Hello there! Just a few things before we get started on this fic.

1. I am not a native speaker, therefore, there might be a few mistakes in there, I apologise in advance.

2. Big thanks to Seer_Of_Soul for beta-ing this chapter!

3. The beginning might be a bit harsh on Kairi but I swear I will do this character good. She deserved better than what she got in KH3, and I will fix it.

4. This is a fix it fic. I will try to fix it all.

5. Roxas is British and there's nothing you can do about this.

6. Thank you so much for clicking, I hope you'll enjoy this.

And suddenly, it was as if — as if the sun had swallowed him whole.

"No," Riku breathed, once, twice, and then a thousand times. "No no no no no nononononono NO"

He rushed forward, leaving the others behind and ignoring their surprised shouts. He jumped on the bridge and stumbled against the paopu tree, grabbing Kairi by the arm and turning her to face him. She winced at the pain, and looked up at him, eyes filled up with tears and face contorted in pain.

"He's gone," she barely whispered, voice filled with uncontrollable sobbing.

That was not, absolutely not what Riku had wanted to hear. "What have you done?" he growled, panic slowly crawling up his veins and making him lose all form of restraint. He repeated the question, howling, this time, tearing out a scream from Kairi. "What have you done!"

"Riku!" Mickey's rose from behind him and soon, he was pulled away from Kairi with force by Donald and Goofy. "Riku, get a hold of yourself!"

But he was having none of it. "You killed him!" he yelled again, and Kairi could no longer hold her cries to herself. She let out a long, heartbroken wail and folded in on herself. Lea had come to the rescue and was kneeling by her side, one arm passed around her shoulders. "Youkilledhimyoukilledhim!"was all Riku could think, could say or see, and suddenly sharp pain flourished on his cheek as he stumbled back in shock.

Mickey had slapped him.

Donald and Goofy hauled him away from the small island, back into the shed where Kairi would be out of his sight - he couldn't think anymore, his throat was aching and his chest was hurting like never before.

why

why

why

He hid his face into his arms, falling to the ground, back pressed against the wall and tried to shut out the outside world - there were many voices around him, some of them trying to calm him and he just wanted them gone. He wanted to disappear and to stop feeling so much - every noise, every thing he touched seemed so much louder and imposing than it had ever been.

And his thoughts — they had only been a swirl of conflicting and shapeless ideas his panic and pain kept from concretisation - finally took form.

You'll never see him smile again.

Tears rolled down his cheeks and he tried - prayed, wished with all his heart - to black the thought out, to keep it away from his racing heart. But it wouldn't, it grew bigger and louder and he felt like drowning -

"Riku."

Aqua's calming voice distracted him for a few seconds and he forced himself to look up at her. She was the only one left in the shed. Her face expressed concern - but in a non condescending way, and a hint of understanding gleamed in her eyes. Riku's eyes welled up in tears again and he went back to the shelter of his arms. He didn't move or protest as Aqua slid against the wall and pressed his right forearm with her hands. They were warm and dry - nothing more, nothing of that invasiveness that had previously assaulted his senses. She was simply there, a warm sensation he could hold on to. So he did, grabbed her hand and held on as if his life depended on it.

"Does it get better?" he asked, because he knew, even though she had ended up finding her way back to her friends, that she, out of all other people, would understand.

"It doesn't," she said, her voice so low he could have mistaken it for the wind. "I'm sorry."

"I can't bear it," he blurted after a few moments of pure and unapologetic dread. "I can't just —"

"Then don't."

"Aqua, he is gone."

"He made us a promise, that he'd come back. You should hold him on to it."

"That's just words."

"Riku. Sora has —"

"Don't say his name."

"— Sora has bound himself to his words. It's an old, powerful magic that transcends any boundaries, be it from world to world or between the living and the dead. And if faith does not suffice - you make it happen."

Riku didn't answer. She was offering him hope - and he didn't need it. He knew, could sense the damages it would make to his heart. It was a treacherous feeling, a venom he could not let in.

So he shut Aqua out and waited, waited for his friends to take him back to the Gummi Ship, back to his old room in Yen Sid's tower, and gratefully accepted the dark embrace of sleep and the bliss of forgetfulness.

