A/N: Thank you, everyone.

Vanilla Reaper

Final Chapter

-Selfless-

He looked beautiful, unmoving amongst the fields of blue roses. Eyes lay closed delicately, hair eternally set in spikes of warm chocolate brown, and hands clasped gently over his abdomen. Riku kneeled over Sora's figure, his fingertips running an imaginary line around his forehead, cheeks, and pink tinged lips. He moved in closer, his mouth hovering a breath away from Sora's cold skin. Riku took a hold of Sora's head and softly pressed a kiss against his lips. The silver haired man remained there in a desperate hope that the kiss would be returned, but it was not to be. Riku pulled back, drove a hand through Sora's hair and stood up.

"I'll see you soon."

The fields of blue roses and their gleaming lights blinked as Riku donned the darkness at his feet. For a second their glimmering shine disappeared, as if afraid of Riku's presence. The souls around him were not at fault, they were all victims conned out of a wish they all wanted granted. How many people had to suffer? How many of them were given cruel tasks and were asked to accomplish the impossible? They gave off a cold feeling, a wave of emotions were being exhaled by the roses' petals. Riku looked to the skies, but instead of a bright night covered in stars, all he could see was the enormity of Eden, the majestic garden.

"Eden requires a password for the pathway to open."

Riku rocketed from the ground, the force scattering the flowers in a frenzied storm. They traveled behind him in streams, fluttering and falling back to the earth. Riku clenched his hands tighter, his eyes veered into slits. Eden was a colossal being unlike anything Riku had ever seen before. Cream colored wings, radiant blues and purples accented with gold decorated every inch of the garden, a cylindrical protrusion descending from the main garden's core. The farther he climbed into the skies, the more the structure grew in size and clearly defined how insignificant it made Riku feel. A crimson cape seemed to encase the cylindrical structure, as if housed on the shoulders of a lithe feminine figure.

"And now, it's time to undo what you've done to me."

He was staring at a long time friend, someone that he knew since childhood. But the woman that had been taunting him, that was not the Rikku he knew. The silver haired man was having trouble recalling what exactly had happened to her. There was the night of a high school party in which she had drunkenly confessed a pining for him. She cried in his arms yelling about the unfairness of it all. She had told him and Sora to leave and so they traveled to the small outer island where they all played on as children. But beyond that, it was as if anything associated with her just…disappeared. Rikku was Sorceress Fabula. That reality was set before his eyes and Riku couldn't deny it. She held Sora with Griever's gunblade to his throat, she was poking fun at him, laughing at his misery. Was that the Rikku he knew? The girl with the colorful beads that cleaned his wounds, that was Rikku? Nothing made any sense to him.

"Warning: Unauthorized energy source approaching."

The words resonated loudly, booming around Riku as he stopped his ascension. Eden wasn't about to let Riku close the distance. He grit his teeth, his senses picking up on a sudden wave of energy collecting above him. Eden was whirling like an engine, its gears grinding together. Riku saw lights popping everywhere, a sea of orbs looking down at him menacingly. He couldn't begin to count them all.

"Shit," he muttered holding up both hands.

They plummeted, a shower of zooming energy particles aiming for him. Riku pooled dark power up into his open palms, his intention being to create a shield against the barrage. He let out a breath, the dark power erupting from his hands. It created a crescent barrier, the descending blasts impacting it. Riku could feel every forceful blow, his shield slowly cracking under the intense shower. There was no indication that Eden was letting up on the relentless assault, therefore forcing Riku to fall back. He touched solid ground, his eyes still latched onto the guardian force.

"I can't get close," he muttered in frustration, "how the hell did the sorceresses manage to get past it?"

He pried his surroundings for a corridor that could connect him to the skies, but anything he could sense would not lead him to where he wanted. Time was ticking quickly, every second that went by was precious. Even if what Sora uttered to him was true, that Eden require a password for the pathway to open, he couldn't underestimate Fabula and the others. Yet even he didn't know what it could be. Sora wasn't able to tell him that crucial clue.

