Broken Promises

By Queen of Curses

Disclaimer: You already know nothing belongs to me.

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Chapter 2 - The Present

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Section 1

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Silence.

That was what the Hallow Bastion Library was like. Complete, utter, deafening, silence.

Sora liked it that way, with nothing and no one to disturb him in his rare moments of deep thought.

To everyone, they saw Sora as the carefree, immature, smiling boy they all knew. But to those who really knew him, Sora was a lot more than that. Beneath his mask of happiness and cheer, he was really sensitive and mature. Riku was one of the few that can see through this 'mask' of his.

'Riku.' Sora thought. 'I know it's not your fault that you've gone all evil, but there must still be this part in you that's good.'

Sora thought back to their most recent fight, which was held a mere 5 minutes ago. Every hit that he landed on his best friend killed Sora little by little. Not physically, but emotionally. All the while, all the cuts and bruises Sora had acquired during the battle just made Riku fight harder.

Sora inhaled deeply as he applied a stinging ointment to one of the more serious cuts on his chest. The results of the magic ointment were amazing. Sora watched as the cut closed up in an instant, leaving a small silver scar. Then, he began to sing softly as he applied more ointment to the other cuts on his chest. The song he sang was the one he and Riku had made up when they were twelve and thirteen.

You're giving me too many things . . .

You're all I need . . .

You smiled at me and said . . .

"Don't get me wrong I love you,

But does that mean I have to meet your father?"

When we are older you'll understand

What I meant when I said "No,

I don' think life is quite that simple . . ."

When he stopped singing, he pulled his usual hooded sweater back on when, then heard an all-too-familiar taunting voice singing behind him. A voice he used to love . . . but was growing to hate by the minute.

When you walk away . . .

You don't hear me say please . . .

Oh baby, don't go . . .

Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight . . .

It's hard to let it go . . .

Sora turned around to see the silver-haired demon that his best friend had turned into. Riku had on a tight-fitting dark blue body suit with a sort of hula skirt. The sign of the Heartless was imprinted on his chest, his hands were blue, his nails were black, and he held the dark Keyblade in his right hand.

"You didn't think your best friend would forget *our* song, right?" Riku said to the silent Sora, in his playful tone. .

"You're not Riku." Sora simply said averting his eyes to the ground. "Therefore, you're *not* my best friend."

At this, Riku scowled. He raised his dark Keyblade and prepared to strike. Sora raised his eyes to meet Riku's, his innocent eyes blinking back tears.

"Go ahead, hit me, you demon. If you really were Riku, you wouldn't dare hurt me." He whispered, almost inaudibly, and the tears came. They flowed like rivers from his blue eyes, down his cheeks, and dropped to the cold floor.

And for a moment, Riku hesitated in attacking, and his evil dark eyes changed to their normal aquamarine hue, revealing weakness, but he regained his composure quickly. But Sora caught that short moment of weakness in this 'demon', and knew that *his* Riku was still in there.

In anger, Riku tightly held the Dark Keyblade and struck the younger boy, the sharp tip of the Dark Keyblade creating a new cut, this time across Sora's cheek.

"Riku . . ." Sora whispered, eyes lowered to the floor once again. "You've broken your promise . . ."

Then, he lifted his head just to look up at the 'demon', eyes still producing the salty liquid, and collapsed on the floor. There were many reasons for Sora to pass out. For one, he was still fatigued from his previous battle. Another reason would be because the ointment had side effects. And the last reason would be because Sora was close to having an emotional breakdown.

As Sora landed on the floor with a dull thud, Riku spotted something fall out of one of his pockets. Curious, Riku came closer to see what had fallen out. What he found instantly shocked him, but he regained his stoic tranquility soon enough.

Standing tall, he conjured a dark blue and purple mist to teleport both him and the bracelet of aquamarine stones he had acquired to his own personal room in the castle.

But before he left, he said a few simple words to the unconscious Sora.

"You've broken yours, as well."

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Section 2

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Everything was gray. His bed was gray, the walls were gray, the ceiling was gray, and even the toilet was gray. That's how Riku's room was; simple, clean, and boring.

Speaking of Riku, he was lying on his back on his gray bed, his clothes clashing with the rest of the room, looking up at the gray ceiling. Unlike Sora, he was known to drift off into his own little world of deep thoughts. Right now, his thoughts drifted to a certain brunette boy.

'Sora . . .' he thought, fingering the bracelet in his left hand.

'I thought you never cared,

And forgot our little song,

But with this little bracelet,

I guess you proved me wrong.'