At first, there had only been emptiness. It was startling, to say the least - somewhat similar to the land of the dead, except neither sky nor sea seemed to mingle in the horizon. Reality seemed to be made out of cotton, a dense and static atmosphere one could almost touch. At least, there had seemed to be an up and a down, and he could walk, so that was something to hold on to.

And he had done a whole lot of walking. He'd tried to keep his emotions at bay, his fear and panic and humanity — this experience was the most unsettling of all, and Sora had had his fair share of trouble. Light was diffuse and did not seem to have a source - it was just there, or maybe it was just that there was nothing left to see and things just were. But what things? Nothing was there, and how could he expect to spend eternity in a place there was nothing to do —

Something clinked behind him - oh, so there was a behind - and Sora turned on his heels, and saw something round and metallic on the ground - no, the down. He picked it up: a yo-yo, of all things, rested in his hand. Interesting. Did that mean —

Another clink, and suddenly, a library stood before him. Sora picked up a book and opened it - the pages were blank. He tried to summon an old book he had read countless times, saw it pop up in the shelves and flipped through the pages. Blank, again.

So much for entertainment, he thought, then walked past it and kept walking, swirling his yo-yo up and down as he reflected on the strange place he'd ended up in.

Hours passed, maybe. He couldn't feel any hunger or thirst, and his limbs almost seemed detached from his soul - they didn't hurt, didn't tire, even though he definitely could still feel fingers pressing against his skin when he checked.

His mind did tire, though - probably the lack of colour. It hurt his eyes, and it was difficult to keep walking when there was nothing to see.

The clink was louder, this time. He could feel the sound the world made as it shifted from the insufferable white of the nothingness into a luxurious field of hills and grass and an infinity of dandelions.

Sora stopped on his tracks and looked down at his feet - the grass was greener than anything he'd ever seen before. But the rest of the world - it remained blank, unchanged and ethereal.

Thus, Sora conjured the sky and the sun.

It almost blinded him.

Riku woke up slowly, unwilling to cast a shadow on the beautiful sunny afternoon whose warmth he could feel soaking up his entire body.

And he suddenly remembered he had taken care to shut his blinds the night before, and as he opened his eyes, he saw the curtains blocking the morning sun. His heart started racing - this dream had had a different feel to it, a different taste —

His dream-eater senses were tingling, and he slowly rose to a sitting position, running his hands through the mess that had become his hair. He knew this after taste, this warmth running through his veins, and he forced himself to remember the dream — an endless field covered in dandelions and the breeze sending them flying into the sky, and a very, very familiar sneeze followed by cursing—

"Sora," he blurted out - the word didn't sound as painful as it had the night before — and then "shit," because how could he possibly go back to sleep now, when hope had sneakily found its place inside his heart and was sending him to the verge or hysteria?

He kicked his sheets to the ground and ran to the window, deliriously hoping - maybe - that a completely different view would wait for him on the grounds on Yen Sid's tower. No - still the same eery sky, the very same taunting clouds of glimmering stars who glared back at him and finished shattering the remains of his dream to the ground. He huffed in frustration, then raced back to the chair he'd left his clothes hanging, ran out of his bedroom, only to stumble against the sleeping form of Roxas - or was it Ventus?

"For fuck's sake," Roxas-or-Ventus growled, disentangling himself from Riku's sprawled limbs, only to soften his gaze as he saw the state in which his opponent was. "Riku…?"

"Where is Yen Sid?" was all Riku managed to groan, wincing at the pain flaring through his elbow. "I need to talk to him."

"Maybe you should wait, he's— Riku, wait, he's sleeping!"

"There is no time to sleep," was Riku's reply as he managed to get back on his feet and started racing down the spiralling stairs. He knew his master's quarters were the closest to the kitchen, by the second floor, but he got the feeling stairs were multiplying under his feet, and it took him forever to reach the lower floor, only to sigh as he saw what seemed to be an optical illusion lengthening the curve of the following flight of stairs.

"Doesn't look like he's willing to see you," he heard calling from above. Axel was looking down at him, arms crossed against the railing. The blonde he recognised now as Roxas stood next to him, concern sprawled across his face.

"It doesn't matter," Riku said, carrying on through the unwilling stairs.

"What happened?" Roxas called out.

Riku stopped in his tracks and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "I've seen — I've seen Sora. I think. I've got to make sure."

