fdkljyghtriiuyh GOOD LORD. This has got to be the crappiest chapter I've churned out in a while. (alliterations... heheh... -weak chuckle-) Maybe it's because this has to be the first chapter for this fic in a long while, where NOTHING happens at ALL. I know, a filler from Saf? The world must be ending!

In all seriousness, though, this is more a transition chappie than anything else, something to tide you all over before we get to the really juicy parts, a.k.a. Twilight Town/the next HB visit. And boy, do I have plans for those... -rubs hands together and smirks evilly- In this chapter, the only really eventful thing is a Riku flashback. Zomg, so much. Eh, I'd just beaten Re:CoM: Reverse/Rebirth right before starting that part of the chapter, so I figured Ri-Ri needed some love. x3

Enjoy!

Disclaimer- Bah, how many more times do I need to say it before you get it?! I don't own KH and I never will! Though I do have shiny copies of II and Re:CoM, and am saving up for a shiny copy of 358/2 Days...


Char arrived on the Gummi ship feeling like her entire body had been set aflame; the pain lancing along her body gave that illusion, at least. For a long, terrifying moment, she thought that Donald's use of the staff had only produced the fire effect that its original owner had plagued the group with during their fight with it; then she calmed herself down by telling herself she was being stupid, letting her infuriating fear of fire take over her common sense. Besides, if Donald really had only cast Fira, surely the others would be feeling the effects of...?

Immediately Char's pain was forgotten and her eyes widened as the interior of the Gummi ship's main area took over the blackness that had previously blotted her vision. The others... Sora! Her previous panic returning instantly, she scrambled to her feet despite her newfound clumsiness; she had gotten used to traipsing about on four legs instead of just two and therefore was unused to the previous norm. Thankfully, the first thing her hand reached out to grab for support was the top of the pilot's chair, instead of Goofy's head or Donald's hat. Swaying unsteadily on her feet, ignoring the dizziness swirling through her mind at getting up so quickly, Char cast a frantic look around. Donald and Goofy were getting to their feet as well with the same shaken expression she undoubtedly now held, but those two were the least of her worries. Sora, where was Sora?

Then Donald let out a piercing cry of shock and dread and dismay, pointing at something lying on the floor. Char dared to follow his gaze, her heart hammering against her chest with horror with the knowledge of what she would see.

Oddly, she had expected Roxas to be lying prone on the ground next to Sora, which wouldn't make any sense, since she herself had seen the sphere surrounding Roxas direct itself toward his Other. But it still came as an immense, sickening shock to see the brunette unconscious there, his ashen cheek lying against the cold tile floor and his breathing barely distinguishable.

Char felt Goofy shaking her shoulders desperately to try and snap her out of her trance and heard Donald shouting for them to get Sora to his room; the sound hit her sharply, as though she were emerging from dark waters, and she shook her head to clear it. Now isn't the time to get all panicky, she told herself sternly, and jerked her shoulder away from Goofy's touch.

"I'm fine," she growled at Goofy's worried look, trying miserably to sound tough, and turned back to Sora. "Let's just get Key-boy out of here."

Goofy didn't look convinced, but nevertheless, he grabbed hold of Sora's feet and strained vainly to push the brunette up to a manageable position. Char mechanically seized the brunette's arms, and together they carried Sora to his room with Donald looking on and pacing in desperate worry.

Why did we have to put his room at the very back of the ship? Char seethed inwardly as she struggled with Sora's dead weight. Thankfully, growing up training with two swords had supplied her with at least some amount of upper body strength, and Goofy's mastery of fighting with a shield had enabled him to do some heavy lifting as well. Between them, they managed to get Sora to the doorway of his room, with Char cursing under her breath as she fumbled with the doorknob both out of nervousness and fatigue, and deposit him onto his bed. Char noted with some minute amount of disdain that he had failed to make his bed this morning - the sheets still lay strewn about on their surface, and it looked like Sora had thrown some pillows about in his sleep - and suddenly felt like crying, for what felt like the thousandth time that day.

"Hey, um, Char," Goofy spoke gently. "Let's go back, okay?"

