Disclaimer: I do not own Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts, nor am I making any money off this fanfiction.

Author's Notes…

Sorry about the delay, guys. Holiday started at work, and I got swamped. Part-time went to full-time, and most of my time was spent on the job, hahaha. Anyway, as a result, most of my writing got neglected. But here I am, now that holiday is over!

This is the second to last chapter. Enjoy, guys.

Frog Prince

Chapter Fourteen

Wake Up, Sora

Riku arrived at lunch the next day before I did. After spotting his head of silver in a sea of brunettes, I quickly walked over to him, pulling out a chair and settling in with my lunch tray. He looked up at my arrival, a dazzling smile already on his mouth that took my breath away. My cheeks heating, I refused to give him a reaction and looked away.

The only person who should have made my heart flutter like that was Squall. So why, then, was my heart being so fickle? It wasn't fair! Avoiding Riku was probably the wisest course of action, yet I'd already made up my mind not to. I had to find out the rest of the story.

"Sora," he greeted. "I see you went through the pizza line."

"They're serving coleslaw today." I made a face. Coincidentally, they had also cut the grass. I knew it was urban legend, but it still was a huge coincidence… At any rate, I hated coleslaw and avoided it at all costs.

A moment of silence passed between us, and I pressed the conversation, not comfortable with it. "And I see you brought your lunch from home." I couldn't entirely keep my distaste out of my mutual observation. Eating a sandwich and a small baggie of chips every day got old.

An odd look crossed his face, then. He looked down, saw the lunchbox in front of him, and then shrugged. "Seems I did."

I bit my lip. Sometimes he really did say the strangest stuff… "What's in it?"

Riku shot me a smile and started to unzip the blue box. "Let's find out."

Again, this struck me as odd. "Did your mom make it?" Geeze, the kid was in high school now. He should have been making his own lunches. If I asked my mom to make me lunch nowadays, she'd laugh at me and tell me I wasn't incapacitated.

"I don't know, Sora." He pulled out a container of a leftover pizza slice, along with a soda, a baggie of chips, and utensils. "You tell me. Did she?"

Okay… He was just being… really weird… and it was making me super uncomfortable. Something in the back of my brain seemed to be screaming mayday at me, and I pursed my lips and rose from the table. I'd just go eat somewhere else, rethink my plan to find out everything. This was just too bizarre.

When he saw me start to go, he looked up and then laughed. "Come on, Sora, it was just a joke." He cracked open his soda. "I'm just a jerk like that."

I thought back to what he'd said only moments ago. Yes, I supposed it could have been construed as a smart-alecky joke. But I hadn't taken it that way. I'd taken his words literally, and only because of all the other sorts of things he'd been saying to me since yesterday.

"Don't you remember?" he'd whispered on the bus, holding onto my wrist, his green eyes intent and boring straight through mine, as though they knew all the secrets of my soul. And my answering question, remember what?

"I had a dream last night," I heard myself say. "About the frog prince."

"Seems like my story made an impression." He didn't look at me, instead popping the lid off his pizza and pulling the slice onto his paper towel. It was full of meat and peppers. Yum. I was suddenly envious of it, compared to my own paltry pizza I'd paid for minutes ago.

"Maybe," I replied. "Don't you want to know what it was about?"

Hesitating, he lifted his gaze from his food. His eyes lingered over mine, as though searching for something. I held his gaze, even though I was the one who wanted to look away now. It wasn't like I had any secrets to keep from him. But those eyes—my heart still wouldn't stop skipping…

The crazy thing was… I felt like… those eyes—I felt like they knew me… knew me better than I knew myself…

But that was crazy. I'd never met Riku until the other day. I was sure of that. Would have bet my life on it. Why, then, did he make me feel like this? Hot and cold all at once? Longing, and at the same time, eager to push him away? I didn't understand any of it. It was making me lightheaded.

"I was the frog," I whispered. "I was swimming up through the well… and you were there… I had the magic ball in my hands… and you asked me if I'd gotten it…"

"And then?" he whispered back, careful not to raise his voice above mine.

