Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all related content is the property of Square Enix and/or Disney.

Author's Notes: I've always wanted to try my hand at a somewhat long KH Riku-centric fic with a sturdy plot and here it is. Please be aware that the main pairing in the fic is a homosexual one, as in male/male, so if that offends or bothers you, perhaps you should read something else. Also, keep in mind that this is not a lemon so if you're looking for a steamy love-making fest, you won't find it here. Sorry if any of that sounded particularly harsh – I just don't want any confusion. Now enough chitchat, on with the show!

BEYOND THE MORNING
Chapter 1 – Message in a Bottle

If someone had told Riku he was scared of the dark two years ago, he would've probably knocked their teeth in with a toy sword. But he'd grown some since then, tripped and fallen several times over himself, and somehow, he'd made it home in one piece. That is if one didn't take into account his bruised ego or ribs, or the fact that he slept with the light on.

His mother had found that strange. She was a single mom and knew her son inside-out or at least, she thought she did. When her son came home that night, wet and smelling of salt and sand, she scolded him loudly and instead of responding in his usually biting sarcasm, he had wrapped his strong arms around her and held her for a few moments. She could've sworn she felt hot tears on her shoulder but Riku hadn't cried since he was six and broke his arm and leg after a nasty fall off the top of a shed. She didn't acknowledge the tears or the trembling and neither did he, and then he'd gone up to his room and went to bed – with the light on.

Riku was different after that night. He wolfed down her half-burnt cooking without complaint. He did chores with agility that made her nervous. He completely ignored the computer she bought him after months of begging in favour of being cooped up in his room. And there was the thing about keeping the light on.... Maybe it was a mother's intuition but Hitomi Hamasaki knew the difference between going through a phase and closing off when it came to the boy whose eyes looked too much like those of a man. Too much like his father's before he left the Islands in search of other worlds.

But Kaito had been a foolish man. Everyone knew what happened to people who went in search of other worlds: they never came back.

x x x

He never thought he'd miss the misshapen trunk of the paopu fruit tree or the feel of the warm breeze through his hair. Or his mother's horrible cooking or her half-assed attempts to cheer him up with said horrible cooking. He'd missed his room too but now, he found himself on edge whenever he was in it. It was comfortable enough; cozy even, with its sunshine yellow walls and white and blue plaid sheets, and sleeping on a bed, no matter how small it was now, was a welcome change from the hard ground he was used to. But that wasn't what had him chewing his nails, a habit he thought he'd ditched in elementary school; it was the darkness, brushing his ankles and hissing at him, whispering to him, promising him power and glory and –

Riku forced himself to walk across the worn floor of his room and turn on the light. The whispering and hissing fell silent, and the cold breeze playing at his ankles stopped. He then opened the curtains, letting in the warm afternoon sunshine.

There was a knock at the door. "Riku? Honey, you decent?"

"Y-yeah. Come in." He opened the door.

Hitomi walked in, lugging a large plastic bag that looked half-full. She seemed shorter than he remembered but nothing much else had changed. Her dark hair was long and neat, pulled back with a bandanna, and her eyes were large, and as green as his as they surveyed the room. "Have anything to wash?"

"Er." He did but he wasn't too sure how his mom would react on seeing a series of bloodied and torn tanks. "No – I...my uniform?"

She gave him a look. "It's summer. And besides, you have it all pressed and folded in your closet, remember?"

"Right."

Shaking her head and muttering about forgetful teenagers, she pulled a few dirtied socks off his floor and popped them into the bag. She gave the room one last look-over and turned to leave but stopped, hand hovering over the light switch. "Riku, it's light out."

Riku swallowed. "I – sorry, can I keep it on?"

She turned her head slightly, her eyes meeting his. He could see her thinking something over before she answered. "Sure, honey. Just turn it off when you leave, okay?"

He nodded.

She smiled a little nervously and left, shutting the door behind her.

Riku let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, and fell onto his bed, ignoring the creaking of the mattress under his weight. He took in the pictures on the corkboard at the foot of his bed; Sora and Kairi waving at him, goofy grins on their young faces; a pouting six year-old Riku who had just had a bucket of water poured over him; Sora, ten and sunburned, shoving a dripping popsicle at the camera; Sora, thirteen, laughing, an arm around a smirking Riku.

'Were we really that small?' Riku rubbed his eyes and stretched, glancing at the clock.