With some effort, the redhead tore her eyes away from the brown-haired shape lying unmoving on the bed, and forced herself to push her concern over his state out of her mind. They had some more important things to worry about - like Donald and Goofy's inevitable questions about why Roxas had failed to come back with them. The very thought weighed Char's shoulders down with even more exhaustion.

"Right," she muttered, and followed Goofy out of the room.


"I tried to tell you!" Donald squawked furiously at Goofy and Char. The latter was only half-listening; she paced the interior of the Gummi ship, her heart pounding and hoping against hope that this wasn't the end of the Keyblade wielder. Honestly, Sora - just one collision of the heart and you're half-dead? You're weaker than I thought. The attempt at a joke, even a mental one, failed miserably, and the sardonic laugh that had almost built up in her throat turned ashen. She fought back a cry of despair, suddenly hating herself even more for wanting to cry yet again.

"I tried to tell you," the duck continued, his voice shaking from both anger and concern, "that using this thing would be bad." He shook the fire-bedizened wand, glowering at it almost accusingly, probably knowing that if his original staff hadn't gotten broken in Agrabah, Sora wouldn't be in this situation. "But neither of you would listen to me, and now Sora's..." He broke off, faltering very slightly in his tirade; but then the mask of fury was back in place and he waved the staff again. "I told you!"

Up until this point Goofy had simply stared at the ground, both in sad acknowledgment of his comrade's words and something else he hadn't yet put words to. As Char whirled around and began pacing in the opposite direction - six more steps and you'll have to turn around again, she reflected dully - she heard the knight speak. His words made her unconsciously freeze in her tracks.

"What I'm wonderin'," he murmured, so quietly that both duck and girl alike had to strain to hear him, "is where Roxas disappeared to when we got back here."

Donald looked like he was about to dismiss Goofy's concern, but then what the dog had said seemed to sink in, and the mage blinked. "Hey, yeah, you have a point there," he conceded, his previous storm of anger now having died down into an aftermath of contemplation.

Char took in a few deep breaths to calm her suddenly racing heart. She knew they couldn't possibly have any idea of how much she was hiding when it came to their beloved Keybearer's past and heart, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel anxious. And - what was that, guilt? She must really be going soft at this point; she hadn't felt guilty about the secrets she was keeping for days now, hadn't had time to think about such feelings.

"Char?" Goofy's tone, though gentle, held a hint of anticipation. She tried not to cringe, but she couldn't stop herself.

"You know something, don't you?" Donald supplied the voice to what Goofy was too polite to bluntly say.

Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. Char knew this day would have had to come eventually, that even these poor dorks had their limit when it came to ignorance. Yet reminding herself of what common sense had forewarned, practically on the day she had promised Riku to follow Sora, didn't help the overwhelming desire to just confess everything she knew.

Roxas is Sora's Nobody. The Organization was formed when my former fellow apprentices embraced the darkness. The Ansem you defeated wasn't the real Ansem. Anxclof is hunting Sora down because she loves Roxas. Riku is -

And then she had to stop herself, because for the first time, she realized that she didn't even know where Riku was. With Ansem? Highly unlikely. If she knew Riku, he was probably wandering around some other world killing Heartless with the Soul Eater's bat-wing blade and bemoaning his stupidity in taking Xehanort's appearance.

Still, the fact remained that the answer to Donald's pugnacious query was indeed yes. She hesitated.

You should tell them.

But what good would that do? You still have to take your revenge on the Organization.

What's the point? Using Sora hasn't come to anything anyway. He wants to help people out, not wipe out Nobodies.

What about Castle Oblivion?

That was different. That was -

Donald and Goofy were still waiting for a response. It hit her that she would have to make a decision on the spot. No silent contemplations here.

No. She mentally shook herself. It wouldn't do, to destroy the trio's - or at least Donald and Goofy's - trust in her, not when it had taken so long to build it up.

Not now that she actually valued their trust.

Not now that she may or may not harbor secret feeling of love - or at least extreme friendship - toward their unspoken leader.

