Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, then lots of stuff would happen, then it would no longer be rated E…don't sue me please!!

Kingdom to Come

Chapter Two: Wake up (Wake up…)

"I love you, Riku." As the liquid blue in his eyes captivated his sea green orbs. If only he realized to what effect those words had on him. He knew Sora meant it in a completely innocent way, but he couldn't help thinking that maybe it was real. It still helped to feel the light, happy feeling, even if it came with the sharp and twisting pain.

"I love you too, Sora." He smiled, but the pain was still evident if one cared to look hard enough. But his object of affections frowned instead of the usual smile that came with the statement.

"No, you don't understand!" He urgently cried and reached out to his hand, but he hesitated. Riku took up the nimble and calloused fingers instead, squeezing them almost desperately. He needed to know that in some way, Sora still accepted him. He didn't want to hear the rejection, even if he had come to accept it. It hurt too much, no matter how his mind prepared for it…

"I love you!" The voice was shaky and desperate, but his eyes strengthened like diamonds and shined like the moon.

"Sora…"

Sora leapt into his arms and burrowed his head into Riku's chest. He wrapped his arms around his love's waist and pulled him closer. He never felt so happy, with his heart beating rapidly and the warmth coming from Sora. This was a thousand times better than his dreams. Everything was okay now…

"I love you." Riku breathed into Sora's hair. Funny, yesterday he would've done everything in his power to stop himself from saying those words, but now he couldn't stop saying it.

Riku pulled Sora away a bit and cupped Sora's cheek. With a loving smile, he pressed his lips against Sora's petal soft ones and savored the taste.

Of course it would only be natural for him to wake up.

In the haziness of his mind, Riku could already tell that this was not his normal surroundings. The ground comprised of hard pebbles instead of sand, and the temperature felt lower than what his warm islands seemed capable of. Possibly Kairi might have used her Blizzard trick again…

But as he opened his eyes, the sight of hard brick a few feet away froze him from the inside. He felt the hilt of the Keyblade still in his hand. Millions of disconnected thoughts raced through his mind, tracing the illusions of his memories and whirling around in turbulence. Among them lied two important details.

He was finally in another world. No more of the boring beauty of the Islands. No more childish wishing. Riku escaped from that alluring trap, and didn't want to go back any time soon.

Sora was nowhere to be found.

Was this the price of his wish? Escape the confines of his island in exchange of his best friend? He wasn't so sure about this adventure anymore.

Enough of this, Riku thought as he regained his senses. If he wanted Sora back, then there was no use just sitting around and reflecting on the past.

Only then, did Riku see the large dog with yellow fur and black ears. Its almost cartoon-ish form stood out from the scenery, with its large and beady eyes watching him in curiousness. He unsteadily reached out to the creature, in which case the large dog sloppily licked his gloved hand.

"Ugh!" The boy withdrew his hand in surprise and a little disgust. The dog only continued to innocently wag his whip-like tail.

"Come on, Pluto!" An odd voice called, and his furry companion perked up. Pluto leapt up from his position and ran out of the alley, barking.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Riku cried, staggering up and after the dog, "I don't know where-"

He stopped in mid-sentence from both the city lights and the inhabitants around. People and creatures he couldn't even imagine walked the streets. His companion from the alleyway happily waited for him with two others. A duck with a magician's suit and a large dog-guy with khaki pants and vest, and carrying a shield. Funny, how they looked as they've seen a ghost.

"It's you!" The duck screeched in disbelief, pointing his wizard staff at him. Come to think about it, both the stranger's details sounded pretty familiar.

"Ahuck! We'll find Sora for sure with your help!" The taller one grinned.

"You know about Sora?!" Riku cried. But if they knew about Sora…

"You're Donald and Goofy…" Dazed by the revelation, the overwhelmed boy ran a hand through his hair. A mental sigh resounded through his head as the now-known fact pounded into the already delicate reality. Things just got messy.

Meanwhile, in a place so distant from the cozy town, the darkness was swimming among itself. It hugged its new toy, so fragile and unusual, full of light and playfulness. However, it kept its distance. The keeper wouldn't like the darkness to taint the toy…

Sora groggily lifted his head and groaned. His sight was a little hazy and his mind felt like a tornado hit it. It took him a while to realize he was sitting in a completely different place.

"Ah!"

He jumped and wildly searched for anything familiar. Darkness loomed all around the wide pathway that led to the large, elegant throne he sat on. Speaking of which, the top of the throne held the most peculiar design of a heart holding the shape of a keyhole. As he craned his neck to see further, something brushed against his hair and fell to the ground with a resounding clink!

