Forever Amber Eyes

A year after KH.

Summary: Ever since Riku escaped from Kingdom Hearts, he's been alone. That all changes when he meets a mysterious girl who asks for his help. A girl who's been through the same things he has. But what happens when Riku meets a few people from his dark past? Will he stand up and fight with them or run and hide? (OC/Riku, and a little Kairi/Sora)

Disclaimer: I own Kingdom Hearts, and Riku, Sora, and CLoud, and Leon. I am an amazingly bad lier. )

Thanks for the reviews for all my works. Means a lot. Thanks a bunches to Lvkishugs for your review on Believing the Lies. Your one of my fave authors and it definitly made my day. (Awww. How sweet). Well anways please enjoy the next lovley chapter.

Rude Awakenings:

Odd noises in the hall roused Squall 'Leon' Leonheart from his slumber. He mumbled a few cuss words as he climbed out of his bed in Hollow Bastion, ready to tell who ever was being so loud and making the noise to be quiet. He ran his fingers through his long, coffee-colored hair, as he groggily stumbled towards his door. As soon as he reached the door he heard the sound again. It was a loud clanking like the sound of a...

"Shit!" Leon yelled as he grabbed his shirt and black leather pants, quickly pulling them on. He snatched up a bag, throwing the things that where most important to him into it. He pulled on his black, leather jacket, and then finally picked up the gunblade. He took a deep breath before opening the door.

The glowing red eyes of a Defender met his gaze, as the large metal lion-monkey type Heartless blocked the way out of his door. Leon quickly jumped over the Defender, landing behind him, where he immediately started hacking away. The Defender abruptly turned around, and Leon could no longer attack, since his head was invincible. Swiftly he dodged the Defender's attacks, a lazar beam coming from the glowing eyes. Once again, he leaped behind it, dealing one last, hard blow, before the Defender disappeared. He ran as fast as he could down the long hallway, stopping when he reached Yuffie's room.

"Yuffie! Yuffie! Wake up!" Leon yelled, pounding on her door. The moment she opened the door he jumped inside. At the same second a lot of Darkballs appeared. Yuffie, who was about to yell at Leon for waking her up, just stared stupidly at the door.

"S-Squall?"

"Its Leon and what!"

"Are the Heartless back?" she asked quietly although she already knew the answer. Even though she was seventeen she had never gotten rid of her fear of them. The glowing yellow eyes haunted her dreams at night and lingered on her mind during the day. She had fought and killed millions of them, but seeing what they had done to Hollow Bastion so many years ago still scared her. They were strong, dangerous creatures. She had thought she had finally seen the last of them after Sora had shut the door. Has it been opened again?

"Hurry and get packed." Leon told her, as he turned around allowing her to get dressed. She pulled on a pair of tan shorts, and a green, a yellow, and a black tank. She tied her pouch of various sized shurikens around her waist and began to pack. She threw some clothes, a second pair of shoes, beauty essentials and her book full of pictures into a tiny army-green bag. As she packed tears began to run down her face.

'Why? Why do we have to leave Hollow Bastion again? We only arrived back a year ago. I don't want to leave again! This is my home!'

Yuffie quickly wiped away her tears, not wanting to show weakness in front of Leon. Leon her strong and cold training partner. She was surprised when she was pulled into a hug. Leon, a man who showed about as much emotion as a rock, was hugging her. She hugged him back tightly. She knew it was just as hard for him to leave as it was for her. Maybe even harder. Leon had more memories of this place then she did, being a lot older when the Heartless had come. Yuffie sighed when the hug came to an end. She wiped her eyes and followed Leon as he headed for the door. She took one last look around her room before turn6ing and leaving.

'I'll come back someday.'

As soon as she walked outside thirty Darkballs materialized and immediately started attacking the smaller, and presumably weaker of the two. Yuffie quickly pulled out five big shurikens, hitting the Darkballs, causing them to evaporate in the air. She quickly grabbed the fallen shurikens, shoved them into her pouch and started hammering on the door to Aerith and Cloud's room. Leon continued fighting the Darkballs until they were all gone. He scooped up all the fallen munny balls before shoving Yuffie into the now opened door. He jumped inside shutting in forcefully as two defenders, twenty shadows and ten more Darkballs appeared.

He looked over to see an extremely annoyed Cloud staring at the two. He looked like he was about to kill them until he noticed the scared and sad look on Yuffie's face. Aerith quickly pulled on a pair on light pink shorts and a long-sleeved, vertically stripped, pink and white shirt. She walked over to Yuffie and gave her a huge hug, trying to comfort the worried girl.