The two other men gasped, and disappeared in an instant, rushing down the stairs loudly, and Riku rolled his eyes before continuing his excruciating journey to the lower floor.

A few minutes later - he had only gone down a quarter of the ridiculous amount of steps - he heard someone else calling out somewhere around the fourth floor.

"Where are you guys going?" That was Aqua, and then another door squeaked open, followed by Xion's voice: "What's happening?"

"Riku knows something about Sora!"

"What?!"

And Riku guessed the two other girls had joined the party. By the time he finally reached his goal, he saw Terra coming out of the kitchen. Riku raised his eyebrows - he was only wearing a robe inside out over his shirtless chest and very simple boxers. His hair was a real mess and red stains covered his shoulders and neck. He was holding out a platter filled with pastries, coffee and even a few flowers Riku had seen growing in Yen Sid's garden.

Terra's eyes widened when he realised Riku was standing before him and taking in all of his post-coital glory, and blushed furiously. Riku couldn't help but smirk, although uncomfortable himself. "Hi," he said, simply, because he knew nothing both of them could do or say could make this less awkward.

"Hi, Riku, wha-" Terra gulped, then his eyes flicked up as he heard the stomping of the party Riku had involuntarily gathered. "What are you guys doing up this early?"

"I don't know - what time is it exactly?"

Terra blinked. "It's five."

"Oh."

"Terra!" Aqua said as the rest of the group finally joined the two other men down the flight of stairs, and Riku understood, judging by her own appearance, that she'd been the intended recipient of the carefully prepared breakfast Terra was carrying. Only she had had the decency to wear something appropriate, although there was no hiding her own love bites or dishevelled hair. "Terra, where were y— oh."

The two of them seemed to start a contest of blushing while Axel let out a soft appreciating whistle, leaving Xion to giggle and Roxas to check the love birds out one at the time, eyebrows raised in confusion, only to finally come to the realisation of what was going on and he rolled his eyes in embarrassment. "Axel," he said. "Don't be daft."

"Me? I am never."

"What is going on?" Terra asked, furiously giving back the platter to Aqua before fumbling with his robe in order to regain an ounce of modesty. "I thought everyone was sleeping."

"We can see that," Axel said, resulting in Xion's giggles to burst out of her control and she had to hide her face in her hands in order to regain some composure.

"I don't have time for this," Riku said, and skipped past Terra to come face to face with Yen Sid's quarters, and started to pound on the door.

"Riku said he saw Sora."

"Whaaat? but I thought —"

"We must have missed something."

"But how did he see him?"

"I have no idea —"

"I'm just here to get some breakfast, to be honest."

"Let's grab a few things before all hell breaks loose."

"I couldn't sleep last night — "

"Yes, we can all -"

"Axel!"

"Bring me some coffee would you?"

"Come and get it yourself, Xion."

Riku's hand was starting to hurt, but he didn't stop his knocking, only switched hands and hammered on the door some more, until finally, finally, a very cross-looking Master Yen Sid opened his door.

"Good morning Master," Riku deadpanned. "I have good reasons to believe Sora is alive and we need to start searching for him now."

Yen Sid's glare almost immediately revealed an urgent form of concern and he raised a hand; the darkened room behind him suddenly lit up with the morning sun and revealed, strangely, the usual office they'd all been used to hang out at and receive their master's guidance. Strange. Wasn't the office at the other side of the floor, usually?

"Come on in, all of you. Terra, would you mind putting on some clothes and waking up whoever is still in bed? That would be appreciated."

He strolled back to his usual spot, sighing as he sad down on his chair and waited for the rest of the group to settle around the desk. Xion and Roxas joined them pretty soon, both of their arms filled with delicious breakfast food that they put down on the desk at Yen Sid's nod of approval. He conjured a few mugs and the coffee pot started pouring into everyone's cup.

Riku was losing patience - he tried to start his talk several times but Yen Sid would then turn his eyes on him and he'd shut up immediately. Alright, then, he thought, I guess everyone needs to be here for that.

He didn't like what everyone entailed.

Soon, as the rest of the group was babbling quietly among themselves, he heard steps behind him and he turned back to see Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Ventus, Kairi and Terra coming through the door. Kairi was looking at him, her expression extremely pained and shy. Her eyes were swollen and she looked like she hadn't slept at all. Riku felt a pang of guilt and managed to nod at her, only to turn almost immediately his attention to Yen Sid. He'd deal with Kairi later. There were more pressing matters at hand.