So only these words came out of her treacherous mouth. "I know as much as you all do," she answered fairly evenly, meeting both pairs of dark eyes and giving them equal eye contact to cement her point. "I don't know where Roxas came from, but I do know one thing. When I saw Donald teleport us all back up here -" she gestured vaguely at the metallic walls of the inside of the Gummi ship - "I saw the little sphere thingy around Roxas go toward Sora's body, not up toward where the ship was waiting. Maybe that has something to do with where Roxas came from."

Well, she comforted herself, that wasn't exactly a lie. She figured the least she could do was drop subtle hints and hope they figured it out.

Donald didn't look convinced. Goofy opened his mouth to say something, but then an almost inaudible noise sounded.

"What's that?" Donald twitched irritably. Clearly, his earlier tirade hadn't exhausted his copious supply of temperament. "Do we have Heartless in the engine again?"

Char's lips twitched with a shadow of amusement; she figured there had to be a story behind that, but before she could ask the noise was heard again, a little louder this time.

"No, that kinda sounds like..."

Sora! Char mentally finished Goofy's sentence and felt a wave of relief wash over her and leave weakness in its wake. She ran her fingers through her bangs in an attempt to steady herself and chuckled softly. Not even the other half of his heart colliding with the half that resided within him could bring Key-boy down.

Donald let out a cry of happiness and, Char thought, intense relief before dashing past her as fast as his tiny legs could take him in the direction of Sora's room. Goofy followed at the same relatively-breakneck speed, albeit moving a little more slowly to accommodate Donald's shorter stride. Char fought back the desperate gratefulness that made her legs tremble as she set out in the wake of the Disney residents and tried to adopt a fairly detached air. You're his friend, she told herself, you have a right to be concerned.

Friends? She could almost hear Riku's voice in the back of her mind, see a fine silver eyebrow raised at her and turquoise eyes narrowed in amusement. It wasn't even supposed to get that far.

She fought back a sigh and, growling to herself at the way that Donald had barely left the door open when he had entered, pushed the door to Sora's room the rest of the way so she could get in.

The familiar head of spiky brown hair greeted her eyes, confirming her suspicions and amplifying her relief at knowing he was all right; the sight of him served to cement that knowledge in her mind, since before it had lingered only as a fervent hope. His dark blue eyes were cloudy with pain and confusion and his face looked strained, but Char figured the sudden shift from lion to human had caused that. At least, she hoped it was that way.

"Are you all right?" Donald demanded, immediately heaving himself onto the bed with some rather amusing effort. He raised his staff, which glowed the notorious shade of emerald green that his Cura spell had patented, and began furiously casting healing spells on Sora, the sparks of green shooting off harmlessly in all directions and lighting up the dim room.

Sora blinked groggily and tried to smile; the pitiful attempt to adopt his regular blithe demeanor elicited a sympathetic wince even from Char. "Of course," he insisted in a ragged voice, only to prove himself wrong when he tried to push himself up onto his elbows and collapsed at the effort.

"Don't be stupid," Char growled roughly, pushing her way past Goofy. She ignored the startled look that that garnered, as well as Donald's narrowed eyes; she knew she hadn't behaved this way since their visit to Disney Castle, but anxiety made her pulse accelerate and her nerves twitch. "You're not fine and we all know it. Just..." She hesitated. "Just what happened to you back there?"

As she spoke, Char was fully aware of Donald and Goofy's suspicious eyes on her, and mentally told them to stop. The uncomfortable knowledge that their trust in her was wavering wouldn't leave her, and she knew full well why that knowledge was bothering her so much. Just humor Key-boy, she inwardly begged. He trusts me, and that should be enough, right?

Of course, memories of what Roxas had said to her about Sora's feelings came fast on the heels of that thought, so she immediately banished it before her heart could betray her.

Sora's gaze locked hazily on her, and she flinched at the obvious exhaustion in both his features and the languid way in which he was lying on his bed: limbs akimbo, half-limp and pale with fatigue. "I... I'm not sure," he admitted. He half-lifted one hand, as though he were going to push some hair out of his eyes, then clearly thought better of wasting the effort and lowered his hand.

