Chapter 21: Enclosure

{Seiren Household: February 15th, 2013 - 4:30pm}

Sora had arrived home after a day at school that he could easily describe as mentally taxing, but shrugged it off as he went to his room, and quickly changed his out of his school uniform and into a pair of dark toned cotton pants and a blue tank top before heading back downstairs to start getting out the things that he, Riku, and Kairi would need to make what they'd elected to do. It had been easy for Sora to figure out the simplest thing to teach the two of them to make would be a cake or something like it - not that he hadn't seen cakes be complex, but it had been something his mom suggested they try - and thus, he reached onto one of the shelves, and grabbed a cookbook, finding himself thumbing through the pages as he glanced up out of the corner of his eye, and noticed Riku, and Kairi approaching whilst he kept searching for a basic recipe as he knew his mother would be the taste tester, and Sora wasn't keen on possibly giving the woman food poisoning.

"If they follow the instructions it shouldn't go to bad…" he thought of this, and a faint chuckle resounded in the back of his mind, causing him to raise an eyebrow before sighing.

"Must be one of the hearts… I swear…" Sora muttered to himself as he heard the door open, and decided to dwell on how it had been an Organization member of all people to inform him about his talent for collecting hearts, and his ability to restore them.

"Sora! You home?" called Riku.

"Yea, in the kitchen!" the door shut, and a moment later, the two were in the room with him as he kept looking through the cookbook.

"What are you doing?" asked Kairi as he glanced her way.

"I'm looking for a basic recipe for us to try. I've got two in mind, one of which I'm teaching the two of you, and the other is to make for you Kairi." the girl blushed a bit.

"You don't have to do that much, just teach me how to make something neat," she told him as Sora smiled.

"Well, what I have in mind isn't that difficult, so its no big deal. Anyways, I think we'll do a vanilla and strawberry cake, that's pretty easy… I'll bet even you can manage it Riku." the silver-haired teenager rolled his eyes.

"Great, the easy bake dwarf is trolling me," he said as sky-blue eyes narrowed while Sora gave him a rather annoyed expression.

"I'M NOT A DWARF! YOU HEAR ME YOU STUPID JOTEN?!" Riku covered his ears at the loud shout from the petite chestnut-haired Keyblade Bearer.

"Ouch! You've still got some lungs on you, that much is for sure," he informed him as Sora crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head to the side.

"Let's just get to work, okay? I promised mom I'd make dinner tonight because she's working a bit later, so we need to get this done while the meat is defrosting." Kairi and Riku nodded, while Sora propped up the book on a stand, showing them the recipe for the cake they'd be making.

Though neither Riku nor Kairi could profess to be as skilled at cooking as Sora was - mostly because his mother had him learning with her in the kitchen since he was a toddler - but they were decent enough to handle most things; however, with Riku, he could admit his mother had joked quite a bit at his knack for burning anything that had to bake unless it was in a dutch oven, and that he'd never impress a girl if he couldn't make her something special every once in a while. The silver-haired teen grumbled under his breath as Sora busied himself with chopping fresh strawberries whilst instructing Kairi and him to follow the basic instructions and mix the wet and dry ingredients separately.

Kairi followed the basic guide Sora laid out next to the recipe book of what wet items to mix in first while Riku did his best with the dry ones until Sora was finished with his task of cutting up the strawberries. He then set to checking on them, taking the dry ingredients from Riku with a thanks before doing the same with Kairi as he poured the wet ingredients that were now mixed into the dry ingredients bowl, and started stirring them together while instructing Riku and Kairi on what temperature to set the oven and which pan they would need to cook the cake properly. They followed the instructions without incident, as Sora finished what he was doing, and used some of the cooking spray to finish up with making sure the batter wouldn't stick before he poured it in, making sure to smooth it out as he did so before finishing up.

"Okay, that should do it," he said as the other two nodded.

"So, how come I end up burning things?" Sora grinned at him, a small bit of batter on his cheek from him having rubbed his hand against it after he'd finished pouring it into the pan.

"You don't watch it… or do you forget to set the timer?" the cyan-eyed teen grumbled a bit as Kairi chuckled while Sora put the came in the oven and set it on a timer before starting to load a few items into the dish washer before starting it as well.

"Now what do we do?" the red-haired girl asked as Sora glanced her way.

"We start prepping dinner in a bit. The dishes won't take long, so we can relax while the meat finishes thawing," he mentioned, going over to the sink to wash off the batter that he knew was on his face before Riku eyed him as he finished, noticing something a bit off.

"Looks like you've got some in your hair." Sora rose an eyebrow.

"Huh? How?" Riku reached out to tug at the piece of hair that had a small streak of white running through it near the middle-half of his hair.

"Right here, I don't know how you - " the teenager stilled, face going a bit pale as Sora gave him a concerned look.

