Kingdom Hearts:

The Truth Behind Xehanort

( ) - ( ) - ( ) - ( )

Summary: Riku, Sora, and Kairi have finally returned to Destiny Islands after their two and a half year-long adventure across the universe. Things have finally settled down and everything has seemingly returned to the normal, boring way it was before. But when a letter from the King sets off a mysterious chain of events, can Riku save the one thing dearer to him than his friends? And better yet--what is this secret King Mickey has uncovered by going through the files on Ansem's computer...? "XEHANORT HAD A WHAT?!" "A fiancée, Riku. Xehanort had a fiancée." Pairings: Xehanort/OC; Suggested/Friendships: Any and All! (ie, Axel/RoxasSuggested, Zexion/LexaeusSuggested, Riku/SoraSuggested, Sora/KairiSuggested, Riku/Kairi/SoraSuggested, Zexion/DemyxSuggested, Xigbar/XaldinSuggested, etc.)

( ) - ( ) - ( ) - ( )

Warnings: Major spoilers mixed in, bad language, hinted shonen-ai, possible/suggested (graphic?) character death, gruesome and multiple fight scenes, graphic torture, and possible (attempted?) (graphic?) suicide. Warnings are subject to change as story proceeds.

( ) - ( ) - ( ) - ( )

Notes: 7-1-08 I don't own KH, FF(insert number here), any sort of anime/manga titles, or Disney, so anything related to them is not mine. I do, however, own my OCs, this storyline, and so on. Please excuse any problems with anyone's characters, as for about three of them, I truthfully have little to no experience and am going only on what I believe would be appropriate. And if you have any suggestions for anything, feel free to tell me! I enjoy flames, too--just not the perverted kind. X3

( ) - ( ) - ( ) - ( )

RIKU'S JOURNAL, ENTRY ONE:

LETTER

((MKL: aka "the chapter with lots of jumping around!"))

Riku had decided to don the clothes he had worn for their adventure that day, nearly three weeks after their fight with Xemnas had ended. He was sitting on the paopu tree, his feet dangling before him as he gazed lazily out at the churning water of the ocean before him. He was thinking about many things--Xehanort's Heartless, the Darkness, his mother, what he would be willing to tell her, what he would tell his friends when they found out he had returned with Sora and Kairi--but the most promident thought was about his mother.

She had made it perfectly clear when he first returned that she would forgive him no matter what he did and that she loved him for who he was and always would. Of course, he had refrained from responding to that, instead making the excuse that he was tired and sliding off to go to bed. She had not pressed him since, but despite that, Riku found himself dropping little tidbits of information, including his attempts to build a raft so he could explore the universe. Lucrecia had merely smiled at that and nodded, saying that she had felt the same way nearly twenty-seven years ago. When Riku had questioned that statement, clearly confused, Lucrecia had merely suggested they make chocolate-chip cookies and went off to the store to get the ingridients.

Lucrecia was like that. If she did not like a topic, she tended to make some sort of random suggestion--usually something to do with baking--and then went off to go start it. She had used this tactic often when Riku questioned about things such as any other family they might have had and why she always retreated to her study to stare at that picture he never could find when she found a spare moment.

Riku frowned at that one, leaning back a bit on the tree and bracing himself with his hands. He had not seen that picture in the three weeks since he had returned, which was quite odd. While he had no idea what the picture was, exactly, he did get the idea that it had something to do with his mother's life before she had him, but since she always stored it away before he could find it for as long as he could remember, he had no idea.

He was distracted when he saw Sora running towards him, grinning stupidly and lunging over the paopu tree to lean next to him. Riku smiled a bit and returned his gaze to the ocean.

"Nothing's changed, huh?" he asked quietly. Sora seemed aware that he was speaking of the island itself and not the people in it, since the younger smiled in return.

"Nope," he agreed, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back a bit. "Nothing will."

Riku chuckled a bit. "What a small world."

Sora's smile widened. "But part of one that's much bigger."

"Yeah," Riku agreed quietly.

There were a few moments of blissful silence before Sora spoke up again.

"Hey, Riku..." Sora began slowly, glancing upwards at Riku and blinking innocently. "What do you think it was--the Door to the Light?"

Riku grinned and jumped from the tree, turning towards Sora and poking his friend's chest gently. "This," he merely said.

Sora blinked slowly and dropped his arms, putting his hand over the spot that Riku had poked and clearly still a bit confused. "This?"

