…..*is shot*

I don't have much of an excuse other than the monster known as Writers' Block tried to eat my muse, and she ran away and hid, and um…

Now I can't find her, though I started to at the end Dx

Thanks to DivineWolfe and Guardian Soul for their lovely input and ideas~

Enjoy~

Darkness or Dawn

The scream that tore from Roxas's throat was loud enough to startle Kairi out of her sleep, sitting up before she was even fully awake. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the back of her hands, catching sight of Sora leaning against the window with his arms crossed, head tilted and staring down at the Garden below. His voice was soft.

"Kurix is dead." Kairi's hand froze mid rub, one eye cracking open. "That guy…Sephiroth, I think, killed him." He turned, and when he did she saw the shame in his eyes, downcast to the floor as they were. His fingers tugged the hem of his sleeve, "He…he thought it was Riku, and…" Sora gestured almost helplessly to the window, "I saw it." His eyes finally drifted up to meet hers and Kairi felt everything drain from her from the day before.

Demyx was dead and nothing would change that. She'd get over it- Sora had seen something he couldn't not see, now that the vision was in his head. Kairi understood before the words left his mouth.

"I thought…I watched…" She pushed herself off the bed, nearly running to him, watching his shoulders sag in response as she crossed the small space and folded him into a tight embrace, his arms pressed against his own chest as his hands wrapped around the chain on his neck. The crown pendant dug into the flesh of his palms, Kairi heard the water in his voice, the slight congestion and nasal tone. His cheeks were red, the skin around his eyes puffy and raw.

Had she really been in that deep of a sleep that she hadn't heard him crying?

Kairi ran her fingers up and down his spine with one hand and fitted the other into messy brown spikes, easing his head to her shoulder. He took a shaky and sudden breath and said all at once, "I thought I watched my best friend die."

Kairi pressed her lips to his ear and said in the softest voice she could find, "It's all right, shhh, Sora." He sucked in another breath and sniffled loud.

She had never heard him cry before. The sound of it tore her up inside, like she'd swallowed a razorblade and now it worked its painful trek down her esophagus, stomach, intestines (but not before cutting a sizable hole around her heart). One of his arms came around her, holding tight- Kairi felt her ribs shift and push against his.

"No, it's not." He'd buried the bridge of his nose against her neck, Kairi's fingers rubbed his scalp as if to soothe him but she only felt him growing more tense, "I just…watched. That bastard went for Naminé and I didn't do-"

Kairi pulled away, searching his face, "Naminé?"

He looked away, nodded, "She's fine. She used the darkness the same way you used light to kill Ansem. She thought it was Riku too, I think."

Kairi let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding, shook her head, "It's all right, Sora." His head found its place against her neck again.

"Would it be all right if I just let Naminé die, too?" the bitterness in his voice surprised her, and Kairi felt her arms tighten around him.

"But she didn't-"

Sora pulled away this time, nearly shoving her back, "But she could have and I just stood there, Kairi!" he took a step back, reaching up to run his free hand through his hair, his breathing had gotten heavy, erratic. The tears returned to his bloodshot eyes full force, and Kairi felt herself shrinking when they spilled over lashes and trailed accusing ways down his cheeks. "I…" his voice broke, he breathed so deep she saw ribs ripple beneath his shirt, "I just…" his voice cracked again, he blinked rapidly and looked towards the door.

Kairi took a tentative step forward, bit her lip and then said, "I wouldn't blame you, Sora." His eyes snapped to hers and she went to him the rest of the way, bringing her hands up to his chest. Her fingers found the arm that was still crossed over himself, his hand clenching too hard on the silver crown. Kairi could see red between his fingers, his knuckles turned white, and she prodded gently at the skin, leaning forward against him. Sora's nose rubbed her forehead and Kairi turned her eyes up to him, blinking large, beautiful azure to meet his. "He's your brother. When Ansem took Naminé away from my world? I was…I couldn't move. I thought she was just gone." She leaned in and kissed his nose, closing her eyes. She felt Sora relax and let out a soft sigh, a warm brush of air on her cheek. "I understand."