"Riku? What's wrong?" Kairi gaped a bit at the sight as Riku frowned, pulling at the strand of Sora's hair as the teenager winced at the faint sting that came from it.

"Your hair has a streak of white in it!" Kairi told him before Riku could.

"Oh, yea, it does… I almost forgot about that…" the two gave him a confused, and somewhat concerned look at the sight of the slight streak of white that seemed to run from the root of his hair and fade off near the tip, meaning that it was indeed natural, and not a dye of some kind.

"Sora, how did that happen?" Riku inquired as the boy shifted slightly away from him, looking decidedly anxious about bringing up the topic.

"It… kind of happened… when I um… brought Kairi back… and became a Heartless…" the red-haired girl put a hand to her mouth.

"That's what caused it? But, how?" Sora shrugged.

"Well, I'm not sure, but I know it was there after you brought me back… so, I think its Marie Antoinette syndrome, or at least a bit of it," he explained.

"What's that?" Riku looked to Kairi at the question.

"It's a reaction the body has to extreme stress. Because of shock, trauma, or duress, the hair turns gray or white, and can be in segments, or the entirety of it. The color usually returns, but sometimes it doesn't, and I guess that strand of your hair turned white because of the stress you'd been put under," he stated as Sora shrugged.

"Maybe, but its not a big deal. Already happened, and isn't something I'm really worried about… what happened back there isn't what's happening now, and there's no reason for us to focus on it so intently." Kairi smiled.

"Right, let's just try and be comfortable with how things are for now, and not dwell on the past," she agreed as Riku smirked a bit.

"I guess that's for the best, besides, I doubt any of us want to relive those moments." Sora sighed, shaking his head a bit.

"Yea, I guess so…" the two glanced between themselves as Sora turned his back to them, returning to working on his preparations for dinner.

They knew the tone he was using to allude to the fact that due to the three of them wielding Keyblades, they would most likely relive those events in various forms over the course of their lives, and due to the nature of the weapon, it was possible they'd end up dragging their loved ones into the thick of the battle. Sora knew this, and so did they; however, making the choice to stay or go wasn't one that they needed to make on a whim. Kairi had returned home yesterday evening, and had went into her room to attend to her homework before dinner, and hadn't been able to concentrate as the openness of Sora's decision started to worm its way into her mind.

Though they had convinced him to consider the choice to stay on the Islands or leave for the Disney Castle until the day of the deadline, she knew they were only kidding themselves into thinking that he'd truthfully think about it or change his mind on the matter. Sora was going to leave, and that had been apparent from his first words, and how he had become defensive about the matter when they reminded him that the Destiny Islands was their home, and should be where they belonged. Kairi sighed, knowing that Sora knew that, but couldn't feel at ease where he was, and holding him in place, making him remain where he didn't want to be, wouldn't do any of them good. Aquamarine eyes glanced towards Riku who had an expression that told her that he too was thinking deeply on the matter, and to a degree, she wondered if perhaps he'd already decided on what he would be doing or not.

"If we choose to stay… Sora will still leave. He'll probably tell us its for the best if we don't come… just like he did yesterday. But he even admitted that he didn't want to do it again, but… Sora also knows its a responsibility that he possesses as a Keyblade Bearer… if he's so willing to forgo a desire to remain home in light of the obligations he carries as a person with a Keyblade… then what does it say of me or Riku if we neglect that fact in favor of remaining where we are?" the red-haired girl glanced to Sora, frowning as she thought about the behavioral changes for what had to be the thousandth time since finding him in St. Petersburg.

Sora had matured so much, and in so many ways that it stumped her a bit. The crybaby of a thirteen year old she'd known had been mature, if not a bit easily intimidated and extremely sensitive, and shy, but now, that child had been replaced with a young man willing to put everything on the line for people he may never lay eyes upon, and was more than capable of handling himself in the battlefield. His limitations had been shattered by experience and a determination that he'd always possessed, which had developed into greater strength that made up who that shy boy was becoming. A small smile came to Kairi's lips as she considered what Sora may be like in a few years time, and how her childhood friend was becoming an adult just like they all were.

"We're not little kids anymore, Kairi." the red-haired girl blushed at the memory of her and Selphie's conversation on the day before Sora's birthday.

"This is seriously not the time to be thinking about whether or not I have romantic feelings for my childhood friend. Sure, Sora's become very attractive, and he's always been so sweet, and kind… his laugh is infectious even now, just like his smile… and when he does smile his eyes light up… they're always so - AHHH! Stop it Kairi!" The girl shook her head feverishly as Riku rose an eyebrow and she turned her head away from him, trying to hide the deep blush that she knew was scrawled across her cheeks.

"So, what time is your mom getting home?" asked Riku as Sora pushed a few of the vegetables he had been chopping into a pot of simmering water.

