The Sun was beginning to shine down stronger than before as it continuously crept its way to the center of the sky.

Riku couldn't help but take notice to the weather's growing heat with each rock to the smaller, dingy rowboat he found himself situated within. He supposed it could be classified as a lifeboat, one of the few that hung for use on the bigger ship that they were now steadily distancing themselves from toward the land mass up ahead.

It was an island, it'd been clear to see that when they'd been approaching it from the ship and Sora had been incredibly closed up about what they were going to do there.

Just from looking at it, even in the distance it was clear that the island was devoid of any human life or settlement… That was a fact that made Riku a bit wary of the crew's intentions.

They'd stopped the ship a bit out from shore, which Riku found interesting as he watched Sora begin to instruct the crew on their duties, with who would be staying onboard and who'd accompany him to the island.

When it came down to it, only about seventeen of them were chosen, and Riku had been sure to be one of them in spite of Sora's clear disapproval.

His eyes fleeted out to his left to where he saw the other two boats trailing not too far away from the one he, Sora, Axel, Ventus, and Roxas were situated in that was now sliding up on the sand of the beach from the push the small waves gave them.

Ventus and Roxas placed down their wooden oars and both immediately took up Axel's offering hands that had been placed in their direction to help them up from their seats.

Riku watched with dull eyes as the three all seemed to simultaneously exit the raft with their legs working at the same pace.

He had grown used to how the trio always moved all at once but it was strange to think they hadn't always been like that.

"Was watching Axel and Roxas interact as friends weird for you, Sora?" He mindlessly inquired while placed his legs outside of the boat, his boots slid into the damp sand in a rather slick way and he turned his head over to the pirate Captain that didn't appear to be listening.

Riku waited a moment, his blue eyes watching Sora as the younger male silently studied a thin sheet of paper within his grasp from the other side of the wooden boat.

A cold wave of water washed over his foot and Riku scowled when it appeared he was being ignored, "I asked you a question." He curtly informed, though as before Sora took no notice to him.

"Are you still upset because I didn't listen to you before?" Riku inquired as his arms folded over his chest, the thought was a bit amusing and he began to walk around the boat to approach the still standing pirate, "I said I was sorry for jumping, didn't I?"

His tone was bordering sarcastic and he knew the obviously empty apology for blatantly going against Sora's commands for him to stay onboard by recklessly jumping over the edge of the ship to land in their boat wasn't enough to sedate Sora's annoyance.

Honestly, he figured Sora would have been happier having him around.

When Sora still wouldn't answer, Riku hummed tunelessly, "Do you want me to ask again because I wasn't loud enough? I will if you want." He tried to remain as innocent as possible with his words and even then when Sora wouldn't put up his head or flicker his eyes to give him some degree of acknowledgement, Riku sighed, "Sora, I asked you a question." He repeated boredly,

"I chose not to answer it." Sora snapped back easily and quickly in a tone Riku hadn't expected to be answered in.

The royal's eyebrows furrowed right after he overcame his sudden surprise at Sora's negligence to him in general.

"Wow, check your attitude, Spiky. I wasn't serious." Riku immediately retorted with a slightly annoyed frown to his lips while he evaluated the Spiky haired brunet that now took his time to move his eyes from his paper to give Riku a blank stare.

Their eyes met and Riku made sure his eyes weren't pushed into too much of a full out glare, but just enough to show he was irritated. "Are you alright? Did you eat enough breakfast? Did Snow tell you he didn't love you anymore?"

Unlike what he imagined, Sora's lips didn't quirk into a smirk and he didn't look at all prepared to engage in a short battle of wit with the royal as he usually did.

His face remained serious and Riku found himself growing a bit confused by it.

Finally breaking eye contact, Sora snorted, his head turning away from Riku in a somewhat pretentious way, "Just because I let you come here doesn't mean I'll let you make a fool out of me here, Princess. You seem to constantly forget that not only am I a pirate, I am also a pirate Captain. I warned you already to stay on abroad, but you didn't listen. Well, as long as you're here you're a part of my crew and as such you need to listen to my orders, regardless if you like them or not."

"You're joking, right?" Riku couldn't catch himself before he immediately countered the younger male's words as Sora began folding up the sheet of paper with his fingers smoothly.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Sora rhetorically asked with an arched brow, but regardless, the serious expression on his face still wasn't enough to fully move Riku on it.

