Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, there would be shounen-ai. Lots of it. And it would probably end up rated NC-17. Riku might never have worn a shirt. Ever. Unfortunately, KH belongs to Squaresoft (growl).

BE WARNED: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS AHEAD.

Later, this will probably turn into shounen-ai (or maybe even yaoi), but for the moment, it's neutral. Don't flame what you can't understand.

-Moribund-

The Lighthouse

I kept one hand steady on Highwind's controls and glanced out the window to my left. There hadn't been any Heartless ships for the past half-hour, so I was beginning to believe I was safe. Maybe now I could stop by Traverse Town and track down Donald and Goofy. I smiled fondly. Those two morons had managed to get stuck on a trade ship heading in that direction, and so it had blasted off accompanied by the sound of Donald's furious quacking. It was truly an endearing sight.

Shots bounced against the hull of the ship, and I jerked out of my reverie. An armada of Heartless ships was gaining on my smaller one. No matter. I spun my tiny ship around, and, at my command, the thirty separate blasters I had equipped unconcealed themselves around the ship. The armada slowed somewhat.

Seconds later, a horde of Gummi blocks was floating around where there was once an entire attack force. I leaned forward, spotting one in particular that I'd been looking for, but then felt the repercussions as someone else fired relentlessly from behind. Warnings blared at me from the screens, telling me that the attacker had struck the engine. I frowned. The Heartless were incredibly stupid. Which one of them could know where the engine was, and to strike it in the first place? It could have been an accident—but no, there were repeated shots to the engine. I spun the ship hard, only to sustain blows that sent me into an uncontrollable spin. I managed to get a glimpse of a Heartless ship, but I couldn't recognize it as any of the run-of-the-mill ones. A few more shots bounced flawlessly against the engine, sending me flying forward. My head cracked against the control panel—seemed like that triggered a critical malfunction, or maybe that had already happened—and stars flickered in front of my eyes. Something large and metallic loomed in front of the Gummi ship—great, it must be another Heartless here to finish me off. I was developing a throbbing headache from the control panel; one that threatened to send me under. I had just enough time to steer the ship around the latest arrival before I blacked out.

I woke up to a soft whirring sound near my ear. It seemed like the engine was up and working again, but, I realized as I looked around at the ship, I was in no condition to continue. I glanced out the window and saw something large and metallic, which bore an unmistakable resemblance to the thing I'd last seen. It wasn't a ship, though. It looked almost like a building, suspended in midair (or perhaps mid-space is the better term). When I convinced myself to ignore my bruises, I managed to get out of Highwind. I'd crashed on a small balcony sticking out of the suspended building, right in front of two huge white doors. For a moment, I hesitated. White doors had become something of a bad symbol over the past few months. But I shrugged and started for them, figuring that maybe someone inside had the means to fix my ship.

Gold letters glimmered faintly above the doors, reading "Lighthouse." Interesting. I started for them, reading out a hand for the knob. Just then I heard a distant pounding, and spun, thinking someone was approaching. When I turned my eyes back on the doors, though, I realized that the pounding was coming from inside. It was at a measured pace, very much like some huge heartbeat. Hesitantly, I reached out and grasped the doorknob. The door swung out at me, slamming me in the face. I didn't have a chance to react before I realized I was inside the room. Riku stood before me, his eyes slowly glazing over. "Sor..." he started to say, taking a step towards me. His hand stretched out towards me imploringly, not like the cold, distant gesture of before. But then he grimaced, leaning forward and crumpling slowly to the floor. Silver strands of hair bounced delicately for a moment, and then lay still. His face was pale—I didn't want to believe he was dead, but it looked to be that way, even though there was no visible wound.

I wanted to shout his name and run to him, turn him over and brush the hair out of his face. Had I done this somehow? And what had I done? Was it reversible? And yet, even as I wondered these things and yearned to go to him, I didn't. Instead, I raised the Keyblade high. "This ends here," said a voice that was not my own, bringing the weapon down on Riku.

A gasp escaped my lips and I stepped back, releasing the doorknob. I tried to reorient myself, wonderment aligning my thoughts. Had that really just happened? It passed by so fast. The door gave off a distant sparkle, as though it had some dark secret clasped to its chest—a secret it didn't want to share with me. I stepped back a little more, starting for Highwind. I didn't want to pass through those doors, and I didn't want to think about what might happen to Riku if I did.

A scream rang out above me. I looked up quickly, tracing the source to the window near the top of the Lighthouse. "Riku!" I shouted, recognizing his voice. I ran for the doors and seized both knobs, pushing them open as one. The room around me was familiar in the sense that I'd seen it only moments ago, but I didn't have the time to think about that. I ran for the pearl-colored stairwell in the center of the room. It curved up through the Lighthouse like a corkscrew, void of railing or walls around it. Stairs coasted past my feet ten at a time, each curve catching me off guard. I was getting very high up now, and I really didn't want to think about what I might look like if I fell, but I still used all the speed I could muster. Finally, a door loomed before me. I tripped on the last stair and very nearly made the entire exertion a waste of time, but managed to regain my balance and run down the narrow walkway to the door.

The first color to reach my eyes was red. It was the color of blood, and seemed to be the exact same texture as well, having spilled in droplets on the floor. Riku was in one corner of the room, his bloodstained hand pressed over his arm, which was still bleeding profusely. His Keyblade—the one I'd seen when I fought him as Ansem—was lying nearby. There was a boy standing in front of Riku, blond-haired, with his back to me. The Oblivion glinted darkly in his right hand, and the Oathkeeper sparkled on his left. He turned slowly, cold blue eyes meeting mine. "Sora," he said slowly. "I was beginning to wonder when you would show up here."