"Don't worry."

He felt a pair of arms surrounding him, clasping together against his chest. Riku continued to look forward, the warm energy embracing him familiar.

"Quistis?"

Her body was emitting a soft glow, ethereal and very soothing.

"I'm sorry for not being there."

"Griever was so worried," Riku replied, "we couldn't detect your presence anywhere."

She lifted a hand to Riku's face. He could see right through her.

"What happened to you?"

"I couldn't tell you everything at first. I was so happy to know that Griever was still alive, but when I realized how it was he had survived so long, I couldn't reveal the truth. I couldn't risk the chance that the sorceresses could find out, even with the power of Mighty Guard."

Riku batted his eyelashes, a smirk appearing. "Is that the only reason?"

Quistis let out a chuckle.

"He's so lucky to have had you around as a partner. You don 't miss a thing, do you Riku? You're quite right, there was another reason, and quite selfish too. I couldn't break it to Griever that I'm no longer a part of this world."

The silver haired man gulped the breath he had been holding onto. "You're dead."

The blonde woman placed her cheek on Riku's shoulder.

"I died in the sorceress attack long ago. Eden did find me, but I was already gone."

"We fought you when we arrived at Balamb Garden, we sensed a living presence," Riku expressed, "How could we not tell?"

"Eden's power prevented you from realizing it. You see, when I died, Eden took my soul into her own being. I became a part of her, but I was allowed to keep my memories and individuality. Balamb Garden was the only home I've ever known, and so I wished to remain here. In these ruins, on a world where there was nothing living anymore, Eden placed a great responsibility on my shoulders."

"Something you couldn't risk the sorceresses finding out," Riku reiterated Quistis' words.

"Right. Your friend Sora informed you that Eden needs a password to open the pathway. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you from the beginning, but even if Griever was a dear friend, I couldn't reveal the truth at the time…"

Quistis removed herself from Riku and hovered in front of him. She held both hands against her chest, closing her eyes.

"The truth is…I was given the password to protect."

The spectacled woman threw her arms to the sides. Her hair grew longer, forming a set of large wings tinted with green. Feathers materialized, creating a short dress with an opening down the front. Quistis looked to Riku intently. She grew closer, drawing her head past Riku and lips pulling to his ear. She mouthed something silent to him, Riku immediately narrowing his eyes. Quistis cradled Riku's face, her body growing faint. A single tear fell from her eyes, falling and staining the earth.

"No matter what happens, don't ever hesitate."

She smiled at Riku before disappearing in a series of lights carrying towards the skies. He reached a hand towards them, the lights passing through his hand. Riku slid a finger diagonally in front of him, a corridor ripping open. It was Quistis' last act of kindness to Riku.

"I'm sorry Riku…you should have killed me when you had the chance."

Riku understood the underlying message in Quistis' words. He was walking along the darkened corridor, the ground beneath his feet unstable and the turbulent waves of negative energy blowing at his sides like maddening rivers. Shaking his head at the thought, Riku continued forward, unwavering. The corridor led him to a cavernous room, pillars of turquoise crystal in perfect order leading to a massive door. Standing before that very door were the sorceresses. Riku dove a hand into the pool of black energy at his feet and elegantly pulled out a scythe. How appropriate for one titled 'reaper.' He cradled the onyx handle and pushed forward. Riku appeared from above the sorceresses, his blade coming down with a hurdling strike. They grinned.

"Don't you learn?"

His attack was parried, sending Riku somersaulting back onto his feet. Riku was staring at Griever, their forms a mirror image of each other. The brunette still held onto his broken gunblade, the very one that only moments ago traveled through Sora's abdomen.

"Please move, Griever."

He raised the weapon at Riku, the words never reaching him. Griever's eyes told Riku the reality of the situation. With a swift series of turns, Riku held the scythe in a threatening response.

"Please," he begged.

