Author's notes: Well, I've finally updated! I'm sorry it's taken me so long. I sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter, as I've worked very, very hard on getting it out to you guys. And remember to review! Constructive criticism welcome, flames are not. It's not that they bother me, it's just I don't see the point in giving one, seeing as how it will be totally ignored. But whatever, if you feel you must, then do whatever you want. (Oh, and, I don't know what's up with all the t.A.T.u. songs being used. XD I just think they have some real good forbidden, angsty love type songs that go really well with Savior!)

Disclaimers: Square Enix and Disney own Kingdom Hearts. t.A.T.u. owns "Sacrifice".

Warnings: This fanfiction contains yaoi, adult humor, violence, sexual situations, angst, fluff, and foul language.

Can you tell me softly
How you'll always haunt me?
Can you help me,
Hold me?
Come to me now, slowly,
You caress me smoothly.
Calm my fears and soothe me,
Move your hands across me,
Take my worries from me.

I will sacrifice,
I will sacrifice
All I have in life
To clear my conscience.

I will sacrifice,
I will sacrifice
All I have in life,
Sacrifice, sacrifice.

Can you feel me solely,
Deeper still and wholly?
With your understanding
And your arms around me,
Can you help me,
Hold me?
Whisper to me softly,
Move your hands across me,
Take my worries from me.

I will sacrifice,
I will sacrifice
All I have in life
To clear my conscience.

I will sacrifice,
I will sacrifice
All I have in life,
Sacrifice, sacrifice.

I will sacrifice,
Will sacrifice,
Will sacrifice,
Will sacrifice.

I will sacrifice,
I will sacrifice
All I have in life
To clear my conscience.

I will sacrifice,
I will sacrifice,
All I have in life,
Sacrifice, sacrifice.

Sacrifice – t.A.T.u.

-

-

Savior
Chapter two
The Great Escape

-

-

Sora sighed exasperatedly as he walked up the stairs leading to his house, groping the insides of the pockets of his swim trunks in search of his house key. His hand emerged an instant later with a keyring that had various unimportant knickknacks attached, and he thrust the one he needed into the door's keyhole. He twisted the copper object to the right and pushed open the heavy wooden door. Sora started up the stairs, closing and bolting the door behind him.

The spiky-haired teen rushed into his bathroom, stripping himself of his swim trunks as he went, and hurried into the shower. He hated taking two showers in one day, but he had just gotten back from the beach, and there was no way in hellhe was going to smell like salt water when Leon and Cloud got there. Sora turned the knob to the left and hastily reached for his shampoo bottle, not wanting to waste any time. After squeezing the substance into his hand and lathering the substance into his hair, he ducked under the showerhead, allowing the running water to wash it all out. Making sure that all of the shampoo was out, he reached for the bar of soap and began running it along his body; he didn't even have time to grab a washcloth.

After rinsing off all of the soap, he turned the knob back to the right and stepped out of the shower. With a towel wrapped around his prominent hips, he practically ran back into his room and knelt before his bureau,opening up the bottom drawer in search of something to wear. He figured that he shouldn't dress too casual since it would be the first time that he got to really see Leon and Cloud in years, but he also didn't want to be formal, either; after all, they were old friends, not strangers.

Furrowing his eyebrows and biting his lower lip nervously, he glanced at the digital clock set on his nightstand – 6:50. Oh, shit. Heart fluttering with panic and anxiety, Sora began to furiously search his drawers for a decent outfit, finally decding on a white beater, faded blue jeans with holes in the knees, and a white dress shirt. Casual yet formal, just right for the image that Sora wanted to project.

No sooner had he finished dressing did he hear the doorbell ring. Sora took one last look in the mirror and attempted to tame his hair by smoothing the almost-dry spikes against his head, only to have them bounce back up again. Shrugging defeatedly, he hurried down the stairs and rushed to the front door. He could see storm clouds gathering through the window, Leon and Cloud standing in front of the dark sky in a melodramatic sort of way. He felt his pulse quicken at the sight of the Gunblade expert. He looks… great. After releasing one last shaky breath, he unbolted the padlock, slowly turned the brass knob, and opened the door to reveal none other than Squall Leonhart and Cloud Strife.

