Chapter 12: The Road to Dawn

A/N: Here we are at the final chapter of this story! Thanks for sticking with me for so long and keep an eye out for the next story!

And I'm sure some of you are wondering how Taiyouko knows Diz. You'll just have to find that out in the next story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Riku, I just own Taiyouko.

Enjoy!

/

When Riku and Taiyouko left Twilight Town and entered the castle, they were greeted by King Mickey.

The king smiled at them.

"Gosh. I guess you decided not to go to sleep"He said.

They both went over to him.

"How'd you know that?" Riku asked.

"I heard it from Diz" Mickey said.

They all looked at the bandaged man.

Taiyouko growled when she saw him.

Diz didn't say anything as he walked up to them.

"Do you know him?" Riku asked the king.

"Well, I'm not sure" Mickey said.

"Gotta feeling that I've meet him…somewhere…"

Riku walked up to Diz.

"Hey. Who are you?"

"I could be nobody or anybody" Diz said.

Taiyouko just rolled her eyes.

"Doubt it" she mumbled.

"It is up to you to whether you choose to believe in me or not" Diz said.

"Boy, you really like pushing decisions on other people" Taiyouko said dryly.

Diz just gave her a tired glare.

"I see you still have a mouth on you, Taiyouko" he said.

Taiyouko just growled at him.

Diz ignored her and looked at Riku.

"You have pushed away slumber making the choice to face Ansem" he said.

"Do you think I'm reckless?" Riku asked.

"You have chosen your own path" Diz explained.

Riku looked at him skeptically.

"Are you supporting me?" he asked.

"Or are you abandoning me?"

Taiyouko placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"That will be your choice as well" Diz said.

He went up to him and handed him an Organization cloak.

Riku took it and examined it.

"What's this?" he asked.

Diz looked at him seriously.

"The Organization will pursue you" he said.

"Like a pack of hunting dogs, they will sneak up on you if they sense your presence. However-this cloak that is worn by nobodies will render their eyes and their noses useless"

He looked at Mickey.

"The ears, not so…"

Riku examined the cloak a bit more.

"They wear this to give themselves protection from being devoured by darkness" Diz explained.

"Is it clear? Even the Organization cannot rule the darkness"

Riku gave him a determined look.

"Doesn't matter" he said.

"I won't run from the darkness"

Taiyouko looked at him proudly.

Diz just 'hmphed' as he handed them a card.

"The card will draw out your heart's darkness" he said.

"Finish your business with Ansem"

Riku put the card away and looked at Taiyouko and Mickey.

"Come on. Let's go" he said to them.

They both nodded and followed him down the hall.

As they passed Diz, Taiyouko glared at him.

Diz gave her a dark smirk.

"What? Are you not happy to see me?"

Taiyouko growled at him.

"Kiss off and die, old man"

She stormed after the two while Diz chuckled slightly.

"You never change" he said to himself.

/

As the trio walked up to the doors that would lead them deep within the castle, Riku looked at his comrades.

He didn't know what was going to happen with this battle between Ansem.

He had a feeling he could win, but what if he didn't?

He would become Ansem's puppet again.

He couldn't let that happen.

He bit his lip when he saw them looking at him.

"What' wrong, Riku?" Taiyouko asked.

Riku pulled the card out the card that Diz gave him.

"He said this card will draw Ansem out…" he said.

Mickey smiled at him.

"Don't worry!" he said.

"We can all defeat him together"

Taiyouko nodded in agreement.

"That's right. We're all in this together"

Riku shook his head.

"Sorry….I've got to face him alone"

Mickey looked hurt while Taiyouko looked like she understood.

"But why?" Mickey asked.

Riku looked at the doors.

"There's no point in doing this if I can't do it on my own" he said.

He looked at them.

"But I do need a favor"

"What is it?"

Riku looked at them nervously.

"If Ansem is the victor, he's going to enslave me" he said.

"If that happens, I need you both to use your powers to destr-"

"Of course! We'll be right there to save you!" Mickey interrupted him.

Riku looked taken aback.

That wasn't what he meant.

"Huh? No that's not it. I want you to destr-"

"No way!" Taiyouko said.

"No matter what happens, we'll be right there to help you. We promise you that"

Her smiled faltered.

"Unless…you don't believe we'll come through for you"

Riku grinned at them.

"I choose to believe in you two-always"

Taiyouko smiled.

"Oh, good"

She pointed towards his chest.

"Besides, you made a promise to Hikari"

Riku nodded and grabbed her good luck charm.

"Right. I promised that I would look after her while she's sleeping. I won't be able to do that if I lost"

Mickey nodded.

"You're not gonna lose, I know it"

Riku smiled.

"Thanks"

They all looked at the door in front of them.

"Well, let's get this over with" Taiyouko said.

Riku held out the card and activated the doors.

They all stepped through them and entered deep within Castle Oblivion.

/

They all ran down the dimly lit hallways.

Riku scanned the area for his enemy.

"Ansem! Where are you? Show yourself!"

Laughter echoed throughout the hallways.

"Why in such a hurry?" he asked.