When she sat back and opened her eyes, Sora sniffled again. Kairi's fingers had finally pried his hand from the necklace and she saw the three sharp indents near the base of his index, middle and ring fingers. Blood was smeared across his palm and the surface of the necklace, but it wasn't much. Just enough that she was sure a simple napkin wouldn't suffice. Kairi brought the hand to her lips and kissed his fingers, "Let's go see them, all right?"

Sora nodded, sniffled one last time, "R-Riku is with her now."

Kairi nodded, kissed his cheek before tugging him towards the door, "Come on, Sniffles."

He cracked a smile at that, Kairi grinned. "Okay."

It was just….dust.

Roxas stared at his upturned palms, not caring that tears were still leaking from his eyes. He looked up to the sky and watched the last bits of his only family waver in the sky, dotting the sun black and turning the air gray. Roxas felt a breeze pick up and shivered.

Looking back down at his hands, Roxas closed his fists till his knuckles turned white, the leather of his gloves stretching- he brought them to his face and let out a shuddering breath. He felt his skin prick with a sudden coldness as more tears dripped down his face, they dried quickly and made his skin feel tight, like he wasn't meant for his own body.

Roxas drew in breath for another scream, the pain welling inside him to an unbearable point, squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as he could and letting his lashes stick to his cheeks, tears like glue. His coat was pulled taut around his ribs as he felt his lungs burn.

Before he had the chance to scream, a warm body was pressed to his, arms wrapped around his shoulders, hands guiding his forehead to a dainty shoulder. Roxas jumped, opening his eyes to find tufts of red hair in his vision.

Kairi rested her cheek against the top of his head, "I'm here."

Roxas took that as a sign to wrap his own arms around her, catching her in a bone crushing hug, keeping his eyes open just enough to see Sora a few feet away, hanging on to Riku as if his life depended on it.

Naminé sat back from the two, unable to keep the watery smile that surfaced on her lips as Sora hugged Riku so tight his face had started to turn blue. Riku patted Sora's head, glancing at Naminé. She waved and scooted back, rubbing her eyes with her free hand.

"Sora," Riku attempted to pry his arms from around his shoulders, "What's wrong?"

Sora sat back, taking a deep breath and composing himself as much as he could, although he kept his hands on Riku's shoulders, "I…" he shook his head, "I saw it from my room. I thought you were…"

"Dead?" Naminé crawled back over to them, sneaking her arms around her boyfriend's waist and getting her nose buried against his side. "He's okay." She sighed as she said it, like a weight was lifted from her shoulders, and turned her head to meet Sora's gaze, flaxen hair obscuring her vision.

Sora pulled back, scratched the back of his head and looked down, "I'm sorry. I should've came out to help-"

Riku shook his head and pulled Naminé into his lap, earning a small squeak of surprise from her as he said, "We're all right, Sora. Don't blame yourself."

A few hours after the castle had been settled down, Leon, Tifa and Cloud had snuck out for a little exploration. Tifa had noticed a barn-style building about a half a mile from the castle, having been admiring the scenery from a high window; she'd convinced the other two to go out with her to see it. Now, the group stood inside the building, gathered around the first stall with equal looks of wonder and curiosity.

"…What is it?" Leon scratched the back of his head, his eyes trailing over the creature in front of him. Through the slats in the windows near the rafters, white sunlight filtered through dust clouded air.

Beside him, Tifa tilted her head, a hand placed thoughtfully on her chin, the other on her hip. She glanced around, catching sight of more stalls, all filled with the same, cute (albeit strange) creatures. She caught sight of a faded blue sign nailed to the aged wood wall behind the first stall they'd come across.

Chocobo Ranch

She coughed, then said, "Whatever a 'Chocobo' is, I guess…" she brushed past Leon and approached the first one, vibrant yellow compared to its surroundings and a good two feet taller than Tifa. It tilted its head when Tifa got to the banister of its little home, reaching her arm out slow, palm up. The chocobo clawed the dusty floors impatiently, then shoved its head forward, pushing its way under Tifa's hand and letting out a tiny squawk of approval. Tifa jumped, grinned, and reached out with her other hand, petting its feathery head with one hand and rubbing its beak with the other. "Awww…"

Cloud shook his head, "It's like a giant chicken."