At the sight of Cloud, Sora immediately perked up, happy and excited that he actually had a chance to hang out with his old companion again.

The blonde man, though, had felt contempt for Sora because he had taken Leon away from him many a lonely night – he had only come due to Leon's "kindness" in the shower – but he felt bad now when he saw how excited Sora was to see him. It wasn't Sora's fault that Leon wanted to see him so badly, right? The cinnamon-haired teen wrapped his arms around Cloud in a bone-crushing hug. The guilt-ridden man meekly returned the sweet, naïve hug the teen was so energetically giving him.

"Cloud!" Sora shouted gleefully, forgetting his Leon troubles for the time being.

"Sora…!" he attempted to feign excitement and hoped that it was convincing; Cloud had never really been much of an actor.

Leon stood off to the sidelines as he watched the little reunion between the two, smirking at Sora's love shown to Cloud. He knew how badly the blonde had wanted to stay at the hotel due to his dislike for Sora, and it was amusing in a sick sort of way to watch him act, quite horribly might I add, as if this were the happiest moment of his life.

After giving Cloud one last peck on the cheek, the cinnamon-haired teen released his death hold around Cloud's neck and stole a nervous glance in Leon's direction. Should he hug him, too? Leon caught the stare that Sora was giving him, and he held his gaze for a moment, giving the teen an odd look. No, Sora decided, smiling and waving awkwardly, too weird.

"Hey, Leon," he greeted lamely. "Long time no see."

Be cool, Leonhart, the older man thought to himself as he crossed his arms in what he hoped was a careless fashion. Be cool. "I just saw you this afternoon," Leon replied nonchalantly in his smooth way of speaking as he glanced behind Sora's shoulder and into his house. An awkward silence followed his cool response and the keyblade master visibly winced, offended by the remark, as he tried to think of something witty to say back.

"How 'bout a tour?" Leon suggested, leaving himself open to a snide remark from the teenaged boy.

Now was his chance – "But Leon," Sora began sarcastically, "you just saw it this afternoon." A coy smiled formed on Sora's lips as he looked cockily into Leon's narrowed eyes. The sound of Cloud's stifled laughter reached the older brunette's ears, but Leon caused him to fall abruptly silent again with just a glance in his direction. Unable to think of a comeback, he just trudged into the house, too annoyed to wait for the resident to admit his entrance.

"Squall!" Cloud called and grabbed Leon's arm, trying to pull him back.

"It's Leon," the Gunblade Expert corrected through gritted teeth and yanked his arm away. Sora just giggled as he led the way inside.

- - - - -

A dark, hooded figure stuck his head around the corner of the deserted hallway he currently found himself in, ignoring the loud, almost violent, beating of his heart as he did so. He released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when he found that it was empty. Silently, he crept through the narrow corridor and slowly but surely made his way to the door. Riku had gotten so far, he could not and would not ruin it now by getting caught. He had worked far too hard to fuck it all up now.

Upon arriving at the end of the hallway, he quietly pulled out his keyblade and pointed it directly at the door's lock, causing the door to open and a "click" to echo throughout the otherwise quiet corridors. Wincing at the sudden noise, Riku waited a few moments for it to be completely and utterly silent before continuing on.

This is it, Riku, he told himself, trying to be brave. No turning back now. If you're caught, they send you back. He couldn't stop the shiver that ran through his spine and prickled his neck, knowing how coveted he was amongst the nobodies(1) after his escape from Kingdom Hearts. He knew that there was quite a large reward offered in exchange for his capture – dead or alive. But if they don't catch you, he reminded himself, then you see Sora again. Swallowing hard, he wrapped a gloved hand around the brass knob, turned it to the right, pushed it open and…

Found a staircase.

Riku sighed exasperatedly at the sight, having already climbed so many stairs to get to where he was now. For Sora, he thought and quietly he began his long climb up the spiral staircase.

When he arrived at the deserted tower, Riku's relief was so much that he felt as if he could collapse on the floor and cry and cry and cry and cry tears of thanks. But there was no time for that, and he still had to be quiet, lest somebody in the giant castle hear noise coming from the tower and come up to investigate.