"I'll be here at the very heart of darkness…watching you plunge into the same darkness-inside of you "

Riku glared at the ceiling and took off down the hall.

Taiyouko and King Mickey followed him.

/

When Riku came into an open room, he skidded to a stop.

There were heartless everywhere.

He pulled out his Soul Eater and growled.

"There doesn't seem to be an end to this"

Taiyouko and King Mickey quickly stood in front of them and summoned their weapons.

"Leave this to us!" Mickey said.

"Just save your strength for Ansem" Taiyouko said.

"You'll need it"

Riku was about to protest, but Taiyouko stopped him.

"Don't argue with me boy! Just do as you're told!"

Riku nodded and allowed his comrades to clear the room of heartless.

They worked well together as they performed combos of magic and physical attacks.

They kept doing this as they went deeper within the castle.

At one point, Riku came to a stop.

"What's wrong?" Mickey asked.

"He's here" Riku said.

"I can smell him"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Taiyouko asked.

"Let's go"

She was about to leave, but Riku stopped her.

"I go alone from here" he said.

"You both just stay here until the fight is over"

Taiyouko pouted a bit, but obliged.

She knelt down to his level and gave him a big hug.

"You be careful now, ok?"

Riku gave her a one armed hug in return.

"I will"

He took a step forward and looked at his friends.

"I'll be back" he said.

They both nodded and watched as he left them.

/

Riku came into the next room and stopped.

"I can smell you, Ansem" he said.

"Show yourself"

Ansem chuckled darkly before appearing.

He smirked coldly at his prey.

"I have watched you fight" he said.

"I know your strength. Your skill with darkness has grown. It has become more mature"

He frowned.

"And yet, why…why do you accept darkness-but still refuse it? You know you and I are similar. We both follow where the darkness leads. Indeed, we are the same, so why? Does some part of your heart still have a fear of the dark?"

Riku shook his head.

"That's not it" he said.

"The truth is…"

He pulled out his Soul Eater.

"I just can't stand your foul stench"

Ansem smiled coldly at him.

"You are a fool" he said.

"You should know my powers well by now"

"Yeah, I know" Riku said.

"Or did you forget? I used all the power you had to give-and Sora and Hikari still beat me. I'm not at all impressed with your powers!"

Ansem just chuckled.

"Very well" he said.

"In that case-you shall sink into the abyss!"

Darkness erupted from his being and engulfed the whole area.

Riku soon found himself within the realm of darkness.

He quickly jumped out of the way when someone tried to slam their fist on him.

He looked to see that Ansem had his dark guardian with him and was floating above the ground.

Ansme grinned wickedly as he folded his arms.

Riku gripped his Soul Eater tightly as he faced him.

This would be his final battle.

This would determine if he had control of the darkness that was in his heart.

Ansem started the attack.

He made his guardian attack while he floated off at the side.

Riku blocked all of the guardian's attacks and pushed it at bay until it retreated back towards Ansem.

This was all that Riku needed.

He lunged at Ansem and started fighting.

He felt his chest burning from the control Ansem had over it, but he didn't care.

If he was going to beat him, he had to live through the pain.

This was the only way he could win.

"If I don't beat Ansem" he thought.

"I'll become his puppet again. And if that happens…then I'll never see my friends again"

Just thinking about all of his friends pushed him farter.

He fought twice as hard and deflected all of Ansem's attacks.

"You won't win!"

This went on for a few minutes.

Finally, Riku got the upper hand and landed the finishing blow to Ansem.

The seeker of darkness let out a painful grunt.

They returned back to the castle, where they faced off with each other.

Ansem held his chest as he weakly glared at Riku.

Riku held his Soul Eater up, ready to finish him off once and for all.

Ansem formed a ball of dark energy and threw it at Riku.

"Insolent brat!"

Riku blocked it with his sword and glared at him.

"Ansem!"

He ran at him and hacked right through him.

Ansem let out a strangled cry.

Riku gripped his sword, not even bothering to see the damage he had done.

It was over.

"This is the end" he said.

Ansme staggered a bit.

How could he have lost to a brat like him?

A child who wielded the power of darkness, but wouldn't use it.

"This…is hardly…the end…" he rasped.

"Your darkness-I gave it…all to you…my dark shadow… lingers…someday…someday…I will return!"

With that, he erupted into a mass of darkness, blanketing everything in sight.

Riku got caught up in it and was thrown into the realm on nothingness.

The last thing he thought of before he blacked out were those who were dear to him.

"Hikari…Sora…Kairi…"

As he was floating, Hikari's good luck charm glowed.

That triggered Mickey and Taiyouko to come to his Riku.

"Gosh, Riku. We know you wanted to do this alone…" Mickey said.

"But you don't mine a LITTLE help, do ya?" Taiyouko added.

They wrapped his arms around their shoulders and brought him back to the realm of light.

/

With Ansem out of the way, the three of them finally made it towards the entrance of the castle.

"Finally" Taiyouko said.

"I was starting to get sick of seeing only white"

Riku chuckled slightly at that.

King Mickey looked at him.

"So, Riku…what happens next?" he asked.

"Are you going home?"

Riku stopped walking and looked at the floor.

