A/N: I actually started this fic last year and then discontinued it, but now I've revised it, so it's been reposted. Most of it's the same, but this time I figure I'll actually finish it :D
Anyway, for the record, I don't own any of these characters. Sadly enough, Square-Enix and Disney lay full claim. -sighs- In any case, enjoy.
I don't want to touch the sky
I just want to feel that high
But you refuse to lift me
Guess it wasn't real after all
Guess it wasn't real all along
If I fall, and all is lost
It's where I belong
- Evanescence, Cloud Nine (from the album The Open Door)
It was stupid really.
To get this worked up over something he knew already. Something he'd always known. It wasn't a surprise, even when said full-out into someone's face. He should have expected it.
But it still hurt.
Riku ran his hands through his silvery hair, hands tightening around his ears, trying to block out her voice.
"I'm sorry," she'd said.
Was she, really? Why should she be? She'd done nothing wrong.
"You're my friend, Riku. But that's all."
He slid down his bedroom wall, sitting roughly on the floor. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against his knees.
Get a grip, he told himself.
As if it were that easy. The scene kept playing over and over in his head. Kairi. The cove. Those beautiful sapphire eyes, that perfect face, that perfect voice.
"I've made my choice."
Fine. So she'd chosen Sora. Didn't change the fact that they were best friends, had been best friends for years, just the three of them growing up together on the islands. They would always be best friends.
So why did he care so much?
"I've got to get out of here," he said to himself.
He ran down the stairs so fast it felt as though he would fall, face smashing against wooden floorboards, and for a split second Riku thought he wouldn't mind. Maybe that was what he needed. Something that would force everything else from his mind.
The little island was deserted when he rowed up and jumped out onto the dock. His was the only boat. That was fine with Riku. Usually Sora and Kairi would stay out here till long after sunset, but apparently they'd gone home early. Don't think about it, he told himself.
The quiet was broken only by the soft rush of the waves and the gurgle of the waterfall. Riku leapt over the low wall and splashed through the pool, shoving his head under the water. Cold spray pounded down on his head, and for blissful moments he could think of nothing over the roar of the water.
But finally he pulled his head out to realize he was shivering. He climbed out of the pool and went to lay in the cradle of the paopu tree, staring at the sky. For the first time since Kairi had spoken to him on the dock, he began to feel angry.
What does she even see in him? he wondered. A weakling kid who pouts and thinks the world will bow down for him. I'm better than him at everything. And she picks him. Well, serve her right if he's not what she thinks he is.
He came to another realization. I bet Sora's thrilled. He never would think about how I feel. Selfish, self-centered, self-serving, self-righteous. Best friends? Ha. He'd forget me in a second if it meant spending more time with her.
He had too much energy; he couldn't sit still. Angrily he stood; his feet carried him to the secret place under the tree, into the cavern he and Sora had played in when they were little. Once upon a time, Sora had thought there was a monster here.
Something was different now, though. Where once there had only been blank wall, there was now a rough wooden door, out of place in this dank, musty place. As he looked, shadows seemed to be oozing from the crack between the door and the wall, spilling out like a thicky, murky liquid.
But that couldn't be true, since this door couldn't possibly go anywhere. Riku knew for a fact that the only thing on the other side of that wall was the beach. He blinked furiously, shaking his head.
There was a rumble from outside, that sounded distinctly like thunder.
"A storm?" he whispered, running back outside, and sure enough, he could see flashes of lightning playing over the clouds. He'd always loved thunderstorms, loved watching the lightning play over the clouds, beautiful but dangerous.
With a jolt, he realized the finished raft was still at the cove. He started to go tie it up, but a thought stopped him. Who cares if it gets destroyed? he realized angrily. It's better than being stuck on a raft with the two of them, all lovey-dovey. I hope it gets destroyed. I hope they're here to see it, too.
He looked up again. The clouds had taken on an eerie purple-red color. This was no normal storm.
A strange echoing sounded from behind him, and he turned to see a strange whitish-gray door where the entrance to the secret place had been. Where did that come from?
As he looked, it opened.
Heavy footsteps sounded on the dock. Riku didn't have to look to recognize Sora's walk. He stood up angrily and stared out over the ocean, propping his hands on his hips.
The storm whirled around him, and it seemed just perfect. As if the anger, the hate inside him had broken out into the world. He could feel it in his very blood. This was it. The night he was finally leaving. The night he wouldn't have to be trapped here any more.
Sora's footsteps slapped on the bridge behind him. "Where's Kairi?" his friend shouted. "I thought she was with you!"
She was, Riku thought. But you changed all that.
"The door has opened," he said. He could sense it. Whatever force had been keeping them locked up on this island was gone. They were free. This storm had done that. Maybe they wouldn't be able to come back… but there was nothing for him here anyway.
"What?" his so-called friend asked.
