"This isn't working out well at all." RiRi frowned at his attempts at sculpture. The base had gone rather well, considering he was using clay taken from the spring banks. But the figure that was supposed to go on top was a different story.

Don't worry about it. The image doesn't matter nearly as much as what's within your heart.

"That's a good thing, because it's looking more like Buddha than an elven goddess." Tatiana giggled in his mind, and he smiled, slowly working the dirt. "I know she's supposed to be standing, but I'm going to have to make her sitting or this will never stand up."

I know. It should be wood. But the important part is that you're making it by hand. RiRi nodded. If all he'd needed was a female figure, he'd have bought a ceramic one, but the making it by hand aspect was important. You can try wood carving later, when you have a better knife.

"Right." The knife he'd stolen from Sora's kitchen was completely the wrong shape for fine woodcarving. Finally satisfied with the figure… or as satisfied as he was going to get… RiRi gently set it on the little dais he had made. It was a vaguely pyramidal shape, and he'd tried to make representations of vines and flowers on the sides, scraping them in with the tip of the knife. "This is probably going to come apart as soon as it rains."

I know, but we must make do. Are you ready for the prayer and offering? RiRi nodded, pulling out a candle he'd bought from the convenience store and setting it in front of the idol. He went over to the fire, and pulled out a burning twig to light the candle. He could have used some of the matches he had gotten, but he was saving those for lighting the fire. He'd only borrowed a bit of cash from Riku, and payday wasn't until the end of the week, so he couldn't afford to waste them.

Kneeling in front of the idol, he said the prayers that Tatiana had coached him on, mentally translating as he spoke them. They were in an ancient religious language, but Tatiana had told him the meanings of the words.

"We praise you, Mother of All. Bless us with your gentle hands. In our time of need, give us the smallest of gifts… the branch of the tree, the candle in the night. We praise you, Father of All. Bless us with your kind touch. In our time of need, grant us the wisdom to know what must be done. Children of All, we praise you… in darkness, let us find the enlightenment of light. In light, let us find the release of darkness. Out of ignorance to understanding. Take this offering, blessed be." RiRi carefully placed a small piece of fish over the flame, wincing as he accidentally burnt his fingers. It was a purely ceremonial offering, but Tatiana said that was fine. What was in his heart was all that mattered.

RiRi blinked as there was a cool gust of air, scented with spring flowers. Then he glanced at the idol and stared, feeling Tatiana's awe. A small flower was growing at the base of the figurine, on top of the dais. With unnatural speed, it opened to reveal a silvery blossom with a bright yellow heart.

The touch of the Goddess. Tatiana sounded like she was near tears, and RiRi swallowed, a bit awed as well. She answered her children, so far from home. It is a blessing.

"Or the Goddess is trying to cover up my awful artwork." RiRi said, unwilling to stay awed, and surprised a giggle out of Tatiana. "Either way, I need to get to work." He stood up, switching over to his female form and stretching. He gave the little altar one last glance before he walked away.

The blessing of the Goddess had to be a good omen.

Riku crossed his arms, leaning against a tree as he waited at the beach.

He'd asked Sora to meet him here, alone, and hoped Sora would actually do it. It would be just like him to innocently pick up Kairi or RiRi, and assume Riku wouldn't mind. After all, they were all friends right? The thought was discouraging, especially since Riku knew it was completely true.

"Riku!" Sora ran up, panting and grinning widely. "You wouldn't believe what RiRi and Kairi have been doing! Kairi's been taking her everywhere and buying her clothes. She said it's wrong for a girl to only have one dress." Riku blinked, suddenly distracted from his plans. RiRi had only one dress? He hadn't noticed before… but now that Sora mentioned it, RiRi was always wearing the same dress. And always green panties, although he devoutly hoped those weren't the same panties. "I wonder who she lives with? She's never invited us over." That was true too, and a touch odd. RiRi had been to all of their homes.

"Sora, that's interesting, but I have something else to talk to you about." Riku couldn't let Sora distract him, or he would end up not saying what he needed to say. Sora blinked at him, tilting his head to one side, and Riku felt almost ready to cry. His best friend was just so damned cute when he was confused. "Sora, I… I…" Riku gripped Sora's shoulders as the chocolate haired boy started to look a touch worried. Riku stared into his innocent blue eyes, as beautiful as the sky, and lowered his head, catching Sora's mouth in a kiss.

"Mrph?!?" Sora stood still, mouth opening in shock, and Riku took advantage of that to deepen the kiss. "Mrph!" Sora reached up, gripping Riku's shoulders, and for a moment the silver hair thought his friend was reciprocating as Sora's tongue slid over his. But then Sora suddenly jerked away, his face flushed and his eyes wide. "R-R-Riku?? What?" Riku stared at him, breathing heavily, and closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to control himself.