Sora was normally serious anyways, but he was never really serious with him… Not recently anyways.

Adjusting his hat, Sora gave him a rather critical scan with his eyes briefly, "I want something from here and joking around won't get me what I want. You're in league with pirates now, Princess… Not just any pirates, my pirates. Get it together." Without another word, Sora turned and began to approach the larger group of pirates that were pulling up their boats on the beach to avoid the waves.

Riku would be lying if he said that he'd been prepared for Sora's sudden change of attitude.

"Get it together? Are you fucking serious, Spiky?" The prince questioned over to Sora's retreating back, his taunt filled with nothing but ridicule.

The way he phrased his words made it seem as though Sora didn't take him seriously, something Riku thought he managed to jump over after their sword duel.

Sora ignored him once more and Riku released a frustrated groan after he started following after him.

His eyes made contact with Aqua and Axel who both seemed to be in a bit of a quarrel from within the small crowd of pirates, and then to Kairi, who stood off to the side beside Roxas quietly with her head tilted downwards in the shy stance she held whenever she wanted to remain unnoticed.

When Sora came to a stop, Riku carelessly and deliberately bumped pass the pirate's shoulder, not sparing him a glance backward as he entered the crowd next to Ventus with a small smirk on his face.

Ventus, unlike Riku thought didn't even look like he was attempting to hide a smile from Riku 's stunt, and when Riku turned at attention to face Sora as the rest of pirate crew, he tried not to show any change in his expression when his eyes locked with the intense glower Sora held over at him.

Hiding all forms of intimidation, Riku shrugged his shoulders uncaringly.

At that moment, it seemed as though all the talking and shouts was silenced and everyone's heads were pointed at Sora who stood before them all.

Sora's face flushed out all traces of annoyance that he held from Riku 's push and now it appeared as though he was working with a blank slate of emotions now.

His eyes went over the group once and it was almost as though Riku could hear the tension leaking in the air.

Everyone was getting serious apparently…

He peeked over at both Roxas and Ventus, the two watched ahead with neutral eyes and facial features, which he supposed should have been typical and when he saw the same thing on Axel's face, he knew for a fact that this whole thing wasn't a 'joke' like Sora had so graciously put it before.

To be honest, Riku wasn't even so sure what they were doing here anyways…

"Alright, so as you all know, the only reason we're actually wasting our time on this island is to find something." Sora clearly spoke, his arms folding over his chest and the same blank expression that Riku admittedly had grown to associating with Captain Sora, the part of Sora that seemed to be divided from how he normally behaved around Riku .

It appeared as though that this was his time to appear in the face of leading his own crew.

Riku found himself biting in his bottom lip while his eyes fleeted over to Sora's form to watch the Captain as he glared over at his crew sternly, "This something is called The Dark Meridian and according to my sources, it's somewhere on this island, and it contains a coffer." He paused briefly, his jaw seemingly slackening a bit as he tilted his head toward Riku 's direction for a second right before his blue eyes shot in his direction.

The royal felt himself freeze at the sudden stare he was encased in, but he had no time to comment on it as Sora continued, "Thanks to Roxas for advising me on going to a source directly, or else I'm pretty sure we would have still been wandering aimlessly."

Beside him, Roxas gave a nod a short, 'No problem,' before Sora went into his back pocket, his handing coming out with a few sheets of folded, wrinkled papers.

He unfolded them and allowed his eyes to scan the first one's contents prior to raising his gaze up and watching at the crew passively, "I suppose we should get this over with. The sooner we get the treasure, the sooner we leave. The standard rules for a hunt apply so don't act out unless you want to be shot."

The moment his sentence came to a halt, like a signal, all the crew Riku stood in line with turned to the right and began to walk off the beach and toward the darkened vegetation up ahead.

Riku hesitated, his heel digging into the sand as he stopped his advance forward as his head turned to Sora's direction where the Captain appeared to be fully pressing out his papers open.

Running a hand through his hair, Riku decided to wait although the rest of the crew were just about finished off of the beaches sand and entering the jungle.

"You're not going to say thank you to me for waiting on you?" Riku asked dryly as Sora started walking up ahead.

