He looked just contrite enough to give away that he hated having Riku see him this state.

"Hey. You look like shit." Riku stated blandly with a low chuckle.

"Really? I feel like shit. Now I just need the matching hand bag and I'll have the whole set." Everyone laughed.

"I guess that truck didn't addle you too much if you're still cracking jokes you big dope." Riku felt that same lump rise in his throat again, threatening to choke him. God, the state that Sora was in. It was almost too much for him to bear. Sora reached out with his good, relatively speaking, arm and gently stroked Riku's cheek.

"Hey, I'm alive. I'm still here, that counts for SOMETHING right? Hey, I'm gonna be okay." Sora said soothingly. And that was the straw that broke the camel's back. All the tears that Riku had held back for days suddenly gushed forth. Weak kneed was something all too new to Riku, but suddenly it was as if his body could no longer hold the emotional burden and Riku indeed sank to his knees. Gripping Sora's hand as tightly as he dared, Riku just knelt next to the bed and cried. It could've been seconds, minutes, possibly hours. Finally his sobs subsided to hiccups. Then finally sniffling pathetically as he wiped his tears and nose on his sleeve.

"I thought I lost you. I thought you were gone before I ever had a chance to be with you. You were so close. So close to the edge that I thought..." And the tears began to threaten once again.

"Now now, none of that talk. Nonsense, all of it. You know Sora better than that. You know he's too thick headed to go without a fight. After you came back from Castle Neverland -"

"Oblivion, mom. Castle Oblivion." Sora corrected her.

"Oh, whatever. When you two came back from that place I really hoped you two would figure out that you need each other. You need each other in a way I haven't seen in ages." Sora turned about three shades of red before Tsuzumi laughed a good hearty belly laugh.

"Oh sweet heart, I've known about you two since you were 8. I could see it then and I see it now. You two are my sweet boys and nothing would ever change that. And nothing will ever change how you two feel. You were made for each other. And no one will ever be able to look at you two and see anything other than love, mutual respect, and adoration between the two of you. And I know, you had that fling with Kairi, but now you know the difference between infatuation and love. You care for Kairi, yes. But even a lone widower knows when she sees true love between two people still. And nothing could ever falter a loving and caring mother." Tsuzumi beamed at her boys as they stared slack jawed.

"Speech, speech." Tsuzumi had a tear in her eye. Riku stood up and cleared his throat before stroking down Sora's hair.

"Ma, you are one amazing woman." Riku hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head. She hugged him back.

"But there is still the topic of Sora's sister." Riku looked at Sara and Sora knowingly.

"So you figured it out. Of course you did. You always were the brightest one in this rag tag bunch."

"Well, not so much figured it out, as followed the bread crumbs this dope was dropping the whole way. To be honest I was honestly thinking at first he was a drag queen. But then I figured that he didn't have the stage presence for it. So what happened? How did you find out, what happened in the first place?" Riku's head officially started to reel from all the questions getting ready to pour out, but he managed to withhold.

"I put Sara up for adoption. I was raped and became pregnant when I was 17." Tsuzumi wrapped her arms around herself as a cloud of memories swirled in her eyes. Riku longed to reach out and hold her, to comfort her and let her know she was safe. That he would kill any person that dared try to hurt her. But she kept her chin firm and Riku knew she needed this. She needed to stand on her own with this. She took a shaky breath and continued.

"I knew I could never have an abortion, it wasn't her fault that this happened to me. But I was also terrified. Terrified that I would look into that face and see nothing but evil. See...well, I knew that putting her up for adoption was the best choice for both of us. Like I said, I was 17 and had no means of properly supporting a child. It was supposed to be open and shut, closed adoption. No updates, no watching her grow up. I didn't want her coming and looking for me. But then she came into this world. And I knew, but the adoptive family was waiting to meet their new baby. Anabeth, Sara's adoptive mom, came into my room to hold her for the first time. And she took one look at me and new. Offered me one last chance to be a new mom. I almost took it. But after a few minutes, looking at Anabeth, I knew. I couldn't take that away from her. I couldn't take her home knowing that I had promised this woman a daughter. So I took the offer to watch her grow up. Got pictures. Letters from Anabeth and Darius about how she's doing.

"To watch her grow up without being able to hold her, I thought I could handle it. I thought it would be enough to just watch. But I was wrong. With every year that went by I felt like she was getting farther and farther away from me. Imagine my surprise when I go into my closet to find letters and photos missing." Riku chuckled inwardly. Of course she would notice photos missing. Tsuzumi was meticulous about organization and categorizing.

"That's when my parents told me I was adopted." Sara finally spoke for the first time since arriving.

"I always wondered where my brown hair came from. My mom is a redhead and my father was blonde. None of my siblings had brown hair. And my eyes aren't the right color blue. My mom's eyes are more of a cornflower, mine are sapphire. I told my parents I wanted to meet my birth mom. They gave me the next best thing. They said they had a letter for me...from my brother. Imagine how happy I was when I pulled out a picture...and I actually looked like someone. God, we could've been twins. Sora and I exchanged letters for two months. Finally we planned to meet. He told me he was in a play at school so I would meet him at the drama club after school."

"That explains the make-up I saw you wearing. Honestly, I thought you were a drag queen for a while." Sora blushed but laughed regardless. Riku ran a hand over Sora's ever spiky hair. Tsuzumi reached out and took Sara's hands.

