Author's Note: This fic may or may not contradict specific information from the Kingdom Hearts plot, because I haven't yet gotten to play the games all the way through. I recently got a copy of KH 1 (for Christmas) and 2 (because I insisted!) but so far, I've barely met Donald and Goofy and taken my first Gummi Ship flight. But hey, that's okay with me! I wasn't about to wait around to write this, once I thought of the fic idea. So it's based on the wide assortment of spoilers I've seen over the past few years (yeah, I've been a Kingdom Hearts fan since soon after it came out, I just never got the actual games until now) and if my fic doesn't match up with something I don't know yet about the canon setting, I'm perfectly happy to just consider my story an AU fanfic.

I don't know if Riku's parents have names in the KH games themselves, so I'm calling them Azule and Coro. If they really are supposed to have other names, just look at it as another bit of unintentional AU. :)

It had been very hard, Riku's father remembered, when Sora and Kairi had come back to the Destiny Islands alone last year. Riku, who had disappeared in the same night's storm that they had, was not with them when they knocked solemnly at the door of the little house where Riku's family lived.

All that his son's friends had been able to tell Azule and his wife Coro was that Riku had been trapped and hurt, protecting Sora and Kairi with all the courage and goodness of his soul.

"Riku... wasn't able to come home with us," Sora had finally said, sounding far too much as if he somehow blamed himself. And Kairi had only looked down, her eyes filled with unhappiness.

But now, everything was finally all right. After all their months of praying and hoping, and crying together in the night when hope was almost too painful to bear, Riku was finally, really here.

It had only been minutes ago that he appeared at the door, taller and stronger than they remembered him and seeming a little quieter than before, but as overjoyed to see his mom and dad as they were at his return. Now they were all standing in the lamp-lit living room together, trying to get over their amazement and joy enough to talk.

"Riku. You're home safe." Coro finally spoke. Azule couldn't see his wife's face because it was pressed against Riku's shoulder as she stood and hugged him close, but her voice held the intensely relieved happiness of any parent whose child had come through danger safely. Azule's own heart felt ready to burst with the same feeling.

Riku's too-serious face suddenly broke into a dazzling grin. "Yes, Mother, I finally am. It's been a long way, but I've made it."

Azule looked carefully at his son. Even now, with his own strong arms wrapped tightly around his mother, and grinning in that same honest, sincere way that he'd always had ever since he was a little boy, Riku seemed almost distracted. His eyes were bright and sparkling with happiness, but they also looked just a little bit unfocused, as if part of his mind was staring off into some unseen distance.

"You know, you're different. Are you sure you're all right?" Azule asked him in concern.

Riku's expression went serious again. "Yes, I'm fine. I've traveled through the darkness, and I've conquered it - with the help of a lot of very good friends. The darkness is a part of me now." Coro looked up in alarm, but Riku shook his head.

"But don't worry, I'm still your Riku. There's no evil in my kind of darkness anymore." Riku smiled. "It's the same kind of darkness that's part of the dawn. You know, like how the light rises through the dark sky? And it wouldn't be beautiful or right if there wasn't darkness around the sun. That's what the dawn is, and that's what I'm like now. So, yes... I really am home safe."

Coro released her son from her arms and stepped back to look at him. She searched his face for a long moment, then smiled. Azule knew her well enough to realize that her fears for Riku's spirit were completely gone.

Looking at his son's proud face and dignified eyes, Azule studied him closely, trying to find what it was that had reassured Coro so completely. There was, as Riku had said, no trace of evil to be seen in him. But it was more than that. Riku seemed even stronger and more assured than before he left home, even though he had always been as bold and confident as any child Azule knew. And that's what it is, Riku's father thought, as his face lit up with a relieved smile of his own. Riku was a confident child, but now...

"I think I understand," Azule said at last. "This isn't some terrible change that's come over you, after all." He clapped his tall son on the shoulder, then looked straight into his eyes with a feeling of deep respect. "You've grown up."