Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and Co. belongs to their respective parties, not limited to Disney Interactive and Square Enix.

Thanks loads to: Elvey-san, Tom, and Julie for all their support and their beta reading. Marvelous job guys! -huggles all of 'em- We still wanna kidnap you guys and chain you to our bedposts cuz we love you so much!

Fixed Compass

By Tomi and Somi

(a.k.a. the baka rangers)

Part II:

Wonderland was just about the strangest theme park Sora had ever seen. Some things were just too big, and some too small. That was just about the only way He could describe it. He wasn't sure if he could do it in any other way. Wonderland was just too… weird.

They were walking around, examining the theme park and all its glory. Suddenly Selphie squealed.

"Ohhhhhhh!" She pointed to her right. "Look how cute that store is!"

Sora couldn't see what was so cute about that store. It was just strange. The store looked like a house of cards turned upside down. The door was flanked on either side by rabbits in top hats and suits, holding staffs topped off with playing cards. The House of Cards was what the shop was called; still, it seemed more like a casino than a shop.

"Let's go Yuffie! I wanna shop!" squealed Selphie as she started dragging Yuffie towards the store.

"Meet here in 6 hours; 3 PM!" Yuffie called, she and Selphie disappearing into the shop.

"Girls," sighed the boys in unison. Sora blushed ever so slightly as he looked up at Riku. Riku had that strange grin (smirk) on his face again, the one that always led him to blush brightly.

Riku tucked his hands into his boardshorts. "So… where to?"

Well, he really wanted to try that tall roller coaster he saw.

Sora placed his hands behind his back, shuffling his feat shyly—the picture of innocence. "Well… there was this one ride I wanted to try…"

-----

"Oh, shittttttttttttttttttttt!" groaned Riku, his voice carrying through the air as the roller coaster took a deep dive. It swerved before double looping.

Sora was having the time of his life! The loops took them around in great circles as they went over little bunny hills. They strained against their belts as they were pulled into the air, and swerved this way and that, all the while, feeling as if they were going to be tossed out of their seats! He loved it!

"Yes! We're coming up to the largest dip!" said Sora, positively glowing.

"Damnit!" growled Riku quietly.

Sora was about to ask Riku what was wrong, but instead whooped as the ride took a dive.

"Yahoooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" he yelled, both hands clenching the safety bar tightly as he was momentarily lifted out of his seat before he released it.

Suddenly, Sora felt a hand grasp his own tightly as they neared the bottom of the dip.

Riku?

When the ride was not going so fast, Sora turned his head to look at Riku, who refused to look at him. His eyes were wider than usual, lips pursed tightly. He looked scared. Really scared. But that was impossible! Riku? Scared? Of a little roller coaster ride, no less! Why on earth was he scared? This was FUN!

They sped through a dark tunnel, the breeze rustling their hair. Sora felt Riku quickly unclench his hand as the light of the entrance greeted them. The ride slowed down, coming to a stop at the line.

"Riku?" he asked cautiously, stepping out onto the platform. "Are you okay?" He waited for Riku to step out too. "You looked kinda… scared… back there…"

Riku gave him a weak smile, rubbing the back of his neck wearily. "Fine. Just a bit scared of heights."

Sora stood there, hands fidgeting, and bit his lip, feeling thoroughly guilty. He hadn't known Riku was afraid of heights…. Right now, his brain was screaming "Bad Sora, bad friend!"

"Hey, don't worry." Riku firmly grasped his shoulder and steered him towards the exit. "It was actually kinda fun… in a weird twisted way."

That made Sora feel a little better, but he still felt guilty on the whole. Riku was just too nice to him sometimes.

The hands grasping his shoulder moved and Sora fell into a one-arm embrace. He looked up; Riku was smirking down at him.

"How 'bout you make it up to me, Sora?" suggested Riku with a weird glint in his eyes.

That put Sora on edge. "How?" he asked, somewhat cautiously.

"Simple," replied the older boy, with his arms still around Sora's shoulder. He started steering him to a different section of the theme park. "You let me choose the next attraction. It's only fair."