"Then get sure," Donald advised, tapping Sora's head with his staff. The Keybearer winced at the impact of the weapon on his head, the pain of which was magnified even more by his half-conscious condition; Char figured it was something not unlike the aftermath of a concussion. A concussion of the two halves of his heart crashing together, she thought dryly.

Donald was continuing, his voice so irritated only because of his relief and remaining nervousness; they had almost lost the boy they had sworn to protect and become friends with, after all. "We can't help you until we know what caused this," the duck said.

Goofy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the rest of us were fine when we got back here. You're the only one who got all weird and loopy on us."

Sora blinked hard a couple of times, trying to get the sleep out of his eyes and to see his comrades better, for their forms danced in front of him in barely discernible blurs. Donald and Goofy's words rang true within him; what had caused only Sora to fall unconscious upon arriving in the Gummi ship, and with such a burst of agony at that? Sora still winced inwardly at the memory of his last sight before the effects of the shape-shifting had knocked him out: Donald raising his staff high, Char fidgeting anxiously beside him, Roxas with his head and tail drooping...

Roxas. Sora's brow furrowed.

"Where's Roxas?" he found himself asking.

That turned out to be the worst possible thing he could have asked. Donald and Goofy exchanged a nervous glance, while Char stiffened briefly before suddenly finding the sheet-littered ground very interesting to look at.

The palpable tension in the air was contagious, and even Sora found himself clutching the blankets around him anxiously with one hand, as much to stave off the pain as to show his own response to their lack of responses. "Do you guys know where Roxas went?" he repeated less steadily, his heart beginning to pound. If Roxas, the boy Sora had been having so many dreams about, had only shown up in one world because of the unstable magic of Donald's staff - if Roxas was gone now, then what could that mean?

"No one knows, Sora," Goofy answered quietly. "He up and vanished on us right after we found ya half-dead in the vessel."

He up and vanished on us. The words struck a deeper chord within Sora than he had anticipated, and he shivered suddenly despite the warmth of his own body heat soaking into the bed sheets. Because as he focused his blurry eyes on his comrades, he suddenly realized that something - something beyond his knowledge - was going on between the three of them.

"Sorry," Char muttered, raising and lowering one shoulder.

Sora told himself to calm down; they knew as much as he did about the situation with Roxas - less, even, because none of them had experienced the realistic dreams that he had involving the blond.

"Okay, then," he answered carefully with a sigh of unfeigned frustration. He had looked forward to asking Roxas himself the questions that were constantly plaguing him. Who are you? Why are you in my dreams? Why were you in the Organization? Why does that Anxclof girl keep trying to get you back? And -

He forced himself to cut off his own mental questions when the green light of Donald's healing spell flashed again and suddenly, painfully, the world came into sharp focus. Sora groaned and fell back, his head landing with a soft noise against the pillow, at the dizziness the abrupt change in vision brought him.

"Now do we have your attention?" Donald growled.

Sora turned his head to the side and closed his eyes as the pounding in his head was born anew. "Why wouldn't you?" he muttered. More than just tiredness had created the dryness of his voice. For some reason, a feeling of mistrust toward the ones who had always, always protected him until now, had followed their promise of "all for one and one for all" even until now - toward Donald and Goofy, was rising up within him with the force of a choking, dark cloud. Why did he get the feeling they knew something he didn't?

And then there was the matter of Char. Sora recalled Char and Roxas' vitriolic, angry conversations with one another, and for the first time it hit him that that enmity hadn't just sprung up out of nowhere; while he had acknowledged it before, he hadn't had time to fully contemplate their hatred of each other until now. Something had clearly happened between the two of them even before this journey, something that merited Roxas' obvious hatred of her. For the first time in a while, the knowledge of the secrets Char refused to disclose about her past nagged at Sora, and he flinched at the bitter sadness that scythed through him at remembering it. He knew he cared about her as much as he had Kairi, but he also knew he couldn't fully love someone whose heart was shrouded in mystery and shadows.

He shook that off. Right now, all he wanted was to be alone to think.

