Summary: One-Shot. Sora didn't like to hate, but he hated this place.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters and am merely borrowing them.

A/N: It's a little different from anything I have ever written and it's sort of a trial to something I may try to write. So let me know what you all think. Enjoy and review. I love the feedback!!

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This Place

By: Kane's Light

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It was dark. It was always dark here. No matter what time, whether it was night or day. It was dark and Sora hated it.

Sora didn't like to hate and actually he always tried his hardest to never hate anything or anyone. It made him feel better. It made life easier. It was what got him through the days he didn't even want to greet. He shouldn't hate, he didn't hate, he couldn't hate. But he hated this place.

Shadows clung to every crack, crevice, and corner. The only light that filtered in was dim. It looked dirty and it made everything look distorted and dingy. The boulders that made up the walls were partially shattered and some of the pieces were littered about on the stone floor. It made crunching sounds under his sneakers that in the silence made him cringe. He hated everything about this place.

Riku used to come here and sit for hours. He wouldn't bring anyone with him. It was his secret and he protected from the time he first stepped into the cave at dawn until he emerged alone with the last rays of the sun dying on the horizon. Sora never really understood why Riku liked this place so much. It was so dark and cold. The sun never warmed here.

The darkness was so thick that even breathing was hard to accomplish. Each breath tasted of copper and it hurt. Just to suck in that darkness and feel its claws scratch at his lungs, as though trying to tear a part his heart, it hurt…a lot.

The wind was blowing today making the shadows dance and wither as though they were the ones in pain. That thought should have comforted him, but it didn't. The movements just made them look bigger and move ravenous. They always looked hungry, but today they looked starving. Perhaps it was because Riku hadn't stopped by as usual, or maybe the humid air was just getting to Sora's head. It was uncomfortable, standing there, with the shadows everywhere, but he stayed where he was.

Outside the sun was shining brightly, but inside the feeling of despair clung to every last portion of the cave.

It didn't lead any where. Sora knew this from a conversation he and Riku had long ago.

"Riku…ummm…"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you spend all your time in that cave?"

"Not again."

"Please…I don't get it."

"It's just…something to do, ok? Can we stop talking about this?"

"But what about me…Kairi?"

"Look, don't take it personal…I just like the feel of it. It's better than all this sunshine and sand. It's like a whole other world."

"…does it go anywhere?"

"No…no it doesn't."

"Then why…"

"You wouldn't understand."

At the time those words had hurt his feelings, but today they couldn't have been more accurate as Sora watched the shadows sway to and fro in some unpredictable rhythm.

It didn't make sense for him to be here. Sora disliked the dark, almost hated it, but Sora wasn't supposed to hate. He didn't hate anything…except for this place.

"Sora?"

He didn't respond to his name. The cave was still there and the shadows were still licking away at his air supply and everything was still closing in, but it couldn't have been clearer.

"Sora? What are you doing in here? Come on everyone's been looking for you."

Hands gripped his arm and with a startled cry he flung himself away from the source. It was warm and he was cold and everything was starting to fade. The shadows tasted like anguish and all he wanted to do was cry.

"Riku…"

"Sora…please…we have to leave."

Sora could remember the last time he saw his friend standing in the mouth of this cave. He had glanced back, as though he knew someone was watching him, and waved. It was just a casual wave and Sora's heart clenched for some unnamable reason. It hurt to watch him go in. It hurt more to never see him come out.

"Come on."

The hands were back on him and all he wanted to do was stay here, in this place that he hated…forever.

Here the misery was real. Here he could grieve in peace. Here he could be whoever he wanted, because here the shadows didn't judge and no one gave him those sympathetic looks. Here he could miss Riku in peace, without having to keep Kairi's tears dry, without having to look like everything was ok. Here he could fall a part…if only those hands would stay off him.

"Go away…"

"You're being stupid."

"Go away…"

"You're acting just like him, Sora."

It hurt to hear those words, but in a good way. Maybe if he was more like Riku he could go wherever his friend went.

"I'm coming back with help."

Her footsteps were heavy and he knew she wasn't going to leave the cave. She needed to break too. Riku was their everything, and without him…

The scuttle of claws on rock brought his attention back to the present. His breath comes easy again; though, his lungs still burn slightly. The darkness is no longer stifling.

But with breathing came flavor and the air still tasted of stale death. Sora hated this place and he wishes he could hate Riku for leaving him here.

"Sora…"

"Riku…"

Riku's voice always sounds the same…

"Don't leave, please," Riku's voice was honey and Sora knows why he came here now.

"I miss you." He knew why Riku liked it so much.

"I miss you too," Riku…he wouldn't say that.

"I hate this place…"

"I know you do…" He wouldn't say that either.

The wind starts to whistle and jostle the shadows into more elaborate dances. Though Sora knew Riku wouldn't say any of those things, he decides to come back tomorrow.

Riku's voice always sounds the same…and for that he hates this place, but he understands it all the same.

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