"So where did you learn to sing?" Riku asked Angel, just to strike up a conversation. Plus, he was curious as to where Angel received such a beautiful voice.
"My mom and I use to sing all the time," Angel said softly. "My dad called us "the two angels" of the house. I got my voice from her, even though I look a lot like my dad… and act like him too, my mom use to say."
"'Use'?" Riku repeated the word she said every time she spoke of her mom.
Angel was silent for a moment before she spoke in such a quiet voice that Riku almost couldn't hear her. "She was bringing my brother back home from school one day. They were walking home, and it was raining. My brother dropped his ball and started to run across the road to get it. A car was coming down the road and my mother ran out and shoved my brother out of the way. My brother came out alright, but my mom… They never found the driver who killed her…"
Riku was shocked to silence. He immediately felt guilt for asking and sorrow for her loss. "I'm… I'm so sorry, Angel…" he finally said. "I shouldn't have asked…"
"It's alright," Angel said, interrupting him. "It felt good to tell someone. I never talked about it, not even to Oz or Sarah. You're the first."
Riku smiled slightly and looked at Angel. "Yeah, and why's that?"
Angel shrugged and said, "I dunno… I feel like I can talk to you and you won't judge me on anything that I say."
"I don't to some people… Sora on the other hand… I can't help myself some times." Angel laughed, removing the dark mood from her face. Riku smiled, glad to see a smile back on her face. "You should do that more often, smile," Riku told her. "I don't like seeing you sad."
She looked at him and smiled. "I'm not usually sad," she said. "I'm usually the one trying to cheer people up. But there are times I allow myself to be sad, or cry. If I didn't, I think I would go nuts."
Riku nodded and then the alarm went off. "We're here… oh boy…" Riku said, looking at the world they were now entering.
"What?"
"You'll see, but be prepared for when we step off the ramp."
Angel started walking down the ramp off of the gummi ship…
…and landed flat onto her face and rolled down a bank, hitting a tree.
"Owie!" Angel wailed, sitting up. Why couldn't she walk? She brought up a paw to rub her nose… Waitaminute! Paw?! Angel stood up on not two, but four legs and looked at herself, slowly turning in a circle before falling over again. She was a cream colored lioness with a tuff of fur at the end of her tail the same color as her hair would be if she was a human. "RIKU!!!" Angel howled.
Behind her, she heard Riku laugh. She looked up and saw a young, what she figured would be considered a "teenage", lion with dark gray fur and a silvery mane. Since the lion was wearing the black blindfold over his eyes, Angel figured that this was Riku. "Did you have a nasty fall?" he asked.
"No, I rolled down the hill just for kicks and giggles…" Angel replied sarcastically. She stood up and wobbled slightly. "How can you walk? I can hardly stand on my feet."
"It's easy: just put both feet on the same side forward at the same time and so on. You'll get the hang of it. Running is just pushing off with your hind legs and then placing one front foot in front of the other and bringing both hind legs with you. Practice a bit; I promise I won't laugh at you again."
"On the outside you won't…" Angel grumbled. So she practiced for a while, getting the hang of her new body. Riku coached her and praised her at her accomplishments and tried his hardest not to laugh at her when she fell on her face. By the time Angel was done, her nose tingled, but she could walk and run easily.
"See," Riku said as they walked alongside a river. "Not that bad, huh?"
"No," Angel said, giving Riku an evil grin. "Not bad at all." Then she reared up and, placing her front paws against Riku's shoulder, she pushed him into the water. When Riku surfaced, he growled at her and started coming out of the water. "RUN AWAY!" Angel screamed, laughing, as she leapt forward and started to run away from Riku as fast as she possible could. She could hear him running behind her and she willed herself to go faster. But it was no use; he was more use to running on four legs than she was. He tackled her from behind and she found herself on her back, pinned underneath him.
"Now, what was that about?" Riku asked, panting slightly.
"You made fun of me," Angel whined, trying to get up, but he was much heavier than she was.
"That's only because there was something to make fun of."
"Meanie!" Angel growled, grabbing a lock of his mane with her mouth and tugging.
Riku laughed and he licked her forehead with his tongue gently before getting off of her. Angel rolled onto her side and looked up at him, tilting her head slightly. Riku looked over at her and smiled. "Come on," he said. "Let's look for Simba. I've met him, so all we have to do is introduce you to him."
Angel nodded and stood up. She trotted up beside Riku and he matched his pace with hers. "How have you met Simba before and not any other of Sora's friends?"