Just past five – shit! He'd promised Sora he'd meet him at the paopu tree in less than two minutes. He sprang up, pulling off the ratty shirt he reserved for homewear, and putting on his usual ensemble of black zip-up and white vest. One minute and he'd have a pouting Sora calling him repeatedly. He shook his head – he did not find that endearing, at all. No, of course not.

"Mom, I'm going out!" He called over his shoulder as he propped open the window. It was a risky method but he'd faced giant Behemoths and a psychopath bent on wiping out entire worlds. He'd manage. He pulled himself onto the windowsill.

"Riku Hamasaki!"

"Mom?" He glanced back to his mother gaping at him, a horrified expression her face.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing? Get down. Now."

"I'm late. Gotta run." And he jumped, ignoring the yelp above him.

"Riku!"

He landed on his feet and looked up, squinting in the sunlight. "Look, I'm fine."

"You could've broken your legs!"

"But I didn't. I gotta run, Mom – Sora's waiting."

x x x

Hitomi watched as her son ran off, silver hair and unbroken legs and all. She, by no means, approved of his suicidal techniques for leaving the house but it seemed a little of his old spirit was back. Shaking her head, she pulled the curtains over the open window. Maybe the little monkey would crawl back up!

She made to leave but the photographs on the corkboard caught her eye. She wiped the dust from them and smiled at a much smaller Riku pouting up at her. The last two years had passed in a haze and sometimes she found her relationship with the boy who looked so much like his father fading. Maybe it was part of growing up but Riku's distance worried her. He liked to put up a cool front but she knew there was a moody, confused teenager under that facade of indifference. Or at least there had been. Nowadays, Riku was more interested in gazing out at the ocean than talking about anything substantial.

Hitomi's fingers found another picture, this one tucked away under all the others. She carefully pulled it out; it was a small one of a boy who wasn't Riku. His hair was brown and spiky, his eyes large and blue. He was smiling, though not at the camera. "Sora?" she whispered, holding the picture up to the light. He looked around fourteen in this one, gangly and awkward but so full of life. She didn't remember seeing this picture on the corkboard before....

Sora was Riku's best friend since diapers and as much as Hitomi liked the upbeat if not slightly childish boy, she worried about how much her son had invested in their friendship. She had three sisters growing up, all older, and too often saw 'the look' on their faces. It wasn't anything too obvious but there was nervous edge to their smiles and a trembling to their hands when they were around a certain someone. It had been two years since 'the look' appeared on her son's face. It was a very subtle change and she didn't think anyone else would notice. Hitomi had written off Riku's little crush on Sora as just that: a harmless crush. But sometimes, she wondered if it was more than that, and whether or not Riku saw the way that Kairi girl looked at Sora.

She shook her head and put the picture carefully back in place. It wasn't her place to muddle in her son's love life, only to be there if he needed someone to talk to. She left the room, turning off the light as she did so. For some reason, she did not once see the pile of bloodied clothing peeking out from under Riku's bed. Or hear the whispers that haunted her son rise over the sound of the waves outside.

x x x

Sora was late but that wasn't really a surprise so Riku didn't comment as the brown-haired boy leaned against the tree trunk he was sitting on. It wasn't so much the lack of surprise than it was the fact that Riku's heart beat a little faster. He credited it to the wind that was picking up now that the sun was dipping lower in the light orange of sky.

"Nothing's changed huh?" He said, focusing on the sun and not on the spiky head of hair close to his arm.

"Nope. Nothing will."

Riku didn't understand why his chest tightened at that.

They sat there for a few moments, watching the water ripple and the sun climb lower. Birds called and crickets chirped. The air smelled of flowers and salt. It all seemed so calm here, so simple. There were no forces of darkness trying to take their hearts or revenge-bent villains out for their blood.

Riku titled his head. "What a small world," he mused.

"But part of one that's much bigger," said Sora.

Riku smiled in spite of himself. Leave it to Sora to see the best in everything. "Yeah."

His friend shifted, looking up at him. "Hey Riku...what do you think it was – the door to the light?"

Riku hopped off the trunk of the paopu tree. Chuckling, he tapped a finger lightly against Sora's chest. "This."

The other boy bought his own hand to his chest. "This?"

"Yeah, it's always closer than you think."

Sora blinked and smiled uncertainly.

"Sora! Riku!"

Both boys turned to see Kairi running towards them, something in her hands. She stopped, panting, hands to her knees, head bowed.

Sora moved forward hesitantly. "Hey, what's up?"

