I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Half-Way to Forgiveness

The door swung shut behind him as Riku exited the local all-purpose shop, carrying several packages from the morning's errands. One month had passed quickly, even when the doctor had extended Keiya's bed-bound sentence after her numerous attempts to get up and walk around (thereby obtaining more injuries.) The four of them were set to leave in two days. And this time, Riku realized with a growing smile, they hadn't bothered to count down.

Keiya was having her weekly doctor's appointment, so Riku took the morning to tie up loose ends for the last two days of their stay. People turned towards him with smiles as he walked. The news had traveled quickly, and now the town was ecstatic and frenzied: Maleficent is dead! they proclaimed to each other over and over, as a greeting, as a newspaper headline, as a joyous promise for the future. The reconstruction of Hollow Bastion, which had been halted with the news of the witch's return, had started up again full-swing, and the Restoration Committee was able to put their heartless-bashing duties aside to embrace and promote the newfound era of peace.

What Riku enjoyed most about the whole ordeal, to Keiya's indignation, were the constant, excited questions of: "How is your girlfriend doing?" "Are you and that girl dating yet?" and "Is it true that your girlfriend is the one who defeated Maleficent?"

Yeah, he really liked that.

Riku was halted in his tracks by a familiar voice: "Hey, mud face!"

Running up the hill behind him was Jun, carrying yet another bouquet of flowers—the fifth from him, in fact—with patches of dirt on his face, hands and legs. Riku adjusted the parcels in his arms while he waited for Jun to catch up. Something told him he was about to have even more to carry.

"Like you're one to talk," the older boy retorted. "You went rolling in a pig sty?"

"No! Flowers!" he exclaimed, out of breath. "You know the drill. Make sure she knows who sent them."

Is this kid for real?

"Yeah, I got it," Riku replied dutifully, placing the bouquet on top of the packages. It made him laugh inwardly to think of each of the arrangements Jun had made over the last month; every single bouquet was a mix of branches that had fallen off trees, weeds, the occasional, accidental stalk of poison berries, and giant flowers in full bloom that provided sloppy splotches of color between the twigs and half-eaten leaves. Sweet was what Keiya had called them, giggling awkwardly as Riku had handed her each one. Riku called them desperate, peeved that he wasn't always able to keep up with flowers of his own.

"Are you guys really leaving the day after tomorrow?" Jun asked with a frown.

"Yeah. We've been here much longer than we thought. It's about time to get home."

"But you'll come back to visit, right?"

Riku hesitated. "…Sure, eventually, I guess."

"Hmm…"

Seeing the troubled grimace on the boy's face, Riku couldn't help but sympathize. The kid had had no friends at all until a few months ago. Now the first "friends" he had made were leaving for a very long time. Since they'd returned from the battle at Maleficent's lair, Jun had been persistent in keeping in touch—at least with Riku, since visiting the infirmary was off limits to children. Five bouquets of flowers, Riku remembered. The poor kid. Well, he has guts.

"Jun, why don't you ask Keiya to dance with you tomorrow night?" he offered. "One song won't hurt."

Instead of blushing and jumping on the suggestion like Riku had thought, Jun raised an eyebrow and gave the most confused stare. "Are you crazy? My date would kill me."

"Your date?" Riku sputtered. "You have a date?"

"Duh. It's a dance. Aren't you supposed to know about this stuff, Riku? You aren't good with girls at all."

The Keyblade wielder's eyes squinted to understand. Seeing the smirk on the child's face unnerved him. "You're how old, seven? You're not supposed to have a date."

"I'm eight now! Oh, and make sure you don't mention anything about the flowers I've been sending when you see her tomorrow. Girls get jealous, you know?"

What is this world coming to?

"So what about you? Do you have a date yet?" Jun asked mischievously, circling him with a coy smile. Riku was taken off guard, still trying not to drop anything in his hands, and trying to comprehend that an eight year old with dirt crumbling off his skin, who previously couldn't even talk to people, had managed to convince a girl to go to a formal dance with him, and was now asking him how lucky he had been in securing a companion for the evening.

"W-what?"

"Better get a move on," he teased. He began to scamper away, arms stretched out freely by his sides as if imitating an airplane. "There's only one day left! See you tomorrow night!"

"Of course I have a date!" Riku yelled after him. "Ugh…"

The familiar snickering behind him didn't help to ease his nerves. Really, he wondered, what had happened to hide-and-go-seek and toy sword fights?

"You've created a monster," Sora choked out between laughs. The brunette also had a mountain of plastic bags and parcels in his hands, and due to his severe amusement at Riku's situation, was having an equal amount of trouble keeping it all from falling.

"You see what kind of influence you have on little kids? What did you teach him?"

"Nothing!" Riku insisted. When he had once more adjusted his items, he joined Sora back on the path and the two started off towards headquarters. "Anyway, you got everything you need?"

"Yeah! Got my tux and my shoes. I'm a little nervous, though. When Kairi gave me her measurements, I kind of, uh, dropped the paper in a puddle on the way there. So I hope they read it right and it fits. How about you?"

"I just took some clothes from Keiya's closet and brought them with me. I didn't drop them in a puddle though, so I think mine will fit," he replied with a smirk.

Sora fumed at his friend's confidence. "Well good for you. I hope all your muscly manliness helped you pick out the perfect dress."

"I think I have good taste," Riku defended. "Anyway, Kairi helped, so there."

"What? You cheated!"

"It's not cheating. It's a second opinion. And Kairi said what I picked was fine."

"I can't believe this," Sora whined, his hair peeking up over the bundles of plastic-wrapped fabric. "I didn't have any help."

"Yeah, you probably should've asked one of the other girls or something."

"Hmph. Well if Keiya likes her dress better, it doesn't mean you won."

"I chose it—Kairi just gave the okay. I didn't want to buy something bad. Anyway, are you that afraid you'll lose?" Riku retorted evasively.

"No! I—"

Sora was cut off by a thump coming from around the side of the house, followed by a series of curses and yelps of pain.

"I'll catch up with you later," Riku said. "It sounds like Keiya's trying to break out the window again."

Sora snickered behind the armful of packages. "Okay. Later!"

Sure enough, when Riku walked around back to the infirmary windows, Keiya was sitting on the ground, legs splayed, one hand vigorously rubbing her head. The window panes were swung wide open, and the sill had been scuffed by the fall.