"God, Sora, I've wanted you for years." Sora's eyes seemed to widen even more as he stared at his friend as if he'd never seen him before. "I'm sorry. I never knew how to tell you."

"You're gay?" Sora's voice rose in a squeak, and Riku smiled sadly. "But you can't be gay! You used to like Kairi and now you like RiRi!"

"I think I'm bi." Riku was fairly sure of that now. Sora was right… he had liked Kairi once, and now RiRi was looking very attractive. But Sora was still firmly wedged into his heart. And he only had to picture Sora naked to feel… Riku swallowed hard, forcing that image away. Sora was freaked out enough without him getting a hard on. "The question is… how do you feel, Sora?" Sora looked sadly confused, staring at him with big blue eyes.

"Riku, I… I don't know." Riku blinked. He had been expected either rejection or acceptance, not that. "I've never thought of you that way, ever… this is so…" Sora reached up, running a hand through his hair and tugging on the spikes. "I… I need to think about it, okay?" And Sora was backing away. Riku wanted to stop him, but couldn't, and watched as the brunette finally bolted away.

"Sora…" Riku looked down at the ground, anger and depression warring inside him. He hoped he hadn't ruined their friendship. That would just be too much to bear. He was completely unaware of aquamarine eyes watching him from the bushes as he walked away, calling in the Way to Dawn.

He needed to practice, needed to drain some of the frustration. But not on the beach. There was a nearby stream nearby, without many trees on the banks… that would be perfect. As soon as he reached it, Riku began to practice in earnest, slashing at invisible enemies.

What if he hates me? Riku couldn't help but think as he practiced, no matter how much he didn't want to. What if he can't… god, how could I have been so stupid? Anything would have been better than losing Sora's friendship. Sora could always make him smile… he was like a bright ray of sunshine on a cloudy day…

Riku wasn't paying attention to where he was putting his feet, and when he accidentally stepped into the stream he was shocked back to awareness by the cool water. Then the slippery feeling of a mossy stone underfoot as he stumbled.

"Woah shit!" The Way to Dawn vanished as Riku suddenly struggled to stay upright… and failed as another rock shifted. He fell hard into the stream, feeling a blinding pain in his head and stars behind his eyes… and then, nothing at all.

"Shit!" RiRi immediately jumped out of the bushes as he saw Riku fall. To his horror, he saw the keyblade holder was unconscious in the stream… and his face was under the water. Quickly grabbing Riku by the shoulders, RiRi dragged him out and checked his breathing. The silver haired boy was still breathing… he hadn't been under the water long. But there was a frightening amount of blood spilled from a cut on his forehead.

"Damn!" RiRi touched his shirt, and hesitated. His default clothing was magic, and he was fairly sure it wouldn't tear easily. Instead, he pulled out Riku's shirt and called in his keyblade, using Soul Eater to slice off a piece of cloth to bind the wound. Hopefully, Riku wouldn't be upset about his shirt. It didn't look like a good one anyway. RiRi was vaguely aware that Soul Eater wasn't looking quite its usual self, but ignored it. He could check that out later. "He's soaked…" RiRi hesitated. What should he do? Riku felt very cold.

Take him to your camp, in your female form. They're bound to find out about it eventually anyway… you might as well start introducing him to the truth now. RiRi chewed his lip as Riku groaned and opened his eyes.

"Who…?" He blinked as he saw a boy above him… a boy with aquamarine eyes and spiky silver hair. Then he groaned, closing his eyes as the pain in his head throbbed in time with his heart. When he opened them again, it wasn't a boy above him. "RiRi?"

"Yes. You fell in the river, Riku. Here… let me take you to my place." RiRi grunted as he lifted up Riku in his arms. Even with his elven strength, carrying a full grown man wasn't easy, but Riku seemed astonished.

"I can walk." He protested weakly, and RiRi shook his head.

"I doubt that. Just hold that cloth in place." Riku blinked and raised a hand to the cloth on his forehead. "We're close to my place anyway." Riku couldn't have known, but the stream he had been practicing on was fed by RiRi's spring. It would be a very short walk to his campsite.

"Put me down…" RiRi finally set Riku down as they reached the campsite, and he blinked, looking around. "This is your place?" All he could see was a campfire and a crude little hut with a mattress in it. The mattress had a few threadbare blankets and a particularly ratty looking pillow. He thought it had likely been meant to be used by a pet. A wave of dizziness came over him, and Riku sat down on the mattress hard, groaning slightly at the pain in his head. RiRi sighed softly, and sat down beside him.

