Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, I would be able to afford that lighting table I really want...but I can't...so obviously I'm a broke student who wishes she owned Kingdom Hearts. :P

My first time writing for this fandom. I must say I'm excited.

If you want to UNDERSTAND the STORY, I highly suggest you READ the FOLLOWING.

This is kind of an alternate universe fic, but the story follows the previous plotlines established in KH, CoM, 358/2 Days, and KH2 EXCEPT at the following points.

-Riku never defeated Roxas (358/2) so Roxas is not reunited with Sora and is still wandering about. The digital replica of Twilight Town was created (KH2), but never used. Sora was awakened using other means (this will be explained later).

-Roxas does not know who Namine is.

-Sora did not recognize Riku in the Land of Dragons (KH2) This is just for convenience sake, has no real plot relevance.

-Sora did not find or see Riku in the World that Never Was (KH2). Sora defeated Xemnas alone, and got out of the world through Kairi's letter alone.

-Kairi does not have a keyblade.

That's about it. At least, all that I can think of right now. Now if all of that hasn't deterred you from reading, my final point is that this fic will not be focused around any romance or romantic themes/pairings. Meaning; interpret it how you want, it is neither Sora/Kairi, Riku/Kairi, or Sora/Riku. There will be moments, not unlike the game, where you might choose to view certain interactions to have romantic meaning. Please don't bother me with it, you will only get a :P face as a response. so :P

Still want to read it? Carry on! Reviewers will get cookies, my gratitude, and they encourage updates faster.

Although, I must say, I find this first chapter rather boring. xP

What You Wanted

2 whole years had passed.

2 whole years.

And they hadn't found a single thing.

Not a sight, sound, presence...

...anything.

2 whole years of waiting.

2 whole years of biding time.

2 whole years of relying on letters.

2 whole years of frustration.

Sora was furious.

What was it? Did the king not trust him anymore? Did they think they didn't need him anymore? They hadn't had any success. None! They had no idea where to even start looking for Riku! Now was as good a time as ever to ask for his help! He was no use here, stuck on this island, sipping tropical drinks and reading letters. Sora flopped down on his bed with a huff, flinging the latest apologetic letter into the corner.

Sora could still remember clearly the day they had finally made it back. Once they had made it into their village, they were welcomed back graciously; his family and friends had been so worried for him. And for a moment, caught up in all the excitement, Sora had forgotten that they were missing someone. Sora still couldn't get over that, that he, even if for only a moment, had forgotten his best friend.

But it wasn't long until he remembered.

He was embraced from all sides; his friends, his family, they were all here. They were so happy to see him, and a million questions were bouncing through the air. He hadn't felt this glad in a very long time. After a few moments, and after everyone had a chance to hug him, they all fell back, chattering happily. Sora was happy to answer their questions, and soon found himself caught up in telling the story of their adventures together.

After the tale was mostly done, and the sun had almost set over the horizon, people started to trail back towards their homes; only after he promised to tell the rest of the story tomorrow. His mother and father waited for him, their smiles almost too big for their faces. He too was smiling, he was finally going home with them.

He hugged each of them, promising them that he would be with them in a moment. He wanted to say goodnight to Kairi before he left. Looking around, Sora caught sight of her just behind a couple of coconut trees. He sighed with relief. He was worried that she might have already gone to sleep. He walked up casually to her, sneaking around the edge of the trees. He chuckled quietly to himself, hoping that he would be able to surprise her. He listened closely, trying to wait for the opportune moment to jump out.

And all of his happiness drained away.

Kairi's arms were wrapped around a huddled figure, soft words of comfort coming out of her mouth. The figure was crying quietly, strands of white-gold hair sticking up out of Kairi's hands. Sora came forward solemnly, wondering what was wrong.

"Hey." He rested a hand on Kairi's shoulder, looking down at the person sobbing in her arms. "What's going on?"

Kairi shot him a meaningful glance as the figure stopped sobbing for a moment. Sora waited patiently as the person rose, soft golden curls falling to rest around a distressed face. Startling aquamarine eyes opened up to meet his, and with a pang of recognition Sora saw who it was.

Riku's...mother.

They stared at each other for a moment, and then eventually the petite woman lowered her gaze to study her hands.

"I suppose," she murmured, "That you don't know where he is either."

Sora felt his insides squirm with tension. "No...I don't."

Riku's mother sniffed, a couple more tears falling down her cheeks.

Sora reached out to her, pulling her into an embrace of his own. "Hey." She returned the embrace, burying her face into his jacket. "Hey, it's going to be alright." More tears came as her hands clenched the fabric of his shirt. "The King; this really clever person, is out looking for him right now. We'll find him."

