A/N: I want to thank those who have reviewed this story, it is appreciated. Since I have no idea what is going to happen in this story, besides a few things, the feedback really does help. Sorry if my grammar is horrible, I don't have a beta reading this story.
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Zexion shifted slightly as he began to stir from his slumber. He squinted his eyes shut against the unexpected bright light, not used to seeing the light in the basement levels of Castle Oblivion. Once he realized he was being bathed in light Zexion's eyes shot open and he attempted to jump to his feet only to be pulled backward against the bindings. He glanced behind him to find that he was tied to the legs of the bed and instantly knew that he would be unable to free himself in his current condition. Personally Zexion was amazed that he was still alive without the special potion he created. Unable to determine where he was located based on what was around him, Zexion closed his eyes and sniffed the air. It was surprisingly salty and wet, therefore he concluded he had to be close to a beach, but there were not beaches in between worlds where Castle Oblivion was located. There was another scent that underlined the others and he was surprised that he recognized it not only throughout the room but it also lingered on himself, Riku.
Unable to remember what happened the previous day Zexion could only piece together what information he did have. He knew that he was not in Castle Oblivion anymore and he had the scent of salt and Riku overpowering his senses. According to his data he collected on Riku in the castle, he knew that Riku lived on an island. Putting all this information together he rationalized that he was in Riku's world and probably in his house as a hostage. Sighing to himself he glanced backwards again to his bindings wondering if it would be possible to pull it apart or slip out of it but Riku tied the tassels too tight, to the point where it was cutting into his skin.
Realizing that there was little hope of escaping on his own, Zexion settled himself down and leaned against the foot of the bed. Less than ten minutes passed before Zexion found himself bored, he did not like to idle about with nothing to do. He studied the room because there was nothing else he could do to occupy his time. The first thing he noticed was how clean it was, especially compared to how the past two years at the castle had been. There was very little material objects in the room, only those to enhance the look of the room. It looked as though it was not lived in, very little was out of place or looked as though it had been used. Based on these observations Zexion concluded the room was likely to be a spare bedroom. It wasn't until he began to notice the objects in the room themselves rather than the entire picture did he notice the duffel bag laying on the floor a few feet from where he sat. At this distance he was unable to reach it but he had a feeling that there was something important in that bag since it was in this room with him.
Zexion heard a door opening in the distance so he assumed that Riku was wondering about the house. He still could not fathom what Riku could want him or why he would keep him alive, especially after their encounter at Castle Oblivion. During that fight he tried to make Riku succumb to the darkness in his heart by disguising himself as Sora. It would have worked if Riku did not realize there is always light in the dark. Of course Riku wasn't the only one to hold a grudge, it was because of Riku that he wound up in this state in the first place. If Riku did not injure him Axel would never have had the chance to send Riku Replica on him.
In the hallway beyond the door he could hear footsteps drawing closer and stop just outside the door. Zexion pulled against the restraints once more but of course it did little besides break the skin on his wrists. Knowing that running away was hopeless Zexion braced himself for anything that was coming his way.
Riku opened the door and walked slowly into the room. The room looked perfectly normal besides the Nobody sitting on the floor. He was not surprised that Zexion was awake, actually he would have been if Zexion wasn't. "Your name is Zexion correct?" He asked even though he already knew the answer.
Zexion simply starred at the other boy, wondering how he aged so much in such a short amount of time. Riku was much taller than when they met before and he no longer looked like a young boy. He was especially stunned how much larger Riku was compared to himself, they used to be similar in body type but now he was at a major disadvantage physically.
Riku noticed the Nobody was looking at him but had no expression written on his face. He just simply starred as though this was a casual thing. Riku took this time to stare down the other boy, both as a sign of dominance and in order to inspect how he was fairing. Now that he could see what Zexion looked like in the light he was surprised by what he saw. Zexion's skin was paler than he thought it was was at the castle, it was abnormally pale and looked a few shades off from being ivory. Riku was sure that his skin had more color in it two years ago when they fought. He had dark rings under his one visible eye, a sign of exhaustion and probably malnutrition. Riku didn't consider the idea that Nobodies needed food until now, somehow he never saw them as being human. It was no surprise how thin the boy was, he noticed that when he carried him here. It was obvious the boy lost weight due to the over-sized coat he wore. His body still looked as though it was fading, almost like it was slowly dying. Other than that he was exactly as he remembered him, hair the same shade, eyes that still looked as though he could bore holes right through him.
Unsure of where to start Riku decided he would be blunt about what he needed. "Zexion how did you survive? All the other Nobodies are dead."