He didn't see due to his eyes being on the wall, but Char's eyebrows went up ever so slightly before her eyes softened in a look of understanding. She turned to Donald and Goofy, who looked as if they wanted to linger in Sora's room. "Come on," she said quietly, causing Sora to glance back and move his head along with his eyes. He hadn't expected Char to be the one to speak, and his surprise only increased when she put a hand behind Donald's back and began gently pushing him toward the edge of the bed; the duck squawked indignantly, wriggled free, and leaped down clumsily. "He wants to sleep," she went on more brusquely. "Leave him to it."

"But -" Goofy tried.

Char only seized them both by the backs of their shirt collars and ushered them out of the room, with Donald protesting rather vocally the whole way. As she pushed the mage and the knight through the doorway, the redhead hesitantly cast a glance back. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but thought better of it and turned away just in time for the door to close behind her.

"Why'd you have to do that?" Donald spat angrily as soon as the door to Sora's room had swung securely shut behind them.

Char rolled her eyes. "He wanted to be alone. Couldn't you see it?" Dryly, she continued, "Once even Key-boy starts sounding annoyed, you know you've got a problem on your hands."

Donald looked as if he wanted very badly to disagree with her and opened his mouth to do so, only to have Goofy cut him off. "She's right, Donald," the knight acquiesced, giving Char an anxious look. She guessed he was as concerned about Sora as the rest of them were. Without the stupid "romantic feelings" factor, of course, she mentally added with an equally unvoiced sigh.

Then she blinked in slight confusion. Strange - before all this, whenever something drastic happened to change her life - her new situation in Hollow Bastion, the Organization's birth, realizing her little crush on Riku, the works - she dealt with it by avoiding thinking about it as much as possible. Now, practically within the hour that she had realized her feelings for Riku had swung to his spiky-haired, light-advocating friend, she could think about said feelings without wanting to vomit or scream, or both, at her own weakness. Maybe, she decided, if she thought about it enough, it would help her get used to it more quickly.

Or maybe she just enjoyed deluding herself. Either worked.

Goofy suddenly yawned loudly, successfully knocking Char out of her thoughts. The interruption, she had to admit, was not an unwelcome one. "Gawrsh, I'm tired," the knight murmured, reaching up and stretching his arms above his head before dropping them back down again.

Donald hesitated, then muttered something that seemed to second that notion.

Char folded her arms and narrowed her eyes, readying herself to scoff and say they had just spent one night in the Pride Lands, they didn't need to waste any more time - then as if in vindictive contradiction of her own thoughts, exhaustion crashed over her like a black wave and started to weigh her down. As much as she hated to admit it, she shared the Disney residents' feelings of fatigue. Just thinking about heading to another world today made her mind groan in dread.

"Well, we'll see how we feel in the morning," she said carefully. "For now, Sora needs time to rest too."

"Yeah," Donald agreed, probably trying to cover up his previous agreement with Goofy's comment by agreeing with the reason behind Char's.

A few more heartbeats passed as the three of them stood there awkwardly, tension hanging in the air between them. For the first time Char became aware of the fact that really, aside from a little temper problem that she and Donald seemed to share, the trio had nothing much in common. Their only shared goal was to help Sora any way they could.

Abruptly, trying to break the silence, she spoke. "Okay, well, see you guys in the morning," she said, turning on her heel as she finished and striding off to her room, trying to ignore their gazes on her. Her footsteps echoed conspicuously loudly in the clacking noise of shoe against tile, and came to a loud, unceremonious stop when the door to her room slammed behind her.

She winced at the sudden noise and ran her hand through her bangs a couple of times, clenching that hand into a fist the second time it reached the ends of her hair. The attempt to clear her head failed miserably, as she had expected it would, and she closed her eyes briefly before opening them again.

Now that the situation was fully sinking in, it hit her, how stupid she had been to just walk in here and hope to get some sleep. Not after the events of the past couple of days, anyway.

And now that she got some time to fully reconsider said events, the force of the memories of those events created such a confusing whirlwind of emotions in her mind she felt dizzy with the force of it. Roxas showing up, Anxclof's failure to finish Char and Sora off when the fight with Scar had weakened them...