"But cuter." Tifa's grin grew when the chocobo she was petting moved forward, obviously trusting her. "Try it." She scratched gently at the base of its skull and one of its talons started tapping rhythmically against the floor, gaining the attention of the others.

Cloud shrugged, moved forward and-

Tifa moved in his way, "Find your own." She turned and stuck her tongue out at him and at the same time her new friend let out another little squawk, earning an eye roll from Cloud.

He sighed, "Fine, fine." Moving to the stall next to Tifa's, he found a smaller one. It was brown, roughly half the height of the other and ruffling its wings like it was just as impatient as the first. Glancing up at Tifa, he said, "This one's little."

Tifa looked up, leaning over the side of the stall while still petting her chocobo, "It is?" at the moment she leaned over, the little one looked up, its eyes wide. "Awwww…"

Cloud let his hand down and it reacted the same way Tifa's had, although the squawk it let out was more of a squeak. It rubbed its side against the stall door, tilting its head back to look at Cloud. "I like him."

Leon came up next to him, "Him?"

Cloud nodded towards the back of the pen where a tiny, dirt smudged sign hung. It was green, the letters on it brown; Stanley.

Leon shook his head, "Tifa, what's yours called?"

Tifa stood on the tips of her toes and leaned to the left, "Um…Patty." She stood back for a moment and scratched the side of Patty's neck, the animal closing its eyes and leaning its weight towards her in happiness.

"Go find one." Cloud had taken to rubbing both sides of Stanley's neck, the creature's entire body shaking from side to side.

Turning away, Leon crossed his arms and took a quick scan of the room. All the chocobos were either eating or peaking over the doors to their stalls, curious. All except…

Walking down the aisle the stalls made, Leon came to one in the middle, four stalls from where Cloud was. It appeared empty although there was a dented bucket in front of it filled with what appeared to be vegetables, stepping around the bucket, Leon took a tentative look over the door of the stall.

The floor was covered in dust and hay, a mass of black feathers curled up in the far left corner. Unlike most of the other chocobos, there wasn't a name plate for this one, instead just a piece of plain wood and a tiny can of black paint with a paintbrush dipped into it seated on a shelf next to it. Leon tilted his head and snapped his fingers, "Hey."

The enormous ball of feathers shifted, but nothing else.

Leaning back, Leon saw Cloud and Tifa had moved into the stalls with their little friends. Glancing back at the black one, Leon shook his head, "Hey, you."

There was a small, indignant squawk but otherwise the creature didn't move. "Hmm…" looking back down at the dented bucket, Leon grabbed a piece of one of the vegetables and leaned down, shaking it while saying, "Come on; I have some food for you."

Raising its head, the chocobo let out a yawn and ruffled its feathers, finally standing up. As it turned it shook itself out, clouds of dust puffing from beneath feathers. Leon raised his eyebrows, "Been a while since anyone came to see you, huh?" the nameless chocobo plodded over, leaning in almost cautiously to nibble on the end of the offered food before opening its beak and chomping down. Leon withdrew his hand quickly, a small smile on his lips.

"Easy." He reached out to pet it, running his hand up its beak. The nameless chocobo leaned in a little, then shoved its head under his hand.

"Having fun?" Tifa called out from the other end of the barn, poking her head out from the side of her chocobo.

Leon waved her off, grabbed another piece of food and offered it to his new friend. The chocobo reared back and Leon pulled his hand away, wondering if he offended it somehow, before the creature let out a loud sneeze, bringing its wings up and blowing dust in Leon's general direction.

Coughing, Leon doubled over and shook his head, ignoring the laughter from the other side of the room, and tossed the food at the now confused chocobo.

Leon rubbed his nose and stood back up, finding the black feathered animal had come closer, blinking large eyes curiously at him. He reached out to touch it, stroked its neck once and- it reared back again, preparing itself for another dust-induced sneeze.