"Yeah." Riku's grin turned into a soft smile. "It's always closer than you think."

Sora stared down at his chest for a few moments before he slowly smiled again.

"Sora!" Kairi suddenly called, distracting the two teenage boys. They glanced over curiously as she ran across the bridge, waving a longneck bottle in the air. "Riku!"

She made her way over to them and paused, huffing a bit as she leaned forward with her hands on her knees. Obviously confused again, Sora tilted his head, although he continued to smile. "Hey, what's up?" he asked, interested. Kairi glanced up at him and smiled, holding out the bottle, which held a rolled up piece of paper inside of it.

"Look."

"From the King?" Sora half-gasped, oogling at the seal. When he made no move to take it, Riku snagged it from his friend.

"Sora, fix your mouth," he half-joked, pulling the cork out easily and tipping the bottle. Sora scowled playfully at him and grabbed the letter that slid out before Riku could, quickly unrolling it and scanning the contents. Kairi clasped her hands behind her back and glanced over Sora's left shoulder while Riku merely tilted his head, looking over Sora's spikey, bark-brown hair and blinking once as he read the contents.

The letter said:

Sora, Riku, and Kairi:

Sorry to bug ya like this, but we've got a bit of a problem. I can't talk about it right now, so come to Radient Garden. Come straight to Ansem's study--I'll be waiting there. I found somethin' that you guys really should see as soon as possible. You still have the Falcon Peak, right, Sora? If ya don't, Goofy and Donald'll come to find ya in about a week. They'll know through Chip and Dale if ya leave or not.

o o
0

((MKL: it's Mickey's seal...sort of))

PS-

Riku, you said your mom was "Lucrecia Xen", right? Dark hair with natural blue highlights and purple-blue eyes? If that's her, make sure she comes with. Tell her it's about Xeha and everyone. She'll come.

Silence.

"...Riku...how does he know about your mom?" Kairi asked quietly after nearly a full minute had passed. Riku seemed floored and stared openly at the letter.

"I...mentioned her once or twice," he admitted, voice suddenly sounding slightly hoarse. He continued to stare at the letter.

"Something wrong, Riku?" Sora asked, immidiately concerned as he folded up the letter. Riku continued to stare at the spot where it had been, eyes a bit wider than normal.

"Sora..." He lifted his gaze to catch Sora's, disbelief leaking through his voice. "Xeha is my father."

( ) - ( ) - ( ) - ( )

Lucrecia hummed a quiet melody as she walked into her son's room, smiling fondly at the carefully made bed that looked vaguely out of place amoung the T-shirts, pants, and shorts scattered all over the floor. She was finally able to walk into there and not question her reason for living after doing so for nearly two and a half years, because her reason had returned. True, he was older than he had been and a bit secretive about what had happened during those two and a half years, but she had managed to pry from him a few fun facts.

Lucrecia bent down and set down the clothes basket on the floor near the door, beginning to gather up the clothes as she thought idly about everything she had gathered. First off, the reason why he had thought about leaving in the first place, although she had known that before. Since Kairi--the same Kairi that Lucrecia had helped to take care of shortly after the young girl had been born--had first appeared, the boy was itching to go and find out exactly what else was out there, although what he had planned to do with only a raft and less than two days' worth of supplies not even he seemed to know.

When the Islands were first taken by Darkness, he had ended up on some planet called Hollow Bastian, where he had met a woman who tried to use him and seemed to have at least partially succeeded, if the way that he had trailed off shortly after beginning to speak about her was any indication. Lucrecia had no idea what had happened for a little while after that, but he had found Sora on a planet known as Traverse Town, the very same one she had ended up on. The two had never crossed paths there, something which had Lucrecia nearly ready to tear her hair out at her stupidity when she found out, but Riku had abandoned Sora when it seemed like the brunette child had new friends that he "cared much more about".

Of course, Lucrecia knew that was stupid thinking and had snorted at him when he said it, but she kept herself from making any comments.

After a few battles with the Heartless--which Lucrecia knew enough about to be immidiately worried before Riku assured her he had come through fine--he had met up with the King of another world. The two had made it to a castle of some sort where Riku fought the "demons of his past" and finally conquered his "Darkness", as he called it. While this had confused Lucrecia, she knew better than to push her son and instead pretended that this much information was enough to quench her thirst for understanding.