"We have a problem," Leon stated, staring at Aerith and Cloud.

The night before...

Sora raced down the sandy path leading to Kairi's little apartment. When he finally reached it he thumped on the door. Kairi answered a minute later, rubbing her eyes. She took one look at Sora and gasped. He was covered in tiny little scratches, and had one long gash in his left arm. She quickly pulled him inside and ran into her small kitchen. She returned seconds later with a green bottle. She quickly made him drink the potion, and watched as the little scrapes healed. The gash in his harm slowly closed, leaving a faint scar as the only memory of the wound.

"They're back." He stated grimly, sitting down on the couch behind him. He looked back up at Kairi and saw her eyes begin to fill with water. Her bottom lip began to waver in her effort to keep the tears from falling, but she couldn't stop them as they slowly spilled over her eyes, running down her pale cheek. Ever since Sora told her about his dreams that morning she knew they would return. She had tried to prepare herself all day for the time when Sora would tell her they're back and that he had to leave her. Leave her once more, alone by herself on Destiny Islands. She reached out and grabbed Sora's hand, squeezing it tightly. He gave her a sad smile and handed her the letter. He just watched her as she read it over and over again.

"Is it from the King? It has his seal. Could Riku and him have finally escaped from Kingdom Hearts?" He just looked at her, giving her a small shrug. Her heart leapt a little bit. Maybe he was still alive. He was one of their best friends and she missed him terribly, even after the whole Darkside, Ansem thing. She loved Sora and Riku both, in different ways. She loved Sora as her beloved and Riku as a amazing friend.

"The barriers have been broken. I have to go seal the keyholes." He said quietly, looking anywhere but at Kairi. He could feel tears start to form in his eyes. Bitter thoughts ran through his head.

'Why? Why do I have to leave her again, after I finally found her? This isn't fair!'

"I'm coming with you," Kairi stated quietly staring at Sora's face. "This time I'll fight."

"Kairi you can't come! It's to dangerous!" Sora shouted, starting to feel extremely scared for Kairi's sake. He wouldn't let her come. She could get badly hurt, or worse.

'I promised Riku I'd take care of her. She could die if she came with me.'

"I'm coming." Kairi stated again a little louder, and with a little force, before turning around and throwing a few things in a tiny violet bag. How she managed to get so many things into that one tiny bag, he would never know? It was one of those mysteries of girls.

Kairi dropped her bag next to Sora, on the couch and opened the door to a small closet, next to the kitchen. She reached in and pulled out two long, silver, knives with little stars dancing down the center. She strapped the two sheaths to each side of the black shorts she had just thrown on. She pulled out her two knives, and ran a finger along their edges. She sliced the tips, which immediately began to bleed.

'Still Sharp.'

She twirled them around her fingers before shoving them back into their cases. She ran back into her room and returned a few seconds later with a white tank top on. It had little purple stars running across the center and down the sides. She slipped on a pair of black and plum shoes, tied them quickly and stood back up. She was ready. She took a quick look at Sora. He was sitting on the couch with his mouth hanging open and his eyes ten times wider.

"While you were gone, I learned. There called the Star Knives," she whispered shyly, turning her head so he wouldn't see her blush. He still sat there, staring at her in awe. She waved her hand in his face. "Hello, Kairi to Sora. Is anybody in there?" she leaned over and knocked on his head. A semi-hollow sound could be heard.

"Ouch!" he cried batting away her hands. He quickly grabbed her slender waist, pulling her on top of him. He began to tickle her causing her to start laughing. Suddenly he stopped and pulled her into a tight embrace. Kairi just sat in Sora's arms, smiling, until she finally pulled away.

"I'm going." She said one last time before quickly jumping of his lap. She was standing by the door in seconds. "C'mon you lazy bum," she taunted from the other side of the room. He mumbled something, as he got up and headed for the door.

Once outside, they ran back to Sora's house. He quickly threw some items into his own, black bag, left a note for his parents and boarded onto the Gummiship. He had built it a couple months before, from the gummiblocks he had collected. Slowly they rose upward before heading of to their next destination: Hollow Bastion.

"Kairi, why don't you get some sleep," Sora said as he kissed her forehead, "We won't be there for another 3 or 4 hours at the least." She mumbled something as she lay down, letting sleep overpower her. Sora took one last look at her before turning back to the controls. The voice of a friend slowly filled his mind.