Griever lunged for him. Loud metallic shocks carried through the cavernous atmosphere, the pair engaged in a frenzied sortie of blows. Riku gained speed, jumping from one crystal pillar to the other as he swung his scythe. Griever maneuvered easily between the strikes, Riku's weapon managing to only rip the very edges of Griever's dark energy. The silver haired man found himself losing track of Griever for a split second, a split second where Griever appeared behind him. With a hand pressed to his back, Griever summoned a blast of Firaga. The flames bathed him in their destruction, burning away at his backside. Riku couldn't breath, his lungs felt like they were withering away. Collecting darkness into the tip of his scythe, Riku swung it over his head, slicing the flames and allowing him to escape. Plumes of smoke hid Griever in their midst, yet Riku wasn't about to let that stop him. The purple rings in his eyes began to whirl madly, his senses picking up on the brunette hidden in the ashy residue. Riku touched the end of his scythe and performed an arching wave with his hand, a black chain materializing. He gripped the chains with both hands, jumped into the air, and sent the twirling scythe towards the smoke. Riku immediately felt it tethering around something solid and forcefully pulled on the chain. Griever's gunblade came skittering over the floor, the chain wrapped around it. Riku felt his eyes widen.

"You've not giving it your all."

A deep snarl deadened Riku's ears, the hulking mass of black fur coming into view. Griever looked at Riku through acidic yellow eyes, his mouth lined with salivating pointed teeth. A single flap of Griever's wings blew the smoke away, leaving the pair staring at one another. The anthropomorphic lion hovered, his scaly black wings poised proudly. The sight should have left Riku on the defensive, yet he stood there with his arms at his side.

"You taught me everything I know," Riku expressed, "how to fight, use magic, I owe you so much."

Griever dove downwards, the protruding magenta blades on his arms aimed for Riku's neck. The silver haired man pulled back on the chain, collecting it by the fistfuls until the scythe lay in his grasp once more. Griever swung each arm, his blades clanking and reverberating against Riku's scythe. He stepped in a semicircle pattern, each foot twirling like a well orchestrated dance. It carried for several minutes, their pattern becoming one rhythmic motion. Riku could see every opening, every future step that was to come. He felt his eyes stinging, the wetness blurring his vision, but never losing focus on Griever's colossal figure.

"What are you waiting for?"

The lion's chest ripped open, revealing Griever's human form. He reached for Riku, his arms wrapping around his neck. With tears running down his face the brunette placed a kiss against the side of Riku's head.

"You are far stronger than me. Don't insult me. You are beyond them. Don't be scared. You've grown to be so strong. This is nothing for you."

Riku shut his eyes, his teeth digging into his bottom lip as he placed both hands on Griever's naked chest. He looked at the brunette, his eyes flashing their beautiful seafoam green color.

"I don't blame you," he said feeling energy focusing in his hands.

Griever let out a sigh.

"I'm so sorry."

"Hey," Riku replied, hair wafting, "guess who I saw? Quistis. She wanted me to tell you something."

Griever's eyes were quivering, the strain of holding his body back on the brink of breaking.

"What did she say?"

"She and Ellone are waiting for you," Riku whispered.

The brunette leaned back, letting go of everything.

"Thank you, Riku."

Dark Firaga poured from Riku's hands, incinerating Griever in its flames. It blazed, flickered until there was nothing left. He felt the chain holding them together breaking, their junction now severed and fractured into thousands of pieces. They flew around, falling to the ground and skittering across the pristine white floors. Riku's hair cascaded over his facial features, hiding himself from the rest of the world. Blood was dripping from where his nails had been digging into his palms. He was trying to hold onto himself. Riku couldn't show weakness when there were still three devils standing between him and the pathway.

"You cease to amaze me," Sorceress Edea expressed.

"Shut your fucking mouth."

Edea stood transfixed, the other two sorceresses immediately dispersing from her side. She glanced at her hand, touched her face and turned to Riku. He leaned his burnt backside against her frame, his hair falling over her shoulders.

"I've had enough of you."

