AN: Hey, guys! Another new story! I actually wrote this based off of a one-shot I was writing around when BbS was released. Well . . . after I wrote it, I learned more about the series . . . it was totally wrong. . . . so I started editing and ended up with almost nothing.
Anyway, I ended up writing this to go as a beginning and ended up deciding to write a HUGE fanfiction with lots of chapters. I also recently started planning a sequel with worlds from different fandoms and the 3DS worlds, since not much is known about those yet.
Anyway, please review (I can always use more help with my writing from my loving fans :] ) and enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, the characters, the events, the worlds, etc., etc., etc. I only own my ideas, the sentences I stitched together out of words I also do not own, and the concept based off of concepts I do not own. I also do not own Mickey Mouse.
I lay on the warm sand, my watchful, teal eyes staring over the aqua ocean at the sunny blue sky and the fluffy white clouds that sporadically dot it. I roll my eyes at the overly picturesque sight. "Happiness and perfection are overrated and true peace is nothing but a lie," I mutter bitterly to myself over the gentle lapping of the waves. Sighing, I close my eyes to see what life truly is: dark, empty, lonely, and plain. I hear footsteps approaching to my left. The sand mutes them, but years of fighting to protect my life (never mind that I was usually fighting something inside myself) have sharpened my senses beyond what they were. I open my eyes slightly to see who it is, though I already know. "Hey, Sora," I mumble, closing my eyes again.
"Hey," he distractedly responds, sitting next to me. I open my left eye to see him, lifting the same eyebrow in confusion. He's not looking at me; however, but is staring out at the ocean like I had been only moments before. "Happiness and perfection are overrated," he mumbles, staring blankly ahead.
"And true peace is a lie," Sora jumps, startled, as I speak, sitting up. "Life is lonely, dark, and bitter. Its depthless emptiness is filled only with never-ending pain." I glare at the ocean, remembering the calm feeling the crashing waves used to give me. The calm feeling that the insanity my life became took away and will probably never give back.
"That was oddly…poetic," Sora states, pulling me from my thoughts. He laughs nervously, glancing in my direction as though wondering what I'll do. I swallow a quick flash of guilt, but I'm right to feel guilty. It's my fault he doesn't know if he can trust me.
I laugh with him, "Well, what do you know? It was." Sora laughs again, much less nervously than before, and smiles.
We sit there for hours, mainly in silence but with some broken conversation as the time passes. We watch the sun set, the stars appear. Sora does the childish thing and makes a wish on the first star. I can't help but think of all the worlds I'd helped destroy, the stars that had consequently vanished. I do a quick check of all the stars, just to make sure none are missing. Thankfully, they're all still there, brightly shining pinpricks in the night sky.
"Hey, Riku," Sora says suddenly. I glance over and find his dark, navy eyes locked intently on me. "Do you think we'll ever be able to live normally again? I mean…without checking every dark corner…or wondering if a world's ever going to disappear again. Do you think there'll ever be a time we can go without having to worry about whether or not An-" he drops off, sheepishly ducking his head as I flinch. "Sorry…I didn't mean to hit such a sore subject."
"Who knows really?" I eventually reply with a shrug. "I don't know about you, but despite the fact that I'm drawn to the darkness like a moth to the flame, I don't think I'll ever stop checking dark corners." I fall silent for a long moment, thinking. Sora starts to fidget nervously beside me. "I haven't thought much about the worlds disappearing," I eventually lie, "So I don't know how to answer that question."
"Okay," Sora replies, seeming content with my answers. He sighs, resting his chin on his arms. A soft wind ruffles his hair and mine, the smell of rain riding the breeze. We sit for a moment in comfortable silence.
"As for Ansem," I continue as I stand, feeling the moment pass, "you don't need to worry about him taking over again. I've got that handled." I begin to head toward the boardwalk. "See you tomorrow, Sora," I call, lifting a hand in farewell.
"Bye," I hear Sora mumble tiredly in reply. A yawn follows shortly after. I smile to myself as I reach the boardwalk. Turning to wave one last time, I climb into my boat and untie the worn rope tethering it to the weathered pier.
I find it impossible to sleep that night. Seemingly every time I close my eyes, Ansem threatens to pull me deeper into the darkness in my heart. I feel as though I'll continue to fall until I open them. Just as the feeling begins to subside and I feel sleep beginning to take hold, a sharp crack of thunder signals the start of a torrential downpour. I jump, sitting up, terrified for a moment as lighting splits the sky. "Come on, Riku. It's only a storm. You haven't been afraid of a storm since you were five," I murmur to myself, getting up and closing my windows and balcony door. "You've also never been scared of the dark, but that changed," I mumble, turning on all of the lights in my room to ward off the creeping gloom. Glancing out the window, the familiarity makes me freeze, my heart in my throat. The storm looks similar, eerily so, to a storm I've seen only once before. "No," I whisper, the word nothing more than a breath, rushing out of my bedroom and into the night.
Reaching the main island, I haphazardly tie my boat to the pier and make a beeline for the cave dubbed by all of us as kinds as the Secret Place. The strange door that's always been there glows with a faint, otherworldly light. On the door, though it appears to lie more in it, is a Keyhole I've only seen one other time. It, too, glows, but more brightly. "I have to get Sora," I breathe, turning. My eyes fall on a Shadow on a slow journey towards the door. My eyes widen, whether out of fear or surprise, I'm not sure. Hoping I'm still able to control Heartless, I say firmly to the Shadow, "Get out of here." It looks at me almost curiously for a moment, motionless, with its large, yellow eyes. Then, apparently deciding that I'm not dark enough to bother listening to, it begins to walk past me.
