Chapter 9:
Riku blinked his eyes open groggily. He could smell the bleached stain of the hospital sheets he was laying in.
'Why didn't it work? How could they find me? Shit…' Riku thought to himself. But his thoughts were quickly cut short when he felt movement next to him. He clamped his eyes shut and silently prayed, 'Please don't let Aerith see me in this state. Anyone else but Aerith.' Riku opened his eyes and almost had heart failure when he saw the tear stained face of Sora sitting next to him fast asleep. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it had only been four hours since he set out of the pub.
'Fuck me. Okay, I take that back. Anyone else EXCEPT him.' He thought to himself, fuming at the god he had long since thought was dead and his sick idea of a joke. Then suddenly an idea popped into his head. Riku quietly sat up in his starched white bed. He climbed out of the bed and took off his oxygen mask. Riku looked at all the machines hooked up to him.
He ripped the IVs out of his arms, and yanked the plugs from the outlet in the wall making everything go blank. No beep alerting them of his intentions. Riku took the dagger out of Sora's hand and walked to the bathroom. He took a long look at his bandages. He tore them off with a vengeance letting them fall to the floor. The gauze stuck to the scabs and tore open the stitches causing his wounds to reopen. Riku took the dagger and looked at the blood stained flesh on the back of his hand. He put the tip of the dagger to the skin and drew the heartless symbol with a few quick strokes. He walked back out to the room and climbed back into the bed. He started to cry again, but this time silently. So as not to wake Sora. He kissed the top of Sora's head, wrinkling his nose when Sora's mussy brown hair tickled him, and silently whispered to the ceiling, "I love you, my little warrior." Riku felt himself slipping into the welcoming darkness again.
Sora woke to a commotion coming from the hallway. He went to stand up and put his hand in something sticky. He looked down in horror at the blood-stained sheets. All the color was gone from Riku's skin, and his lips were a pale blue. The color of death, he thought to himself, when he saw the oxygen mask sitting on the floor by Riku's bed. Sora tentatively searched for a pulse but to no avail.
"No, not again. I WON'T LOSE YOU AGAIN! COME BACK YOU ASS HOLE! COME BACK!!!" Sora started to sob uncontrollably. He grabbed Riku's shoulders and shook his stiff lifeless form as if it would wake him from his eternal slumber. He climbed onto the bed and held the older boy's cold body to his chest as he cried deep sorrowful sobs.
Suddenly the commotion that had awaken Sora was right outside the door. The door burst open with a loud slam that made the brunette jump. Or jump as much as he could with a dead body sitting in his lap. He looked to the door way and saw a smiling Kairi. But her smile wasn't warm, wasn't happy. It was cold and empty, and Sora couldn't figure out why until he saw the cold glint of silver in her left hand.
"Kairi, wha-" But before he could finish the sentence Kairi raised her arm and pointed the gun straight at Sora's face.
"Shut up. You toyed with my emotions, then fucked Riku behind my back. Caused him to commit suicide, and then come back to beg forgiveness, even though you know that Riku's not the type to give up that easily. You're done hurting people. Fuck you Sora, and good night." Kairi said, she squeezed the trigger and everything seemed to go into slow motion, but at the same time everything happened so fast no one could help. The bullet found it's mark and blew off a chunk of Sora's skull. Blood and brain matter splattered all over the room. The 9-mm fell to the ground as Leon got to the door.
He could hear Yuffie yell something down the hall.
"Is everyone from Destiny Islands fucking insane!?" He could also hear Aerith and Cloud following in front of her. Leon looked at Cloud and thought fast.
"CLOUD! KEEP THERE!!!" He yelled in earnest making Cloud stop dead in his tracks. Aerith and Yuffie ran into his halted back and tried to look over his shoulder to see what had made him stop. Cloud pivoted on his heel and tried to put his arms out fast enough to keep Aerith from seeing the window, but he wasn't quick enough and Aerith gave a blood curdling scream as she looked at the mass of what was previously Sora's skull smeared on the observation window. She covered her mouth and dropped to the floor in a new fit of heart-wrenching sobs. Yuffie stood in stunned silence at the macabre image displayed before her. Cloud reached down to take Aerith in his arms, but she shoved him away uncharacteristically violently for her. She took off in the opposite direction. Yuffie took off after her.
"Oh no you don't! We don't need another death today!" Cloud stayed on the floor until he heard sirens a couple a minutes later.
The police came running into the hospital room and immediately cuffed Kairi, and read the crying girl her rights as they hauled her to the police car. Leon leaned against the wall and slid down. Cloud couldn't breath, but he heard Leon letting out gentle sobs as if he was trying to stifle the sound.
He got up and went over to the younger man. Quietly he wrapped his arm around Leon and cried with him. They had lost two of the strongest people they knew, two allies, brothers, sons, friends…
THREE DAYS LATER
It was chilly as they all stood around the two graves at the Destiny Island's cemetery. Sora's mom, who had sobbed through the entire burial in mourning over the loss of her two sons, had left long ago. Leon, Cloud, Yuffie, Aerith, even Cid flew in for the funeral. They had decided to bury the two boys side by side. As in life, so in death, as they say. Finally, even the small group left started to trickle away, until there was no one left.
The sun set, casting it's final rays of light to the polished granite. Both with an identical saying.
"Remember me as you pass by, as you are now so once was I. As I am now, so you must be, so prepare for death and follow me." Those headstones still stand today, watching the horizon, where the sky meets the earth. Laying side by side for eternity.