Zexion did not blink but it was still a shock to hear what Riku said. He did not know what occurred beyond the castle he was confined to. Somehow he figured that Sora would have gotten a hold of some of the Organization but all of them was not something he would have expected.
"Listen up you Nobody, I don't want you in my house and I know that you don't want to be here either. Just answer the question alright. How are you still alive?" Riku growled, not moving from his position in the doorway.
Zexion contemplated answering the other boy but he didn't know how he should answer. The obvious thing was to tell him about the potion he created to keep his body from fading into the darkness but then he would be telling Riku that he was weak and practically gift wrapped on death's front door. His eyes flashed over to the bag knowing that Riku would follow his gaze.
Riku noticed Zexion glance away toward the bag, Does he know what's in there? Deciding that Zexion was unwilling to answer his question, Riku walked over to the bag and unzipped it. Sitting at the top of the bag was the IV's and mystery fluid that was connected to Zexion in the castle. "It was this, wasn't it?" He lifted the bag for Zexion to see and he noted the slight smirk that appeared on the boys face. "What is it?" This question he asked more to himself knowing that he would not receive a response from Zexion.
"A potion." Zexion replied softly, not realizing how hoarse his throat was. It had been at least two years since he held a conversation and he found talking to himself pointless.
Riku jumped slightly at the soft spoken words. He eyed the smaller boy before turning his attention back to the bag. "I've never seen a potion that looks like this. Did you make it?"
Deciding there was no reason not to respond, Zexion nodded slightly. Even this small movement caused him slight pain in his sore muscles. His gaze lingered on Riku, not wanting to give the other boy any other advantages over him. At this point he was overpowered physically and maybe even magically. He knew his powers had yet to return to him and he was not sure if they ever would. The source of most of his power, his eye, still remained with him but he was unable to call upon his Lexicon or the darkness.
"Will you die without this?" Riku asked, hoping he would get another response from the reluctant Nobody. Most of the Nobodies he had encountered spilled everything to him, whether it be the Organization's plans or not. He was not used to having to fight this hard for such a small amount of information. When he did not receive one right away he made a point to say "You seem to be fading without it."
"Possibly."
Riku stood up slowly, stretching his legs in the process. He walked over to Zexion and knelt down before him. "I don't want that to happen right now because there is still things I need to ask you. Here." Reluctantly Riku held out the bag and small tubes for Zexion to take but was surprised to see the smaller boy refuse to accept it. "Do you want to die?"
Zexion's eyes narrowed as he starred into Riku's determined blue eyes. Of course he did not want to die but how could he accept anything from Riku. It was Riku's fault that he wound up in this predicament in the first place. Oddly he did not place too much blame Riku for injuring him at Castle Oblivion, it was his own mistakes that brought his downfall. He assumed that Riku would give into the darkness in his heart and would join the basement dwellers cause. What he did blame Riku for was not finishing the job of disposing of him when he had the chance and instead kidnapping him.
"I know you can talk." Riku snapped, getting irritated at the non-responsive captive. "Would you rather die than stay here? I can assure you that it's not that bad here." He didn't understand why he was pleading with the Nobody considering he would probably be doing the worlds a favor by killing the abomination.
"Marvelous observation."
Getting tired of these quick remarks, Riku stood up and tossed the bag containing the potion back into the bag before lifting it onto his shoulders. "Listen here Zexion. I know you are manipulative and I will not give you the satisfaction of letting you control me again. If you want to fade away tough, I will find a way to force you to stay alive until I no longer need you." Riku then stormed out the door, slamming the door closed behind him.
Riku shuddered after he was free of the Nobody, somehow Zexion was still able to get under his skin without doing anything. After finding a balance of darkness and light in his heart he stopped having outburst of anger but just talking to the schemer brought the darkness back. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring him home after all. Deciding it was best to leave the house for a few minutes to get some supplies and get away from his hostage, Riku dropped the bag in the sitting room before walking out the front door.
Riku wandered down the street heading no where in particular. He knew he needed to get some rope to secure Zexion's bindings and the easiest place to get it would probably be the small island where they attempted to build the rafts as children. He knew there was some rope there because no one bothered to move or clean up the rafts. This was especially true for Sora because it brought back memories of the destruction of the island and Riku falling into the darkness. Deciding this was the best option he headed toward the island.
Once he reached the bridge that led to the island he saw Selphie and Tidus sitting together on a large log. He walked past them quickly not wanting to catch Tidus' attention after their confrontation last night. Luckily he made it past them without any problems, which wasn't surprising considering those two were probably too concerned with each other to notice him. It was obvious that Selphie had a crush on Tidus since they were kids and he was pretty sure that Tidus finally realized his feelings for her as well. His luck however ended when he saw Sora and Kairi walk out of the secret spot.