Hurrying across the room, he put his hand on the door and was about to push it open when he heard a voice on the other side. Shit! His eyes quickly scanned the room for a possible hiding place and stopped on what appeared to be a storage closet. That'll have to do. Riku rushed silently over to the closet and stuffed himself inside, careful not to make any noise in doing so. He made sure he left the door open ever so slightly, just as he had found it, before he got completely settled in.

Now all he had to do was wait.

- - - - -

"Who wants to play…" – a dramatic pause added for good measure – "DIDDY KONG RACING?"

Leon's eyebrows raised at the teenager's idiocy. "'Diddy Kong Racing', Sora?"

A triumphant nod. "Yes, Diddy Kong Racing!" He held up an N64 game with a challenging smile on his lips.

"Oh, I do!" Cloud shouted and bounced up and down on the bed excitedly. "I am the King of Diddy Kong Racing!" Leon gave his blonde friend a disapproving look as Sora jumped on the bed to join them. What is the world coming to?

"Who are you?" he asked, his question directed at Cloud as he shook his head in a disbelieving fashion.

"Oh, c'mon, Squall," the blonde jived, "don't be such a spoiled sport. Diddy Kong Racing's fun! It's the best video game in the history of video games. Right, Sora?" As if Leon would be caught dead playing a game called "Diddy Kong Racing" – thanks, but no thanks.

Sora nodded his head vigorously in agreement. "Give it a chance," he pleaded with the stubborn man. "Do you even know what Diddy Kong Racing is?"

"No," Leon admitted, "but with a name like 'Diddy Kong Racing', I'm sure that I wouldn't want to play even if I did."

Sora frowned. He had forgotten how close-minded Leon could be at times. "Please, Leon?" he all but begged as he grabbed one of his hands and began tugging.

"For the millionth time, no," was his wavering response, but his tone wasn't as firm as it had been before. Cloud noticed that he was beginning to cave and immediately followed suit and tugged at his other hand, trying to get him up.

"C'mon, Squa – Leon," he quickly corrected himself, not wanting to change his mind by calling him the wrong name. "Just one race."

The Gunblade expert sighed as he decided on going downstairs and playing the damned game just to shut them up. "Fine," he grumbled, earning a "Yay!" from Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb as they helped him off of Sora's bed.

- - - - -

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a cruel voice stirred Riku from his slumber. "So sorry to wake you – Riku, I believe it is."

"Huh…?" He blinked a few times and looked up from his crouching position on the floor into dark, lifeless eyes; the eyes of a nobody. Immediately the silver-haired teen was on his feet and as alert as ever. Shit, how the hell could I have fallen asleep?

"Sleep well?"

Aqua eyes narrowed hatefully as he placed his hand by his hip, readying himself for a fight. "I did, actually," Riku spat, his words oozing with venom, "thanks for asking."

The nobody's pale lips twisted into a curt smile. "Don't mention it." Without another word, he slowly raised his slender arm and made quite a show of snapping his fingers, a large group of another type of nobody appearing immediately following the action. Before Riku had a chance to act, the leader spoke one final time. "Kill him." And with that, he vanished into thin air, leaving his precious nobodies to do the dirty work for him.

Riku defiantly glared into the shadows of where the nobodies' eyes would've been, had they had any, and drew his keyblade. The enemies were still for just a moment, the calm before the storm, and suddenly the nobodies charged at the silver-haired wielder as he swung his keyblade out in front of himself, killing a very small portion of the swift army. More of the metallic creatures jumped onto the teen, but he threw them off and slashed through them with one smooth swipe of his keyblade, exterminating another smaller fraction of the nobodies.

Before Riku had a chance to catch his breath, another one had already surprised him from behind. Wrapping its legs around his waist, the nobody's cold arms quickly snaked their way around his neck and slashed the right side of his elegant face, leaving a sharp, stinging cut in its wake. Yelping in pain at the sudden, unexpected attack, Riku threw the creature across the room, knocking a few others over in the process. As he turned around to face his enemies, more of the creatures lunged at him and they pushed him to the ground, smothering him, and the worn out teen slashed aimlessly, trying and hoping with all his might that he at least took a few of them out.

