Author's Notes:

NOTE: This chapter is NOT rewritten, and therefore it is very very BAD. Please excuse its crappiness until it can be rewritten with more story and detail. Thank you!

A look ahead:

An extended hand. Fear of the darkness. And here come the plot twists!

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Chapter Six: Farewell to Destiny



He hadn't been waiting long before Sora showed up.

The mass of darkness hadn't changed since Riku had first noticed it... It was still swirling in place over paopu island, where he now stood, staring out into the dark, vast sea. The sea that he and Sora were supposed to have sailed tomorrow...

That didn't seem likely anymore.

The heartless ignored him, never touching foot within a five-foot radius of him, as though they were afraid... Afraid of him? If what that man had said was true, then why would the heartless be afraid of Riku? Were they afraid of being destroyed, or exploited?

It didn't matter.

He and Sora would be off these forsaken islands in a matter of minutes, as soon as the boy showed up. The knowledge filled him with wonder, that his dreams were going to come true. Much to his own disgust, however, he couldn't help wondering if Kairi was okay... He had left her down there with that strange man. Then again, what did he want with her, and why had he called her 'princess'?

He didn't have a doubt in his mind about one thing, though. Kairi would be going wherever Riku and Sora did. She had to be powerful, he now knew. Maybe where ever they ended up, he could learn about her... And her power... And maybe her power could be used to his advantage, kind of like how he had planned to exploit her feelings so she would pay no attention to Sora, and Sora would return his attention back to Riku. Kairi was just a tool.

Yes, he hadn't been waiting long before Sora finally showed up.

The boy came running across the bridge, panic-stricken, and swung at a heartless with his cheap wooden sword. The creature fell into the water just as Sora spun on Riku and demanded, "Where's Kairi? I thought she was with you!"

Kairi? He was worried about Kairi...? Then again, Riku was too, he had to admit... and no doubt Sora would inquire about her, considering she had witnessed her two friends kisses and planning to leave without her. Come to think of it, hadn't that almost been Riku's fate?

Riku pushed that thought away and muttered, "The door has opened..."

"What?" Sora asked, exasperated, panting as he spoke. He must have been fighting pretty hard out there....

The silver-haired boy felt a pang of guilt. The heartless didn't even care about Riku... If Sora ever got hurt fighting them... Riku couldn't think about it. It was too painful. But then, if the heartless were after Sora, what did that make him...?

"The door has opened, Sora!" Riku said, his voice turning urgent. The elder boy began to turn around. "Now we can go to the outside world!"

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked, confused. He leaned forward, saying desperately, "We've got to find Kairi!"

Again, with Kairi...! Things didn't look good, not with Sora more concerned about Kairi. Then again, Sora didn't know about his conversation with her down in the cave...

Riku inwardly growled and spun around to face his friend, yelling, "Kairi's coming with us!"

This seemed to catch Sora's attention. The boy grit his teeth and fell silent to listen to Riku, who mentally cringed. Had Sora already forgotten about their undying bond created by the paopu...? Had Sora already forgotten his love confession...?

"Once we step through, we might not be able to come back," Riku continued, expressing his other fears. He didn't dare mention Kairi again. "We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance." He tried to calm his worried heart. "We can't let fear stop us!" he said, trying to make Sora see what he felt. He took a deep breath, his brow furrowing in determination as he stared up at the swirling mass of darkness overhead. "I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

At the last sentence, he casually reached his hand out for Sora, urging the boy to join him.

That's right...

Sora's dream had been like this. The vatic dream Sora had told him about... With the giant wave. Riku kept his hand out, calm in the face of danger, unwavering against the tide of fate, while Sora was left to fight with a wave of emotion, unsure of what to do.

But Sora knew one thing... He wanted to be with Riku, but he was scared of the darkness. With a shaky voice, Sora looked to Riku with eyes filled with apprehension.

"Riku..."

At the sound of his voice, tentacles of darkness suddenly sprang out of the ground at Riku's feet, snaking around his legs. Whisps broke off like scintillas from a flickering flame, caressing his arms and face like cold silk. The darkness crept higher, wrapping around his limbs, numbing them, just like before. The cold darkness.

This time, it was taking Sora as well.

He had lunged forward, reaching his hand out to grasp Riku's. Sora didn't need to say anything, for his face already plainly said what he could not. His pained expression, begging Riku not to go, not to leave him. His scared expression, afraid of falling into darkness, but afraid of losing his best friend.

Sora strained to reach him, to meet gloved hand with gloved hand, but Riku just calmly stood there, watching him, one hand waiting.

He trusted Sora. Sora would come with him, the loyal follower, his best friend. Sora would follow him to the end of the world, even if it meant that darkness would greet them.

The ground began to shake just as the darkness was beginning to envelope Riku's arms completely--just as Sora managed to reach over the last inch to Riku's hand.

Sora lost his balance and gave one last, desperate grasp at his boyfriend's hand before pulling his arms back to steady himself. He hesitated, unsure of whether to reach into the darkness again.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl, just as Riku felt the darkness jerking at his body, ready to swallow him alive. Riku felt his heart stop as he watched Sora, afraid the boy would abandon him to a cruel fate, alone with the darkness.

He wasn't afraid of the darkness.

No.

He was afraid of being alone.

And all of a sudden, time returned to normal.

Riku felt a hand grab hold of his. He immediately pulled Sora to him, pressing his hands to the back of the boy's head as Sora wrapped his arms around him, clinging closely, afraid. Riku locked his jaw and stared ahead, welcoming their fate.

As the cold darkness enveloped him this time, Sora's light was there to guide him.

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As aforementioned, here is the whole idea behind the fanfic: What would have happened if Sora had taken Riku's hand? I had to start from the beginning to add flavor to Riku and Sora's relationship, but now comes the actual fanfic. The question, of course, now is: how does this small, crucial change affect the entire story?