Char flinched as the final, most important memory entered her mind: Roxas' dark blue eyes, staring mercilessly into hers, as though he were aware of the internal conflict he was causing her and rather enjoying tormenting her.

You know he feels the same way...

A snarl ripped itself out of Char's throat and she shook her head in another vain attempt to thin the fog that was wreathing itself over her senses - a fog of both hope and anxiety.

Trying to distract herself from her heart's idiotic choices, she pulled her jacket off over her head and chanced a look out the circular window on the opposite wall. As far as she could see, the Gummi ship still floated in the world between worlds, if the mass of murky chartreuse clouds lurking outside the windows was any indication. We definitely need to set off tomorrow morning, she thought; who knows what'll happen if this thing's just floating here all night? The thought of Heartless and Nobodies ruthlessly setting upon the Gummi ship's outer defenses while its pilots slept made a shiver ripple down Char's spine.

"We'll just have to hold on until then," she muttered aloud, and tossed the jacket off into the corner, marveling at how even after such a long, strenuous day, the brown fabric remained mostly clean and unmarked. Maybe it was another effect of Donald's magic.

Her brow furrowed as she thought about what the staff had done to Sora. Now that her initial worry and nausea-inducing anxiety had mostly subsided, Char's reason and researcher's curiosity took over her thoughts and wouldn't let go. The frown deepened almost imperceptibly in contemplation.

Donald seemed to have put Sora's heart back together, for lack of a better term, but the Keybearer was still a little shaken by the collision of his Nobody's presence with his heart, so maybe the magic hadn't done its job as cleanly as it seemed. Char made a mental note to go back to Sora's room, preferably before he chose to whisk them off to still more worlds in search of Riku, and check on him; physically he seemed to be fine, but that meant nothing in the context of the heart.

Her shoulders tensed unconsciously and her breath hitched just a tiny bit as the thought of her gently pushing the door open, eyes searching for a sleeping Sora, took hold of her mind and refused to relinquish its grip.

Stop, she mentally ordered in a tone that sounded rather weak even to her own mind.

To give herself something to do, she began working at her shoes to get them off and focused on the eternally-shifting wisps of green clouds, at least the few that were visible through where she was standing. As the murk undulated and moved outside her window, she sighed softly to herself, both in defeat and self-chiding. She knew it was fairly pointless to keep pushing back her own emotions, when emotions were, really, the one thing their opponents lacked and therefore, the Keybearer and his allies could exploit.

Exploitation of weaknesses... defeating the Organization... right. Char's reminder of what she had really come along on this long-winded venture for felt even more half-hearted than usual. She huffed out a sigh, slung her shoes in the same corner as her jacket, and flopped down on the bed, not taking her eyes off the view of the Gummi ship's surroundings.

Honestly, what was the matter with her? Char narrowed her eyes into irritated, icy slits, glowering fiercely at the porthole, as though she could indirectly take her frustration out on the glass separating the ship's interior from the world outside. She could almost see Ansem shaking his head admonishingly - honestly, Charisa, I believed you were truly focused on our revenge - and Riku smirking smugly. Sora, Char? Sora? Seriously, I thought you had taste.

The echo of the latter's voice, nonexistent as it was, drew a small chuckle out of Char, and she reached up to run her hands through her hair again, dimly noting that she had to find the brush sometime soon. Unbidden, the memory of the day she had first realized her little crush on Riku came rushing back into her mind, and the flood held such an air of poignancy about it that suddenly moisture was coming to her eyes all over again.


"Riku?" Char rapped sharply on the door to the silver-haired teen's room with her knuckles. "Riku," she called, drawing out his name almost teasingly. Seeing his failure to answer her summons, she huffed angrily and drew back. "Why isn't he answering?"

"Don't be so hard on him," Namine murmured, her white-clad shape a stark juxtaposition to Char's taller, darker-bedizened form. "You know DiZ chewed him out yesterday after..." Her soft voice trailed off when she saw Char's almost imperceptible wince, and her sapphire eyes surveyed the ground as the two girls shared the same apprehension.