My brows drew together, and I swallowed. "That's it. That's all I remember." The words escaped me on their own. That hadn't been what I was going to say. That's where the dream ended had been on the tip of my tongue. Instead, something else had come out.

He reached up, taking my hand. His fingers squeezed around mine. "Try to remember more, Sora."

I blinked. Hard, in rapid succession. I shook my head hard, put my hands to either side of it. I staggered back a step as the world spun. All at once, the disorientation left, and I was seated at the lunch table again, and Riku was biting into his pizza. I stared at him, willing myself to make sense of what had just happened.

"You did it again," he chuckled to himself. Pain had furrowed his brow. "Why do you keep me out?"

As though it had never left at all, the dizziness rushed back. It was enough to make me collapse in on myself, clutching my stomach, my eyes shut tight against the world. I couldn't think straight, couldn't understand the nausea that had gripped me. A sharp ringing noise was going off in my ears. God, why wouldn't it stop?

Just as quickly as it had come, it was gone. I blinked slowly, gasping for breath. I lifted my forehead from the table, from where I'd apparently pressed it there. I was sitting by myself, my tray of pizza off to the side. No one was looking in my direction. No one had noticed my freak-out.

I shook my head and placed a hand to my forehead. What was I doing? Oh, right. I'd been eating lunch, on my own because once again my friends were with their respective partners, and the mushiness made me miss Squall too much. Right…

But then why… did I feel so sad…?

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. I had a lot of homework to get through when it was over, even though it was only the second day of school, and I wasn't precisely thrilled about that. Regardless, I put what textbooks I could fit in my book bag and carried the rest in my arms. It seemed that school this year was going to be a pain.

I made it to the bus, climbed on, and headed for my usual seat near the back. When I saw Riku sitting there, at the window, my heart stopped in my chest. Hurriedly, I abandoned all sense of composure and flung myself into the seat beside him.

"Where were you all day?" I demanded, as though I had any right to know about his person, as though he was my… no, no, I was not going to finish that thought.

He turned, his eyes raking over me. A faint smile touched the corner of his mouth. "Maybe it won't be so bad this time, after all," he said.

I blinked. "What?" Then I focused on the topic at hand. "Did your lunch get changed? I wanted to know more about the story." As if to make up for my rudeness, I grinned and ducked my head, rubbing a hand over the back of it. Look at me, shy and awkward. C'mon, you don't want to be mad at this face, do you?

"Yeah… something like that." Riku settled back into his seat. "These seats are so uncomfortable." He rested his temple against the window and closed his eyes.

I nodded in agreement, even though he couldn't see me. "They're pretty rough. But, Riku—the story?" I prompted. I'd been waiting all day to hear this. Now the day was almost over, and we'd have to go our separate ways once the bus rolled to a stop.

"I can't tell you here," he murmured. "Come with me to my house, and I'll tell you then."

O… kay…

"But why can't you tell me here?" I didn't want to go to his house. It didn't seem like a good idea. In fact, it seemed like it would invite all sorts of trouble, trouble I didn't need. Making friends with Riku outside of school was definitely a bad idea. And yet…

"C'mon, Sora, I'd almost think you were avoiding me." Riku opened one eye and flashed me a grin. "But to answer your question, because a: it's way more comfortable, and b: … do you want to know more about the story or not?"

I pursed my lips and huffed. He wasn't being very fair. "Fine," I said. If it was the only way I was going to get to know more about the story, then that was that. I'd just have to suck it up and be on my best behavior.

He closed his eye again at my acquiescence. I watched him for a moment, the sweep of his pale lashes on his cheek, the sun making his hair seem a little gold instead of silver. He was so pretty… Was he even aware of it? He had to be. How could you look into the mirror every day and not see how lovely you were?

"Sora," he whispered.

"Mmm?"

"I miss you…"

I felt my heart clench in my chest and averted my eyes to elsewhere, anywhere but at Riku. "Don't be silly," I laughed nervously, "you saw me yesterday." What kind of thing was that to spout, that he missed me?

"I know," he breathed.

