Everything was a blur when I finally opened my eyes again. I was cold and uncomfortable and I didn't know where I was. It was too bright and I couldn't seem to focus. My head felt like it was on fire, my entire body ached and there was a ringing in my ears that threatened to drive away my last semblance of sanity.

No… wait. The ringing… it wasn't in my head. It was coming from somewhere outside of me. Where… Where was it coming from? What was this place?

"Where am I?" I asked aloud to no one in particular as I looked over to my left. Immediately, I found the source of the ringing, or rather a steady, rhythmic beeping. It was a machine, some sort of machinery with lots of wires that was displaying what I recognized to be English text. This slightly helped to determine where I'd ended up. There were several countries in the modern world that used the English language, but it did exclude those that did not.

I looked down at myself to note that there were various tubes attached to my flesh. I began to pull at these when I noticed something over the end of my right index finger. When I went to pull that off, I heard a male voice coming from my right.

"Radiant Garden General Hospital," he said, meeting my eyes.

I was able to restrain my surprise, but just barely. Of all the places on this earth I could have touched down, I had ended up here with him. That couldn't have been a coincidence.

"We would have taken you to Traverse, but they're swamped with the pile up from that semi that crashed so…" He trailed off, running his hand swiftly through his hair before looking back at me and saying, "I'm glad you're finally awake. I should go get the doctor. She'll want to see you."

The boy disappeared behind a thin curtain and I shuddered. Hospitals. Of course, I should have recognized it the moment I awoke. The scent was unmistakable now. But this place… That boy…

Sora. There was no mistaking him. I'd known his face from the moment it came into existence. I'd memorized that face, studied the life that was no more than a fleeting moment in the span of eternity, and defied the orders that came with it. My only wonder was why. Why this boy? What had he done to deserve such a fate? I'd never been allowed to ask before. Never question orders. Just accept them as they come and carry them out. Do this, go there, take them, and raze that. Throughout it all, I'd always been obedient. I'd never questioned, not once. Not until…

I looked up at him as he returned, my gaze falling softly on his face. I'd never seen that face so closely before. The big cerulean eyes that had lived only in my mind for so long now held my own. I could not cling to such a welcome sight for very long. He had not come back alone.

He was followed by a middle-aged woman dressed in green who introduced herself as Dr. Garrett. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she took note of the numbers displayed on the monitor.

"I'm fine," I said, observing her as she scribbled notes on the pages she was holding.

"Good, good," she said as she flipped through several pieces of paper, "It looks like you didn't have anything on you when you came in. Can you tell us your name, please?"

"Riku," I said, watching the doctor closely.

She took a note before asking, "Last name?"

"I…" I said, catching myself when I realized that I couldn't very well tell her that I didn't have one. I couldn't just make one up either. They would have records of this kind of thing. "I don't know," I finally said, feeling the muscles in my jaw tightening.

"Do you mean you don't remember?" she asked quizzically, taking out a small light and shining it in my eyes. She threw Sora a worried look before marking something in what I now assumed to be a file on me.

"Yes," I said, gripping the thin fabric beneath my fingers. "I don't remember my last name." My first lie… I suppose it had to happen sometime.

"Okay," she said slowly with a small, almost inaudible sigh. She tapped her pen against the page a few times before continuing, "Well, can you remember anything about what happened to you?" She paused for a moment before asking, "Do you know who did this to you?"

I understood that I would sound insane if I told them the truth. They must have assumed that I was the victim of some sort of attack. I suppose I could have made something up to appease them, but nothing I could think of would really explain my condition. So I lied once again. "I don't know. I don't remember."

I looked over at Sora when he sighed. Why was he here, sitting with me? He didn't look like part of the hospital staff, clothes covered in dried mud. Did he… Had he found me? I suppose he must have to be sitting here with me. I had no idea exactly where I'd touched down but it would have left quite a mark, I'm sure. There were probably several people trying to figure out what happened. Hopefully, they wouldn't investigate too thoroughly.

"How did I get here?" I asked, curiosity burning at me.

"Sora there found you," the doctor answered, confirming my suspicion. "He called the ambulance that brought you in.

"I see," I said. So I must have landed rather close to him.

"Now, is there anyone you'd like us to call for you?" the doctor asked, her pen poised to write. "Any family members or friends that you can think of?"

"There is no one," I said with a sigh, the gravity of my situation once again weighing me down. None of my family would ever come to my aid. I was completely alone in the world now.