The royal's words didn't cause him to slow down or stop by any means, but he glanced over at him simply, "Do you want me too?" He bluntly questioned, his tongue briefly coming out to lick his lips.

Riku moved his eyes from the younger male's mouth, "It'd be rude of you not to. Pirate or not." The royal truthfully retorted with a nod as both he and Sora entered the already cleared pathway into the forest.

He watched Sora to gauge his reaction to his words, and when he saw the small smirk perk at the side of his mouth, Riku felt like he just made the ultimate accomplishment.

"Are you having mood swings, Sora?" He inquired, admittedly half serious.

Sora shook his head before ducking it beneath a low hanging tree branch, "You make being a leader difficult, you know."

Snorting, Riku crossed his arms over his chest and glanced over his shoulder to look at Sora curiously, "Because captive princes always lead to the downfall of fearless, deadly, infamous pirates' leadership skills, right?" He mockingly questioned with a smirk rising to his face.

Sora's eyes didn't meet his and the Spiky haired brunet simply bypassed Riku on the path way, "Only in my life story, honestly."

"Just because I'm a little silly doesn't mean I should be really affecting the way you present yourself in front of your men. Get real, Sora."

With his words, he found himself hopping over a log. His hands scratched at the wood when he threw his body over, and he winced before blowing at his palm soothingly. His sped his steps up to catch back to the back of Sora's steps as it seemed the pathway they walked on grew narrower.

His eyes caught sight of a rather large spider web just a few feet away from where he stood and he stuck his hands into pockets leisurely, "Are you afraid of spiders, Sor?" He curiously questioned.

The question was random, but he knew for a fact Sora wouldn't exactly care.

"I used to be when I was younger."

"Oh… What made you stop?" Riku asked right as he heard Aqua begin screaming at someone not too far up ahead.

Sora paused for what appeared to be a second, though it was still long enough for Riku to take notice and the moment he did, he raised a slightly confused brow upward.

"My stay on the Highwind…" He quietly answered,

Instantly, Riku continued, "How? What'd you do? Magically wake up one day and decide you weren't afraid anymore?"

The prospect wasn't too crazy considering how he was Captain Sora, the most feared pirate on the seven seas who happened to have soft spot for a ginger kitten in his office.

Sora shook his head, "No. Captain Cid has his own means to deteriorate petty weaknesses like that."

The opened end the answer held made Riku a bit curious and he leaned forward, prepared to ask what exactly did the Captain do to him, but he couldn't as Sora was glancing over his shoulder with eager eyes, "Why do you ask? Are you afraid of spiders?"

Shrugging, Riku glanced off deeper into the various trees around them, "I just wanted to know… No, I'm not," He gave a short laugh; "My brothers were though. I remember once I found a small one out in the gardens and I chased Kadaj around with it for a bit."

"You're cruel." Sora stated, glimpsed back at Riku with narrowed eyes, "Leon did the same thing to me. Do you understand how scary that is?"

"You let your brother chase you around with a spider, Spiky? Wow, how many people know this?" Riku grinned at him in amusement as he passed the still standing pirate captain on the pathway.

Up ahead, he could Roxas and Axel only several feet away from where he stood.

"Two and I expect it to stay that way." Sora countered right as Riku gave a snicker before he quietly reassured him it would.

It wasn't like he'd have much of anyone else to tell it to.

He liked it when Sora told him about his family in a positive way. Whenever Sora told him stuff about them in a rather melancholic fashion, it made Riku feel uneasy and anxious, almost as though he could feel Sora's on feelings on the subject of his mother and brother's deaths but when it was trivial things, it made him smile.

The fact Sora was able to disclose personal information like this that he never had with anyone else before, not even Roxas or Axel, made him feel special and he liked it a lot.

"If we're doing questions again, I'm just making sure… Kadaj is the oldest of your siblings, right? Sora continued from behind.

Riku nodded his head, not attempting to take any notice to the lack of respect Sora always had when he addressed his family.

"Yeah, then it's Loz."

"After Loz it's Yazoo and after Yazoo it's Fuu."

"Who's real name is Fuujin right?"

"Correct. Wow, Sora you're good at remembering these things." Riku complimented, though he only received a scoff in response, "Your family wants to kill me how can I not remember? I'm pretty sure I know the names more monarchs in Radiant Garden than you do."

