If we were Together: A year has passed since their separation, and Riku and Sora have grown both in size and in mentality. Sora slept in her chamber regaining her memories while Riku watched over her clouded in the gray spaces between light and darkness.

Chapter 1: Punishment

He would grow use to the silence, he was sure. The emptiness was nothing compared to the thundering dangerous storm that had been the rage and despair he's experienced in the darkness, but damn he missed the light.

Riku missed the laughter, and the warmth. A year ago he was so eager to escape the Prison of the islands, but now he would give up his entire being just to see it again. He wanted to walk along the sandy shore, listen to the beating heart of the waves, smell the fresh air and sweet scent of the Paopu fruit that grew there. He wanted to see Sora there, sitting next to him, and Kairi smiling carelessly talking of dreams and adventures.

He'd give ANYTHING just to see her smile.

Instead he stood in front of the capsule, his hands pressed to the smooth translucent surface staring at the face he had watched for a year… 12 months, 53 weeks, 365 days. He counted down to the second he had found her here, and grieved.

How could he have been so foolish? Jumping into the darkness, risking all that he had ever wanted in a few rash moves. In his blindness to his actions he had grown angry that she didn't follow just as blindly… that she hadn't returned his feelings of an affection that was deeper than any friendship.

They were teenagers, but that didn't make his feelings any less real. He knew what was in his heart, he saw his future in her everyday, and couldn't stand being parted from her. It had been that constant endless thought that had driven him to grow up, to break free of their childhood home and start anew. He wanted to see other worlds with her… she wouldn't go without Kairi and so he accepted them as a threesome. a circle of friends.

Sure he liked Kairi, he found her company enjoyable, but in all honesty he had wished her gone. She had been a hindrance to him, a constant reminder that Sora saw them both in the same light… that her feelings for him were no more brighter or stronger than hers for Kairi.

The Darkness stirred in his heart making him pull back and away from Sora's capsule. He clutched his chest telling himself to calm down… it was this form. This form of Ansem which he had welcomed inside him to become more powerful, to fight against the evil that had threatened Sora in Castle Oblivion.

He had accepted the fact that he couldn't just push the darkness away, no matter what Riku did now he had to remember that he was the one who had fallen into darkness of his own free will. It was a bitter taste to swallow.

Organization XIII

It was that no account batch of Nobodies that had been a thorn in his side for the past year. It started in Castle Oblivion, an introduction of varying characters that was just a taste of the massive power growing in the spaces between.

They had used him without him even knowing it. They used Sora's memory of him to lure her further and further into the Castle, further and further leading her into the trap they had set. It made him proud to think that Sora had overcome it in the end, she had faced down the leader of that particular band, Luxiana, and had won despite having her memories jumbled up inside.

Still with memories lost, she hadn't been the same Sora as before, and it was Namine', the Nobody witch that had decided to right her wrongs and restore what had been lost. He had wanted to see her then too… but words spoken from an organization member had put doubts there… doubts whether he was worthy.

"Do you want to see her? Can you face her in your current state? It is the keyblade master's duty to battle the darkness, she must battle all who oppose the light, in other words, You. "

It was worse, far worse when the illusions the member had put in his head. Illusions of Sora's inner battle over him.

"How can the light hurt you? Riku, have you really become a pawn of the darkness?" He remembered the look in her eyes, the struggle of tears and bitter anger of what she thought he had become. "So be it!"

That image of her had been a puppet, a dream of his worse fears come to life. He didn't want Sora to hate him, he didn't want to face her in battle ever again.

"Don't run from the light, and don't fear the dark, because both will make you stronger."

So instead he became a guardian of both light and darkness, he didn't cross into either path more so than the other. The light was a happy memory of what he once had, and the darkness a bitter one of what had had become and both were a remembrance of what he'll never be again. He couldn't have the pure light, he accepted that now, but at the same time the darkness held no power over him. He was a wanderer of the spaces in between, a neutral being looking out for his friends, and making sure they didn't follow the same dark path he had fallen into.

The process of reconnecting memories took a great deal of time, and it was up to him to ensure Sora's safety til then. The man named Diz, a scholar of some form, had instructed him of what his purposes were. He traveled in between the spaces of light and dark to gain information, and battle the foes that had presented themselves to him.

