Hey guys! Not really going to do the whole intro thing, but just an important note for this fanfiction. In this fanfiction, Maleficent is the final boss after EVERYTHING. So there's no Organization XIII, or any of that. It's the same amount of time between KH1 and KH2, but it's only (sort of) following the KH1 timeline, so Riku has the longer hair and all of that good stuff, but they're still fighting Maleficent in Hallow Bastion. Also, this is mentioned in the story too but (STORY SPOILER) Maleficent ends up having Kiari's heart—not Sora.

Alright that's it, enjoy!

Location: Hallow Bastion

Sora was standing across from Riku. Donald, Goofy, and Beast all stood behind him. The air was ice cold but Sora didn't care.

"Riku, why are you doing this? Don't you know what the darkness does to people?!" he asked.

"We've always been rivals, haven't we? You've always pushed me, as I've always pushed you." Said Riku. The words tore at Sora's heart. Riku was a bit taken back when he saw the sadness in Sora's eyes.

"Rivals…?" he asked. Riku didn't say anything. Instead he studied the boy's actions. Sora looked confused. Riku held out his hand until the Keyblade disappeared from Sora's grip and appeared into Riku's. "See?" he said. "You've always been the weaker one."

"But how?!" shouted Sora. "I fought my way here with the Keyblade! You can't just take it from me!" he exclaimed. Riku laughed.

"You were just the delivery boy, Sora. Don't you get it? You aren't cut out for the job." Said Riku. Sora didn't bother to reply. He fell to his knees. "But if you really need a weapon that bad," said Riku as he threw the wooden sword to Sora. It hit him in the head and Sora grasped the place where it hit. "you can use this. Good times, right?" he said. Riku turned and walked away, only for Goofy and Donald to follow. He stared at them in shock. All three of his friends have left him.

"I…" he started to speak. "I just wanted to find you!" he shouted. Riku stopped in his tracks. He didn't turn to face Sora or speak. He just listened. His breath stuttered when he heard sobs come from the boy's mouth. "I just wanted my friends back." He said. Riku and the others left him alone with Beast. Beast got up and slowly began following the others to find Belle. Sora saw how much pain he was in. He ran to Beast's side and stopped him.

"Y-You're hurt." He said. Beast turned to look at him.

"So are you." He replied. Sora frowned. "If you're looking for someone as well, then follow me." He said. Sora hesitated, but he nodded anyway. He grabbed the wooden sword.

"The darkness will destroy you, Sora." Said Riku as he transformed into battle gear.

"You're wrong, Riku. The darkness may destroy my body but it can't touch my heart." He said. Riku snorted at the statement. "It can't touch yours either." He added.

"Shut up and fight me, idiot." Said Riku.

"The Riku I know and love is still in there somewhere. I don't know what made you want to do all of this, but I'm giving you a chance to call it a truce." Said Sora. He held out his hand and the Keyblade came back to him. "Come with me, Riku. You don't have to give in to the darkness, anymore." He said. Riku summoned his sword and began swinging, ignoring Sora's request. They began slashing their blades. Punches were thrown, kicks were kicked. Finally, Riku grabbed Sora and shoved him against the wall. He grabbed him by his throat and pressed down. Sora couldn't breathe.
"Ri…ku…why…" he choked. He looked in Riku's eyes. They were filled with rage and frustration. 'You really do hate me.' Thought Sora. Sora didn't feel the need to fight back. Something had come over him and told him to stop fighting. He stared Riku right in the eyes and tears welled up in his own.

"It's time for you to die, Sora." He said. A tear fell down Sora's cheek and Riku's grip loosened.

'He's…crying.' Thought Riku. 'Why the fuck is he crying?'

"Rik…u." said Sora. "This isn't y…you." He added. Riku was beginning to feel confused.

"Why can't I do it?!" he shouted in frustration. "You idiot! What are you doing?!" he shouted at Sora. He punched Sora in his face, causing his nose to bleed. Sora took it and his vision began to blur.

"Riku…"

"Stop saying my name!" he shouted at the brunette. Donald and Goofy ran to Riku's side.

"Riku, can't you see he's not fighting back?!" shouted Donald. "Just let go!"

Riku let go. Sora fell to the floor and instantly covered his face with his hands. Goofy pulled out a handkerchief to help with Sora's bleeding.

"Why the fuck aren't you fighting back?!" shouted Riku. Sora looked up at him. His eyes still wet.

