Hey! I'm back! Sorry it took so long. ^_^;;; I... was lazy as lazy can get. But, nonetheless, I had some pretty numerous reviews saying 'we don't want Sora to die.' I respect that and I guess... nevermind.

Anyway, I noticed I had 63 reviews for this story and I was like, whoa, O.O. Thanks so much! The reviewers were Cloud, Rinoki Rio, Kingdom*Hearts309, Promise, Uzumaki-sama, Kiera-Uchiha, VampssAmby10210, otakusoei, Gina Reed, apie, Kai, the Yaoi Pharaoh, goggle head girl, Soul_Spirit, Princess of Mirrors, Soul-Spirit, and Kitty Meow. Thank you.

As we all now, Sora, Riku, and other characters I might just throw in this piece of... hard work, are owned by Disney and Square... Enix? I'm still lost about that.

Warnings are as follows- Yaoi, Committed Suicide, Abuse, Slavery, and whatever else my mind can intrigue ya'll with.

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Servants, Obey Thy Masters

Chapter Seven: Almost Lost Your Love

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"How can you say that?"

"Because... I just can't show emotions to that sort of thing in a way... besides, I like being here with you..."

"Thank you..."

'Maybe if he dies... I can go home...'

'It's not like he loves me back anyway...'

"Your name is Riku, right?"

Riku's s dazed eyes seemed transfixed towards the quiet cobblestone flooring as the doctor ask Riku about his name. Those placid eyes didn't seem to care about the world around him, but only about the world in his mind... who wouldn't in this strange time of horrible occurrence? If the doctor remembered correctly, this... Riku was chosen to be the prince's companion when the population if that island was captured and brought forth to decide which ones would become new slaves. Sad as it may have seemed, at that time, the doctor was in need of new nurses and he thankfully got them a week later when a new shipment was brought in from another kingdom.

"Well... I want to thank you for saving Prince Sora's life. He will be bed-ridden for a few days because the knife fractured one rib and almost punctured a lung, but other than that, he'll be fine if he doesn't attempt suicide again."

Riku tilted his head curiously as if he were a five-year-old who didn't comprehend all of this medical talk. His aquamarine eyes were darkened into a dull sapphire and his shirt was covered in another's and his own blood. The doctor could tell Riku was exhausted from the event, but by the scars and bruises that marred the pale skin of the youth. It was like one of the famous paintings that decorated the luxurious hallways in the upper levels. They were filled with battle and mayhem, just like the cuts filled with tips of leather and blood. They both told a story of sadness and torture... but only one was real...

"Tell me... do you have any idea why Prince Sora would attempt suicide?" the doctor asked gently as he squatted down to look eye to eye to the youthful male. Hazed eyes glanced only for a second before turning back to the floor. The lost boy seemed chagrined to answer the inquiry. His orbs of dark unreality was based upon this incident concerning the heir. Though it was obvious that the platinum-haired teen showed some traces of sympathy in a... mysteriously evil façade, the doctor couldn't help but feel he was overdoing the sympathizing act. Finally, after the long, agonizing process of silence after the question of Sora's attempt settled in, Riku mumbled something under his breath.

"What?"

"I..." the lost teen started, still trying to accept the brutal event of a dying innocence freshly repeating itself in the crevice that his mind filled. He didn't know; and unfortunately for the doctor, he didn't want to know. He just knew that Sora would be safe and comfy in his arms once all the self-injuries heal. Sadly, nothing would fit together in place like the puzzle of Riku's servant life like the pieces had before this cruel occurrence had been displayed in the forefront of his vision. The impetuous need to see Sora's lithe body unharmed and full of life unlike the bleeding, heavenly white Sora he saw earlier, dying languidly.

It hit right smack dab in the pit of his chest.

Needless to say, Riku had stayed far away from the horrid subject of suicide, death, and anything even close to the subject. Though it would have helped in this situation if Sora just waltzed right in the heavy muted room and just explained with thorough details why in the Hell he did such a... terrible thing, Riku and the doctor knew full well that the blood loss in Sora's system was probably minor, but still lethal in its own little way.

'Why does life suck so much?' Riku thought to himself, bringing little attention to himself but still getting too much of it from the jerk who asked too many hard-core questions. The doctor had sighed, defeated, and went into the room Sora was in. As a way to pass time, Riku mentally began to jot down reasons to why his life was... completely unfair compared to others. One, his happy, fun life on Destiny Islands was taken away when some protectors decided to barge into his house and capture both him and his mother. Two, he was brutally beaten everyday. Three, Sora was still oblivious of Riku's 'flirting'. And finally four, Sora attempted suicide for whatever reason...

Reason four and three just needed to be burned and buried under the soil behind the large tree in the garden where Riku and Sora would talk at night. But would it be possible to do that when the recollection of the images that had been administered in front of him prior to the list Riku had made in his mind? He doubted it highly, but couldn't help but feel he had a duty to Sora's life. After all... was it not Sora he fell in love with?

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"Riku?"

Aquamarine irises moved towards the curious boy behind him. The prince held a platter of food that had aromas that almost made the older male drool. If there was anything other than Sora he enjoyed having while being a servant, it was the delicious delicacies the cooks made. Each meal was carefully organized and cautiously taken care of... literally. Riku had personally watched them after he made a notion to Sora the other day about how good the steak was. After watching them skillfully cook and cut and do the other assorted methods of cooking, Riku decided and bestowed upon them the title of 'The Best Chefs in the World.' The chefs went a tad... hyperactive after that.

Sora had noticed a small bit of saliva drip from Riku's open mouth and he pulled his arms up and out for the servant to take the plate. "I had this special made for you. It's all of your favorites."

