Asdfgjkl CHAPTER 2! c:

I'm so happy with how this is coming together. It…I think it might go the way I was hoping!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

Chapter 02: Running From Nightfall

-Max's POV-

My lips formed into a pout as I messed with one of the tassels hanging off of the black coat that the man had given me. He had introduced himself as Riku; and he said that the coat would protect me from getting swallowed up by the darkness.

I slowly bit my lip and Riku looked at me. "Are you alright?" He asked. I nodded slowly. "I'm…just thinking. About…well, if Roxas went back to Sora, are you taking me to Sora?" I asked. Riku nodded. "Sora will take care of you, even though he may not consciously remember you. It's…in his nature to care for others." Riku said, a smile in his voice. I smiled weakly and nodded. "Yeah...I hope that we get along." I said. Riku put his hand on my head. "I have a feeling that you will."

-Momo's POV-

I yawned as I watched Sora train with Phil. We had stopped by the coliseum and when we first got here, we landed in the underworld and ran into Meg. She asked us to try to talk some sense into Hercules, but he was busy, making it hard for us to talk to him.

I laid back onto the bench and stretched out my arms and legs. "Uwah~ I'm so tired!" I said as I stretched. "If you're tired, you should go ahead and get some sleep Momo. We might be here for a little while." Donald said. "Okay. If anything happens, wake me up." I said. Donald nodded and I yawned as I laid back onto the bench. I let my eyes close and felt my body relax as I slipped into unconsciousness.

Darkness.

That's all I see. Just…darkness. It was like a mask without eye holes was slipped over my face. I also got the suffocating feeling that I had gotten before, when I was transported away from the islands. "Momo…?"

I spun around to see nothing but darkness. "R-Riku…? Was that you?"

No answer.

I gulped and started walking in the direction that I heard the voice come from. I heard footsteps other than my own and I started toward them.

"Riku?" I called.

The footsteps stopped and I soon felt myself run into someone. They turned to face me and I sat that they're wearing a long black cloak, similar to the one that Riku was wearing, and their hood was up. They held their hand out to me and I tilted my head.

"Are you...?"

The person pulled their hood off and I saw the familiar silver hair spill out of the hood. I jumped on Riku, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Riku! I'm so happy to see you!" I said, feeling tears in my eyes. "Momo."

I looked at Riku, just as he planted a firm kiss on my lips. "R-Riku..."

Riku held onto me tightly. "It's hard...not being around you right now. It's taking every single fiber of my being to resist going to you right now." he said, his voice shaky. "Why can't you?" I asked, resting my chin on Riku's shoulder. "I...can't let you see me the way that I am now." he said.

I pulled away, looking at Riku's face. "Are you kidding me? That's what's stopping you?" I asked. Riku slightly winced and nodded. I pulled out of Riku's grasp and slammed my fist into his chest. He coughed and looked at me. "W-What was..."

"You idiot!"

My yell made Riku snap his mouth shut. "Do you know what I have been stuck doing this past year?!" I shouted. Riku shook his head. "Of course you don't! You weren't there!"

Riku winced, and I continued. "Riku, do you know how hard it was, just waiting on the islands for you and Sora? Do you know how hard it was, living every single day not knowing if you were alright? There were nights when I was so worried that I couldn't even sleep!" I shouted. Riku watched me as I shouted, deciding to let me finish.

"So I did the only thing that I could do. I trained. I worked on my fighting skills that my brothers had taught me. That was what I did every single day, just to keep myself from crying my eyes out! You have no idea how hard it was for me Riku! Kairi tried, she tried her best to help me, but she wasn't enough. I needed you Riku. I needed to know if you were alright! Instead, I was stuck worrying about you for every single day during the past year!"

As I felt tears dribble down my cheeks, I let out a sob. "Riku...I missed you. I don't care what you might look like. All that matters is that you're alive." I said.

My knees went weak and I collapsed to the ground. I covered my face with my hands and sobbed. I felt arms around me and didn't look at Riku. I couldn't.

"Momo?"

I opened my eyes to see Sora looking at me, worry clear on his face. "What's up?" I asked with a yawn. "You were crying in your sleep." Sora said softly. I shot up to a sitting position and touched my cheek to find it moist. Sora sat next to me as I quickly wiped my eyes. "What were you dreaming about?" Sora asked softly. I sighed and turned so that I was sitting facing forward. "I...had a dream about Riku."

Sora softly put a hand on my shoulder and I looked at him. "You miss him, don't you?" he asked. I nodded. "That's okay. I miss him too." Sora said. "Sora..."

"I know that the reasons why we miss him are slightly different, but that doesn't mean that I can't miss my friend, right?" Sora asked. I sniffled and nodded, feeling myself smile. "You're right Sora. Thanks." I said. Sora grinned. "No problem."

I hugged Sora tightly. "Really...thanks." I whispered. I felt Sora hug me back. "Your welcome."

-Sora's POV-

After I comforted Momo, she said something about asking Donald a question, then left me sitting alone on the bench.

"Roxas?"

I looked around after hearing that voice. I sighed and placed a hand on my forehead. "I must be tired from training..." I mumbled. I stood and walked to where we were spending the night. "I just need some sleep. That's all."

A girl with shoulder length, red-tipped purple hair and blue eyes smiled. She grabbed onto my hand. "Come on Roxas! We're almost there!"