Among those were familiar faces of the organization, he had managed to infiltrate their base, and stalk after the beings Xion and Roxas. Xion was the Nobody created from Sora's scattered memories, a being that had been doomed to fade away little by little while Sora regained those memories. Roxas was a Nobody unlike any other, she like Xion was able to wield a keyblade, because she too was a part of Sora. Roxas was the Nobody that had been created when Sora gave up her heart to release Kairi and the other Princesses.

Roxas was a peculiar girl, though Nobodies were supposed to be creatures that lacked hearts she showed such kindness and concern for those she considered friends. Her, Xion, and Axel had been a circle much like he was with Sora and Kairi. It actually saddened him to be the cause of their falling out. He was the one who had informed Xion of her true purpose, and it was him who had kidnapped Roxas so she could be hidden from Axel and the rest of the organization.

Both of them had to disappear for Sora to awaken. It was a fate Xion had accepted, but Roxas refused to understand. She fought with every fiber of her being to become her own person, to live a life that was hers, separate from Sora. He had to admire the determination, and damn her for the cowardice. She was just a Nobody, and it was Sora's life that hung in the balance.

In the end he had to fight against her, and in the end he had to use the powers of darkness… a power that had transformed his body, making it permanently into the shape of the heartless ansem… and though he was still Riku on the inside, he knew if Sora saw him this way all she would remember was his betrayal, and the time he had spent encapsulated in darkness.

So he would protect her from a distance… and accept the punishment of his betrayal.

"Riku." Diz approached him, his face shrouded in red cloth and body in a thick red cloak. "Roxas is approaching. It's time you made yourself scarce. Sora will be awakening soon."

"Right… thanks." Riku never took his eyes off Sora, he touched the transparent surface once more sighing. "Time to get up, lazy bum. You've got friends waiting to see you… and don't worry, I'll always be watching over you." A circle of darkness surrounded him and he disappeared into it."

~Roxas~

It wasn't fair, to Roxas it just wasn't fair. She was her own person, a person with feelings, memories, friends. Why should she give all that up? Why should she have to disappear? Was this Sora person really that important to the worlds?

"Why are you trying to stop me?" Roxas glared at the silver haired intruder, her personal mission to obtain kingdom hearts beating through her like a promise.

"Because I want the rest of Sora's memories!" Riku said calmly his keyblade set out to the side calmly waiting for Roxas to make the next move.

"Sora? Enough about Sora!"

God the name had sickened her, she didn't even know who this Sora was at the time, yet the one called Riku had fought for her tirelessly.

"Why? Why do you have the keyblade?" Riku demanded an answer, both confusing and upsetting her.

"Shut Up!"

Yes that's right, shut up, just go away and leave her alone. Leave her with her memories, and her life.

"You hold half of what she is," Namine's words rang like annoying bells in her ears. "She needs you Roxas."

Inside her head she knew she had no choice, that letting herself disappear was the only way to restore this one girl and allow her to awaken so to continue her journey as Keyblade master. Still in her heart she ached, she wanted to cry. She had given up so much because of this one person.

First her friend Xion who had been a replica, a figure of Sora's scattered memories meant to replicate her own powers and become the true thirteenth member. Xion had realized what she was, and had given up her existence willingly. There had been tears, there had been fits and drama and anger, so much anger.

Sora lost her three friends… friends that had supposedly never existed. Hayner, Pence, Olette. It had all been an illusion, a sort of dream world which she could live normally and stay out of trouble the way the creator of the world had wanted. Now that she was needed those friends of hers disappeared, as if they'd never existed.

It lost her Axel. Oh it was Axel she would miss the most despite the sour departure. It may have been brief, little more than a year, but her relationship with him had felt so real, even more so than it had been with Xion or her other friends.

As things slowly clicked back into place she could remember the way he held her hand when they walked through the town, and the way they curled up on her tiny bed after a hard day's mission. She could remember the sadness and longing she had felt when he had to leave for his long mission to Castle Oblivion, and could remember their first kiss, shared against that beautiful sunset in Twilight Town.

The pain...

"Xion copied my powers, and the organization didn't need me anymore." Roxas stood in front of Axel demanding answers she knew he had, but he was hesitant to tell. "I guess you felt the same way." Was Xion her replacement… would he go to care for her now that her powers were fading?

"You're wrong about that," Axel said angry that she would even think it. "Xion's a friend, but you're the one whose special to me Roxas."

The longing…

"You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you!" Axel shouted at her begging her not to leave.

"No one would miss me." Roxas said convinced that there wasn't a person in the organization who cared for her.

