DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Not all angels like to sing. Just because they're perfect doesn't mean they love to do and are good at everything. Some angels prefer making rain, other angels like to greet new angels, and some like to be guardian angels. While some jobs are very important, being a guardian is a lot more important. Protecting their charge is a huge responsibility. They must be kept strong and their name kept from the list of angels to be greeted at the gate.

Riku was running again. The darkness was slowly creeping toward him. Even in a place so dark, he was able to avoid every obstacle, after all he'd been blindfolded before.

Jump. Turn. Stop. Breathe. Run.

He was getting tired, but he couldn't stop, he still had to find Sora. After the heart shower from Ansem's machine, Riku got his body back. As Riku took off the blindfold he turned to Sora. Finally, he could see Sora again! Just as Riku was going to pull the brunette into a hug, Sora was taken! A giant nobody sprouted from the darkness, grabbed Sora, and took off. Now he, King Mickey and Kairi, and Donald and Goofy had to save him.

"Dang, Ansem must have planned this to buy himself some time," Riku was frustrated. He couldn't find Sora and those shadow heartless wouldn't give up. Riku knew he could beat them, they were pathetic, but there were a lot and Sora was in trouble. He just had to help him!

Finally, Riku gave up trying to run from the shadows and tried something else. He ran forward and jumped inside one of the deserted buildings. He ran through it and hopped out a window on the other side. Then he doubled back, going the way he'd been running from. At the end of the street, he found another path to where he was headed.

During Riku's time in the darkness, he had been to The World That Never Was a few times. One time while he was here he'd found a shack, but hadn't been able to open it, even with the keyblade. It was the only place left to look.

When Riku reached the shack he began to panic. The door was still locked! Riku couldn't hear anything inside, but he still had to check. Riku decided to try the keyblade, though he doubted it'd work. Steadily, Riku pointed his blade toward the keyhole. At first nothing happened, but then a click sounded and the door squeaked open just a crack. Stepping forward, Riku breathed a sigh of relief, "It must have been sealed by magic before."

Inside the shack, Riku noticed it was barren. Outside it appeared to have windows due to the shutters on the walls. Inside the house, there was nothing but the door and a small rug thrown haphazardly across the floor. Hoping he was right, Riku pulled the rug away.

"What do you know, I was right," Riku smirked as he saw the trap door where the rug had been. Riku bent down and pulled the door up to open it. He couldn't see anything more than the first few feet of the ladder leaned against the wall. Carefully, Riku climbed onto the ladder. There was no light, but Riku was used to the dark, still he had to be careful. No telling how far the floor was.

Climbing down slowly, Riku found himself thinking horrible thoughts about what could have happened to Sora. He might be going all this way just to find a body… No! Sora doesn't give up that easily. He's still alive… I know it. Before Riku's mind could try to convince him otherwise, he reached the floor. Stepping off the ladder, Riku turned. To his dismay, he couldn't see anything.

Riku had been blind for almost the past two years, but this darkness was different. This darkness got to your head. All your senses were mixed up and all general feeling of direction was lost. "My hand can't even feel the ladder anymore," said Riku aloud. He was hoping that by talking someone would hear him and come. Maybe Sora would shout or something… But Riku heard nothing.

Nothing... Riku shouted. Silence. Panic.

Riku started running. He didn't know where he was going, but he had to find Sora. He could feel Sora somewhere close by, but where? He was stumbling, but he kept going. Riku tripped and just lie there on the floor. His body and heart told him to keep moving, but Riku's mind told him that it was pointless. Sora was probably dead by now.

"It's not fair!" Riku yelled. For the past two years Sora had been trying to save Riku. Sora was supposed to save everyone. He was a guardian angel in human form. After all he'd been through, Sora was gone and Riku couldn't help him. Without Sora there was no reason to try to fight Xehanort's nobody. Riku couldn't win on his own.

Riku lie there for what felt like hours. His mind had stopped working. All he could do was listen to his heart shattering. He failed his best friend. Riku failed…

He just wanted to die. If Riku couldn't help his best friend, then who could he help? "Help…me…" What was that? Riku had heard something. Someone was calling for help. Whether it was Sora or not, Riku couldn't tell, however, he was going to find out. Even if he didn't like what he found, Riku had to know what happened to Sora.

Slowly, Riku stood up. Carefully, he made his way forward. He didn't know where he was going but something felt right.

Left. Right. Left. Right.

Riku didn't allow his mind to wander. If he didn't concentrate, he was afraid the logical part of him would tell him there was no reason to continue on.

Each step Riku took brought him closer to a small sliver of light. It looked as if it was coming from a door that had been left open a crack. When Riku got to the door, he got his keyblade ready. If whatever had Sora was in there, Riku was going to kill it. He slowly pushed open the door and peeked inside. There was Sora. Riku shoved open the door and raced inside.

"Sora…! Sora, are you okay…?"

"…Ungh…Riku…"Sora was chained to the wall by his hands. He'd been unconscious and seemed to have a few cuts and bruises.

"Sora, I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner. Please forgive me." Riku's aquamarine eyes held his sorrow and clearly showed his heartfelt apology.

"Riku…" Sora smiled. Then his eyes widened, "Watch out!" Riku jumped away just in time. The spot where he stood in front of Sora now had an anchor-like hammer sitting there. Riku turned to face the berserker he was going to have to fight.

The hammer disappeared and reappeared in the berserker's hand. In Riku's own hand, Way to Dawn appeared. He was prepared to do anything to protect Sora. The berserker advanced towards Riku, who swiftly rolled out of the way. As the nobody stopped its spinning attack, Riku ran up behind it and began to slash away.

Quickly the berserker's health was diminishing. Getting overconfident, Riku dropped his guard for a split second. In that small fraction of time, the berserker had shrunk down very small, and its hammer had started to glow a rage filled purple. Swiftly the hammer was popping up and then smashing down into Riku. After fully knocking Riku down, the nobody went up higher than before. Coming down, it sent a huge shockwave through the room; even Sora, chained to the wall, could feel its effects.

"Riku…" Sora could see him lying on the ground, Way to Dawn gripped loosely in his right hand. "Riku…! Wake up! Please!" Sora was on the verge of crying, but he didn't care. His best friend was hurt, and he couldn't help at all! "Riku…"

"Wow… You really are a crybaby…"

TBC…

Wow my first fanfic, I was originally going to make this a one shot, but I decided that I wanted a full story. So when I get some inspiration, I'll write the next chapter. Hopefully, that will be sometime soon...Until then!