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: Amazingly enough I only own 'Mina.

'Mina

Riku

Alice

Warnings from those with Dark Pasts:

'Mina slowly walked through the dim forest. Enormous trees, oversized mushrooms and gigantic flowers were everywhere, creating barricades to keep them lost in a confusing, and twisting path. 'Mina took a giant leap onto a mushroom, and then jumped to the next and after that onto a weird, flat, green surface. It seemed to be a Lilly pad suspended ten or fifteen feet in the air. These overgrown plants were only one of the many anomalies in the forest. Riku followed right behind 'Mina, making sure he didn't lose sight of her body clad in black. At the height the two had reached they could see the whole forest, with its winding pathways.

"There's the exit!" 'Mina said pointing to a small, dark opening leading out of the forest. She speedily jumped down and followed the route she had mapped out in her mind seconds before. Not long after they were traveling below the branches that covered the exit. Suddenly there was the bright light of the sun and a green hedge, with sharp thorns overhead. Riku and 'Mina both closed their eyes against the intense light, even though their blindfolds had blocked out most of it already.

"WHO DARES TO INTERUPT MY COURT!" a large, lady yelled from behind a great podium. The plump woman peered at them as an evil smile spreading across her ugly face. She let out a grim chuckle causing her body to 'bounce'. This action revealed the rest of a red dress covered with hearts. "Come now! You must stand before the jury, me, and plead your case!"

Riku immediately recognized this place. Wonderland. This had been the home of one of the Princess of Heart, Alice. The hideous queen, army of cards, and red rosebushes gave it all away. And knowing what this queen was like from having to sit through hours of the overly hyper- even if she had been kidnapped- Alice talk about her, he realized the situation wasn't in their advantage. 'Mina quickly stepped in front of Riku before he had a chance to say anything. She knew that whatever he was about to say wouldn't help them out to well.

"Your Highness, I am sorry for interrupting your court. Riku and I were actually looking for a young girl. She is quite short, wears a blue dress and has long blonde hair. I believe her name is Alice. Might you have seen her?" She bowed slowly, kicking Riku in the shin so he would do so to.

"Alice! ALICE! That wretched girl! She escaped from prison a year ago and then came back to argue her case. She kept on going on about how she was some 'Princess of Heart'." The last three words were spoken with a scorn that was easily detected in her voice. The queen's face twisted to show her hate for the young, curious girl.

"I beg your pardon, My Queen, but she is a 'Princess of Heart'. One of seven to be exact. Because of this, I must speak with her. It is very important." Once again she bowed. Riku just stared at her. She was just flattering this Queen so she could get what she wanted. She had managed to keep her cool while he would have just exploded after the first sugary-sweet line was uttered. Riku hastily bowed, realizing that 'Mina was about to kick him again.

'Alice? How does 'Mina know about the 'Princesses of Heart'? That isn't common knowledge to anyone who hadn't been directly affected by Ansem's kidnappings. She seems to know quite a lot about the Heartless, Ansem and the 'Princesses of Heart'. A lot more than I thought she would know…'

"Very well then. She is in the Rabbit's house. Just follow the path, underneath those hedges." The Queen pointed one chubby finger in the direction they were supposed to go. They both murmured their thanks, bowing once again and headed toward the exit. Two large cards blocked the way.

"State your name, and business," the five-of-spades told them moving his spear to make it visible. He tried to seem scary but to 'Mina and Riku both he seemed plain stupid. They both knew they could easily take out the cards blocking the entrance to the house.

"I am 'Mina and this is Riku," 'Mina told the cards, once again taking control. "We were sent by the Queen to talk to Alice."

"Very well, you may enter," the seven-of-hearts, told them moving out of the way. They quickly hurried into the dark passageway. Moments later they were just small beings in a huge brightly light room. There was a large table in the middle, with two odd jars on top. Behind them there was a door just their size that seemed to be asleep. Paintings hung on the walls and there was a little chimney made of bricks. A teddy bear around their size sat on a giant chair next to a large door. There was something very odd about the Rabbit's House.

"Hello? Alice?" 'Mina called, breaking the silence. She had jumped up onto the table and was reading the label on the jars. "Riku get up here!" she hissed as he leisurely began walking towards the table. Once he had reached it she handed him one of the jars telling him to drink it.

"Are you crazy!" he exclaimed staring into the contents of the jar. Whatever it was it didn't look too tasty.

"No I'm not, now just drink it." He had no other option but to drink it. He took a quick sip of the vile liquid before setting it down. Immediately after 'Mina took a sip. Riku felt an odd tingling sensation run through his body before everything went black. When he opened his eyes, 'Mina seemed a lot taller. He took a quick glance around the room and found everything was smaller.

"What the Hell was that?" he asked staring around at the room. From this perspective the whole room seemed cluttered. His question was never answered since a young girl appeared. A bright smile was on her face and she immediately welcomed her quests.

"Hello, can I help…" she suddenly and uncharacteristically stopped talking after seeing Riku. She stared at him and backed away slowly with a distant look on her face as if she were trying to remember something from her past.

'Who is he? He looks so familiar. Where have I seen him before?'

"Alice? I'm 'Mina, and I need to talk to you," 'Mina told the frightened girl, taking her arm and leading her towards the couch. Riku let out a soft sigh and stayed where he was, on the opposites side of the room from Alice and 'Mina. Even with the blindfold people could recognize him or at least realize they knew him from somewhere.

"Who is that?" Alice whispered quietly to 'Mina. Riku looked so familiar to her but she couldn't place him. Maybe if she could see his eyes, but the blindfold covered them.