And that was it. Nothing else. I waited and waited, and he was just quiet. Had he fallen into a doze? I left him alone, since that was the safer course of action, and tilted my head back against the seat. My throat still felt tight, my pulse jittery.

I miss you, he'd said.

For some reason, even though he was sitting right there beside me, and we had seen each other the day before, I missed him, too.

I stayed on the bus when we passed my house and sent a text to my mother about where I was going to be. The bus driver gave me an odd look when I didn't budge, but I merely glanced away. A few minutes later, and we were rolling up to Riku's curb. I nudged him awake, and without saying anything, the two of us gathered up our things and climbed off the bus.

Riku hesitated at the front door, then fished in his pocket for his keys and slid them into the lock. I gave a last glance at the outside and followed him inside. Cool air hit us, along with a cinnamon-y scent that made me think of plug-ins. It was interesting that Riku's house had air conditioning.

We headed upstairs without stopping anywhere else. My eyes continued to take everything in. Riku had a nice place. There were still a few boxes stacked here and there, though it looked like mostly everything else had been unpacked. The dining room we passed had plastic and clothes over the furniture and the floor, and one wall was colored in a barn yard red. It smelled fresh.

Upstairs, the wooden stairs met carpeting, and Riku guided me down a long hallway, past several doors, and to the one I assumed was his own. He pushed in, and my eyes were greeted with posters of familiar bands taped to all of the walls. I grinned, then stumbled over to the bed when Riku nudged my back.

"It's interesting what you come up with," he murmured.

"Huh?"

He didn't reply, merely popped himself down on his bed with the sky blue and white set, and patted the spot next to him. I looked around for a chair or something—there was none. Frowning, I reluctantly climbed up onto the bed with him.

"Ready?" he asked me, and I nodded. He took a deep breath, slowly let it out. "Now, where were we?"

"Prince Riku had just dropped his ball into the well." Amused still at the insertion of himself into the story, I poked his arm. "Can I ask you something first?"

"What is it?" He fell onto his back and looked up at me, blinking slowly.

"Um." I looked around and let my hands fall into my lap. "Well—it's just so… spare in here." There was only a dresser up against the far wall. No computer, not even a bookshelf. Nothing. It looked like my parents' room. "Don't you have a computer?"

"What is a computer?" The words were strangely accented, and I twisted on the bed to look down at him. Riku merely smiled at me, an eyebrow arched in mock innocence. My neck heated, and I tugged at the collar of my shirt and cleared my throat.

"That was a joke, right?" Albeit a weird one.

"Think what you will." Riku sat up again, closer to me this time. I didn't move away. I wanted to, but I didn't. I knew I should… but I didn't. I just stayed there, the warmth of his thigh pushing into mine.

"He dropped his ball…" I whispered.

"Right," Riku affirmed. His voice was back to normal. "Much to his surprise, a frog peeped over the edge a second later. Prince Riku recoiled." Riku leaned his shoulder into mine, his voice soft and falling over the words easily. He made a great story teller. "You see, he really hated frogs…"

I giggled despite myself. "You? Hate frogs?"

He shrugged. "Prince Riku did. I've learned a lot more than he has." I grinned at his word usage, then plopped onto my back like he had. After a short moment, he followed suit, and our elbows touched, our thighs remained connected.

"I think I know this part of the story pretty well," I said. "The frog makes an agreement with the prince to get his ball, in return that he'll be able to dine with him at his meals and sleep on his pillow at night. Am I right?"

"Pretty close to the mark. There was just one thing—"

"The prince runs off before the frog can follow, intent on not upholding his end of the bargain because he hates frogs." It was difficult, inserting the proper pronoun, when I was so used to the tale involving a princess instead of a prince. "But the frog shows up at dinner, and when the king goes to see who it is, the frog tells him of his promise, the promise his son made to him."

Riku didn't say anything, his eyes on mine as we turned our heads to look at one another. When I paused, watching him, he arched a brow, as if asking me to continue. I folded my hands on my stomach and did so, looking upward.