"The door has opened, Sora," Riku repeated, turning to face him. At the sight of Sora's face, all the anger seemed to disappear, replaced by the thrill of departure. "Now we can go to the outside world!"
"What are you talking about? We've gotta find Kairi!"
"Kairi's coming with us!" Riku said forcefully. Sora fell silent. "Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back." He looked back up at the sky. "But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"
At his words, he felt the ground shift under his feet, the darkness between worlds welcoming him in. He smiled. It was just like he had imagined it. He held out his hand to Sora.
"Riku…" Sora murmured, hesitating.
The darkness engulfed Riku. He could feel its power spreading across his skin. Sora reached for his hand, but it was too late. Riku slipped through the dark portal, and it closed behind him.
"Too slow," he muttered.
When had it all started?
"Riku?"
He'd always been more prone to trouble than Sora. Sora was 'the good kid', Riku 'the tough guy'. He'd always been stronger, but that wasn't all. Riku had a certain pride, a self-confidence that gangly, awkward, naïve Sora never had. When they were little, Riku was always the leader, the one who might have gotten them into trouble but always got them back out.
"I want to talk to you," Kairi said. "Do you have a minute?"
But those sapphire-blue eyes could undo even Riku's rock-steady calm.
"For you, I have two minutes," he replied cheerily, tossing aside the rope he'd been knotting.
"Thanks," she said with a small smile.
"What's up?" he asked casually.
Maybe it had been the arrogance that was his undoing. He'd assumed she would be his. He was stronger, cooler, more self-assured. And definitely more mature. Not to mention less lazy.
"Earlier today…" Kairi began. "When you and Sora raced. You made a bet."
"As usual," Riku agreed, chuckling. The lie came easily. "The name of the raft. And who got to be captain."
"No," she said firmly. "About me."
The bottom of his stomach seemed to drop to the ground.
But he never would have called it love. He was only fifteen, for crying out loud. It was just hormones, the way he wanted to reach out and stroke that soft red hair. Wanted to wrap his arms around her slender body. Wanted to crush her lips with his.
"About the paopu," she went on. "I know you thought I couldn't hear."
He ducked his head, the picture of sheepishness. "Sorry," he said truthfully. "It was dumb. I know you're better than that. Not a prize, and all. It was a mean joke to play." Not to mention I lost, Riku thought.
"It's not only that," Kairi told him. "I… I've been meaning to tell you this for a while."
Not love. But what, then? They'd been friends for nine years, grown up together. Surely that counted for something. Something more than just brotherly love.
"I know… well, Selphie's told me… that you like me. You and Sora both."
Girls. So damn perceptive. He knew he'd never liked Selphie.
"And… it's only fair I should tell you… I've made my choice," Kairi said apologetically. "I… I like Sora."
Forget the bottom of his stomach; he felt as if all his insides had been set on fire, ripped to pieces, and then torn out of him. By Edward Scissorhands.
"More than just a friend," she went on. "Not that I don't like you. You're my friend, Riku. But that's all."
Maybe he didn't want it to be 'that's all'. Maybe he wasn't okay with being just a friend. Not that she'd care. Neither of them ever cared about how he felt.
"I'm sorry," she told him.
Words. So easy to say, so meaningless. Petty lies to cover up ugly truths, to make it seem alright. But it could never be alright.
"Does Sora know?" he asked finally.
"Not yet," she admitted.
"But he feels the same way." It wasn't a question.
"I think so."
Riku turned away so she wouldn't see his rage, his hatred, his pain. "Okay," he said.
Kairi touched his shoulder, but he shrugged her off. "Leave me alone."
She had to have known how much it would hurt him. But obviously she didn't care.
So neither would he.
He forced the memory out of his mind, and Kairi's voice was replaced by another.
"Well, well, well. What have we here?"
His eyes snapped open.
The woman was tall, towering over him as he lay flat on his back on a cold stone floor. Her skin was an eerie, pale green, and she was robed entirely in black. The whites of her snakelike eyes were sickly yellow.
Riku shot to his feet, tensing as if for a fight. "Who are you?" he demanded suspiciously.
She arched her eyebrows. "A question I should be asking you, seeing as which you are intruding in my castle."
He scowled. "Name's Riku. Where the heck am I? Is this another world?"
False shock played across her face. "You are from another world? Poor creature." She crossed over to him, cupping his face in one hand, making his skin crawl. "You must be so tired. Come, rest. You will be safe here... Riku."
"You still haven't told me where I am or who the crap you are," he pointed out. She sent chills running down his spine... but he could deal with outright creepiness. It was the pretty ones you couldn't trust. The pretty ones could betray you when you least expected it. With creepy, at least you knew it was coming.
Long green fingers drummed a jeweled scepter. "You are in Hollow Bastion," she said. "And my name is Maleficent."
review, please :)