Stygian Solace

by Uzumaki-sama

By taking Riku's hand, Sora alters their destinies, and Riku takes his rightful place as the keyblade master. Now as Riku plays between his duty as a hero and his own confused judgment, Sora tries to suppress the darkness within both of them. RS

37. Ch 21: Chain of Memories part three

Author Notes:

HAPPY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, STYGIAN SOLACE!!!

In honor of the occasion, this chapter is extra long, as requested. I'm posting lots of SS-related stuff on my LiveJournal about the past five years, so check it out if you're interested. There will also be cake involved. For me.

I'd like to give a ginormous thanks to Lane, who has been with this story since its creation and has been there almost every step of the way over these past five years. I couldn't have come this far without her. Also huge, huge, huge thanks to Ashanti and Vash's Girl for helping me get through my Riku-writing woes and suggesting dialogue/prose when my brain couldn't process anything remotely in character. Also thanks to Nashya and Fruchiseka and Dark Ki for their kindness and patience. These days, I'd be lost without all of you. As for the rest of you, thank you for all of your continued support and critiques.

SORRY FOR THE HUGE WAIT! (Insert real-life excuses here.) That said, enjoy the chapter!

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Chapter Twenty-one: Chain of Memories – part three

-o-o-

Riku's grip remained unyielding around Sora's wrist long after they had left the sea witch's lair. Now they passed through dark waterways without direction, Riku leading Sora in silence, who remained haunted by the words Riku had told him before this dizzying race to who-knew-where.

"I'm not letting you escape this time."

"Wha—"

"I mean it, Sora! And if you try to leave—using the darkness or whatever—I'll follow! I swear I'll follow!"

When Riku had said that, Sora had seen Riku's face through the magenta light of the sea witch's terrain and had recognized the look in his eyes—a fierce resolve, a recklessness that had led to more than a few accidents over the years. Sora couldn't remember the last time he had seen that look, and now, probably over an hour after seeing it, nostalgia still lingered within him.

At first he had been angry with Riku for making deals with the octopus and for acting like Sora had been in the wrong the whole time during this adventure, but the silent swim had settled him down enough to begin thinking things through.

At some part in their journey together, he might have found his current situation exciting. He and Riku were in an underwater world as merpeople—something Sora never would have expected possible despite all of the creatures and magic spells he had come across. So far, he hadn't been able to enjoy this world because of Riku, but at the same time, the only reason he was here at all was Riku... and whatever Riku had paid to bring him here.

Sora's questions sat at the tip of his tongue, waiting for their chance to get Riku to explain things, but Sora kept hesitating. He couldn't see Riku's face from this angle, and that made him uneasy. He wanted to be able to see Riku when he spoke to him. After everything they had gone through, he wasn't sure what to expect from his former best friend and boyfriend.

Former...

He and Riku hadn't been separated more than a few weeks, but Riku already felt like a completely different person to him, like he wasn't the same Riku from Destiny Islands or even the same Riku from Agrabah—and that had only been two days ago!

But what had changed? Was it because Sora had left him there...?

Well, whatever's wrong with him, stick around and see what it is, Id spoke up.

Id hadn't said anything in a while, but at a time like this, Sora was willing to follow his advice (even if it wasn't advice so much as a demand). He agreed with Id here. He wanted to know what was going on. He deservedto know.

I am, Sora assured him, but he expected that discovering whatever was going on would be tricky. He couldn't just ask Riku what he wanted to know, could he?

Then again, he had never been that careful around Riku in the past. When Riku had pushed him, Sora had always pushed back. Riku may have pushed too hard last time, but Sora was tired of letting the fall hurt him. It had been weeks since that disaster. Maybe it wasn't the right place or time to expect an explanation or apology from Riku, but he wasn't going to sit back and continue to let Riku run this show, either.

"Riku?" he finally cut in through the silence.

Though subtle, Riku's fingers tightened around his wrist.

"Yeah?" came the hesitant response a moment later.

"Do you even know where you're taking us?" Sora wondered, hoping it would strike a nerve.

It did.

Instead of continuing onward, Riku yanked on Sora's wrist and pulled him into a narrow crevice. Sora still couldn't see where they were going, but he felt the water current and temperature shifting around him as Riku led him deeper into the darkness, and somehow he knew the fluctuations in the environment meant they had entered a cave.

In a swirling flash of light that illuminated their surroundings, Riku summoned his keyblade, and Sora saw how accurate his instincts had been. Riku really had led him into a small cave. Other than the fish that scattered away from them and hid amongst the sea plants, they were alone.

Riku's expression was calm, maybe even guarded, but he met Sora's eyes as he finally spoke.

"This is far enough."

Riku hadn't answered the question, Sora noticed.

"Far enough for what?" he asked as he pulled his wrist out of Riku's grip. Riku let him, but his fingers had been there so long that Sora still felt their presence. He rubbed at his skin to get the feeling to go away, all the while watching Riku, who kept staring right at him as though afraid he'd disappear.

"I don't want to get interrupted," Riku replied with a slight narrowing of his eyes. His determination from before seemed to be back. "I risked too much to get you here, so I can't let anything bad happen."

Sora saw his opportunity there to begin his interrogation. "But why bring me here?" he asked.

Riku glanced away, sullen, and glared off into the shadows. "Because how was I supposed to know when we'd see each other again?" he pointed out, his brows knitting. "Or under whose terms that would be. Or if we'd really have to fight on opposite sides next time..."

The way Riku spoke made Sora hesitate. His words carried no confusion, leaving no doubt in Sora's mind that Riku believed everything he was saying, even though it made no sense to Sora. He had no idea how Riku's version of events had gotten so twisted out of perspective that he believed Sora was an enemy. But Sora couldn't argue against Riku's concern.

When Sora had left Agrabah, he had been so focused on how he hadn't been ready to face Riku or ready to come to terms with what had happened, and he hadn't stopped to think about how leaving Riku like that would affect their already messed up relationship. The way Riku had looked at him on the magic carpet when they had met face-to-face for the first time in weeks—Sora had recognized all of the emotions he had seen. Relief, remorse, hope...

Riku was no longer showing those. Had he missed his chance for Riku's apology...? For an explanation?

And he had assumed things had been so complicated before being brought here. Now what was he supposed to do? Well, all he really could do was to keep asking questions. Riku said he had "risked too much" to bring Sora here, so...

"What exactly did you pay the octopus?" he asked Riku.

For a moment, from how Riku glanced quickly at him and then looked away again as if caught, Sora wasn't expecting Riku to answer honestly, or at all. Yet there came a hesitant reply, spoken softly and guarded.

"A memory," Riku said.

He turned away after saying it, leaving Sora staring at his back with incredulity.

"A memory?" he asked, trying to make sense of the answer.

He didn't know whether or not to believe it, as crazy as it sounded, but... now that he thought about it, if dragons and mermaids existed, hearts could literally be stolen, and worlds were protected by giant keys, who was to say that memories couldn't be traded? If Riku had paid that witch a memory, no wonder he was acting all weird. Things were beginning to make a little more sense.

But how could Riku have just let the witch have a memory?

He was scared to know what Riku might have been thinking when he had made that decision. She could have taken something serious—or worse! Memories were unique and precious—not something to barter with like they were munny. The factthat Riku had let someone so evil have something that special was like a stab to Sora's heart because, in a way, Riku was throwing something priceless away again. And for what? To drag Sora back to him?

"A memory?" Sora repeated. This time his incredulity was bordering on anger. "You gave her one of your memories?"

Riku must have understood his tone because he still wouldn't meet Sora's eyes, even as he turned back to face him. "Yeah," he said, then started to try explaining, "but I—"

"Riku, you're the keyblade master!" Sora cut in as soon as he heard the opening for Riku's excuse. He didn't care why Riku had done it, just that he had done something so risky and—and dumb! "You can't go around giving memories to scary octopus people! She could be really dangerous!"

"Dangerous?" Riku echoed, and then released a dry laugh. "I didn't care if it was dangerous, okay? I wasn't... thinking about that."

"DUH! I don't think you were thinking at all!"

At Sora's bluntness, Riku's shoulders stiffened, but he said nothing.

Sora was getting really tempted to beat some sense into him. Wasn't Riku supposed to be the hero? Wasn't he supposed to be the smart one, the strong one, the one with the plan? He had looked up to Riku all those years only to just now realize what an idiot Riku could be. Being reckless was one thing; Sora had known that part of Riku all his life. But this...? First the Yami thing, and now this. It baffled him.

"Riku," he whispered, earnest, "how could you be so stupid?"

Maybe it sounded childish, but Sora meant it.

He knew it had hit a sore spot when Riku's head snapped up and, just for the briefest of moments, Riku looked hurt. Then it was gone, and Riku was opening his mouth again.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said, eyes narrowing into a defensive glare. "I did it because I wanted to see you!"

Silence.

Sora stared.

All this trouble for something so simple? It left him in disbelief again, his face clouding with confusion as he tried to form words to express how insane all of this was beginning to sound.

"Riku, you..."

He what? Had lost all common sense? Was that desperate?

No, no—

Sora clenched a hand in his hair before sighing in frustration. Picking on Riku wouldn't get him his answers. He moved forward through the water, deciding to close some of the distance between. He wasn't scared of Riku, and there was no way he was going to back down that easily.

"Why for me?" he asked. "If I'd wanted to see you, I would have come to you myself! When I was ready!"

"Exactly! When would you have been ready?" Riku pointed out, the tension in his voice growing. He wasn't backing down either, like Sora had sparked that old competitive drive within him. There was something about the way his eyes looked, not nearly as guarded as the rest of him anymore—almost desperate. "I wanted to talk to you alone, without Maleficent directing you, without an audience."

"I'm not working for her!" Sora yelled, trying not to get too annoyed with the bogus accusations. "Stop saying I am!"

Despite Sora's denial, Riku's determination remained steadfast, and he also drew closer through the water to meet Sora's silent challenge of authority. "Look, I'm tired of fighting with you, fighting to get through to you—"

"And we weren't fighting with each other!" Sora cut in. "There wasn't time to." He broke off for a second and clenched his jaw, emotions welling inside of him as he thought about what he wanted to say next, but he didn't want to give Riku another reason to think he was being the weak one here. "The only reason we're not together anymore is that you completely screwed everything up, and—" Sora paused for just a moment to study Riku's reaction, and when he saw the confusion there spreading into irritation, he rushed out the rest of his sentence to match his irritation before he could break down instead. "—and—and I've gone through a lot of really crappy stuff because of how much you hurt me, and I'm not ready to forgive you for what you did, you selfish, stupid jerk!"

"Stop calling me that!" Riku snapped, eyes blazing. "And how did I screw everything up? What did I do? You're the one who ran off—"

This time Sora interrupted by shoving Riku back. "You idiot!" he cried, his patience running thin and giving him room to be upset. "She took your memory! How can you even trust yourself right now?!"

Maybe it had been the push or maybe it had been the reemphasis of Riku's stupidity, but whatever it was, Riku faltered. Now that Sora was getting so upset, Riku's antagonistic demeanor was beginning to shift, no longer looking annoyed with Sora, but with himself.

"Because..."

But Riku couldn't finish it. He glared to the side again, his tail flukes twisting in an awkward gesture. Sora figured that Riku must have known that making the memory deal with the witch had been a bad move; maybe that pride of his was just making it hard for him to accept it.

"Riku," Sora said, sounding almost pleading, "she could have totally taken advantage of you! What would have happened if she had taken all of your memories, or the memory of the keyblade—? You would have lost! Game over, Riku!!"

Then, as if Sora had finally put the situation into terms Riku could understand, Riku's defensive walls slammed back up, almost like a final stand to protect himself. "I know what I'm doing!" he snapped.

"You don't!" Sora returned. He was definitely not backing down now, not when he had Riku cornered, not even if Riku was refusing to see the truth. Sora would pound it into him if he had to. "She could have even killed you!" Sora flicked his tail and swam forward again, grabbing Riku by the arm to meet him face-to-face. "You don't even realize what she's taken from you!"

Riku brushed Sora's hand off of him but didn't move away. "I don't care what happens to me!" he said, beginning to sound desperate, but his eyes were clear, honest. Then he reached out in return, lightly grasping Sora around the elbow as he searched Sora's face. "Sora, I just..." His fingers tightened. "I just wanted my best friend back!"

Once again, Sora stared, moved speechless because of the simplicity that lay behind all of their complicated problems.

Ah, so the truth comes out, Id laughed, picking up on Sora's train of thought.

Riku didn't care what happened to himself... but had he even stopped to think about how Sora would feel if something did happen to him? All of those memories they had together, all of those happy moments that made up for the bad, all of their promises, especially the one that had bound their destinies, silly legend or not—and Riku still didn't understand how he felt?

In that moment, as those words struck through Sora, all he saw was Riku's utter stupidity and selfishness...

And before he realized what he was doing, his fist flew out.

It slammed into Riku's jaw, snapping his head back, and not even the resulting sting of his knuckles made Sora's glare falter. He felt his eyes burn and was glad that even if he did start crying, Riku wouldn't be able to see his tears amongst the water. Not that Riku would have noticed anyway, since he was still reeling from the punch—it was the complete shock on his face that finally cleared Sora's rage, letting indignation take its place.

Best friend...

So was that what Riku really wanted? Then what exactly had the paopu fruit meant to Riku? Was their friendship that much more important to Riku than the step they had taken beyond that?

He couldn't remember the last time he had hit Riku like that. He probably hadn't hit Riku at all since they had gotten together, not even when sparring. Had he? It felt like such a long time... It made him think about what else had changed between them since they had left home.

They had been best friends since forever but boyfriends for only a short time. His boyfriend had been the one who had betrayed him, not the old Riku, his best friend who had never left him out of anything he had done, not even homework or a blitzball game. When Sora thought about Riku and how much he missed him, he thought about their time back home, before they had shared the fruit, before they had officially gotten together.

He missed his best friend. He missed running on the beach with Riku, listening to Kairi giggle behind them as she followed along. He missed lazing around in the tree house and hanging all over Riku without getting uncomfortable or embarrassed. He even missed the rich sound of Riku's laughter as Riku's attention had been on him and only him. He especially missed the late nights when Riku had come to him to stay the night, and how they had curled up in Sora's bed together, telling stories about other worlds.

