summary: This takes place right after Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and before Kingdom Hearts II. This will follow Riku and King Mickey and their short journey. Riku attempts to clean himself of darkness, but that is easier said than done... All rights reserved.

The Path Chosen
Step 1
By RubyD

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-- Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken."

---

"You mean the twilit road to nightfall?" asked DiZ.

"No…" Riku said with confidence and King Mickey by his side. "The road to dawn."

-

They walked on towards the horizon, not knowing how long their new journey would take but sure that, whatever the outcome, it would be one full of discovery.

And their next destination did take longer than they had expected. After days of the endless ocean of grass and with only the yellow road to guide them Riku and Mickey finally saw the distant lines of a town. The large clock tower boomed, and they could hear the clear rings – eight o'clock.

"A town?" Riku asked. "I wonder if any more of those Organization guys are there."

"Maybe," Mickey said, shrugging, but optimistic. "Let's check it out!" The small king threw on the hood of his cloak, which did little to hide his ridiculously large ears. Riku followed in kind.

Glancing back at the path they were about to leave behind, he thought about his best friend asleep back at Castle Oblivion as Namine repaired his memories. There was a small pang as he realized how far they were separated again, after only just finding one another. Also, Kairi would be mad at him if she knew, for leaving Sora alone.

He'll be safe, Riku argued mentally as they approached the town gates. Besides… there was something else he needed to do. He would have stayed, but he was determined to defeat that bit of darkness left in his heart, and be able to walk unafraid of both light and dark. He hoped that when it happened his two friends would be able to forgive him, and that he could forgive himself.

The wide orange doors swallowed his sight. They were welcomed in by a bright sign that proclaimed:

TWILIGHT TOWN

He had a strong sense of déjà vu and hoped it wasn't a bad omen.

"Hey, isn't this place a little familiar?" he asked, wary.

"It was back at Castle Oblivion, remember? But like everything else, that was an illusion - this is the real Twilight Town."

It was definitely more real than the shadow of the Town they had been through. Although it was getting dark the streets had a steady trickle of people coming and going, and they hardly spared a glance at the black-clad figures. Riku felt too conspicuous, but the sight of civilization lifted his spirits and he suddenly longed for something he had forgotten he missed.

"Is something wrong?" asked Mickey.

"…No," he answered, shaking his head. The mouse waited, expectant, with an eyebrow raised and so he thought about it some more. "It's just a little strange, after everything. This place seems so… normal. That's all." Kids played in the streets while mothers called them in for the evening, friends laughed together, complained about school, joked about boys, and talked of things he wondered if he'd ever get the chance to talk about - maybe one day, back at a home far away from here.

Shops were opened, and the attractive smell of dinner made him realize that he hadn't had a regular, real, non-magick cooked meal in a long time. His stomach growled in agreement.

"Hungry?" the King teased.

"A bit," he admitted, embarrassed.

"Well then, nothing's stopping us! How about something to eat?" Mickey's cheerfulness reminded Riku of Sora and Kairi's combined, and that was enough to make him nod and smile in agreement.

There were too many places to choose from, so they picked the one closest by – a quaint looking purple building with an obscenely large cactus cutout at the door holding up a menu. He stared at it with a raised eyebrow, suspicious of the blank expression on the cut-out's face, until the nostalgic scent of steamy burgers and hot fries hit him like a friendly elbow to the chest. Although Riku had dined on the most grandiose of meals not long ago, with witches and company that almost made him lose his appetite at the thought of them, but this… this was comfort food.

Inside, the restaurant was half-empty and reminded him more of a school cafeteria than anything else. Teenagers, probably about his age, darted to the front counter for their order.

"Hot dogs!" a boy demanded hopefully.

"Sorry, we just sold the last one."

"What - ! Aww, man…"

The old lady with a green apron chuckled, adding, "Just kidding. Of course we have plenty enough for you."

"All right! Thanks, grandma!"

"'Grandma'…? Hmph!" The boy laughed good-naturedly and walked away with a small mountain of hot dogs, fries, and what looked to be the largest plastic cup of soda in existence.

"And you, young… young man?" she asked, peering up into Riku's hood.

Almost embarrassed, he shook off the hood. Mickey nodded for him to go ahead and order.

"I'll have a burger and a drink. Ah – but two of each. Please," he said, awkward. He was tense, wondering if they looked too strange and she'd force him out of the restaurant, or if he had the wrong currency, or – the thought flickered, unexpected – what if they saw what kind of person he was… but the irrational fears eased when the lady smiled patiently.

"Twenty munnies," she said, and he quickly fished out the right amount from his pockets. Their food was delivered without a hitch, and he and Mickey sat down to eat. The King had found a copy of the local newspaper and was reading it.

"Anything interesting?" Riku asked as he took a bite of the healthy-sized burger. It was so good that his cheeks tingled. He remembered that Sora loved to pile on ketchup, mustard, onions and relish and everything the boy could possibly put on top of burgers. Kairi stayed true with mustard and pickles, but Riku liked his plain.

"But that's boring!" Sora said.

"You're boring," Riku answered, as mature as the situation allowed.

Kairi would laugh and, when no one was looking, sneak an onion into Riku's lunch.

"Hey, that's unfair!" he'd said after spitting out the offensive vegetable. "That's two against one!"

"Nothing yet," theKking said, snapping him out of the memory. "I'm looking for any signs of the Organization, or Heartless."

He swallowed thickly. "This place is pretty close to Castle Oblivion, so I wouldn't be too surprised. And, there's something about this place… I can't quite pin it down."

"Yeah, me too," Mickey sighed, and folded away the paper. He picked up his own burger and took a giant bite out of it, leaving a neat crescent behind. The King, he noted, ate it with ketchup and mustard."Golly, these are almost as good as Minnie makes 'em!"

"Minnie?" Riku asked, curious.

"My wife." He beamed happily.

Riku choked on a bit of burger. "You have a wife?" he asked dumbly, coughing, before he could stop himself. Of course Mickey would – it would stand to reason that a king had a queen.

"You bet! Minnie's the sweetest girl I could ever ask for, a-hah!" The mouse smiled, looking out the window. "Gosh, she sure must be worried. I should try to send her a letter…"

Riku looked out the window too. The sky was orange, turning into a deeper purple. "You think it'd get to her?"

"Even if our hearts are far away," he said thoughtfully, "even if we're separated, my feelings will get through."

"They will, huh…?" That was a nice thing to say, but, if Riku was his old self, he would have dismissed it as a wishful daydream. Now, he wasn't as sure – he'd seen and lived through more far-fetched things and witnessed the power of hearts. What's one more thing to take on faith…? "I guess nothing's impossible."

"Not at all," Mickey agreed whole-heartedly.

Though there were no stars to be seen, Riku pretended there were.

Sora, Kairi… Riku thought, I'll fix things for us, I promise. Just give me a little time.

He wanted to believe – he wished for – many things; most of all that he could be with his friends again like they used to be… innocent, unchanging, and unafraid.

---

To be continued