His confidence earned an eye roll from the royal, "Every single one in the empire?"

"Name a state and I'll have a go." Sora responded with a smirk on his lips as he fell into step beside Riku . Both of their shoulders were rubbed against one another at that instant and Riku snorted, "How much are you wanted in all of Radiant Gardens?"

"To the point where if I actually had sex with them all, I'd probably die of exhaustion."

"You're an epitome of comedy, Sora. You should write plays for a living if your pirating career reaches a dead end, you know." Riku sneered out to the brunet that gave a short chuckle,

Just watching him laugh reminded Riku how it was so hard to align Sora as the same person at his various times as pirate Captain.

Riku actually wondered if the times he was onboard had actually been the most Sora had laughed and smiled in a while…

"You have a tendency to laugh and smile whenever I show distaste to your jokes," Riku voiced out his small observation, causing Sora to look at him shortly, "Because your reactions are cute, Princess."

Scoffing, the prince scowled a bit, "I'm sure you don't laugh at any one else's cute reactions to your jokes."

"What—"

"Captain Sora, you're just soft on me. Admit it." Riku sang out lightly, his hand brushed throughout his fringe as he ducked beneath a low hanging tree branch and waved away a bunch of leaves that remained within his way.

He found his steps coming to a stop as he watched not too far up; the crew was at a standstill in front of the rather small breach to what Riku could only assume to be a cave.

Plants and vines aligned the walls and only a bit of visible darkened stone shown through.

The inside of the cave was entirely pitch black and even if Riku squinted, nothing from inside would be viewable.

"So this treasure chest or whatever, is inside of this cave or…?" Riku immediately found himself asking as he walked up toward Ventus and Axel.

Axel moved his head from on top of Ventus's shoulder only to shrug his own, "Don't know honestly. I'm letting Roxas and Sora handle this on their own. Also it's a coffer."

"A coffer is a chest." Riku retorted with warning eyes that Axel instantly held his hands up in defense, "My bad, Your Highness."

At that instant, Ventus released a bout of laughter, "Yeah, if I'm right coffers and chests are the same thing?" He eyed Riku with a smile in anticipation for the answer and Riku nodded proud to know the information, "Basically."

With a snort, Axel rolled his eyes shortly causing Riku to snicker lightly, "But this thing you're all going after… It's called The Dark Meridian, right?" The Dark Meridian name was entirely familiar to his memory.

It was an old dynasty that had only lasted about two generations as the monarchy in Northern Hollow Bastion a few centuries back. They had all died out before a new dynasty ascended.

Ventus rolled his neck back, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the name."

"Yes, it is. Sora's wanted it for months now." Following his words, Axel watched over at Sora as he spoke to Roxas closely, the serious expression flickered back to Sora's face like the spark of a flame.

Riku found his own eyes trailing to them and he spoke without tearing his eyes, "What's so special about it?"

He couldn't recall anything about a The Dark Meridian or some sort of legend about the place.

If he was right, the sole Queen had been accused of murdering her father for the throne despite only being like 18… She herself had been murdered not too long after she took the throne and she'd not had any surviving children to follow after her.

No mentions of a The Dark Meridian or anything though.

"No clue." Ventus responded,

Axel said nothing, his eyes still intent on Sora and Roxas as the two now began to lead the others into the cave with their own lanterns lit up and lifted upward.

"Well, time to go then I guess." The blonde muttered as he reached for Axel's hand to pull him along and forward.

The prince moved quickly to catch up to the both of them as they all made it into the humid, slightly rank smelling cavern.

He could see both Kairi and Aqua up ahead with one another attached with one arm intertwined with each other. Aqua was holding the supply bag that Kairi had once been burdened with carrying and the two appeared to be talking with another member of the crew sociably.

Roxas's pace with his raised lantern took him to the front of the group, leading the way down the tunnel while Sora fell to the back, something Riku found considerably odd since Sora was the captain.

He turned to Ventus with a questioning look on his features as the two made their way not too far from the back of the group.

"What sense does it make that Sora's in the back and Roxas's in front…? Isn't Sora the 'leader' of this treasure hunt?"

The words treasure hunt made the whole thing sound a bit childish. It fell into place with the benevolent pirates that were in children stories, not the true nature of pirates that raided merchant ships as they did in reality.