I kick it aside, muttering, "Shoot, not enough time to get Sora. But how do I…?" I begin to pace, intent on keeping the Shadow away from the Keyhole. "Think, Riku, think!" I knock the Shadow away again. It lunges at me, scratching my arm. I shout in pain and summon my Keyblade, swiftly eliminating the Heartless. I stand and begin pacing once again. A sudden pull on my arm draws my attention to my Keyblade, which appears to be practically dragging itself towards the Keyhole. I frown, confused for a moment, before realization hits, "Now I get it! I don't need to get Sora to lock it." Smiling, I hold the Keyblade up, pointed toward the Keyhole. A bright stream of light travels from the tip to the Keyhole, a clicking sound heard a moment later. Before I can blink, the Keyhole is gone, the door has fallen dark, and the storm outside has calmed.
"Good job, Riku. For a second there, I thought I'd have to get Sora." I turn to face the familiar voice coming from the entrance.
"Mickey," I smile, seeing my old friend and fighting partner. My happiness turns to bone-chilling dread within a moment, however, my voice dropping low, "Wait . . . what are you doing here?" I ask the question, my heart racing, though I know the exact response he'll give me, a part of me wishing he wouldn't say the words I know he will.
He, despite knowing that I already know, responds with the exact wording I knew he'd use, "Darkness has begun to endanger other worlds again. I came here to tell Sora, but it looks like I don't need to bother him now."
I take a quick step back, his last sentence catching me off guard. "You don't . . . You can't possibly . . . " I point to myself, eyes wide. He nods, slowly, his expression solemn. "No, no, no," I quickly reply "I can't possibly . . . I'm already fighting my own battle against the darkness . . . " As I speak, I back quickly against the cave wall, wishing the stony barrier were not there.
"Which is exactly why you're preferred to Sora for this job," he says, putting my back against a proverbial wall as well. I'm surprised to see his expression sadden. "Besides, he can't handle it again. It's scarred him enough already. If he has to go through it again . . . " Mickey's voice falters and he looks away from me. "Never mind, it doesn't matter." He turns and begins walking slowly to the cave opening, his head down.
"No," I quietly protest, closing the distance and crouching, gently setting a hand on his shoulder, "it does matter." I carefully turn him around, locking eyes with him, hoping he'll tell me the truth. "If he has to go through it again . . . what might happen?" I mentally scold myself when my voice shakes, but my audible fear must do something that any of my persistence could have, since Mickey sighs, looking somewhat defeated.
"I wasn't going to tell you . . . but if Sora has to save the worlds again . . . he might just lose it . . . forever," he gravely replies, his eyes never leaving mine. Something in the way he says it terrifies me.
I laugh slightly, a short nervous sound. "Um . . . Mickey, one problem with that: you can't lose what you never had," I joke, trying to light the mood, "Sora doesn't have a mind to lose."
"I meant his heart," Mickey retorts, having no patience for my sense of humor at the moment. My heart nearly stops for a moment at his words. I'd known what he meant, but I never knew he'd put it so bluntly.
"Y-you're . . . serious," I observe, my heart racing, "I . . . I can't let that happen . . . b-but . . . I . . . I can't do it by myself." My terror is like a vice grip, one I'm not sure where came from. I'd always thought I could do what Sora did, never thinking I'd be so scared if I'd have to.
Mickey suddenly laughs, a lighthearted sound in the silence, pulling me from my thoughts. I tilt my head in confusion as he slowly falls silent. He lightly wipes a tear of laughter from his eye, "I never said you were going alone!" He laughs again, summoning Kingdom Key DΩ. "I'm going with you," he happily announces, swinging his Keyblade in a wide arc over his head.
"No," I abruptly protest, standing, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I can't allow that." Mickey taps his foot as he frowns at me, brow furrowed in irritation.
"What did I say?" he asks, his voice high with anger. I duck my head in response, embarrassed and knowing I crossed the only line he drew with me. "I'm not to be treated like a king by you. I get that enough from acquaintances. You're my friend. You're supposed to call me Mickey, and you don't need to worry about me. I can handle myself perfectly well. You, of all people, should know that."
"Right," I say slowly, my only chance to be relatively free of the large task at hand. "Well then," I continue slowly, choosing my words carefully, "where do . . . we . . . start?"
"That, my friend is up to you," Mickey replies, pointing at me. "However, there is more danger this time around; you'll encounter new worlds you've never seen before. I also believe you'll be encountering worlds only you can save."
"Oh, jeez," I breathe, dropping my head onto my hand as I sit, "This had to happen, didn't it?" I shake my head, feeling the dull ache of an impending headache.
"Sora probably felt just as frustrated when he first learned he had to save the universe," Mickey says, setting a hand on my shoulder.
"Knowing Sora," I growl, a part of me feeling bitter about the situation, "he just thought it was a fun new experience . . . at least at first."
Mickey laughs, the smile on his face causing me to smile as well, "You're probably right. Come on," he began to walk," we have to get moving. Which world to you want to visit first?" He looked at me over his shoulder as he paused at the opening.
I think for a moment, going through all the worlds I've visited or heard Sora talk about. A part of me wants to visit a new world first, see just what I missed while on the side of Darkness, if only to convince myself to never fall to it again. Eventually, I decide on a world Sora visited many different times for many different reasons, before and after sealing the Keyhole. I slip past Mickey into the tropical night, knowing that my choice will probably have a drastically different makeup than my home world. "How about we check out Olympus Coliseum?" I inquire, turning back to look at Mickey, a smile on my face. "Could be fun." Mickey nods, smiling back and leading me to his Gummi Ship. I wonder what we'll find and if the people there are as interesting as Sora always said.