And Riku smiled sadly at his short poem. He then got up to a sitting position and looked at the bracelet closely. All those long years ago, he made this bracelet. Then, he gave it to Sora as a sign of friendship.

"What happened to our friendship?" Riku asked to no one in particular.

He spread the aquamarine beads out to examine the condition of the thread that held them together, and sighed. He remembered just faintly how he had made the thread and beads when he was around 5 years old. And Riku sighed once again, closing his eyes, and tried as best as he can to bring back the memories.

*FLASHBACK*

"Riku!!! Wook at these!!!" A young, active voice yelled from the shoreline.

"I'll be there in a minute, Sora!" Riku yelled back, finishing his spar with Tidus. After gaining the experience, and not paying attention to the words of defeat from the blonde boy, he ran over to what his best friend wanted him to see.

"Wook at these!" Sora repeated, referring to the stones or different shades and hues of blue in his hands.

"Wow." Riku said childishly. "They're really pwetty."

"You can have some, Riku. These are for me, while that pile in the sand is for you." The 4-year-old said happily, pointing to the spot in the sand where a pile of aquamarine and sea green stones was.

"Thanks, Sora. You really are a good fweind." The silver-haired boy said. Even at such a young age, his hair was still a brilliant silver color. The young 5-year-old Riku walked over to the pile and scooped it up in his hands.

"So . . . what are you going to do with the stones?" Sora asked, being curious.

"Hmm . . . I'm not sure yet. Maybe I'll make some jewelry like my mommy does!"

"That cool!"

"What are you doing with yours?"

"Hmm . . . I'm gonna make a scary mask with these and some wood to scare Selphie!"

"That's a good idea! I need to work on these now, so I have to go. Bye Sora!"

"Okay! Bye Riku!"

*END FLASHBACK*

Riku then left Memory Lane and eyed the bracelet. He remembered how he had braided thin pieces of seaweed to make the thread and how he had carefully used a pocketknife to shape the stones into beads and drill a hole through them. And the result was a beautiful memento that reminded him of his childhood when it was just he, Sora, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie.

Then along came Kairi. She changed everything. She stole Sora. She stole his place on the islands. Ever since she came, Riku felt like an outcast. So he would just sit on the paopu tree like the outcast he thought he was. No one but Sora and the "Optimistic Bitch" dared to bother him in his moments of peace, looking out into the ocean.

'Optimistic Bitch . . .' Riku thought, snickering at the nickname he had given Kairi. Of course, he had never called her that straight to her face. But once he did tell Sora. He was 13 while Sora was 12.

*FLASHBACK*

"Hey Riku." Sora said, approaching the older boy who was sitting on the paopu tree.

"Hey, Sora. What are you doing out this late at night?" Riku said, sounding worried.

"I came out to speak to you."

"Really?" Riku asked, disbelieving. Sora and him never had a *real* conversation ever since Kairi had come along. Plus, Riku smiled the way he did only when him and Sora were alone.

"Do you hate Kairi?" Sora asked, voice suddenly becoming serious. Riku turned away from Sora and looked to the ground.

'So this is the only reason he wanted to talk to me . . .' Riku thought sadly, ' . . . to talk about Kari . . .'

"Yes." Riku said confidently, suddenly turning around to look Sora in the eye.

"Why?" Sora innocently asked. That was when something snapped in Riku's head.

"WHY?! You're asking me WHY I hate Kairi?!" Riku shouted. Sora merely nodded, starting to inch away from Riku, in fear of what he might do in such a state of mental health.

"You know what, Sora?" Riku asked, grabbing Sora by his shirt. "You DO NOT want to know." The younger boy just stayed silent as Riku dropped him to the ground.

"She's not that bad. She's pretty nice if you just give her a chance . . ." Sora started.

"A chance? That optimistic bitch doesn't deserve a freakin' chance, Sora!" Riku yelled, not caring if he woke up every single one of the islanders.

"D-d-don't call her that." Sora stuttered in a defense for the redheaded girl. With these few simple words, Riku's spirit and motivation to argue were broken.

'He's actually defending her . . .' Riku thought to himself, still in a state of shock.

"If you don't like her, that's okay with me. Just don't act so mean when she's around." And with that, Sora left, leaving Riku alone on the paopu tree in the light of the full moon.

*END FLASHBACK*

And for the first time in many years, something in Riku's head snapped. He grabbed the Dark Keyblade from where in was, and started destroying everything in sight, whilst thinking deep and heavy thoughts.

'Stupid bitch . . . she 's the one who started all of this!'