"It looks like someone was trying to escape," he chided smoothly. He took a devilish joy in the sheer surprise on her face that she hastily covered up with a pout.

Flicking her now-wavy hair over her shoulder nonchalantly, she rebutted, "No, I was just stretching my legs."

"Out the window?"

"Yes. I wouldn't need to if you would let me outside once in a while," she defended coolly.

Riku shook his head and set all his things on the windowsill. Less than twenty-four hours of her official bed-rest to go, and she was still fighting the rules. Riku had promised her numerous times that he'd take her out on the last day before they left—and she already had the whole day planned out for them—but evidently, it wasn't soon enough. She'd been bent on finding her own way out of her immobile hell since the doctor let slip that her fractures had healed. "Healed but weak" never registered in her head. With a lingering smile and a cocked brow, Riku leaned down to help her up.

"Doesn't it faze you at all that you were practically comatose for days, then incapacitated for weeks?

"The doctor says I'm all cured."

"Almost. He said almost," Riku reminded her, taking her free hand in his. "He didn't take your casts off?"

Keiya frowned at the cases of plaster on her weak arm and leg. "Tomorrow. He wants to give it an extra day to make sure. Even after he promised it would be today…"

With a gentle pull and a crooked smirk, Riku lifted her off the ground. "I know I should be comforting you or something, but it's really all your fault. If you hadn't tried to get out of bed so many times, you would have your casts off and we would be on the islands by now."

His lover rolled her eyes and fixed her sling under his deploring gaze.

"And if you had helped me get out of bed, I wouldn't have hurt myself, and yes, we would be on the islands by now."

When she met his joking glare with her own fiery, obstinate one, Riku found himself forced to drop the argument to avoid unleashing what would surely be a frightening, explosive tank-load of ammunition saved up for precisely this type of exchange. Staying unwillingly rooted to her bed all month had undoubtedly given her a lot of time to think; even if he was right, he wouldn't win this one.

Riku carefully lifted her back up to the windowsill and deposited her into the infirmary once more. All the while, Keiya mumbled and groaned her usual complaints. It always astounded her how swiftly he was able to get her back into bed; with the cast weighing down her leg, it took nearly twenty minutes for her just to make it outside the window. Riku was trying to help her under the covers before she knew it. However, still disappointed at having been caught yet again, she stayed stubbornly seated atop the comforter and kept her feet planted on the ground.

Riku's smile in response clearly said, Do what you want, but I'll always be here to watch over you.

"Whatever," she scoffed to herself.

Hoping to better her mood, Riku handed her the two bundles of flowers one by one. "Here, this one is from me, and this one's from your boyfriend."

"Could you stop it with all of this?" she asked with a blush in her cheeks, taking each one tentatively. "It's getting old now…"

"You mean the town not being threatened by destruction? No, as of this morning, that's still pretty new."

She didn't need to see Riku's face to know he was enjoying every second of her discomfort, no matter how trivial the cause. As she placed the new flowers into vases on the nightstand near her bed, she couldn't help but catch sight of Sai's glove resting behind the wide lamp base. Its shadow stretched the length of several floor boards, so even though she purposefully kept it out of sight, she was never unaware of its presence.

Tomorrow I'll take care of you, she promised dutifully. But after that, I'm leaving it all behind me.

The padded palm of the glove shimmered in the light.

I can't take you with me. You can't follow me.

"You need help with those?" Riku asked.

At his voice, she dislodged her head from irritating and somber thoughts and forcibly turned her attention to the flowers. Her lips immediately curled downward as she examined the strange-looking leaves and blood red branches in the bouquet Jun had made.

"No, I'll do it."

"Be careful. Half of that is probably poisonous, like always," Riku warned, carrying his other packages across the room and out of her sight. "It's starting to tire me out."

"No, it's sweet," Keiya maintained. She handled the stalks with the tips of her fingers and tried not to think about the next feasible disaster that could delay their trip home to the islands: 'chronic scarring and blemishing of the skin and eyes, caused by decorative assortment of poisonous herbs and plants.

When he was finished putting his things away, Riku sat down in front of her, cornering her against the headboard with an arm outstretched. "I asked if he wanted to dance with you tomorrow, but he says he already has a date, so you've been rejected."

Keiya frowned at his choice of words.

"Thanks. So I'm stuck with you, then?" she inquired, purposefully averting her focus to picking leaves off the stems. It seemed in the month that they'd spent together, restricted to one room, she had perfected the art of playful indifference to the point where it drove him mad. Her eyes danced with untold amusements and secrets hiding behind dark lashes, unsaid words at the ready to combat his remarks.

"Yeah…" he murmured thoughtfully. She was playing him, getting him back for his teases.

When she didn't say anything—only persisted in maintaining her recently learned false airs—Riku sensuously cupped her chin and tilted her face upwards. He kissed the sensitive lobe of her ear first, nibbling the soft skin to provoke a desired gasp, then kissed her cheek, her nose, breathing warm air onto her skin as he moved. The darkness no longer tainted her scent; all his senses were overwhelmed with nothing but raw, silky flesh and the smells of salt and lavender.

Keiya's hands were trembling with the effort to keep her breathing steady. Every time his lips so much as brushed her face, the nerves in her body quivered with delight and succumbed to intoxication. A haze settled in her half-lidded eyes. Her heart fluttered giddily in her chest. When he leaned back to lock their gazes, it took her a moment to realize he was smirking.

Feeling competitive, Riku skimmed over her mouth, kissed the skin just below her lips, and lingered there. When his hands made their way into her hair and down to her waist, he felt her shiver in anticipation, but he withheld any further kisses. He wanted to have some fun first.

"Tell me what you're thinking," he requested, letting his mouth just barely brush her bottom lip.

Keiya, despite being hopelessly eager, managed to shake her head. "N-no way. You're too confident."

"Oh, really?"

"Mhmm."

"I think you like it. Why else would you be with me?"

She tilted her head back to give herself space to recover and breathe.

"Sometimes I wonder that too…" she murmured icily.

Riku smiled and stole several pecks from her lips, pulling away before she could move to kiss him back. She whimpered each time he nipped at her lower lip. His hands were now exploring her back, making her shudder and feel weightless, almost bringing her up against him, but always withdrawing at the last second.

"See?" he whispered against her lips.

"W-what?"

He kissed the corner of her mouth.

"You can't resist me."