With each nobody that piled on top of Riku, suffocating and slashing at him, his will to live slightly diminished and was left a little less than it had been before. His body ached something awful, and his drowsiness was so much that he almost wanted his enemies to successfully carry out their orders and put him out of his misery. The agility in which he swung his keyblade began to slow, and he could feel his eyelids starting to close, too. What's the point? he thought as he gradually allowed himself to fall deeper and deeper into the seemingly endless abyss that so invitingly beckoned him.

'Don't give up! C'mon, Sora! Together, we can do it!'

'Okay!'

Even in the most hopeless of times, Sora always trusted me. Always believed in me.

'Now, Sora! Let's close this door for good!'

'Close it, quick!'

'But…'

His face had looked so sad when I was on the opposite side of those doors. He didn't want me to go. He's been crying for years, desperately clinging onto hope that someday, I'll be there again.

'I miss you, Riiku…' Tears always being shed for my sake, for my absence.

No… I'm not going to let him down! I can't! I won't!

Just when Riku had given up all hope, the memories of his best friend caused his eyes to snap open, and he was instantly pulled back to reality. His grip on the keyblade in his right hand tightened, and he felt a mixture of complete and utter hope, strength, and faith course through his body.

For Sora!

The silver-haired teen flung himself into the air, spewing the nobodies this way and that way, only to destroy the airborne monsters on his way back down. Upon his landing, Riku then proceeded to sprint across the small room, severing anything that got in his way, and when he reached the opposite wall, he pointed his keyblade at the lock. Hearing the expected "click" that followed, he burst through the door and into the forbidden room, his eyes frantically searching for the port key(2). His search didn't last long before he found what he was looking for; spotless sterling links formed a sparkling chain connected to a silver crown pendent secured tightly in the center, glittering marvelously in the moonlight that flooded through an open window in the isolated tower. So beautiful.

Riku, however, did not have time to admire its beauty, and he grabbed the priceless necklace off of the work desk and turned to run, port key clutched in one hand, keyblade readied in the other. He raced through the neighboring room and down the spiral staircase as fast as his legs would allow, skillfully cutting through the attacking nobodies with ease. As he rushed through the empty corridors and down yet another staircase, he could vaguely hear sirens echoing behind him, alerting the others of his escape from the castle. The teen growled in annoyance at the panic and alarm as he skipped right over the last set of stairs, jumping over the railing instead.

He honestly did not see what the big deal was about. It's not like he was a border at this castle or anything of the sort, so what's with the alarms and sirens? Yeah, there was a large reward for the capture and return of him to Kingdom Hearts, but would it really be worth all of the trouble that they were going through just to catch him?

Hell yes. The obvious answer, to his dismay.

A pack of nobodies awaited the teen boy's arrival on the ground floor. Fuck. Trying his hardest not to get worked up over the annoying setback, he did the only thing he could do: attack. Riku lunged at the army, wildly swinging his keyblade, destroying everything that came his way. He slowly but surely made his way through group after group of determined monsters until he reached the back door. Sweaty, with a fresh cut on his forehead and old wounds reopened on his aching body, his breathing ragged and uneven, his shaky hands unlocked the door.

Just as he opened it, a higher form of nobody appeared at the end of the Great Hall, cursing and shouting as he ran at lightning speed in Riku's direction. Oh, shit. The silver-haired boy immediately exited the castle, closing and locking the heavy door behind himself, as he ran toward the ocean.

He ran and ran and ran and ran, not allowing himself to look back, not allowing himself to see his enemies bursting through that door and chasing him, hot on his trail. No, because if he did that, then he wouldn't make it. And that was something that he just could not allow, not after coming this far.

And then, finally, Riku reached the water; the waves sparkled in the moonlight as they crashed against the shore, and he allowed himself to rest a moment as he took it all in.

After a minute, his breathing returned to normal and he felt as if he was ready for the long swim he had ahead of himself. Throwing his keyblade into the sand and placing the port key chain around his neck, Riku turned around for one final time to see three men just arriving on the scene. That's my cue. And with that, he pulled off his cape and his pants, diving into the sea with only his boxers and an undershirt on, ignoring the faint shouts and curses that echoed in the distance.

- - - - -

"Oh, what-what!" Sora danced around the living room, basking in the glory of his eleventh win against Leon and Cloud. "Who's the king now, Cloud? Who's the king now?"