"I can't fight you. Not like this. This is different than seeing who gets to eat the paopu fruit with Kiari, or who gets to build the raft." Said Sora. These words were messing with Riku. "This is a fight to the death, I'm not doing that with you." Said Sora as he wiped a tear away. He tried to wipe them away, but they kept coming. "I…I just wanted to find my friends and go home. I didn't ask for this." He said. Riku was really feeling frustrated. He was staring at Sora who instead of fighting—was on the ground, bleeding and crying.

"Sora, get up." Said Riku. His battle gear faded away. Sora slowly got up. He expected another hit or something. He wasn't going to hit back. He wasn't going to lay a hand on Riku even if it killed him. That was his best friend.

Sora stood up and looked Riku in the eyes. Something possessed him to pull the brunette into an embrace. Sora jumped at the touch of Riku's arms around his body, but he almost immediately gave in. He wrapped his arms around Riku so tight Riku could barely breathe.

"You idiot." He said to Sora. Sora cried into his chest. "Why did you come here if you didn't want to fight me…" he said.

"I…I just want my friends back." He said. Riku felt remorse for the first time in a long while.
"I…I do…I do too." He said. Sora looked Riku in the eye.

"Then why are you here?" asked the brunette. "Why are you hitting me?" he said. Riku's heart felt like it was defrosting. Those words shot through him like a gun.

"Why are you hitting me?"

That was when Riku began to notice what the boy looked like. His eye was bruised, his nose was stained with blood, the corner of his mouth was bleeding and his eyes were filled with tears. What the fuck was he doing to Sora? The realization of what he had done was settling in. Sora could see it in Riku's eyes. Riku pulled the boy into another embrace. He held on so tight to him.

"S…ora…" he mumbled. "I didn't mean to…" he began.

"You've been used by Maleficent, Riku." Said Sora. Riku hid his face in Sora's shoulder and quietly sobbed.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered in between sobs. Sora held onto him tighter. "I'm so sorry." He said it over and over. Sora just embraced him. He held on to every moment they had together. Riku let go of the embrace and caressed Sora's cheek. He grabbed the handkerchief Sora had and helped him clean some of the blood. A tear fell down Riku's face and Sora dried it with his thumb.

"Are you sure they're just friends?" whispered Donald to Goofy. Goofy shrugged, but they went ahead and gave them some alone time.

"I'm sorry…" said Riku again. "I…I really hurt you…" said Riku as he sobbed again. Sora embraced him again.

"It's okay, I'm alive Riku."

"A-Are you alright?" asked Riku. He ran his finger around Sora's mouth where it was cut. "That looks like it hurts a lot."

"It does." Said Sora. "It was worth it though. It woke you up." He said. Riku smiled sadly and caressed Sora's cheek.

"I'll help you fix it up after we get Kiari back, okay?" said Riku. Sora's face lit up as much as it could.

"So you're on our side again?!" he exclaimed. Riku nodded. Sora was so excited he pulled Riku into a kiss. They immediately broke away and blushed. "I-I didn't mean to do that! I was just excited! I-I'm sorry!" he shouted.

"It's fine, let's just get Kiari back." Said Riku, wiping his mouth. Sora was so embarrassed.

The group reunited and fought Maleficent and won Kiari's heart. It was with Maleficent the entire time. They all went back home and the princesses were saved as well as the worlds. They were on the Gummi Ship on their way home to Destiny Islands. Kiari was sleeping in the back, Goofy and Donald were steering the ship, and Riku and Sora were in the middle. Donald and Goofy put up a partition to give the two boys their privacy to talk things out.

Sora looked over at Riku, who was just looking out of the window.

"Riku…" said Sora. The boy turned to look at the brunette.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Are you coming home with us?" asked Sora. Riku hesitated but he nodded.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" asked Riku.

"I just didn't know if you wanted to. It's been…a while." Said Sora. Riku sighed.

"Yeah, I'm coming home. I have nowhere else to go." He said. He saw Sora frown, but pretended like he didn't. Sora shifted in his seat. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two boys.

"I'm gonna take a long nap when we get there." Said Sora. Riku looked over at Sora, who was looking out the window.

"I guess I'll be joining you then." Said Riku.

"Riku, there's only room for one person in my bed." Said Sora. Riku blushed a deep red.

"Y-You idiot, I meant I was going to take a nap too!" he said, annoyed. Sora laughed and held his stomach.

"Ah, I know you may not be the happiest, but I'm really happy you're back, Riku." Said Sora. Riku questioned himself about what Sora had said. Did Sora not think he was happy to be away from the darkness? Does Sora think he's just a burden or something?