"Yes, this is where I live." He shrugged as Riku looked at him in disbelief. "There's fresh water and the hut keeps the rain off, and I've got a trench in the woods. All the comforts of home."

"Were you raised by wolves?" Riku asked, appalled. RiRi grinned at him as she stood, walking over the fire and feeding it a few more sticks.

"You could say that. I might tell you about it someday, if I feel like it." RiRi's smile turned sour as he thought about his childhood… not the childhood of Riku's memories, but his real 'childhood' in Castle Oblivion. If that wasn't being raised by wolves, he didn't know what was. "I didn't want to say… it's my business, no one else's… but I actually have no family and no friends to stay with." RiRi shrugged again. "I'm nineteen, I can do what I want. I wanted to live on the island."

"So you just… came here? From nothing to nothing?" Riku asked, hardly able to believe in such a life. RiRi smiled, and it was ravishingly beautiful… and happy. She was happy with this?

"From nothing to something… I have you now, and Sora, and Kairi. I have my hut and my spring." RiRi sat down beside him again and gently put a hand on Riku's shoulder. "I have a job and I have food. What more could I want?"

"A house and a real bed?" Riku looked down at the mattress. It had clearly seen better days. What were those stains? RiRi grinned.

"Pussy. We should trade places, I bet you couldn't keep my fire going for a day." RiRi's tone turned more serious. "Riku, can you keep this from Sora and Kairi? I think they wouldn't be happy with it, and I don't need help. I like being independent." He really did. It was an amazing feeling, being completely self-sufficient and needing almost nothing from the outside world.

"If that's what you want." Riku still couldn't imagine living in the woods like this… but he did understand what RiRi meant about being independent. He'd been thinking about trying to break off from his parents for a while, but hadn't been able to think of a good way to do it. Living in the woods was just too extreme for him.

"Good! How's your head doing?" Riku winced as she gently peeled away the cloth. "Ugly, but not serious I think. You might need stitches though. You were lucky I was there, you could have drowned."

"I know." And he did know. Riku rubbed his head, shivering for a moment. That would have been a really stupid way to die, after everything that had happened. And how would Sora have felt? Riku was morbidly certain that Sora would have blamed himself for upsetting him, even if it was just a stupid mischance combined with carelessness. It was a terrible thought. "RiRi, don't tell anyone about this please? I'd rather not look like more of a moron than I actually am."

"You keep my secret, I'll keep yours." RiRi agreed, then smiled and leaned close, whispering in his ear. "I have a lot more secrets, but I'm going to keep them for now." Riku shivered and swallowed at the feeling of her hot breath against his ear. RiRi was unbearably sexy sometimes.

"Erm, well." Riku took a deep breath, breaking the mood and standing up. "I better go home and see if I need stitches." RiRi frowned, and stood.

"I'll go with you. You don't need to pass out and dash out the few brains you've got left." Riku was about to protest when he felt another wave of dizziness, and shut his mouth. RiRi had a point.

"Thanks, RiRi." Riku hesitated a moment, then offered her his hand. She smiled, and took it as they walked back to his house. He really did like her, but he liked Sora too… Riku finally decided to just go with the flow and see how it all turned out.

Hopefully, it would turn out well.

"Okay." RiRi rubbed his hands together nervously. He was back at the spring, in his male form, and was about to muster his courage and examine Soul Eater. That moment at the stream had been the first time he'd summoned the keyblade since he'd been brought back from the darkness. Soul Eater was the keyblade of the darkness in Riku's heart. He had thought that it would just stay the same… a mere replica of a dark, dark keyblade… but he had seen something different when he called it. And that was strangely frightening.

Holding out his hand, RiRi summoned the keyblade. It appeared in a swirl of darkness shot with light, and RiRi swallowed hard as he lifted the blade up and examined it.

It was nothing like Soul Eater. It resembled the Kingdom Key, but it was pure black. It looked like wrought iron, and tiny little black vines and flowers made their delicate way up the blade. The head of the blade was a simple key, but was set with three gems of pure white that seemed to radiate light. RiRi could sense a powerful darkness and an equally powerful light in the keyblade. In that, at least, it was similar to the Way to Dawn… but it was completely different. The Way to Dawn symbolized Riku's personal journey. This one seemed to stand for something different.

Kharma's Grace. Tatiana whispered the name of the keyblade, and RiRi nodded, instinctively knowing that she was right. The keyblade of Nala. The blade of death and rebirth.

"Fitting, since I died and was reborn…" But RiRi knew, looking at the blade, that that was the whole reason he had this keyblade. He could feel the touch of divinity about it. Why were the elven gods blessing him with their touch? Because he was protecting Riku and worshiping them, if only a little? Or was it something more?

RiRi didn't know, but he was certain he would find out.