"RIKU!" Sora yelled before sprinting toward his best friend.
"Hi Sora." Riku replied, not surprised when he was hugged violently by the smaller boy. "Hi Kairi." He greeted the redhead who lagged behind Sora.
"Hi Riku." Kairi giggled when she saw Sora attempt to push Riku over. "Where were you yesterday, we were supposed to meet for dinner?"
Sora released his best friend and nodded at what Kairi said. This morning he noticed that his Gummi Ship was moved and he hoped that Riku didn't do anything foolish. He noticed how isolated Riku became once they returned to their island and he couldn't help but wonder what caused it. He knew that Riku was glad to finally be home so he couldn't understand what was causing him to be so down. Luckily for him Kairi was the one who mentioned him being gone last night so he didn't have to, however, he knew that he would have to bring up the Gummi Ship later if Riku avoided it.
Riku blinked a few times, stunned that he had forgotten about the dinner plans. "I forgot about it, sorry." Riku didn't want to tell Kairi where he went because he knew his friends would be worried, but he didn't want to lie to her either. Instead he decided to tell her some of the truth.
Kairi shook her head at that. "Riku we've been reminding you all week and you still forgot. What are we going to do with you?"
Sora could tell Riku was hiding something because he would not look either of them in the eye and was very stiff. He wanted to confront Riku about it now but he knew he had to wait till the two of them were alone. Somehow he knew it wasn't something Kairi would want to hear because she was completely against any of them leaving Destiny Islands unless it was an emergency. He could understand why she thought this way, the three of them were almost separated and killed. "Riku next time we'll make sure you write it down, ok?"
"I guess that sounds fair." Riku smirked. It had been awhile since he got to joke around with these two. Lately he had kept to himself out of guilt and it must have affected his friends as well. It figured that the one time he decided to leave Destiny Islands to find answers his friends would notice. "What are you two doing here this early anyway?"
"We were...um...looking in the secret spot." Sora blushed, trying not to look Riku in the eye. "That's all."
Riku raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Looking in the secret spot? Sora that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. What were you really doing?"
This time it was Kairi who answered. "Sora and I were looking around the island. We felt darkness enter the world last night and were worried that something was trying to get into the world through the doorway in the secret spot." She looked over to Sora and shook her head when she noticed the blush on his cheeks.
"You felt darkness enter the world? How is that possible?" Riku gulped. His friends couldn't be onto him already, he just brought Zexion here. If Sora found out that there was a Nobody on the island he wasn't sure what would happen but he knew it wouldn't be good.
They both looked at each other, neither one knew how to answer. Sora glanced over to the spot where the Gummi Ship was being stored before turning his attention back to Riku. "I don't know, we just got this feeling. I want to ask King Mickey if there is anything going on but I don't know how to get in touch with him. So we decided to investigate the island."
Kairi nodded in agreement with Sora. "We checked what we could of the island and haven't found anything unusual. Maybe we were just imagining things."
"Its possible." Riku agreed hoping they would pass the feeling off as paranoia. "If something were happening I would think that King Mickey would inform you Sora. You are the owner of the Keyblade after all." Riku began walking toward the other side of the beach knowing that his friends would follow him. He didn't want to be gone from his house too long so he needed to get the rope from the raft.
"That's true." Kairi agreed, grabbing Sora's hand and following Riku down the island. "Where are you going Riku?"
"I'm going to the raft because I need some rope." Riku glanced behind him and smiled at the display of affection between his two friends. He knew they were worried that he wouldn't approve of their relationship so they tried to keep it a secret. Sora still believed that he liked Kairi but that was years ago. When Sora struck himself with his own Keyblade to release Kairi's heart Riku knew the two were meant to be. He also knew that he didn't deserve Kairi because he was consumed by the darkness in his heart. She deserved to be with Sora, who was bathed in the light.
"Rope? Riku what do you need rope for?" She asked.
Riku could hear the worry in her voice as she spoke. How she knew something was wrong stunned him, but he needed to keep everything a secret. "For a project I'm doing at home." He knew this answer would not satisfy his friends but he couldn't come up with anything that would require rope. He could only hope that they wouldn't pry further.
