AN: Hey everyone! I'm back! I had so much fun! Wee...and I got a pretty decent amount of writing done as well. Um, it's late but I'm still typing this up anyways. I'm really happy though. All of your reviews are so uplifting and make me feel really warm inside! :) I hope you enjoy this chapter. The next one will be the last! :(

Disclaimer: Me no own Kingdom Hearts. Me like Kingdom Hearts. Me type chappie now.

Chapter Nine: With or Without You

Pound...pound...pound...

Why would Kairi choose to lock her door at a time like this? Why? I shifted from side to side anxiously.

Pound...

The door swung open as I knocked again, causing me to stumble forward. Kairi's face appeared, looking surprised. "Riku! What's the matter? Why were you pounding like that?"

I grabbed her wrist, pulling her out of the doorway. "There's no time for much standing around talking, Kairi," I said, all the while pulling her across the sand. "But it's important. Sora...we talked...but, but he was going to commit suicide."

"What?!" Kairi breathed heavily as we ran even faster.

"Yes. And if you, or I, or both of us don't somehow change his mind about it, then-"

"But what if he's doing it right now?" Kairi interrupted. Her voice was full of worry. "I can't believe he'd even think about something like that! I mean, I know he was upset a little, but...but I didn't think he'd act that way!"

I nodded. "He promised me he'd wait to hear us out before anything. But we need to get there a.s.a.p."

Soon, Kairi and I made it to Sora's house. We flung open the door and rushed up the steps. Kairi made a quick comment on the intense heat in the house before she opened Sora's door and we went inside. The only problem was that Sora wasn't there! Kairi and I briefly searched the room, but we couldn't find him.

"Sora?" I called out nervously. I went back into the hall and checked the other rooms. They were all empty.

Kairi went up to me. "Do you think he-"

"No." I said simply. "He promised he'd stay here. I could tell he meant it too." I bit my lip. "Maybe he's downstairs..."

After a fairly thorough search of the house, Sora was nowhere to be seen. I figured he probably was still alive.

"Maybe he did leave," I said. "He must have had some reason for it though. But where would he have gone?" Part of me didn't care, but the other part did. "He couldn't have gone far. I was gone for only a little bit."

"Do you think...maybe he went to the secret place?" Kairi suggested.

I nodded, my heart pounding louder than I had knocked on the door. What if Sora opened that door to the darkness? I thought hard. I hoped that it wasn't true.

"Then let's go." Kairi said, moving past me. I followed her, and we moved as quickly as we could to the cave.

But when we got there, we still had no answers. The door was closed, Sora wasn't there, and neither was any sign that he had been. I sighed. The island wasn't very large. If he didn't leave the island, Sora had to be somewhere nearby.

Kairi showed her uneasiness clear on her face. I put my arm around her and we walked towards the cave exit. "It's okay, Kai. Let's check the rest of the island." We ducked down and slowly made our way outside.

Then Kairi and I froze. Right in front of us was a sight that I never expected to see. It was...Ansem. He was somehow levitating in the air, and in one hand he held Sora, who was unconscious. I drew my breath as Ansem smiled evilly.

"Hello, Riku. Nice to see you've forgotten about me for a bit. Thanks so much for leaving Sora all alone for me. My plan will soon slowly reveal itself."

I grinded my teeth together. "I knew you might try something. Whatever it is, you won't get away with it."

"Oh, but I will." He laughed.

Kairi shuddered and clung close to me, speechless.

"You thought you could just have everything be fine and I'd stay out of your life? What a fool." Ansem laughed again, still hovering high above the sand. "You're so easy to manipulate. Always thinking things are going perfectly your way until my underlying plan is revealed."

"Riku, what is he talking about?" Kairi questioned. "Sora was the one who went over to the darkness and gave in to Ansem."

"Uh..." I couldn't get many words out. I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell Kairi.

Ansem's voice broke the silence. "You'll find that out soon enough. For now, I have something to say to Riku."

I balled my fists and glared at Ansem as he continued. "Riku, in my hands is the same boy who took away all that was supposed to be yours. But now that you have what you want, it may soon all be snatched away again."

"What do you mean?" I asked. I was really starting to sweat, and it wasn't just from the heat.