That seemed logical, so Sora nodded, forgetting all about the strange glint that had been in Riku's eyes.

Riku's smirk widened. "This way, Sora, my dear…"

-----

Sora found himself standing in front of what was called The Haunted Circus. The entrance to the attraction held a huge replica of the pink and purple striped Cheshire Cat, the theme park's mascot, standing on its head with its mouth being the doorway. A wide, somewhat wicked, grin was on its face, and its tail was curled up into the air.

"T-the Haunted Circus?" asked Sora nervously.

"Yep." That glint was back in Riku's eyes. "I've heard rumors that it's really haunted." He studied Sora. "You're not scared, are you?" he taunted with a smirk.

"No!" Sora was quick to defend. "Why would I be scared?"

The truth was he really was scared. If this was a haunted circus, it was bound to have clowns inside. Sora hated clowns. He had been afraid of them ever since his fifth birthday party. He remembered a terrifying clown with a huge red nose and fluorescent red hair coming up to him and screaming, "ARE YOU HAVING FUN?!" Sora had screamed, running straight to his mother. He had stood by her, clutching her dress for the rest of the party.

Ahhhh… those were the good 'ole days. When a kid could run and hide behind his mommy without being teased. Now, as he glanced up at the haunted attraction, there was no mommy to protect him from his fears. Oh well, he would just count on Riku then.

Following close behind Riku (and being careful not to step on his shoes), Sora gulped and entered the mouth of the cat, which slowly opened for them. They stepped into the center of a circular room, and heard the mouth close behind them, taking with it the light from outside.

The room was dimly lit with candles attached to holders on the wall. Looking around, Sora saw that there were five archways, each closed off by ancient-looking wooden doors. There was a symbol above each door. The door to the left had the Ace of Spades; the next, the Ace of Hearts. The middle door held a golden crown above it. The next arch held the Ace of Clovers, and next to it, the far right, was the Ace of Diamonds. Each symbol emitted a strange glow, reminding him of the gates of Hell. The very thought sent shivers up his spine, because, for all he knew, they could have been.

He gave the symbols a once-over. He felt drawn to the arch with the Ace of Spades, so he walked over to it, feet moving against his will. The door swung open and he was pulled in.

Sora stumbled into the room, the door slamming behind him. "Huh? What the—!"

The room he was in was pitch-black. He turned on the spot and felt for the handle of the door. He grasped it and pulled as hard as he could to no avail. As he gave it one final, desperate tug, a light lit up behind him. He turned and searched for the source of the light. It came from the single beam of light that was shining down on to the center of a huge, heart-shaped stage.

Sora walked cautiously from his dark corner by the door to the stage. He stood in the center, where the light was, and looked around, trying to see his surroundings. It was no use; he couldn't see past where the light reached. Everything else was black.

Sora was about to step off the stage when shadows suddenly emerged from the darkness around him, forming strangely familiar figures.

The figures of hundreds and hundreds of ghastly pale monsters started to come straight at Sora. The monsters, with their disheveled and dirty bright hair, running face paints, and evil grins that showed pointy, rotten teeth, were truly frightening. It was only a split second before he realized what they were.

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit!

They circled him, towering above him, cackling and laughing all the while. Sora stared up at them with terror. He was surrounded! They were all around him!

Nowayoutnowayout!

He had to get out somehow! But how? How? Sora quickly scanned the area between him and the clowns, his heart pounding in his chest.

Escapeescapeescapescape—THERE!

He spotted an opening between the clowns; small, but it would work. Sora dashed out between them and, surprisingly, he didn't brush up against the clowns. He ran straight into the darkness, looking around even though shadows enclosed him. Out of the black, a shining door appeared. Sora ran towards it, speeding up as he heard the clowns cackling behind him. He reached the door, pulling it open with all his might. He ran through it, the door slamming shut behind him, and he leaned against it, heavily panting.

FREEDOM!!!!!

Or not. He looked around. He was in a long, cold corridor. Well, it wasn't exactly freedom, but it was close—at least this time it wasn't pitch-black.