I stared at him in horror, taking in the scenario. Riku, leaning against the wall, began to sink to the floor. It was clear he was suffering from blood loss. "You...how could you—!" I shouted, running at the stranger in blind fury. The Ultima crossed blades with the Oblivion, and I had to move quickly to keep from being gutted by the Oathkeeper. The boy was quicker than I was—it seemed almost like he was predicting my movements and acting before I did. His fashion seemed oddly familiar. Soon I found myself also making a few assumptions that proved true, but he clearly knew how to use both Keyblades. I was sustaining more and more serious scratches, and eventually I backed off for a while. "Who are you?!" I demanded harshly when I caught my breath again.

He spread his hands invitingly. "You don't know me? You can't remember?"

I stopped short and almost forgot to breathe. Clear as day, I remembered the voice in my mind as I wandered the halls of Hollow Bastion as a Heartless. It was that voice, explaining to me relentlessly, that had almost caused me to turn back, to submerge myself in darkness. And now, using that voice, there was a boy who knew my every move—because he was a part of myself.

"Here we go—now you recognize me," he said easily. "And I think you know what I want from you."

"I'll die first!" I shouted, raising the Ultima.

"So be it," he replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. Then we were fighting again, three Keyblades spinning with varying lights as they clashed together. I was growing increasingly fearful, knowing that he was focusing on either hurting me or killing me this time. And also, my movements were growing sloppy with fatigue. The bursts of anger I'd felt before were clogging my senses, making it harder to focus on the spinning Keyblades. Unexpectedly, the Oblivion slashed across my chest and I crashed against the wall. The stranger stood before me, raising the Oathkeeper. "I'll give you the choice, Sora. If you don't have the will, you won't block this blow, and we'll be bound together again."

I felt helpless to stop him. Pain coursed through my body, and my hands shook with what I interpreted as fear. Why was I so afraid? Was it because he would change me, make me different from what I was? Was that really so bad?

'Yes it is!' was the shout that plagued my mind. 'Now quit being stupid, and block him before he plunges you into darkness! You don't want to know what that's like!'

Who was talking to me? A part of me listened, and I feebly tried to raise the Ultima. The boy's eyes glinted, and the Oathkeeper's blade struck toward my heart.

There was the clang of metal against metal, and suddenly Riku was standing in front of me, blocking the Oathkeeper. Both his arms quailed under it, and it was clear he was in terrible pain in doing so. "Do I have to do everything for you?" he asked me, a hint of annoyance in his tone. I managed a frail smile at his familiar form, and struggled to stand. I was growing dizzy from loss of blood, and it seemed as though the stranger was trying to push into my mind as well. Typical, I thought wryly.

Riku broke the lock between the two Keyblades, and I had just enough time to move away before the Oathkeeper struck. Riku had one hand on the wall and was breathing hard as a curtain of blood slid down his injured arm. The boy halted in his assault, looking at something behind me. "I'll come back later, then," he said. I vaguely wondered what the hell he was talking about, but then he turned and started down the stairwell. Something white flickered across my vision even as it failed. I must've been dreaming or something...it looked remarkably like a white Heartless...but that's impossible...right...?

---

Of course, that all happened a few months ago. As it turned out, Donald and Goofy somehow got to the Lighthouse and picked us both up. Apparently some Heartless had tipped them off, and they explained it was a white one. I couldn't imagine why a Heartless was willing to help me—or maybe it was Riku?—for a change, but that doesn't lessen my gratitude. Highwind was put in the shop, even though it seemed like Cid never got around to fixing it.

It was my birthday on the day we left Traverse Town, and it turned out to be a pretty shabby one, in retrospect. Still, now Riku and I were the exact same age, and he couldn't act out the part of the older one anymore. At least, not for two months.

The wound on Riku's arm had turned into what he called a "manly scar," even though it looked like it would go away by the time he turned sixteen. My chest wound was actually less serious in nature, although more dangerous in positioning. Besides losing enough blood to get knocked out, I'd pulled through fine. On occasion, we both bragged about the seriousness of our wounds, even though this usually turned brutal when Riku made an impression of me swooning after the attack.

Anyway, today we left on the ship called Crasher; aptly named, as it was rumored to crash every time it passed Neverland. I thought this was ludicrous, but Riku, with his superior knowledge of darkness, had thoroughly checked Crasher for curses. Donald and Goofy claimed it wasn't true, but I believe it was for this reason that they didn't come with us. "Where to?" I asked Riku later before we lifted off.

"Hollow Bastion—through the warp hole," he explained, shooting me a sideways glance. "I have a feeling we might find some clues there."

"Clues?"

"Where have you been, Sora?" he asked, grinning. "We already decided to go there to find out where that kid came from. You remember—he's the one who tried to kill you?"

"Yeah, I remember him," I said sourly, slumping in my seat. The last thing I wanted to do was come face to face with that person again. Even with Riku's strength on my side, I thoroughly doubted we'd make enough of a match. Although, two Keyblades are better than one...

"I guess you weren't paying attention when we discussed it with Squall," Riku told me casually, flipping a few switches as we started out of the docking bay. "You must've been too busy writhing with agony over your almost completely healed wound." He grinned and pretended to swoon.

I poked his manly scar.

---

A/N: Sorry Sora was so OOC; it just seemed right. And Chrono Cross fans, yes, I ripped that scene (you know which one). Loved doing it, too! CC and KH ROCK! (But Serge is mine. MINE!) Lemme know if you want me to continue this one.