"That's not true!" He reached out for her even as she started to leave. "I would!"

Was she doomed to lose all those precious memories?

"Axel…" She stared at him tears fresh in her eyes as everything came flooding in at once. She had fought against him with all of her strength, it would have done neither of them justice if she had held back because of her feelings. He had orders, and she had a duty. They were now forever torn apart because of it.

Axel knelt on a knee his breath heaving as he tried to recover from the bout but it was clear to him that he was no match for her newly recovered power. She had always been a wicked fighter, it had been a trait he could admire when they had fought on the same side. Now that they were bitter enemies he was pushed between a rock and a hard place. He knew what she wanted… what needed to be done in her own conscience, but he was selfish, he wanted her to stay, wanted her to come back to the organization so the two of them could be together, Sora be damned!

Still he lost, and with that lost battle he lost his will to fight anymore. He smiled at her. "Let's meet again, in the next life."

He felt a sense of relief when she returned the smile. "Yeah, I'll be waiting." She watched him fade into the darkness, her chest tight making it difficult to breathe. It was their final goodbye, she would no longer be the same person that she was.

Even if there was a shred of her left inside Sora it could never come out, it could never openly be with Axel, because in her mind she knew Sora's heart belonged to Riku… or at least that's the way it seemed to her through the memories and dreams she had been having.

As she walked through the corridors she spotted two familiar figures sleeping in capsules. She called them by name. "Donald… Goofy." She was close, she knew that now. Stepping into the room of light she walked forward her hands shaking at her sides as she made out the figure in the capsule.

"Sora…" Roxas whispered the name running a hand through her thick blonde hair and she held her head as memories flashed causing a sickening ache.. "I know you… it's been getting clearer and clearer."

"Good, then you know what to do, don't you?" Diz appeared behind her. Roxas jolted the keyblade rushing to her hands as her sharp blue eyes glare in annoyance and alert. "Put that thing away, Roxas, it will do you no good here."

"Who are you?" She demanded.

"I am a servant of the world," he laughed. "and if I'm a servant you should consider yourself a tool at best."

"Was that supposed to be a joke? Cuz I'm not laughing!" She rushed forward slicing her blade through him only to see numbers and symbols where he'd been. The man was a walking hologram.

"I told you it wouldn't do you any good. I've been waiting for you, waiting for the keyblade's chosen one."

"Who are you really talking to? Me, or Sora?" She said it spitefully, the foul taste of the truth in the back of her throat.

"To half of Sora, of course. You are the side that resides in the realm of darkness… what I need is a being who can roam the realm of light and destroy Organization XII."

Roxas' eyes widened. Destroy them… that included Axel. "Why?"

"They are a threat, and so long as your 'friend' Axel continues to take orders from them I'm afraid he too is a threat. You may not like it, Roxas, but you belong inside Sora, and Sora must battle against them to save the worlds once more."

"I see, so I'm sacrificing my being, my whole self for the greater good, is that it? I have to give up everything so SHE" She pointed to the sleeping girl in the capsule. "Can awaken to hers!"

"You are NOBODY! You were never meant to EXIST in the first place. Be grateful that the world has given you a choice in the matter. You can either go willingly, or you can be forced into submission by being destroyed."

Her body shook with anger and she swished her blade through the air once more. "I hate you so much!"

"You should share some of that hatred with Sora. She's far too nice for her own good."

That teared it!

"No!" She shouted. "My heart belongs to me!" She ran forward, Diz disappeared one again and ROxas halted just at the front of the capsule… it opened and Roxas now stood face to face with her other half.

The girl was much like herself. Soft in face, long hair, They had some coloring differences but the body and face were the same. Her chest ached and she felt the memories began to swirl and it pulled her forward. "Sora… You're lucky." She admitted, letting the keyblade fall to her feet in submission.

She thought of the three friends she'd come to know… Hayner, Pence, Olette. Thought it had all been an illusion, something to keep her docile and hidden from the Organization, it still had been some of the happiest times of her short life. Those three friends were still revelling in the last few days of their summer vacation…

but…

"Look's like my summer vacation is over."

First Chapter in the sequel of the "If I was yours" trilogy. If we were together is shaping up to be a long one, for I plan to change point of views and such to get a fuller impact of the story. Some things will be skipped to save it from being tedious, but don't worry I'll be careful with the skips. Hope you'll look forward to the continuations!

Next Chapter: A New Journey