Overly flustered, Keiya grasped the stalks of leaves in her hand and used it to swat him across the face.

"Wha—be careful! That's poisonous!"

"I know! Tease!" she shot.

Riku wiped his cheek with his wristband and grabbed the bouquet out of her hands. Keiya didn't put up a fight; she sat straight with her arms crossed—really, one arm crossed, but she tried to make it look as natural as possible.

When he recovered, Riku watched her in disbelief—she was still trying to be tough. Grinning at the awkwardness of her position, he placed his hands on either side of her head and leaned forward once again, this time pulling her into him as well.

Her voice was smooth and haughty, and her glare, hard. "I bet you think I'm going to kiss you now," she said, leaning as far back as she could within his grasp.

"Yeah."

He took a quick breath, tilted his head, and closed the gap.

Riku didn't have time to tell whether or not she really kissed him back, because the second after he captured her lips beneath his, Sora bounded into the room with Kairi in tow.

"Hello, lovebirds!"

Riku and Keiya separated with a mutual blush and grimace of displeasure.

"Hi, Sora," Riku conceded, eyes clenched shut toward the mattress. Keiya's frustrated gaze, in turn, was directed solely at Riku.

"Oops, did we interrupt something…?" the brunette asked teasingly, a wicked smile on his face.

Kairi elbowed him in the side. "Sora… We should leave them alone."

"Just come in," Keiya invited spitefully. "Riku was being a jerk. Thanks for interrupting."

The silverette's eyes widened at the accusation. "What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?"

"U-um, Riku, should we leave?" Kairi offered, ready to pull Sora out of the room at his word.

Sora stood there snickering, Kairi was smiling awkwardly, and Keiya was staring him down with a challenging gleam in her eyes. A challenge? Riku couldn't resist. At least arguing with her would get her mind off of going outside, he thought bemusedly.

"Yeah, if you don't mind, we want some privacy," he said as suggestively as he could, placing a hand on her shoulder firmly so she couldn't shake him off.

Sora's grin was too large for his face. "Oh, okay, Riku! You just need to say the word and we're gone! Don't play too rough, lo—"

Kairi yanked him out of the room and shut the door with a soft click.

When the footsteps faded to the other end of the hallway, Keiya swatted his hand away.

"There. Now we can continue," he said smugly. Challenge: met.

Keiya retaliated with a glower. "Actually, I'm just going to kill you."

"Please, with one hand?"

With one hand, she grasped his shirt collar and pulled his face to hers. Then with that same hand, she trailed up to his neck and squeezed lightly, just enough to shock him and feel his pulse quicken beneath her fingers. The contradictory smile on her face gave him goose bumps. In the next second, she was tugging on his shirt again, and in the next, they were kissing.

Riku didn't bother taking it slow or provoking her; he gave in to the pleasure of her tongue prodding his lips and her fingers playing with his hair, and kissed her. His hands migrated to her waist on their own accord and traveled up to her shoulders, where he leaned her back into the wall and pressed himself against her, deepening the lip lock.

"You need to stop being a tease," she whispered vehemently between breaths. He smirked at the reminder and left her mouth. Gliding his lips along her neck instead, he hit all her weak spots in a succession of brief kisses. Keiya's breath hitched when he found her pulse. "It's… a-annoying…"

When she was flushed a rosy pink, Riku raised his head and kissed her full on the lips. At the feeling of her acceptance—her hands tight on his chest, her lips caressing his, her heart beating against his—he was almost the one to shiver. He pulled away with a sensual tug, and both sets of eyes fluttered open in a daze.

"There," he breathed. "I knew you would kiss me."

Keiya's blithe smile sank at the words, and she stubbornly wriggled out of his grip. Riku's laughter filled her ears with music.

"You give me such a headache, I forgot how aggravating you can be!" she vented, throwing herself forward onto the bed so that the pillow muffled her voice. Except now, she couldn't find any anger. Everything but bliss had been dulled by his touch. Everything but bliss and competitiveness.

"Careful, your arm—"

"I know, my arm. I don't care. It feels fine."

Riku raised an eyebrow at her act. He could still see traces of a smile in her eyes.

"Alright," he acquiesced. He reclined next to her and brought his arms to his chest. The room was silent except for their breathing. The flowers beside them emitted sweet summertime smells. And Keiya was happy—he could tell even while she hid her face from him. He knew her mannerisms even better than she did. The way her body was tensed, but not painfully so, meant she was overjoyed. The way she hid it from him, her arm up to cover any glimpse of her face, meant she was playing or thinking. He took a special comfort in watching her shoulders rise and fall as she breathed. The value of life was so much greater now that he had seen it almost come to an end.

"Hey, Riku…" she started carefully, peeking up at him from beneath her eyelashes.

"Yeah?"

"Can't we just sit outside? We don't have to walk today… A-and Sora can cover for us. Don't you think it would be romantic? Just the two of us outside…?"

He made sure she was finished before he smugly gave his reply: "No."

"Why not? Riku!"

Riku cringed; she was fuming again almost immediately.

"I have to listen to what the doctor told me. He didn't want you leaving the house, so you can't go outside," he explained yet again.

Keiya groaned, and rubbed her temples furiously. "I don't know if I'll survive this…"

"It's only for twenty-four more hours. You'll live."

"You can't treat me like this!" she continued. "I haven't left this room—no, this bed in weeks. I can't take it anymore!"

"You left the room this morning. And last week, and the week before that," he said pointedly.

Keiya turned away from him and scooted to the other end of the bed—the cold shoulder. If that didn't work, she thought, she really might not get what she wanted. In truth, only ten percent of her irritation stemmed from wanting to be outside for a change. The rest came from Riku repeatedly denying her requests. He certainly wasn't a pushover. In a month's time, she hadn't gotten him to budge once. She was determined to make him give in, and there was only one day left to do it.

As she stared out the window, Riku playfully nudged her arm. "Hey Keiya, if you're thinking about leaving me again, just give me a more substantial warning, alright? Then I can get on the road faster."

"Warning? What kind of warning did you want? You weren't supposed to find me," she clarified, breaking her concentrated silence.

Riku grinned to himself. He could purposefully distract her and she would never realize it. She had no idea how much fun her fake bouts of vexation brought him.

"Oh, c'mon. You didn't really think I wouldn't find you, did you? I thought you knew me better than that."