'Take care of her...'

Sora and Kairi slowly made it up the Rising Falls. They jumped from one jagged and slippery, floating stone to the next. The crystal water rushed upward, all around them, as they slowly made it up to the castle gates lift. Cool droplets fell down, showering them. Kairi slipped, but Sora immediately reached out and caught her before she fell into the deep water below.

As they climbed, an oddly familiar song played over and over in his head. The gothic music had no words, yet it seemed to tell him of an evil waiting for them. He quickly shook his head. The music had seemed so familiar, like he had heard it before. He glanced around, realizing that they had reached the top of the Rising Falls. Straight ahead loomed a twisted castle, yet it didn't seem as scary as it was the first time Sora had seen it. Kairi sighed.

"This was how it was before the Heartless came. I can remember it. It was so peaceful," Kairi said quietly as she looked around her old home. She slowly boarded the lift with Sora and they noisily, ascended to a platform on the floating castle. The light pink walls of the castle made everything look so peaceful and serene. It seemed like something straight out of one of the fairytales Kairi's Grandma used to read to her.

"Come on," Sora said softly, grasping Kairi's hand and leading her up the stairs into a hallway. They slowly walked up the steps, and into the great library. There were so many shelves reaching all the way up to the ceiling, and filled with thick, leather-bound, colorful books. A few were scattered across the floor and tables in the room. Slowly the walked through the majestic library, that seemed to command silence from you. They had strolled up another winding staircase, past great windows, and their view of the early morning sky. With a sigh they left and headed up another flight of stairs.

Sora and Kairi headed down the hall, looking for Aerith, Cloud, Yuffie, or Leon's rooms. They stopped at the very last room, on the hallway. Slowly Sora knocked on the door. They both heard a loud crash as a someone ran into something, or someone.

"Damn it, Yuffie! Watch where your going!" a very familiar voice yelled, as he headed towards the door.

"Leon! Its Sora and Kairi!" Sora yelled from the opposite side of the entrance to the room. Seconds later they were being pulled inside. In front of them stood Leon, a disorganized Yuffie, Aerith, and Cloud. Behind them sat many grumpy and tired looking residents of Hollow Bastion. The crash and loud yelling had probably woken them up.

"Where's Cid?" Sora asked, noticing that the 50-something year-old-man wasn't one of the people in the room.

"We don't know?" Aerith said softly. "We couldn't find him anywhere, but he's the only one with the keys to the Gummiships."

"Did you look in the waterways, in the ground floors?" Kairi asked speaking for the first time. Sora could tell that they hadn't by the look on their faces.

"Leon, Cloud and me will go look," Sora volunteered quickly and headed out the door, before anyone could protest. Leon and Cloud quickly followed him as they headed through the citadel, and hopped over the railing. They fell for what seemed like eternity, until they finally landed with a quiet splash in some shallow water. Sora, Leon and Cloud ran into one of the large floating bubbles, which took them into the water basement.

"Cid!" Leon yelled, running over to the old man who was leaning against the wall.

"What took you so fucking long?" Cid said as Leon ran over to him. "I was down here when the Heartless attacked and couldn't get back up." He explained quickly as the four of them headed back to the bubble and jumped in.

"It's great to see you to, Gramps," Sora said sarcastically as they headed back to Aerith and Cloud's room.

"For one it's Cid and for two its nice to see you, Sora," Cid said with a wide smile on his face. "I'm guessing Kairi came too."

"How'd you know?" Sora asked, surprise written clearly on his face. Cid just smiled and walked on.

'Kids these days. When will they ever realized that their emotions are written clearly across their faces. It's easier to read them then to read a children's book!'

When they reached the room, all of the people that had been saved were brought to the gummiships. They boarded quickly; with one last look at their home.

"Let's go to Traverse Town," Aerith suggested, and they were off. They flew through the star filled sky, past many little warp holes and worlds. The universe surrounding them was a deep blue with blacks, purples and greens twisting into each other, creating a dark, mysterious looking sky. They flew on, late into the night until they had reached almost the other side of space, where Traverse Town was located.

"We're here" Sora whispered quietly, giving Kairi's hand a quick squeeze before, heading out into the memorable town.

'So many memories...'

The ending of this chapter was kinda rushed so sorry about that. I was in a LOTR mood so the whole knives and still sharp thing was curtisy of the mvoies and Legolas and Boromir.

Well please review! I will accept flames.

Next Chapter:

Warnings from those with Dark Pasts