Nothing couldn't get any stranger, Sora's mind rang as the crown's image innocently sent his brain in loops. It was the same crown from his dreams, as was the throne. But this couldn't be the right place! His dreams always showed grassy fields full of flowers and animals, bordered by a never-ending wall. And the huge door-

As Sora scrambled out of the large throne and took a few cautious steps around it, the air suddenly felt colder, and the darkness felt threatening. He did not feel welcome here at all.

This door, by his life, was not supposed to be opened.

"I'm glad you're awake." A boy's voice from behind him announced. Sora whirled around, a bit dizzy from the rushing adrenaline in his body. The boy from earlier stood there with the fallen crown in his hands. He didn't look too dangerous…so far.

"What's going on? Who are you?" The confused boy cried. The pale one smiled that same smile from the cave, one filled with a happy reassurance gone wrong.

"It's okay, Sora. We're back home. That demon will never get you again! Leave it to little brother Koro. I'll protect you at all costs!"

At this, Koro formed two Keyblades, both very similar and foreign at the same time. The pearly white weapon glowed in the never-ending darkness, repelling everything evil, while the other gladly seeped in the inky black with hunger.

Oblivion…Oathkeeper…

He knew these weapons…but he was getting so sleepy…

Sora gripped the arm of the throne for support and fell to his knees. He didn't take his sight off of the mysterious boy, but the darkness started to haze around him. His body wouldn't move.

"It's alright, Sora," He heard the boy say through the thickness, "Go to sleep, and maybe you'll remember me when you wake up."

And he fell.

Although, that was not the case with Kairi, It was early morning in Destiny Islands when she stood in front of Selphie's front door. It seemed that she forgot the meaning of sleep, with rings underneath her eyes. That didn't deter her at all, nor would it in the future. Kairi already decided what she needed to do.

Her knocking finally ceased when a tired brunette girl opened the door. Rubbing her eye with one hand and clutching her blanket in the other, Selphie tiredly looked at her friend.

"Kairi? What are you doing? It's 6:30 in the morning." She yawned, but soon grew a bit attentive with worry.

"Are you okay? It looks like you didn't get a wink of sleep-"

"I need you to come out here for a minute." Kairi more or less ordered, but not without a small apologetic tone. Selphie complied with a shrug and stepped out of her house in front of Kairi.

"Thanks. Now repeat after me."

It was an odd request, but the girl decided to obey. If Kairi was doing this this early in the morning, looking like she was zombie, it must've been important.

"Princess of shadows…"

"Princess of shadows…"

The air around her felt…tingly almost. The prickling sensation tapped at her brain and she couldn't hear right. The waves didn't reach her ears anymore, but the words from Kairi's mouth rolled into her voice. For some reason, she didn't want to stop.

"Of who links and binds…"

"Of who links and binds…"

She grasped the remaining words that were in the deepest reaches in her mind all along. Kairi's voice reverberated with hers as they chanted the last verse.

"Bind the chain of memories that I've lost in time!"

A small pause resumed between the girls, with Kairi peering at Selphie, who closed her eyes. The ocean waves pulled in and out of the island as the seagulls sang their delicate song of the morning.

Selphie snapped open her eyes and smiled at her friend.

"Good morning, princess. What did Sora do this time?" Kairi gave a small nod and an apologetic smile.

"Sorry I had to wake you up."

"Nah, it's okay, princess! It'll be like old times again! Well, sorta. "But whatever thoughts ran through the brunette's head didn't stop as Selphie cheered and skipped around.

"What did I tell you about calling me princess? Especially now?"

"Old habits die hard, princess!" She teased, and dragged Kairi down the road. "It's time to wake Tidus and Wakka up!"

And suddenly Kairi realized that it was six thirty in the morning. She didn't expect to wake everyone else up yet, but she should've known that Selphie wouldn't have it either way.

And neither would Goofy and Donald when it came to explain everything to Riku. Currently, they were at the accessory shop along with a man named Cid. The small shop proved a little cramped, but at least they were warm with the fireplace going, thanks to Donald's fire spell. The Keyblade disappeared, but Donald mentioned that he could summon it at his will.

But that wasn't important right now. From what he could get from Donald's fast talk and Goofy's interrupting, Sora's dreams weren't just dreams.

"Here kid." Cid's gruff voice cut of the spluttering duck and the cheerful dog, dropping a large book on the counter. "This'll tell ya all you need without them two yapping their traps off."

Sliding over to counter, Riku traced the lettering on the dusty cover with his fingers. The Aristocratic twirls spelled out the title.