"I was hoping… I mean, I thought you might look," she defended sheepishly. Her hair fell like a curtain to cover her blush. "I never counted on you finding the place, but I guess I'm glad you did."

Riku smirked. "You guess?" he prompted.

"Alright, I am," Keiya admitted with a deepening tinge.

"That's right. Now I'm starving; want me to get you anything from the kitchen?" he offered.

"No! I want to go outside! Riku, please!" she begged, her nails digging into the sheets.

"Who's driving who crazy?"

"Seriously, what would it take for you to let me outside today? Just for half an hour, come on!"

"What would it take?" Riku's face shone with his own brand of delight. Was it right to keep playing when she was this desperate? Probably not, he mused, but he couldn't stop now. "Alright, I'll get back to you on that… tomorrow. I need time to think."

"That's not what I meant!" she cried from the bed. Her cheeks had tinted red, and her balance, become disoriented.

"I'll only be gone for ninety seconds," he called over his shoulder. "That's not even enough time for you to make it to the window. Keep that in mind, okay?"

He left the room just before she launched the poisonous bouquet of flowers in his direction. They hit the door and scattered to the ground.

"Jerk!"

~…~

Standing just outside the grounds of Hollow Bastion, Keiya found her feet unable to move. The castle, though collapsed and disfigured, still lurked menacingly against the purple rocky backdrop.

"You alright?" Riku's voice came next to her. He held her hand loosely.

"Y-yes."

"We don't have to go any farther."

"It's okay. I want to," she asserted quietly.

She unconsciously clutched Sai's glove to her stomach. There were no heartless, no contraptions, and no punishments waiting beyond the gate. Yet somehow, despite her new clarity of mind, she couldn't breathe. Imaginary darkness wafted in the air around her, threatened to suffocate her.

Her knees buckled when she tried to take a step, prompting Riku to reach over and catch her. Stupid, she condemned herself. She had made the journey to and from Hollow Bastion dozens upon dozens of times. She had crossed this very threshold back onto the grounds innumerable times. During the long walk to the castle, she had prepared herself to deal with the painful memories that might resurface upon visiting. What she hadn't counted on were the bittersweet ones: the happy memories that she'd taken for granted, that now seemed so quickly absorbed and discarded.

She'd wanted someone else around to ease the loneliness of the castle, and she'd gotten him. Although she couldn't say she liked him, she never told him to leave. She never warned him to leave. She let him rot under a blanket of darkness for seven years and never had the decency to appreciate anything he did. And when he started changing, all she could do was place blame. As if she had ever shown any interest in the old Sai. As if, because he talked to her and he kept her company, she suddenly had the right to protest his wavering values.

All of that happened there, under Maleficent's guardianship at Hollow Bastion. And over the years, she thought sourly, it only became worse.

When Riku looked up at the castle, he was filled with regret as well—for the time he spent envying and fighting his best friend, blindly consuming as much darkness as he was given, only to be consumed in the end. Sora had suggested it might feel reinvigorating to stand before the castle as a new person, but Riku was dismayed to realize he felt no pride. The only difference was that now he could see his foolishness. What kind of person traded a home, a family, and friends just to satiate curiosity? The answer was revolting.

"You'll wait for me here?" Keiya asked shakily. At her side she held Sai's glove, dangling by two trembling fingers. It wouldn't take long, she told herself. It was something she wanted to do. But before she could attempt to move, Riku squeezed her hand to keep her back.

"Hold on," he said slowly. "I know you wanted to go alone, but why don't you let me help you?"

Something in Riku's voice told her he wasn't taking "no" for an answer. And strangely, for once, she didn't mind.

She swallowed and muttered, "Okay," then took the first step.

They walked halfway around the castle until they found a good location, where the dirt was still soft and the reconstruction was finished. Somewhere no one else would go digging.

Keiya knelt first, the glove clasped in both hands. She stared at the soil until she thought she could burn away the grass and weeds with just her eyes, and then she started to scrape. Dirt caked under her fingernails as she raked away the greenery to reveal a patch of perfect, dry, crumbling dirt. Riku sat down next to her and helped brush everything aside.

"You bring anything to dig with?"

Keiya gave the tiniest of smiles and held up Sai's glove, then slipped her hand inside. It was huge; even while she wore it, it was mostly filled with empty space. The material was cold, but she almost felt there was warmth between her skin and the leather. Pulling it tight onto her hand, she thrust the rough, padded fingertips into the dirt and punctured the earth with a series of cracks. She came up with one handful of dirt after another, making as clean a hole as she could, patting it solid with the oversized glove. Riku joined in and dug with bare hands until they had made a deep enough space.

Keiya removed the glove and began wiping it clean.

"Thanks for coming with me," she said suddenly.

Riku nodded. "No problem."

He watched her absent-mindedly pick every last crumb of soil and blade of grass from the leather. She was second-guessing herself, he could tell. Her gaze was shifting anxiously between the memento and the freshly dug burial site.

"You don't have to leave it here," he reminded her firmly. "You can keep it. It's all you have, after all."

To his surprise, she shook her head and dropped the glove into the earth.

"Well, we don't have a body, and I feel like I should bury something."

She swept the pile of displaced dirt into the hole to cover the artifact. Both sets of eyes watched the boy's only surviving fragment disappear beneath the ground—Riku, warily, Keiya, solemnly. When she finished, she pressed into the incision and packed the loose molecules together, leaving an outline of a handprint.

"And anyway," she continued unfazed, "If I take it back with me, I might pull it out every now and again, and I won't be able to forget. I don't mean I want to forget him all together, but some other things I might think about…"

"As long as you're sure."

"I am."

They both stood, Riku helping her keep balance on her newly healed foot, then they looked up at Hollow Bastion. From where they stood, the castle looked as mighty and lively as it did in the past, but much less intimidating. Landscaping had been done along the perimeter of the walls, baby trees had been planted around the grounds, and birds, rabbits and insects had begun to make homes there. Slowly but surely, darkness was being phased out, and life was returning to the area. It was hard for Riku to imagine the inside of Maleficent's proud fortress as nothing more than crumbling staircases and broken corridors, but the thought easily brought a smile to Keiya's face. The job was done, she thought. She could breathe more freely.

"If I had to put him anywhere, he really liked it here. Who knows when we'll be back here again?" she explained, approaching the great stone walls. She had never seen the palace so bright. The sun made each brick sparkle with its light.

"He said he liked it better here… better than his real home. I thought he was crazy. It used to be so ugly here."