Those stories hadn't been anything like reality.

If Sora had never confessed to Riku or offered to share the fruit, maybe none of this would have ever happened.

Maybe...

Maybe there was a way they could start over.

As Sora's thoughts came to their hopeful conclusion, Riku's stunned look began to fade into a hurt one, and he finally spoke. "You hit me," he said, voice cracking slightly. He sounded bewildered. "Why did you..."

"Because I care," Sora said, shaking the sting out of his hand before clenching his fists, continuing to glare at him.

Riku took in the sight of his angry pout and turned his gaze away, cradling his jaw. For a second, it almost seemed like he was trying not to cry, and that more than anything made Sora feel a little guilty for hitting him. But only a little.

"You care, huh...?" Riku said. A tinge of bitterness had crept into his voice. "Feels more like you hate me now..."

Sora was preparing to get angry again at Riku's last statement, but that changed with what happened next.

Riku lowered his hand from rubbing his sore jaw and gave Sora that same look from before, that fierce, determined stare that had left him nostalgic, but this time Sora didn't know what it was for. He could never predict a reckless Riku, especially not when that recklessness concerned him.

"Fine then," Riku said in a dark voice. "I'll say what I have to say, and then you can leave."

Sora didn't even have time to respond.

He abruptly found himself pinned against the wall of the cavern, glowing keyblade trapped between them, and Riku's face hovering inches above his own. All of Sora's anger disappeared under that single look, and he was reminded in that moment of just how dangerous Riku could be if he wanted.

Riku's muscular arm angled up so his hand could clutch the sea plants above Sora's head, and as Riku pressed even closer, his sharp hipbones and scales brushed Sora's belly like they had before, back near the sea witch's lair when Riku had cornered him. The weird friction sent a nervous thrill through Sora, who drew in a deep breath and met Riku's gaze with wide eyes, uncertain as to what Riku was going to do.

Riku himself looked calm, but he was so close that Sora could feel his slightest movements, even how he was trembling slightly.

Did that mean Riku was scared, too? But why...?

"Sora..."

Though it was a low tone, there was an intensity to Riku's voice that demanded the attention of everything around them, even the water, as the cave fell to a deeper hush. The moment seemed to move in slow motion as they stared at one another through the soft glow of the keyblade until Sora realized he could still speak, and even then, he was careful to keep his voice softer than Riku's as if he were scared to break that eerie hush.

"Y-Yeah...?" he asked.

Riku leaned closer, his long hair floating around their cheeks in a silvery curtain. He was still trembling, but when he spoke again, it was still soft, still intense, but steady. "This is probably the hardest thing I've ever done," he said, and Sora felt his heart pounding harder. "But I need to say it. I need you to understand, even if... even if you can't accept it."

Accept what? Sora's mind wondered, panicking because he wasn't sure he knew this part of Riku at all.

Sora felt the arm beside his head tense as Riku clutched the sea moss harder. "I'm not going to lose you," Riku whispered fiercely. "I need you by my side."

At a loss for words, Sora stared into his eyes, not sure what his own expression looked like, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered right now except for what Riku had to say, because whatever it was, it had been the reason Riku had risked himself to bring Sora here. Riku shifted even closer, the flat side of his keyblade pressing against Sora's shoulder, the metal oddly warm against his cool skin.

Sora almost stopped breathing. For just a moment, he swore he felt Riku's heart beating as fast as his, an echoing comfort deep inside of him, but then Riku narrowed his eyes, and Sora lost himself in that sea of green.

"Do you know why?" Riku asked.

Sora took a shuddery breath and shook his head.

Riku's composure faltered a little, and he looked down as if to collect himself and his thoughts. "You're... not just my best friend," he admitted softly. "When you're at my side, I feel like... I can do my best." A deep breath from both of them, and Riku's tone grew fervent. "I can't stand being without you."

Then he looked back up, and Sora was drowning in those eyes again. The green narrowed even more, now reflecting the deep intensity in his voice.

"I love you. And I'm not letting you go again..."

Sora's eyes continued to widen as Riku's fingers found his hair and gently stroked through it. A thumb brushed his bottom lip, which began to quiver under the delicate touch. But even as unbridled emotions flooded Sora, Riku's gaze remained as unwavering and as real as his voice.

"...no matter what, Sora."

And that was when he finally understood.

The signs were all there: Riku only talking about being best friends and not boyfriends, also not even mentioning what they had been through together since they had left home, and showing no remorse at all for what he had done to Sora. There was a simple explanation behind everything Riku was neglecting to bring up.

Riku didn't remember any of it.

Part of Sora was indescribably happy for the confession Riku had just given. The other part of him, however, recognized what it meant.

Riku didn't remember Sora's confession. He didn't remember the two of them being together. He didn't remember the paopu. He probably didn't remember Sora's birthday or their night together. And he definitely didn't remember what he had done with Yami to have upset Sora so much.

Everything that Sora had held dear, and the one thing that had truly hurt him during this stupid adventure...

They were gone. Riku had just... given them away.

And it had been so Riku of him to not think of the consequences of his actions. He had done all of this to see Sora, maybe even to apologize or mend their relationship, only to accidentally destroy what had remained. Now Sora would never know.

That reality struck through Sora, who clenched his eyes shut, trying not to look as upset as he felt. He felt his warm tears slip free and escape into the ocean water, safe from Riku's notice.

He remembered his thoughts from a few minutes ago—of how much he wanted his best friend back and wished they could start this over. Despite how much Riku had hurt him, and as much as Sora wanted to hear why he had done it, Sora had to accept that he wasn't ever going to hear it now.

Riku had been able to escape the burden of those memories, but he had left Sora with them, along with the emotional baggage they carried. It had been the ultimate selfish act.

But it was Riku... and his intentions had been honest.

"I did it because I wanted to see you!"

If Riku really didn't remember any of the reasons Sora was mad at him, what was the point anymore? Maybe those memories just... weren't worth all of this trouble.

As this ran through Sora's mind, all he really wanted to do was explain it to Riku: that Sora had given him the paopu fruit, that Sora had confessed, that they had been together for months now, that Riku had let Yami take him, and how much Sora had suffered because of it—but...

He stopped himself.

He knew Riku, and the truth would only confuse him even more right now.

"Riku, I..."

The problem was that he didn't know what to say if he couldn't explain the truth. Sora wanted to be selfish and tell him everything anyway, but he couldn't. Sora wasn't like that.

Even after everything Sora had been through, he still couldn't be the bad guy.

Meanwhile, Riku had begun to tense after Sora hadn't said anything in response to his confession, but when Sora offered Riku a small, reassuring smile, Riku visibly relaxed again.

However, when it became evident that Sora really didn't have a response to Riku's confession, Riku's uncertainty returned, and his expression closed off as he averted his gaze.

Sora felt the fingers in his hair slip away. He reached out and caught them, smile faltering for a moment as their eyes met again.

Silence weighed the space between them as Riku searched Sora's face as if expecting to find an answer or some kind of real reaction. There was none. Sora just lifted Riku's hand back to his hair and pulled his lips into a sunny grin to ease Riku's worries.

The truth could rest for a while. At least until Sora could figure out how to fix things. Riku had risked so much just to bring him here, and in Sora's mind, as stupid as Riku was for doing that, he did deserve credit for his courage, if nothing else.

"I missed you," Sora said, his grin fading into a pleased smile when he felt Riku's fingers curl back into his hair.

Riku's expression was closed off, probably because he wasn't sure how to take Sora's strange answer to his confession. This Riku didn't have any idea that Sora liked him back, let alone loved him. Without those memories, Riku was as inexperienced as both of them had been months ago back home. That meant Sora had the advantage here and the element of surprise.

Sora gently pushed the keyblade out from between them and folded a hand against Riku's shoulder, earning a hesitant smile from Riku, who seemed to be trying to accept Sora's ambiguous responses. It was obvious he was disappointed and thought Sora was just trying to be nice to him. In that moment, he was so easily readable that Sora couldn't help finding it cute.

Taking advantage of Riku's naivety, Sora leaned in and met his lips.

Through the hand he had on Riku's shoulder, he felt Riku's body stiffen with surprise, so Sora playfully moved his lips against Riku's with soft, sensual variations, enjoying the way Riku sucked in a sharp breath at the unexpected advances. After all, if Riku really had no memory of them being together, Riku would have no clue they had ever kissed. Delighted with Riku's reaction, Sora began to pull away, letting their lips slowly separate.

Riku looked completely bewildered but excited and relieved at the same time, which made Sora laugh. He rested his forehead against Riku's and allowed himself to relax. For some reason, even with Riku as confused and as stupid as he was, Sora felt relieved, happy to have this moment with Riku. Maybe it couldn't last forever, but... was it so wrong for him to want this second chance? Just... for now.

Riku's hand tightened in his hair, and Sora's smile widened.

"You... kissed me."

"Mm-hm."

He felt Riku's fingers slide down to the nape of his neck first, and then Riku nuzzled against Sora's cheek bone as he spoke into his ear.

"Why did you kiss me, Sora?"

The intimacy sent a shiver tickling down Sora's body, ending as a pleasant flutter in his gut. He thought he had missed Riku before, but now that he had Riku here like this, he was reminded of why he had been attracted to his best friend in the first place.

"I wanted to," Sora said, and then lightheartedly poked his nose. "You know, you aren't the only one with a crush on your best friend."

At first it was just surprise that filtered over the curiosity on Riku's face, but as Sora kept watching, he witnessed how his words settled into Riku's mind and heart, and relief segued into a warm smile that changed everything between them.

That one look told Sora that, at least for now, everything would be okay. As if it were meant to be this way, the space between them felt lighter, and Riku was Riku once again.

"Is that so?" Riku said. Most likely to match Sora's playfulness, a subtle but teasing smirk was crossing his lips.

"Yup," Sora replied.

"You really don't hate me, huh?"

"Nope," Sora said, now grinning, "but you can be a huge jerk sometimes."

With a dry laugh, Riku shook his head and lowered his face, and Sora felt Riku's forehead rest against the crook of his shoulder. Riku's floating hair tickled his nose, but Sora took care of the problem with a simple sweep of his hand, his fingers pinning Riku's stray locks against his pale neck. The way Riku tensed slightly under Sora's touch didn't escape his notice, but after a while, both of them mellowed out, with Riku almost nestled against Sora and Sora's arm cradled behind Riku's relaxed dorsal fin.

They remained that way in silence for a length of time, which Sora spent thinking about how different it felt to hold Riku against him instead of the other way around. In a way, it seemed like Sora had done all of the maturing during this adventure, and Riku was still stuck back home on that paopu tree, lost in his escapist dreams.

When Riku finally did speak again, Sora was so consumed by his thoughts that he almost missed the murmur.

"Explain to me why we're not on the same side."

Oh yeah.

Even though Sora was ready to let their differences rest for now, Riku was still confused. Good thing that Sora had an idea already.

"What if I said... we could be?" Sora asked. Riku slowly lifted his head, and through the dim lighting that Riku's keyblade cast throughout the watery cavern, Sora could see Riku's curiosity return. "Let's make a deal," he said with a smile. "I won't run away again. I'll even stay here with you as long as you want... if you promise not to bring up Maleficent or the heartless—or anything else we've been fighting about."

Sora was expecting him to be skeptical, so when Riku looked as though he wanted to protest, Sora plapped a hand over his opening mouth. Then he ignored the withering stare Riku gave him.

"I mean it, Riku, just listen to me," he insisted. "While we're here, let's just... forget everything. I don't want to fight, okay?" Sora's resolve wavered there, and he ducked his head so Riku couldn't see his uncertainty. "And when it's time for you to go, if you still don't have your memory back, I'll explain everything. And... then I'll decide then whether or not I'll go with you."

He knew that going with Riku would be risky in terms of their friendship and relationship, but regardless, he had been avoiding Riku for too long. If Riku agreed to this small truce, Sora might get another chance to be with him—as they should have been. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice, and he wouldn't let Riku make it, either.

The touch of Riku's fingers to his wrist startled him, and he lifted his head, realizing he still had a hand over Riku's mouth. He could feel Riku's lips pulling into a smile under his palm. Muttering an embarrassed apology, Sora slipped his hand away to let Riku speak.

Before Riku even said anything, those fingers trailed through Sora's hair again, making Sora shiver and close his eyes, and he knew right then what Riku's answer would be.

"Alright," he said, and he said it so calmly that Sora could only marvel at his composure. It was almost like old times. "Alright," Riku said again. "No fighting. I won't bring up Maleficent or the heartless..." He paused to consider something. "But you can't bring up Ursula. She's my problem. I don't want you involved."

Sora was already involved, and he planned to stay that way... but Riku didn't have to know that.

He nodded. "Fine. It's a deal?" he asked, holding up a hand.

Riku returned the nod and grasped Sora's hand, squeezing it. "Deal."

They smiled at each other, and Sora instantly felt the cold vise that held his heart beginning to loosen after weeks of pressure. He really needed this tiny vacation, this... brief reminder of what genuine happiness should be like. And from the way Riku was smiling at him, he knew Riku needed this, too.

Now that they weren't fighting or trying to figure each other out, Sora took a moment to really look at Riku. Back at Agrabah, he hadn't imagined what he'd seen: Riku had lost weight. He also had slightly more muscle definition, but Sora somehow knew that the weight loss had less to do with Riku's training and more to do with stress. What worried Sora the most were the shadows under his eyes. Riku wasn't taking care of himself.

That was going to have to change.

After gently pushing Riku back to give himself room, Sora tugged on Riku's hand and started to pull him to the floor of the small cavern. Riku went along with it, and the keyblade lit their way, revealing a bed of sand and scattered tufts of sickly seamoss. The cavern probably opened a little above them to allow enough sunlight during the day to keep the plants just barely alive down here. Maybe it was cruel of Sora to so carelessly flop down into the sand and smother the plants, but they were extra cushioning, and that's all that mattered to him.

Riku followed his example and curled up on his side with Sora, looking perfectly content to nestle down into the seabed with Sora's arms around him. Once again, their positions felt reverse, with how vulnerable Riku seemed. That moment of innocence, however simple it was, made Sora happier than he had been since they had left home.