"The king told the prince that he had to uphold his promise to the frog. The prince scowled all through dinner, but he did as his father bade and let him eat off his plate. Then, once they settled in for the night, he let the frog sleep on his pillow."

"Except he didn't," Riku interjected. I paused and glanced at him. A wry smile was on his mouth. "He put him on the windowsill. He refused to sleep in the same bed with an amphibian. It was unseemly." His vocabulary usage surprised me yet again. I didn't remark on it.

"And the frog didn't tell on him for this?"

"The frog was patient, I think." Riku's fingers slowly brushed against mine. My throat felt tight suddenly, and I pulled my hand away. He didn't follow. I could feel his eyes boring into the side of my face. "Even though the prince treated him horribly, he followed him, stayed by his side. The frog wanted to be friends."

"The frog was in love with him," I whispered. There was a well… and a beautiful face leaning over it… a circlet over his brow… and the prettiest green eyes he'd ever seen…

"Slowly, Prince Riku began to see that there was more to this frog than what met the eye. The frog could make him laugh, and he hadn't laughed in so, so long, not really. He was bored with the world, with his position, and he desired nothing more than to get away, to see the walls outside of his castle. The frog told him tales of foreign lands—he amused the prince, he became his companion. Slowly, he thawed the prince's icy heart."

My throat felt tight again. I focused very hard on the ceiling. I picked out patterns in it. Anything to avoid thinking on the strange emotions flickering through me. I couldn't name them. Or I could, but I didn't want to.

This needed to stop—whatever this was—whatever spell he was crafting around me—

"Your phone's ringing," Riku whispered.

I jerked, realizing that it was. Sitting up, I pulled it from my pocket. Squall's name flashed across the screen. My heart thundered. Even though it hadn't been very long since we last talked, it still felt like weeks. I felt the distance between us more keenly than ever.

"I've got to take this."

"It's funny how your mind puts things in place to prevent me from being here," Riku said, right into my ear. I flushed, hating it when he did that, thinking only on his words belatedly. I scrambled off the bed and away from him.

"What do you mean? Look, I've got to take this," I said again. I started away, only to stop when he snagged my wrist. I stumbled and stared at him in disbelief. Was he really preventing me from answering my phone? What was his problem?

"Sora—don't answer it."

I glared at him. "It's my boyfriend, he—"

"You can call him back," Riku murmured.

Honestly? He was really pulling this? What the hell? Why should I have had to call him back? I could answer my phone if I wanted to!

"I need to talk to him." I wrenched my hand out of his grasp, except it didn't work. Riku wasn't going to let me go without a fight. That just made me angry.

"But he's not real," he said. I waited for the joke to come, his twisted sense of humor to make him smile. Nothing. The phone stopped ringing, and I realized how serious he was being. That unsettled me in ways I didn't like, and I decided then that I needed to leave. This guy was nuts.

"Of course he is," I snapped. "Why are you being so weird, Riku?" I was getting out of there. Right then.

Perhaps sensing my distress, Riku let me go. Without another word, I wheeled to the door and was already calling Squall back. Screw this dude. I'd walked home. It wasn't too far away, after all. No one even needed to pick me up. Just a nice, brisk walk.

Squall answered on the first ring. "Sora?" No hello, just my name. I could tell instantly by his tone that something was wrong, and I stopped in the hallway just outside Riku's bedroom, paralyzed. Instinctively, I knew exactly what he was about to tell me.

He didn't break it to me gently. It was so abrupt that I was left dizzy from it.

He was breaking up with me, he said. He didn't think this was going to work. The long distance thing wasn't what he wanted. He figured it'd be fair to tell me now before this continued any longer.

I felt like my heart had just been ripped out of my chest. I couldn't breathe. No, why would he—

"That doesn't make any sense," I choked. "You've only been gone for two days…!"

He hung up on me. In disbelief, I tried to call him back. He wouldn't answer, no matter how many times I tried. This just didn't make any sense! We'd been together for so long, been best friends for so long. Why would he suddenly decide after two days that he couldn't stand to be with me anymore?