"About eight or nine." Kairi swallowed nervously, trying to calm herself down as she turned to look to the chestnut-haired teenager.

"Then should we stay with you for dinner? I mean, if you want us too," she suggested as sky-blue eyes turned to her and her cheeks flushed again.

"Um… yea you guys can stay if you want, but… maybe I should take your temperature Kairi, you look really flushed."the girl shook her head.

"N-No! I'm fine! I must be getting a little flushed from the warmth of the kitchen. I'll just step out for a sec.." with that the girl walked out onto the small porch that lead to the side yard and took in a few deep breaths while inside Riku made a faint sound of recognition as he glanced to Sora.

"Seems Kairi still has a thing for you," he mentioned as the fifteen-year-old Keyblade Bearer turned to him.

"Huh? Riku, what are you talking about?" the silver-haired teenager rolled his eyes.

"Wow, for as sharp as your senses and instincts have become, you still can't put that brain of yours to work on figuring out that Kairi likes you?" he inquired as Sora crossed his arms over his chest, frowning.

"Kairi's not interested in me, why would she be?" Riku rose an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that? If your talking about the fact that you shoved us both away and disappeared after dragging me and King Mickey out of the door to Kingdom Hearts then you're wrong about that making her hate you, because it only made her sad that you weren't there," he explained as Sora seemed to flinch, biting the corner of his lip in clear irritation.

"That's what I mean… I made her cry… I hurt her, Riku. I decided not to go with you guys, when I promised her I would… yea, I may have come back… and she knew I would… but… this is… how can someone care about me when I put them through so much pain?" Riku looked his friend over, seeing a bit of his old personality peeking through in this moment when his guards were down, and regret was shining in his eyes while his form seemed to curl in on itself a bit.

"Sora, I don't get how you think that would make her hate you! You saved her life… and mine… not to mention, your the reason that we had a home to return too," he stated as Sora shook his head.

"Yea, after I died right in front of her, and nearly died a second time as well! Then on top of that I scream and yell at you… and then… I abandon both of you when I could have come home… I guess what Ursula said is true… Keyblade Bearers really do hurt everyone they encounter… though… I suppose its a given, considering the nature of the weapon we bare, and how the fights change us…" Riku narrowed his eyes.

"You don't believe that, I know you don't," he said as he stood from his seat, catching Sora's attention, blue eyes staring at him intently with slight hesitation and wariness in them.

"No… I guess I don't… or didn't. Because, I figured out a lot of what I am doing is to keep the balance of the light and darkness in the worlds… they can't exist without one another, and because of that… Keyblade Bearers are being chosen again… that means in due time… we're going to have a war on our hands unlike anything these little battles have ever been able to show us…" Riku narrowed his eyes.

"And that's why you want us to stay here on the islands while you go and fight?" Sora sighed, nodding slowly.

"Of course, it is…. I'd rather martyr myself than watch the two of you suffer again. Seeing you die by my own hands… the look of pain on Kairi's face… I've had my fill of that kind of misery… being a martyr… or never being able to see either of you again would be a price I'd happily pay if it meant knowing that the people I love are safe, and the place I've called home up until this point is still there…." Riku glowered at him.

Before he knew what he was doing, the silver-haired teen had come around the table and shoved Sora into the counter top, his hand fisted in the chestnut-haired teenager's shirt with a glare upon his features as those sharp blue eyes stared into his eyes. Something about those words, made Riku angry in the strangest of ways that he honestly couldn't even describe it; however, he restrained himself, shaking his head as he looked into the same intense blue eyes that he'd known for nearly his entire life as he ground his teeth together.

"Sora, you don't get it! If you were to do that, it would be that pain and misery all over again because we would be separated, and wouldn't know if each other was safe or not! Don't you see? Your my best friend, someone I would fight alongside until my last breath because I care about what happens to you, and so does Kairi! You don't have to be a martyr to save us, because you don't have to do this alone!" Riku snapped as Sora averted his gaze.

"Riku… do you know what it felt like to have to kill you? To look you in the eye and know that was all I could do to save you? Knowing that running you through with Oblivion was the only thing that could save you from that Darkness… was the most painful choice I ever had to make… what about you? If I or someone else fell to Darkness… could you make the call to end their lives if it meant sparing them the suffering that comes from being possessed by the Darkness?" the silver-haired teenager narrowed his eyes.

"I -" cold blue eyes looked to him.

"Because, I did it twice. I killed someone who was possessed by the Darkness in a world known as Deep Jungle… I had to make the call of trying to find a way to purify him… or kill him… and you know what? I should have wanted to kill him… because he shot me… he put me through a lot of fucking pain… but I didn't want to do it… despite that though, I did. It was painful, and terrified me to no end to even think that I could be a killer… but there it was… and then came you." cyan eyes looked him over as Sora grabbed his wrist, and tightened his grip firmly, startling Riku as his hand was pried loose by a grip that somehow felt stronger than his own.