A long rug ran down the stone floor of the corridor, and there were doors on each side of the corridor, each a different color, each emitting its own glowing color. The tiny light he had was from those very doors.

There was another door, a beautiful silver one at the very end of the corridor that made that side of the room positively glow.

Sora wearily eyed the doors. His first instinct was to choose the silver door at the end of the line, but, then again, it was the obvious choice, and, of course, the obvious trap. He groaned. Too many choices!

"Jeez… What kind of place is this?" he mumbled to himself. He glanced at the doors again. "I'll probably die here trying to find the way out…"

"Or," a wicked voiced broke in, "you can die now…"

Sora jumped, looking around frantically, trying to find the owner of that voice. No one was there.

"Up here, you silly boy…" the voice reprimanded.

Sora slowly looked up, and up, and up. When had the ceiling been that high? Hovering above him was a face, a very, very big face.

Of a clown.

A particularly evil-looking clown.

His face was white, naturally white or painted, he could not tell. His eyes were merely slits of blood red, glowing deviously in the dim room. He grinned and it was most definitely not in a nice way.

His grin widened. "ARE YOU HAVING FUN?!" he cackled.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Sora screamed and ran for his life, arms flailing and legs pumping madly. He ran towards a yellow door, but when he tried to open it, he was repelled.

Huh?

He quickly ran to another door and was repelled again. Sora ran down the long corridor, trying doors, but to no avail—none of the doors would budge and he was always repelled!

"What the hell is wrong with these doors?!" he screamed, breath coming in harsh exhalations from running so much.

The clown was cackling once again. Sora could feel it gliding closer and closer to him, just as he was getting closer to his new target: the silver door. He was almost there. The handle was just within reach.

BAM!

Sora fell, hitting the ground hard. The rug on the floor had come to life and tripped Sora, which is what caused him to fall. The clown head was closing down on him. He pushed himself off the ground and leapt for the handle. He felt it, and wrenched the door open. Running through, he slammed it closed and leaned against the door for support. He was actually shaking!

"T-that was way too close for comfort," he panted, leaning his forehead against the cool door. He took a moment to gather up his will and turned around. He didn't want to be nastily surprised again.

Calming himself, he surveyed the room. He was inside yet another circular room, this time the room was brightly lit with a huge crystal chandelier. He cautiously walked to the center of the room, and this time, there were only two doors: one red, one pink.

Before Sora could even choose which door to go through, another clown head appeared in front of the red door, cackling. Only one choice now! He pivoted, running at full speed to the pink door, clown head right behind him. Yanking the door open, he was blinded by pink light. He ran through anyway, not waiting for his eyes to adjust. The clown was right behind him after all!

Sora ran and ran and promptly smacked into someone. He tumbled forward, falling onto the other person, causing the person to fall, too. With the speed he was running, the impact of the clash caused Sora to become winded and lightheaded. All he could see were pink blurs and—silver hair?

Sora smacked his head and blinked a couple of times. The room slowly came into focus. He saw that the pink light came from the many candles on the wall, all emitting a strange, pink glow. He was in a sort of library Sora realized as he scanned the thousands of books on the shelves.

Sora felt something move under him.

Huh?

He looked down and immediately blushed deeply. The person he had bumped into was Riku! He was straddling Riku! Holy Shit!

"Riku!" Sora quickly scrambled off his friend. "Sorry! I didn't mean to crush you like that! Why didn't you say anything?!" How dare Riku embarrass him time and time again!

"I wasn't in any rush…" Riku answered, smiling at him lazily.

Sora blinked at him. Huh?

Riku's smiled turned into his trademark smirk. "After all," he continued, "you looked so cute back there, Sora. Adorably blushing like that. Eyes out of focus… mouth panting." Riku was positively grinning now.

Huh?!

Sora felt his jaw drop. He made a strange little noise at the back of his throat and shut his mouth. For a moment he simply looked at Riku. Then: "Stupid Riku!!!"

