7

Created by Meilin

Meilin: I HAVE INSPIRATION!

Edward: I'm not even in this fic, why am I here?

Meilin: Because you're my muse!

Edward: Why am I your muse?

Meilin: Because I said so! Big thanks to my Word class that gave me time to type this fic that's been writing itself in my head. DUO! Read the Disclaimer!

Duo: Meilin does not own Sora, Riku, or Kingdom Hearts; they belong to Tetsuya Nomura, even if she DOES own parts of Disney and Squaresoft.

Meilin: SEE? STOCKS DO HAVE A USE!

Warning: Shonen-Ai, SoRiku, Kairi-bashing,

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Riku was sitting on the paopu tree, waiting for Sora to show up. 'He better not stand me up again.' He thought. Soon enough, Sora climbed up the ladder to the island. "Sorry I'm late." He sat next to Riku on the paopu tree, "Kairi wouldn't leave me alone."

"You still haven't told her yet, have you?" said Riku, frowning, "That you don't like her, that you CAN'T like her." Sora looked away. "I don't want to hurt her, Riku; we were all such good friends." Riku looked at Sora. "Precisely. WERE. Does she even know that you still talk to me?" he asked his brown-haired friend.

"Ummm….. No?" said Sora sheepishly. Riku ruffled Sora's hair affectionately. "You bonehead." He laughed, "And to think half the worlds depend on your leadership…"

"You mean my non-existent diplomatic abilities?" Laughed the brunette. "Exactly. Why Mickey chose you over ANYONE makes me wonder if all those years of fighting the darkness made him crazy." Said Riku, who laughed as he thought of his old, rather quirky traveling companion. "Funny, he said something to that effect about you…" muttered Sora. The two old friends were glad to finally have some time together, having been separated longer than they cared to remember.

"Hey Sora?" said Riku, "What's it like?" Sora blinked. "What's what like?" Riku sighed. "Being light. Being able to travel the worlds. Being you."

Now it was Sora's turn to sigh. "You could travel too, you know, Riku. You're not dark…"

"But neither am I light. I could only travel with someone else, or the walls of worlds would eat away at half my soul. But it's nothing I don't deserve…"

"Don't say that!" Sora yelled, "You didn't do anything wrong…"

"You're very kind, Sora." Said Riku quietly, "But the fact remains that everything you, me, and Kairi suffered was almost entirely my fault. I opened the door to darkness of my own free will, and I suffered the repercussions of my stupidity over and over again."

"Riku…" Sora began, "Fate cannot be changed. If you hadn't opened the door to darkness, the heartless would have come later, and by then, we would have been too late to save the worlds, kingdom hearts, our islands, or each other."

"You act as though I still deserve to be cared about by anyone. Kairi, they villagers, even my own parents, they don't want anything to do with another darkling. None of them care about me, no one does." Riku said.

"I do."

Riku looked up, not daring to believe what he had heard. "Sora?" he asked.

"I care about you." Said Sora with tears in his eyes, "Am I no one, too?

"Of… Of course not." He stammered.

"Then don't you EVER say that no one cares about you. Never again." Sora said, "You're as important as the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, the Sky, the Heavens, the Hells, and don't you EVER forget it."

"Sora…" Riku wanted to tell him. To tell Sora how much he meant to him, but at that moment, he couldn't find the words. He just looked at those eyes, the same deep blue as the ocean that surrounded their home world, and he felt like he would melt into them if forced to stare for to long.

"Riku…" Sora felt whole again at that moment, as he hadn't since they had left the Destiny Islands in search of adventure all those years ago. He wondered, could Riku feel the same way he did?

"Sora… I… I'm sorry." Riku said as he ran from the Paopu Island and into the Secret Place. "Che. We were so original with the name of this place. But this is where it all began." He thought about when he first came to this place; when he first set eyes on the door to other worlds. He had been young then, in body and in spirit, and he had dreamed of amazing adventures with Sora at his side. He thought about a few years ago, when he had foolishly believed himself strong, and opened this same door, summoning the heartless and nearly destroying the islands and all their inhabitants for good. He wondered, was he any better for it? Had he gotten anything from it? Sora seemed to think so. Riku wondered, was Sora pulling his leg about caring for him? He had to be, didn't he? How could the king love… a darkling? "No!" Riku told himself aloud, "I am not a heartless! I am a heartless human, but I am thus. I promised Mickey. I won't let my humanity leave me, too."

He heard a noise behind him. He turned to see Sora walking slowly toward him. As far as the king was, Riku could see the tears streaming down his cheeks in rivers.

"Sora…" Riku began.

"Come with me." Said Sora.

"What?" Riku asked.

"Come with me. Away. Please?"

"Where? Why? How? I… I mean…"

"I don't care. I just want you with me. Please?"

"But… I can't…"

"YES YOU CAN! I believe in you."

Riku hesitated for a moment. "Okay, but where will we go?"

Sora smiled sadly. "We'll go home."

"Sora, we ARE home." Riku protested.

"How can either of us be home HERE after what we did? After what we saw? Knowing what we know?"

"Sora, I know you're lying. When we got back here, I had never been so relieved to hear the oceans waves, and I know you felt the same."

"Maybe then, when I thought they could accept us with what we had become. When I thought Kairi could forgive you for what you did, but not now. This place isn't home to us… It never was. It's a prison, just as you said." He sighed. "You were right… You were always right."

Riku looked at Sora. 'This is so unlike him, it's scary.' "Sora… You can't mean that…"

"Of COURSE I can." He yelled, "Gods, Riku, don't you get it? I don't want you to live here for the same reasons why I LEFT!"

"Sora… I thought you left because Mickey asked you to..."

"That was just an excuse. My parents... And everyone... Treated me differently when they found out what I could do... The mayor saw me as a threat to the peace... So I begged Mickey for a reason to leave..."

"But Sora... Why?" Riku asked.

"Because I'm growing tired of the sound of whispers, as I grew tired of the sound of screams and the feeling of heartless blood. But... I don't want to be alone... I'm scared of what might happen... So I want you with me."

"Why me?"

Sora moved closer to Riku. "Because I do... Is that enough?"

Riku smiled. "Sure, Sora. From you, that's all I need."

-----------------------------------------------END CHAPPIE!-------------------------------------

Meilin: BWAHAHAHA! I AM GOOD!

Edward: Oh boy, why must the reviewers send her sugar?

Meilin: Review and I'll update the pretty yaoi ficcie! PLEASE!

Edward: Please, or it's me and Duo who suffer the consequences...

Duo: Whiney voice I don't wanna have to deal with her chocolate craving during another 'No one likes me' rant, Edward!

Edward: Me either.

Duo and Ed: PLEASE REVIEW HER!