Welcome Home

This is set right after KH2 but is a set up for KH3D. This is a crack piece explaining Riku's new haircut for Dream Drop Distance. I'm sorry for it's randomness. I own nothing but my own ideas.

Riku was more than a little nervous about going back home. There was a reason why he hadn't seen his parents in about two years. He was not looking forward to the reunion. Unfortunately, he knew that he couldn't exactly put it off any longer. He'd already gone with Sora for his parental meeting, one of the most awkward things he'd ever done, and had dinner with Kairi's family. Word was already getting around the island that he and Sora were back. He couldn't just hide somewhere either. He couldn't summon corridors of darkness anymore so that was out as well.

Riku sighed, he was at his front door. He knew it would be unlocked but he wondered if he should knock. Would that be polite? Or should he just come bursting in as usual?

You could have chosen the darkness! Ansem's (or rather Xehanort's heartless, whoever he was) voice taunted him. Riku wasn't even sure it was really him or his own mind doing it from habit. The offer was sure looking more tempting. He wouldn't give in for this but... there was definitely temptation.

He decided to do it quickly, like a potion at the last second. He slam-banged opened the screen door and turned the golden door knob. The scene he opened on was like a picturesque memory. His mother, her thick silver hair in a ponytail and her light green eyes focused on the television screen, was lounging on her armchair whilst tapping her fingers. She turned to him, slightly startled from the noise of his entrance. Then her peridot eyes grew wide and her mouth opened, she took a breath and prepared to say something.

Riku beat her to it.

"Hi Mom." He literally didn't have anything else to say,

"Riku." She said shortly, "My son..."

"Yes?"

"You have hair longer than I do!" She wailed, "Didn't I teach you anything? It was getting long before you left but this? This is rupunzeline!"

Riku wasn't surprised. This was the main reason why he had wanted to leave home in the first place.

"Mom, I like my hair like this."

"I don't! I can't even see your eyes. You are getting that cut as soon as I find my scissors!" She announced, getting up from her chair and kicking the TV off. As she made her way to the kitchen drawers, Riku knew she was being completely serious.

"Mom," he tried desperately to get her on another topic, "I've come back home. I was gone for a few years. I helped save the world."

"I know you've been gone, what do you think I am? Blind? Unobservant? Oblivious? Is that why you thought you could get away with that horrendous hair of yours?" She had found a pair of scissors, was turning, approaching him.

"Mom!" he made another attempt, "When I left, I was the reason why the island was swallowed in darkness. I was the one who might have kind of killed you until Sora brought everything back." Even her anger was better than her fashion policing.

"So?" She raised her eyebrows,

"I was evil!" Riku burst out, "And I've been trying to defeat the darkness ever since. Oh, and I have a Keyblade now and I don't look a thirty year old man anymore. I've defeated a lot of heartless and nobodies. I have munny!" He was backing away, sidestepping and practically hiding behind furniture. It was a useless effort, his mother would not be deterred. He briefly wondered if it would be morally right to teleport out of the house. It would be better than beating his own mother with his Keyblade for sure.

He could practically hear Ansem's darkness speeches. Temptation! He must not give in.

Now he had to wonder about Ansem's family life. Or rather, that of Xehanort. Little did Riku know that the being he called Ansem was actually the heartless of an amnesiac being that could be referred to as Terranort. However, even if Ansem didn't have memories of being an aged and deranged Keyblade Master some things did line up, even if Ansem himself didn't even know it. For example, Xehanort had also grown up on Destiny Islands as well as originally having silver-white hair like Riku's. Xehanort had constantly been heckled about his hair as well, from an older sister with light green eyes. Eventually, Xehanort had given up, shaved himself bald and devised a body swapping scheme to stop his sister from ever keeping him from his desired hair length ever again.

Riku didn't have that much evil genius left in him. Angsty!Teen, yes, but actual, useful (over the top and ridiculous) plotting skills were hard to reach.

That meant that if he wanted to stay on the islands, he would have to get his hair cut.

He had to be good.

More than ever before he wished he could still open corridors of darkness.

Snip. Snip.

...

The next day when he met Sora and Kairi on The Island, Sora was babbling on and on about how concerned his parents had been. He mentioned that they weren't sure what to do with his schooling, they really didn't want him to have to go backwards. His mom almost hadn't let him come today, she was so worried about him. He was glad he finally could eat well again and sleep without the fear that a world would get devoured when he wasn't watching. Riku had a very happy friend.

"What about you, Riku?" Sora finally asked,

Riku grimaced and then he took off his hood. Sora and Kairi gasped. His hair, once longer than Kairi's, was short. The shortest that his friends had ever seen it.

"This was my welcome home present. Apparently, if I don't keep it this short my mom is going to shave it next time. When's the next apocalypse?"

...

A\N: I'm sorry. I literally do not know why I am even posting this. I understand it's pretty cruddy, it may have a few nice ideas but *sigh* I'm still not entirely happy with it. I pretty much got an undeniable urge to write this and started typing. This is the result.

And yes, I just made Riku's mom Xehanort's older sister. Why? They live on an island, it's a small place.

I apologize again. Hopefully you found some sort of enjoyment out of this.