Oh, yes, they remembered yesterday, all right: Riku opening a dark portal, grinning blithely and telling them he would bring Roxas back no matter what as he pulled the dark blindfold over his eyes, somewhat dampening the hope of his departure; and then Riku's bent head and blood-spattered robes as that same dark portal and that same confident young man from earlier returned. Char had watched him leave for the basement with anxiety and growing dread for Riku and the punishment DiZ would undoubtedly deliver to him for failing to accomplish his mission.

Shaking that memory off, Char let out a noise that seemed caught between a growl and a sigh. "Well," she muttered, "just because he screwed up doesn't mean he can just sit up on his ass in his room all day." Renewing her efforts, she began pounding on the door again, ignoring the part of her that agreed with Namine. "Oy! Dark emo boy! Open up!" the redhead shouted.

Namine flinched. "Char, he needs time to -"

But then the door swung open, and Char forced herself to stand her ground at being faced with blazing turquoise eyes. He held the blindfold in one gloved hand, she noted vaguely, and wondered if that meant anything.

Icy eyes met blue-green before the owner of the latter spat. "What do you want?" he snarled, acerbity and anger clear in his voice.

Char snorted. "Good morning to you too, sunshine. You can't hide in here forever, y'know."

Riku growled deep in his throat, as though he were seriously considering just letting Xehanort's Heartless loose on Char then and there. But his reason eventually won out, and he narrowed his eyes. "I know that. I'm not stupid."

"Could've fooled me," Char remarked, smirking at the eye-roll her comment induced from Riku. "Anyway, I wanted you to come out to Twilight Town with me... just for today." As she spoke, she became aware of a weird feeling of warmth tracing its way up her spine, and added the last part hastily for good measure, because one of Riku's eyebrows was slowly starting to arch up on his forehead.

She wondered why she was acting so odd; they had gone out together before. Then again, though, the situations surrounding those other times had held so many differences from this: DiZ was angry, Riku had failed...

Namine was watching them with a look of slight amusement on her face. Riku only shrugged, the ghost of a smile appearing on his features. "Yeah, I guess I'll go."

"I said I want you to come with me and that's - huh?" Char had started to rant full-tilt again in preparation for the refusal she thought was undoubtedly coming, but now she stopped, uncommonly flustered. That feeling only increased when she saw the warmth on Riku's face.

"Well... fine then, awesome stuff," she mumbled, trying to ignore the heat that rushed to her cheeks.

He pocketed the blindfold for good measure and opened up a dark portal right then and there. As Char turned to bid Namine farewell, she caught a flicker of movement and looked just in time to see Riku casting Namine what was almost a glower - something rare for him to do to her, because she was practically Kairi's shadow. Namine only smiled innocuously and waved him off.

Before Char could ask Riku about the cause of his annoyance toward Namine, he had whisked the redhead off to the town. Once, he even offered to pay for snacks and little trinkets for her while they browsed the shops, which was weird, because ordinarily he would have waved one hand and told her to pay for herself, however teasingly. Char had politely declined; at the same time, a not-entirely-unwelcome little shiver rippled through her abdomen.

Char brooded both on this and Riku's odd behavior as they sat on top of the clock tower, both holding separate sticks of ice-blue sea-salt ice cream. As she took in the shadows and shifting glow that the twilight sun cast on the town beneath them, she realized, with a slight start, that she actually enjoyed this new side of him.

An enjoyment that was tempered quite a bit by the knowledge of her pounding heart.

Weird, she mused, idly devouring her sea-salt ice cream and ignoring the way it was melting and dripping onto her other hand, making the glove fabric sticky as a result. Char had had these strange reactions to Riku's little bursts of chivalry before, but it was never as strong as it was now; now it felt as though her heart would burst through her chest with both... what was that, anxiety that accompanied her happiness? She frowned and turned to Riku.

"You're being weirdly nice to me today," she remarked, deciding to forego all of her tact and just ask.

She knew the moment the words exited her mouth that it was the wrong thing to say. Immediately the dark look from this morning returned to Riku's countenance and he directed his eyes to the speck-like people moving about below them, squinting in a way that, Char knew, hadn't come about because of the dying sun.