Ansem's fiery eyes stared straight at me. "You can't have everything. That's why I'm making you choose. You must pick between Sora's life or Kairi's love and affection."

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"You heard me right, boy. If you choose to keep Kairi, Sora will die. And if you choose for Sora to live, you'll lose Kairi's love, and everything will go back to the way things were, with you being miserable," Ansem explained.

Kairi took a step back. "Riku, what is going on? What does he mean?"

I shook my head. "Kairi...I..."

"Tell me," she pleaded. I knew she was having trouble understanding all of this. So I had no choice but to explain everything to her.

"Alright," I sighed. "This...all of this...it's real...but it really isn't. I went back into the past and switched places with Sora because I was jealous that he got you and I didn't. I'm not sure exactly why, but I followed Ansem, hoping to get my revenge somehow and I decided that as long as you loved me I wouldn't care, so I agreed to change the past. I was slowly becoming consumed by the darkness again and tried to hurt Sora...but then I decided that I could hurt him worse emotionally, rather than physically."

Kairi seemed a little confused. "So...so Sora is really supposed to be the Keyblade Master? And...and I love him instead?"

"Yeah, it's true." I closed my eyes. "I'm sorry. And now all of this is causing more trouble than I thought it would be..."

And then I felt it. A stinging slap across my face. "How could you?!" Kairi cried out. She looked down on the ground, not even able to look me in the eyes. "You did all of that because you didn't get what you wanted? And you're risking Sora's life to get it? I can't believe you'd be so...so selfish."

I hadn't expected her to act that way. Sure, I knew she'd be upset. But she believed every word I said and she took it to heart. She was right, though. Sora's way of dealing with it all was ending his life. But my way was worse. I was risking other's lives and so much more to get what I wanted, doing whatever it took to get there. "I know, Kairi. I know. But...but you have to understand that I did all of that because I loved you too much to let you be with someone else."

Kairi shook her head, which still hung down low. "It doesn't matter. You broke the love between the two people who had a stronger bond. And...and there's no excuse for doing that."

Ansem spoke again, momentarily forgotten in the conversation. "Hmph. Seems like you've put yourself in a pickle, Riku. Stuck between love or heartbreak...life or death." Ansem drifted slowly until he sat upon the top of one of the palm trees, Sora still in his arms. "But you must choose, Riku. Think about all you've done to get here. And think about the pain Sora put you through. There really isn't anything to think about. It's easy to just end Sora's life. Then he won't be in your way ever again."

I glanced back at Kairi, who seemed to be deeply counting every grain of sand near her feet. I looked back at Ansem. This was hard. I didn't want Sora to die just a little while ago, but that was when I would still have Kairi. And now, I had to choose between the two. Kairi probably wouldn't forgive me if I let Sora die, and she might even refuse to be with me, so then I'd be left with nothing. But then if I let Sora live, then he would get Kairi, and things would be like they were before. To some people, it might not be such a tough decision. But for me, it was hard. Ansem's words sunk into me, and I knew that I loved Kairi more than anything. What was I to do? And why did any of this matter to Ansem? I still didn't know what he would be getting out of any of this, but I knew that it had to be revealed sometime. My mouth was dry, and I desperately needed something to quench my thirst. But I knew that first I would have to make the biggest decision of my life. I faced Kairi again.

"Kairi?" She didn't look up. "This is a hard choice. I don't know what to do. It's easy to pick between being with or without you. But when you throw Sora's life in there it compicates things."

"I bet it does," Kairi muttered. "I...I thought I loved you...but really I was loving someone else. This isn't who you are. You're fake to me now. And I'm not sorry that things aren't going as you've planned. I hope you can make the right decision." Then her eyes finally met mine. "I'm trying to take all of this in right now. I just want you to think about all you'll be losing if you let Sora die. Obviously you care about him somewhat, because you didn't want him to commit suicide. I think that if you look deep inside, you'll find the answer you're looking for."

I nodded slowly. I would have to look inside of myself for the answer. I would be sure to find it there, somewhere. It's funny how quickly things turn around, how fast feelings can change and thoughts can arise. But now was the time to decide. I closed my eyes, reaching within my inner being, my choice slowly becoming clearer as my heart and soul told me what to do. I opened my eyes, looking up to Ansem's cruel grin.

"I choose..."