"I'm pretty sure it's in case of an attack or something." Ventus briefly explained, his eyes turning back to glance at Sora before he brought his gaze back to Riku , "Roxas's in front as the first head on attack if anything, then it falls back to Axel, that's why he's in the middle, and then Sora's in the back in case everything all goes wrong? I mean, typically anyone would assume Roxas was the Captain and aim to take him down first, ya know?"

Not too longer had he drifted into his sea of thoughts did his steps forcibly come to a stop as his eyes caught sight of everyone ahead of him stopping their walk.

His eyebrows furrowed and he glanced up to where Roxas stood and it now came to his attention that the tunnel they were trekking down had two separate ways to continue going down further.

Low mutters instantly broke out amongst the group of them before he heard Roxas clear his throat loudly above everyone else.

"Well, this is where the map says to go, but the cave is split so…" Roxas trailed off uneasily.

Riku couldn't help but observe how everyone's heads turned in unison, allowing all their eyes to rest on Sora, not another sound coming from anyone as they simply watched him for whatever he had to say.

It took a few seconds before Sora pushed ahead to the front to observe the two divisions in the cave.

Riku curiously gazed at the pirate Captain as he stood before both opened ways before he picked up two rocks from the ground.

Everyone remained soundless, watching Sora as he swung his hand back before tossing the first stone down the tunnel on the left. It took a couple seconds before the impact was heard along with the hollow echo.

Sora then took the time to repeat the action with the second stone, with the tunnel on the right.

The moment right after, the pirate turned to watch his crew passively, "The one on the left is narrower. Majority goes through the right, minority take the left. I'll be going to the one on the left. Everyone else decide where you want to go now."

Riku couldn't help but cringe his face in confusion as everyone began to scramble to a side to walk down.

"I'm going with Captain!" Ventus announced loudly and Sora instantly sighed right as Axel and Roxas both edged toward the left side, neither looking ready to separate from one another and Ventus, their eyes saying their feelings exactly.

Kairi gave Riku a fleeting look as her arm was held and she was pulled over to the right by Aqua gently.

Giving her an understanding smile, Riku nodded off at her before he turned to look at Sora expectantly and shrugged his shoulders, signaling he was going with them regardless.

Axel gave him a pat on the back right after Sora finished giving his own lantern to Aqua and returning to their cave entrance after he explained what they were to do after they reached the end of their own pathway.

Riku grinned as he looked over at Axel, "Is it really such a good idea to have the Captain, First Mate, and you on one side and the rest of the crew on the other?"

"I'm flattered that you think so highly of me that I have my own title, Princess." Axel smirked, "But it's just a walk through a cave, Sora knows what he's doing. Not like the others can't hold their own anyways. Even Kairi could probably take down someone twice her size! Have you seen her fight? Pft, the girl's like a hidden beast!"

"She can't even talk without crying how can she even pick up a weapon much less hurt someone with it?" Sora interrupted as he fell into step beside Riku with a scowl on his lips.

Axel's amused expression visibly faltered and he held his hands up in defense, "My bad, Sora. But you never know, I've talked to her plenty of times without the tears and the girl hangs with Aqua, I'm pretty sure some of that fierceness rubbed off."

"No."

"Or not." Axel ended, "Anyways, I think Roxas and Ventus are calling me, goodbye." Axel remarked with a short wave as he quickened his pace to catch up with both Roxas and Ventus as both pirates led the way up ahead with the lantern.

The fact he was speaking so poorly of Kairi made him cringe, but Riku knew it was futile to even try to get Sora to stop, so instead he settled on folding his arms across his chest and looking at the pirate curiously, "How exactly did you know which way was narrower from throwing a rock?"

Unless of course, Sora had been guessing?

Sora scoffed, "Listening to the way pitch of the echoes, Princess. Honestly, I figured you'd at least know that with your 'formal and prestigious' educated, pft."

"Oh, shut up!" With a huff, Riku turned to shove the male in the shoulder.

Clearly not seeing the assault coming, Sora stumbled to the side, his hand immediately shooting out to grab Riku 's arms to stop himself from tripping.

Riku grunted as he was pulled closer to the Spiky haired male and the space between them was nonexistent.