Riku walked towards her, hands in his pockets, staring ahead pensively. He'd always thought it was ugly, too. Every time he thought back to his days locked up in his dark bedroom, scheming to steal the Keyblade from Sora, kidnapping the princesses, he remembered how dreary, lonely, and ugly Hollow Bastion seemed to him. It was a graveyard. He'd lost everything inside those walls.

But now, Riku could feel the warmth the castle emitted from several feet away. It was baked in the sun and gave off heat like a furnace; it was unrecognizable. The aura of the palace had changed so much that the formerly prominent scent of darkness had completely dissolved from the land. Despite the remorse brought up by thoughts of the past, he found himself enlightened by the castle's transformation. With some hope from the citizens, sheer darkness had been turned back into the warmest light.

"But it's what you make of it," Riku started, placing a hand to the pink marble. "Memories are what make a place feel like home. If you didn't have good memories here, then it's no wonder you didn't understand it."

Keiya nodded to herself and walked a few paces away. "Hmm…"

"Three years ago, when I… destroyed my home…" He concealed the crack in his voice with a pause, "I wasn't thinking of the good things. I was so absorbed in what I thought was bad—no, boring—that I disregarded everything I always wanted to protect. I was ready to trade it all in. I didn't even know what I'd be getting in return."

A shiver ran up Keiya's body as he spoke. His eyes were downcast, reliving scenes. She could see his confidence crumble beneath the weight of those memories.

"It's easy to make yourself feel a certain way," Riku continued bitterly. "You can choose to acknowledge good memories, or you can pretend they never existed. As for me… I told myself lies until I hated everything I used to care about. Talk about selfish."

Selfish… Keiya shrank at the word. Exactly.

She gathered all the brief memories she had with Sai, all the trivial conversations and his secret visits while she was in isolation. None of it had anything to do with Maleficent, and yet she couldn't keep the anger out. Everything was tainted. She couldn't think of a single happy moment, not at Hollow Bastion, not anywhere.

"That's it, then," she choked out. She turned away from him, leaned against the castle with weak legs. "I was selfish. I was so frustrated with my situation that I didn't let myself feel happy. Ever. Maybe I could have. I don't know."

Riku tried to place a hand on her shoulder, but she stumbled out of his grasp.

"No, that's not—"

"It is! It's the same!" she insisted. "I see that now…"

Keiya bit her lip and scraped her nails against the brick. "I was awful. Before he did anything to me, he always tried to make me happy. I just wrote him off as a nuisance—how could I do that? It's no wonder he turned out the way he did," she muttered, her face burning with shame.

Riku listened carefully, letting her mourn by herself like he sensed she wanted. Self-realizations were the hardest conclusions to come to. He knew from experience. But as much as he hated to see her cry to herself, he knew he shouldn't intervene. He waited it out until she could face him again.

"I don't hate him. I don't." She squeezed a fist at her side and gave up trying to regain composure. "Not like I used to, anyway. But no matter how hard I try, I can't bring myself to want good memories here. I was practically a prisoner—no, a servant! How could I be happy here? I hate this place!"

With that, she swung her arms toward the castle and unleashed a terrible cry and a magnificent flame of darkness. It climbed halfway up the height of the castle and nearly breached the marble walls before disintegrating with her exhausted sigh. Panting for breath, she supported herself with a hand against the building and muttered again, softly, "You have no idea. I hate this place…"

When Riku didn't say anything, she looked up at him and was met with nothing but a blank gaze and crossed arms.

"Well? Is that wrong?" she demanded.

"I don't think so. I hated this place too, but look at it now." He motioned to the gardens, the construction, and the cloudless sky. "There used to be nothing but darkness here. Now it's full of light."

Keiya reluctantly looked around the grounds. When she forced her mind to clear, she hardly recognized where she was. Everything was innocent, and like Riku said, full of light. Hollow Bastion had overcome Maleficent's takeover and survived to see new life. It was only when the nightmarish memories came back that she felt loathing try to creep in again.

"I know you have a lot of regrets," Riku started, "but look how powerful all of that made you. Would you trade in this new strength?"

"N-no. Of course not."

Riku took her hand and pulled her away from Hollow Bastion, back toward the gardens.

"Neither would I. Even if everything that got you to this point was horrible, and even if you made a few bad decisions along the way, you should make the most of it. That's what Sora is always telling me, anyway," he added sheepishly. "I know it's easier said than done."

She sighed, glancing back at the castle. "No kidding… I feel like I won't be able to stop thinking about this for years."

"You're probably right," he pointed out with a cringe. "It'll take time. All you can do is hope you'll be able to see things more clearly in the long run."

They stopped at Sai's makeshift grave on their way out. The blank patch of dirt stood out against the lawn, but they knew it would eventually be covered in grass. No one would ever be able to detect it.

Keiya slipped out of Riku's hold and wandered to the edge of the walls, where new plants had recently been placed. After feeling the trunk of each tiny tree, she selected one of the smaller, weaker ones and carefully pried it from the ground. It came up easily, roots and all.

"What are you doing?" Riku asked.

Keiya smiled—one of the only genuinely excited smiles he'd seen in the past four weeks. "I'm making a marker. That way I'll know where I buried it if we ever come back. Even if we don't, I think it'll be nice."

He raised an eyebrow as she carried it over to where he stood. "Wait. You sure you're not damaging private property?"

"I don't know. So what?"

She handed him the tree, then knelt back to the ground to begin digging again. Her bare hands were immediately dirty, and her clothes, speckled with grass and mud, but she didn't notice. She was focused. Seeing her so absorbed in something, no matter how small, brought relief to his face.

"Alright. Do whatever you want," Riku relented.

Keiya cocked her head at him and grinned. "I was going to."

She worked fast to make a deeper hole about a foot away from where the glove was buried. After patting in the dirt, she motioned for Riku to hand her the baby tree.

"Does this mean you're not mad at him anymore?"

"No," she replied firmly, lowering the roots into the ground. Riku held it in place so she could fill the gap with dirt. She shoveled furiously to occupy her energy and clenched her eyes to keep the reminder of her hatred away. Her voice was sharp when she spoke again, still unable to achieve the forgiveness Riku had encouraged.

"It just means thank you. I think I have every right to be mad at him. For now, I'm just… trying not to think about it."