The three of them continued to walk in silence and since Riku didn't want to bring more attention to himself he was happy to embrace it. He made his way down a sandy hill where he knew the small raft was stationed. After taking a look at the raft he wondered what the three of them were thinking. There was no way the three of them would be able to ride that unstable raft till to another world, they would be lucky if it would hold the three of them without breaking apart. He bent down and pulled out the rope Sora gathered years ago. When he turned around he noticed that Kairi was gone. "Sora where did Kairi go?"
Sora looked over his shoulder to see if he could still see Kairi. "She didn't want to look at the raft, I guess it still brings back bad memories for her." He looked at Riku and noticed that he looked tired. There were slight bags under his eyes and he looked as though he was slumping more than usual. "Riku I need to ask you something. Please just hear me out and don't get mad ok?"
Riku stiffened at Sora's words because he had a feeling he knew what Sora was going to ask. He really didn't know how to explain why he was lying to them or acting weird without giving away what was going on. Realizing he wasn't going to be able to get out of the conversation, Riku sighed, "Alright, what's up?"
Sora noticed the look of defeat in his friends posture but it wouldn't stop him from asking what he needed. He would never admit it to Riku, but he was worried about him. "I wanted to wait till Kairi was gone before asking this. Where did you go last night? I know you took the Gummi Ship somewhere and you've been acting strange."
Riku blinked a few times at what Sora said. Somehow he didn't think Sora would notice the ship was moved because he was never observant. Deciding that he would have to say something truthful to his friend Riku glanced over toward the ocean. "I needed to find some answers that could only be found if I left this world."
"What kind of answers? Where did you go?" Sora asked, confused on what his friend was saying. Ever since Riku was taken by the darkness he couldn't help but think that the two of them had grown distant. He never understood what Riku was thinking or saying most of the time and he hated it.
"I wanted to know more about Organization Thirteen and find answers to what happened to you and why." Riku mumbled just loud enough for Sora to hear over the waves of the ocean. "I cant help but feel responsible for everything that happened to the three of us."
"Wait you want to know what happened to me? Don't you already know?" Sora asked, now more confused than ever.
Riku was silent a few moments as he pondered what Sora said. Technically he did know everything that happened to Sora, even more than Sora knew himself, but he didn't quite understand why. Without knowing the motives of Organization 13 and why they wanted to alter Sora's memories he was still in the dark. "I just needed to try to clear my conscious so I revisited some worlds."
Sora didn't understand what Riku felt, but he knew better than to push the matter. Somehow Riku felt responsible for everything that had happened to him but it wasn't Riku's fault. The darkness would have entered Destiny Islands even without Riku's help. "I don't really understand but I wish you would tell me when you are leaving."
"Sora I didn't tell you because I knew that you would worry." Riku replied, turning around to face his best friend. "I think I found what I needed while I was out so you wont have to worry about me sneaking off anymore."
"Ok." Sora nodded and a smile crept onto his face. "Riku I'm glad that were back home. I missed this, spending time with you and not worrying about the fate of the world."
"Yeah it is nice." Riku smiled back and turned to head back toward the other side of the small island. "You should probably catch up with Kairi, I'm sure that she is probably worried."
Sora turned to look at Riku. "Why don't you come? Its been awhile since the three of us spent time together."
Riku rolled his eyes at Sora's naivety. "Sora I'm trying to give you and Kairi some time alone."
Sora stopped and gaped at Riku. "Wait you know? How...When..."
Looking at Sora struggle to form a sentence caused Riku to laugh and shake his head. "Sora I've known for a long time. You don't hide it well."
"So you're not mad?" Sora asked shyly, keeping his eyes on the sand below them. A slight blush crept on his face and he twiddled his fingered nervously.
"Why would I be mad? You and Kairi are perfect for each other."
"But I always thought you kinda liked her too." Sora replied, finally making eye contact with his friend. "We always fought over sharing a paopu fruit with her."
What Sora said was true, they did constantly fight each other for her. Luckily none of their fights were serious, most of them were competitions that he usually won. He had to admit that most of the contests were more to get Sora riled than trying to win Kairi. "Sora we were kids. I realized that I never really liked her that way."
"Really?"
"Yeah, now hurry up and go comfort her. I'm pretty sure that she needs it. And before you say anything I'll make sure to come visit soon, OK?"
"Alright, but make sure you keep that promise." Sora nodded before running up the hill after Kairi.
Riku watched Sora run until he could not longer see the smaller boy. Now that he was alone again, Riku decided to make a detour home and grab the computer he left in the Gummi Ship. He quickly made his way to the other side of the island where he parked the ship last night. Luckily for him the computer was light weight and could easily be carried without taking multiple trips. After pulling the machine out of the ship he headed back toward his house.
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