Kairi, still out of breath, held out a bottle with what looked like a scroll of paper inside. On the paper was a familiar insignia. "Look."

"From the king?" asked Sora, taking the bottle. He uncorked it before Riku could say anything about checking it for signs of tampering and slid out the paper.

Rolling his eyes, Riku edged closer as did Kairi, and all of them leaned over the paper. The writing was in black ink, smudged in places but otherwise neat and legible, and it read:

Dear Friends,

I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits. You have done so much for the worlds and for that, I and many others are very grateful. But to say that all our problems are solved would be far from the truth. I'm afraid there are still remnants of darkness lurking in the worlds among the stars. In case this letter falls into the wrong hands, I won't say much else except that it is your choice whether or not you wish to embark on another journey. Whatever your answer, please send word in this bottle – it will find its way home as we all do.

In the light, I remain,

Mickey

"Where'd you find it?" said Riku, eyes scanning the letter another time. There didn't seem to be anything cryptic at first glance but you could never tell with Mickey.

"The Cove – on the shore. I was just looking for some shells to make some charms with and then the bottle just appeared in the water," said Kairi, "I saw the seal and thought – I didn't want to open it just in case it was just for you, Sora."

"It seems like it's for all of us," said Sora, grinning, "Sounds like an adventure huh?"

Kairi and Riku exchanged a glance.

Sora looked between his best friends. "What?"

"You're not seriously considering this, are you?" Kairi folded her arms, tilting her head slightly.

"Why not?"

"'cause we just got back, that's why," supplied Riku.

"So?"

"Dude, it's been less than a week and you want to leave? Just like that?"

Sora opened his mouth and then shut it, looking down at the paper in his hands. "It sounds serious," he mumbled, "There could be hundreds of hearts at stake here."

Kairi sighed and placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "I know you feel like you're responsible for taking care of this mess but haven't you done enough, Sora? You missed out on two years of your life –."

"What? I didn't miss anything! Everything's the same, right Riku?"

The silver-haired boy raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything for a few moments. "Look, Sora, I know it's...hard, settling back in, especially with everyone acting like we never left but this is our life now. We don't owe anyone anything."

Sora bristled at this. "How can you say that? The King helped you out of the darkness didn't he?"

"Sora," said Kairi warningly.

Riku clenched his fists – they'd never talked about this and he found he had no desire to tell Sora anything about it. "Whatever happened back...back then, it's none of your business. That's between me and Mick – the King."

"My friends are my business. I can't let them down – I can't let the King down. You two can do what you want." Sora rolled up the letter, shoving it back in the bottle and left in a run.

Kairi and Riku exhaled in unison, chuckling when they both realized what they'd done.

"He's such a hardhead," said Kairi, shaking her head fondly, "Some things never change, huh?"

"It's safe here," said Riku, "I don't know why he'd want to leave."

"Do you want to stay here?"

"What?"

"I...I know things can be hard. When Sora found me –," she pretended she didn't see Riku's slight flinch, "– and I came back, it was as if I was living some else's life. If I said anything the 'other' me wouldn't or did something the 'other' me wouldn't, I'd get funny looks. I felt like everyone was pretending I hadn't ever left."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Sometimes a way out seems easier. It might not be safe out there but it's real, isn't it? There's no pretending like you're someone else – someone normal who knows nothing about keyblades or Heartless." She paused to put a hand on her friend's arm, feeling him tremble. "Maybe Sora feels the same way as you do." She felt him flinch and she nodded slowly, as if confirming something. "Maybe he wants a way out as badly as you do."

Riku looked at her for a moment and smiled, shaking his head.

"What?" she smiled uncertainly. "Something in my hair?"

"Ever considering going into psychology?"

She laughed. "And how would that make you feel, Mr. Hamasaki?"

He gave her a playful tap on the head. "Worried for the mental health of your patients," he replied, mock-serious.

She punched him lightly on the arm. "Oh, shut it you. Go on, talk to him."

"You think he'd be in the -?"

"Secret Place?"

He nodded. "Thanks, Kairi. For everything."

She stepped forward to hug him quickly. "You're welcome. Chin up, Hamasaki."

"Yes, m'am." He smiled down at the redhead. "If I don't come back in an hour, send in backup."

Kairi waved as Riku ran off. "Good luck!"

To be continued...

Author's Notes: And so ends chapter 1. Wow, looking back at it, I realize how long it is. There was a lot to say in this chapter and I hope none of you minded how long it ended up being. Please review and let me know what you think. Thank you for reading.