"Simba invited Sora to the ceremony of his daughter's birth, so Sora brought me and Kairi along. The king supplied us with the trip to and back, so we couldn't really see anyone else. Plus, everyone in Radiant Garden was busy with reconstruction and we didn't want to bother them."
"Oh," Angel said as they broke out of the jungle and began to cross a large plain. In the distance she could see a large odd shaped rock and she asked, "What's that out there?"
"That would be Pride Rock, our destination," Riku said, looking at Angel with a smile. "Be prepared to be bombarded by lionesses. They are going to want to make sure you're not a threat."
"I can hardly walk and they'll see me as a threat?"
Riku laughed and shook his head. "It's just their nature… don't worry, I'll make sure they won't do anything to you."
As they walked, they were stopped by a group of heartless and a few soulless. When Angel summoned her Keyblade, she held it between her jaws. Well... this should be interesting... But surprisingly, Angel was able to wield her blade just as easily as she could as a human. Her and Riku cut through the heartless and soulless easily and continued on their way. After a while, Angel started to become bored so she decided to get more use to her new body by tormenting Riku.
She bound ahead of him and then spun around, crouching low and growling, whisking her tail from side to side. When he just walked by, she jumped up and went after him. She reared up and tugged on his ear gently with her teeth, pawing at his mane. When she started to feel like she was going to topple over, she leapt over him and ran in front of him. She stopped dead in front of him and giggled when he slammed into her. She leapt out of the way and proceeded to bat at his tail from behind him.
Riku spun around and growled at her, causing Angel to fall back onto her rear. She looked at him with wide eyes and whined sadly.
"Don't do it…" Riku said warningly in a soft voice.
Angel made her ears droop and hung her head sadly, looking up at him through her eye lashes.
Riku sighed and nudged her playfully. "Will you stop that?" he asked. "You're making me feel bad."
Angel jumped to her feet and began to circle him, locking her eyes with his through his blindfold. He watched her as she circled around and then, when she had him out of focus, she rammed into him, knocking him over and bounded away, laughing.
"Angel!" Riku yelled as he stood up.
"Oh come on, Riku!" Angel said, stopping so he could catch up. "I'm playing with you, you know that."
Riku padded up to her and butted his head gently against hers. "Yeah, I know…"
"Aw, geez… come on now… there are children around here you know…"
Riku and Angel looked up to see a meerkat sitting on the back of a warthog staring at them from a few feet away. Riku laughed and said, "Timon! Pumbaa!"
"Riku?" the warthog asked, looking excited to see the silver lion.
"Geez, didn't you get big!" the meerkat said. "Last time we saw you, you were still a little fella."
Riku walked over and Angel followed. Riku turned his head to Angel and said, "This is Timon, the meerkat, and Pumbaa, the warthog. They're friends of Simba." He then looked at the two before them. "Guys, this is Angel."
"Nice to meet you Angel," Pumbaa said.
"Yeah, nice to meet you," Timon said, and then his looked at Riku. "You here to see Simba, big guy?"
"Yeah," Riku said, nodding. "We've got a heartless problem again."
"Don't we know it," Timon said as the four of them continued forward towards Pride Rock. "And it doesn't help that we've been having trouble with the outsiders either."
"Outsiders?"
"Lions that followed Scar. Nasty fleabags if you ask me."
"Can't Simba do anything about it?" Angel asked.
"He's trying, but Zera wants a full out war over the Pride Lands… Simba can tell you more when we get there. And watch out for Kiara and Kovu… they've been tearing up around here for a while now." Timon leaned over and nudged Riku in the shoulder. "Between you and me, kid, I think they have something going on between them, if you know what I mean."
Riku chuckled and they soon found themselves at Pride Rock. Angel stared up at the enormous structure with wide eyes. She could see lions lying on the large rocks that surrounded its base. Then she heard a proud roar and looked up to see a large male lion standing on the ledge above them. The lion bounded down the ramp to the ground and charged at Riku, slamming into him and knocking him to the ground. "Riku!" Angel cried but when she tried to go help him, three lionesses blocked her way. She crouched low and growled at them. "Let me go," she snarled.
"Angel! Don't do anything!" Riku yelled to her from the ground.
Angel straightened up as Timon jumped from Pumbaa and started yelling at the strange lion, who was standing over Riku, snarling down at him. "Simba! Whoa old buddy! It's Riku!"
The lion, Simba, blinked and his snarling died down. "Riku?"