She half-expected him to ask something teasing like can't a guy do something nice for his friend? But, not so surprisingly, he said nothing.

"I don't like this place," he muttered suddenly, making her glance over. She blinked; she had heard him say it before, but something felt different about this time. A little more inflection and anger lurked in his voice, behind the repeated words.

"We've been here too long," he continued, still refusing to look at her. "Sora needs to wake up."

Char couldn't hold back a small scoff. "That's what DiZ sent you to go get Roxas for yesterday, remem...?"
She trailed off when Riku suddenly jerked his head up and fixed her with such an intense stare that it almost seemed to become a fist - a fist that hit her on the side of the head and demanded as to her intelligence's questionable existence.

Yesterday.

Oh.

Oh.

"I messed up, Char." Riku's eyes were still on her, and though the fading sunlight shone and cast a slight glare, she could still see a blazing intensity within his turquoise orbs. That determination was enough to make her squirm just the tiniest bit out of mild discomfort and growing self-consciousness.

Because when was the last time she'd felt that passionate about anything?

"But," Riku was saying, "I'll bring Sora back. Whatever it takes."

And even though his gaze was fixed on her, she couldn't help feeling like she wasn't the person Riku was really addressing. Like Char's dark red hair was replaced with maroon, and her icy eyes with blue-violet. Like he was trying to make a promise to the one person who he couldn't see, but who he still loved.

As the wind tugged at their cloaks and hair, as the sea-salt ice cream continued to drip all over Char's hand - she needed to wash that glove later, she dimly noted - it occurred to her that her heart had never stopped pounding, especially at the fact that Riku could easily replace Char with Kairi in his mind.


Now that Char was taking the time to really reconsider that day, she realized so many more things than the relatively small epiphany that had assailed her then - small because, really, it had been obvious to everyone but herself; even Namine had known, despite Char's inability to admit it in such clear terms. First and foremost among the new knowledge - new knowledge that, Char realized, wasn't so new after all - was the fact that Riku knew he would have to use Xehanort's Heartless to defeat Roxas. The thought sent an unexpected feeling of despondency through her.

This time is different, she reminded herself. Sora doesn't have to do anything like that. He's focused on his goal, sure, but not to the desperate point that Riku was...

Was that really the point, though? Sora was working on finding his friends; saving worlds along the way just happened to be an added bonus. Riku had worked so hard, had been so driven by the thought of nostalgia and childhood and his friends again, that he was willing to kidnap a somewhat-innocent boy, wipe his memories, and replace them with ones he had never wanted.

Well, Char mused, there's one way they're not so different. They both only want to go home again...

Her thoughts petered off into silence as a yawn suddenly seized her jaws and stretched them wide. Frustratedly, she reflected on how her own stupid emotions weren't going to let her sleep tonight despite her own exhaustion.

Sighing, she turned to flick the switch on the desk lamp next to the bed, and, when her eyes got used to the newfound blackness, gathered the ice-cold sheets around herself to try and get warm. She could see, out of the corner of her eye, the watery puddle of pale green light that the view of the world between cast on the floor from its vantage point at the window.

She squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated on trying to get some sleep for tomorrow. For Sora, she thought. Have to be in top shape for whatever wild goose chase he decides to drag us on next...

Amazingly, even with that somewhat-mocking frame of mind, Char allowed herself to succumb to the once-elusive offer of sleep.


There we go! One of my shorter chapters, I must say.

Before I sign off, I have a question for you readers out there. Whenever I write certain character interactions/pairings in this fic - i.e., RikuChar, SoraChar, FalCopper, etc. - I usually have a few set songs I like to listen to while I write those parts. Like, for the RiChar flashback in this chapter, I had the songs Shadows (Red) and Dear Angel (April Sixth) on super repeat.

So - if any, what songs do you associate with some of the pairings in this fic? I'm just curious. :3

Now, I must go work on RftL before my readers of that fic pound my skull into the ground for neglecting it to write endless chapters of this fic.