Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Squaresoft and Disney. I also don't own any of the other worlds or whatever that appear in the story. This is getting pretty old here.

AnimeFan: Woah!! I'm really getting responses for this fic. Actually, I agree with some of you. Ten years is a long time, so I think I'll shorten it to four years. That way Riku will be 19, Sora will be 18, and Kairi will be 18. To make the fic more realistic, the age limit for drinking or being in a bar will be 18, k? Just for the story, hey! It's another world after all. Now it starts to really get interesting here folks. Oh, for you to know...Kairi is sorta evil in this story if you haven't noticed. ^-^ And I'm thinking of raising the rating up for later chapters, to say clearer, I'm thinking of having Sora and Riku get a little more intimate you know!? Like limey sort of stuff, along those lines. ^-~ But that's just thinking! It's not a definite yet! lol.

P.S. Since this is four years in the future, they've still got the same hairstyles but their clothes are a little bit different. More fit to their journeys and what I think they'd look cute in. ^-^

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Chapter 3 -- Silent Reunion


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I've missed you so much...Why do you walk away...
Please say something...why are you so silent...
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Four years have passed since that night that changed everything. Sora still couldn't believe how everything had just turned out; he'd been fighting Heartless for four years, searching for Destiny Islands and Riku for four years, and having these damn dreams for four years!! Mumbling to himself, he rolled over in his bunker in their spaciously large gummi ship. Several years of fighting and you learn how to build a gummy ship equipped with luxury. That's not the point though, so far they had all succeeded in finding 26 of the 30 pages of notes that Ansem had wrote. For some more good news, Maleficant only had one page of the notes.

Now for the bad news, Maleficant had four of the seven princesses of heart and they hadn't found the slightest bit of trace of Destiny Islands or anyone who even knew where the place was. No wonder Sora and the others never had visitors from other worlds back home, no one knew the place exhausted!! Kairi wasn't helping much, she didn't even care about Riku. Sora got the distinked feeling that she spent every night before bed praying that their white-haired friend was dead. He silently hated her for that, Riku was their...correction ...his friend, his best friend. Damn her, to think I used to see Kairi as a sweet, loving girl. Sora let out a sigh and knocked the covers off the bed with one swift kick.

Just then Aireth walked in and smiled at him, Wakey, wakey, Sora!! Great news, we're back at Transverse Town. The brunette smiled and pulled himself up and out of the built-in bed, Finally, after three years! They had spent the first year fighting the Heartless in the worlds around Transverse Town and the other three years searching even farther worlds out there. Pulling on his jean pants and white t-shirt, he grabbed his jean vest and the Keyblade and ran out of the bunker to the cockpit. Hey! Donald, let me drive...please!!! Donald turned to glare at him, Absolutely not!! I'm the captain here!

Awe, come on Donald! I'm old enough now!!



Gwarsh, here we go again...

*******************(Transverse Town, 2nd district Inn)*********************

Sora sighed and fell back into the bed as the others walked in and took their positions. Kairi came over and sat next to him, but he just pretended not to notice and closed his eyes. Ok, people, we have twenty-six of the thirty notes. Is there anything so far that's in the least bit useable? Yuffie frowned at Leon and looked down at the pile of papers, Most of this is hard to read, and the rest is practically impossible to understand! The least I've been able to get out of it is that the seven princesses of heart have something to do with some Heart of the worlds. Then there's the sealing the keyholes but we sorta figured that out on our own. Leon let out a frustrated sigh and leaned back against the wall,face resting in his hand, That's no good. We need something that we can use right now! The rest is to hard to understand? Yuffie nodded and sat down next to Cloud.

Sora groaned and rubbed the temples of his forehead, This isn't helping any. Besides, we have yet to learn anything of Destiny Islands! Kairi opened her mouth to say something, then second thought about it and turned to stare at the stack of notes. Aireth pulled herself up and snapped her fingers, I've got it!! You all stay here and I'll go see if Merlin will come and check over these notes! He's old and pretty wise, he might be able to make some since of what we've got! Leon flashed her one of his rare smiles, That's a good idea, Aireth. You do that and we'll see if we can't fit something together. With a slight squeal, Aireth turned and ran out of the Inn quickly. She walked into the first district, planning on taking the quick path to Merlin's place in the area with no heartless.

As she walked down the steps in front of the accessory shop, a rather large group entering from the main gate caught her eye. There was about about twelve or fifteen of them, all looking tired and lost. Putting up a comforting smile, Aireth side tracked and stopped in front of the group, Hello and welcome to Transverse Town. You all must be refugees, right? Most of the older men and women turned to exchange quiet whispers but it was a white-haired young man who stepped forward, We are. Our world was just destroyed by the Heartless. Aireth smiled at him, noticing the way they all seemed to look at him, You must be the leader then. The boy shrugged and shifted a little girl in his arms, If that's what you see me as, yes. Aireth let out a sigh and gestured to herself, I'm Aireth and you're all welcome to stay here as long as needed. Unfortunately, I'm not sure we have anywhere for all of you to stay. The first and second district is already pretty full and the third district is full of heartless.

