A/N: Hello once again! Hmm, what even is my format for these author's notes? Oh, never mind.
So, my first update in quite some time! What has it been, since summer 2011? Longer than that? Probably. Anyways, on my earlier profile update I mentioned that there would be a new story today, and here it is! I almost stopped this one plenty of times-well, technically, I did stop for quite a while. But I've finally gotten it done! Hopefully this will be the first in a line of updates, new stories, and completed stories.
This was inspired by a short, 30-second cutscene in Re:Coded entitled "Memory of Sadness." As soon as I saw it I knew I had to write this. In fact, the first paragraph and the last two or three pretty much wrote themselves, and it wasn't until I tried to connect them that I got lost for a while. I realize this is quite short, but again, the scene was just as short and this was the most I could get out of it on the first attempt.
Aside from that, I have a few questions for readers and reviewers: Have I accurately conveyed the emotion I had in mind? What does this scene remind you of, and does it make you think in regards to other aspects of the series? Has my writing improved at all?
Okay, that's lengthy enough for an author's note. Please enjoy!

[The title of this one-shot is a line from the Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle. She is possibly the most brilliant author I have ever read, and this particular line just resonates with me. I had to use it sometime and I may use it again.]

What is Real?

Many bright, round objects lit the sky of this absurdly carefree world: Riku stood atop one of them even now. The roomy clock tower offered a few precious moments of privacy that had been a long time coming for the young man. Gratefully he set down his burden and headed for the end of the ledge, looking out over the city. Below him, above and all around, all was a sea of lights, beautiful to behold. Or, at least, it would be if it weren't for the great cloud of darkness those lights seemed barely able to pierce.

Why was it that nowadays that seemed to be all he was able to notice? When Riku was younger he would stay awake and marvel at how once a month the full moon made it bright enough to be able to sneak off to the island, but not so bright that he would be noticed. He would lay there and stare up at all the twinkling lights that seemed so warm and friendly. But recently, they looked pale and weak, washed-out among all the heavy-set and suffocating blackness that they struggled to escape.

There's a reason I see it like this, Riku told himself sternly. After all, this is my reality now. Light has become weak. Darkness is the prevailing force, and it always will be. Only childishness kept me from seeing it before. Back when I was young, I had so many romantic views of the World that kept me from seeing things the way they truly are: the wars, the greed of humans, the strength of Darkness prevailing over the shallow Light in human hearts.

Before he could stop it, one unbidden thought pulsed into his mind: What if it's like this because my light is weak? As if to somehow conclude this idea, Riku found himself lifting his arm, reaching out toward the brightest light he could see: the moon. After a second of reaching, his hand closed into a fist and he pulled it in, opening it to see no more than the dark gray of his gloved hand.

With a chuckle and a bitter smile at his own silly actions, he turned around, expecting to see Kairi laughing at him, the way she had that afternoon on the island when the three of them had been goofing around on the beach at home, and Riku had stretched out his hand as if to grab a paopu fruit from that distance. Kairi had giggled, but Sora remained oblivious to the thoughts Riku had of that fruit, and of its associations with the girl with the auburn hair.

But now when he looked at her, Riku saw nothing more than Kairi's empty shell, staring at the floor with a blank expression, in perfect contrast to his memory of her. It only served to confirm his earlier notion. No matter how the World was seen by Sora or how it had seemed to Kairi, light would never be able to break totally free from its adversary. The dark had Kairi, and would soon take Sora if he did not wake up. And, as the destined hero of the three, it was up to Riku to see this and to be its master.

Just like I thought, he concluded sadly, picking Kairi up and facing a dark portal. This is my reality now. Riku adjusted the princess of heart in his arms and walked with her into darkness: his reality, his future, his fate.

END: What is Real?

Thank you for reading.
-RSS