Although she wasn't looking at him, Riku nodded. Her tightened shoulders and sudden frown said she was still upset, but the amount of composure she addressed it with was a great improvement. "I'm glad," was all he said. She pulled her hair over her shoulder and finished steadying the tree in its new plot of land.

"There," she said, wiping her hands off on her dress.

Riku eyed the tree warily, gently tugged on the trunk to feel it give way. "I'm not sure it's going to hold. It's not very strong. Maybe we should stake it."

"Let me try something first. I have an idea…" She circled the plant, sizing it up. "I think it will work. Stand back?"

"Um, okay."

Riku took a few steps to the side while Keiya sat down again and took hold of the base of the trunk. With her other hand, she dug into the ground right above the roots.

The change was so subtle that Riku thought it was a trick of the light at first, but then he saw: darkness crawled up the tree from the inside, spread into the branches and the veins of the leaves. The bark turned the slightest shade darker. The trunk grew thicker and sturdier. Beneath the ground, the roots thickened as well, and at the top, the leaves clung to the branches with the renewed vigor of springtime.

"Y-you just… Darkness? You're using darkness?"

Riku leaned in to get a closer look. As soon as he took a step, he could feel the darkness underground, coursing in the roots. He almost panicked, but it didn't try to spread. Rather, it seemed content to swirl around in the shelter of the plant along with the water and nutrients already inside.

"It's not dying…" he murmured to himself. "What did you do?"

When she was done, Keiya stood up smiling and, to Riku's shock, tried to uproot the tree with all her strength.

"Wait! Now what're you—"

"It worked!" she exclaimed happily. "Come here, Riku, try to pull it out. I bet you can't do it."

Riku took her challenge hesitantly and stepped forward to yank out the tree. It didn't budge. He put his entire body into pulling and pushing, but he couldn't so much as remove a leaf from the branches. The plant looked no different than it did before—it was still a baby that would take hundreds of years to grow—but now it was fortified by darkness.

Keiya relished in her success and the look on Riku's face.

"What do you think?" she asked expectantly.

Unwilling to divulge fully in his surprise, Riku settled with, "It's… impressive. But what made you think of that? Why isn't it dying?"

She beamed at him, her hands clasped behind her back. "Didn't you say darkness doesn't have to be bad? Well I've been thinking, if that's true, you should be able to make it do whatever you want. How else would you differentiate whether it's bad or good?"

"Yeah, I guess that's right," he said thoughtfully. "But I never thought you would think to use darkness so freely. Weren't you completely against it a few weeks ago? Now you're using it to solve everyday problems."

His voice bordered on teasing, which made her frown. "Well, I didn't want anyone to pull it out," she defended. She placed her hands on her hips. "And I don't think I can make it wash dishes or brush my teeth, so it's not really 'everyday' use. It was useful this one time."

"Yeah, sure."

They stood before the tree a little longer before they turned to leave, the sun now shining directly overhead. Keiya froze her gaze in front of her; she didn't want to be tempted to look back. Instead, she appreciated the beautifully furbished gardens and the stone walls enclosing the area—everything that was new. As they crossed the gate back into town territory, she stretched her arms and yawned. Riku strode ahead next to her, facing forward, wrapped up in his own mind.

"What about you, Riku?" she asked softly, thinking about what he'd said to her earlier. "After all this time, do you really… see things more clearly now?"

Riku was taken by surprise and paused in his steps, bringing Keiya to a halt as well. His eyes were focused downwards. A smile tugged at his lips as he spoke.

"I can't say I've gotten over it. But yeah, I think differently now. I think the reason I can see things more clearly… is because the people around me showed me how," he concluded.

Riku contemplated the effects of his experiences. Even though he'd spent most of his journey by himself, he hadn't learned nearly as much on his own as he did with the help of others. Alone, he had made a difference on the worlds. With his friends, he had made a difference in himself.

"My friends. Without Mickey, Sora, and Kairi—all the advice they've given me—I don't think I would have even had the courage to return home, let alone take my mind off of all my mistakes. They helped me see a bigger picture, and to take on a new role against the darkness. I couldn't have done it by myself."

"You have great friends," Keiya said quietly.

"Yeah."

Speaking his thoughts out loud, Riku felt just the smallest bit of weight lift from his shoulders. He gently pulled Keiya next to him and resumed walking with his arm around her waist. Keiya, however, was now the one deep in thought.

If I could just stop feeling so angry… then maybe I could look back and feel some happiness. Maybe then it wouldn't feel like such a waste.

"Riku…"

"Hm?"

She took a breath before locking eyes with him. A blush set across her cheeks.

"Will you… keep helping me?"

Riku contrasted her modest plea with a wide grin. She heard a deep chuckle rise from his throat, and saw his face brighten with relief.

"Glad you're finally asking," he answered, squeezing her hand. "But you know you don't have to. I'll help you and protect you no matter what. I've already promised you. "

Keiya couldn't find her wits to respond right away; rather, for a moment, she was reduced to giggling. His happiness had that effect on her. When she did respond, it was with a much more confident, sincere smile.

"Thank you, Riku."

"Don't mention it."

They walked mostly in silence with hands entwined. Even though it had been weeks since they'd last been out together, there was no discomfort and no disconnect. Everything seemed right where it belonged. As they began making their way up the hill atop which headquarters resided, Keiya nudged his arm.

"You know, now I can protect you, too," she said, flexing her dominant blade hand. She felt darkness swim between her fingers at the ready. She was prepared to risk anything for him. Even if it meant defeating Maleficent ten times over, she knew she had the confidence to do it.

"Yeah, you can," he conceded. "You're a great fighter."

She glowed under the praise.

Riku continued nonchalantly, "Now it's just a matter of who's going to need it first."

Instead of taking the bait for a little competition, Keiya shrugged and decided to call his bluff.

"Alright, you're on. But it's not going to be me."

~…~

Riku approached Sora as soon as the two were both away from their respective dates. The evening was long; townspeople flocked to the square in masses, dressed in their finest. Riku wasn't sure some of them were there to celebrate Maleficent's demise and the town's safety as much as they were there to enjoy the free food. Still, the livelihood made him smile. He met Sora at the buffet tables, where the brunette was already eagerly building another plate of desserts.

"Hey."

"Hiya, Riku. Say, have you had any of these cream puffs yet?" He gestured to the near-empty platter. Riku raised an eyebrow; most of the said cream puffs were sitting in a sloppy pile on his plate.