The sorceress in black split clearly in half before disappearing in a cloud of glittering black smoke. Ultimecia gasped, realizing what had happened.

"How dare you!"

She flung her talons at him, their sharpened points shredding into his chest. Riku withstood the attack, his stare blank. He swiftly clutched Ultimecia by the throat, raising her into the air.

"I'm not afraid anymore," he exhaled quietly, lips inches from Ultimecia's horrified face. "I've always been stronger."

His blade plunged through her chest, blood spilling out from her mouth. Those honey colored eyes faded, lost their luster as she fell back. Ultimecia clutched the end of Riku's scythe, a final smile being offered to the silver haired man.

"What a kute errand boy you made."

Riku remained unfazed, the horned sorceress disappearing in the same plume of sparkling black smoke as Edea. He swung his scythe once, holding it at his side. Riku peered over his shoulder, tongue licking at his bleeding lip. All that was left was Fabula.

"Oh Riku," she swooned, hands clutching her breasts. "You're so beautiful."

"Don't," he replied, blade poised. "your words mean nothing to me."

Fabula craned her neck slightly, eyes set in slits. "How can you say something so cold? To me, your beloved friend?"

"You're not my friend."

The blonde sorceress brought a finger to her lip, biting down on it. "I was always there for you. My entire world was you, why couldn't you see that?"

"The Rikku I knew was kind," Riku said looking down at his hands, "what I see now is nothing but a crazed woman desperate for power."

"But don't you see?" she bellowed out, her voice echoing loudly. "I'm doing this for you."

Riku scoffed. "No…the only person you're thinking of is yourself."

Fabula slinked back against the large door, hands running along the crystal-like material it was made of.

"I'm not like Edea and Ultimecia. They were weak. You wouldn't dare strike me down."

A single eye gazed past a curtain of silver hair. "Then you don't know me at all."

Riku vanished, the sorceress with blonde braids immediately holding up her arms. She cast a protective spell on the length of her arms, Riku's scythe meeting with her enchantment and overbearing her physically. Fabula looked up from a kneeled position, the silver haired man simply standing there as if he wasn't even trying.

"You've caused so much harm," he said to her, each word laced with disdain. "Not only to me, but others."

Fabula let out a breath, her form evaporating and reappearing a few feet away. "I would do it all over again. Even if I had to spend another thousand years doing so."

It was then that Riku laughed quietly to himself. He held out a hand, a soft golden glow within his palm. Fabula looked from Riku's smiling lips to the object in his hand. Riku closed his eyes.

"You don't know anything…for being so powerful, you missed such a simple thing. And to think, it was his idea."

A piece of paopu fruit lay in his hand, a golden aura exuding from it. Riku simply held it there.

"But who's to say it can't be shared by more than two?"

A gentle look caressed Riku's face. "That day, he told me you hated him. You should have seen him, how much it affected him. Sora loved you just as much as he loved me."

It was a disgusting warmth Fabula felt seeing Riku's open palm. She hid away behind her pale yellow robes, gaze teeming with a glossiness.

"That's not true."

Riku closed his hand and brought it up against his heart. "He wanted to share a part of it with you. He saved you a piece."

"It's all a lie," Fabula expressed, "it won't stop me"

Riku clenched his scythe. "The pathway won't open for you."

He sounded so sure of himself it sent a shiver up Fabula's spine. She glared at him.

"You haven't learned your place."

Riku whirled his scythe elegantly. "Try me."

Her robes disappeared, lavender dress shortening into a skirt. She blew a breath into her hands, a pair of daggers appearing. Fabula adopted a fighting stance, her back arched and weapons ready.

"Have it your way."

She heaved forward, daggers whirling past Riku's scythe and snipping at his face. Riku reacted accordingly, craning his neck back and to the side in order to avoid her dangerous points. Fabula plunged downwards, kicking her leg in a wide arc and slamming into Riku's ankles. He came barreling backwards, his arm twisting on itself as he used it to keep him balanced. Fabula didn't give him a moment to counter, her speed accelerating and coming from the sides in a blur.