"In that case…" she said, flipping over a page. "Do you know how old you are?"

I thought about it for a moment, looking down at myself. I didn't know how old I would actually be considered in human years. I obviously didn't want to tell them the truth, but I wanted my age to be something believable. I compared myself to the doctor, who looked much older than my physical body, then to Sora, who looked closer to what my physical age would probably be.

"I'm twenty-two," I said, estimating an appropriate age.

"You know your birthday?" she asked, pen hovering once more over the paper.

"Yeah," I said. "It's October 24, 1992." I didn't actually have a birthday, so I had simply picked a random date, but they didn't need to know that.

"Well," she said, clicking her pen. "Since you're not a minor, I can't really get child services involved. I'll get your information out and see if anyone is missing you, Riku, but until we find some results…" She paused, biting her cheek as she tried to figure out what to do with me. "We'll keep you here for observation for a few days. Also, in light of your condition, there are some tests I want to run. I'm sure the police will have some questions for you too. By then, I'm sure someone will be able to tell us who you are."

"If not?" I asked, looking up at her with a blank look. I knew no one would come to claim me. No one was looking for me.

"Well…" she said, taking a breath and abruptly closing her mouth. She seemed to be at a loss for words.

"He can stay with me," Sora said, speaking for the first time since the doctor had come in. We both looked at him as he said, "He can stay at my place, just until we find out where he belongs."

"I couldn't ask you to do that," I said, my head hung low.

"No, it's really not…"

"Sora… Are you sure about this?" the doctor asked, interrupting him mid-sentence and expressing much more familiarity with the boy than I expected. Ah, but I should have realized.

"It's no problem," he said. "I have that big house all to myself. And it's just temporary, right?"

"A word?" she said, motioning for Sora to follow her into the hall.

My hearing was exceptionally good, so I managed to catch the gist of the conversation they had. Dr. Garrett expressed her worries to Sora about not being sure if he could trust me. She said it wasn't like the boy to do something like this. Sora assured her that he would be careful and once again said that it was only until they found my family. I sighed at this statement. I knew well enough that they would never find any family. No one would ever report me missing and they would never find any record of me in any system. They couldn't find where I belonged because the truth was I didn't belong anywhere anymore.

Sora was right, however. The situation would only be temporary, if I even decided to take him up on his offer. The last thing I wanted to do was burden him, but it wasn't as if I had any other options at the time. In any case, I had no plans to stay with him longer than necessary. I didn't know where I would go when I left, but I couldn't very well stay with him forever. Then there was the obvious problem that if I stayed in one place for too long people would start to notice things, strange things that I wouldn't be able to explain away.

I looked up at Sora when he came back in alone, snapping me out of my thoughts. I saw that he was carrying a set of clothes, which reminded me that I was covered only by the thin robe the hospital staff had dressed me in.

"Since you don't really have any clothes," he said, handing me the garments, "I talked one of my co-workers into letting you borrow some. Just until we can get you some of your own. I hope sweatpants and a t-shirt is okay."

"It's fine," I said, some of what he said sinking in a little slower than the rest. "Do you work here?" My journey must have taken longer than I'd thought. He'd been no more than a boy when all this began. Now here he stood an adult. Time… I'd have to get used to the concept. Time moving at such a slow, steady pace was completely unfamiliar to me.

"I'm not on duty today," he said, slipping his hands into his pockets, "but, yeah. I'm on staff as a nurse here. Dr. Garrett… she's my mom."

"You said you lived alone though," I said, curiosity once again coming to the forefront. I desperately wanted to know more about him, not just about his home life but about who he was. Perhaps then, I would be able to better understand the dismal orders that had been put to me. Perhaps then, some of these burning questions would finally have answers. What was so important about him? Why the Kingdom would be willing to go to such sinister extremes over one seemingly innocuous boy was beyond me. It was maddening.

"I do," he replied. "When my mom remarried, she moved in with my stepdad and left her old house to me."

"So 'Garrett' isn't your last name?" I asked, already knowing the answer but needing to ask. I didn't want to accidentally say his actual last name in the future without ever being told what it was.

"No," he said, a hint of disdain in his voice. "It's Osment. Sora Osment."

"I see," I said, looking down at the clothes in my hands.

