AN: Chapter two! :D More of my favorite mentorship pairing! xD Seriously OMG I love them! :D :D Uhhh, but yeah, here's how this is gonna work: some chapters will be all Kairi's A plot, some will be all Riku's B plot (like this one), buuut MOST will try to be a good mix of both lol. :D And some might be "C" plot with Ventus...sprinkled here and there possibly... :D

Also, PS lol: This is another original world of mine! Couldn't find a Disney or Pixar one to fit what I needed lol, sooo made one of my own. xD It was necessary to facilitate the character growth and arc of Riku! You'll find out how later. :D

It was a large town, all right, Riku thought.

A nice, polished place of cobblestone streets, wide, squat stone buildings with plants and other decorations littering them...and a crowded population.

Normal people, all around them - humans, that was. People just...going about their day, chatting, laughing, hanging out together. Kids playing games, racing around like idiots, things like that.

All...peaceful and normal.

There were families and partners moving together, and sales-people shouting from stalls...

And there were other people milling about in armor, not unlike Terra's. Well, a lot less intricate and extravagant, in most cases...

Terra really didn't look all that out of place. Riku didn't think so, anyways. And if he was, nobody was saying anything about it...

Terra led Riku through the streets almost randomly, taking turns down narrower streets, through an alley, and then up a road Riku swore took them back the way they'd come to begin with! Then, finally, Terra doubled back until they came to a halt in a huge plaza with a big fountain in the center of it.

There, Terra leaned back against the side of the fountain and raised a knee, casual as anything.

Riku hesitated, then imitated the man, leaning back and crossing his arms.

"Alright, so what are we doing here?" Riku asked him. "And no screwing with me, okay?" he added swiftly. "Serious answers only."

Terra straightened, setting his foot down. "Alright. Let's be serious, then: do you really want to help people here?"

"Yeah, I do," Riku replied.

"Right here?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? To...make up for all the- horrible crap I did..." Riku murmured out, glancing at passersby and flushing.

"Mmm. So, you want to help people because you feel guilty. Ashamed."

"Why else...would I? That's the right move, isn't it? It's what I should be doing now."

"It's the right move - wrong motive. Don't help people to try and lift the weight from your Heart; help them because in your Heart you know it's simply...right, and because you want to do right, from here on out."

"What difference does it make?"

Terra's head turned. It was always so...piercing when he did that. Riku couldn't stand up to it for long. "All the difference in the World, Riku."

"I don't see it."

"All right. Well...if you want to help..."

"I do!"

"One person."

"Huh?" Riku turned to him, confused.

Terra looked around, raising a hand to gesture. "Pick one person who looks like they need help, and you help them. It doesn't have to be anything dramatic or flashy - a burning building or a mugging - it can be something as simple as offering someone an umbrella on a rainy day, or...being there to listen to a crying young woman's troubles by a fountain."

"That sounds...incredibly specific," Riku remarked.

That helmet was gazing at him again. "Oftentimes, it's those simplest of things that do the most good for people - that have the most profound affects on their lives. In their worst moments, that one, little thing can mean everything to them; it can give them the strength to keep going, to rise up again. To hang on, for even one more day. One more minute, or even another second."

Riku mulled the man's words over, staring around himself. "Huh..."

"Don't you know that already? It's what you did for your friend - Kairi. Didn't you? You told me that when she first arrived on your islands, she was alone, and afraid, and lost. And you...you were there for her, at all the right times. In all those moments when she needed you to be. Big and small."

Riku closed his eyes, leaning back and crossing his arms tighter. Hugging himself now. "Yeah...I guess I was...but..."

"You don't think you can do that for someone else again now?" The man made a thoughtful noise. "Are you afraid to?"

"Why would I be afraid to- help somebody, or- be someone's friend?"

"Because you might be afraid of screwing it all up again," the man said plainly. "Of hurting them, instead of helping."

Riku opened his eyes, letting his head drop, along with his arms. "I'm not...scared of that. I'm not using darkness anymore, am I? I haven't reached for it once. How could I screw up again?"

"Your problem wasn't darkness, Riku."

"Huh?"

"Well, a great deal of it was, yes, but most of it was just...yourself."

"What do you mean?"

The man slowly raised a hand, clapping him on the shoulder. "All right...Riku, that conversation we had when we first got here: yes, it was a test - and yes, you failed it. But not in the way you think did."

"What's that supposed to even mean?" Riku glared. Then he dropped his head. He couldn't win a glaring contest with a guy in a helmet...

"I've had ten years to sit around in an empty desert, thinking about nothing but my own screw-ups. My own flaws, my mistakes. How it all went wrong. The things I missed. The ways that I ended up failing. And darkness wasn't the source of the problem - it was a symptom. One that grew into a self-perpetuating cycle, yes, but still...only a symptom of the root of the problem."

"And what's that?"