Leon was smart enough to take cover this time and duck behind the stall door, glancing up to watch the dust fly out above his head.

"Is that….Sora…Dancing?" Naminé tilted her head in thought, her finger tapping her lips, other hand wound around Riku's as they walked into the room. Moments before, Sora had sent out what must have been a mass text message, calling for anyone that wasn't currently busy to wander into Kairi's dance room for a surprise. Before Riku had even opened the door the music could be heard, classy and slow and sharp.

Naminé was sure she recognized the tune from somewhere, but all thoughts escaped her at the sight of Sora.

Kairi was obviously attempting to teach him how to dance, her feet cast out in a plié and her right arm up in the air, the other hovering by her waist. She was attempting not to laugh as Sora struck the same pose, bending his knees the same way she did.

Riku raised an eyebrow, drawing Naminé closer to him, he opened his mouth to say something but was cut off as Kairi bounced from her position and took a long graceful leap across the room, her toes pointed and legs stretched, she turned her chest and spotted herself in the mirror, landing on one leg with her other foot resting lightly on the floor. Sora followed suit, grinning, and Kairi nearly collapsed with laughter.

"It…looks like it." Riku shook his head, "Think they saw us yet?"

Naminé grinned up at him with a glint in her eye he wasn't sure he liked, and said, "They will now."

Riku looked up at Sora and Kairi, who were now mirroring each other as the leaped again, back the way they'd come, and was about to say something when Naminé let out a call for Kairi in a high pitched voice he'd only heard her use once, when a spider had crawled on her leg.

"KAIRIII!" Naminé seemed to frolic out to her sister, holding tight to Riku's hand and dragging him along, she added, "Riku wants to learn ballet too!"

Letting out a breath, Leon used his thumb to swipe dirt and dust off his cheek while he leaned over and unlatched the door with his other hand, shuffling through stray and clumps of half chewed food. The black chocobo stood straighter and tilted its head, ruffling its feathers at him as he walked past it.

"Kweh?" Leon waved the animal off and walked over to the little board at the back of its stall and snagged the paintbrush and cup from their spots on the shelf. He glanced back at the chocobo for a moment, swirling the paintbrush in the can while he thought on his decision.

Behind him, the oversized bird let out a high squawk and sneezed again; Leon felt more dust pile up on his clothes, sift through his hair and stick to his skin. Shaking his head, called over his shoulder to the bird, "This is only because I like you."

Raising the paintbrush, he wrote in the neatest letters he could, all capitals, the name he'd picked out.

DUSTY

And of course, underneath that; Someone clean me!

"That's a cute name."

Leon jumped, nearly dropping the can and paintbrush, and whirled around. Cloud and Tifa were leaning against the stall door, scratching just under Dusty's beak with newly practiced fingers. Dusty reared back suddenly, ripping away from their hands, and flapped his wings to send a huge dust storm their way, taking a few steps back.

Leon saw it coming before he could stop it, "No, Dusty!"

And before he knew it, the force of the sneeze sent the bird skidding back, slamming its tail feathers against him, crashing him into the wall before jumping away from him. Closing his eyes, Leon slid down the wall with a groan as he felt a few ribs bend and his back crack up his spine.

"Leon?" Tifa's voice was covered in laughter, and he was sure he heard Cloud trying to choke out a word or two.

Leon blinked; opening his eyes to find Dusty had turned around and was hovering over him, its beak turned down to stare him in the face with questioning eyes. Raising a shaking hand, Leon coughed and patted the dust-allergic creature on the side of its neck. "…Someone get him a tissue."

"You have got to be-"

"-C'mon, Riku! It's fun!"

"Sora…Shut up."

Kairi grinned, leaning back against the mirror and crossing her arms, she said to Naminé, "You're phone takes pictures?"

Naminé flipped out her cell, her expression a reflection of Kairi's, "I'm on it."

Kairi turned her attention back to the scene before her- she had started the song over and shown the small group that had shown up how to do a few simple dances like ballet positions and ballroom styled movements, then had decided to go into partner swapping.