"I'm not as demure I appear."

Riku sliced the ground, sending dark flames erupting upwards and stopping Fabula's stride. She blew out a powerful Blizzard spell, crystallizing the fire in ice and shattering them with a well performed kick. The air filled with a cold fog, their surroundings encased in the shrouded mist. Fabula remained alert.

"Did your words mean nothing? Are you so scared to face me?"

She sensed his presence and plunged her daggers to the side, smiling. To Fabula's surprise, her attack met with nothing but empty air. She immediately performed a pirouette, encasing herself in Protect as she was met with an assortment of strikes. She managed to fend most of them off, but in her position she couldn't move. Riku was running circles around her, scythe beating into her spell and overpowering the defenses. Fabula was forced to fall back, somersaulting into the air as she summoned a powerful magic.

"Flare."

Riku's enhanced eyes could see the formation of the explosion and brought up a wall of dark energy. The spell was cast, the entire room bathed in a series of violent reds and oranges. He held his scythe out in front of him, the force from Flare eating away at his protection. It came and went in a matter of seconds, the cavernous room now burning. Fabula stood in front of him, her daggers gripped tightly. Riku wiped at the perspiration building on his forehead.

"Your dark powers are impressive," Fabula complimented, "seeing them grow so quickly was almost frightening."

"What's the point in flattering me?" he replied materializing a chain at the end of his scythe.

The sorceress licked her fingertip. "You just don't realize how beautiful you look."

Riku threw his spinning scythe at Fabula, immediately pulling the chain in an arc as she tried to jump away. In her attempt to avoid it, the blade dug into her right arm, forcing a scream out of the sorceress. Blood coursed in rivers, her hair face now pale. A green light spiraled out of her mouth, the Cure spell mending her wound. She looked to Riku, his form bathed in dark energy.

"This is pointless," Riku said watching the once pristine room now tarnished and burning.

"Silence," Fabula replied heaving in gobs of air, her chest expanding. "You haven't even seen me touch a tenth of my power."

Her hair elongated, falling down her back. The lavender skirt dissolved, small patches of white material materializing and barely covering her intimate areas. Those steely blue eyes of her turned golden, matching that of her former companions. She licked a finger, her tongue running along the length. The air around her seemed warped, crackling even. Riku took notice and felt his heart beating on a much quicker pace. Her entire aura seemed completely different, brimming with a dangerous vibe. She smiled at him.

Riku felt the impact, his mouth gaping. A second strike hit him against the face, sending him plowing back into a crystal pillar. He shook his head furiously, got up to his feet as he looked upon Fabula's lithe figure. Her footsteps weren't touching the ground.

"You forced Namine to use an ability called Trance," she began, "it allowed her to tap into a collected power built from a surge of emotions."

She lashed out at him, a whip of multicolored energy smashing into his scythe as he held of the attack.

"Can you even begin to imagine what kind of emotions I've felt? The kind of power that I've collected?"

Riku collected chain into his hand and swerved it from side to side, hitting the whips of energy that continue to come in his direction. He studied her for a second, watching for any openings he could take advantage of.

"I will win," Fabula continued, growing every closer to Riku, "even if I have to kill you, once I gain access to the center of existence, I will bring you back at my side."

Her whips took a hold of Riku's hands, pinning him against the pillar. Fabula placed both hands on his strong shoulders, small gasps leaving her. She caressed his face, drew a finger along his wounded lip. Riku simply looked at her.

"You will belong to me and only me," she whispered into his ear.

It was Riku's turn to smile at the sorceress. "You really don't know anything."

The darkness at his feet shot upwards, a multitude of swords and scythes impaling Sorceress Fabula. Her honey colored eyes looked at Riku in awe. Blood spilled from her mouth, this time there weren't breaths of curative spells. The blades disappeared, pooling back into the abyss beneath Riku's feet. Fabula clutched onto her long blonde hair, crimson seeping into every strand.