Riku had mentioned something about someone known as DiZ at one point and about how he was a revenge-obsessed old man who had actually saved him from the Darkness when it changed his physical appearence (something that unsettled Lucrecia a bit, although she managed to hide that from her son so he would go on). Then he had helped save the universe from a "crazy old cook" who was the leader of fourteen or fifteeen (the exact number varied a bit) humanoid Nobodys, another creature Lucrecia had known about, although what she did know was very little.

Lucrecia had been estatic to learn that her son had helped save the universe once, probably twice over--he seemed a bit too secretive when it came to the first battles, so Lucrecia decided to hope for the best in that situation--although he was still grounded indefinately and only allowed to leave the house when he told Lucrecia where he was going and she approved. He had readily agreed to the terms and told her in response that he was "just happy to finally return home".

"Mom!" someone called suddenly from downstairs as the door slammed. Lucrecia smiled gently and grabbed the basket, starting towards the laundry room down the hall.

Speak of the devil.

"Riku, I'm doing laundry!" she called brightly, shoving open the door with her hip and taking a step inside. She was again humming quietly as she heard him charge up the stairs, at least two other sets of feet following. Lucrecia tilted her head and blinked, putting down her basket and turning just in time to catch Riku speeding into the doorway, slidding to a stop at the last moment and catching onto the doorway. Sora and Kairi ran up behind him, and Lucrecia's brow furrowed in confusion when she saw the slightly crazed gleam to Riku's eye.

"Something wrong, Ri-Ri?" she asked, tilting her head a fraction. Riku quickly shook his head, looking a bit winded as Sora snickered at the nickname. The brunette was ignored by Riku and Lucrecia, although Kairi lightly bopped him on the head and hissed something Lucrecia could not make out.

"Mom," he said, gazing at her pointedly between locks of silver-white hair, "we just recieved a letter from King Mickey."

"Your friend?" Lucrecia smiled a bit and fixed her waist-length hair back into a bun, a few stray locks falling over her forehead to create a relatively cute look. "And what did he say?"

This is where Riku hesitated a moment, gaze drifting a bit to the side. "...he said..." His quiet voice quickly rose and he looked at Lucrecia with determination in his light blue eyes. "He said he found some information in Radient Garden." Lucrecia's eyes widened as Riku went on. "And that it had to do with someone named 'Xeha'."

Lucrecia stared at Riku for a few moments, expression frozen in a look akin to shock, before she sunk to her knees. Her expression was distant and she did not hear her son when he asked what was wrong and rushed to her side, nor did she hear Sora and Kairi calling her name frantically.

"Xeha..." was all she could say, causing everyone to pause and stare at her. Tears misted her eyes and then silently fell down her face as she gazed at the doorway, looking like she was not all there. "...my Xeha...Radient Garden...and...my...Xeha...!"

She would say no more.

( ) - ( ) - ( ) - ( )

The next day, Riku, Sora, Kairi, and Lucrecia were prepared to leave on the adventure. Despite the insistance from Riku that she rest for at least a day before they start their inter-universe adventure, Lucrecia had refused to let them stay behind for any longer than nessicary. So with a quick call to Sora's mother and the mayor to tell them that Lucrecia was taking the children to another island to visit some of her relatives, the four were packed and ready to leave.

"Mom, are you sure--?" Riku asked one last time, gazing at Lucrecia with worry shining in his eyes. Lucrecia grinned and winked at him in return.

"Ri-Ri, you can't just stick me in a plastic bubble," she chuckled good-naturedly as Riku shot her a doubtful look. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I spent nearly a year in Traverse Town, you know." She made a fist and held it up, bracing her elbow with her other hand and flashing a grin at her son. "You had to know at least a little self-defense if you lived in Second District!"

"Didn't everyone live in Second District?" Sora asked, confused. Lucrecia merely turned her grin to him and flashed another wink.

"You lived in Traverse Town after the Islands were destroyed?" Kairi suddenly asked, eyes wide in surprise. Lucrecia nodded, grin turning into a soft smile as she dropped her arms, following the three teens to the spot on the kids' island where they hid their Gummiship.

"I did," she agreed. "I met the nicest people there, too. Of course, some of them I knew from, uh, around, but most of them were new."

"Did you know Leon?" Sora asked, obviously interested.

"I do!" Lucrecia turned her smile to him and nodded. "He's a nice boy. A bit quiet, and I really have no idea why he insists on being so distant. He used to be such an open young boy..."