"Sora -" His arm was flung aside as Sora kept his grip upon his wrist, a calm, yet discomforting sensation ebbing off of him.

"You hurt me too, and put me through a lot of pain… and even then, I didn't want to inflict even an ounce of that suffering onto you… but I still chose to end the fight. There was nothing I could do but run you through to stop you, and dispel that Darkness…" Riku tisked as he recalled that moment.

Sora had fought him to the point that he was pale, wounded, and loosing blood from the injuries he'd received; however, he hadn't surrendered, even with what Riku had known were broken bones. The gentle, shy boy he'd known was replaced with a willful, brave, and unyielding warrior who knew what he had to do in order to win this battle, and was going to accomplish it. Even though he had tears running down his face, and his voice was breaking at the mere notion of having to do what he was about to, Sora had told him it was the only way to save him, and attacked him, running him through with the Keyblade, and destroying the hold of the Darkness before he'd looked up to him, and seen his friend barely holding himself together as he vanished. The chestnut-haired teenager sighed, at Riku's silence, letting go of his wrist with a shake of his head, looking down as Riku stared at him, questioning what would happen now.

"I don't blame you if you don't remember…" Riku shook his head.

"How could I forget that? I remember how much pain was in your eyes when you did it… I did that to you… and I'm sorry…" the fifteen-year-old huffed.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you both. If your not willing to do that… if your not willing to make the tough calls and make yourself suffer sometimes even when your already at your breaking point… then you don't need to be out there with me," Sora replied, gaze averted to the ground.

"Sora… even the best fighters need good support."the other smiled softly.

"But, that doesn't answer my question…"

{Hirigaya Household: 9:45pm}

Riku sighed as he sat down on his bed, having returned home some twenty minutes ago, and gotten himself a quick shower before informing his parents that he would be finishing up his homework and heading to bed. Sora had switched his demeanor after Kairi had returned to the kitchen, a smile upon his face as he returned to helping them learn how to ice the cake they'd made, and layer the cut strawberries in a way to make the cake look nice and presentable before Himitsu had returned home, and they'd all eaten dinner together, enjoying some time together while Riku's mind was in a disastrous state of unsureness over his conversation with Sora. Hearing what he had from the other boy let him know without question that the blue-eyed Keyblade Bearer would be leaving, just as he had suggested he would during their conversation at school.

"Even though we asked him to think about it only yesterday… it was stupid of me to think he would when its obvious that he's not staying here…" Riku muttered to himself.

Despite not being able to give Sora an appropriate answer, Riku knew that if the need would call for it, he could fight back and take a life if there was no other choice; however, he also understood why Sora asked such a question, and why he was doubtful he or Kairi could handle the task of being a Keyblade Bearer when it came to such high stakes as life and death. If they were to hesitate, it could be a vital life lost, and mistakes like that weren't going to turn things in their favor should they occur. Shaking his head, the cyan-eyed sixteen-year-old huffed, thinking about what he was doing thinking about the conversation when he truthfully needed to heed it as a warning and advice from someone that was genuinely more experienced than he was with the reality of being a Bearer of the Keyblade on what sort of weight making his choice had.

"If I stay… Sora gets sent off to train by himself… the next time me and Kairi see him… he could be almost unrecognizable. If I were to go… he'd have someone to help ground him better, and he'd have a comrade… someone that he's always known and hopefully can go to when something's bothering him…" Riku blew his bangs out of his eyes.

Was there really any contest? If he were to be honest, no there wasn't. if Sora stayed, then so did he, but if he left, then so would he, at least, he supposed that would be the case. Cyan eyes closed in annoyance at the confliction of wanting to stay with his family, but knowing that he had a responsibility to his friend and the reality that he was a Keyblade Bearer himself. Should he stay? Or should he go? At this point, Riku was honestly unsure of what to make out of any of it, but knew it would be time to make the call on whether or not he remained here on the islands, or departed with Sora, and that choice would have to be made by Kairi as well. He only hoped that in the end, they both made the right call.

{.….}

and no one knows yet….

{.…}

Author's Note: There's a lot of emotion in this chapter between the three of them if you think about it. Sora knows clearly what he's going to do, and I don't think he even gave it much thought after reading the letter those first few times, as to me, he'd made up his mind as soon as he'd finished reading the letter the first time. Now the question is, what will Riku and Kairi choose? Should they stay or go? Foreshadowing and tough choices by the plethora in this chapter, but hey, what can we do? This is Kingdom Hearts, foreshadowing is basically its middle name. Well, tell me what you guys think! And I'll see ya in the next chapter!

Sincerely,

ShadowDragon94.