"Ourselves." The man squeezed at him, that helmet still as a statue as he gazed at Riku. "Darkness...it can only work with what it has to work with. Whatever selfish, negative feelings and thoughts you have inside you...it takes them, it twists them, and it amplifies them, feeding on it to grow itself, which in turn twists you more and more - that's true - but it had to start with something. The fire needs wood...and scraps of paper, and leaves...and bark...to ever become anything at all. It needs fuel. And your own Heart's emotions, your own mind's thoughts, were its fuel source, Riku. But even then, only if you let it. If you let that fire grow, let it get out of control and consume the whole forest."

Riku put a hand to his Heart, shrinking under the man's heavy handed grasp.

"But, if you're strong enough, if you keep a sharp eye on things, and you manage it properly...you can contain it. Coral it. Never let it get out of hand inside you." Terra's hand slid from Riku's shoulder. He turned away, leaning back himself, staring off into the distance. "If I'd understood any of this from the very start of my training...I would have been able to manage my own darkness. Understand my own Heart, control the darkness inside it. Keep it from flaring, keep it from growing and growing...until it all came exploding out of me in that way it did. If my Heart hadn't been blackened with darkness...I might never have lost my friends. Because like darkness itself...my enemy could only work with what he had to work with inside me. And I had plenty in me for him to work with. And so did you," he concluded gently.

"So you're saying...we're the problems here? Our Hearts? Not the darkness in them?"

"For the most part. If we hadn't already felt how we did, darkness might never have taken root - and our enemies might never have been able to manipulate us. Darkness was a part of it, and our own feelings were the basis. And our enemies seized the opportunities before them when they saw us. But, along that path, we still both made choices. Darkness or not, enemies with hooks in us or not, we still made our own choices that led us to where we are now. We made the choices...to do the things we did. And that's why, here and now, today, you and I can make the choices...we should have made back then. The right choices. The choice to stay on the straight and narrow, to never stray again. Not from what's good and decent, and not from our friends. From what we once held dear - and what we once believed in."

"The strength to protect..."

"That's right. The choice to use your strength, your power, to protect all the things that matter in this World. And the choice...to cherish your friends, always."

"I know why I didn't. I know, okay? I was weak, and stupid, and selfish. I was arrogant, I had my head too far up my own-" Riku shook his head. "And I was jealous. Not just- of Kairi...of the Keyblade she has. It wasn't just that she...I thought of it like a betrayal. Like she- took what was mine. And...and she always kept things close to her chest! From the day we met, all the days after, where I did those- little things for her- and she still held back! But..." He sighed, ran a hand through his hair. Trying to calm himself. Bat away the anger. "I was jealous of her and Sora, just for being them!"

Terra simply looked at him, silent. Attentive.

Riku breathed again, ragged. "She's always been so much more clever and perceptive than I ever gave her credit for. She's smarter than I- gave her credit for. And...wiser, too, in a way, I guess. And Sora...he's always so upbeat, so positive, so- so carefree and- nothing in life ever gets him down! He's just...happy to be him, to be where he is in the World at any given moment! If we'd never made the plan to go out on that raft, if we never even knew Kairi was from another world...even if it failed, Sora would have shrugged and gone on with his life! And I-"

"You wouldn't have?"

"No - I wouldn't have! I would have...worried and obsessed and tried and tried - for the rest of my days! Because I knew it was out there, because I knew I wanted to see it. I had to! I had to..." Riku fell silent. "Even Kairi was happy with where she was. With her life as it was. She loved the islands, she loved her friends, she loved school. She loved her...her d-dad...she loved the whole community. But me...I just wanted to get away from it all. I wanted out. I wanted...more. I was never happy, not really. And I was never going to be...as long as I was there."

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I suppose that's my fault, then, isn't it? If I had never visited you that day - if I had never told you...never showed you my Keyblade...never Bequeathed you at all..."

"No." Riku shook his head. He tried to smile at the man. "It wasn't your fault at all. Kairi still would have shown up, wouldn't she? I still would have gone down that path, either way. And it wasn't even her fault, either. It was...just me. Like you said. Darkness made it worse, fed on it to feed itself, and grew out of control in my Heart - and Maleficent and Ansem working me over didn't help either - but when you get right down to it...it was always me. It was all me. The thoughts I had, the feelings I had, the things I did...those were mine. Those choices were mine. That's...the kind of person I am."

"I could have turned away, turned them down, I could have rejected all of it - gone back to Sora and Kairi!" Riku went on passionately. "God, they even offered, several times over, despite me doing the worst things in the World - despite me saying the worst things in the world to them! Even after everything, they still tried, and they still...even Kairi still...and I never would have! If I'd been them, and they'd been me! I wouldn't have done that for me! And I wish I could be the way they are! I wish I could see the World the way they do! I wish I could live my life the way they do! Unyielding, uncompromising, un...unafraid, to just be them, to fail, to lose, to hurt, to- but I'm not them. I'm me. And I hate being me!"

Riku stood breathing harshly as those final words tore free of his throat. Surprise at himself flooded his body.

"You can," Terra said quietly, as if Riku hadn't just gone on an unhinged rant. "You just have to make the choice to."

"Like it's...that easy...?"

