"What's happening to me? Falling-- falling into darkness."
~Sora~
Sora always knew he would die. He didn't know when or why; but he always knew. It was one of those inexplicable sources of knowledge that hits you right when it is justified. It wasn't that he was suicidal. He didn't look forward to death. But t place he was in now always felt so temporary. The constant traveling he had done had helped a little, but there was always that ache, that twinge between the shoulders. Riku always told him hat it was his proof that there were other worlds out there.
"The door to possibilities" Riku always called it. On hearing this, Kairi always told him that he had an existential crisis, and that he was searching for the answer to the answer to the chicken or the egg question, or his solution to the meaning of life. She thought he was expecting a bit much. Sora would always catch Riku's eyes with a smile at the irony.
Sora sighed as he allowed the ghost-like memories of his friends to fade. The last traces of their images sparkled as he drifted. Small glimmers in the surrounding darkness. He never thought that this was how it would end. He hadn't thought on it that hard obviously. But he never expected it would be with a sword through his heart, placed there by his own hand.
Closing his eyes, having stared too long at nothing, he began to feel as if he was falling, or was it rising? Into something. For a moment his brow wrinkled. Where was he? It all seemed so unimportant. So trivial. How could it matter? This was death, he supposed. He was not afraid. After so many years of waiting for it, there was nothing frightful about it.
"But... Riku." The thought stirred him from his lethargy. How could he so easily leave the one he had spent most of his existence searching for?
The darkness coalesced into the object of his thoughts. Not as he appeared now, bu as he first was. Standing in the sun, tanned skin glistening with exertion , blue-green eyes shining from within a curtain of silver hair as he erupted from the clear water.
Opening his eyes, Sora could see Riku. So clear before him, staring at him, and at that moment he remembered. He could not do this.
He sighed, his rest would have to wait. He had found Kairi, actually 'found' was not the right word, 'discovered' was more likely. Now, he had to find Riku. He had to find his heart.
~Riku~
He felt it when Sora fell. It was a small pulse throughout his being, a sense of closeness. And he knew. Sora had fallen. He had opened the keyhole and fell too close to the darkness. Too close to him. He gritted his teeth at the feeling of the other. Ansem was inordinately pleased at the turn of events. As he felt Sora, he turned and gazed at him as he seemed to float in the darkness with him. Then he got that stubborn look that he got when he wanted things to go his way, and Riku smiled sadly. With fierce eyes blazing with determination, this was how he always thought of Sora.
With that look on his face, he faded out and Riku felt him appear again in this reality. A small tear made its way down his face. Would he ever go back to the light? As Sora moved further away, he felt Ansem step out to greet the princess.
"He would not let him do this" he growled. Even though Kairi meant little to him, he would not let Ansem use her in a way that would harm Sora. He shrugged mentally, he probably would try to stop Ansem just because, but moral reasons always sounded so much better.
"Run" he demanded of Kairi's shocked face. Honestly, she just stood there. As Ansem struggled with him, he met the eyes of the small shadow standing close by, and nodded in recognition. He knew Sora would understand. He knew his heart felt him, just as he felt him.
~Roxas~
Roxas opened his eyes to see a tall man with flaming red hair in his face. They stayed that way until Roxas sighed and let his head fall back to the ground. He searched his mind for something, anything, to tell him where he was. Who he was.
"Existential questions already?" a voice asked, chuckling. Roxas opened one eye and glared at the red head. All he could feel was sadness and longing. It felt as if he was missing something. Was it his soul? No. It was his heart. "Eh, we all get that" the red head continued, slinging an arm over Roxas shoulder. Roxas ignored him, his blue eyes troubled. His heart? His hand slowly came up to touch his chest. Suddenly there was a flash of blue-green eyes within his minds eye and he jerked back.
~Sora~
He looked over at Kairi as they fought, so oblivious to everything. He turned away, eyes seeking the darkness for something he knew would not be there. He sighed and closed his eyes. He could sense him, sense his despair and his cries, but he could not reach him.
~Riku~
His soul was crying and screaming, fighting with all his power against Ansem's power. He could hear the echoes of Sora's search. The faint beat that followed each beat of his being. He hammered his fist against invisible walls as tears streamed down his face. "Sora!"
