Summary: When given a second chance, it's always wise to take it, whether you realize you're taking it or not. With old memories forgotten and new ones to make, can Riku Replica enjoy his new life or will old memories resurface to put a damper on the new life that he has?

Warning: There will be some Yaoiness throughout the beginning of the story! Not much … just some.

Hikari: Okay so, I just want to say that this story is based off the Chain of Memories manga. For those of you who haven't read it … it's pretty much the same as the game ((big duh there)) except in the manga ((start reading the story if you don't want to know what happens)) Riku Replica's cause of death was by Naminé's hands. She smashed his heart and he died dead … I know … so sad. So yeah, I just wanted to say that so there won't be any kind of confusion with this chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters mentioned in this chapter.

Second Chance: Default Chapter

"Naminé," – the blonde jumped – "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching over Sora's progress."

"I-I know but …" Naminé sighed as she turned to the lifeless doll, "I feel as if it's my fault that he ended up this way."

"Technically it is …" the male with the fiery hair commented, not making matters any better, "You shouldn't worry about him anymore. His place in life is over, no matter how short it was. You can't change that, Naminé, no matter how hard you try."

"But he didn't disserve this …" Naminé spoke as she gently cupped the doll's face within her hand, "He was special. He had his own heart, his own personality, and I took that away from him. I forced him into a roll he didn't want to play, and now … he's … There has to be something that I can do."

"I know you'd like to think that Naminé but –"

"Please, Axel," Naminé begged, "Please help me …"

The flurry of dancing flames sighed before quickly looking away. Those blue eyes … just looking at them reminded Axel of him. After that, Axel was unable to say no.

"Maybe … there's something in Vexen's lab that can help us," Axel spoke, bringing hope to Naminé's brilliant eyes, "But you have to stay with Sora, got it!"

"Yes, of course," Naminé said with a smile, "Thank you so much, Axel!" With that said, Naminé embraced Axel's torso in an affectionate hug.

"Yeah, yeah …" Axel muttered before gently pushing the girl away, "Get going."

"Right," Naminé said with a nod before running off, a gleeful skip in her step as she disappeared up the stairs.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Axel sighed as he lifted the doll from the ground and disappeared within a portal of darkness.

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"You've got to be kidding me …" Axel muttered after opening the door to Vexen's lab.

The room itself was dark and bleak, and it didn't get any better after he flipped on the lights. It was a disaster area, to say the least, and the longer he looked at it, the more depressed he got about having to dig through all of Vexen's crap in search of his notes. Axel sighed as he pushed a few empty tubes and bottles off a table, breaking them in the process, before gently setting the doll upon its cold surface.

"Well, I better get started …" Axel spoke while cracking his knuckles before digging through the first stack of papers.

Many hours later, Naminé decided to stop by and see how Axel was progressing, only to find him sound asleep at Vexen's desk. Stepping over books and strange devices, Naminé slowly made her way over to the sleeping Axel before gently tapping his shoulder.

"Mmm … eh?" Axel mumbled before spotting Naminé, "Oh … Naminé, I'm sorry I didn't—"

"It's okay, Axel, I'm sure you've been hard at work all day," Naminé spoke, "So, have you found anything yet?"

"No, nothing on the replica, but I have found many doodles having to do with Marluxia's death," Axel replied, "I'm quite fond of the one where his thorny vines are choking him. Wanna see? I've been saving them."

"Oh … no thank you," Naminé shyly replied, "I just wanted to see how the search was going."

"Right … I'll get back to work …"

"It's okay, Axel, rest a little longer if you feel like it," Naminé said with a soft smile before cautiously leaving the room.

Axel wasn't stupid, he could see past her sweet smile for how she truly felt. She didn't want him sitting around collecting doodles because deep down she was suffering. Every time she looked at the replica it only caused her pain to know that his death was her doing. All she wanted was to right what she had done wrong as quickly as possible. Axel knew this, and what he also knew that Naminé didn't, was that if she continued to suffer on the inside then she may accidentally cause Sora to suffer along with her. He had to find those notes, and fast.

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Naminé sat in silence as she sketched bits of Sora's true memories while at the same time kept an eye on the boy as he slept peacefully within his chamber. The blonde was so involved with her art that she didn't even realize the dark figure that had appeared behind her. Without warning, a handful of papers were waved in front of the girl's face, easily startling the fragile blonde as she dropped her colored pencils and leapt from her chair.

"Oh man … I'm sorry, Naminè. I didn't mean to scare you." Axel apologized, scratching sheepishly at the back of his head.

"I-It's okay," Naminé stuttered as she tried her best to regain her composure, "Are those-"

"Notes? You bet they are," Axel spoke with a wide smile spread out across his face.

"For—"

"The replica? No," Axel spoke, watching as Naminé's hopeful smile disappear, "I'm kidding, Naminé."

"So, those are the notes for creating his heart?" Naminé questioned.

"Yep," Axel replied as he handed Naminé the notes, "I'm leaving you in charge of decoding Vexen's chicken-scratch handwriting."

"It can't possibly be that har- … Oh my …"

"Yeah … Good luck with that."

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"That should do it …" Naminé sighed after finishing off the last touches to the replica's heart.

"So … is he alive now?" Axel questioned, concerned that the doll hadn't bothered to move yet as he poked childishly at his arm.

"He should be …" Naminé spoke before leaning down and placing her delicate ear against his chest, "Yes. It's faint, but I can definitely hear a heartbeat."

"Great! So … what now?"

"First I need to suppress the memories of the events that happened here," Naminé began, "Then, if it's okay with you, could you send him to a world far away from here, so that he can begin a new life?"

"Sure, I can do that. No problem," Axel replied as he scratched absently at his left cheek, "So you're just going to send him off somewhere with no recollection of who he is or where he came from?"

"I think it would be easier to give him no memories than false ones," Naminé sighed, "At least then he can just think it's amnesia and move on with his life, creating new memories that he can cherish. I don't want him to be fooled by false memories for a second time … not after what happened …"

"I see … I suppose you have a point …" Axel agreed, "What about a name? You can at least give him that? Maybe something like … Siru!"

"I think I'll just leave it as Riku," Naminé giggled at Axel's enthusiasm.

"Awww … You're no fun."

"There … it's done …" Naminé breathed a small sigh of relief, "Send him somewhere nice, Axel."

"I'll do my best …" Axel promised before summoning a portal of darkness beneath the boy.

"I wish you many happy memories, Riku," Naminé whispers before gently kissing the doll's forehead.

"Make us proud, son," Axel teased.

Both of the Nobodies watched with smiles on their faces as Riku's body slowly sank into the abyss of darkness where he would soon start on a new journey … A new life … where he could be himself.

Hikari: So, how was that for a first chapter? Pretty spiffy, huh? … -coughs- Anyway, in the next chapter we get to see where Axel sent him! Yay!! Sadly, there will be no more Axel or Naminé ... Awww ... so sad. Okay so, the name Siru comes from Sora and Riku. SoRa + rIkU SIRU. The name was one of the names rumored to be Roxas's name before they revealed it. –giggles- I just felt like putting that in there for some odd reason … I guess to show how much Axel is obsessed with Roxas. XP So yeah, that's all. Review if you feel like it!

((By the way, if you hadn't noticed, I'm not the best speller in the world, so I would greatly appreciate it if anyone or everyone corrected anything that they spotted throughout the chapters. Thank you for you time!!))