The young boy turned his aqua eyes on his fellow refugees, then turned to give her a stiff smile, The third district sounds fine to us, thank you for your help. Aireth stood with her mouth hanging open as the white-haired boy began walking to the third district, the rest of the group following him looking shocked and exhausted. She continued to watch the strange newcomers enter the Heartless infested third district, then forgetting all about Merlin she turned and ran quickly back to the Inn.

*********************(Back at the Inn, Red Room)*****************

Leon!! Sora!! Hey everyone!! All eyes and heads turned as Aireth ran into the room and crouched to catch her breath. Sora got up and walked over to her with a slightly worried frown, Aireth, what's wrong? Where's Merlin, I thought you were getting him? Aireth stayed silent for a moment more before straitening and flashing a smile, Oh yeah, oops, I forgot about that. A loud crash came from the side of the room where Donald had fallen off his chair. Leon shook his head and glared at the brunette girl, Then what the hell are you yelling about. Are the Heartless leading a siege or something.

Aireth shook her head and smiled, Nope! There are new refugees from a newly destroyed world in town! They're staying in the third district. Another crash came from the same side of the room as Yuffie fell off her chair next to Donald. Sora ignored this and turned back to the exhausted brunette, Did you ask them what world they were from? Aireth blinked and shook her head again. Leon let out an exasperated sigh and waved his hand irritably in the air, So let me get this straight. You left to get Merlin and found a new group of homeless, forgot about the purpose of you being out there, and came running just to tell us about a couple of new faces!? Aireth scowled and placed a finger on her cheek thoughtfully, The strange thing about them was this one white-haired boy. He was the only one who spoke to me which seemed to surprise them all, like he never spoke before or something. He was so confident and brave, he had the most beautiful aqua-blue eyes I've ever seen and he was built like a warrior. They all seemed to really respect him.

Kairi and Sora's heads snapped up at this description, and Sora immediately leaned towards Aireth with a hopeful look in his eyes, Was his eyes like the sea kinda aqua!? Did he look to be around 18 or 19!? Was his hair a silver white color and long, at least to his shoulders!!? Aireth took a hesitant step back in surprise and nodded her head at all three of his questions. Sora gave a cry and jumped in the air excitingly. Quit that, Sora!! The chances of this boy being Riku are a million to one! SORA!!! He didn't answer Kairi, just took off out the door and in the direction of the third district.

Riku, Riku, RIKU!!! It just has to be him!! Sora skipped a few steps then resumed his pace, running past three of the Lost Boys and only stopping for a moment to apologize for knocking one of them over. Pushing the door open and stumbling into the third district, Sora ran to the edge of the railing and looked down at the group of newbies who had set up tents as a temporary settlement in the square. His heart started pumping even faster as he spotted to people who looked to be Tidus and Wacka and a girl standing near the fountain resembling Selphie in every way, but no white-haired young warriors. Turning rather ungracefully, he stumbled down the stairs to the square and ran towards the girl near the fountain yelling out gleefully,

The brunette girl turned around to look at him curiously but fell over as he tackled her with a ecstatic grin plastered to his face. Huh!! Hey, help!! Rape, kidnapping, assault and battery!!!! The two young men from the other side of the square ran over to Sora and Selphie, looking ready to kill him. Sora just tackled them as well and clinged to them like Pooh and honey, Tidus!!! Wacka!!!! Is that really you guys!!!!!!!!! Now all three teens were staring at him curiously, wondering if they'd ever met this crazy person before. Sora struggled but gave in as Wacka pried him off of Tidus, Man, ya need to calm down kid!? Um...have we met? Sora got back up on his feet and stared dumbfounded at Wacka, hadn't Wacka been taller then him? They were both about the same in height now!

Sora looked all three of them up and down, ignoring the glares and uncomfortable stares from them. Finally he threw himself at them again and gave them all another strangling hug, Wacka! Tidus! Selphie! I've missed you all so much!! God you've all grown!! Don't you guys recognize me!! It's me, Sora!!! The three teens exchanged looks, then Wacka pushed Sora back and held him in place on the shoulders. They looked Sora up and down, near and far, then Tidus and Wacka cocked an eyebrow at each other and walked away to Sora's surprise. Selphie remained with a small frown on her face, Sor-Sora? Wow, it's really you isn't it. The brunette boy nodded and frowned, What's wrong with you guys? You aren't acting like you're happy to see me.

