Title: Reflections: Riku ( 7 / 8 )
Author name: Ari Powwel
Author email: spiffy_yet_insane@hotmail.com
Spoilers: After the AnsemControlled!Riku boss fight.
Summary: Kairi's awakening
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by various publishers including but not limited to Disney Interactive and Square Co., Ltd. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
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With an anguished cry, Ansem dropped the blade, sending it skittering across the floor. A moment later, he hissed something I didn't quite catch, but I felt this strange sensation, like water flowing over my head and down my body. I wasn't sure what he had done, but judging by the look on Sora's face, we weren't there anymore. 'Riku!' he cried, rushing to where I stood. Ansem pulled back, barely avoiding notice.

'Sora! Sora, look!' Donald shouted, pointing at the Keyhole. I noticed, with some amusement, they'd come onto the platform and were now standing in front of the Keyhole.

'The – the Keyhole!' Goofy said, examining it. Sora walked closer, then pointed his Keyblade straight at it. I wasn't sure what he thought would happen, but judging by the look on his face, it didn't happen. 'It won't work!' Goofy said. 'The Keyhole's not finished yet!'

'What can we do?' Sora asked him.

'Maybe we've gotta go wake Kairi up.'

'I think you're right . . .' Sora said. 'But . . . how?' I saw his gaze travel to the blade that still lay on the floor. 'A Keyblade that unlocks people's hearts . . . I wonder . . .'

'Sora?'

Sora crossed to the Keyblade, and it clicked in my mind what he was going to do. 'Sora, hold on!' Goofy yelled.

'No, wait!' joined in Donald. Their voices collided with my own. Baka . . . I hissed. Couldn't he see what he was doing? He was playing right into their hands!

Ansem crowed with glee as Sora picked up the blade, and turned to Donald and Goofy, shooting them one of his cheesy smiles. Then he plunged the blade straight into his heart.

I may have lost all hope there. There was nothing else I could do, and Sora had just killed himself, so there was no-one to protect the worlds from the darkness. The darkness had won. And it was all my fault.

The six princesses' hearts drifted out of the blade as it dissolved. Sora's body was surrounded by a golden light as a heart drifted out of his chest and to Kairi. She sat up and saw him; I could tell she immediately knew what he'd done. 'Sora!' she shouted, getting up and running to him. She tried to catch him, but his body dissolved in a maelstrom of golden sparkles.

'Come back, Sora!' shouted Donald. I couldn't understand why he said it, really, because he was already gone.

Ansem made a slight gesture with his hand, and I felt another change wash over me. I wondered what he had done, but was interrupted by Kairi saying, 'Sora, are you really – No! It can't be! I won't let him go!'

Ansem made another gesture, and a third change occurred quickly. He stepped forward, and I was shocked to hear that his voice was almost completely his. 'So, you have awakened at last, Princess. The Keyhole is now complete. You have served your purpose. But now it's over.' I felt a new power surge within me. He wasn't going to hurt Kairi. Not if I had anything to say about it (and boy, did I have a lot to say!)!

Donald and Goofy readied their weapons. 'Don't make another move!' Donald warned Ansem. I briefly wondered why they were so hard against him, or why Kairi hadn't commented about me, but as I looked down, the reason became painfully obvious. Ansem now had his own body, using me as a . . . I didn't know, but he was using me somehow to energise himself and I was just dead weight.

'Do you think we can stop him all by ourselves?' Goofy whispered to Donald. Not very quietly, either.

'I don't know,' answered Donald.

Ansem took a step forward; I responded by fighting him as hard as was humanly possible. I knew he was using my life to live his, he leeched off of my life force to give himself a body and such. This wasn't what really bothered me, but he wasn't going to use me to hurt Kairi! So I fought, and he started shaking. 'Impossible!' he murmured.

I felt the light hit me and found myself standing in front of him. 'No! You won't use me for this!' I shouted at him, glaring defiantly.

'Riku!' Kairi shrieked. I spun around to face her.

'You've got to run! The Heartless are coming!'

She nodded as a ring of shadows appeared. I watched her run through the corridor until she was out of sight, then turned to face Ansem again. 'So. You dare to defy me, little one.' I said nothing, just stood, the shadows around me swaying threateningly. Ansem had already sent another group after Kairi; I just hoped they'd managed to make it out of Hollow Bastion okay. He paced around me, talking out loud. 'What should I do with you . . .' I felt a pang of nervousness stab me, but the next moment it was gone. I noticed Ansem's eyes glittering with malice, 'So many things . . . but which ones . . .'

He stopped and turned to me. 'This is it, little one. This is the beginning of your end.'