"You knew him before?" Riku immidiately asked, eyes narrowed a fraction. Lucrecia winced at that and her smile slowly fell before returning with full-force.

"So, how close are we to the Gummiship?" she asked, ignoring the question completely. She clasped her hands in front of her long, forest-green sundress, which reached her knees and accented her eyes nicely. "I want to get there as soon as possible!"

"Oh, uh, it's just up ahead," Kairi said, smiling a bit in return, but obviously as confused as Sora. Riku, used to his mother's tactics, merely sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Really? And we're going straight to Radient Garden?"

"Yeah," Sora said with a grin and a bright nod. "I can't wait to see everyone again! And I can finally introduce them to you guys!"

"Say, does Squall still have that awesome Gunblade from his father?" Kairi suddenly asked, grinning. Sora nodded excitedly, the force of the comment flying over his head.

"Hell yeah!"

"Sora, watch your language," Lucrecia said with an arched eyebrow. Sora hunched his shoulders as the tips of his ears turned pink.

"Uh, yes, ma'am," he mumbled, eyes dropping. Riku snickered at his expense, knowing his mother was relatively strict about language in front of other people, but really did not care so long as curses were not said in public. And apparently she thought the kids' island counted as "public".

"Sora, we're here!" Kairi suddenly exclaimed, practically jumping out of her shoes. Sora perked up and grinned, running up to the large, white ship in front of them as Kairi laughed and followed him, Riku and Lucrecia trailing behind a moment.

"...Riku," she suddenly said, looking quite serious as she locked gazes with her son, "I hope you know that I'm proud of you." Riku stared at her, confused, then paled a bit when she went on. "I think you did some things you weren't happy about while you were away, but no matter what you did, you tried to fix it and you made it home to me. As a matter of fact, I'm much happier now than I ever was before you left, and I just want you to know that you could tell me anything. Okay?"

Riku hesitated for a moment before he slowly nodded. "...yes," he finally said, eyes lighting up with a fierce protectiveness that he only ever showed for Lucrecia, Sora, and Kairi. "I know. And soon, I will."

And so Lucrecia was content, although neither knew that a mysterious force was following them, smirking at the scene.

"How touching," Xehanort's Heartless muttered rather sarcastically. "Very touching. But I wonder...will she fall as easily to my power as her son did? After all...when I was a Somebody..."

Its smirk widened and it chuckled sadistically, shadowy form flickering out of existance and leaving behind only its ghostly laugh to signal that it had even been there in the first place.

( ) - ( ) - ( ) - ( )

"Wow," Lucrecia mumbled, staring out at the planet that they had finally arrived on. Riku and Sora glanced over as Kairi smiled a bit and nodded.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly, moving to stand next to Lucrecia with her hands clasped gently behind her back. "It's a bit worse for wear, but still..."

Lucrecia smiled a bit and spoke in a voice too quiet for anyone but the young redhead to hear. "It's home."

Kairi giggled a bit and nodded, smiling up at her friend's mother. "Yep. Home." She paused a moment and glanced towards Riku, frowning a bit. "Does he know?"

"No," Lucrecia sighed, shaking her head as she pressed her thin hands to the glass as the ship slowly began to descend. "I was going to tell him when his father got a hold of me, but..."

She sighed again and pressed her forehead against the glass, slowly closing her eyes. "I haven't heard from anyone in nearly nine years now, and I haven't seen anyone for twelve," she finally admitted. "I think something happened to him and his friends, but I have no idea what..."

It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out that Lucrecia was speaking of Riku's father.

"So who was Riku's dad?" Kairi asked, interested. At that, Lucrecia clammed up.

Just when Kairi was about to ask her question again, Riku called, "Mom, Kairi! We're leaving!"

"Coming, Riku!" Lucrecia immidiately called, smiling brightly as she pulled back from the window and jogged over to him. Kairi sighed and stared after her for a few moments, alone in the Gummiship.

"Any ideas?" she asked herself quietly. Namine stirred in the back of her mind.

"None," was the ghostly response from the Nobody. "She's not close enough to Sora for me to dive into her memories, either. Sorry, Kairi."

Kairi again sighed and shook her head before walking out the doorway.

Maybe she could ask Leon. He seemed to know a lot about Radient Garden's past. Hopefully he would be more willing to give her some answers...