A/N: Another week, another chapter! I actually really got into this one, and it has art to go with it that can be found here - (winter-oneechan . deviantart . com /#/d4zjenc) if you feel like looking. Anyway, thanks to Chibi for betaing, as always, as well as rushninja for reviewing and Armyx for giving me his two cents worth, lol. You guys are awesome!

Chapter 21-Roadblock

She had been drawing after yet another visit to Sora when he came in. She didn't look up for a moment, as she was used to DiZ coming in a telling her what he needed to tell her, and she hadn't seen him for months. She had stopped waiting for him to come back. Go ahead, work yourself to death, I don't care, she had told herself. I don't know why I bothered to care in the first place. We aren't really friends-we just used each other to keep from going crazy, because we had no one else but each other. She told herself a lot of things that weren't true when she got to thinking about whether or not he was alive and alright, because if she let herself care, she ended up a mess.

"What, you didn't miss me? Where's my hug?" Crayon went jerking across paper before it snapped, but when she looked up to see him standing in the doorway like he used to do what felt like all the time months ago, she couldn't have cared less about anything else.

"Riku!" she shrieked, jumping up so quickly that her chair toppled over and nearly flew across the room to plaster herself to him in a hug so tight that Riku couldn't breathe for a moment, and her arms kind of hurt, but to both of them, it was something they had missed, but they would never admit to missing.

"Hey, I missed you, too," he chuckled, hugging her back gently. "Did you know the door is unlocked?" Namine nodded.

"Yes, DiZ hasn't locked it the past few times. Hasn't let me out of the mansion, but I'm not locked in this room anymore." It was almost possible to hear the smile on her lips in her voice. She was proud of herself, proud of the fact that DiZ trusted her enough not to lock the door to the white room anymore. Riku looked surprised for a moment, then shook his head.

"I guess I missed out on a lot of things, huh?" he asked, Namine nodded slowly.

"He's been letting me visit Sora," she said quietly, Riku stared down at her before letting her go and dropping heavily into one of the chairs at her table. Namine wandered back over to her own chair and sat down as well. "I wasn't sure I'd see you again," she finally said quietly, Riku looked up at her in spite of the blindfold covering his eyes.

"You made me a promise," he said wearily, as though that were the only possible explanation he could use. Namine sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"To look after Sora. I remember. I'm sorry... I'm not sure I've kept that promise very well." She hated the expression of confusion and hurt that spread across his face.

"What happened?" He all but growled out the words. Namine cringed back into the safety of her chair.

"Some of Sora's memories are missing." If she could have buried her head in her hands, she would have.

His reaction was less explosive than she would have expected. "How can that be?" he asked her.

"They're escaping through Sora's Nobody into a third person-and now they're starting to become a part of her." Namine knew she didn't need to elaborate on who the "her" was. They both knew—Xion.

"You can't get the memories back out." It wasn't a question, it was a harsh statement. Namine cringed back into her chair again.

"If they're still separate...then yes, I think so." Memories were such complicated things to manipulate; it was a wonder that she could understand it at all, really. She looked to the sketchbook on the table in front of her and sighed before launching into a continuation of her explanation. "But if they join with her memories, things get a lot more complicated. I would need to untangle her memory before I could finish Sora's... What was supposed to take months might take years. DiZ would be furious."

Riku frowned, placing his hands atop the table. "So what's the solution?"

"If I try to just jump in and rearrange her memory...then I risk Sora waking up to find out that nobody remembers him anymore. I can't do that to him. It's too late either way. His awakening will have to be delayed. I never imagined Sora's Nobody and the other one would fight so hard to be their own

people. Unfortunately, the only real solution...is for them both to go away." As she spoke, Namine's voice grew steadily quieter, and she found herself looking at the picture she had drawn yet again—Axel with his two friends; the two friends she had to take from him. Then she looked back up and Riku and smiled that sad little smile he had almost forgotten existed. "Did you know her face was blank at first? Only now can you see someone. That proves some of Sora's memories are inside her. Some inside her, some inside Sora...others inside Sora's Nobody... I can't sort it out anymore. All I can do is pick up the pieces once what has to be done, is done." Across the table from her, Riku was nodding.

"All right, then." He stood up, as if to leave, and Namine followed suit.

"Riku, please—" He silenced her with a raised hand and a smile.

"Don't worry, Namine," Riku told her. "I promise you that I'll come back. No wondering this time, got it? I'll try to keep visit's regular, but there's never any telling…"

"That's alright, it's just nice to know that you'll be coming back," she told him. Riku's smile faltered for a moment, and he stepped over to hug her quickly.

"I won't let myself leave anyone else waiting," he murmured, and then he let her go and was out the door in moments, like he had never been there to begin with, leaving behind nothing but the tentative smile on Namine's lips.

She really hoped he kept his promise, just like she prayed she could keep both of hers.

A/N: And that's it for this week, sadly, but there's more coming next week! Reviews are always appreciated, as you can see, and they have helped inspire me in the past as well. See you all next Tuesday/whatever day of the week it is for you!