Ansem's Report. Hopefully it was more interesting than it sounded. He opened the ancient thing to a random page. The scrawled handwriting reminded him somewhat of Kairi's.

"…however when I tried to explain it to some foreigners, I only succeeded to confuse them. Perhaps if I explain it here in writing? I shall try my hand at it."

"Every single soul born within Kingdom Hearts shall not die at all, merely stop aging at whatever age we choose. This ability comes from the land itself. We are directly connected to it, therefore we care for the land greatly. One would think that this would cause overpopulation, but this is not so."

Kingdom Hearts…funny name. And oddly recognizable. Riku sighed heavily before continuing.

"Instead, whenever it is time for a person of Kingdom Hearts to 'pass on', our hearts are simply transferred. The body disappears, and according to local legend, returns to the land. We firmly believe, however, that our hearts go beyond Kingdom Hearts, and possibly to other realms. We have no physical evidence of this, but we may not need evidence. Our hearts are strong enough to believe in our beloved kingdom. We do, nevertheless, have a long life span…"

The rest of the page was filled with scribbled equations and a few more explanations. Riku shut the book and turned it over.

"I don't get it. What does this have to do with Sora? And what about the Keyblade?"

"It's all in there! Don't be so lazy and read, ya brat." Cid retorted. Riku glared at him before opening near the back of the book.

"Whatever, gramps." He mumbled, and the older man grunted in reply. The scrawled writing called out to him again and he ran his finger over the smooth pages.

"…the Kingdom Key has chosen the new ruler of Kingdom Hearts. He's only a young boy, about six years of age. Sora is a child with extraordinary light. He is certainly blessed with the kingdom's grace. Although he is too young by my standards, I fully expect great things from King Sora…"

Filled with the startling information, Riku quickly shut the book. Couldn't this all be a complete coincidence? The Sora in this book and his Sora couldn't possibly be the same person. His Sora was a goofy, stubborn, wildly naïve kid. Sora couldn't be a king even if he had the best royal court and step-by-step instructions.

"This has got to be all wrong." He slammed the book and stood up. There was no way anything like this could happen.

"Why not?" Goofy simply asked, but Riku only made his way out the door, leaving the three alone in the shop.

"That boy's got a lot of problems." Cid grumbled as he chewed on the butt of his cigar.

"You don't even know the half of it." Donald replied, grabbing the heavy book from the counter. He peered at the faded cover before shoving it over to Goofy, who easily picked it up.

"He hasn't changed much after a couple hundred years…he's still has that cocky attitude."

Donald's statement surprised the old man, not that he'd show it much. Raising an eyebrow towards the duck, he threw impressed whistle.

"So you guys are the real deal, huh? Heh, I guess that's what I get for being 12th generation. "

But the silver haired boy was trying to block out the disturbing facts in his head. Apparently, the city sights weren't fascinating enough, though some of the strange inhabitants walking around did prove a bit uplifting.

He sat on the steps of the Accessory shop, watching the people go on with their daily lives. Riku bitterly laughed at the situated irony fate placed him in. Wasn't this adventure supposed to be fun? Not the for-all-ages friendly kind-that would be too boring, of course. More like a bit of conflicts and strengthening of relationships, or something like that. He was supposed to have his friends with him, dammit!

However, a loud crash pulled the boy out of his reverie. He glanced up at the now open doors from the second district, filled with black ant-like creatures. This apparently wasn't a normal routine either, since people started fleeing from the swarming mass. A scream erupted from the square and he sprinted to the noise instinctively. The Keyblade came to him in a split second, just in time to block the oncoming attack.

They reminded him of those things that took Sora! He pushed off the creature's claws and swiped through it's abdomen in one smooth motion, Its body burst into a million particles and dissipated in the air in front of him.

He guessed the little buddy's pals didn't like that, as they started swarming around him instead of that girl. He quickly parried the nearest one and dodged to the left, narrowly missing another's claws. Pushing the next opponent aside, he made a break away out of the mob.

"Fire!" A masculine voice called out, and a fiery meteor crashed into the black mass. Riku turned to the source; a man clad in black, carrying a weapon that looked like a sword and a gun at the same time met his sight. He looked carefully guarded and lax all at once.

That was an odd man and he hadn't even known the guy for 30 seconds.

To be continued…

A/N: Okay, I am awfully appalled at how long I've been dwelling on this chapter, so I figured it'd be a good time to leave off so I can pick up faster. On another note, I'm learning Japanese from online! Ah…I hope you don't kill me for this being so late. I'll be better next time! Nyah! If I don't then you can all poke me with sharp objects till I update! Yeah…