Minutes passed like seconds as the boys lay together like that, speaking in low tones and telling each other stories of their adventures that didn't involve Maleficent or Sora's involvement with the darkness. Sora retold his encounter with Aladdin, Abu, and Genie and how he had gotten involved with their misadventure; he touched on his worries about the beast in the dungeon and the missing princesses of Hollow Bastion; and he even talked about Yami, trying not to feel bitterness towards either of them about Riku's one-night-mistake, since the point of this brief reprieve was to escape it.

If only it were that easy. Sora hadn't been the one who had sold his memory to the sea witch. At times, like when Riku tried to tell the stories of his adventures, and he mentioned Mulan's world and the coliseum as if Sora himself had never been there with Riku, it was hard for Sora not to feel indignant and interrupt to correct him. Riku really didn't remember Sora being with him for most of the adventure, and it hurt. But all he did was grin and bear it.

The more they talked, though, the more Riku's energy seemed to plummet. Somehow, Riku's head ended up tucked under Sora's chin as Sora's fingers stroked through Riku's hair, and Riku began to fall asleep in the middle of explaining who the little mermaid with red hair ended up being and what she had done with Cid's comlink. Riku's words slurred before trailing off into nothing, and he only responded with incoherent murmurs when Sora prompted him to continue. Riku didn't. His breathing evened out and his body relaxed completely against Sora's, and Sora decided to let him sleep for now.

Riku must have been exhausted for him to pass out in the middle of storytelling like he had. From what Riku had told him about this world, Sora wasn't sure Riku had had much time to rest after he had left Agrabah...

When Sora was sure he was deep asleep, he wrapped his other arm tightly around Riku's waist, holding him close to revel in the feel of his body so close against his own. Fishy form or not, Riku was real. He was right here. And he was all Sora's, if just for now.

Sora smiled, rubbing his face into Riku's hair, and shifted his tail closer. Almost instinctively, Riku's tail shifted in return, curling close to Sora's so that their tail flukes touched. Sora didn't mind the contact, despite how odd it felt to have Riku's extra fins pressing against him. The rest of it felt nice. Even though Riku's body wasn't warm here, at least he had a heart. Sora had missed cuddling with his real best friend—which nothing could beat, he decided, not even cuddling with a dozen heartless Riku clones.

Unfortunately, he hadn't forgotten how he had almost done more than cuddle with an anti-Riku. That was something he'd never admit to Riku. Then again, by now there were probably plenty of things that Riku wouldn't ever admit to Sora either, so it felt like a fair secret to keep.

As Riku slept on, Sora's thoughts continued to wander, from his current situation to what he was going to do after this, and he even thought about home and wondered what might have happened if he had never taken Riku's hand when the darkness had been consuming him... Sora especially thought about what he might be able to do to help Riku here with his memories and that deal with Ursula.

As he contemplated everything in an attempt to sort his thoughts out, some time passed before Sora noticed how Riku had begun to shiver.

At first Sora didn't think much about it, but Riku's trembling grew heavier, even to the point his tail or hand or head would give little involuntary jerks. Sora shifted carefully to get a good look at him without waking him up and noticed that Riku's expression was almost a grimace.

Was he having a bad dream...?

Heh, I wouldn't be surprised, Id commented.

His existence flared up inside of Sora immediately, whose first instinct was to squash the consciousness nudging at his own. As much thinking as Sora had been doing for the past however-many hours, he had forgotten about Id already, especially since Riku hadn't had the memory of him to bring him up. Even though Id had been awake just a few hours earlier and Sora hadn't minded, his presence now felt irritating—almost like he was somehow trespassing on a special moment meant for just him and Riku.

Nevertheless, when Id had something to say, it wasn't always nonsense...

What do you mean? Sora asked.

Riku's bitten off more than he can chew, came the ambiguous response, which only irritated Sora more.

And what does that mean?

It means someone else is going to get him before I will, Id replied. While I'm stuck here watching the two of you dawdle and mope about each other and get nothing fun accomplished. You know, at least Yami gets stuff done.

For a second, Sora couldn't believe what he had just been told. Was Id purposely goading him? It really seemed like it! Sora almost took the bait, too, but then Riku's tail brushed against his own, and he was reminded of where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. Right. This was a break from all of that stuff—he shouldn't even be thinking about Id or Yami.

We're not moping. And stop trying to mess things up, Sora said. I'm happy right now.

Happy. Why? Because Riku said he loved you? Id teased. Haha, you're such a child. He only said that so you'd come back to him.

Sora's irritation quickly rose to anger. Shut up. What would you know?

A lot more than you, apparently, Id returned. Riku is the type to like having control of a situation.

Which was true, Sora agreed, but he didn't see what that had to do with this. If anything, Sora seemed to have more control here.

So you think, Id laughed, picking up on Sora's thoughts again. Let me explain. With him thinking you're working for that witch, it's true that technically you're not under Riku's control anymore. He can't predict you. And since he's seen you travel by using the darkness, he knew he didn't have any way of stopping you from just... leaving this world. You could have just left, and he knew that.

Sora was getting an inkling of what Id was insinuating, and it made him uncomfortable. I wouldn't have left like that, he said. Riku—

—doesn't completely trust you, now does he? Id pointed out. As I said, he can't predict you. So in order to stay in control of the situation and in control of you, he had to make a desperate move—by telling you the one thing that would make you stay under his thumb.

And Sora knew exactly what Id was talking about. Riku's confession... This time, Sora didn't say anything, his uneasiness spreading.

You may think he's being sincere, but Riku only said what you wanted to hear, Id said. It was his way of staying in control.

Was it really? Sora had to admit that it made sense. It also made Sora wonder exactly how much Id witnessed whenever he was watching through Sora's eyes. Id seemed to know a lot that Sora didn't remember Id being around for... Or had Id just been reading Sora's thoughts? Guh—how creepy!

Sora tried to push Id farther into the recesses of his mind. I said shut up! You're just trying to make me mad at him so I will leave him and make him even more open to evil people like that sea witch!

Hah! Sea witch? Id said. Trust me, he has bigger things to worry about than losing a memory. Or two. Or countless dozens.

Running his hand through Riku's hair again, Sora tried not to let himself get distracted by Id's teasers. Every time he said something like that, Sora just wanted to ask more questions—but he somehow knew that's what Id wanted, and giving Id what he wanted sounded like a bad idea.

...I don't trust you, Sora replied.

Why? Id asked. You'd rather trust someone who made you an oath and turned right around and broke it the very next day? Oh, don't let me forget how he sold his memory of that colossal mistake just so he'd have the peace of mind and an excuse to confront you with a straight face.

Shut up! Sora snapped again. Riku's not like that! Stop trying to turn me against him!

But Id still wasn't done yet, and his mental intonation was beginning to sound downright malicious. How do you know he didn't choose which memory to sell her? He did seem rather reluctant to tell you at first.

Go away

This time, Sora shoved Id's presence completely into the back of his mind and tried to distract himself from everything he had just been told. He curled more closely against Riku, a little shaken and not wanting to believe any of it. Maybe Riku wasn't perfect—it was true that Riku made some awful mistakes—but that didn't mean he was doing all of this to be purposely controlling.

Id was just trying to trick him.

Burying his face in Riku's hair, Sora tightened his arms around Riku's slender waist, ignoring the scales and the fins, trying to take comfort in his closeness again. Almost in response, the sleeping Riku's fingers twitched against his side where they rested, and Riku's trembling subsided, if only a little.

That was enough for Sora. He relaxed and decided not to worry about Id for now. Since Riku was sleeping, he ought to get some rest as well.

Sora's gaze scanned the cavern before lifting, noticing a very faint spot of blue above them—a cavity in the stone that most likely let in light during the day, just like he had suspected earlier. Judging from that spot of blue, it was almost sunrise or already was.

As Riku's body gave another noticeable shudder, Sora rubbed a hand against the finless part of Riku's back to pacify him. Soon, Riku's deep, even breathing began to soothe Sora as well, helping him escape his confused thoughts. He found himself matching the rhythm of his breathing to Riku's, finding it hypnotizing, and a drowsiness passed through Sora, gradually drawing him off into a light doze.

By the time Riku's actual nightmare arrived, Sora was already sleeping like a baby.

-o-o-

I feel your heart weakening...

The voice sounded familiar.

It had a soothing rumble to it, a deep undertone that seemed to wrap his heart in a layer of silk. Like a soft breath tickling the back of his neck, it evoked pleasant shivers on instinct. It was a dark allure—something forbidden. Something he had, without realizing it, been ignoring for months. He had heard this voice before, but where...? Had it been an earlier dream?

Oh, yes. Riku knew he was dreaming again.

And the hidden strength within is absolute. Perfect.

Though it had been a while, he recognized the setting—the foyer of the bastion, the double staircase on either side of him, but he couldn't see beyond them because a heavy darkness saturated everything. The only source of illumination came from behind. He was standing with his back to the ornate fountain in the foyer's center, and the soft rush of water from the dragon's mouth sounded obstructed.

He wanted to turn and see why or where the light was coming from, but his body wasn't obeying. In every other dream, Riku at least had been able to control his actions, but not now—it was as if the dream were controlling itself this time, and he was left to play witness in his own mind.

All of this untapped potential...

He was aware of the sounds around him—someone crying close by, another person calling his name behind him, and a deep, sultry voice in his ear—but his mind refused to concentrate on them for long.

I can draw it out.

Without his consent, his eyes scanned the shadowy figures standing just at the threshold of light. If anything, Riku could have recognized them from just their silhouettes.

To his left: Sephiroth's tall stature, his extraordinary wing and the faint shine of silver hair giving him away. His posture was calm, though the way his hand rested on the hilt of his sword led Riku to believe something about this situation didn't sit well with the warrior.

Beside him stood the Sora with dark wings from his previous dreams, except this time there was no sweet innocence there; pure malice shown through eyes stained yellow, and somehow Riku knew that this was not the same dark-winged Sora he remembered. This was Id using Sora's body, as he did in reality. At Id's side was Rikyu, the disturbing heartless clone that Merlin had taken a liking to. The anti-Riku was crouched at its master's side, its glowing eyes narrowed in Riku's direction as if displeased to see Riku, for once.

To Riku's right was a group of unpleasant familiars: Maleficent with her pet raven resting on her shoulder, Jafar practically mirroring her with his parrot, and Ursula the sea witch resting just behind them with her tentacles sprawled out over the floor. Though Riku couldn't make out their expressions, their postures seemed to hold an air of both confidence and... distrust.

Soon, you will merely be another puppet.

Then Riku's gaze swept to the two figures in front of him, both of them standing in the light and clear to Riku. Two Yamis. One was older, what Yami looked like when Riku had last seen him, in his late teens with his white hair sweeping down past his shoulder blades. He was completely calm, even passive—perhaps a little too solemn, especially with how he was restraining the younger Yami, who looked as Yami had when Riku had first met him: barely younger than him, short hair, a hint of baby fat left in his face. This Yami, however, was not calm. He struggled frantically against the older Yami, outright sobbing as he stared helplessly in Riku's direction, looking apologetic and terrified at once. The older Yami's arms remained unyielding around the other, holding him back with unnatural ease despite how much of a fight the younger one was putting up.

Your power will rive worlds... make them quiver beneath your shadow.

Riku wanted to make sense of all of this, why so many people had gathered here, why them, why there were two Yamis, why someone was still screaming his name, why the only source of light was coming from behind, why Id and his pet looked livid, why the others seemed so distrustful, why he couldn't control his own body or thoughts or his eyes as they slowly, slowly, too slowly began to move as he turned to face the fountain—not because he had told himself to turn, but because someone else seemed to be doing it for him.

His gaze focused on the fountain, and his lips curled into a smirk so ruthless it felt foreign on his face.

And alleged heroes like this one will only get in your way.

"Riku! Answer me!"

Sora was the one screaming his name. Sora was inthe fountain. And Sora was the source of light, the only source of light—it surrounded him in a soft halo, making the fountain water shimmer and reflect off the surface of the pillars and statues and stairs nearby. The water itself was like ink, trickling black over Sora's body and leaving him drenched yet... strangely unstained.

Ribbons of darkness held Sora bound by the wrists and ankles, trailing off into the thick shadows enveloping everything except the small ring his light created. Sora twisted and pulled against his dark restraints, but there was no use.

Was that fear in Sora's eyes?

Pleasure swept through Riku at the sight, despite how much he wanted to feel horrified instead.

Let us remove the distraction.

Riku felt himself unwillingly take a step closer to the fountain—and Sora.

And Riku could feel everyone staring, watching, anticipating. Whispers behind him were encouraging, "Do it," "Take care of the boy," "He's the enemy," "Get rid of the keyblade master." He was confused, but his body still drew closer with a purpose unknown to him.

He was a doll, completely incapable of moving on his own, hardly even able to concentrate on what was happening. Were they calling Sora the keyblade master? Wasn't Sora on Maleficent's side? Why were they telling him Sora was the enemy?

Another step forward, and now he could feel the light spray of the dark water against his cheeks.

Young Yami's cries grew louder.

Sora's voice turned more desperate.

"Riku—! This isn't you! Don't listen to him! Please!!"

Another step.

Riku paused right in front of Sora, calmly regarding the stark panic in those wide eyes.

"Riku!! Snap out of it!" he screamed.

Riku felt his smirk begin to widen as Sora tried to wrench his arms free from his dark binds.

A meaningless effort.

In an elegant gesture, Riku's hand swooped up, and the dark water of the fountain sprouted tendrils of darkness. They snaked through the air between Sora and Riku, fluid like wisps of smoke...

Darkness is your weapon.

...yet as tangible and firm as any cord. With a flick of Riku's hand, the darkness snapped forward, circling Sora's neck...

Don't be afraid to wield it.

And tightened.

For a moment, all Riku could see were the whites of Sora's eyes, then they began to redden from the pressure. Sora's fingers clawed at the darkness as he choked for air, collapsing onto his knees in the fountain water and sending the dark liquid spraying over the edge. As Sora struggled and writhed and croaked as the darkness constricted more and more and more, Riku only smiled, taking great pleasure in the sight of the keyblade master at his complete mercy.