Sora, with his face flaming, tried to push himself off the softly chuckling Riku. Riku had other ideas, however, and quickly grabbed him around the waist, pulling him closer.

"So cute, Sora…" he murmured and flipped them over so that now he was the one on top. Riku leaned in closer, and some of his silky, silver locks fell across Sora's face.

Sora whimpered; was it possible for him to turn any redder?

"Riku…" he whined. "What are you doing? Stop it." He tried to push Riku off him, but the taller boy was too heavy.

"Why stop? Don't worry; I'm just trying to comfort you." Riku ran his hands gently through Sora's hair. "You were scared, right? I'll make you feel all better." He slowly caressed Sora's cheek.

Sora's eyes fluttered closed. Riku was right; this was soothing.

That is, until Riku suddenly cupped his Sora's chin in his hand. He could suddenly feel Riku's breath on his lips. His eyes shot open and he saw that their faces were nearly touching.

"R-Riku, wha?"

"Shhhh…" Riku shushed him, placing a finger on Sora's lips, tracing it lightly.

Hmm, that felt oddly nice and calming. Sora closed his eyes again, and absently wondered what Riku was doing to him. He felt Riku leaning in closer once again. He could almost feel Riku's lips with his own. He felt Riku draw in a breath, lean back, and flick Sora's nose. Again.

"Argh! Riku!!!!!" He pushed Riku off him, scrambling backwards, a pout on his face. Stupid Riku! ALWAYS teasing him! Why?!

"Why," he demanded, "do you always do that?!"

"Not always," Riku chided. "And I do it because I can." He gave Sora one of his slow smirks. "Besides," he added, "you're so cute and gullible, Sora, I couldn't help it."

"F-you, Riku! You suck!" huffed Sora, outraged.

Riku gave him his slow, heart-stopping smirk. "That I do," he agreed. "But I only suck because I'm stuck on you, Sora."

Before Sora could respond, something materialized behind Riku's head. Sora stared at it in terror—it was another clown head!

"Ahhh! Riku, look out! Behind you!" He pointed to the clown head.

Riku wasn't even fazed, nor did he look back. He simply reached backwards and swiped his hand through the clown head, making it turn to static and disappear.

"A state-of-the-art hologram," he stated. He walked towards Sora and crouched down, bringing them to eye level. "That's what you were afraid of?"

Sora nodded shakily. Even if it was just a hologram, it was still pretty frightening.

Riku sighed. "Silly Sora," he said affectionately, making Sora blush once again. Seeing Riku tease him so affectionately made Sora feel a giddy, warm sensation inside his stomach. He knew he complained often about Riku's teasing, but the truth was, it made him happy whenever Riku's attention was on him and only him.

Did that make him weird? He hoped not. He just wanted to spend as much time as possible with him before Riku went off to his prestigious university. He really dreaded the thought of being separated from Riku.

"Hey, Sora."

He blinked, and looked up at Riku, who had already stood up. Riku held out a hand to help him up. Sora smiled and thanked him, taking the offered hand and letting Riku pull him upright. Riku didn't let go of his hand and Sora didn't seem to mind much.

Riku scanned the room. "Oh, well. I guess this place isn't haunted after all. Too bad." Seeing Sora's weary look, he smiled reassuringly. "C'mon, I'm sure if we retrace our footsteps, we can find the way out."

He began to lead Sora back to the pink door. Sora smiled at their entwined hands, feeling happy. Right now, if those clowns were to come back, he wouldn't be scared. He wouldn't be scared even if there were thousands of them. Because Riku was there with him, protecting him.

Because Riku was there with him, he wasn't alone.

-----

It took them a while to find the exit; it seemed the rooms in the Haunted Circus changed frequently. When they finally got out of that place, it was already 3 PM, their meeting time. It didn't take them long to find their way back to the meeting spot—by that time, they had already released each others' hands. It was even easier for them to spot the two girls. Yuffie and Selphie were in front of the House of cards, hands up in the air and hips sashaying as they danced around, ignoring the crowd they seemed to draw. At their feet were bags full of what looked to be munny. When asked, the girls said they won it at the House of Cards, which, Yuffie mentioned, was not a shop, but a casino. That brought up the question of how Selphie, who was 15 and underage, got in.