"Riku," Master Yen Sid said. "You can tell us now."

Riku clasped his hands under the table, fiddling with his thumbs as he searched for the best words to describe his dream-like experience.

"I had a dream," he started, and he paused, expecting someone to let out a frustrated sigh at having been troubled this early in the morning for a dream. Nothing came. He appreciated that. "I had a dream, and it was not like - it was not a normal dream. It left me with a strange taste in my mouth, like — like when S-Sora and I dived into the dream worlds. I —"

He stopped again, realising some of the people gathered here this morning didn't know of this particular adventure - if they knew about any of his and Sora's adventures at all. "Sora and I have taken our test of mastery a few months ago," he explained, looking at the several startled faces that had put all of their attention on his words. "We dived into a few sleeping worlds in order to gain the power of waking, although — Sora almost didn't make it."

He told them of their adventure, how Sora had almost become Xehanort's vessel and how Riku had come to find out that he had become Sora's very own dream-eater.

"This dream, it felt - it felt very familiar, like when I would fight his nightmares and that weird shadowy armour. And I can't help but think - could it be that I — dived into his dreams? Again?" He had turned his attention to Master Yen Sid now, and his voice had become almost pleading — he needed to know, he needed the confirmation, to believe Sora was still okay, somewhere, and that they could all figure out a way to bring him back.

"It probably happened more times than you'd think," Master Yen Sid said, crossing his fingers and biting his lower lip as he reflected on the matter at hand. "As Sora's dream-eater, it should be expected that Sora's dreams have been constantly spilling into your own since your return from the dream worlds."

"But it never felt like that," Riku said. "Never."

"Where was he?"

The two men interrupted themselves, looking at the one who had raised her voice -Kairi. It almost didn't sound like hers. "Where was Sora? Is he okay?"

"I don't know," Riku replied, trying his best not to look at her in the eyes. "I don't remember it very well, I — at first, or was it after? No, no, it was definitely before, he was nowhere, nowhere at all. He was simply — he was just walking, and there was nothing around him. And suddenly, there was this, this strange sun, and it was so bright it was startling, almost like —"

Riku looked out of the window, searching for his words, and winced as he came to look at the present sun directly.

"Almost like it was new. And then, Sora was sneezing, because the dandelions started to fly, and that's when I woke up —"

"Dandelions, you say?" Yen Sid blurted out, and Riku nodded, startled; Yen Sid tapped his lip with his fingers, eyes lost in contemplation. "Interesting."

"What? What's interesting?"

Yen Sid shook his head. "Only my wishful thinking. This is — this is extremely good news, my boy. You were right, this is very promising."

"Do you think we can find him?!" Mickey's voice rouse up, filled with hope. "Can Riku dive back into this dream and bring him back?"

"It will not be that simple," Yen Sid said. "Riku only knows how to willingly dive into places or people that have a physical presence — and although he might still share this connexion, he will not be able to fully interact with Sora's dreams if he cannot dive by the means of Sora's own body. We need Sora's body to do that. But —"

"It's gone," Kairi said. "When he brought me back — he couldn't, not fully. He had to leave his body behind, in — in that place, that strange —"

"Where?" Riku uttered suddenly. "Where were you two? Where did he find you?"

"I don't know, I — it was strange, there was no up and down, just, this weird sky."

"The Final World," Yen Sid and Mickey said in chorus. "Where souls go to rest. He brought you back from the dead, Kairi." Yen Sid added, his voice solemn. "Therefore, if his body lies there —"

"He dived in too deep," Riku said, struggling to keep his voice from betraying his sorrow. "Xehanort - the young one - he warned him. He warned us all. If he reached this place with the power of waking, to its sleeping version —"

"Then he is stuck," Mickey said. "Stuck in the final stage of sleep."

"Where there is nothing," Riku added, pressing his fingers to his lips as if to stop them from shaking.

"No," Master Yen Sid said, then sighed. "Not nothing."

They all turned their eyes back on him, and he suddenly seemed to have aged a couple of thousand years. He placed his tired gaze on Riku, and added, sadly:

"There are dandelions."