"…No, but I can see you have."

Sora gave his signature grin and scratched his head. "Heh, yeah."

The older boy leaned back and looked across the plaza. Kairi and Keiya were talking at their table—a rare interaction. They were behind the floor of twirling dancers, so his view was obscured every few seconds, but from the looks of it, they were upholding a decent conversation.

"The girls seem to be getting along, right?" Sora pointed out.

"Yeah. It's great."

Riku felt his blood race as he admired Keiya's outfit. He had chosen a floor length, form-fitting gown of shimmering purple, held onto the shoulders by thin silky straps. With some convincing, he'd gotten her to undo the pony-tail the other girls had helped with so that her hair flowed freely to contrast the dress. Around her neck was the same heart-shaped necklace he had given her, and hooked in her ears were the earrings she had recovered from the lair.

Next to her, Kairi giggled in her satin rose colored dress. Riku admitted Sora's selection wasn't bad at all. The color suited her perfectly, though he'd probably chosen it because it was similar to her every-day wear. Her dress was strapless and reached to her knees, and was covered in sequins that captured the lantern light. Riku had already caught Sora drooling over her with his unique brand of goofiness. The two had been on the dance floor for most of the night, adapting clumsily to whatever songs the orchestra played. Even though they had tripped once and nearly knocked over the entire bar table, they moved well together, learned how to keep themselves afloat in the crowd. It was more than Riku could say, since he hadn't yet gotten Keiya onto the floor at all.

"Another journey complete, huh?" he pondered.

"Yup!" Sora took a seat on the table near where Riku was standing and swung his legs back and forth. "It feels like we haven't been home in ages. I can't wait to catch up with everybody."

"Me neither."

They watched the citizens, young and old, parade themselves around the plaza with accomplished grins and sighs of relief. Officials of the town were wrapped up in eager talk of reconstruction, while some older veterans remembered the sorrowful day they were forced to leave their homes. The young children, who didn't understand the importance of the victory but were no strangers to celebration, chased each other, darting in and out beneath the white table cloths. A time of peace was beginning in Radiant Garden. Seeing the looks on the people's faces, knowing that more than just one world was affected, Riku thought that maybe the weeks of suffering had had more worth after all.

"Sora… thanks for coming with me back then, to Maleficent's hideout," he said suddenly, looking at his friend with renewed gratitude. He was slightly embarrassed, and ran a hand through his hair to hide it. "I know I wasn't very talkative or rational at the time. You didn't have to be dragged—"

"Ah, quit worrying about it! Of course we all came to help. That's what friends are for!" Sora asserted cheerfully.

Sora's upbeat attitude was like medicine, and as contagious as the plague; Riku found himself smiling before he knew it. He was glad for the effect. Now more than ever, he was glad for the help. With a brief nod and a slight chortle, he turned back to the crowd.

"Right. Well, thanks."

"No problem!"

He didn't bring it up, but Sora knew when Riku was hiding something—in this case, his own "sappiness." His friend hadn't completely recovered from the tragic news the doctor gave him about Keiya and their would-be baby. For days on end after he'd found out, he would sit in the corner of the infirmary and not say anything, not move a muscle. The young Keyblade wielder felt it was up to him to go in and cheer up the sorrow-ridden teen every once in a while. He was able to get Riku back to functioning mode in no time at all, but as with other things in the silverette's life, much was still kept locked up inside.

"Kairi looks nice, but I still win," Riku said off-handedly.

Sora was roughly jerked out of his thoughts and back into the grasp of competition. "What? How did you decide that? I think what I bought is great! And I didn't have help!"

Riku laughed to himself, but concealed it by covering his mouth. In truth, he just liked to see Sora squirm. He had been missing their usual contests, being away from the islands so long.

"Yeah, yeah," he dismissed, knowing exactly how to provoke the boy.

Sora hopped up from the table nearly on cue and shoved his friend playfully. "You think you can get away with 'winning' so easily? I'm going to ask the others—that'll settle it!"

"Knock yourself out, Sora."

He watched Sora disappear into the crowd amusedly. The Committee members were probably scattered around the area, so he would be busy asking around for a while. Riku figured it was a good time to get back to Keiya and cash in that promise of a dance he had pried out of her. When he turned to look back at the girls, however, he noticed Leon had stepped in, and Kairi was sidestepping away. With hard eyes, he crossed the plaza to investigate.

"You have a minute?"

Keiya was momentarily dumbstruck and looked to Kairi for an answer, who just smiled and shrugged as she moved to the side. Leon was staring down at her with a blank face, his hands buried in his suit pockets. She felt her fighter instincts surge and had to restrain herself from becoming snappy.

"Um, sure," she managed, though she knew with him the question was rhetorical. He had already made himself comfortable against one of the chairs at their table.

The two of them stood there awkwardly for several moments, with Leon looking pensive and Keiya's heart pounding so loud her ears hurt. She wished she could tap her foot, but the grass would prevent him from hearing anyway, and it probably wouldn't do much to faze him.

"Look," he finally started, eyes closed towards the ground, "I hope you can see where I was coming from when I said I didn't trust you. I wasn't about to welcome the apprentice of my home's worst enemy with open arms. It wasn't anything personal. It was circumstantial."

Keiya tilted her head to try to see his facial expression, but he was unreadable: there was no frown, no creased brow, nothing. From his voice, she could guess he was less than enthusiastic. When he surprised her by suddenly looking up, she jolted back to standing upright.

"I-I understand. I guess it's alright…" she said slowly. She contemplated his words carefully, but was unsure of whether or not he was trying to apologize.

Leon gave a curt nod and lifted himself up from against the seat.

"Then, I just want to say thank you."

"Huh?"

She felt her face heat up and her stomach flip.

"You defeated Maleficent. The town is a lot better off now."

"Oh. You're welcome, but don't…"

Before she could say anything more, Leon was already walking away. His shoulders were tense as he moved, but other than that, he showed no sign of discomfort. He was his same stoic self. Her eyes followed him curiously as he made his way through the crowd back to Aerith.

Was he put up to that? she wondered skeptically.

"What was that all about?"

Keiya whirled around at her lover's voice.

"Oh, Riku! You scared me," she breathed.

"Sorry."

