Telling Stories

Before you read ANY FURTHER, please bear in mind that there are definitely spoilers. This follows KH 1, Chain of Memories, & KH2. Mostly in order, actually. ALSO, thank you to the anonymous reviewer that alerted me to the formatting issues. More notes at end.

Disclaimer: Square Enix and Disney own all characters, etc.

Arrogance

It took a while, but Sora eventually realized that Riku wore his attitude like armor. The days when he was quiet, staring at something no one could see with a smirk on his face, those were the good days. The days when he was at peace. The loud days, like building the raft and throwing each other into the ocean, or when he laughing, those were the good days too. The ones where he didn't laugh, and no smiles met with glittering green eyes, were harder to figure out. Sometimes they were lonely days, other times they were stressful days. But when he brought all of his hauteur to the surface, all of the bitten back remarks that could hurt people, those were the painful days.

Better

It was an accepted fact by the island children that Riku was just better at things. Either because of his age, or murky whispers that kept him away from home, he was better. He could throw a ball harder than Wakka, and slide faster than Tidus. And although Selphie was sworn to secrecy, he was actually the one to teach her how to braid. It had been established that Riku was just better at things. What he didn't tell the other islanders though, was that Kairi and Sora were always better friends to him than he sometimes was to them.

Conditional

Riku was a skeptic. He understood from a young age that in order to get something, you have to give something first. For example, to get his mother to almost smile, he would have to give presents. Usually these consisted of school paintings or sand messages, but she would always give him a slight nod. He doesn't remember her ever actually smiling at him, only closed doors and scathing words. It wasn't until he met Sora that he realized you didn't always have to give to get a smile in return.

Damaged

Not a lot of people knew that Riku was in an accident when he was younger. The next door neighbors had been adding a room or something to their house. Normally he would cut through the yard to get home quicker, but his mother warned him that he could get hurt if he kept doing that. He did anyway, until he tripped over one of the piles of loose boards. He would have just gotten some scrapes, maybe the wind knocked out of him, but a large pipe came down on top of him. It landed at an angle, partially over his side and on his back. Because he was still a boy, it pinned him. The doctors told his mother that although he would be fine, there was some bruising to his spinal cord. It healed, but Riku tried to keep that area protected as much as he could. And if he still felt the occasional spasm of a remembered pain, he kept that information protected as well.

Eagerness

Riku had met darkness before. He had lived with it. He thought if he could understand it better, it would help him understand himself better. Because although he was the oldest kid on the island, that didn't make him the wisest. By stepping into the hole that was engulfing his home, he was eager for the journey to start. By looking back to ask for Sora, he was wondering if it's something that should be done alone.

Failure

Riku wondered about the phrase "some goals are so worthy, even to fail is remarkable." Was it worth losing Sora to try and bring Kairi back?

Gift

Maleficent's "gift" to control the Heartless worked both ways. He had to maintain enough anger and darkness to keep them in check, and they had to desire hearts with far more light than his. The first few times he called them, as a trial, they would rush him to try and swallow whatever light he still kept. He didn't worry any of the times he called them to face Sora, because the other boy's heart presented a feast. After he received his second gift of darkness from Ansem, however, he called the Heartless again out of curiosity. They didn't even try to devour him.

Heartbreak

Sora didn't see it when Riku appeared long enough to let Kairi, Donald, and Goofy get away. He remembered falling asleep, then wandering in the darkness until he found the light of his Princess. Kairi saw, though, and swore she would engrave every detail of that moment into her memory. On the Gummi ship back to Traverse Town, she told Sora what happened. The longer she talked, the more she saw fragments of anger turn into heartbreak.

Incredulity

Riku was always in awe of Sora's ability to forgive others. He could hold grudges, don't believe otherwise, but he was much quicker to forgive than any of the other kids they would play with. To Riku, it always seemed like he was too busy laughing to remember he was mad at someone. After everything that had happened, Riku was positive that the other boy would never pardon him. He asked nothing for himself, but only asked Sora to take care of Kairi. Riku would never be able to express his relief that Sora had still forgiven him, in those last moments.

Joint

As far as Riku could figure, the number 3 was at once cursed and holy. The three of them on the island had always acted as a support, a pillar to their own little community. Included in their own little community, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie were another trio that was always together. The duck and the awkward dog were together, but with Sora they formed a trinity. Mickey and Sora may have sealed the door to Kingdom Hearts, but Riku was needed to keep the door closed. A Triumvirate of Keyblade Wielders. The third time Riku fought Ansem, he hoped that would be the end of it. The next time he smelled the darkness that characterized the other white-hair, he was at once angered and afraid. If everything was done in multiples of three, how many times would he have to face down this ghost?