"I thought I would never get a chance to meet you. Really meet you. And now I have you here, in my house. And I couldn't be happier. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough for you."

Tsuzumi and Sara teared up, the both of them. Then Sara did the unexpected. She lunged forward and nearly toppled her birth mother with a bear hug.

"I couldn't be happier! I love what you did for me, because at least I know that you were only thinking about what was best for me. You only ever thought about what was best for me, and that is no reason to be sorry. Thank you. Thank you." The tears were flowing freely now, and Riku was surprised to find himself tearing up as well.

"I'm just happy I didn't have to grow up with a big sister. After watching Tidus and Selphie for years, I think I'll pass in the childhood torment department. At least when there were bullies at school I could come home to escape. Imagine living with your bully! Pass, thanks." Sora laughed and coughed a a little. Riku reached over and grabbed a cup of water with a straw and let Sora take a few sips.

"God, I would kill for a soda right now." Sora sighed wistfully.

"No way, not until that neck brace comes off. The doctor made it very clear, no fluids other than water for 3 weeks. Hopefully Riku here won't cave to those baby blues like always and will actually heed authority for once." Tsuzumi shook her finger at the pair making everyone laugh. Sora reached out and ran a hand down Riku's arm. Riku turned and looked and saw tears streaming down his face.

"I have a sister. I never knew I had a sister..."

"Sora, I'm so sorry I never told you." Tsuzumi walked over and planted a gentle kiss on his bruised forehead.

"For now though, I think you need to rest." She patted his hand.

"I want to talk to Riku first. I need to talk to him. Could we get some privacy?" Sora gave his mother a long look.

"Of course. Me and Sara have so much to catch up on. To think, my daughter the therapist. Who knew." They walked out and lightly shut the door behind them.

"Pull up a seat." Sora gestured to the desk chair and Riku tentatively sat down after pulling it up to the edge of the bed.

"I thought I lost you. I really did. When Kairi called me, I could've sworn the world was falling apart. The ground was yanked out from under me. I thought I was over you. I really did. But seeing you laying in that hospital bed, I realized. I'll never be over you. You'll always be the center of my world. You always were from day one. You remember? The kids were picking on you during kickball. Kicked dirt in your face."

"Yeah, that was the day you me and Kairi all became friends in the first place. You remember two weeks later? We were walking home and Tidus and his gang tried to jump us. You laid all of them out. I didn't know then about your dad. I should've. I should've seen." Sora reached again for Riku's hand. Riku gripped that hand and couldn't believe just how small Sora's hand felt in his. How frail he looked now. Riku's heart constricted looking over Sora now. He was angry still, of course.

It still stung all the cold things that Sora said and how cold he acted.

"Laying under the operating table, hell, all I could think about was getting back to you. How, if you had been driving, it never would've happened. How angry you would be afterwards. But most of all, how much it would hurt you if I let go. Oh god, how badly I wanted to let go. I was in so much pain, and I was so tired. I just wanted to sleep, but it felt like there was something keeping me here. But then I realized, out of all the faces that kept passing through my mind yours was the one I saw the most. You defending me, teasing me, making me laugh, making me laugh so hard I cried. Taking care of Kairi when one after another guys broke her heart.

"No matter what, you were always there. Always cheering us on. Cheering me on. Taking care of me, supporting me, pushing me. I was angry when you left because I didn't think you wanted me helping you. I thought you felt like I was holding you back. I thought you didn't need me. But I see now, the truth. I understand that it was never about me. It was about standing on your own. Defeating your demons. Defeating the darkness in your own heart. Can you ever forgive me?" Sora took a deep breath. Riku just stared dumbfounded for a moment before laughing.

"You dope, of course I do. How could I not? You mean the world to me." Unwillingly, tears sprung again to Riku's eyes. Before he could stop himself he was out of his chair and pressing his lips to Sora's in a tentative kiss. Without thinking, Sora reached a hand up to tenderly stroke Riku's cheek as he gingerly returned the kiss.

"I love you, Riku." Was all he said.

"Oh Sora..." They stayed like that, inches apart, for a few seconds before Riku sagged into his chair with relief.

"Thank god. I honestly don't know what I was thinking. Maybe I wasn't. I thought you might push me away after everything. I'm sorry, I should've asked. I'm sorry." Riku babbled on and only stopped when he realized that Sora was laughing at him.

"What? What did I say?" Riku stared incredulously.

"You! How do you ask permission for something like that?" He kept laughing as Riku growled.

"Watch it or I'll put you back in the hospital you big dope!"

"Don't you dare lay a hand on him you brute!" Riku and Sora both froze in place as Tsuzumi yelled through the door.

"Ha...Have you been standing outside the door listening?" Riku asked, surprised to hear his voice shake. There was silence for a few seconds.

"It was Sara's idea! There will be no hanky panky in this house. Not under MY roof!" She yelled back through the door.

Both of the boys busted out laughing. Once a mom, always a mom.

"Well, I have work in the morning. I better get going. And you need rest. I promise, I'll come by tomorrow." Riku leaned down and gave Sora another gentle kiss.

"Promise?" Sora looked up, almost like he was scared.

"I promise." And with that, Riku left giving Tsuzumi and Sara a hug.

Walk down the street it felt like the sun was a little warmer. The spring thaw was beginning. And with it, new life. And with new life, Riku finally saw the horizon of a new beginning. Of a redemption for himself.

'Finally...' Riku thought to himself.

'Finally there's peace.'

TO BE CONTINUED...