IMPORTANT NOTE: A friend, intheyasha, and I are sorta co-writing this. Kinda. Almost like an rp. Anyway, I write a certain amount and then send it to her and then she writes the amount she feels is right and send it back and we decided to post it because... we felt like it. However, the fact that its being written by two different people with two different styles without editing means the flow... probably won't be the greatest. All the odd chapters will be written by me and the evens by her. We'll try to not make the change too jarring but i figured teh warning would still be a good thing lol. It also means that we don't know whats coming next any more than you guys (cuz of course we post as we write lol). This is only posted on my account cuz I wrote the first bit, but go check out intheyasha shes pretty darn awesome and onto the story.

For all appearances, everything was over. Done. They had fought the good fight, and they won. Sora thought… He always thought everything would go back not normal. Riku, Kairi, and him, playing on the island like they used to. It wouldn't be exactly the same. It couldn't. While they were gone, Kairi grew up and they did too, but Sora always believed they'd find a new normal.

He never really considered not being able to go back.

Maybe it was childish, and stupid of him, but Sora had never not been able to. The doors had always presented themselves- sometimes with instructions and sometimes without. All he had to do was walk through. This time there was no door. There was no choice. No enemy to go back and fight, nothing to unlock or lock, nothing to find. Still, Sora had wanted to try. He had never been happy just leaving things as they were. Not when there where things he could improve on, get better at. Riku had always been the best, and Sora always strove to challenge that, to beat that. Riku was the calm patient one who waited.

"If this is what the world truly is…" The soft words caught Sora off guard, catching his attention. Riku was always random like this. He could be silent for hours or more talkative than Selphie on sugar. "… just this… maybe I should fade back into darkness." It was the last thing Sora wanted. All this time… as much as he looked for Kairi, he looked for Riku. Perhaps even moreso. Riku became lost easily and Sora hated that he never seemed to need Sora the way Sora needed him.

Sora needed Riku to come with him. This ocean, it wasn't endless. The rocky edges of the beach- something had to be beyond them. There maybe have been nothing left to fight, and this may have been the end, but it wasn't the end and some vital part of Sora could sense that.

It would be the end if Riku wasn't with him though. Now that he had him back… now that he was here and close enough to touch, Sora couldn't lose him again. He hadn't been strong enough to grab Riku's hand back on Destiny Island. He wasn't that weak anymore and he wouldn't let Riku go again. "Riku…" Sora started, trying, hopeless to find the words that would stop Riku from giving up and going back to the darkness. Sora didn't know how to follow him there. Riku had adjusted himself to the dark, saturated himself in it. Sora had done the same with light, let it fill every part of his being, swelling his heart and pouring into his very soul. Xemnas had been right that light and dark needed each other. Sora supposed it was part of why he needed Riku.

Riku sat up, slowly, rising to his knees instead of all fours. Sora watched him, all too cautious of Riku's injury. Riku hated appearing weak and if Sora wasn't quick enough, Riku would be face first in the sand again without a sound. He spoke, breaking Sora's faltering thoughts, interrupting the words Sora had yet to formulate. "If the world is made of light and darkness, we'll be the darkness."

It was both a decision and a question. Riku rarely asked questions. Sora always guessed it was part of that thing Riku had against weakness. For someone who knew Riku well, though, the questions were glaring. Could Sora stand to stay here? To give up everything he fought so hard to go back to? Could he truly stand the darkness and all the shades of gray within it? Did Riku, his darkness, mean more to him than the light did?

The answer didn't come instantaneously. Sora had dreamed about going back. He had craved it. But… it, it wouldn't be the same without Riku. Without Riku racing him, fighting him, relaxing in the paopu tree listening to every word Sora babbled. The thought of going back without Riku… it brought the feeling of the end so strongly that Sora knew he couldn't bare thought. The words to convince Riku to come with him wouldn't come, and maybe… maybe he had be doing it wrong. Even in the beginning, he grabbed Riku's hand fully intending to pull him back. He had never followed Riku, just to follow. He could try it. He could leave everything for Riku. It would make Riku everything, but Sora guessed that he had been anyway. This would just… deepen that.