Riku was clad in a black suit with a simple white dress shirt beneath—he'd decided not to go with the tux like Sora had. The first few buttons were left undone, as he didn't like the restricting collar, and his black silken tie was now slightly loosened. He stood authoritatively, attention flickering back and forth between her and Leon, trying to piece together the conversation. When she saw the troubled look on his face, Keiya approached him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"He... said thank you," she informed him, still in disbelief herself.

Riku's eyes widened the smallest bit. "Really? That's good. I was worried he would still be mad."

"Why?"

"I… kind of punched him," he admitted. When he saw her open her mouth for details, he quickly tried to distract her by gesturing to the dance floor.

"Anyway, you owe me a dance, don't you? The night's almost over."

He held his hand out to her, smiling warmly, ready to step into the center of the square with her acceptance. Keiya gave him a long stare. He wasn't going to tell her. No, he would just play dumb. She made a mental note to ask Sora about it later. With that thought, she sighed and took his hand.

"Not over there, though. Let's just stay here," she settled bashfully.

"Alright."

Keiya remembered almost nothing from Riku's improvised lesson several months back. While their dance wasn't clumsy, it was stiff until Keiya could reassure herself that no one was watching them in their shaded corner. The combination of Riku telling her relax, relax, with the warmth of his chest against her cheek was what seduced her to close her eyes and let him lead more freely. He smiled when her arms tightened around his neck. Their feet moved in small steps, more slowly than the rest of the crowd, almost to the beat of their own song.

"It's funny…" she started softly. "Fighting Maleficent, I wasn't thinking about Radiant Garden. I was just worried about us. But look how peaceful it is now."

The breeze tickled her skin as they turned in each other's arms.

"It must be like this all over the place…"

Riku held her waist firmly and tried to increase their tempo. She almost stumbled over his feet, but picked herself up and imitated his movements until she got it. Their shoulders kissed the hedges each time they turned a bit too carelessly.

"You're surprised?" he asked.

Keiya shook her head. It was then that he noticed the irrepressible smile on her lips—a suddenly tearful smile, completely unrestrained. His own slipped off his face in appreciative awe. That smile filled every gap in his heart. They twirled faster, her hair collecting in his hands as he slid his arms up her back.

"No," she replied shakily. She paused in their dance to wipe her eyes. "I've just never been this happy before."

Riku brought a hand to her face and cleared away the small tears for her. Without realizing, they had stopped dancing altogether. The rest of the party carried on around them in a blur.

After tracing her lips with his thumb, Riku leaned in and kissed her without any conscious thoughts running through his head. There was no shyness, no teasing, no hot urgency. Their eyes closed to the frenzy around them while their minds opened to let them expand; Riku felt only the comforting chill of the air above him, Keiya felt the heat of the earth as she sank into it. Flying, drifting, falling, slipping, they embraced each other at every point on the horizon.

Riku was the one smiling when they parted. The girl in his arms took longer to stabilize, her violet irises still dilated.

He spoke low into her ear, playfully at first, "Hey, I think…" then paused to peck her lips and confessed anew, "I'm in love with you."

The words warmed her blood. After catching her breath, she wound her fingers in his hair and gently tugged him back to face her. Even in her flustered state, she could match his mischievous mood.

"That's good," she said with a blush and a grin. "Because I think…" She paused to tap him on the forehead, "I love you, too."

~…~

Keiya trembled in her seat and chewed her lip as the ship grazed the ground. The four of them were strapped in, Sora and Kairi up front, she and Riku in the back. They rocked back and forth, bumping into each other as the turbulence let up and the craft anchored itself to the ground. As soon as they were disengaged, island air rushed inside and the smell of sea-salt filled the cockpit.

Riku, seeing her face pale, wrapped an arm around her to bring her closer, but she declined.

"I'm fine," she whispered, out of breath.

"Nervous?"

She grinned weakly and nodded her head.

Riku unbuckled first and walked to the control panel to help Sora shut down the ship. This left nothing between her and a view out the small round window. She hadn't wanted to be able to see the landing, what with her recent discomfort with heights, but she found herself practically pulled toward it now. Peering out of the tinted glass, she could make out only flat colors and the texture of a nearby palm tree.

"Ready, Keiya? Hand me your bag," Riku said.

She did so silently, then fidgeted with the seatbelt while Riku watched, entertained. He helped her up and motioned for her to follow him to the ramp. The small cockpit was washed with light; within only five minutes on the beach, the ship had already been taken over by the local humid heat. Even time seemed more relaxed.

Sora and Kairi had already disembarked with their things, leaving Riku and Keiya to touch ground themselves. With both duffle bags slung over one shoulder, he reached for her hand and looked on her warmly.

"Stay right behind me so you don't trip," he advised.

"Okay."

Keiya was blinded by the light as soon as she took the first step onto the ramp. Grasping Riku's hand tighter, she moved inch by inch down the slippery metal, squinting in an effort to get a look at her surroundings. As she blinked, she made out the shapes of Sora and Kairi waiting at the bottom. They waved for a moment, then spun to take in familiar sights and sounds. The landscape of the islands came to her in pieces, but the first thing she saw clearly was Riku turning to face her with a wide smile.

"Welcome home," he announced.

Keiya returned the gesture, her happiness mirroring his. "Yeah, welcome home…"

Letting go of his hand, she took a deep breath of the salty air, stretched her arms up to the blue sky, and made the last step from the ramp onto solid ground.

~…~

Author's Note: YES. IT'S FINISHED! THANK GOD.

I'm sorry this took so long to write. This chapter basically ties up the loose ends. I tried to tie off some last developments in Keiya as well, especially in the large middle section, and I wanted to get Sora in there a little more. (I was having a hard time working Kairi in there, and the chapter became too long, so she didn't get much of a role. Sorry!)

The story is now complete. After writing this chapter, I'm not so sure about the epilogue anymore. What I might do instead is write that one-shot I promised a long time ago, and add that as "chapter forty" at a much later date, whenever I get around to writing it. I'm still thinking it over, but I'd like to hear your opinions on that, if you could. Epilogue or one-shot?

Being that the story is complete and I don't know when or if I'm going to post a chapter forty… It's time to say THANK YOU to all the readers and reviewers! Some of you have been reading this story for three years, since the time it was published, and you have no idea how much I appreciate it and how happy hearing from you guys made me! It really made me much more confident writing this. I wish you all good luck in your own endeavors, and I hope to see you around on this site in the future.

Please be so kind as to review with your thoughts. Until the epilogue/one-shot!