The partition lowered.

"We're here!" said Donald. The two boys perked up and Kiari shook her head awake.

"Kiari!" said Sora.

"My head hurts…where are we?" she asked.

"We're home, now." Said Riku. "You lost your heart to the darkness and Sora had to fight to get it back. Everything's alright now." Said Riku. Kiari's eyes welled up with tears and she pulled both boys towards her.

"I missed you both so much." Said Kiari.

"I missed you too, Kiari." Said Sora.

"Yeah, I'm glad we're all back together." Said Riku.

The Gummi Ship landed and Sora jumped out and his heart fluttered. He was home. He smelt the salt from the ocean and felt the slight breeze.

"I'M HOME!" he shouted as he fell back onto the sand. The rest of the group jumped out and took in a breath of fresh air.

"So this is your guys' home?" asked Goofy. Riku nodded.

"Yeah. Destiny Islands." Said Riku. He smiled. He was beginning to feel like his old self again, which made him feel worse about making Sora think that he didn't want to be here.

"I can see why you didn't want to leave. You get to tan everyday!" exclaimed Goofy. "Well, this is where we part ways!" he added. Everyone turned to look at Goofy and Donald.

"What? You're leaving already?" asked Sora.

"Yep! We'll be back really soon! We just have to meet with King Mickey back at the castle." Said Donald.

"When will I see you guys again?" asked Sora. He looked so sad.

"We'll try and come back later next week or somethin'!" said Goofy. Sora smiled.

"That sounds awesome. We can make smores and grill out!" said Sora. Goofy and Donald agreed and were on their way. Kiari looked around and smiled.

"You guys, we're home…" said Kiari. Sora and Riku smiled.

"Yeah, I didn't think we'd ever make it back." Said Riku. Kiari went inside to look around their treehouse. "I saw what power the darkness has. I felt it. Sora, you're really strong. You saved us all. Thanks again." He said with a smile. Sora was grinning from ear to ear. He walked up to Riku and put a hand on his shoulder.

"So…are you happy to be home?" asked Sora. "If you're not, it's okay. I'll understand." He added. Riku smiled.

"Sora…that reminds me." He said. "What you said in the ship earlier—about me not being happy—what did you mean?" asked Riku. Sora frowned.

"It…it just seems like you were happier in the darkness than being here." Said Sora. "It didn't really seem like you wanted to come home." He added. Riku felt guilty.

"I'm sorry I made you think that. It's just taking me a while to get used to all of this again." Said Riku. Sora nodded.

"I understand." Said Sora. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked. Riku chuckled.

"Sora, you've done more than enough. I'm alright. I'll get there. Go take your nap now." He said. Sora nodded again and took Riku's hands.

"Did you still want to join me?" asked Sora. Riku blushed.

"W-What?" he asked. Sora blushed too.

"Do…do you want to take a nap with me?" he asked. "You don't have to, I'm just asking."

"Uh…y-yeah, sure." Said Riku nervously. They walked inside the treehouse and looked for Kiari. Kiari was in her room, completely asleep. Sora and Riku smiled. They closed the door and went to Sora's room. Sora immediately took off his shirt and pants, leaving Riku to cover his eyes. He quickly put some comfortable shorts on and jumped into bed. He saw Riku standing there with his hands over his eyes.

"You alright there?" asked Sora. Riku put his hands down.

"You just decided to strip out of nowhere. Aren't you gonna put a shirt on?" asked Riku. Sora shook his head.

"I never sleep with a shirt on!" he said. "Now climb in!" he added.

"I need to change, too." Said Riku. He went to his took and took a moment to take it in. He hadn't seen his room in quite some time. He opened the closet and took in the scent of his clothes. He grabbed a pair of basketball shorts and a plain white t-shirt and quickly changed. When he went back to Sora's room, he climbed into Sora's bed. Sora snuggled up close to Riku.

"Geez, personal space much?" asked Riku.

"Nope! I missed you too much." Said Sora. Riki blushed. Sora wrapped his arms around Riku and Riku blushed even harder. "G'night, Riku." Said Sora. He yawned. "It's been so long since I've been able to sleep comfortably." Said Sora. He let his eyes grow heavy as they slowly closed. Riku did the same. They drifted off into beautiful sleep and Sora was pulling Riku close to him, which woke Riku. He noticed that Sora may have been dreaming about him. He wrapped his arms around Sora's body and pulled him close as he drifted off into sleep again.