She looked up at him with wide hopeful eyes. "Really? So...h-he's not..."

Sora shook his head. "He's not dead, how could he be? He's Riku. Riku doesn't die."

A small sad laugh came up through her throat. "Yes," she nodded, "You're right. He's my son. My Riku. He can't die."

Sora nodded vigorously. "That's right." He smiled. "We'll find him. I promise."

Sora winced as that particular detail came back to him. He had promised her. Promised.

He had sworn that he would never break a promise. No matter how difficult it became to keep.

And Sora knew that with each passing day, it would become more and more difficult.

The more time passed, the less likely it was that they were going to find Riku. The last lead they had on him was from a couple in Traverse Town that said they had seen a young, blindfolded man with silver hair being pursued by one of the larger heartless. That was 5 months ago. They had no new leads; nothing to go off of. The last time Sora had actually seen his friend with his own two eyes was when he shut the door to Kingdom Hearts on him.

Sora leaned back against his headboard, trying to imagine what Riku might look like now. He didn't really have anything to go off of, just the words of others who had seen him. They had described to him Riku's new appearance; on the off chance that he might not recognize him on first sight. Apparently, he dressed like one of those of Organization XIII, but also wore a thin black blindfold that covered his eyes. King Mickey had also told him, with little eye contact, that Riku would be much thinner than he remembered him to be.

Sora had one picture of Riku. It was in the sketchbook that Namine used to draw in, while he was sleeping. Most of them were crayon drawings; bright colours of people with distorted limbs and disproportionate backgrounds, most not better than what a small child could draw. However, as the pages went on, not unlike a practicing artist, the pictures got better and better. There was even a drawing of him that was almost perfect, if not for the shaky crayon lines.

There was only one drawing in pencil.

At the very back, on the last page of paper, there was the only drawing of Riku. Sora had a suspicion that Namine had drawn it while actually sitting in front of his friend. He appeared to be sleeping, haphazardly leaning against what Sora thought might be the pod that he had slept in for a year. He was dressed in black leather garb, a blindfold covering his eyes. Stray wisps of hair trailed down from his face, longer and thinner than he remembered. His lips were parted slightly in what might have been a snore, a hand resting limply against the structure he was leaning against. It was very realistic looking, with only a few fingerprinted smudges here and there. Sora truly believed that it was as accurate a depiction of Riku that they were going to get.

He remembered the first time that he and Kairi had flipped through it, they had stared at that final page for what must have been an hour. It was almost as though they were unwilling to believe that the picture that they were looking at was supposed to be Riku. He just looked too different. Kairi had actually had to ask Namine to confirm for her that it was true. It was only her Nobody's confirmation that made her truly believe that it was supposed to be him.

Sora twisted his hands together, brushing his fingers over his steadily fading callouses. He guessed that this was just a taste of what Kairi must have went through when both he and Riku were missing. This was only a little longer than what she waited before she had been reunited with him, and she had been missing Riku for just over four years now. Sora wondered at times if she really believed that they would find Riku at times, or if she was simply preparing for the worst. She spent most of her time with Riku's mother these days, acting as a kind of grim pillar of support for the grieving woman. The constant cycles of hope and hopelessness were taking it's toll on her, and Kairi could only offer that kind of support while the search continued.

In a way, Sora guessed that he felt guilty. Not that he hadn't tried to help. He just had no way of contacting them. True, they could send him letters, bottled and washed up on the beach, but there didn't seem to be any way of sending anything back. He had tried everything; from opening a portal of his own, to tossing bottled messages back into the sea. The world seemed to be locked somehow, and every time he tried to unlock it using his keyblade, all he would get was the image of the backside of a lock. It was almost like it was locked from the outside, and not even the keyblade could open locks backwards. He suspected that the bottles just floated back to shore on different points on the island; he had the misfortune to come across one not too long ago, triggering a fit of angered hopelessness and much tree-beating from him.

If only he hadn't shut that door.

He didn't need someone else to necessarily pull the door from the other side to close it. He could have pulled Riku through the door and had him help him push. Maybe if he had thought about it for a moment, just a split second, he could've really comprehended what he was doing. Maybe it was because the King was there, and he believed that the King would be able to keep Riku safe. Maybe it was the confident smile on his friend's face, encouraging him to do it. Maybe it was just that he was caught up in the moment; desperate to get that door closed. Or...

"Take care of her."

...maybe...

Sparkling cerulean eyes, a peaceful, accepting smile.

...Riku...

Sure, strong hands pulling at the door, helping him close it.

...is this what you wanted?

Yeah...kinda boring I know. Mostly thought contemplation n stuff. Tell me what you think? 3 till next time