Unless he'd been thinking on it for longer than two days.

But no, Squall couldn't hide something like that from me, I was better to read him better than anyone—

I was calling him back for the fifth time when Riku came up behind me and whisked the phone out of my fingers. I let out an angry noise and lunged for it, but he sidestepped me cleanly and held the phone up and out of reach. He had a few good inches on me.

"Give it back!" I screamed at him, when struggling with him proved futile. He was just too strong, too fast! "I have to call him!"

"Sora," he said, so calmly I wanted to throttle him, "Why are you getting so upset?"

I shoved at him. I had never felt particularly violent before, but if this weirdo didn't give me my phone back right now so I could fix things, there was going to be hell to pay. "My boyfriend just broke up with me, okay!" I cried. "So just give it back to me!"

But Riku only shook his head and closed his eyes. "He's not your boyfriend."

I took in an angry breath. I had had it up to here with this guy…! "Yes, he—"

"I am."

I stared at him, so stunned for a moment I simply couldn't speak. No words could penetrate the shock. Then I set my teeth and shoved him again. "Give me back my phone! I'm leaving! You're messed up, you're not my—"

"What did I tell you?" he pressed, taking hold of my hands. I struggled. His grip was like iron, and I couldn't break free anymore than I had been able to the first time he'd grabbed me.

"GIVE ME BACK MY PHONE!" I bellowed. It was so loud I hurt my throat. Panic was closing in on me fast, and tears were choking me. I had to all Squall. I had to know what was wrong. I had to know why he was doing this to me!

"I told you that your mind is trying to tell you something." Riku held onto me tighter, pulled me into him. I kicked at his legs, to no avail. He was just too fast. He completely overpowered me. "You know what it is."

"I don't know what you're talking about, you psycho," I sobbed.

"Stop running away from me!" he yelled, much louder than I had a minute ago. I flinched at the sound of it, crumbling, a whimper rising on my lips. The guy was a psychopath. He didn't even know me, and he was acting like he owned me or something. I didn't even know half of what he was talking about.

Riku shook me. "Look at me!"

"No!"

"Look at me, Sora!"

I did so, but only because he shook me hard enough that my head snapped back. I renewed my struggling, doing everything in my power to get away. When had I become such a weakling? And Riku didn't look that strong. It wasn't making any sense.

"I love you," he said. "Stop running away."

"What are you talking about," I hiccoughed. He was scaring me. I wanted to get away. I didn't need to be around this right now. Why wouldn't he just let me go? It wasn't even about calling Squall back anymore. It was just getting away from him.

Riku shook his head. "Sora, you know what I'm talking about. You know."

Words blurted out of my mouth, entirely of my own. I had absolutely no control over them. "It's my fault!" What was I even saying? What was my fault?

He closed his eyes. He was silent for several moments, and I could do was listen to my hitched breathing. Then he opened his eyes, and when he spoke, it was slowly and carefully, "Sora… even if it is your fault, and it's not, but even if it was—having you blame yourself and be away from me is killing me, it's worse than when I was cursed and forever unable to be with you!"

I was trembling from head to toe. Those strange feelings were back, the ones I didn't have a name for. I was shaking my head back and forth as he spoke, refusing to listen. No, no, it was my fault, it was…

Riku's grip on my wrists tightened again. He was going to bruise me. "I've already broken the curse. Your mind sent you back again from your own guilt. It's been a year! A whole year to get through to you again without your mind throwing me out! Sora, please—I beg of you—come back—" His voice cracked.

"No—it's—"

"I need you," he pressed. "Don't you get that? I need you!" There was so much anguish in his voice. But part of me still rebelled, refusing to accept this. I had no idea what he was saying, I didn't understand. At the same time, I did, I understood everything.

Tears rose fresh in my eyes. "Riku," I sobbed.

"Now—please forgive me for doing this…" Riku closed his eyes again, as though gathering strength. He drew in a deep breath. I watched him wordlessly, crying, trying to make sense of what was happening.

Then he did it.

He lifted his hand and smacked it straight across my face as he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"WAKE UP!"