Leon's eyebrow visibly twitched as he glared at the bouncing teen. "Didn't you say 'just one race', Cloud?"

Mako blue eyes clouded in anger as they landed on Sora, who twirled around the coffee table a third time. "Yes, Squall," he growled, "I believe I did."

Their heads slowly turned to each other and gray eyes met blue ones as the two exchanged a knowing nod. "On the count of three," Leon instructed.

"Who's the masta! Who's the masta!"

"1…" One of Cloud's fingers went up.

"Sora is, Sora is!"

"2…" Two of Leon's did the same.

"Oh, yes he iiiiis, yes he iiiis!"

"3!"

The two men pounced at Sora, earning a yelp from the teenaged boy as he jumped back, just barely escaping the crazed fighters' clutches. "Hey!" he yelled, hopping onto the couch, dodging another double team attack. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Shutting you up!" shouted Cloud as he grabbed at his legs and firmly held them in a tight grip, giving Sora no way to escape. "C'mon, Leon!" He pulled Sora's legs out from underneath of him and the cinnamon haired teen landed with a soft thud on the cushioned sofa. Leon and his partner in crime pounced on the young man, using their secret strategy on the not-so-innocent victim.

"TICKLE ATTACK!"

"Noooo!" was all Sora could protest before he was cut off by his own laughter.

- - - - -

Thirty minutes had gone by before the wrestling young men had grown tired enough to stop and rest. Correction: before Sora had grown tired enough to stop and rest. The only reason that the two grown men had finally decided to lay off the teenager is because he swore up and down that he would let them burn Diddy Kong Racing. (Little did they know that he kept a spare upstairs in his room, strategically hidden beneath a pile of old magazines under his bed…) Leon and Cloud had told Sora to wait inside and rest while they busied themselves in the backyard, hurriedly collecting twigs and grass for the Diddy Kong Racing execution they wanted to perform before the storm arrived, leaving the brunette alone with his thoughts.

Tonight has been great. Cloud's a lot funner than I remembered him. And Leon… He's still as cold and stubborn as ever, he thought with a smile. Not like this morning, Sora's silly grin was gone just as quickly as it had come, and he was suddenly very serious. He could hear distant echoes of thunder in the distance, warning that the expected storm was on its way. He was kind this morning. At first he was a little cold, I won't lie… But then, he was so warm, and comforting when I was crying over… Riku… The beginnings of tears formed in his eyes, but he quickly and violently wiped them away, frustrated with himself. What the hell is wrong with me? All I ever do is cry anymore! Why can't I smile when I think of my best friend…? Rain began beating down hard on the windows and rooftop. The cinnamon-haired teen choked back a sob as he buried his face in the sofa pillow, welcoming the violent sounds the raindrops made as they splattered against his house.

Why did he always have to cry when he thought about Riku? Shouldn't he smile fondly when he looked back on all those memories that he shared with his best friend? I mean, if Kairi can do it, then why can't I? The sound of the back door slamming and approaching footsteps interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey, Sora!" called Leon as he walked through the kitchen and to the living room. "Man, the rain is really coming down out there—Sora?" They had walked into an empty room. "Sora!" No answer.

"Hm," muttered Cloud curiously as he walked over to the kitchen doorway. He turned back around. "That's weird. Maybe he's in the bathroom?"

Leon stared at him a moment before replying. "…Maybe," he finally mumbled, but the Gunblade expert had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him otherwise. "I think he might've gone to find Riku." The cracked front door confirmed his suspicions.

"Riku…?" Cloud repeated. He had to admit, the name did sound familiar. "Wait, isn't he that kid that Ansem possessed?"

The brunette didn't respond. Instead, he rushed to the door, swung it open – "C'mon, Cloud!" – and began running in the direction of the beach, the confused blonde man trailing after him.

- - - - -

Sora ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He ran past all of the houses, all of the shopping centers, and all of the schools. The cinnamon-haired teen raced through the pouring rain, the only one outside except for the occasional stray cat here or there. After what couldn't have been more than a minute, he finally arrived at his destination: the beach. His fingers fumbled with the buttons on his dress shirt as he threw a nervous glance over his shoulder, knowing that Leon had already figured out what he was doing. After he freed himself of his overshirt, he pulled his white beater over his head and let it drop on the wet sandy ground beneath him. With lightning speed, Sora unzipped and unbuttoned his jeans, and he practically jumped out of them as he rushed towards the freezing cold water that lay ahead of him.