Except, it wasn't Riku. Riku himself was horrified, silently crying for Sora's sake, but his body refused to obey, and the darkness kept its grip tight. He could feel the water soaking into his clothes, hear the whispers rising at his back, their voices blending into a mantra of, "Kill him, he's the enemy, kill him," but the young Yami's sobbing was loudest of all, reminding him of Sora or one of his other friends from home whenever they were helpless and all they could do was cry and cry and wait for someone, anyone to help.

"Ri-Riku, don't do it... d-don't hurt Sora...!"

He didn't understand any of this!

Imagine the power

Two Yamis—Sora and the darkness—all these people here—

It could all be yours, Riku.

And that voice...

Absolute control.

A flash of light drew Riku's gaze to Sora's hand, which now clutched a familiar keyblade—Oblivion!—why did Sora have Oblivion?—and, within moments, the blade twisted around and cut through the darkness restraining his arm, then through the black noose, freeing Sora before Riku could even think to react. Which Riku was glad for. Internally, he was cheering for Sora to fight back, hoping he'd somehow be able to escape this nightmare—

"Stop resisting!"

The voice that left his throat wasn't his own, but rather the same one that had been purring in his ear this whole time, that audible trace of fingers running through his hair, tempting, taboo. Who are you? he wondered, but the thought froze and shattered when he—no, the Voice—summoned more darkness.

It snapped like rubber around the keyblade and jerked it straight out of Sora's hand. The hilt connected with Riku's palm, fingers curled around it, and in one swift movement, the blade was spun around and flying right back towards Sora.

Riku saw Sora's back connected with the ornate fountain wall, black water cascading from the lion's mouth above him, and he felt Oblivion's tip strike Sora's shoulder and sink into him, piercing through skin and muscle, crunching bone, and stabbing into the back wall with impossible force.

A scream tore from Sora, drowning Riku's senses with pure shock at what his dream self had done, who actually took pure pleasure in Sora's pain, reveling in the boy's suffering as if it fed his power.

Blood soaked through the familiar hoodie he wore, stained the old blue and white glove and fingers that flew to the dark weapon to try pulling it out. Through his grip on the blade, Riku could feel every movement Sora made, right down to his erratic breathing and pounding, panicking heart—a heart so bright, so powerful, he instinctively knew it had to be erased.

There, he felt the spoken caress, promising untold desires and hinting at unimaginable power in two little words.

Do it.

Even with only one good arm, Sora fought frantically with the keyblade, gritting teeth and growling as he pulled at the blade with slippery red fingers. Riku mentally cried out at the sight, especially when he saw the blood half coating the silver crown hanging over Sora's heart.

This time, even the dream Riku hesitated.

Then, deliberate yet subtle, something smooth moved inside of him, like lukewarm water compressing his heart, something vying for more control...

Behind him, Maleficent and the others were still whispering, and that young Yami cried out again—"Don't do it!!"—strange and shrill, but sounding muted compared to the whimper Sora gave as he tugged desperately at the keyblade Riku held stuck through him, displaying him for all to see like a butterfly writhing at the end of a pin.

Do it.

The force within him erupted and overtook his heart, stifling his hesitation, and Riku could only watch as his own hand seized the crown pendant and ripped it from Sora's neck, the darkness rising around them in an attempt to smother Sora's light.

A nefarious hunger surged through him, there with the desire to hurt, as the darkness converged for a final assault, and Sora's bloodshot eyes flooded with terror—

SORA!!

—but when Riku jerked awake from the nightmare, all he could remember was the terror they had shared in that one instant.

Traces of the dream faded almost immediately as he tried to recall what exactly he had been so scared of, as if the visions of faces and the enigmatic words were grains of sand being sifted through his fingers. Soon, the images and voices had left him completely, and only vestiges of sleep remained as he stared down at Sora's slumbering figure.

He had awoken nestled against Sora in the underwater cavern and had lifted himself up in his panic, his arms trembling slightly from the strain of his locked elbows. Now that he remembered where he was and that both of them were safe, he lowered himself back into Sora's arms, still edgy from his evasive dream.

If he had forgotten it so easily, maybe it hadn't been as important as his previous ones. Though...

...if that were true, why couldn't he stop trembling?

you can become stronger

That voice!

Riku flinched and pulled away from Sora, summoning Oblivion as he spun through the water to confront the intruder.

No one was there.

It was just him and Sora, and Sora was still fast asleep, completely unaffected by Riku's skittishness. An overwhelming sense of déjà vu swamped him, meshing badly with his growing apprehension, and it left him too restless to find any comfort with Sora right now. He needed space. He needed to reassure himself that he could trust Sora and trust himself.

That, and he wanted to find out what time it was.

Riku's keyblade vanished as he kicked off from the bed of sand, heading for the underwater tunnel he had used to bring Sora into this cavern. A part of him was scared he had slept too long—he did feel rested, but that could have meant anything after that rush of adrenaline from a few moments ago.

If he had been asleep for hours, he'd have even less time to spend with Sora and much less time to meet up with Ariel and retrieve the trident from her... if she had even managed to take it without anyone noticing. If it really was the strongest weapon in Atlantica, Riku doubted King Triton would just leave it lying around.

Damn it... He should have thought this through more carefully. What if she couldn't sneak it away? Would he even have time to try getting it himself? Would he have to fight King Triton for it? Great. He was sure that Donald would just love Riku screwing up the world order that badly. Fighting a ruler just to fulfill a deal with a sea witch to save his own hide because Sora—

No...

He wouldn't blame this on Sora. This had been Riku's decision. If Ariel failed, Riku would deal with the consequences himself. It was all he could do.

Swallowing back his dread, Riku left the cavernous niche, heading to find Ariel's grotto.

-o-o-

Sora woke with a start as something hefty dropped into the sand next to him, half of him expecting danger, but the other half of him definitely not expecting what it turned out to be. Sleepiness gone, Sora blinked down at what appeared to be an old fishing net full of...

"...clams?" he asked, looking up as Riku's pale figure floated forward.

Though Riku wasn't exactly sunny, he didn't look as haggard as he had been before Sora had fallen asleep. He glided through the water, sending Sora a faint smile, and the way it didn't quite reach his eyes made Sora worry.

"Yeah, breakfast," Riku explained. "It won't be your mom's clam chowder, but..."

"But it's food!" Sora said, his surprise fading into cheerfulness. He kicked his tail to join Riku's side to inspect the palm-sized shellfish. A dozen or so were loaded into the tattered net, some pushing against each other with their feet as they slowly tried to escape, while others were trying to dig through the net. "Where did you...?"

"I went to find that mermaid I told you about," Riku admitted, picking up a still clam. "Didn't find her. But there was a clam bed by a sunken ship."

Sora's excitement skyrocketed then. "A sunken ship?" he asked as he moved forward to meet Riku's gaze, and he sounded especially eager even to himself.

"Yeah. I can take you there if you want to see," Riku offered with an amused expression. Maybe it was Sora's imagination, but Riku seemed to be lightening up already. "But first—breakfast."

As if on cue, Sora's stomach rumbled, and both of them laughed. Riku dropped his clam back into the pile and drew closer to Sora through the water to ruffle his hair. Touched by the familiar gesture, Sora grinned. Things were beginning to feel normal, almost as though just falling asleep together had erased all of the pain between them. He remembered their promises last night, however, and knew that eventually today would end, and he would have to make his decision.

Stay with Riku... or leave again?

Well, despite what he chose, he was determined to make good use of their time together.

"Any idea what time it is?" he wondered.

Riku shrugged and began to gather the edges of the net. "Not sure. I looked earlier, and my guess it that it's about noon now." He nodded towards the exit. "Let's go up to the surface to check."

"Okay," Sora agreed.

He helped Riku with the load of clams, which was an easy weight with both of them working together. They swam side by side out of the cavern and angled upwards. Now that the sun was up, the sea was a vast blue with shimmering silver above. One after the other, they broke the surface of the water, welcoming the cool breeze and the distant cry of gulls, and Sora suspected that the wave of nostalgia that passed through him was shared by Riku as well. It was like they were almost home.

Sora raked a hand through his wet hair and saw Riku do the same before they met each other's eyes. After exchanging smiles, they both surveyed their surroundings, but not much was to be seen except the sparkling waves around them and a brilliant blue sky peppered with tufts of cloud. The sun wasn't hanging directly overhead but dipping slowly towards the horizon. If Sora had fallen asleep after sunrise, then he had been out of it for well over five hours...

"Past noon, then," Riku commented, also noting the sun's position. A worried look crossed his face and disappeared, and Sora wondered what it meant. Riku didn't have other plans, did he?

Sora tried to brush his own concern away for now. Gripping the net more tightly between them, he scanned their watery environment again, this time spotting a stationary mass amongst the rocking water. It was in the distance, appearing and disappearing from sight beyond the swells of lazy waves.

"I see something," he said, pointing.

Riku's eyes narrowed as he focused on what Sora was pointing at, then seemed to relax when he realized what it was. "I saw some rocks in that direction. Maybe one of them broke the surface." He turned to Sora with an air of confidence, even a familiar smirk lightly pulling at his lips. Sora knew that look well. It meant adventure was involved. "Let's check it out... We might be able to find a place to put these down."

Agreeing again, Sora followed Riku's lead as they plunged back into the water. As it turned out, what Sora had seen was indeed a rocky mass protruding from the sea. Sandy brown, it looked almost like a chair rising out of the water, with a flat base and a jutting peak, which supported a small crow's nest-like portion of a ship that had probably wrecked around here. Though the islet was deserted at the moment, judging from the dry material gathered in the crow's nest, something did live here.

Sora helped Riku heave the load of clams onto the tiny platform, and for a minute as they stared at the wriggling net, they were silent even though they were probably thinking the same thing.

How were they going to eat these? They didn't have shucking knives or even a way to cook them.

"Well..." Sora began, attempting to prompt Riku into coming up with a genius idea.

"I didn't think this far," he sighed, sounding annoyed with himself. "And I can't remember the last time I ate."

Sora found himself gawking at Riku. "Wha—?" And Sora had thought he had been hungry! Were people not feeding Riku or something? Worried about him even more, Sora attempted to lighten the mood. "Jeez, Riku—did she take that memory too?"

Riku's green eyes flashed with irritation as he regarded Sora, and then he spoke in a clipped tone. "I've had more important things to do."

Alright, so maybe reminding Riku about Ursula hadn't been the wisest thing to do. Awkward now, Sora pursed his lips and averted his gaze, studying the clams as he fell into thought. He'd almost broken his promise already. So far, both of them had been doing well about avoiding mention of Riku's memories and Yami and the keyblade—the subjects that had caused tension between them in the first place.

Wait a second...

The keyblade!

"Hey, Riku," he said, sounding buoyant to pretend he hadn't just made a stab at Riku's stupid stunt. "Get out the keyblade. I have an idea."

But Riku was skeptical. "For?" he cautioned.

"The clams!" Sora reminded. "You wanna eat or not?"

Riku hesitated, but he seemed to be catching on to what Sora was implying, and with a nod, he lifted a hand out of the water and summoned his keyblade. Sora always liked watching it appear—first with a burst of light, then its form swirled into existence out of fragments of shadow and indigo electricity, leaving behind the keyblade's sleek black design and dangling charm.

Sora held his hand out for it.

At first Riku stared at him in question, but Sora just grinned again to disarm his suspicion. Riku conceded and passed the keyblade to him, but Sora didn't miss the almost anxious way Riku's fingers ran through his dripping hair. He probably felt uncomfortable without its power—which Sora sympathized with. With the blade in hand, Sora inspected it up close, pleased that Riku was trusting him this much with the magical weapon.

There was something there... a deep, underlying strength. It practically hummedbeneath his hand. Feeling empowered, Sora turned the blade towards the bundle of clams and concentrated, tapping into the wellspring of power resting within his heart. He hadn't touched it in what felt like weeks, but it jumped at his call, springing forth and entwining with the keyblade's innate energy.

"Fire!"

Heat rushed into existence, flames swamping the clams and a good portion of the rock before swirling upwards into a conflagration and dispersing into sparks and smoke. When the magic cleared, it left behind a steaming pile of roasted clams and what had once been the fishnet holding them. They were no longer moving, their shells charred but still sealed shut.

"Insta-fry," Sora half sang, satisfied with the results of his fire spell.

Riku was smiling now, though Sora had a feeling it wasn't because of the fireworks. "Smells good," he commented. "Here." He held a hand out for his keyblade, and Sora obediently passed it back, already missing the humming warmth of the powerful weapon.

Riku's arm lifted above the water as he gave the keyblade an expert twirl, and then he brought it down in a rush towards the clams, sweeping over them without touching. Like magic—maybe because it was magic—every single clam shell sprung open, exposing the fleshy meat inside, cooked and waiting to be devoured.

"Show off," Sora teased.

Riku's smirk returned as he gave a casual shrug. "Whatever," he said, but Sora was happy to hear the playfulness in his tone.

There were eleven clams in all, and when Sora was done with his share, Riku willingly forfeited the extra one to appease Sora's large appetite. They didn't taste as good as the shellfish back home, but they still had the fishy, metallic tang he remembered.

Before Sora could finish the last clam, however, they were interrupted by excited cawing.

They dove out of the way just in time as a large seagull crash landed into the pile of open shells. Both of the boys grimaced at the sudden ruckus, especially as the gull began chatting freely—because apparently birds could speak on this world.

"Well, whaddya know! I leave for just a few minutes and someone drops by!"

The bird flopped over, reclining on the shells with his feet in the air as he looked at them.

"Or someones. Ariel's pals? She never mentioned you... but I bet she told ya about my extensive human expertise, huh? Lemme see if I can guess what you want... Hmm..." He studied the two of them for a second before his face lit with sudden realization. "I got it!" he cried, flaring his wings as he hopped back to his feet. "You've eloped and you wanna know some human courtship rituals!"

Riku and Sora exchanged confused looks, but the gull continued on without waiting for them to respond.

"So that's why you're up here. Well, let me get a better look at ya!" He moved to the edge of the rock, stroking his beak as he started to appraise Riku's face. "Wow, you got quite the catch here! She's a bee-yuute! I mean, Ariel's got the looks too, but this mermaid's sensational."