There goes the gray bed.

'Even if I *do* renew my friendship with Sora and everyone else on the island . . . IT WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!'

There goes the gray bookcase.

'I HATE HER!'

There goes the gray desk.

'I ABHOR HER!'

There goes the gray toilet.

'I DETEST HER!'

There go the rest of the things in the room that were gray.

"I loathe her because . . . . . . b-b-because . . . . I love . . . . I love Sora . . . ."

And Riku collapsed on the gray floor of his room, sobbing, crying, screaming, and to summarize it all up: Riku was having a mental breakdown.

"SSSSSSSSOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!" He suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly, an orange and red mist floated into his gray room. Just by the colors, Riku knew it was Ansem.

"Maleficent sent me to check on you. She said she heard crashes and screaming." Ansem stated. At Riku's silence he tried again to start up a conversation.

"My boy, what's wrong? You look a little . . . down." He commented, chuckling at his own words. Riku just ignored the man and stayed on the floor where he was.

"Ignoring me, are you?" The older man asked, orange eyes almost glowing in the dimness of the room.

"Go away and leave me to drown in my pool of misery . . ." Riku mumbled from where he lay, his words a bit muffled from the gray carpeting.

"Don't think so negatively, Riku. What wrong? I'm always here to help." Ansem said, sounding like Riku's mother.

"Bite me." Riku said in a dangerous tone. He got up from the floor and walked over to his personal bathroom, finding that the area where the toilet used to be was leaking some water. He went over to the gray marble sink and turned on the cold water. With the water, he cleansed his face of the tearstains and the dirt that was picked up from the carpet.

"Gladly." Ansem calmly said. Riku noticed by looking into the semi-fogged mirror, that the taller man had entered the bathroom.

"Leave." Riku said, glaring into Ansem's reflection in the mirror. "Now."

"Getting demanding, are we?" The older man said, his voice not serious at all, but playful. He moved behind the younger boy and started massaging his shoulders.

"Don't touch me." Riku said flatly. He knew Ansem had wanted him ever since they first met. He knew Ansem would do anything to make him his. He could tell because the older man had been flirting with him like it went out of style.

"You need the relaxation." Ansem's seductive voice purred out, as he still massaged Riku's shoulders, then moved on to his back. Riku just stayed silent, staring into the mirror.

"You know what, Riku? I lo--"

Before he ever got to finish his sentence, he found himself on the floor with a bloody nose. He got up to see Riku glaring.

"You *don't* *want* to finish that sentence." The young boy growled. Ansem just sighed.

'Oh, well, I tried.' The man thought to himself, casting a simple Cure spell to take care of the nosebleed.

"I must get back to my home, The End of the World." Ansem said, turning to leave. "Visit me one time." At this, Riku just snarled.

Ansem then conjured up some orange and red mist, and he was gone. But before the mist subsided, Riku heard his voice saying one last thing.

"My dear Riku, that Sora boy doesn't deserve your love."

Riku just snickered.

"Bastard . . ."

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Section 3

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As the Doors of Kingdom Hearts began to fully close up, Riku said his goodbye with a simple statement.

"Take care of her."

'She's the only one left.' Riku thought sadly. He didn't know how long till the next time they would see each other. The whereabouts of Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, and their parents were unknown. So Kairi was really the only one to take care of Sora, and Sora was the only one left to take care of her. Riku may have hated Kairi with every bit in him, but he knew Sora cared for her, and he was agreeable to accept that.

And Sora just nodded and kept on pushing the door close with Donald and Goofy while Riku was pulling from the inside.

'If the bitch keeps him content, then I'm willing to at least be this nice.' Riku thought to himself.

'Sora's my everything, and I'd do anything for him . . . even if that means giving up on my love for him . . .'

'Kairi may not be the best match for him, but as long as he's happy, I really don't give a damn.'

And finally, the white, stained-glass doors of Kingdom Hearts closed. He then felt the energy that his Keyblade was radiating to seal the door. King Mickey, who was behind him, also used his Keyblade to seal the door.

When the door was fully sealed, he closed his eyes. He then placed one hand over his heart.

'You'll always be in here, Sora.' He thought.

Then he gripped the demon sword in his hand tightly, and opened his eyes, knowing what was to come next.

"C'mon Riku! Let's take on the Heartless and show them what the power of light can do!" King Mickey exclaimed.

The teen turned around to face the King and nodded. Then, he charged towards the nearest huge cluster of Heartless, ready to gain some serious experience points.

"This is for you, Sora." He whispered.