"How-how-could you-"

"You said Trance is based on collected emotions," Riku expressed, his eyes looking to the ceiling. "It was you who should have thought…just what emotions I have experienced."

The sorceress fell to her knees. "Your darkness…that's your Trance."

Darkness exhuded from him in droves. There was the slightest trace of sympathy in his features. He walked past Fabula's fatally wounded form, his footsteps echoing throughout the cavernous room. Walking up the small flight of stairs to the crystalline doors, Riku stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Eden needed a password for these doors to open," he explained placing a hand against them. "But as I stand here and think…you would have never figured out what it could have been."

Fabula's tears mixed in with the coursing blood. "Aren't you special?"

Riku gazed at her, images of a gapless toothed Rikku funning after him in the elementary school playground. He watched as Fabula slowly swerved from side to side, her lungs gasping for a final breath. She fell into the pool of blood around her, those orbs of honey gold turning to a dull blue. Riku gulped the lump in his throat, concentration now on Eden's doors.

"This is it, Sora," he said to himself, "we'll be together soon."

Riku breathed in deeply, his mouth forming the word.

"Selfless."

"Let's go home," Sora quietly said, leaning against the strong, tall frame of his boyfriend.

It was at that moment that a figure came barreling down the street and roughly brushed against Sora's back. The impact forced him against Riku, the taller man losing his balance and tumbling slightly over before using a hand to catch himself against the wall.

"Oh, I'm really sorry," came the stranger's voice.

Riku would normally lay into the guy and tell him off, yet there was something about the man's words that seemed sincere. Sora helped Riku regain his balance as the pair looked at the taller brunette.

"That's okay," Riku replied cradling Sora's frame. "we'll be going now."

"Have a nice night," Sora added as they began to walk away. The spiky haired man stopped when his foot stepped on something and bent down to pick it up. It was an identification card, the picture telling him it belonged to the man that had bumped into them. Sora turned to him, offering his extended hand.

"You dropped your ID."

He accepted it without a second thought. "Ah, thank you, I was on my way to meet up with some friends at the bar. I would have been screwed without this."

"You have an odd middle name," Sora quipped in with a smile.

The taller brunette laughed. "Yeah, my parents were fond of fairytales and had to add it in somewhere. I prefer it to my first name actually."

Riku raised an eyebrow in innocent jealousy. "Sora, come on, we need to head home."

Sora clasped hands with Riku, using that moment to look to the taller brunette. "It was nice meeting you, Griever."

Riku and Sora walked away, leaving Griever standing on the edge of the street. He looked at the pair, his hands digging themselves into his pants pockets. A short woman bearing similar colored hair came up behind him, leaning in against his frame.

"They seem to be doing well."

"Yeah," he expressed sadly, "I just wanted to see him."

The woman smiled into Griever's side. "We owe him everything. Riku reached the center of existence and instead of thinking of only himself, he thought of everyone else."

"He asked for a new beginning," Griever continued. "Undoing everything that had happened up until that point. Everyone who was a victim to the sorceresses, they've all been reborn into the flow of Destiny Islands."

The woman looked up with a cheery face. "It's not so bad living in Destiny Islands, is it?"

Griever shook his head, returning the smiling gesture. "Not at all, Ellone. Even if Riku can't remember who I am, he wanted me to be a part of this world, his world. I just don't understand how we're able to recall the past."

"Heart," Ellone confirmed for him. "The heart remembers things our minds can't. Give it time, if he considers you a good friend, he'll remember. Strong bonds like yours can't be broken even with absolute power."

"You think so?" he asked

She laughed. "Of course. Now, come on, Quistis is waiting for us at the bar."

Further along, Riku and Sora continued walking, hand in hand. The brunette looked over his shoulder, his eyes scanning the spot where Griever had run into them.

"Something wrong?" Riku asked.

"No," Sora said cradling a white rose, "just tired."

Riku held onto something in his pocket, a broken junction chain glowing softly. "Yeah...it's been a long day."

-Vanilla Reaper-