"Mer...maid?" Riku repeated slowly, his expression darkening. Even though Sora was holding back a laugh because yet again Riku was being called a girl, Sora got the distinct feeling that they'd better ditch the interloper before birdbrain ruined Riku's good mood completely.

At the sound of Riku's very non­-girlish voice, the gull leaped back in surprise. "Whoa!" Eyes wide, he lifted a wing to one side of his beak and leaned towards Sora to whisper loudly. "She's gorgeous, kid, but she ain't a Siren with pipes like that. Sure you wanna mate with—"

Sora clapped a hand over the gull's beak and laughed, trying not to let Riku's intense glare intimidate him. "Ehehe... thanks for the advice, but we gotta run—er, swim!" he exclaimed. "You can have the leftovers!"

When he released the bird, he snatched Riku's wrist and plunged into the water before Riku could object. He didn't want to give him the opportunity to turn the situation around and convince the seagull that Sora was the girl or something. Sora wanted to enjoy this funny vainglorious feeling while he could, which was while he was in control and Riku wasn't.

Sora wasn't sure if it was the fact he had food in his stomach or of it had been the gull's blunder, but as he pulled Riku deeper into the ocean, he became more and more energized. The smile on his face was beginning to feel permanent, and apparently it was wide enough for Riku to comment on.

"You thought it was that funny?"

Sora shook his head, but his laugh said otherwise. "I'm just happy!" he said, full of spirit. "It's been a while since I had this much fun."

Riku's expression lightened considerably then. "Yeah." He offered Sora a smile of his own, though it only had a fraction of Sora's enthusiasm.

Riku's fingers slipped around Sora's wrist in return and tugged to get Sora to slow to a stop. The touch was simple but held enough command in it for Sora to obey, and as he waited, Riku's hand took his with an air of confidence. Sora felt his illusion of control fade away as he met Riku's eyes, and he wondered again if what Id had said last night had been true. Was Riku really all about control? Maybe he was...

But truth or not, did it matter as long as both of them remained happy?

Sora had done so much growing over the past few weeks that he had almost forgotten what it felt like to be his age. He and Riku had left Destiny Islands as children. Sora could only hope that when they got back, they would still have a touch of that innocence inside of them somewhere. They had been in such a hurry to grow up, they had lost sight of what was the most important to them. Because of their rash decisions, both of them had suffered losses—family, friends, homes, dignity, reasons to smile—but they didn't have to lose each other.

"I want to show you something," Riku said. The whisper of adventure was hiding behind his smile now.

Sora easily grinned, tightening his hand around Riku's. "All right. You lead."

So Riku did. He seemed to know exactly where he was going now, so Sora suspected that Riku must have done some exploring this morning before he had woken Sora up.

The farther they traveled, the rockier the terrain became, and at first Sora mistook the rubble polluting the sand and bedrock below as just trash. The more he looked, however, he realized it was debris: barrels and stray pieces of wood and sail and rope, with the occasional trace of human possessions. All had an array of sea life thriving on them, from shellfish like the clams he and Riku had shared, to colorful sponges, wiggling anemones, and no doubt a variety of creatures hiding amongst them all.

Then he saw the "something" Riku had brought him here for.

Out of the shadowy abyss emerged not just one sunken ship, but countless remains of vessels. Broken masts protruded at every angle from the wreckage, some hulls split in two, others still whole but littered with hollows and cracks, even a few stripped completely with nothing remaining except their skeletal frames. It was a ship graveyard.

"W-Wow..." was all Sora uttered as Riku continued onward, still holding Sora's hand. Sora could only swim and gape at the sight—it was like something straight out of a fairytale, and everything a hopeless explorer could want. What he wouldn't do for a camera right now!

"You said it," Riku agreed.

"I wonder if there are any pirate ships around here," Sora said eagerly, and Riku laughed in response.

"Maybe."

In unison, they headed for a ship perched on a rocky ridge at a precarious angle. Out of all of the wrecked vessels here, it seemed to be the most intact, either because it had sunken in a more recent year or because the catastrophe it had gone through hadn't been enough to tear it up as much as the others.

As they approached astern, Riku released his hand to peek into the ship. Windows stretched across the stern but were missing only a few panels, none of which were large enough for him or Riku to pass through. They decided to check out the deck and were pleased to find an open scuttle.

Sora inspected the stairs leading downward, commenting, "Kind of dark down there..."

When Riku didn't say anything, Sora glanced at him in question, noticing that Riku was staring back the way they had come. Sora got the nagging sensation that maybe this wasn't exactly a safe place to be, but he brushed it aside and reminded himself that it wouldn't be an adventure without risk of danger.

"Riku?" he prompted.

Riku blinked and returned his attention to Sora. "Sorry. Thought I heard something," he explained, then gave a reassuring smile. He nodded to the open hatch. "You first."

Surprised that Riku was letting him go first, Sora hesitated, his uneasy feeling returning. It wasn't that he was scared of the dark; he just didn't know what he'd find down there. He really wanted to explore, but something seemed... off. What had distracted Riku?

"Go on," Riku encouraged somewhat playfully after seeing Sora's uncertainty. "I'll be right behind you."

If Riku wasn't that worried after all, maybe he shouldn't be, either. "Alright," Sora said, his smile returning, and he drifted inside with his guard up.

The interior wasn't as dark as expected, but a rippling glow blanketed everything, giving him some light to see by. Debris was scattered about, most of it useless junk now, and a school of pale fish fled as he moved further below deck. Across the way, he could just barely make out a figure hunched against a wall—a skeleton, and it had a sword stuck through its chest. It even still had its hat on. Sora shuddered and averted his gaze, noticing more descending stairs.

"This place is bigger than I thought... How many levels do you think it is?" he said in a whisper so as to not disturb the dead, and he turned to see how Riku was reacting to the dead guy.

But Riku still hadn't followed yet.

A chill swept through him when he realized how far he had come by himself. Sora immediately started back towards the deck, not wanting to be alone down here. "Riku?" he called nervously.

"Stay where you are!"

Sora brought his tail forward and slowed to a stop. His apprehension grew as he waited, not liking the tone that had been in Riku's voice. "What's wrong?" he called again after a few seconds.

"Just stay where you are! There's something..."

Something? Something what? Something outside? Heartless?

Dozens of unpleasant images ran through Sora's mind, most of them ending with Riku getting maimed or worse. This was how horror stories went, right? He'd been subjected to too many of those to let Riku wander off by himself—or let him wander off either!

Then again... if he outright disobeyed Riku, Riku might get mad. Deciding to improvise, Sora did ignore Riku's warning, but instead of returning the way he had come, he swam up through a hole that had been created by a collapsed beam.

He entered into what seemed to be the captain's chambers, recognizing the row of windows in the back of the room and realizing that this was the stern of the ship. Beyond the windows, the sea was a dark hunter green, and faint rays of light spilled into the cabin, revealing little of interest except a fork.

If his sense of direction was accurate, then right behind him should be a door that led out onto the deck. Sora had planned to use that door to see what Riku was doing out there, but almost the entire wall was blocked by debris.

With a sigh, Sora folded his arms over his chest, considering going back after all. "Riku? What's going on!" he yelled, hoping Riku could still hear him.

He waited. Listened. When no response came, Sora's patience crumbled, and he turned towards the hole.

Behind him, a shadow passed the windows, casting the room in heavier shadows. Sora paused to look back in case it was Riku somehow coming to meet him, but what he saw almost made his heart stop.

There, just outside the thin panes of glass, loomed the silhouette of a gigantic shark. Enough light remained to allow Sora a hazy view of the shark's serrated teeth and the direction its tiny eyes were focused, but any hope he might have had that it hadn't seen him yet were smothered at once.

It was already watching him.

Sora's eyes locked with the shark's, and in that instant, its tail gave a powerful thrust, propelling it forward. Before Sora could even think to scream for help, the shark burst through the windows, shredding the frame and glass like paper, and shot right towards him, jaws open.

Sora's instincts kicked in before it was too late, his dolphin flukes whipping forward to send him into a backwards tumble just as the shark passed over him. The miss was so narrow that Sora literally felt the water rush past, his hair sweeping into his eyes from the momentum, but he wasn't going to stick around and count his blessings. Before the beast could turn back towards him, he turned tail towards the hole in the floor, ready to dash to safety...

But Riku's silvery form suddenly flashed past him, flying straight towards the shark.

"Get out of here!" Riku cried, and a burst of light indicated the summoning of his weapon.

Sora gasped and spun around just in time to see Riku meet the shark head-on, driving the keyblade between the monster's closing maw before it could tear his arm off. Several of its jagged teeth pierced Riku's forearm from below, immediately drawing blood as the beast thrashed, but Riku held onto his blade, desperately striking at the water with his tail to hold his own against the shark. Sora knew Riku's strength wouldn't be enough to hold it back for long, and even now it was quickly driving Riku into a corner. When that happened, Riku wouldn't have room to protect himself!

Sora wanted to help somehow, yet he had nothing but his bare fins! He wasn't like Riku, who could just summon a weapon at will. Maybe if Sora had something to work with, he could—

Oh, wait!

An idea in mind, he darted through the hole, heading below deck to find the skeleton he had seen. The sword stuck through the poor soul was shaped like one of the scimitars he had seen on Agrabah. "Sorry about this!" he said, his hands clasping around the hilt. He jerked the blade clean out of the skeleton, disturbing it so much that its skull fell off and several fish scattered to find other hiding spots. He hardly had a second to inspect it, but the blade wasn't exactly sharp—not that he needed it to be sharp, with what he was planning.

Sword in hand, Sora whirled and raced back to the captain's quarters, moving so fast that he almost hit the ceiling as he flew into the cabin. He spun around and barreled towards the fight where the shark had Riku pinned against the back wall and was overpowering him.

It was striking hard at the water, writhing from the force it was exerting against Riku, who was losing his grip on the keyblade, no doubt because of the pain. More sawlike teeth had cut into his skin, deeper than before, and the water was thicker with red around him, his arm straining so hard that the muscles were trembling. Riku was gritting his teeth and bearing with it, but his green eyes were sharp with fear and determination.

Keyblade master or not, he was just a teenager facing off against what they had called the terror of the seas back home. But even though Riku was so small compared to the beast, in that moment of reckless courage, he looked nothing short of heroic.

That was all the incentive Sora needed.

He crashed into the shark's gills, aimed the sword high, and called forth his powers.

"THUNDER!"

Electricity crackled to life around the shark, then exploded outward in an intense shockwave, stunning the creature long enough for Riku to extract his arm and roll away to freedom.

"Again!" Riku yelled. He summoned his keyblade back to his right hand, even though his arm was almost lacerated. He kicked off the ceiling and swam right for Sora, the shark recovering just in time to snap at the water inches behind Riku's tail.

"Thunder!" Sora cried, and again lightning struck through the cabin, consuming the shark.

Riku's good arm streaked through the water towards Sora, his hand snatching Sora's into a firm grip, and before Sora could see how much that spell had damaged the shark this time, Riku was jerking him towards the hole in the floor. They zipped straight through the ship, up through the scuttle, and fled into the open sea.

They heard a splintering and cracking, then a loud slam, and Sora glanced back to see the shark tear right through the hatch after them.

"How can it be that smart?" Sora demanded in disbelief. "It's a shark!"

"It's my blood!" Riku shouted without looking back, his voice cracking. "He's following the scent!"

Oh great.

Clutching Riku's hand more tightly, Sora swam faster so as to not drag Riku's pace, but the shark was still gaining on them.

"Faster!!" Sora screamed, not that willing his muscles to work harder would help them escape with all their limbs—and their lives. He felt Riku's hand squeeze around his in return, a fierce grip that spoke volumes without Riku having to utter a word. Sora understood.

The shark lurched forward, snapping at Sora's flukes and scarcely missing them as Riku pulled him ahead out of harm's way, then dove to the side with Sora to avoid another assault. There was a split second in which Sora's thoughts caught up with him with the realization that this thing was too fast for them to outrun—then something sandpapery slammed into his side, knocking the breath out of him. As he was thrown from the momentum, pain lanced through him, igniting stars behind his eyes. He was almost torn from Riku's grasp, but their hands somehow remained locked. That viselike grip was his one anchor in this chaos.

In an attempt to collect himself, Sora sucked in a sharp breath, inhaling something with an acute metallic tang...

And realized it was Riku's blood. His arm was still freely bleeding, creating a cloud of red around the two of them. Sora was terrified to look at the wound up close for fear of how severe it might be.

"Riku..." he started in a worried tone, but they didn't have time to concentrate on injuries when their lives were still at stake.

"Stay behind me," Riku commanded. His voice was rough, quaking with tension, probably from pain.

His white form slipped in front of Sora as the shark came full circle to charge again, a wall of gray launching towards them with impossible speed. Riku's keyblade flew from his hand and spiraled through the water, a blur of black that struck the shark's snout, but even the force of that was hardly a deterrent. Sora felt Riku's good arm wrap around his waist to pull him to safety, but not fast enough to evade the beast's wrath as it lashed out in pain.

Its teeth clamped around Sora's sword and began dragging him away from Riku, trying to escape with its prey. Riku's arm slipped, and Sora heard his panicked shout somewhere behind him. All Sora had to do to get away was release the sword, but he didn't, both hands keeping a firm grip around its hilt as he was hauled alongside the shark.

He knew Riku wouldn't be able to catch up with them, but it didn't matter. He didn't need Riku's constant protection, and he especially didn't need Riku to risk his own safety to do it. If anyone needed protection, it was Riku.

Motivated by his concern, Sora focused on the sword in the shark's mouth, hardly recognizing his own voice as he called out to his powers. At once, another thunder spell crashed into the enormous fish and flared outward, dazing it for a second. Sora reacted without hesitation and jabbed an elbow into the shark's gills as he released his sword. The shark veered off course as if distressed and shook its head, but then continued to swim off without him.

Now that its attention wasn't on him, Sora doubled back to meet with Riku, whose uninjured arm was bearing the keyblade. He was holding his other arm close to his chest, and he looked even paler than before. Sora took that moment to think—albeit, it was panicked thinking, but he needed to help Riku—and his gaze landed on the keyblade again, giving him an idea.