He stole one last look over his shoulder to make sure he was safe, and upon finding that he was still alone, Sora dove head first into the sea, swimming as fast and as hard as he could against the rough and raging ocean currents.

Thoughts of Riku swirled around in his head as his legs kicked and his arms dipped, pulling Sora in the direction of the play island he had shared with his friends years ago. Why he was going there now, he didn't know. The teen hadn't been there since he had fought the Shadow heartless four years prior; that was the night he had gotten sucked into that dark vortex and ended up in Traverse Town, where he met Leon, Donald, Goofy, and the rest of the gang.

The eighteen-year-old was caught off guard as he faced a head-on collision with a giant tidal wave, causing him to swallow a mouthful of saltwater, but he wouldn't let that deter him. If anything, it had only caused his determination to soar and he swam harder and faster against the rough currents.

Thanks to Sora's perseverance against the harsh ocean waters, he had arrived at the abandoned island within two minutes' time. The brunette hadn't swam that hard or that fast in a long time; not since he and Riku used to race each other years ago, before all this "darkness in every heart" bull shit had come along and changed everything. He wished more than anything that he could go back living the way he used to; back to that carefree lifestyle he had so foolishly taken for granted.

As soon as one foot stepped onto the sandy floor, the other one immediately joined it and he took off in the direction of "Riku's island". The one with the papou tree, the one that the bridge was connected to, the one with more memories of his best friend than any other spot on that tiny island. He jumped onto the small piece of land that lay directly opposite Riku's island, and he ran across the connecting bridge. His legs carried him as fast as they could, the rainwater violently washing away the tears that spilled from his eyes, and he reached the end.

He had arrived at Riku's island.

The cinnamon-haired boy began to look around, waiting in anticipation for something else to happen. Waiting for some life-changing event to occur…

Any minute now.

And yet, despite Sora's expectations, nothing happened. No special incident, no amazing occurrence, no revelations suddenly being revealed. No nothing.

At this, Sora began to sob. He did not know what he had expected to happen, but he certainly didn't think that nothing would come out of his sudden reappearance at the abandoned play island. After all, he had felt the sudden need to just be there like gravity, or something very close to it, was pulling him in, and that wasn't something that happened everyday, right? The brunette collapsed against the paopu tree, his shoulders shaking heavily as he allowed his hysterics to take over. "Where are you, Riiku…?" he cried softly as he pulled his knees close to his chest and covered his head with his arms.

The sound of barefeet scrambling against the sopping wet bridge was not heard over the crackling thunder and violent rainfall. A gentle yet eager voice softly whispering the name of an old friend, however, managed to reach the sobbing brunette's ears.

"S…Sora?"

His head immediately snapped up upon hearing his name pronounced by the familiar voice. "Riku…?" Shocked sapphire eyes met glistening aqua ones and Sora immediately rose from his sitting position on the wet sandy floor. A flash of lightning, an echo of thunder, and the two friends were together for the first time in years. Sora's arms wrapped tightly around Riku's strong torso, the older teen's arms were placed comfortably around the younger teen's neck, and the brunette rested his head on his older friend's chest, contentedly listening to the strong heartbeat he heard there.

"Sora…" Riku breathed the name shakily, his lean fingers stroking Sora's wet locks. The torrent of tears that escaped his eyes were invisible, courtesy of the rain, and he tried in vain to calm himself down.

The younger of the two just buried his head deeper into his chest. "Riku, I missed you so much!" Sora sobbed and pulled him closer, tightening his death grip around the older teen's waist. "I thought I would never see you again! I was so worried, Riku! I was so scared…!"

Hearing the words that escaped Sora's mouth made him cry even harder. One hand wrapped around his shoulders, the other stroking the brunette's silk-like hair, Riku buried his own head in the nape of Sora's neck. "I know, Sora…" he managed to choke out between his sobs. "I know." Arms still wrapped securely around Riku's waist, Sora's fingers began stroking the small of his older friend's back soothingly.