Sora's hat slide off his head and landed partially on his own, and Riku glanced up at it, in the process gaining eye contact with Sora.

In the back of his mind, he heard Roxas saying they needed to wait on the two of them to Ventus and Axel, but Riku 's full attention rested on Sora, who watched down at him with a slow growing smile, one that Riku couldn't help but find himself matching.

"You have no idea how much you mean to me." Sora lowly breathed out, though Riku was close enough to catch every word.

He felt his face flush slightly as his eyes fleeted away quickly, "I probably don't…" He reluctantly responded as he stood up more straight, though Sora's grasp on his arm remained.

"But, you do have an idea, right?" The brunet asked seriously, "You do, right?"

Riku could feel the sudden mood change in the conversation and he knew it was time to pull out before it got too deep.

Shaking his head, he tried to get his arm away from Sora's hand,

"If you really want to let your feelings out, actions speak louder than words, alright? Especially when you haven't even been saying words… All you've been doing is implying stuff while expecting me to get it automatically. I'm not a mind reader, Sora."

Sora blinked his eyes, his grip on the prince loosening ever so slightly, "You can't be that oblivious, Princess."

He released what sounded like an exasperated groan from the pit of his throat before his bit his bottom lip, his eyes flickering downward silently for a brief moment.

Riku ripped his arm away now, a scowl on his lips, "Sort it out yourself, whether I'm oblivious or not shouldn't mean anything because if you truly wanted me to know, you'd say it directly or not at all." Sighing, he started his walk once more,

"I love you."

Riku 's feet stopped mid-step and he found himself nearly tripping over a large sized stone in his way. He caught him and quickly ran a hand through his brown hair, his mind instantly rejecting the words that seemed to cause time to freeze ever so slightly.

The volume of his heart beating within his chest fluidly filled his hearing sense and Riku willed himself to turn around and face the male behind him, but his body refused, a queasy feeling erupting in the pit of his stomach,

Instantly, he tried to steady himself and keep his front strong as he replied, "You don't—"

"Don't you dare fucking tell me what I do and do not feel. I won't let you do that to me, Riku ."

A lump began to form within his throat, and Riku hadn't come to notice that he wasn't breathing properly until he was forced to swallow down the uncomfortable bump.

He sighed, the noise audibly shaky much to his inner annoyance, before he finally found the motivation to turn back around, his body immediately face to face with Sora's own suddenly looming form.

The royal's lips frowned the moment he caught sight of Sora's lit up blue eyes that watched him in anticipation, "Sora," He started out and right after he came to realize he hadn't anything else to say…

What was he supposed to say…?

"Did you not hear me? I said, I love you. You're amazing, Riku . You're more than amazing, for fuck's sake, I can't even begin to truly describe what you are aside from perfection to me, okay? I told you before that I've liked you for a long time and I still do. I never stopped loving you and I know no matter how hard I try, I won't be able to stop either." Sora announced, his eyes staring into Riku 's own and effortlessly allowing the sinking feeling in the pit of the royal's stomach to increase severely.

The words left an impact on Riku 's psych and it took him a bit of a moment to fully process everything enough for him to clear his throat,

Riku released a heavy breath, his eyes flickering to meet with Sora's calmly, "I hear you, Sora. I really do, but the thing is I don't know if what you're saying is true. How can you say that about me when you hardly even know me?" Riku weakly responded, his stomach still churned.

Sora only knew him for about a month.

Was the even enough time to truly 'love' somebody?

Fairytales always had the princess and the prince fall in love after one kiss, but that was all in books. Real life was much different.

"I know the you that you're too afraid to show everyone else." Sora defended with furrowed eyebrows, "That's a fact you can't deny."

The prince's mouth dropped slightly and he was instantly reminded of all the talks he and Sora had where he confessed in just about every little detail and thoughts of his life back in Radiant Garden had been.

Likewise, it was pretty much the same in the way Sora occasionally opened up his own self to Riku in those small instances of weakness and vulnerability he shared.

He was reminded of the fact he was still standing before the male in question and could only bite his bottom lip silently.

What was he supposed to say?

He'd never once been in this kind of situation before.

He knew girls around the kingdom all had crushes on him and the like, but Sora was coming at him so seriously and the fact Riku knew that he just may be able to reciprocate the feelings back made him unsure of what to respond back with.