He swooped through the water, grabbed the length of the keyblade, and used it to pull Riku along behind him as he fled, not wanting the shark to renew its interest in Riku or his blood. As he swam for the light above, he squeezed his eyes shut, drawing deep into his magic.

There, beneath his fingertips, he felt the keyblade's strength connect with his like it had before, and he understood what he had to do.

"Hold on, Riku!" he cried, turning to meet Riku's eyes.

The power sprung up inside of him and shimmered to life, surrounding Riku in a yellow-green halo, phantoms of flowers hanging brightly above him for a split second before they vanished. Sora didn't have to ask to know if it had worked—Riku's arm wasn't bleeding anymore.

"Thanks," Riku returned, sounding relieved now.

Sora let go of the keyblade and made a move for Riku's hand instead, and Riku seemed to understand what he wanted. The keyblade dispersed into fragments of magic as it was released, and Riku caught his hand again, squeezing it tight.

Neither of them slowed down. Whether or not the shark had been deterred by Sora's attacks or the lost trail of blood, they didn't know, but they left the ship graveyard without its pursuit.

Still, Sora's heart kept racing long after they had left the shark behind, and even after they had stopped swimming like their lives depended on it. Riku's grip on his hand never loosened, reminding Sora of just last night when Riku had admitted to being scared of Sora leaving him. Sora didn't need Riku's words to know that Riku did love him. It had shone through his actions ever since, from the simple act of trusting Sora with his keyblade, to throwing himself in front of the shark just to protect him, and even the way he held his hand now...

Sora believed Riku.

Maybe Id was right, too, and Riku had only said it out loud to make Sora stay with him—but Sora now knew that at least the emotion behind those words had been real. And when he thought about what he and Riku had already done for each other today, his heart soared, filling him with an old but familiar giddiness.

Together, they passed the rocky terrain leading out of the ship graveyard and approached a kelp forest. Ribbons of green stretched high towards the surface to soak in the filtered sunlight, which grew more intense the higher they ascended. It was probably well into the afternoon by now, just a few hours before nightfall, but Sora wasn't deterred by the silent countdown.

He was quickly coming to a decision. He knew he wanted to be with Riku, no matter what stupid things Riku had done. After the time he had spent here, he didn't think he could return to Hollow Bastion alone. He didn't want to return.

If he could, he wanted to prove to Riku that he was staying with Riku because he wanted to, not because he had been pressured to.

"Hey Riku!" he called, pulling his hand free. "See if you can catch me!"

He grinned, and without waiting for Riku to react, he kicked forward, darting swiftly into the watery jungle to hide.

"Sora!"

He heard Riku's voice chasing his back, but he didn't sound annoyed or even deterred. Sora hastily wove through the kelp, making dizzying patterns to lose Riku. At first he wasn't too skilled at maneuvering around the stalks without disturbing them, but he caught on fast, soon sweeping through them with hardly a graze. With the water brushing past him like air, and the scenery blurring by, this almost felt like their races back home. If they had time, Sora decided it would be fun to race Riku later to see who could swim faster. Right now, he just wanted to play.

When he thought he was deep enough into the forest, he slipped between two stalks of kelp and hid amongst their silky fronds to wait for Riku to pass by. With his heart racing even now, seconds seemed to crawl by as he lied low, anticipating any sign of Riku's arrival—a flash of silver perhaps, or maybe the stirring of kelp around him.

Nothing came.

Seconds ticked past, and Sora began to grow restless.

Maybe Riku wasn't going to come after him? Maybe... something had happened? But Riku hadn't sounded distressed... Then Sora thought about how much blood Riku must have lost, which was followed by the fear that maybe his cure spell hadn't been enough to help him. What if Riku had passed out without him there?!

Good humor gone, Sora shoved through the kelp to find Riku.

"Gotcha!"

—only to have Riku pounce on him from above, the force from his tackle sending Sora right back into the kelp with a cry of surprise.

Riku's arms circled his waist, and Sora pushed silver hair out of their faces to get a good look at him, still worried. "You okay?" he asked.

Riku was grinning. "Yeah," he said, then quirked a brow. "I'm fine. Why?"

"Nothing, I just thought..." Thought what? That Riku had passed out because of blood loss? Sora realized how stupid he would sound if he admitted that out loud. Even if it was a realistic fear, Sora knew that Riku never wanted to be seen as that weak. He'd probably be offended if he knew Sora had been that worried about him. "Never mind," Sora said with a shake of his head, deciding to forget about it. But he couldn't let Riku get away with that triumphant look he was still wearing. Trying to look angry, Sora playfully pushed Riku. "Just don't scare me like that!"

Riku's grin widened as he pinched Sora's nose. "Stop pouting, you jellyfish."

"I'm not pouting!" Sora returned, even though he really was. "And whaddya mean jellyfish?"

"Because you're spineless," Riku said smugly. He poked Sora in the chest. "Scaaaaredy-cat."

"I wasn't scared!" Sora shot back.

"You just said you were!" Riku pointed out, and when Riku laughed again, Sora reacted in defiance and dove at him, only making Riku laugh harder when he managed to dodge Sora's grabby fingers.

Trying not to join in with his own snickering, Sora made a grab for him again. "Shut up!"

Tackle successful, Sora latched onto him as they collided and somersaulted through the water together in a grapple. It was tail versus tail, hands versus face as Sora attempted to tickle him and Riku shoved at his face, a finger even making it up Sora's nose—but that didn't stop him from digging his hands into Riku's sides to begin his assault.

"Gah—Sora!" Riku gasped, immediately squirming to get free. He twisted around in Sora's grasp, his body slick despite his scales, and he slipped away from Sora with ease, making a break for the shadowy bottom.

Sora took chase without hesitation, calling after him. "Now who's the scaredy-cat!"

He spoke too soon.

Riku did an abrupt one-eighty and doubled back towards him, and Sora saw him too late to escape the attack. As they plowed into each other, they both burst into laughter and began wrestling, aiming for each other's tickle spots as they wriggled and writhed and yelped whenever one of them managed to gain the upper hand.

They play fought until they reached the bottom, a grassy bed sandwiched between two large kelp holdfasts. After scaring away a large school of fish, Riku pushed Sora into the short sea-grass. Sora struggled for control, bucking against Riku and kicking up sand, but Riku was still older and stronger than him, and it was no use. Sora was still squirming when Riku finally pinned him.

It wasn't the most comfortable position, not with the way his dorsal fin pressed against the ground, but Riku's hips ground against his, and all complaints fled Sora's mind. Riku had only been adjusting his weight, but that light grazing of scales against his underbelly was... interesting.

Still breathing heavily from their brawl, Sora lifted his gaze to meet Riku's. In his eyes, there was a familiar spark of excitement, a sharpness to the sea green that made Sora's heart thump even faster. Right at that moment, he wondered what was going through Riku's mind and if it was the same thing going through his mind.

Sora slid his hands up and curled them against Riku's arms, liking how the muscles grew taut under his simple touch, and how Riku's eyes searched his as if waiting for something. Permission, perhaps.

This Riku was so different. The old one would have gone for the prize without his go-ahead, not that he had needed it anyway. Sora smiled at the thought. Even though Riku had lost his memories, maybe their time apart had actually changed him—at least enough to consider Sora's feelings before initiating anything. It was kind of cute.

Sora grabbed a silky clump of Riku's hair and tugged his face closer. He met his lips with a lingering smile and felt Riku form one in return before he kissed back, keeping it gentle and sweet at first as if testing Sora's preferences. Sora's dorsal fin was beginning to hurt now, but he found that he didn't mind it so much because Riku kept finding ways to distract him from it—like when his hand folded over Sora's hip and squeezed just as his lips parted against Sora's, enticing Sora to do the same. They shared a few slow kisses, each only a little deeper than the last, but they were enough to reacquaint Sora with the art of kissing.

Their mouths moved together with a familiarity that almost hurt, reminding him that even if the witch had taken Riku's memories, she hadn't been able to take what rested beyond those memories: instinctual reactions, conditioned responses, the things Riku had subconsciously learned because of Sora. Their bodies still remembered each other well, though Sora was the only one who knew.

Attempting to feed his nostalgia, Sora tightened his fingers in Riku's hair and shifted beneath him to get more comfortable, and Riku complied with ease by rolling onto his side, pulling Sora with him. Sora offered him a grateful sigh as his fin was released and then eagerly deepened the kiss to show Riku he wasn't as shy as Riku probably thought he was.

To his delight, Riku responded with a quiet "Mn..." as Sora took control. His tail flukes curled lazily against Sora's, and Sora, encouraged by his reactions, lightly guided his tongue over Riku's bottom lip, feeling Riku's mouth open further.

Sora tilted his head more, ready to test his boundaries by finding Riku's tongue, but his plan came to a sudden halt when Riku's fingers slipped from his hip up to the small of his back, stroking just above his dorsal fin.

Oh.

Sora inhaled sharply and froze.

That felt...

Wow.

...dangerous.

Riku must have felt his reaction because he tried to do it again, but Sora very carefully pulled back and pushed Riku flat on the sea bed. Their eyes met again, and this time Riku's were dilated. Sora was pretty sure he was wearing the same look.

Neither of them said anything for a long moment as they studied each other, both at a loss as to what to do next. Then...

"Marshmallows..." Riku said as if coming to realization.

Sora's headiness was beginning to clear, but even then he wasn't sure he had heard Riku correctly. "Marshmallows?" he asked.

"Your lips. That's what they feel like," Riku clarified. "Soft, supple, and plush." Then he smirked again. "But you taste like clams, not sugar."

"Clams?" Sora laughed, shoving Riku again. "That's your fault!" Riku made a grab for him, but Sora kicked his tail, dancing upwards through the water. "Too slow!" he teased, and before Riku could prove otherwise, Sora darted through the kelp to make a run for it.

The problem with under the sea racing was that the water made it very difficult to hear if Riku was pursuing or not. This wasn't at all like the thundering of feet on land; fins hardly made any noise in water, not even when moving quickly. For Sora, part of the fun of racing was being able to hear where the competition was, but at the same time, not being able to hear Riku's approach added a whole new level of suspense. He didn't want to glance back to see if Riku was there, yet he did want to, but he couldn't... though technically he could. That ping-pong feeling was even more distracting than not being able to hear Riku.

Still, Sora loved it.

He wove through the towering stalks, aiming for the shimmering surface above, and he found that the more carefully he listened to his surroundings, he was able to discern the sloshing and swishing of water somewhere close behind him—

No, to his side?

The current around him changed, cooler water surrounding him from his right, and before he could escape, Riku was suddenly on top of him. Arms hooked around his waist, and the two of them went rolling through the water again, Sora trying to kick away from Riku, only to have Riku's hands attack that sensitive area above his fin.

"Ah—! Cheater!" he half cried, laughing at the same time. "Stop it!" He writhed in Riku's grasp, needing to escape that extremely weird thrill he got whenever Riku teased that spot—like a thousand tiny bubbles erupting inside of him. He knew exactly what it meant, though he suspected Riku didn't know what exactly he was doing.

He managed to twist around and slip out of Riku's arms, narrowly avoiding a grab at his dorsal fin as he swung upward through the water. He felt Riku's fingers graze his flukes, and he slapped them away with his tail before bolting for the open sea again.

This time a swoosh of water told him Riku was following, but Sora didn't bother trying to lose Riku in the kelp forest again. From what he figured, Riku's tail made him better at maneuvering through obstacles, like the kelp. But Sora had a dolphin's tail, and dolphins were built for something else.

He made a beeline for the rippling glow above, swimming as fast as he could, and already he could taste the freedom as he streaked through the sea, untouchable. Water breezed past him as if as weightless as the sky, and he was the boundless bird.

The surface rushed towards him, enveloping him with the sun's warmth, and all at once—

Light.

He broke free of the water, showering the air with glistening beads, and he flew. The cold breeze tickled his senses and the sunlight kissed his skin as he hung suspended above the sea, free for that one perfect moment. No thoughts, no memories, no obligations, no restrictions, nothing to pretend or fight for...

Then gravity took hold and pulled him back to the waves. He twisted in the air, arched backwards, and met the water in a backwards dive.

The sea swallowed him, welcoming him again with its warmth, and he lightly flicked his tail to reorient himself. One by one, his senses and thoughts returned. He almost expected to feel sad when he returned to reality. Instead, a happy energy bubbled inside of him, and he kicked upward to surface again. He threw his head back and took a deep breath of salty air, smiling wide.

Something exploded out of the water right next to him, and he threw an arm up to shield himself from the water's spray as he turned to watch. It was Riku, of course, and he had decided to try his hand at flipping, too.

He swept through the sky, a silver spiral with glittering scales, and he too made a complete circle before diving back into the water, his tail slapping the waves as it disappeared from sight. Just as the water settled again, Riku's head reappeared nearby, and he swept his hair out of his eyes, looking pleased with himself.

"Ohh, you're on," Sora grinned, catching onto that challenge.

Riku flashed him a smirk before they dove back into the water to try jumping again. Sora shot into the air first, but Riku was right behind him, and the two of them performed near perfect pirouettes in sync before dropping into the sea. As they leapt out of the water, back and forth, testing each other, Sora realized his assumptions had been right. Sora was the faster swimmer, but Riku could easily outmaneuver him.

When he told Riku this, Riku only showed off more, but after that, things became less of a challenge and more of a game. As they flew through the air and sea together, Sora soon lost track of everything that had been plaguing him, as if flitting along the waves with Riku somehow lessened the weights on both their shoulders. He felt like a kid again, and not even Id's subtle presence deep in his mind could distract him.

Their splashing, laughing, and playing attracted the attention of other sea animals, a team of dolphins joining in with their leaping game. Their gray forms came gliding through the blue, and within moments of their arrival, the boys were racing with the dolphins and trying to see who could jump the highest. The dolphins always won, but it didn't matter because everyone was having fun.

And because Sora was the one with a dolphin tail, they accepted him easily, though they seemed more interested in Riku. Really interested. The largest dolphin started acting a little too friendly and rubbed up against Riku to get his attention, and Sora couldn't help bursting into laughter at the wide-eyed look Riku gave it.

Sora cupped his hands around his mouth. "I think he likes you!" he called.