"And how do you know all of my favs?" Riku asked as he took the china plate before inhaling the food with his fork. Sora could only giggle at the scene of the older teen with bits of meat and mashed potatoes covering the lips of his mouth.

... How Sora wanted to be loved by those lips...

Like the first day Riku had officially become a slave. Those gentle kisses upon his cheek and forehead were intoxicating all on its own. But when the mental images of Riku doing something more daring... such as actually kissing him, it drove the poor heir insane. But, considering that he had never understood why some people thought it was disgusting for two boys or two girls to kiss. He could only shrug stupidly, only knowing that what he felt for the other male... felt strangely right. He didn't see the harm in loving someone who guided you through a lot of emotional stress. He didn't see the forbidden paths of rejection and depression that were etched in the love for the same gender. Personally, Sora just threw the subject into the pits of Hell for all that they were worth.

And that's where rejection and forbidden love should stay at; In Hell.

Sora couldn't quite put his long finger on why love was forbidden in some odd and peculiar way. Wasn't love about loving someone no matter who they are or what they had done? What was so forbidden about loving someone? Wasn't the first 'rule' of love taken in as 'love has no boundaries'? All these questions and more welled into the youth's mind, only to bring the subject up more often than on usual cases.

"Sora?"

"Huh?" the prince jumped slightly as he taken out of his thoughtful stupor. Riku was giving him a concerning glare, dinner gone and barely any sight of crumbs. Obviously, Riku was being deprived of the three meals again. Horrible as it may have seemed, Sora... actually looked forward to when Riku needed his assistance. It had been quite amusing to Sora when Riku refused to put on a new shirt because the one he had worn recently had been torn to shreds by the black, leather whip the servants were beaten with almost everyday. But nonetheless, the only thing good about the deprivation was watching on Riku's stubbornness. Everything else was just plain awful.

"I asked you how did you know my favorite foods?"

Riku had asked that for several moments from the way he had said that sentence. Sora barely knew of the limits Riku's patience had, but when the elder teen lost his temper, Hell ensued dramatically and painfully. If the sienna-brown-haired teen remembered correctly, Riku had thrown an object made of glass at the wall once because one of his fatal wounds was not healing fast enough for his appeasement. Oh, well... Riku had just started growling under his breath and Sora decided to answer him placidly.

"Because of how you scarf them down!" Sora giggled out. Placing a hand to his mouth to hide the evident smile, Sora bent forward in humor. Riku's face... oh, that face! How Riku pulled his neck back and his silver eyebrows flew up and were curved in shock while his mouth hung open, the pink muscle known as the tongue showing. Riku looked like he had just been accused of stealing a cookie before dinner and acting 'appalled' that anyone would consider blaming him. It was the funniest face Sora had ever seen in his life.

Even though he was being ill-treated by being humiliated by the prince- and thankfully no one else was around- Riku couldn't help but grin like a psychopath.

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Riku fingered the stone, hearing a creak from the door opened and an almost lifeless figure being supported by a nurse as he limped. His entire skin was the color of ivory and those deep, oceanic orbs were dulled as if the passing years had eroded their beauty and brightness. Riku stood up immediately after he took in the hellish sight of his lovely Sora. Sora looked terrible with half-lidded eyes, torn clothing, and lazy body. In other words, Sora looked as if he were thrown off of his balcony and lived to tell about it.

"Sora... A-are you... all right?"

'You bastard! Do you think he's all right? You think he's made a full recovery?!'

Riku scoffed under his breath while scolding himself furiously how much of a jerk he was for asking such a... unintelligent question. The sight of the disheveled heir was almost too much to bear on Riku's emotions. A twinge at his heart signaled his grief while his lungs locked up, refusing to breath what they needed. Pure torture to Riku. More torture than a whip or hot pokers could accomplish, that is. "Help him to his room, if you don't mind," the doctor ordered firmly, making it more like a command than a request. But no matter how bitterness the elder teen found in the words, he leaned down and wrapped an arm behind Sora's knees and his back, picking him up with the tiny bit of strength he had in his exhausted body. While walking through the door the nurse had proceeded to open, Sora's eyes had fluttered closed as he drifted back into the heavenly sleep the platinum-haired male was used to.

While treading down the corridors towards Sora's bedroom, Sora came back to the reality of his painful recognition as prince and how everyone in the castle would know what would have happened. Especially his father... Sora shuddered at the thought of a little 'briefing', if that would even be at the most, of why he shouldn't attempt suicide. Yes, Sora knew it was wrong; Yes, Sora knew the... consequences, but he couldn't help but feel he had some debt to owe to Riku, considering that the reason why the elder was being punished at the time was because of him. And almost every other time the punishment for Riku would ensue, it was usually because of him. Him. Himself! The cause of Riku's pain and suffering was him and what did he do? Riku saved him. Even after taking every beating, every whipped, and being on the verge of death, Riku had taken care of him by taking him to the infirmary while he was on the brink of ruin. Romantic, to say so at the least.

But... at least the other teen was still with him...

Smiling warm and tiredly, Sora brought a cold hand to Riku's cheek. He was real... he wasn't dead because of him... and after all they had been through... all they had done... Sora could only say one thing;

"Thank you, Riku... for not dying..."

'Dying?'

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Dun-dun-dun-dun! The infamous SageoWind218 has struck again! (Yeah, right.) But seriously, people, I finally got started thing like two days ago. I'm sorry I didn't start on the 15th, even though I got home earlier than I thought I would. ^_^ But it's all good~! Why? ::shrugs:: Aw, well. I hope ya'll had a good April. ^_~;; I did! Well, look for the next chapter soon! Bye!