Chapter Eleven

Many thanks to Zaya81, Cassandra Incognito, ElleKai15, mikepd, Keirariddle and gbheart for the alerts, to phantombullets240, fireykaigurl, and Totalanimeloverno1 for the much-loved reviews and to DarkMajix for the favourite. You are my reasons for continuing! Mainly because I'm back at uni now and so life is getting hectic! But I do so love escaping to the land of paopus and moogles, so let us continue!

Love and stuff to all. X

P.S. Love you Lillyankh

Riku turned to see Sora's face drain of colour, his body tremble and his knees buckle. He knew that only one other person had this affect on him. Her.

"Fuck off Kairi. Nobody wants you here – least of all Sora!" Yuffie's screams could be heard for miles around, but no-one was complaining. She was only saying what they were all thinking. All except Sora. He couldn't help it. She had a hold over him. A control. He couldn't escape. And this always happened. Anytime she found out that he was with someone else, she'd always come back. Because she only ever wanted him when she couldn't have him. That's all he had ever been to her. A game.

"Sora," Riku whispered, "please don't…" But it was no good. Sora already knew what was going to happen… and yet… with Riku he felt… different. Like he didn't want her to take him away again. In that moment, he knew what he needed to do.

"Riku," he said, firmly, "give me your hand."

Riku stretched out his hand to his friend just as he had at the very beginning of their dark adventure towards Kingdom Hearts. But this time, Sora took it. Trying hard to block out Kairi's screams, the two men snuck out the back door and away, as quickly as they could. Panting, they came to a stop as they reached the beach.

"She shouldn't find us here," Sora breathed. "We can shelter in this cave," he indicated a gap in the rocks with his free hand and Riku led him to it.

"Sora, I need you to be honest with me," Riku began.

"Of course," Sora replied, "I would never lie to you."

"Good. Well, I just need to know. If, if you're thinking of going back to her… You should go now."

"No." Sora was resolute. "For the first time, I know that she was bad for me. I was sad oh so much more than I was happy. But you always make me happy. And whilst I know that a part of me will always remember her; I think that you could…" he paused, uncertain.

"Yes?" Riku prompted him.

"I think that you could be my one. My real one." Sora's eyes flashed as Riku smiled with pure joy. "I mean," he continued, "no-one else can make my heart as bouncy just by smiling at me." Sora's cuteness was just too much for Riku to bear and the older man grabbed him by the arms and pulled him into a desperate embrace.

"You're perfect Sora. You're so perfect." At his emotional words, Sora felt his heart flutter. Was it really possible for anyone to think him perfect? He had never believed so before, but now… it seemed that Riku really meant it. Sensing his thoughts, Riku put a reassuring hand on the boys face and repeated, "You're perfect." Sora smiled, and let his innermost desires take him over as Riku placed a passionate kiss upon his lips.

Aerith was reluctantly struggling to keep Yuffie from killing the angry redhead. Cloud gave her a look as if to say 'don't bother', whilst Leon sniggered behind his hands.

"Look, ninja bitch, this is none of your business," hissed Kairi.

"Oh yes it is," Yuffie replied, haughtily, "it's damn well my business if you want to make my friends miserable and heartbroken."

"Only one of your friends will be miserable and heartbroken and nobody cares about that moping faggot." A collective gasp rang out at Kairi's final word. Leon immediately stopped laughing and Cloud stepped forwards.

"Take that back," he demanded, coolly. Kairi remained defiantly silent. Cloud asked once more, "take it back." After more silence, Cloud walked over to Aerith and led her away. He then turned and said to Yuffie, "Do whatever you want to her." Yuffie's eyes widened in glee and she turned to face the now frightened girl.

"With pleasure," she replied.

The sound of the waves crashing upon the shore was all that could be heard as Riku and Sora lay sleeping in each others arms. The light from the sunrise silently crept over their naked bodies and warmed them as they dreamed of the night before. As Riku slowly woke up and remembered where he was, he felt a total sense of peace, and rested his head on his lover's chest, listening to his heartbeat. Sora subconsciously stroked the man's hair and smiled. For the first time in three years; he was free of her. Completely and utterly-

"SORA!" Sora's heart jumped, flipped over and landed with a thud in his ribcage as Kairi's voice carried to where the men lay sleeping.

"Riku," Sora whispered, "Riku, quickly, we've got to hide!" After a moment or two of mild confusion, Riku realised what was going on and – quietly as he could – leapt into action. Putting his clothes on as quickly as possible, his eyes darted frantically around for a place to hide. As Sora did the same, a realisation came upon him. What were they doing! Hiding from a little girl with a temper tantrum. After buttoning up his shirt, Sora stepped out from behind the rock and faced his ex-girlfriend. Riku stood and watched, fearfully.

