DyingofFeels: Yay, I'm so glad you liked it! I wasn't super sure about it, but if you liked it, as the requester, then that's what matters!

Coolmegan123: Ah yes, guy friends are the best, honestly. I don't really have any at this point in my life that I'm close to, other than my husband of course lol, but I have def had several "bro" friends in the past. Anyway, yeah, I love how Lea calls her Princess, but it occurred to me that a stranger would take that a totally different way. Glad you liked the chapter!

Confession: this is the only thing I managed to write this week. I know, I know. With this whole quarantine thing I should have tons of time to write, right? But honestly my schedule has gotten so thrown off because my husband got furloughed from work and is home all the time...plus my Etsy shop, which isn't generally very busy, got 2 different orders in the past couple of weeks that I've had to spend my free time making...plus dying and hunting eggs with the kiddos this weekend...yeah. I'll try to do better this week.

Anyway, here's a Riku's perspective of Meli's stalker-ish phone call right before the final battle.

Chapter 40 ReMix

(Runs parallel to chapter 40)

Riku's perspective

"But I'm not done yet. Got one last thing to see through."

For a moment I watched as my replica stared out across the ocean, recognizing the determination in the set of his jaw. I huffed a small laugh. "Take the time you need."

Silence fell over the beach, but it didn't last for long before a shrill ringing pierced through the air. Jolting out of my thoughts, I glanced over at the now empty stretch of sand where he had been sitting as I pulled my phone from my pocket. Any part of my mind that was still lingering on my replica, however, was quickly forgotten about when I saw the name on the screen. I punched the green button as fast as I could and brought the phone up to my ear.

"Meli." There was no keeping the relief to hear from her out of my voice. There were so many things that I needed to say to her, but now I couldn't seem to think of how to say any of them. "You uh...you got your phone." Duh. Reward for most obvious statement of the year goes to Riku.

"Yeah." It was so good to hear her voice again. We had been apart far too much recently. "I...I'm sorry about yesterday. I hate fighting with you."

"Yeah...I hate it, too." And I hated that the way she said that made it obvious that nothing had changed with her since then. I couldn't apologize for wanting her to come back to the light, for being upset with her for what she had done to herself, but... "I'm sorry, too, if I...said things I shouldn't have...made you upset. I really...I'm really just worried about what's going to happen to you. You know that, right?"

A long moment passed where she said nothing, and I shut my eyes, drawing in a breath and being careful not to let the sigh that wanted to follow escape into the phone's speaker. I missed the days where she and I trusted each other implicitly and knew exactly what was going through the other's head. When exactly did those days end?

"Did you go see your mom today?" she asked finally, and I tried not to clench my teeth in aggravation at the subject change. Instead, I changed my position, bringing both knees up and draping my free arm over them.

"Mm-hm. We all spent the afternoon with our parents. Your uh..." I didn't want to guilt her, but at the same time, maybe a little guilt would do her some good. "Your mom and dad were asking about you, Kairi said."

"Oh." Another long pause. "Yeah, I should...call them...I guess."

"I know they'd love to hear from you." A thought crossed my mind, and I frowned out at the sunset. "How did you know I would go see my mom today?"

"Oh, um...well, you know, I had to go to Yen Sid's to pick up the phone..."

"Oh. He mentioned where we were?" I tried not to think about the fact that she sounded like she was lying.

"He said he was giving everyone the rest of the day off. I figured the rest out."

But you didn't bother to come home yourself. "You know, you could have come with us. Still could, since I know you can be here in two seconds flat." Maybe an invitation is all she needs.

I shouldn't have bothered to get my hopes up. "You guys needs some peace for once," she said after a sigh. "My presence doesn't exactly promote that right now."

"Even if I promise not to fight with you?" This time I let my sigh be heard, too. "I really just want you sitting next to me right now." My arms ached with the need to hold her. "Everything else can wait until another time."

"I'm sorry. I can't right now. Tell the others I said hi, though, okay?"

The last of my hope sank down into the pit of my stomach. Nodding slightly, I massaged my forehead with one hand. "Yeah, okay."

Something made me glance up at the upper part of the island where Sora and Kairi had been sitting ever since we arrived, and it was just in time to see the two of them holding something large and star-shaped out to each other. I straightened up suddenly with a grunt of surprise. "Are they...? Meli, I think they just shared a paopu."

"Those two...they actually did it." I could hear the smile in her voice. "I can't believe it."

"It's about time." After all, it wasn't like they had been crushing on each other for years now, and trying their best to ignore all of mine and Meli's attempts to shove them toward one another. Oh wait, it was exactly like that.

"How come we've never shared a paopu?"

My automatic response was to huff out a laugh. "I don't know. I guess because we're not hopeless romantics like the two of them? I figured you thought it was stupid." I had always kinda thought it was stupid, myself...cute, maybe, but not overly important in an actual relationship.

"Yeah, I mean...I do, I guess." Something in her tone grabbed my attention. "You're right, it's pretty silly." The second time she had lied during this conversation. "Good for them, though."

Uh-oh. Had I messed up? Had she been wanting us to share one this whole time and I had just never noticed? "Do you –?"

She spoke over me before I could finish my question. "I, um...I should go. I just wanted to let you know that...I'll be there tomorrow. At the final battle. I'm very ready to kick some Organization butt, so...I'll see you there."

I really hadn't expected anything less, even though the thought of her using the darkness and fighting the Organization terrified me. "Okay. I...I'll see you there." I scratched the back of my head, debating my next words. "Um, Meli...?"

"Yeah?"

"Just..." I dropped my hand to the side and dug my fingers into the sand. "Just be careful. That's all."

I almost didn't hear her agreement over the sound of yelping and a burst of laughter from up above me. Snapping my attention up to the paopu tree, I caught the tail end of Sora falling to the ground quite dramatically, kicking up sand everywhere.

Meli laughed, and my heart skipped a beat at the sound. "Can't promise anything for that dork, though."

I couldn't help but laugh, too, forgetting for an instant that she wasn't actually sitting by my side. But the implication caught up with me a second later, and my breath hitched. "Wait, are you...?" She can't be. She wouldn't...would she? I twisted around to face the center of the play island, eyes flitting desperately over the shack, the walkways, the path to the Secret Place...

"Love you, Grim."

The phone went silent, but over the crashing of the waves I could just barely hear the distinct sound of a dark corridor opening. Whipping my head around to find the source, I glimpsed a split-second of Meli's face, staring straight at me, before she was engulfed by the black and purple smoke.

Growling in frustration, I slammed a fist down onto the sand. Seriously? What the heck, Meli? Why would you...? I collapsed onto my back, throwing my arm across my eyes and drawing in deep, deliberate breaths through my nose to calm myself. When did everything go wrong? What did I do that she doesn't trust me anymore? That she'd rather run to the darkness than to me? I scrunched my face up against the pain that that thought caused.

If only we had more time...if only we weren't marching off to war the very next day. She and I needed time to figure all of this out, to work through whatever this was without Heartless and psychopaths getting in our way. But time was a commodity that we just didn't have right now. Mine and Meli's problems were just going to have to wait. Once this is all over...I'll bring you back to me. Whatever it takes.

Please let me know what you thought in a review, and if you have any special requests, shoot them my way! Ideas for scenes can be as vague or specific as you want. I'll try my best to do whatever I receive!