"How else?" Yuffie had questioned in reply. "Selph did what every rich girl would do: flash her platinum at the guard."

This made everyone in the group laugh. After goofing off a bit more, Riku reeled in the group back to the car and told them it was time to head off to their next destination: Halloween Town.

"Okay, so, what's the plan?" asked Yuffie as she buckled up in the driver's seat. Everyone was quiet as they thought it out for a while.

"Eh… well, Halloween Town is two towns away so that's about…" Sora trailed off as he mentally calculated how long 'two towns away' was in hours. "…three to four hours…"

"'Three to four hours'?" repeated Selphie, frowning. "On the road?"

Sora nodded. He knew how she felt. Two hours on the road he could stand. But three to four hours was too much. Who could sit through that? And in this heat? Even Selphie was bound to become tired talking for four hours straight.

"Let's stop at the next town and rest for the night," Riku suggested, his eyes once again on the scenery. "One of the hotels from my uncle's hotel chain is there. I can probably get us in for free."

"Whoa. A hotel chain?" Sora shook his head, amazed. "I knew your family was rich, Riku, but to own a hotel chain? Which one is it?"

"Hollow Bastion," said Riku absently, his eyes watching the deserted scenery passing by.

"Hollow Bastion?!" came three dubious voices.

Sora blinked and shook his head as if to help absorb the information he was just given. Hollow Bastion was just about the most exclusive and expensive hotel there was, run by one of the richest man in the world, Lord Sephiroth. But Riku had said an uncle of his owned Hollow Bastion… That meant—

"Lord Sephiroth is your uncle?!"

"Yeah." Riku turned to look at their shocked expressions, raising an elegant eyebrow. "Why? Surprised?" He grinned.

"'Surprised?' Of course we are!" There seemed to be a lot of head shaking because Yuffie, too, shook her head in amazement. "Talk about dropping the bombshell."

"So if Lord Sephiroth is your uncle, do we call you 'Lord Riku'?" Selphie questioned, grinning teasingly.

Riku gave her a look. "Yes, Selphie, yes. You call me 'Lord Riku' now. If that doesn't suit you, 'your Lordship' is fine, too," he said dryly.

"Yes, your Lordship!" was the giggling reply.

Riku grinned, reaching out and flicking her forehead. "Brat." Riku turned his gaze to Sora and frowned. The younger boy looked very unhappy.

Sora was very unhappy. Having the richest man in the world for an uncle just assured the fact that Riku would be leaving him soon for some prestigious university, probably far, far away…

"Sora?"

Riku would leave.

"Sora? Sora, what's wrong?" Yuffie glanced at him through the rearview mirror.

If Riku left, what would he do?

"Sora?"

Sora looked up at Riku with solemn eyes and shook his head. "Nothing's wrong." He smiled slightly. "I'm just a bit tired. Your plan sounds great! Let's stop for the night in the next town."

Riku's brow furrowed slightly, but he nodded cautiously, turning back to the scenery. Sora knew he was definitely going to be questioned later about this.

Someone took hold of his right hand. "Oh, Sora…" Selphie squeezed his hand with both of her own. Sora squeezed back. Somehow Selphie knew how he felt.

If Riku left… Sora would be alone.

Thanks to: Ellis, HypernatedRikku, Tifas-love90 (Thanks! I'm glad you like it. Sorry for the wait.), ForgivenLiar (Thank-you! I'm glad you think so.), Draconis-Donavan, zenah, Ravensta692003, AnonymousKitsune, and Tenshi. Sorry for the wait, guys!

Now wasn't that nice, boys and girls? You can thank Somi for writing much of the action.

Um... One more thing... If it seems like not a lot of people are interested in this story, then we'll probably stop writing it. No point in taking time out of our busy schedules to finish this if we have no encouragement... So be kind and review if you want this updated...