"I'll… uh… step out," he said, "so you can get dressed. But first, my mom said it was okay to take the IV out, so…"

An idea struck me as Sora placed his gloved hands on my flesh. If I was close to him, maybe… maybe I could protect him. There was nothing I could see that would make anyone want to hurt this boy. I could see absolutely no reason behind The Kingdom's decision. It was wrong; it was madness. After seeing the boy in question with my own two eyes, I was even more adamant, even more sure of my decision to stand against the Almighty. I would not let Him do this. I would protect this boy.

"Done," he said after taping a little piece of cotton to the part of my arm he'd taken the IV from. "So… I'll be just out there when you're finished changing."

I got up, wincing as my bare feet contacted the cold tiled floor. The hospital robe was easy enough to get out of and I slipped into the new garments as quickly as possible. They were much too big for me, but at least they covered my exposed flesh.

When I was finished donning the clothing, I slid back the curtain that had been keeping my privacy. Sora, as promised, had been standing just beyond it. I began to make my way to a door underneath a sign that read, "Exit," but Sora halted my progress before I could get very far.

"What are you doing?" he asked, raising his hands. "You shouldn't really be up."

"I don't like it here," I said, my eyes drifting over the room, over all the wounded bodies. I took in the aura of vulnerability and pain that hung over this place like a cloud, and the overwhelming scent of those on the brink of death. There was a weakness here and a sorrow that was almost too heavy to bear. I didn't wish to stay here a moment longer. "I'm leaving."

"Wait," Sora said with a sigh, moving to block my path to the exit. "Let me speak with the doctor. Just… wait here, okay?" He backed away from me, his hands still slightly raised. "Stay," he said, as if I were a beast to command. I closed my eyes as he walked away from me. I would heed his command for now, but I would leave when he returned with or without his blessing.

My eyes still closed, I felt for his energy and then followed it as it collided with so many others. It would take a special kind of soul to endure working in a place like this day after day. Any other soul, it seemed, would become heavy with the burden of caring for those sick and dying. Sora was a light amidst the gloom, a radiant life among the dreary fog of death. Beautiful.

A few minutes passed before he returned, followed again by the woman doctor. His mother.

"Sora tells me you're planning to leave," she said. "I would strongly advise against that."

"You can't keep me here," I said, my gaze a bit more intense than it probably should have been.

"True," she said, taking down a note on her clipboard, "but you haven't been discharged yet."

"Then discharge me," I said, the need to leave this place building steadily with each passing moment.

"I'll have to put down that you left against my recommendations," she said, filling in another note. "There's also the matter of your amnesia. I was hoping to run a few tests. If you sustained a head injury, there could be some underlying damage to your brain. There's no way to tell without an MRI."

"I'm fine," I said, my jaw clenched. "I feel fine, and I'm leaving."

"Where will you go?" Sora asked. I wasn't sure, but for a moment there looked to be a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"I…" I began, taking a breath before continuing, "…I was hoping I could take you up on your offer. If that would be okay with you? I… really don't have anywhere to go otherwise."

"Of course," he nodded. Turning to his mother, he placed a hand on her arm and said, "I'll keep an eye on him tonight and I'll see if I can't change his mind about your tests. Okay?"

The doctor hesitated, biting her lip before leaning down to whisper in his ear, "Be careful, Sora."

"Yeah," he breathed in response before turning to me. "Alright. If you'll give me a couple minutes to take care of some things, we'll head out in just a bit."

I nodded, watching as he scurried off after his mother, who glanced over her shoulder at me. I knew she was worried about me staying with her son. She had every right to be worried. After all, I was a stranger and as far as they knew I'd just been involved in a very violent altercation. But my mind was set, and she needn't worry. No force on Heaven or Earth would bring harm to him as long as I still lived. I would protect him.

A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long. Man, it's almost been a year now since I first published this. Anyone still out there?

So, a lot of stuff's happened in the past year. My mother passed away, the whole huge ordeal with the custody battle for my brother, and finally moving to NYS. Things have finally started to settle down a bit, hence the reason I've decided to upload again. Now that I have a steady job and actual responsibilities I don't know how often I'll be able to update this, but I promise it won't be another year. I'd say probably once a month.

I've got the whole story planned out in my head. All I have to do is get it out of me and onto my computer in the form of hopefully semi readable babble. There are a few twists and turns along the way, stuff I'm still working out the kinks for. I hope it won't be disappointing. Thanks for reading. Leave a review if you liked it. Keeps my motivation... motivated. xD

Arigato gozaimasu! :3