"There you are," chorused the girl. "I've been looking for you, baby." She walked up to him and placed a loving hand on his face. Riku recoiled and had to stop himself from interfering. Luckily, Sora did it for him, by taking Kairi's hand and replacing it at her side.

"Kairi, there are some things I need to say to you and I need you to listen," Sora began. Kairi reluctantly nodded. "You never loved me as much as I loved you. When we first got together, you only wanted to corrupt me; you left me multiple times for multiple exes; you cheated on me; you threw things at me; you lied to me, all the time; you hid me from your friends, like I was an embarrassment to you and you never, ever admitted to any of it – you just said that everything was my fault for holding onto you too tight. But tell me, what was it that you did that gave me a reason not to think I needed to try so hard to hold on? You never made me feel wanted. Only when you got something out of it. And that's why…" he stammered, then cleared his throat to regain his confidence. "I will always love you, Kairi. But you will not always be the love of my life. I gave you all of me, and I'm taking it back now. I'm giving it to somebody who deserves it." Sora gestured to the man in the cave, who slowly came out into the sunlight. Squinting, he gave Kairi a civil nod and took the boy's hand, squeezing it to show that he was proud of him. Kairi glared at them both.

"Well, if that's how you feel then you're making a huge mistake," she spat at Sora. "And please, you were a terrible boyfriend. I mean, just, like… Ugh!" She turned on her heel and stormed off. Sora wasn't surprised that she hadn't accepted anything he'd said to her. She was never able to handle guilt. But just the fact that he'd said it to her, was a great relief. Everything was clearer now. He knew what and who he wanted. And it wasn't Kairi. It was Riku.

Yuffie, Aerith, Cloud and Leon watched with delight as Kairi boarded the boat back to Destiny Islands.

"What a bitch," muttered Aerith. Leon shot her a raised eyebrow of admiration and Yuffie sniggered.

"Yeah, well now she's a rejected bitch with a broken rib and a lot of bruises," Yuffie said, grinning. Aerith grimaced,

"You're so violent Yuffie… you'll get into trouble for it one day."

"Yeah well," she shrugged, "not today." And she pointedly stuck her tongue out, resulting in a rather long-suffering sigh from Aerith.

"Those two are made for each other," Leon whispered to Cloud, making him squirt his freshly consumed lemonade out of his nostrils. In all the commotion, none of them noticed Riku and Sora approaching them, holding hands.

"Hey guys, whatcha doin'?" Sora inquired, playfully. They all whipped round and beamed, each clambering to be the first to give the new couple a hug.

"It's about time!" said Yuffie as she punched them both playfully on the arm. Sora gave her a dirty look as he pretended it hadn't hurt and Riku kissed it better.

"Wait a second," said Leon. "Riku… what are you wearing?" Riku looked down at the item Sora had knitted for him with a mixture of pride and embarrassment.

"Uhm," he replied, "it's a sweater vest." The four friends all inspected the garment for a moment, before Sora quietly stated,

"I made it." Giggles erupted and Sora turned a luminous shade of beetroot, but somehow, Riku's comforting arm on his shoulder sent all of his embarrassment away, and he broke into laughter with the rest of them.

Sora was never very good at thinking about the present. His head was always stuck in the past or worried about the future. But with Riku, the present was everything. Because it was so… beautiful. He was so much more relaxed, happy and generally carefree. He didn't have to worry about being cheated on, because he could trust Riku implicitly. He knew that he loved Sora, just as much as Sora loved him. Reaching up to grab the fresh fruit of the paopu tree, Sora smiled. It was as though he could start again from the beginning, and do everything just the way it was meant to be. He held the paopu close to his chest before taking a bite. Then, slowly, he raised the warm fruit to his lover's lips. Riku held the fruit and took a bite, never breaking eye contact with Sora. Once they had finished, they walked down to the beach, hand in hand.

"So, I guess that means we're stuck with each other now, huh?" Sora laughed.

"Yeah," replied Riku. "If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what, remember?"

"I remember," Sora smiled, "and there's no-one else I'd rather share it with." Riku turned to face the younger man, looked into his eyes and promised,

"Me neither, always and forever."

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Fin.

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Oh my, I wasn't quite expecting to finish so soon, but it feels right. At least the end of this chapter anyway. There may be a sequel or just another completely different story. I'm looking forward to it, whatever it may be, and I really cannot express enough how grateful I am for all of your support! You keep me writing! Love you all, and most of all: RIKU & SORA FOREVER! xNRx