King

The decision to depart Disney Castle did not come easily. He had traveled to other worlds before, numerous times, but he always came home. It was only when stars twinkled out an alarming rate that he knew he had to take actions that would have a larger impact. The day before he left, he took pains to say goodbye to those he would not see for a while without letting them know he was leaving. Riku found him one night, on top of the manor. And although Mickey tried to stop, he said "I haven't been home in 8 months." The trembling betrayed how upset the little mouse was. Riku didn't answer him right away, but he did move close enough to butt shoulders with his fellow warrior. "It's okay to miss it," he finally replied quietly. "I miss home, too."

Loyalty

Ansem the Wise had always liked animals. As a scientist, he appreciated the raw instinct the defined them. As a ruler, the alley cats were as well taken care of as the castle horses. As a man, he always felt some of his burdens lifted when the dogs he kept as pets would greet him after a long day. He appreciated their loyalty, but it was bittersweet to remember them. His dogs were the first ones to attack the Heartless coming after him. It was with a striking sense of deja vú that DiZ painfully laughed when Riku came back in his borrowed form, toting an unconscious Roxas.

Misguided Memory

The voice kept telling Riku that his memories were empty, because he was always alone. Although it explained why he never met any of the original residents of the different worlds, it didn't completely explain everything. Riku didn't meet the same people that Sora did, simply because their paths crossed so rarely. What bothered Riku was his lack of fascination with some of the sights. When he first went to Traverse Town, for example, he was awestruck by the intricate subtlety of the place. The rooms being created by Castle Oblivion didn't evoke nearly the same amount of emotion. Not that he needed any more reason, but that spurred him forward to leave the basement as soon as possible.

Name

Riku never gave much thought to the power of names. Titles, sure: Governor, Captain, King, Princess, Keyblade Bearer. But a name was always just a name. Sora was the name of his best friend, and Kairi was the name of his other best friend that had liked Sora forever. Maleficent was the name of the witch who had given him the surge of dark power, and Naminé was the name of the witch who had given Sora false memories. The Organization, the group that referred to themselves as Nobodies, still had their own names. Until he realized that he had given a name to the dark scent that he never completely got rid of. That was when he understood how much power he had been taking for granted for all these years.

Obstinate

He had always been told that being stubborn is what got him into trouble. Too stubborn to accept help, too pigheaded to know what was good for him. On his journey through Castle Oblivion, Riku had time to reflect on that perception. When he reached where Zexion was waiting for him, he attacked in anger for the mockery of his friends he had been presented with. After the battle, he huddled down near a familiar-but-not tree and tried to pull the pieces of his mind together, frantically trying to account for everything. A choked sob escaped him, with the panicked thought that being too stubborn to quit may be what had saved his life.

Postulant

Mickey had a theory about Castle Oblivion. At the crossroads between worlds, one had four options. Returning down the road they came from, the path towards the light, the path towards the dark, and the path in-between. The one Riku called the twilight road to dawn. Castle Oblivion actually existed in the middle of those paths, but on a different plane. Because of that, the majority of the beings that made their way there were indecisive, or possibly misguided. In order to escape, one had to choose the path one wanted to travel. It wasn't until much later that Mickey discussed this with Riku, after the boy had started eating again. Riku seemed thoughtful, and wondered out loud if that's why the Replica acted as it did. It was a copy of him, of his own path, but it wanted to go down a different one. Inwardly, Riku wondered if there were any more successful replicas. And if there were, who would they be copying?

Quiescent

Riku visited the sleeping pod as often as he could. After a few missions, he started practicing what he going to say to his lazy friend when he woke up. After a few more, he started writing them down so he wouldn't forget. After this most recent mission, he tore the paper to shreds. Sora looked tranquil, and Riku didn't want to feel like he was intruding on his friend's deserved rest. There was a sleeping bag he had stashed near the console, so he could close his eyes for just a few minutes without needing to defend himself to DiZ. Secretly, Riku hoped some of the peace of the stylized flower and its inhabitant would siphon into his own troubled dreams.

Restless/Resting

None of Riku's limbs wanted to work right. The cloak hid the odd angles and protruding feet, but it seemed all the heavier for it. He was losing his balance, and losing more battles. DiZ finally stepped in, saying that he needed time to adjust for the growing his body was doing, and all but ordered him to rest for a week. Mickey had agreed, but had made DiZ promise he wouldn't upset Riku. When Mickey left to go scouting the Organization, Riku felt like he was losing his friends all over again.

Whatever the bandaged man had given him with dinner was starting to work. Diz practically forced a home remedy down his throat, saying it would help the bone-ache and offer him a chance to sleep. Sleeping worried Riku, even with a promise of no dreams. He could never shake the feeling that Ansem was there, lingering at the edges of his consciousness, waiting for him to drop his guard again. He fought sleep even as his eyes drooped. Sighing, DiZ pulled a chair next to his bed, bringing a book and a lit candle. Taking in Riku's confused look, a small grin puckered at the older man's lips. "I tend to read my science articles out loud. You just happen to be here."