"Nothing then? You have nothing to say?"

Sora let out a dry, humorless laugh as he took a step back, "Alright. I figured."

The expression was a clear lie, the fake smile that the Spiky haired male wore on his face made Riku scowl heavily as he reached out to the younger's shoulder, "Sora, it's not—"

Sora moved away from his touch, his eyes flashing up to meet his blankly, his smile not meeting his eyes, "Don't worry, Princess. I promise after I get the Meridian, I'll set you back to Radiant Garden." His tone was flat and empty to the point that Riku felt like he wasn't even talking to Sora at all.

"Wait, what?" Riku questioned incredulously, he wasn't sure if he heard right or not.

Nodding, Sora said no more before he started walking past Riku and after the distanced glowing light that was near the sole exit to the cave.

"What do you mean? You're taking me back to Radiant Garden?" The prince asked after he sped to catch up to the swift moving pirate.

"I'm not good enough for you to stay and I don't want you here if you'll just be homesick." He truthfully replied and Riku was immediately taken back.

Sora was actually being considerate of his feelings… Just as he had when he actually took off the collar from his neck before.

Was he even dealing with the same person he had been about a month ago?

It then fully came to snap in his mind that the same Sora Caeleaum that had once visited him for the first time back in his prison room, the same Sora Caeleaum that ruthlessly killed a man in front of his eyes, and the same Sora that cruelly left him inside of a room for four days for attempting to get away from him.

Sora changed right before his eyes and hadn't actually taken the time to stop and think about it as it happened.

Was it even possible for a person to change so quickly like that?

He stopped himself from continuing to question it because it was too obvious, what, or who had been the reason for Sora's all too fast change.

The fact he'd been the cause for Sora to turn about his personality and ways was a little scary, but it reinforced the suggestion that Sora's feelings for him were genuine to the point Riku could feel his stomachache transitioning to a more painful heartache.

Sora once only had three people in his life that he loved so dearly.

Two were gone and only one remained.

The thought that the single one remaining wanted nothing to do with him and couldn't even gather a proper response to his verbal confession must have been killing him inside.

Riku felt his heartache increase that much more.

"Sora," His words came out cracked and lower than he anticipated.

He had no idea if he was heard or not, but Sora continued walking further to the exit of the cave, his back seemingly growing farther and farther away from Riku 's own reach.

Just putting himself in Sora's own spot…

He knew he needed to put down exactly what needed to say to him to clear up everything.

"Sora." Riku called more strongly this time, his steps quickening right as Sora exited the cave and the royal felt a bit of impatience enter his being at the fact he was more than likely just being blatantly ignored,

Knowing a full out shout couldn't possibly just go neglected, Riku opened his mouth to just scream out the spiky haired captain's name once more,

The moment his mouth opened, the sound of a gunshot rang throughout his ears and if the sound wasn't enough to completely catch Riku off guard, the fact that Sora's body was falling to the ground silently, was.

Another gunshot pierced the air and Riku found his whole being freezing in horror the instant Sora's form hit the dirt and stone covered earth.

He couldn't even let a word out; his legs were just running straight to Sora's fallen body that lay right at the entrance of the cave.

The natural light from the Sun that beamed down to the entrance and to the vast amount of trees ahead caused Riku 's eye to water from the sharp brightness change that his eyes underwent the moment he stepped out from the darkness.

He was instantly kneeling at Sora's side, the mortification and shock his body felt still felt threatening to rattle his nerves to the point of shaking, though he forced his mind to stay rational even in the face of this unexpected situation.

His hand touched the younger male's back frantically, "Sora, are you okay!? Sora, come on." Riku 's words left his gritted teeth forcefully as his hands moved to touch the pirate captain's now heavy head.

There was no way Sora wasn't okay though. He had to be.

The sound of a gun being clicked flashed over his hearing and Riku 's ears immediately perked up as his head slowly turned to look up in the direction the noise came from.

Riku found his eyes meeting with another man's who now began walking out of the foliage, his gun held out offensively, almost daring him to be resistant.

"Prince Riku VanSinclair of Radiant Garden, nice to see you."

And this is where all of you are probably really pissed at me. Haha. Also the last chapter was just a random idea I had and it wasn't ending there, however it is ending in a chapter.