"It's not. But I don't think it's so easy for them, either. Do you? Natural personality or not, they still keep making their choices too. The choice to keep going, to keep holding their own outlook. To stay positive, to stay true to themselves. But they could just as easily choose to throw it all away, too. Now, maybe it will be harder for you than for them...but you can still make the same choice as they do. To be how they are in life. You just...follow their examples. Think about how they live, what they do, and then...try and do that, yourself."

Riku stood in silence, closing his eyes once again. Just breathing.

Terra broke it, after a few minutes of this.

"Say, Riku, have you wondered why I haven't taken off my armor in all these past hours since we met? Not even the helmet?"

"Uh - yeah...yeah I have...wondered..." Riku admitted.

"Want to make a guess?" Terra spoke lightly.

"Uh- I'd- rather not..."

"No? All right. I'll do it for you. Is it because I'm completely ugly under this thing? Is it because I have burns and scars for days? Or is it because I'm actually self-conscious and shy?" Terra listed off humorously.

"I...don't really care what the reason is," Riku admitted, giving a small grin and shaking his head.

"Well then, I suppose you don't want to hear the true reason..." Terra said mysteriously.

"No, hang on, I never said that!" Riku protested. "Not...exactly..."

"The reason...is that there is nothing under here."

"What?"

"My greatest mistake, Riku, didn't just cost me my friends - it cost me my body and Heart. My enemy took it over, stole it for themselves - and as far as I can sense after all these years...he still has it. He's still using it out there. For what? I don't know. But he is. And I've let him keep it for too long."

"Are you serious?"

"Want me to take off my head and show you?"

"NO!" Riku shrilled, rearing back from the man.

Terra was laughing at him. Which...

"Wait a second, if you're not screwing around with me, how are you talking and walking right now?" Riku said crossly, putting hands on his hips. "Explain that."

"I can't." Terra shrugged. "When my body was taken from me, I was trying to activate my armor - hoping it would protect me. Even a small part of me. It didn't exactly work, but it didn't exactly fail, either. What I am now...I'm a collection of powerful thoughts and important memories that make up the person called 'Terra.' Memories of his friends, key moments of his life, and the teachings of his Master, Eraqus. My will - and maybe the magical composition of the armor itself - is allowing me to continue to animate it. To function. To walk and talk, as you put it. I do exist, I am a mind, I suppose...but my body and Heart are both trapped by my enemy - by HIS darkness. Smothered by it all."

"I guess we have that in common, then..." Riku sighed, smiling. "I almost had my body taken from me, too. By Ansem. And he went on to take the body of a friend of Kairi's, apparently. Until...we defeated him. Don't know what happened to the girl herself, but Kairi was sure she was going to be all right now."

"Almost? How did you avoid it?"

"Darkness..." Riku confessed quietly. "When HIS darkness invaded my Heart, tried to smother me and drown me...I fought back with my own darkness. And I won. But...it was close. I don't think he expected my powers to be so...strong. But I gave him a real surprise."

"Hmm. Quite the irony. The darkness that twisted your Heart in order to feed itself was also what saved your Heart."

"Yeah...I guess."

"Just further proof then, that darkness by itself is nothing to be afraid of. It's the people using it. Or, in our cases...that person is us. Our own Hearts and intentions."

"Are you really serious with all that talk? Would you be cool about it if I just...started throwing dark fireballs right now?"

"Well, that depends, Riku."

"On what?"

"On whether or not you think you're strong enough to throw dark fireballs without letting your Heart be changed by the darkness. Could you resist it? Control it? Contain it? Or would you succumb to it again?"

"I...dunno," Riku said quietly.

"Good."

"How is that good?"

"It's good...that you're wise enough to realize that about yourself. And it also means...that maybe someday you'll truly be able to do it."

"You think?"

"Well...there's nothing wrong with having a little faith, is there? Positive thinking can go a long way. Farther than you'd think. You should try it sometime."

"Huh..." Riku looked down at his hand, clenching it as he felt the tiniest wisps of dark power shooting through his arm. He relaxed, and let it bleed away to nothing. "I...wouldn't want to try it anytime soon. The darkness, I mean - not the- positive thinking part," he clarified swiftly, flushing.

Terra clapped his shoulder again, then stepped away from the fountain. "I'm proud of you, Riku. How about we go and get you something to eat - do you like ice cream?"

"Uh...yeah? Sure?"

"Come on, then."

"Wait, do you have munny?" Riku asked, starting after the man.

Terra stopped, turning back to him. A small chuckle echoed out from that helmet. His hand reached into a pocket on his armor, and came out again holding a thick drawstring pouch. "I collected my fair sum of munny during my travels ten years ago; I never got the chance to remove it from my armor. Funny how that works out, huh?"

"You've had that munny in your armor for ten years?" Riku said, incredulous. And, for some reason, really amused.

"Funny how that works out," Terra repeated cheerfully. He tossed the bag up and caught it again, then turned away with a grand swish of his cape. "Come on - I saw a restaurant down this way, while I was wandering aimlessly in that way I noticed you were getting so frustrated over."

Riku hurried after him with a grin on his face, unable to even be mad at that last bit. Besides, he kind of had a point, didn't he?