"Riku…" Sora whimpered through his tears, pulling him closer still.

The two friends remained like this for some time – sobbing, holding each other, lovingly whispering soothing nothings into the other's ear. Finally, Riku felt as if he had regained his composure enough to speak. He wanted to tell Sora just how much he had missed him, just how much he really loved him. How the thought of seeing Sora's beautiful face again was the only thing that had kept Riku going for the past four years. Summing up all of his courage, the silver-haired beauty slowly, hesitantly, lifted his head from the nape of Sora's neck. The younger teen followed suit, also lifting his from Riku's comfortable chest.

The storm's ferocity slowly began to evolve into a calm drizzle.

"Sora, I really missed you…" Riku admitted as he cupped Sora's face in his right hand, his thumb softly stroking his babysoft cheek. "But not how you think… I mean, in a different way than you missed me… Not in a bad way, it's just…" – a hesitant pause – "it's just that, well, I lov—" The feeling of soft, warm lips engulfing his own stopped him mid-rant, causing his heart to stop and his eyes to grow wide at the sudden, unexpected advance. Before Riku had a chance to respond to the beautiful yet childlike kiss, Sora's lips were gone just as quickly as they had come. "Sora…?" Did he just… kiss me? It had all happened so fast that Riku wasn't sure if it was a reality or not.

Did I just… kiss him? "Uh, Riku, I—"

"Sora!"

The two boys' heads turned to the shore, the direction in which the shout was heard. "Leon?" Sora realized for the first time that both he and Riku were half-naked, and suddenly felt very embarassed and awkward.

"What the fuck is your problem? In the middle of a fucking monsoon, Sora, a monsoon, me and Cloud find the living room empty with you nowhere in sight! Do you know how worried we were?" You mean how worried you were, Cloud thought bitterly.

Aquamarine eyes narrowed at the furious words the Gunblade expert was throwing at his Sora. "Excuse me, Leon," Riku spat the name as if the very sound of it had left a bad taste in his mouth, "what the fuck is your problem? Where do you get off—"

"Uh, Leon!" Sora quickly cut Riku off, wanting to avoid any altercations between the two stubborn young men at all costs. "Why don't you and Cloud just go back to your hotel room? I mean, we've all had a rough night and I think a some rest would really do us all a world of good." When the only response he got from Leon was a glare in Riku's direction, he quickly turned to the blonde for support, adding, "Right, Cloud?"

Cloud quickly detected the obvious hint that Sora was giving him. "Uh, right!" he agreed as he hurriedly grabbed Leon's arm and roughly pulled him in the direction of the boat they had hadhijacked in order to get there. "C'mon, I can tell that you're way beat. Let's just go to bed and we'll deal with this whole thing in the morning. Sound good to you, Squall?"

"Leon," the brunette man seethed through gritted teeth, shoving the blonde off, but he nonetheless found himself getting into the small boat, anyway.

(1)Nobody: For those of you who haven't played Kingdom Hearts 2, when somebody loses their heart, they become a nobody, which is only half a person. Since they lack a heart, they also lack regular human emotions and all that good stuff.

(2)Port key: Harry Potter, book four, "The Goblet of Fire". A port key, from what I remember (I haven't read the book in years), is an object that is able to transport you from one place to another. In the book, it immediately took you to your destination when you touched it, but in this fanfiction, in order for the port key to work, you need to take it to a specific place. ("The specific place" being wherever the port key was programmed to take off from.) For example, Riku's port key was programmed to take you from that ocean to Destiny Islands waters. Kapeesh?

Author's notes: Well, I got a little lazy with the Sora-Cloud-Leon visit scenes, but seriously, there was nothing real to put there, y'know? (Not until the end of the visit, anyway.) So, instead, I just used 95 of the visit for some comic relief in an otherwise angsty and serious chapter! But it's okay, because there will definitely be more to come with Leon and Cloud, and, of course, Leon and Sora, and Sora and Riku. ;) It's just in this chapter, I wanted to focus more on Riku than anything else. So, yes. Just sit tight until chapter three! I promise that it won't take me so long to update next time. Until then, review and encourage me to work hard! XP