"I can't go home-not yet" he said.

He looked at his hands.

"It's still here. It's really faint, but I can sense him. So I think his darkness may still have a hold on me"

"Your darkness belongs to you" Taiyouko reminded him.

"Just the same way your light does"

Mickey nodded.

"Up till now, I thought darkness was something that should never exist" he admitted.

"Then, I spent time with you and changed my mind. The road you chose-I didn't know. Light and dark, back to back. With you, I think they might meet in a way nobody's seen before"

He smiled and held out his hand.

"Wonder where that road leads. I'd like to see myself. I'd like to walk the road with ya"

Riku looked touched.

He knelt down so he was eye level with the King.

He gripped his hand tightly.

"Your Majesty. I'm really flattered…I don't know what to say"

Mickey laughed.

"Gosh, Riku. You know you don't have to call me that now. We're pals"

Riku grinned.

"Fair enough…Mickey"

Taiyouko pouted playfully.

"Hey, what about me?" she asked.

"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?"

Riku chuckled and stood up so he was facing her.

"It wouldn't be a journey without you, Taiyouko" he said.

"After all, we're a team until Sora and Hikari wake up"

He held out his hand to her.

"Let's make this an interesting journey"

Taiyouko looked at his hand for a moment before grinning.

She simply pulled him into a big hug.

"You should know by now that I'm a hugger"

She let him go and brushed the hair out of his face.

"Plus, I love to pamper children, so expect to be messed with"

Riku chuckled as he gently swatted her hand away.

He suddenly remembered something that she told him.

"Hey, Taiyouko. Remember that story you told me a while back? The one about light and darkness?"

She nodded.

"Yep, and how a light will always shine within?"

"Right"

"What about it?"

Riku ran his hand through his hair.

"I've been thinking about what my light would be, and I finally figured it out"

Taiyouko looked happy.

"What is it?"

Riku blushed a little.

"This may sound cheesy…but it's Hikari" he said.

"She's always been there for me, before and after we left the islands. Even when I sided with the darkness, she never gave up on me. She even sacrificed herself for me"

He gripped her good luck charm.

"As long as I think about her and of the promise we made, then the darkness will never get to me. I'll just think of her smile and then I'll be ok"

Taiyouko giggled.

"You're right, that did sound cheesy" she said.

"But that also shows how much she means to you"

Riku smiled.

Mickey started walking towards the door.

"Well, let's get out of this place"

Thy nodded and followed the king out of the castle.

/

The dirt roads were lonely and barren that night.

But that all changed when three individuals walked down one of the many dirt paths that littered the ground.

Riku and King Mickey wore the black cloaks that Diz gave them while Taiyouko wore a long black shawl over her shoulders.

She would have stood out in her white dress otherwise.

When they came to a cross road, they stopped.

Diz stood in the middle of the road and looked at them.

Riku have him a hard look.

"What are you making me choose now?" he asked.

"Between the road to light-and the road to darkness" Diz said.

Riku smirked.

"Neither suits me" he said.

Taiyouko and Mickey looked at him.

Riku started walking towards the middle road.

""I'm taking the middle road"

They both followed after him.

Diz looked over his shoulder.

"Do you mean the twilight road to nightfall?" he asked.

Riku stopped.

"No" he said.

He looked back at Diz.

"It's the road to dawn"

/

With Castle Oblivion in shambles and its ruler destroyed, many events had happened after that.

The road that Riku and the others took had lead them to the caverns of Hollow Bastion.

Everything was fine as they walked, but Riku suddenly felt pain in his chest and had to stop.

Mickey and Taiyouko panicked and rushed to his side.

"Are you ok?" Taiyouko asked.

Riku nodded and stood up straight.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry"

He started walking again.

Mickey and Taiyouko looked at each other sadly, then hurried after Riku when he was getting to far away.

/

In the market place of Twilight Town, a young woman with long black hair tied up into a pony tail and purple eyes walked through the streets.

As she did, Axel came up to her and held out the moon shaped necklace that he held onto.

The woman looks shocked and hugs him tightly while he chuckles at her.

They end up sitting on the town's clock tower, eating ice cream and catching up with each other.

/

With Namine and Diz, they watched as Sora and Hikari slept.

Namine held onto her sketchbook and looked at the image that Hikari made for her before she went to sleep.

/

On a different part of Twilight Town, two siblings were walking down the street.

One was a female who had shoulder length black hair that covered half of her face and had part of her hair pulled back into a small pony tail and had green eyes.

The brother had spiky dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

The two of them caught up with their friends and chatted for a while before heading towards the clock tower to look at the sunset.

Beyond the path without you

Is a forgotten promise to keep.

We may have walked side by side,

But now we go on back to back.

And though our paths may not cross,

All paths are connected somewhere.

When I arrive at where you are,

We may not appear to be as we were…

But we'll make another promise to keep.

Another side another story was about to begin.

/

A/N: And there you have it. I bet you're wondering who these new people were that I introduced at the end of the chapter. You'll find out in the next story.

Thank you again for reviewing this story, you guys are awesome.

Please send your reviews and I'll get the next story posted up ASAP.

Ja ne!