"Shut up!" Riku returned, but he was trying not to laugh.

The other dolphins tittered as if also laughing at Riku, who looked increasingly unnerved as the large dolphin nuzzled his side with its nose and then rubbed in front of him like a big cat. That only made Sora roll over and crack up more. Finally Riku just grabbed hold of its dorsal fin, and, to both his and Sora's surprise, the dolphin shot off like a rocket through the water with Riku holding onto it.

"Whoa!"

That cut Sora's humor short. "Hey, wait up!" he yelled, immediately chasing after them. The other dolphins fell into line beside him, clicking and chittering as if enjoying themselves, and that was when Sora realized the large dolphin was probably just helping Riku since he couldn't swim as fast the rest of them. Deciding to try it out, Sora slipped close to one of the dolphins at his side and took hold of its back. As soon as he did, it sped up in pursuit of Riku's, powering through the water, just like a trusty steed charging headfirst after the damsel in distress.

Not that he'd tell Riku that.

Sora and his dolphin caught up with ease and raced along the surface beside Riku, who glanced at Sora with a look of pure exhilaration on his face as he clutched his own ride.

Sora's heart gave a little start.

That expression was exactly what he had been waiting for all day. That was Riku, simply Riku. His best friend. Whatever burden Riku had been shouldering all night and day had finally left him, at least for now.

Sora returned the look with a happy grin, and the dolphins swam onward, heading toward the shoals. The sun was finally reaching the horizon, casting a ribbon of light across the water as if pointing to their next destination. In the distance where the sky was still a brilliant blue, Sora could see land, lush with greenery and rocky cliffs, with a white castle overlooking the sea. Stretches of beach sorely tempted Sora, who had been haunted by fragments of home ever since being brought here—the sea, the breeze, the gulls, the shark, the clams, everything. Now there was the beach. What he wouldn't give to dig his feet into that warm sand...

He may not have had feet at the moment, but the thought of having soft sand against his back again was more than inviting. With Riku there with him to watch the sunset, he couldn't think of a better way to end their day together.

"Hey, Riku!" he said, pointing ahead. "Let's go check it out!"

Riku was already staring in that direction, a smile lingering on his face. "Yeah."

"Alright!" Sora cheered. "Maybe we can explore the coast a little before it gets dark!"

And just like that, Riku's happiness fled. His eyes widened with sudden dread, and he turned to look back at the sea—

No... the sun?

It was hanging low in the sky, staining the horizon a beautiful, hazy peach. Soon, that peach would deepen to orange, signaling the onset of nightfall and the end of their day together, yes, but... Why did Riku look so scared?

"We have to go back!" Riku cried, releasing his dolphin. "I have to go find Ariel!" He dove into the water, and his tail gave a powerful kick, turning him back in the direction they had come.

Sora had a really bad feeling about this, but he knew when to follow without hesitation, and now was not the time for him to reminisce about beaches and sunsets. He let go of his dolphin as well and sunk below the waves, spotting Riku already racing away.

"Riku, wait for me!"

He started after him, but not before one of the dolphins shot past him and darted in front of Riku, making clicking noises. Another one nudged Sora's arm to get his attention. Riku caught onto the dolphin's dorsal fin again, and Sora did the same, surprised that the dolphins understood what they needed so well. With their speed, they'd be back in no time.

The dolphins moved as one and dove deep with the two boys, swimming as if they had a shark at their tails, and Sora held on tight. They passed the kelp forest in a blur and, within minutes, reached a series of underwater caverns that could have been where he and Riku had spent the night. The journey was made in silence, but it was the kind of silence heavy with tension. Like before, questions burned inside of Sora, reminding him that as much as he wanted to pretend everything was okay between them, they weren't.

Riku didn't panic like this for no reason, so there had to be something Riku wasn't telling him about nightfall. Now that Sora thought about it, Ursula had mentioned something about sunset, hadn't she? And all this time Sora had been assuming he had set the time limit, not that it had already been set for him… What was going to happen when the sun set? Maybe the spell that gave him a tail only lasted until that long? Though if that was the case, Riku would have probably told him or kept him near shore.

Then what was it?

"Riku?" he hedged.

Just like last night, Sora couldn't see his face, didn't know what expression he was wearing, or what emotions were reflected in his eyes. His silver hair swept behind him from the current, but all Sora could see was his pale shoulder, which rolled upward as he leaned forward to see where they were going. Only then did he glance back at Sora to acknowledge him.

Gone was that open happiness from minutes before; Riku's expression was guarded once again, and Sora could only have a bad feeling about whatever it was he had hidden there.

"I know where we are now," Riku informed him. He stroked a hand along the dolphin's back and spoke to it. "Thanks for the ride. I know the way from here." Whether or not the dolphin understood, it did slow down, and Riku let it go. Sora patted his dolphin and also released it, shouting his thanks before the team of dolphins turned and swam onward without them, disappearing behind a sprawling reef.

Riku wordlessly took his wrist and began leading him through an underwater valley teeming with life. Even now, Sora hadn't gotten used to how beautiful this world was. Every turn Riku made, a multitude of creatures and plants splashed their cerulean backdrop with a myriad of colors, from the blue-green sea grass and algae, to the pink, orange, and yellow sponges, and everything in between. Even groups of multicolored fish swirled in front of them, their scales creating brilliant kaleidoscope with every shade of the rainbow, before they darted away as the boys swam through them.

Their destination was only known to Riku, whose fingers were unyielding around Sora's wrist once again.

In terms of the situation, they were exactly back where they had started last night. Riku was silently leading him by the wrist to who-knew-where and Sora was wondering what the heck was going on. Riku was still not providing any answers, and Sora still felt like he was treading dangerous waters by letting his nostalgia make his decisions for him.

Sora shouldn't have trusted Riku as much as he did after the blunders Riku had been making recently, but... Maybe some of that old, innocent loyalty to his best friend still persisted, even after what Riku had done to him. Sora could still follow Riku headfirst into trouble if that was what Riku wanted.

Yet one thing had definitely changed.

Sora was no longer the blind follower. If his misadventures had taught him one thing, it was that bad things happened when he didn't speak up.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" he asked in a stern tone. "Why did you freak out back there?"

In terms of the situation, maybe they really were exactly back where they had started last night. In terms of their relationship, however, everything had changed. Right now, it didn't matter to Sora who had the keyblade or who was working for what side or what either of them had done prior to last night and today that had hurt their friendship—and beyond. What mattered to Sora was so much simpler than any of those.

He just wanted Riku to be safe. And when Sora thought about things that way, he understood why he would still want to follow, not lead. If Sora was the one leading, no one would be there to watch Riku's back... which was something Riku needed a lot more than Sora did.

"I want to tell you," Riku admitted, but Sora knew what that tone meant.

"But you can't," Sora finished for him. He was half tempted to pull his wrist out of Riku's grip to get Riku to pay more attention to him, but he didn't. Riku was in a hurry for a reason. Besides, he had other ways to play with Riku's conscience. "You know, I'm giving you another chance, Riku. That's why I'm staying. The least you can do is trust me with the truth."

Riku's fingers tightened around his wrist. "I want to," he insisted, and he glanced over his shoulder. A hint of worry shone through that mask of his. "But it's complicated."

Sora's bad feeling returned. "Complicated... or do you mean you did something stupid again?" he asked.

Sora watched as that touch of worry quickly became irritation, and Riku returned his attention forward. Sora had his answer.

"Like I said, it's complicated," Riku continued, this time curt. But then he paused, and Sora felt his fingers loosen their grip. When he spoke again, his tone had softened considerably. "I promise, when I get this done, I'll explain everything to you. Anything you want to know. But... I can't right now, and I can't tell you why." He looked at Sora again, his expression grave. "I just need you to trust me."

Their eyes met, and without either of them uttering another word, a hundred different apologies and promises were exchanged between them. It felt like Agrabah again. Sora had no way of describing how he felt in that moment, somewhere between trapped by Riku's expectations and liberated by them, or maybe both. Did it matter? Sora already had his answer, though it took him a few tries to swallow the sudden knot in his throat before he could say it out loud.

"I trust you."

Relief and gratitude passed through Riku's eyes, and Sora could only hope those hadn't been his famous last words.

Riku's destination turned out to be quite a treasure trove of human trinkets. It was located behind a large flat boulder that Riku eased out of the way to let Sora through first. Sora wasted no time in admiring the circular nook and all of the knickknacks it showcased along its smooth stony ledges.

"Wow," Sora awed, wanting to inspect up close, but he minded where he was and turned back towards Riku for an explanation.

He had already eased the boulder closed and now appeared distraught. "She said she'd be here," Riku said. When he began swimming restlessly around the enclosed space, Sora knew for sure he had bad news coming.

"Who?"

"Ariel," Riku said, but that didn't help much. Sora recognized the name from the mermaid Riku had mentioned a few times, but what did she have to do with Riku panicking right now? Riku made slow laps with uneasy movements, making zigzags past Sora as he muttered. "She said she'd be here... What am I going to do?"

Sora watched as Riku glanced up at the hole far above them, which allowed the lingering sunlight to cascade through the tunnel. It reflected off the many antiques gathered there, sending light dancing everywhere, and it cast Riku in a surreal pale glow. Sora couldn't take his eyes off Riku for the longest time, mesmerized both by Riku's apprehension and his haunting figure.

But minutes passed, and Riku only grew more agitated. Long gone was the cool, calm best friend Sora remembered. He couldn't recall the last time he had seen Riku like this, but what was worse than that was that he didn't know what to do to help him. Riku didn't want to tell him what was going on, so all Sora could really do was go along for the ride...

Trying not to let Riku's nervousness infect him any more than it already was, Sora decided to distract himself by studying the cavern's collection. Countless little trinkets littered the stone shelves, and some bigger objects were propped against each other. Sora spotted the most random things like swords, a lute, a hat rack, a globe, several mirrors, a hanging lantern, and even a tall clock. Interested, he opened one of the smaller chests and dug through a few sets of pearls, also spotting more than one pocket watch and compass. This really was a treasure trove.

A growl of frustration echoed through the chamber, drawing Sora's attention back to Riku, who had finally lost his patience. He was swimming for the exit.

Sora pushed off the shelf he was at and went to meet him at the boulder. "Where are you going?" he asked. "I thought you were waiting for that mermaid?"

Riku was purposely avoiding his gaze. "I was, but—I'm running out of time!" He pushed the boulder open enough to let him through, but he hesitated before leaving, his shoulders tense. "I need you to stay here just in case she—"

Riku didn't have a chance to finish his sentence because the boulder suddenly opened farther and a face appeared outside the cavern, blue eyes wide with wonder.

"Oh!" the newcomer gasped. "You're here!"

All fluid movement, she swam through the crack and circled Riku, carrying a glowing golden... spear? Wait, it had three prongs at the end... What were those prongy things called again? Pitchfork?

Sora frowned as he studied her, knowing this must be the mermaid Riku kept mentioning.

She was definitely pretty, her long vibrant hair spiraling around her slender body as she came to a stop beside Riku, red streaks of hair sweeping past her as if they had a mind of their own, revealing her full figure. If not for her purple shell top, she would have been as bare as himself and Riku. Her green tail was long and lithe with semi-translucent flukes, which were curling in an awkward way as if she were nervous.

Her willowy fingers clutched the glowing pitchfork close to her chest, and Sora noticed how intensely Riku was staring at the thing. What was it? He really hoped it wasn't another genie-in-a-lamp repeat and wound up being some sort of magical device that could let someone take over the world...

Then again, if it was, Sora wouldn't be surprised with the way Riku was eyeballing it. "Is that it?" Riku asked, finally lifting his gaze to meet the mermaid's. Even then, the golden glow from the pitchfork was reflected in his eyes.

She nodded, and her fingers seemed to tighten around it. "I'm sorry it took so long, but—"

Riku gave her a relieved smile and reached out to take it from her. Sora was surprised to see her actually let him take it, though she looked reluctant to do so. Obviously whatever it was, it was really important. Sora had a feeling that wherever this was going, it wasn't going to end well... And there was that bad feeling of his again.

"Thanks," Riku said. He glanced up at the fading sunlight, his expression grew grim again, and he turned to leave the cavern with the pitchfork in hand. "I'll be right back! Stay here and don't follow me!"

Before Sora or the mermaid could get a word in, Riku ducked past the boulder and disappeared into the open sea. Sora had to fight back the surge of emotions he felt as soon as he lost sight of Riku and Riku's words had a chance to sink in. Don't follow him? Why not? That told Sora more than anything that Riku was swimming straight into danger.

Well, Sora wasn't about to let him have all the fun on his own! He had already decided he would stick with Riku no matter what.

The mermaid was already making for the exit as if to follow him. "Wait, Riku—!" she cried.

Sora was right behind her, and he grabbed at her arm to stop her. "Hey, hold up!"

She turned, her blue eyes wide with her own mix of feelings. She looked conflicted and scared and like she wanted to help but didn't know how yet wanted to try anyway. Sora knew that dreadful combination well.

"You must be Ariel," he said, forming a friendly smile despite the circumstances.

She hesitated, glanced down at Sora's hand around her arm, and then met his gaze again, her lips parting but no words coming out. For a second she looked embarrassed and even began worrying her bottom lip, and Sora realized this probably wasn't the best time for introductions for either of them.

"I'm Sora," he offered. "Riku's best friend." He gave a sheepish laugh and released her arm to rub the back of his head. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

Ariel's expression softened as she examined him, and then, with a little giggle, she smiled. "Come on," she said, holding her hand out. "I'll explain on the way."

Sora took her hand, though he wasn't sure what she meant at first. "On the way?" he asked for clarification.

Ariel had started to turn to leave, but she paused at his question, a mischievous curl to her lips. "After Riku," she said. "Or do you have cold fins?"

Something about the way she said that distinctly reminded him of Riku. Sora tightened his grip around hers and grinned.

"No cold fins here," he assured.

"Good," she said, returning his grin for a moment. "Now let's go before he finds himself at the end of really big hook."

She swept her tail back and kicked forward, leading Sora by the hand much like Riku had done twice before. As Sora swam along behind her, he noticed how her red hair swept over her shoulders kind of like Riku's did, but Sora could actually see her face. Her grin from seconds before was now fading back into a grim, determined expression, reflecting how Sora himself felt. She too knew she was heading into possible danger, but she was willing to risk it for Riku—or at least the greater good.