Riku looked up at the lion and nodded. "Yeah, it's me. And that's my friend Angel over there."
Simba looked over at Angel and then nodded to the lioness. The three lions backed away, letting Angel bound over to Riku who was starting to sit up. "Are you okay?" Angel asked him, nuzzling his ears.
"Yeah, I'm fine… My pride's a little hurt though…"
"Riku, I am sorry," Simba apologized, standing in front of Riku and Angel. "I didn't recognize you at first, so I thought you were an outsider."
"That's alright," Riku said as Angel pressed next to him. She was still uneasy about Simba, and although she was tough and a Keyblade wielder, seeing the lion easily take Riku down made her realize that the creatures here may be a lot stronger than them, just because of the way nature raised them.
"Is Sora or Kairi with you?" Simba asked. "Because if they have changed as much as you have, I don't want to make the mistake in attacking them."
Riku shook his head, saying, "No, he isn't with me. This is my journey now and he can't help me… but he may be passing by and if he does… Simba, he can't know that I've been here, at least not now…"
Simba tilted his head and said, "I don't understand."
Riku sighed and said, "Let's go up to the cave. I'll explain everything there."
Simba nodded and the lion king led them up to the cave in Pride Rock. Inside, Angel saw a lioness lying on an upraised part of the stone floor. The lioness smiled at the sight of Riku and stood up. She walked over to him and touched noses with him in greeting. "Riku," she said softly. "It's so nice to see you again."
"Good to see you too, Nala," Riku said.
Nala smiled and then looked around Riku at Angel. "Who is this, Riku?" the lioness asked.
Riku smiled as he looked around at Angel. "This is Angel," he told her. "Angel, this is Nala, Simba's mate and queen of the Pride Lands."
"Hi," Angel said, standing at Riku's side although not as closely as before. Nala seemed gentle and not as fearful as Simba had been.
"So Riku," Simba said, walking over to stand next to Nala, "what is going on?
Riku sighed and he sat down. Angel and the other lions did as well as he started telling the lion king what had occurred since the last time he'd seen him. "The darkness has returned in my heart, and it's trying to take me over again. Our old enemy, Xehanort, is behind all of this and he's trying to gain control over my heart again. I've changed, Simba, and I can't have Sora see me like this."
"Is that why you're wearing the blindfold again?" Simba asked. "I remember you telling me about it the last time we met."
"Yeah, it's protecting me from the darkness…"
"So you don't want Sora to know where you are."
Riku nodded and said, "At least not yet."
Simba nodded and bowed his head. "I will respect your wish and if Sora shows up here, I won't tell him that you've been here."
"Thank you," Riku said, bowing his head to the king. He then looked at Simba and said, "Timon said that you're having heartless trouble, as well as some other kind."
"Yes," Simba said, his blue eyes becoming angry. "Zera and her pride have been trying to take over the pride lands and she wants to wage war against me for them. Her son, Kovu, is here with my pride and he seems trustworthy enough and my daughter has become close to him. I also think that Zera may have some heartless on her side, as well as some other form of creature that resembles a heartless and those nobodies."
"Those would be soulless," Angel said, looking at Riku. "We've been dealing with them for a while now."
Riku nodded and then looked at Simba. "Do you want our help?"
Simba nodded and said, "It would be nice, especially against those heartless."
Riku stood and said, "Then let's make a plan of action, shall we?"
Nala smiled and she stood up. She walked over to Angel and nudged her with her muzzle. "Come on," she said, "let's leave the males to their battle plans. I'll introduce you to the other lionesses and my daughter when she returns."
"But…" Angel hesitated. She was unsure to leave because she was a Keyblade wielder and she also didn't want to leave Riku's side. I have to protect him... protect his heart. She looked at Riku, who looked down at her with a soft smile and a nod.
"Don't worry," he said. "Go on ahead. I'll fill you in later." Angel looked up at him and then she nodded. She stood up and Riku nuzzled her gently behind an ear. "I'll be alright, I promise," he whispered for only her to hear.
Angel returned the nuzzle before walking out with Nala. At the entrance, she looked back and saw Riku watching her. She smiled warmly at him, trusting him when he said that he'll be fine, and then followed the lion queen outside.
Xehanort looked through a portal, where he could see Riku, with the lion king, and Angel. A smile curved up his lips when he saw the affection between the two. "Although she may be his light, she is also his key to darkness," he said softly. "You're heart will be mine again boy, no matter how hard you fight… you've already lost."