Sora sat back, looking over the unending ocean. "Yeah…" He agreed. They could be the darkness as long as he was Riku's light. "The realm of light is safe now. Kairi, the King, and the others are there." He said it for himself- a reminder that the desire to go back was just that, desire. They weren't needed, they didn't have to be there anymore. Besides, it was calm here, with just Riku.

"That's what I mean." Riku told him, and Sora could tell he meant more than the fact that the realm of light was safe. Sora supposed he meant the calm. With just the two of them. "Hey, Sora, can you help me down? I want to get to the water."

The request was surprising, considering that it was Riku asking for help. Then again, Sora helped him walk here, so he guessed he shouldn't be surprised. He didn't think twice before pulling Riku up- there was no way he would have said no.

"Atleast the waves sound the same." Riku said and Sora realized that maybe… Riku wanted to go back too. Part of him wanted what Sora wanted but perhaps he didn't know how to go back anymore. Riku was right, the waves did sound the same. Sora pushed the thought out of his mind. If he thought too hard, he'd look for a way back regardless and doing so might cause him Riku. He continued to the water without saying anything, without pausing. Acknowledging it… it only made the pang of what he agreed to lose that much stronger.

They sat there on the edge of the beach quietly. The shared revelations, shared thoughts of jealousies of each other… Sora could feel the trust between them opening again. It wasn't as though their bond had closed, just become muddled as their paths strayed from each other. The sky was pure darkness, not even a star above. In its own way, it was beautiful in Sora's mind. He had never gotten a chance to see the sky without the stars and it was compelling, enchanting, almost calling you within it's depth. Closing his eyes, he felt the breeze and suddenly he was home. He didn't need Destiny Islands. This strip of beach with its fine gray sand, the familiar scent of salt water, the moisture in the air- it was more than enough.

"Sora," Riku interrupted his thoughts, handing him a paper that came from nowhere. "I think this is for you."

The letter… it was more than proof that they could go home. More than a reminder that someone was waiting for him. It was a reminder that the end, still wasn't the end and that maybe, things weren't so final after all.

A door, brilliant and blinding in it's light, opened in the realm of darkness. As if Sora's realization was all that destiny was waiting for. The door had appeared before him and all he had to do was walk through it. He'd be home again.

"Light." Riku.

"The door to light…" Sora confirmed. He jumped up, holding a hand out, "We'll go together" at the tip of his tongue when he glanced over at Riku. Riku had looked over at him, the quick motion having caught his attention. His face… the only way Sora could describe it was guarded- as if he knew what Sora would say and was trying to protect himself from it. It made Sora look deeper, closer. Riku couldn't be without him anymore than he could be without Riku. He would come if Sora asked, but he wasn't ready. Already the light weakened him, scared him. He didn't really know how to be there anymore. "Riku…" The word was a sigh and Sora wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question but he knew Riku would know.

"I'm not the same Riku anymore." It was true. Sora was the same Sora either. What would it be like going back? What would their parents say? They would ask questions about where they had been- what would they answer? What about Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka? Destiny Islands had moved on without them- was it right to insert themselves in a world that no longer truly had a place for them. The thought scared him. For the first time, Sora was scared to go home.

We'll become the darkness.

Riku's words from earlier rang in his ears. Maybe it was cowardly but if they did, they wouldn't have to go back. They knew where they belonged- with each other. Besides, the darkness that threatened the realm came from here. Left alone… it could become tainted again and threaten the light. Besides, Sora had promised. He had agreed already. Would he go back on his word to Riku again? He was the reason Riku had been forced into the dark and he already had broken a promise to always be with Riku once.

"Let's go Riku." His voice was more forceful than he meant, the strength of his conviction making him tense rather than relaxing him. As if he didn't do it now he'd lose his nerve. Riku's eyes widened. He had probably expected Sora to want to go back. His mouth opened, perhaps to convince Sora otherwise. He rethought his words though, closed his mouth and placed a hand in Sora's.

They turned their backs to the door to the light, heading back towards the rocks and the barely visible plains of darkness. The glimmer of light faded as the door began to close. Turning away, Sora closed his eyes, praying that he hadn't made a mistake. Praying for the door to stay so that he could go back if he chose. Praying that the door dissolved so that he couldn't change his mind and break another promise to Riku.

Riku squeezed his shoulder lightly. It was as if he understood.

And end of part one. So review, let me know what you think!