"What are you taking me to go see?" I asked. The girl just smiled at me. "Something! Just wait a few minutes, alright?" She asked. I sighed and let her pull me to the top of the clock tower.

The girl let go of my hand and sat on the edge of the balcony. I sat beside her and she shrugged off her backpack. She opened it and pulled out two ice creams. "Here." she said, handing me one. I thanked her and started eating it.

"So why did you drag me up here?" I asked, looking at her. The girl slightly blushed and laid back onto the walkway. "Well...you know how they say the clock tower has the best view in Traverse Town?" she asked, staring at the sky. "Yeah...?" I said, confused.

The girl looked at me and smiled. "Lay down, and you'll see what I mean in the next five minutes." she said. I sighed and mirrored the actions. I stared at the sky and finished my ice cream, just as there was a loud crack above our heads.

A splash of color filled the sky and was followed by more. "Wow!" I said, grinning. The girl next to me giggled and I looked at her. "Happy fourth of July, Roxas." she said, smiling.

Why does she keep calling me Roxas?

I smiled back and looked up at the sky. As we watched the fireworks go off, our hands found each other and tangled together. Neither of us said anything, just laid there content in silence.

"There you guys are! Hayner, Olette! I found them!"

We both shot up so that were were sitting, and yanked our hands apart. Our friends joined us, loudly. "Geez, you could have told us that you were going to be watching the fireworks from the best spot in the town!" Hayner said with a pout.

The girl next to me shrugged. "I didn't think about it." she said, kicking her legs against the building. "You jerk!" Hayner said with a pout. "Chill out Hayner, she doesn't need to tell you everything." Olette said, nudging Hayner with her elbow.

As Hayner complained loudly, I leaned toward the girl next to me. "Thanks for this Max." I whispered. Max smiled. "No problem Roxas."

"Sora!"

"Ah!"

I shot up, bumping foreheads with Momo. She let out a squeak of surprise and fell backwards onto the ground. "Ah! What the hell Sora?!" she asked. "Why the heck were you above me?!" I snapped, rubbing the spot on my forehead that had hit hers.

"I tried waking you up a couple of times already." Momo said with a sigh. She stood up and brushed herself off and sent a pout my way. "Anyway...Herc needs to talk to you." she added.

I nodded and Momo's pout faded. "You know...you said a girls' name in your sleep." she said. "Whose?" I asked. "I dunno. Some girl named Max." Momo said, turning around. "I'm going to go ask Phil to train me some more. You should see what Herc needs." she said, pointing toward the Vestibule.

Momo walked off and I sighed, standing up.

"I guess it was just a dream."

-Momo's POV-

I panted as I stopped to catch my break. "You done yet?" Phil asked. "N-No. I need to go a couple of more times." I replied, fixing my gloves. "Momo, you're going to wear yourself out if you keep going like this." Phil said with a sigh. "I'm not good enough."

Phil looked at me curiously. "What?"

"I'm not good enough." I repeated. "For what?"

"I need to be able to protect those I love. I'm not good enough for that yet." I said. Phil sighed. "Momo, protecting those you care about isn't all about strength." he said. I ran a hand through my hair. "It's about what's inside of you. How strong your heart is." I said softly. "Yes." Phil said, nodding his head.

"Still, I'm not strong enough. I need to do this Phil. You don't understand. If I'm not strong...then I might as well be stuck back at our island, waiting. I don't want to be that person who waits all the time. I want to be able to protect those around me." I said. Phil sighed again, shaking his head. "So that's it, huh?" he mumbled.

I ran towards the barrels and started smashing them. As I did so, I thought I felt something shoot through my body. I ignored it and continued with my training.

After I finished a couple more rounds, Sora, Donald and Goofy returned from the Underworld. "So what now?" I asked, a smile on my face as I worked on catching my breath. "Hallow Bastion. We need to get some potions and check in with Merlin." Donald replied. "Okay, let's go." I said.

As we left, I waved to Phil. He waved back, an uneasy smile on his face.

When we stepped into Hallow Bastion, I stretched. I heard my arm pop and sighed happily. Sora chuckled. "What?" I asked, looking at him. "Oh, nothing. You just seem really happy, that's all." Sora said, a smirk on his face.

I punched his arm, a smile on my face. "Well you seem a little..."

My voice faded and suddenly everything was blurry. I felt like the ground was suddenly getting closer, but I was stopped when a pair of arms caught me. I looked up to see Sora's concerned face.

"Momo, are you alright?" Sora asked worriedly. "I...I'm fine." I mumbled, trying to stand up. When I did so, I stumbled and Sora caught me again. "Momo...we need to get you to Merlin's." he said. "I can walk, I swear." I muttered. "Sora's carrying you there." Donald said sternly.

I sighed and Sora lifted me onto his back. I wrapped my arms around his neck. As he walked, he chuckled. "What's so funny?" I asked quietly. "This reminds me of when you and Kairi used to make me and Riku give you guys piggyback rides around the island." Sora said, the smile in his voice obvious.

I smiled and rested my forehead on the back of Sora's head. "Yeah, that sounds about right." I said quietly. I felt my eyes droop and I started to fade in and out of conciousness.

"Momo?" Sora asked. "I'm still here." I mumbled. "Okay. If you're tired, go ahead and fall asleep. We're almost there." Sora said. I nodded into his neck just before I fell asleep.

Yay for chapter 2!