"You might have met him before. His name is Riku." 'Mina said softly, and very calmly. She wasn't quite sure what Alice's reaction would be.

"Riku!" Alice jumped up shaking. The boy who had kidnapped her. It all came back to her. His silver hair, his aqua eyes, the smirk. She turned to run but was stopped by 'Mina. She tried to pull away from the girl. She couldn't trust either of them. They were both dressed in black from head-to-toe and wore black blindfolds. She was one of them and they were here to kidnap her again.

"Please don't be afraid. We mean you no harm. Please don't be afraid of me, " 'Mina pleaded with the girl. She could feel the tears start to form in her eyes. She hated it when people were scared of her. It wasn't her fault her eyes were now amber-colored or that she had a dark past, that influenced who she was know, and gave her a dark appearance. It wasn't her fault that her wings were black while her sister's had been white. Her sister had been everyone's angel. It wasn't her fault she was nobodies angel!

'Why? Why do they always think I'm evil? Just because I wear black doesn't mean I had sided with the Heartless. Why do I frighten people? Why are they scared of my eyes? I hate it! I hate listening to the people whispering about me as I walk by. They think I'm a Heartless too! Why can't I just fit in? Why have I always been an outsider?'

"We just wanted to warn you. The Heartless have returned." Riku spoke up for the first time. He knew what she was afraid of and he hated his past even more for it. Alice could have sworn she saw a flash of amber underneath his blindfold. She shook her head and looked back up. He was gone.

'Why? Why did I have to make that mistake? It had been the worst mistake of my life. Why did I give into the darkness?'

"I'm sorry if we have frightened you. You need to prepare to fight. Don't let you world fall." She turned and was gone. She left just like Riku. Alice stood there for a while staring after the two. Something odd was going on. Maybe they were telling the truth. She hurried down the hall to find the White Rabbit. If what they said was true then she needed to start right away! But could she trust them? …

"Riku?" 'Mina whispered into the silence of the Gummi Ship. The lights were off and she figured he hadn't been in here yet.

'Damn it Riku! Where the Hell did you go?'

She had been searching for him since he disappeared while she had been talking to Alice. She had been looking for him for a good hour and she still couldn't find him. This world wasn't too big so where could he possibly be?

'Fine, if you want to play Hide-and-go-Seek then you just have to find me here because I'm not looking for you anymore!'

She sat in the brightly colored gummi ship, waiting until he finally came in, fifteen minutes later, mumbling something sounding like 'I got lost'. She sighed and headed to the controls. Now they could finally leave. Hopefully Alice would trust them and take their warning seriously. If not her world may fall.

They flew off into the star filled sky. As they flew the sky seemed to twist and spin in front of them. All shades of blue, green and black could be seen as the colors weaved into the darkened sky. With all the spinning it seemed as if they were traveling through a never-ending warp hole. They wouldn't reach the next world for another five hours so she should at least go talk to Riku. She put the ship on Autopilot -a feature developed a little less than a year ago- and headed off to the room she had left Riku in earlier.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked bending down to look Riku directly in the eyes. Her eyes gleamed golden-brown as she stared into his face. He didn't answer her question and continued to stare at the wall across from him. His face showed no emotion and his eyes were covered by his blindfold so 'Mina had no idea what he was feeling.

"Fine! Don't answer my question!" she yelled at him, receiving a look of shock from Riku. He wasn't expecting her sudden outburst. "By the way you can take off you blindfold. I honestly don't care what your eyes look like."

Riku watched her stride off into another room before pulling off his blindfold. He was just so use to having it on that he didn't really think about taking it off and putting it back on again. He sighed as he turned back to the wall.

'That was odd. What the Hell was that even about? I didn't even do anything!'

He sat there for another ten minutes while the little voices in his head argued back in forth. Finally, his conscience getting the better half of him, got up and walked into the room that 'Mina had previously entered. He found her staring out of the window, into the sky.

"Umm… Hey." 'Mina took one quick glance up before resuming her staring out of the window. Stars whizzed passed in the distance. It was odd to think that most of those stars in the sky were actually worlds with people living. Many luckily enough remained untouched or spoiled by the Heartless. Still it was only a matter of time before the Heartless decided to attack.

"I just wanted to say I was sorry," Riku said quietly before heading back to the door. 'Mina's head shot up so fast.

'He said he was sorry? No ones ever said they were sorry to me. Not my parents, or my brother, my sister, or Dustin!'

'Mina looked at Riku with a sad smile on her face. He stood in the doorway waiting for her response.

"I'm sorry. And Riku, thank you." He gave her a confused glance before leaving the room. 'Mina stared out the window again, deep in her thoughts. So deep in her thoughts, that she didn't even notice the tears running down her face.

'At my home I was such an outsider. No one truly cared about me-not even my own sister! Dustin told me he loved me but I don't think he ever meant it. It was so horrible being a middle child. You were the rebel, and an outcast. Everyone treated me that way. Especially after the accident. I was no one's angel. Not even Dustin's. Why can't I just be somewhere I belong? Why couldn't I be someone's angel?'

Riku was about to enter the room when he paused. On the other side of the door he heard the faint sound of crying. 'Mina who always seemed to look on the brighter side of everything, and always acted like everything was okay, was crying. Riku couldn't help but wonder why….
Well I finally updated but I can't say I really like this chapter. I hope the next chapter will come alot sooner.

Happy Holidays! In the Holiday spirit why don't you ive me a review?