Sentinel

The darkness was taking its toll on Riku. Sora had been asleep for 7 months, while Naminé welded the chain back together. He had taken to sleeping in the computer room, where the constant hum of machines helped quiet his mind. DiZ jokingly told Mickey that the boy was a pet dog, guarding his master while he slept. A glare from the usually cheerful king silenced any other remarks on the matter. That night, Mickey stayed in the computer room as well, writing letters to Minnie he would never send.

Troubled

Ten months into this godforsaken mission, and sleep still offered no solace to Riku. What food he could hold down, tasted bland. Every unidentified scamper, every faint shuffle, he was ready to call the keyblade. He found himself making less frequent visits to the sleeping pod, in favor of watching the stars from the roof of the manor. It was hard for him to face the sun, now, but the stars didn't cause him too much discomfort. He bitterly wondered if starlight would eventually disappear from his sight as well.

Understatement

That Riku was elated when Sora woke up would be restraining the emotion. The long months, longer missions, and unending twilight that he now lived in as Ansem had finally come to fruition. Mickey had already promised to guide them as they needed, leaving him free to continue his work. The more worlds Sora visited though, the more Riku tried to distance himself. How could he help his friend without being noticed? The longer Sora was awake, the harder it became to stay away. He could almost admit how much he missed Sora, to Mickey if not to the boy himself. But he couldn't admit that he also missed the sunlight that paved the way for Sora, and left Riku in the cold shadow it cast. So he never said those things out loud, as much as he may have wanted to.

Vision

That Kairi saw through his form didn't surprise him. She had always seen things the others didn't, and that ability only improved after Sora unlocked her from his heart. But Riku wasn't quite sure how to react when Sora didn't realize who he was. Warring emotions of enthusiasm to finally see Sora, grim satisfaction that the dark form worked so well, and his own acceptance that he would never look the same toiled inside. Although he was grateful to Kairi for making Sora close his eyes, he was troubled that his real self, the self he remembered, was confined to the shadow realm. He knew the price for defeating Roxas, and he expected to pay it, but he didn't expect it to hurt so badly.

Water

After the machine exploded, taking Di-Ansem the Wise with it, Riku didn't expect to wake up as he did. Although still wrapped in the dark jacket, he felt…shorter. Once Mickey reminded them that DiZ had said anything could happen, he could tell he was wearing a blindfold again. After he threw the coat away for good, he excused himself for a minute before they ran to take down Xemnas. There was just enough of a reflection that he could see himself. Not Ans-Xehanort, not the dark armored form the Replica wore, but his own reflection. Wiping away the small teardrops that threatened his eyes, he brought himself back under control.

Xiphos

Although he never took place in any of the matches at the Coliseum, Riku had spent some time around the smithy that was housed there. When it wasn't being used for matches between gods and Heartless, it was an arena for regular people. Regular weapons broke, or cracked, so they would go to the smithy to get them repaired. If it was beyond repair, the smithy would provide bad weapons for cheap or good ones for twice the amount a contestant would pay at home. After the Coliseum was destroyed, Riku visited again as Ansem. The smithy wasn't there anymore, but some of the shattered weapons remained. When he tried to pick up one of the intact double-edged swords, it burned him as soon he touched it. Riku stared at it, then snorted in sad resignation. Of course he wouldn't be able to pick up something with a name that meant "penetrating light."

Young

Riku could handle the dragon. It was an eerie, skeletal, almost beautiful thing, but he could handle it. He could even handle flying, although the buildings made for an interesting obstacle course. And he was handling Xemnas with Sora, right up until the point the other boy got captured. He was too drained emotionally to conjure up the cold rage that characterized his fighting style for so long, but he managed to pool some reserves of stony wrath. This…being was going to take away his friend, after he had been lurking in the darkness for so long? No, that was not going to happen.

As the blade landed in the same place the pipe did, all those years ago, Riku experienced the same panic that he went through every time a blow was landed in that area. Was he going to be able to walk from this one? Did the bruising reappear again, only so visible it could be seen with the naked eye? And why, why did the universe see the need to remind him that he was damaged there? As he threw the keyblade to Sora, he bitterly wondered why his body was screaming at him like an old man's, when he had barely turned 16 a couple months ago.

Zero

"My name is Riku. This is the first day I've been home in over a year."

Whew! Finished this monster! Ok, I promised more notes, so here they are:

I kind of didn't love Riku in KH2. I still liked him, but not nearly as much as I did in KH1. I was finally convinced to play Chain of Memories by a friend of mine, and OMG, did it add so many layers to the game! My former love for Riku was rekindled.

There are also a couple nods to fabulous fanfic that I read years ago, based in KH1 that is still listed on . "Mourn for the Plain Sea," by Rosalyn Angel. If you get the chance, definitely check it out.

And if you do review, please let me know which entry you liked. Or entries. Thanks everyone!

Captain out.