Because of that, Sora couldn't help liking her already.

-o-o-

Sunset was rapidly approaching.

Riku swam close to the surface to keep track of the remaining light, the details of Ursula's contract etched into his mind and repeating over and over like a cruel taunt. Sunset, she had said. Sunset.

He was swimming as fast as he could, faster than he had when fleeing from that shark, faster than he had when racing with Sora. The adrenaline poisoning him probably had something to do with it. His heart was hammering so hard that he could hardly breathe, but he couldn't stop to catch his breath, he didn't have the time.

He'd been so caught up in his fantasy world with Sora that he had forgotten to keep track of the hour, and now... He didn't know what was going to happen, but he knew it wasn't good. He couldn't fail. He couldn't. He would get the trident to her in time. He had to.

Gritting his teeth, he clutched the trident even more firmly and drove himself harder, trying to will his fins to move faster. His body ached all over from exhaustion, his muscles burned from overuse, his stomach was gnawing into itself from hunger, and he felt dizzy from everything that was happening to him. He couldn't think straight, couldn't concentrate on what he should do, only on what he had to do. He knew he was a mess, but none of that mattered.

He had gotten himself into this mess, and he would get himself out.

"Riku!"

"It's Riku!"

Dread twisted inside of him, but he didn't slow down, knowing he couldn't afford any distractions right now. He kept close to the surface and tried to ignore the familiar voices calling to him from below.

Goofy's carefree timbre: "Riku, down here!"

Donald's demanding squawk: "Where have you been! We've been looking all over!"

Flounder's innocent hesitance: "Have you seen Ariel at all?"

"Dat girl took off with da king's trident!" And even Sebastian and his eccentric accent.

Riku could have given them the time of day considering he knew exactly what it was, but there was no way he was stopping to chitchat with them. Especially when he was one of the culprits involved with the trident theft.

"Hey," Goofy started thoughtfully, "isn't that the trident?"

Riku was passing over them now, and he glanced down to acknowledge them at least. Though the sun was fading, the moon was rising, and through the lingering light he saw Flounder's eyes fill with fear and, beside him, Sebastian's jaw dropped open in shock. He knew they could see him perfectly because of the triton's soft glow.

"Where are you going!" Donald demanded. He was already trying to chase after him, but there was no way he'd be able to catch up to Riku with just his wings and tentacles.

Riku felt a little bad for leaving them behind, but he had no choice. He kept on swimming, quickly passing them by as he shouted back, "I'm going to take care of Ursula and find the keyhole!" Then he faced forward again so he couldn't see their reactions, already knowing what to expect. Donald and Goofy would likely come after him, Sebastian would report to the sea king, and Flounder would probably continue looking for Ariel.

Behind him, he heard their fading voices.

"Uh oh, Ariel's dad is not gonna like this!"

"Dat boy is mad! He's swimmin' right into hot water! Da sea witch is a monster! Ohh, what a mess...! I gotta tell da king—!"

"Riku, wait up!"

"Come baaaaack!"

Riku clenched his jaw and didn't look back.

Sunset, he reminded himself. Sunset.

In his hands, the triton faintly hummed with power. Beyond the surface of the water, the indigo of night was stretching over the deepening red of sunset, and Riku knew he was swimming to meet his fate.

-o-o-

Ariel was true to her word and did explain on the way.

The pitchfork was actually a triton and belonged to her father the sea king, and it was, as he had feared, an object of great power. Sora tried not to think about the genie's lamp and how similar this situation was to Agrabah. If this triton went the same way the lamp had gone, and Ursula got her hands on it like Jafar had, all of them were in big trouble.

One of Sora's few comforts was the fact that the heartless were unheard of on this world, which meant they were safe from the world caving into darkness. At least for now. Another small comfort was that Ariel had told him that Riku had said he wanted the triton to find the keyhole on this world, which meant Riku wasn't planning on letting anyone just take it from him.

Sora's last comfort was actually a surprise.

He swam right into it by accident, just like he had bumped into them on Agrabah.

"Sora!"

"It's Sora!"

Even though they were no longer a mere dog and a duck, Sora recognized them immediately as he and Ariel drew close through the encroaching twilight. "Donald! Goofy!" he cried, releasing Ariel's hand to dart up to his friends.

He crashed into them and threw his arms around them, laughing. Riku hadn't even mentioned them, but Sora should have realized Riku couldn't have wound up on this world without them or the gummi ship. They both awkwardly tried to embrace him back, and he grinned as he pulled away to get a good look at them in the dim light. Half dog, half sea turtle, and half duck, half octopus.

"You guys look so weird!" he said, and behind him, he heard Ariel giggle.

"But funny," she said. "I guess I had gotten used to you two."

"Aw, shucks," Goofy laughed. He rolled sideways, and Sora wondered how his hat managed to stay in place so well.

Hey, wait a second... "You guys know each other?" he asked, surprised. What else had he been missing out on?

"Yup!" Goofy replied. "Me 'n Donald have been hanging out with these folks for, uh... about two days, I think." He lifted a flipper to his mouth in thought, which looked entirely odd. "Yup, two days."

Donald's wings folded as he gave Sora a scrutinizing look. "How did you get here?" he wondered.

Sora immediately thought about Riku and his memory loss and his pact with Ursula, and he realized that they were wasting time chatting here. Sora still didn't know what was so special about sunset, but it was sunset right now, so they had to hurry!

"I'll tell you about it later," he said, turning back to Ariel. "We gotta go find Riku."

"Right," she agreed. "I think he's heading to the sea witch's lair, and he has my father's trident!"

"Ahyuck, and we just saw him," Goofy said helpfully.

To which Donald added, "Yeah, right before you showed up."

"We were goin' after him!"

"That means we can still catch up to him," Sora said, and the others nodded.

With Donald and Goofy here, Sora felt more confident about this. He didn't know what to expect when he swam back into Ursula's lair to protect Riku, but whatever it was, Riku had seemed so frantic about it earlier... And a frantic Riku never spelled good news.

Ariel took the lead again, but this time Sora didn't let her take his hand. He followed close behind her with Donald and Goofy flanking him, and they did provide him with silent comfort as they headed deeper into the sea, past familiar territory. Soon, the colorful undersea roads tapered off into rockier landscape, which then flanked a dark volcanic valley.

The sunlight may have faded, but a new illumination allowed them to see where they were; Sora recognized that eerie magenta glow spilling out of fissures in the ground.

They were close.

And when Sora spotted the enormous fish skeleton that Ursula lived in, he swallowed past his sudden trepidation.

Okay, very close.

"We're here," he announced.

Ahead of them, only about a minute's swim away, they could see a silvery figure.

Riku.

And he was already swimming into the maw of the sea witch's lair.

-o-o-

The polyps were more aggressive than last time, stretching high to hook onto Riku's fins as he passed by, and he had to use the trident's shaft to roughly push them away. As soon as he was free, he kicked hard at the water, flitting forward past the throat of the leviathan, heading right into the chamber where he had first met Ursula.

She was waiting for him.

Her cauldron was closed, and she was resting against it, two long tentacles folded across her stomach as if displeased. She was tapping impatiently against the cauldron with one of her hands, creating a hollow rhythm that Riku could practically feel at the base of his spine as he drew close with the trident.

If she was unhappy, he had won.

He had made it before sunset.

Riku couldn't even begin to describe the relief that blossomed inside of him and trickled through his weary body. He paused in front of Ursula and dutifully held the trident out for her.

"Here," he said, narrowing his eyes at her. "You got what you wanted."

She was silent as she took the trident, whose glow subsided as soon as she touched it. She lifted it in front of herself, running a tentacle along its polished length, and her impassive expression very quickly shifted.

First it was the thinning of her eyes. Then it was the curling of her painted lips. When her deep chuckle began rumbling out of her, Riku cautiously backed away, his hand itching to summon his keyblade at a moment's notice.

"Thank you, angelfish," she practically purred. She slid off her cauldron and rolled towards him, perfectly casual, but Riku suddenly did not want to be here anymore, trident be damned.

Just as she reached a tentacle out to curl into his hair, he whirled around to flee, his tail slapping her away as he kicked out, bolting for the exit.

Streaks of gray intercepted him—those eels!—and their slimy bodies snapped around his arms to tug him back towards Ursula. He struggled against her pets, trying to work a hand open to summon his keyblade, but their jaws closed around his palms. Sharp spindly teeth sank into his hands, searing pain lancing up his arms, and he bit down a cry.

Ursula pushed through the water, spinning around him with a sharp laugh, and she landed before him, trident in one hand. Her other hand snapped out, summoning a familiar golden scroll with a flash of light. The contract. Riku's name was scrawled at the bottom where he had signed it.

"See this, sweetcakes?" she asked, sounding completely vainglorious. "See your signature down there?"

One of her tentacles shoved at his chest, and another one snaked up his neck, cupping the back of his skull to shove his head forward to get a better look at the contract. Fury boiled up inside of him, and the throbbing in his hands only aggravated him more.

"Yes," he hissed, glaring at her. "I did what you wanted, didn't I? I got you the trident, just like you said!"

Her deep chuckle resonated in the chamber again, beginning to rise, then quickly became a high-pitched cackle that send shudders down his spine. Two tentacles reached up, latched onto the edges of the contract, and ripped it clean in half right in front of him.

"By sunset!" she crowed, leaning close, her eyes wild with madness as her mouth split into a sinister grin. "You're late."

Riku's heart almost stopped when he realized what he had just done.

He had failed...

And he had still given her the trident without knowing.

"Late?" he uttered carefully. An ice-cold fear was spreading through him. His entire body went rigid as she pressed the sharp prongs of the trident under his chin as if reading his mind and wanting to gloat about his ultimate mistake.

"Three minutes late," she returned, and her grin was perfectly malicious now. "And you will make a charming new addition to my little garden, mmhmhm..."

Riku's eyes widened when he realized what she was inferring.

When she pulled the trident back to aim at him, he summoned all of the strength he could and thrust his tail forward to knock the weapon out of her hands. He felt the kick connect, and he twisted his head around, biting down on one of the eels. It made a shrieking sound and released him, freeing a bleeding hand.

With a quick flick of his wrist, he was suddenly holding his keyblade, and he turned to face Ursula. She wasn't there.

Instead, what he saw was Sora rushing into the chamber, Ariel and Donald and Goofy right behind him.

"RIKU, LOOK OUT!"

And what Sora saw was Ursula perched on the ceiling above Riku, the trident aimed right at his silver head. All thoughts fled Sora as he flew through the water, weaponless, ready to attack the witch with everything he had—

"You're too late!" she shrieked with laughter.

Just as Riku looked up and spotted her, green eyes wide, the trident's power surged forward, and Sora slammed into Ursula. As light pierced the chamber, Ursula howled, and Sora, momentarily blinded by the trident's power, felt her tentacles crash into him. For a moment he was dazed by the heavy blows, but the screams of his friends helped him focus, and he managed to twist around in the water and kick back towards Riku, his vision beginning to clear.

"Riku!" Donald and Goofy were crying.

Sora's blood ran cold when he saw why.

There, where Riku had been just moments before, was now a tiny gray-green worm curling out of the floor, and the keyblade rested right in front of it. The worm was looking sadly up at him, its mouth parted, and Sora knew in his heart that what he was seeing was true.

"RIKU!" he wailed, tears springing to his eyes. Without thinking, he snatched the keyblade from the ground and whirled on Ursula, who was already directing the trident at him. He shot towards her, keyblade gliding through the water with deadly force—

Then Ursula's laugh rang in his ears as light suddenly enveloped him—

And Sora abruptly found himself stumbling, stumbling, soaked and buck naked, across the floor of a room he instantly recognized. The foyer of Hollow Bastion.

Disbelief struck through him.

His feet tripped over each other, sending him crashing onto the cold floor in a dripping wet mess. He wasn't a merman anymore, that was for sure. But that was the least of his problems.

"R-Riku..."

Sora shakily picked himself up, his nude form shivering in the cold bastion, and he tried to concentrate through his panicked thoughts. What could he do? Riku was back there, he needed his help, but Sora couldn't... He couldn't...

...or could he...?

The darkness.

He could.

Hope rekindling, Sora got to his feet, trembling all over. He had to be strong. He had to concentrate. He had to go back!

He squeezed his eyes shut, silently calling for Id and his power, and immediately he felt Id's presence sweep over his mind, greeting him. Id didn't take over, but rather guided him without words and eased the cold darkness through him. For once, it wasn't particularly uncomfortable. Considering the circumstances, the familiarity was comforting, and Sora welcomed the power, not feeling as helpless anymore.

Like he had done on Agrabah, he summoned a portal of darkness in front of him. He felt the tug of power as it formed, and he slipped his eyes back open to study it. The swirling darkness looked inviting, but Sora knew exactly where it led.

Behind that portal was water. He was human again and could drown if he went back. But Sora remembered what he had promised himself earlier, and he knew he had to stay with Riku, no matter what the risk. Right now, Riku needed his help more than ever.

Clutching the keyblade tightly at his side, Sora set his jaw as he stared at the dark portal. In that moment, all he could hear was water dripping to the floor and his own pounding heart. His bare feet shifted against the puddle of water forming beneath him.

Then, taking a deep breath, he plunged into the darkness, and back to Riku's side.

-o-o-

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Cliffhanger, sorry. But... hurrah for Riku and Sora interaction! Who missed it? The challenge of this chapter was building the characterization while trying to keep the changes subtle. These next few chapters are crucial in the development of their characters before the big finale. We still have quite a ways to go before the end (I'm aiming for 8-10 more parts), but I'm really looking forward to pulling it all together because it will be AWESOME and it will make up for the utterly craptastic first half of the story (which I could write so much better now!).

So, here's to FIVE YEARS of writing Stygian Solace! Hopefully I can get this story done by year six!

Review? Your words mean way more to me than you'll know, and they mean WAY more to me than favorite/alert numbers. I'm honored to have so many returning readers and new readers providing me with such amazing feedback. I really do learn something new from you every time I update. Your critiques help me grow, so please don't forget to leave some. Thanks so much!