And…that was how she'd ended up with the spectacle of Sora clinging to Riku as they swayed awkwardly to the music, Riku looking more like he'd rather bolt than stay and Sora throwing his friend a look that he said was 'dreamy'.

"How come you two aren't dancing together?" Riku tried to pull away and Sora slammed an arm around his waist.

Kairi felt a laugh bubbling in her throat, "I'm the teacher, I have to make sure you're moving right, silly."

Naminé added in as an afterthought, "And I'm her assistant." She stabbed the button on her camera before turning to show Kairi the picture, putting a hand to her lips. In the picture, Riku was taking a step to the side, an arm around Sora's neck and their hands clasped together, Sora's arm was around Riku's waist, his head angled up, and eyes wide, his lips brought up in a grin so big Naminé thought his face would crack. "Riku, smile!"

Roxas sat on his bed, knees drawn up to his chest and his hands balled into tight fists. His cheek rested against his leg, his nose red and eyes bloodshot, creased with veins and all the more brighter because of that. He blinked once, slow, as he took in a deep breath, felt the air well in his lungs and spill back out past his lips. His hair was more of a mess than usual, clumped and in disarray.

Roxas stared at the carpeted floor, the full length mirror set next to the doorway across from him. He found himself glaring at his reflection, recalling memories of -

He stood with nothing but a towel around his waist, patches of his skin still rubbed raw from Vexen's constant 'mothering' when he'd first been made. Kur—his eyes shut tight and willed the name away—had shown him the shower and locked the door behind him, stating he couldn't come out until "all of that green crap" was off of him. After effectively cleaning himself, Roxas had snagged a towel and found that K—he pounded his fists against the side of his skull in frustration—had unlocked the door. He stumbled out, saw the full mirror nearby and stood before it. He'd puffed out his chest, running his fingers over ripples of skin and bumps from ribs, gasping when he felt himself grow ticklish. He had opened his arms, palms out, and stared at veins, veins that were undoubtedly-

-fake freedom and people he'd never see again.

Roxas tore himself from the bed, flinging himself towards the mirror and stopping just shy of a foot from it, his breathing heavy and lips drawn into a thin line. He held his right arm out and summoned-

-a fake Keyblade. K-he growled and drew his arm back- couldn't believe it when it'd first appeared, and had actually scolded himself for not being able to do the same. He'd seemed jealous at first, then intrigued, then excited beyond belief. Why? Because with Roxas's bright and shiny Keyblade they could-

-kill them all. Fuck 'em.

Roxas thought of the Organization; of Xemnas's cold eyes, Zexion's indifference, Vexen's manipulative plans and Saїx's blind fury. Roxas thought of all of them and thought of the ways they could've hurt him and Kuri-his friends, and if he couldn't think up a real reason, he made one.

Hatred as white and sharp as a winter blasted knife cut into his skin and Roxas's face twisted into a snarl of utter fury. Curling his arm back, Roxas tightened his grip on his Fake Keyblade and whipped it back around, screaming, "THIS IS-

-war." Xemnas turned on his heel, another of those dead smiles gracing his lips, "Lexeaus, Zexion, Saїx, Xigbar, Xaldin; Our Heartless are dead." He crossed his arms, "Taking over Kairi's world is no longer an attainable goal, but…." He shook his head, dead smile growing, "Kairi is still here, as are Sora, Riku, Naminé…"

"Don't forget Vexen's surviving puppet, Roxas." Lexeaus turned his face to the floor, "Your point, Xemnas?"

The Superior turned back around, "Everything I've said; war."

So…I've decided this story needs to end soon, and I'm guessing we've got a good….three chapters left.

Yep T.T My little series has to end sometime. After BBS comes out, I might continue if I get a feel for the characters, but we'll see.

Otherwise, be on the look out for more random one-shots and the like, maybe even another chapter story :D If I get courage to put it up. It has OCs, and I know they aren't taken lightly around here xD So, we'll see.

Anyway, peace, enjoy your weekends and review, my loves, I'll update soon~

If we get close enough to two hundred (here's a stretch xD) I'll send up a special oneshot. :D

Peace~