AHHH! I'm finally posting again! No, I didn't forget about the story. Okay, so I had a decent amount of this chapter written, and KABLAM, my internet stops working! Okay, well as I'm going totally insane from having to use my old, slower computer, I receive some terrible news! My computer was so loaded with SPYWARE and viruses that the only way to get rid of it all was to get rid of ALL MY FILES! So all my chapters are gone, and for almost a month so was Microsoft Word! How sad! But now it's working, so I'm all set!

ONWARD!

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Riku stood on the edge, face upturned to the rain-swollen clouds. He closed his eyes and breathed in, his chest swelling, then exhaled slowly.

Maybe Misha was right. Maybe he should go see Sora.

But..

He shook his head angrily. Always 'but'! Maybe that's what had always held him back from so much. He was afraid of consequences. If he ever told him how he felt, how would he respond? He wasn't sure of the answer, but he would bet anything that Sora couldn't return the feelings. He'd wanted to confess for years. Every day his heart would feel like it would burst, but every day he'd held it down.

Riku looked down at the streets below where little ant people went about their lives. Vertigo swept over him and he backed up a step, returning his gaze to the skies.

Sora.. Would you hate me if you knew?

Riku had grown up afraid of what he was. Lots of people on the Islands had looked down on having such strong feelings for the someone of the same gender. They were threatened by it. They were afraid that their children would be.. That.

His mother… she'd been such a frail little doll, always looking like she would break. Riku was her only child, her only chance at grandchildren. He knew that if he were to tell her, she would have shattered. Looking back, he wished he had told her. Did she know now?

Riku remembered hearing once that, in death, all of life's questions were answered.

He shuddered and looked towards the horizon. It was almost morning and the familiar ache behind his eyes started again. The young man put his hand into his pocket and withdrew and length of black cloth, which he tied around his eyes.

A fat raindrop plummeted down and splattered on his cheek, quickly followed by another. He turned on his heel and pulled open the small door, and it creaked in response. He wasn't sure where to go, but he couldn't stay out here.

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Sora way lying on the couch, glaring at the ceiling. Kairi's words echoing harshly in his head.

"Sora.. I…"

His eyes narrowed.

"I.."

He clenched his teeth as the scene replayed itself in his mind.

"Nyx, shut the damn door."

Did they know it was going to happen? Why did she hesitate?

"I hate you!"

He growled angrily, throwing himself into a sitting position. The others were in the small kitchen, which was currently the source of soft laughter and quiet conversation. He entered the room, his eyes dark with anger. The others, all seated around a small table and holding mugs of dark liquid, looked up at him upon his arrival, Lanc nodding his head in acknowledgement, Misha offered a smile, and Nyx grinned widely at him. Corben merely watched him, figuring this wasn't the time for cheer.

"I think you owe me an explanation." The Keyblade Master growled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We'll try." Lanc said, swirling his cup to stir the contents.

You'd better do more than try he thought, but instead he said "What's going on?"

"You'll have to be more specific." Corben.

"Well, for starters, why didn't Kairi remember Riku? Why did she think I'd been there on the island?"

Nyx chewed her lip and Corben looked down into his cup. Lanc and Misha, having never met Kairi, both stared blankly.

"Well?" he pressed, letting his annoyance show. "Why didn't she remember?"

"I… don't know." Nyx said, turning her eyes away from him.

"Bull. I remember you said, exactly, that you knew why she didn't remember!"

"No! I said that I wasn't the one that made her forget!"

He glared, remembering.

"Kairi knows about the heartless, she just doesn't remember."

"How do you know what she doesn't remember?"

Sora's fist clenched.

"You're behind this! You're why she doesn't remember!"

"Not me!"

He looked up at Nyx. "You know why she doesn't.. but you didn't do it..?"

She nodded, her body language inappropriately cheerful.

"Okay then. Explain it to me."

She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it, then opened, then shut. She paused and thought for a moment. Sora's upper lip curled into a snarl and he slammed his fist against the wall. "Well?!" he shouted, making them all jump in their chairs.

"Sora.." Misha said softly, making him feel suddenly ashamed.

"It's hard to explain." Nyx said, frowning at him.

"Well, why don't you try?" Sora asked, restraining his temper.

She nodded, reproachful of his tone. "Okay.. Here it goes.." she turned to the others "Now, if I mess up or leave anything out, say something."

She took a deep breath, and started.

"Well, when the worlds close, the world borders go up, right? Well, that's common knowledge, everyone involved with Keyblades and such know that. But what not everyone knows about is the memory loss thing. When the borders go up, people go back to their own worlds and forget what happened."

"Wait," Sora interrupted, "they forget? So everyone just has a blank in their memories?"

"Well, they're given new memories that the amount of time was uneventful, or they were sick and couldn't go out or something."

"Who gives them the memories?"

A silence fell over them for a few minutes.

"Umm…" Nyx ran her right index finger in figure-eights on the table. But, before Sora could lose his temper, a hollow knock came from the door and echoed.

Misha excused herself quickly, and slipped out of the kitchen into the main room. The group listened, eager for something to break the tension. The door opened with a klik , and there was a low conversation.

Sora's mind was too busy to concentrate on the events of the door, and quickly chased after thoughts of the night's events.

So… when Kingdom Hearts is sealed, then the world borders go up and the Heartless are gone. But along with that, people forget what happened. And the blank spaces in their memories were filled in by… who?

The talking in the next room stopped and was replaced by the sounds of two sets of footsteps, then a door opening and closing.

Riku.. He never went home… and nobody remembered him at all. Or at least Kairi didn't…

Then a thought crossed his mind and sent his stomach flip-flopping.

Does that mean that no one remembered me while I was gone?

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Bah! I'm sorry! I know it's insanely short for me having not posted anything in so long, but I guess it's better than nothing at all. , I'll post more pretty quickly, I think.