Well, we might of been happy to see you...if things weren't the way they've been. Sora blinked and deepened his frowned, What do you mean? Destiny Islands getting destroyed? That'll be all right, trust me. Selphie shook her head and stared down at her feet, You mean you don't know, Sora. Everyone is angry with you and Kairi. Sora shifted uncomfortably in his position and cocked his head questioningly, Why would they be angry with us? Cause we left? Sora watched as Selphie turned to sit down at the fountain, kicking her feet against the stone floor, Well, sort of. It's mainly due to Riku. Sora walked over and sat down next to her, averting his gaze to the ground,

After you two disappeared, Riku changed. He locked himself in his room and stayed in there for two weeks...crying. On the third week when you guys didn't show up, Riku came out of his room finally. He told us all about the raft and your plans to leave. That was the last time any of us heard Riku speak. He stopped talking all together, stopped playing, stopped training with his sword. Instead he spent the next four years standing on the dock looking out at the ocean from sunup to sundown. That was also the last time we heard from his mother. She has disappeared too Sora, and now so has our world. Riku knew about the Heartless. He saw them coming and got everyone you see here out of there. He saved us all, but we were angry with you two from the start. For leaving him...for hurting Riku like that... Selphie went quiet and pushed herself up, heading over to join the others.

I've spent the past four years...trying to get back to him. Selphie stopped and turned to meet Sora's gaze. They stayed like that for a while, Sora praying that she could see the sincerity in his eyes. She frowned slightly and squirmed, He...Riku, went through that door over there, with the symbol on it that looks like fire. He might not speak to you, he might even attack you, it's hard to predict his actions these days. Sora smiled gratefully and nodded so she'd know he understood. After watching her walk over and start a conversation with Tidus and Wacka, Sora got up and headed towards the door to Merlin's place. Inside, it was dark and humid as always but Sora was able to see the young man standing near the water, chin resting in his hand thoughtfully.

Riku had grown, like the others. He was a little leaner, most of his muscles lost from lack of practice but still enough to give him a slender build best suited for speed instead of power. He was no longer wearing the water-repellent pants but instead wore black leather pants close to the kind Leon wore and a shirt much like his old one except it was light blue with a heart shape imprinted on the back. But his hair was the same and Sora was sure those brilliant eyes of his hadn't changed either. Doing his best to remain silent but not enough to make it seem like he was sneaking up on Riku, Sora walked up till he was standing next to his white-haired friend.

Sora cleared his throat in an attempt to catch the others attention, but Riku continued to stare out at the water in deep thought. Pouting stubbornly, he stepped in front of the boy and waved his hands around whistling. Riku continued to stare past him, which was a little hard since Sora was taller then him by about an inch. Wow, Sora must of grown big time as well without realizing it. Shaking his head to wipe out that thought, Sora scowled and grabbed Riku by the shoulders shaking him. When he stopped the white-haired youth continued to stare into space for a second before his eyes snapped over and finally focused on Sora.

Sora yelled before swallowing a mouthful of water as Riku shoved him into the small lake. He came up sputtering and coughing, gasping for air. Riku glared hatefully at him and turned to leave but Sora pulled himself out of the water and grabbed the other boy by the wrist, Riku! Wait...please. Don't leave me now that I've found you! Riku stopped and turned his eyes towards the brunette. Sora cringed at the hate that seemed to light up his friends eyes. Riku opened his mouth as if to say something, then thought against it and shut his mouth, pulling to try and break Sora's death grip on his wrist.

Sora sighed and tightened his grasp, refusing to let go, Please...Riku. Stay here with me. I've spent the last four years trying to get back to you, you have to believe me. I didn't mean to break my promise, I've been trying so hard to find you and keep it. The hate in Riku's eyes seemed to fade slowly and the aqua-eyed boy made no more moves to run off, just stood there and stared at the ground. Sora smiled with relief and pulled the boy into a hug without realizing it. Riku seemed to stiffen for a second before relaxing and leaning into Sora's arms. He looked up and with a slightly sad face, finally spoke, You know what, Sora...I hate Kairi.

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AnimeFan: Woah! Major fluffiness there. I hope that's not a bad sort of thing. Don't worry, I didn't ruin Riku's personality. He still has that attitude you all love, he just sort of went quiet and hateful after the whole Sora, Kairi disappearing thing. He'll start acting like the good ol' Riku except when he's alone with Sora. That's why I warned you people when I said he'd be sort of OC in this story and Sora would be the dominant of the two. Sora still hasn't completely come to knowledge that he LOVES Riku. Now things are going to get even more confusing for him and there's gonna be some WWCT(World Wide Cat Fight) Riku vs Kairi going on. Muahahaha!!!

P.S. The heart on Riku's shirt is the heart logo for Kingdom Hearts and I'm not sure how many pages of notes make up Ansem's report but I'm saying thirty for this fic, ok. Also, I'm not sure if I spell Aireth's name right so if I didn't, oh well.