Disclaimer: Manly scar! (poke)

-Moribund-

See What Running Away Can Do?

"Crap," I muttered, looking at my cracked toenail in the light. After what happened at Hollow Bastion, I'd grabbed some shoes and then noticed the bloodstain on my sock. So now I realized exactly how much damage that rock had done. I guess I hadn't noticed it before, what with everything being so hectic. Fortunately, this discovery was deserving of no more than the word "crap."

The ship jerked violently just then, sending me flying off my bed and into the wall. This yielded a specific yell that earned me a disapproving look from my conscience. Ignoring the mental librarian that was my conscience (oddly enough, as I had a terrible fear of librarians), I got up and puttered down the hall to the cockpit. Everything looked normal—the control panel was blinking an okay signal, and the repercussions from the jolt didn't seem to have touched the front of the ship.

"What the hell was that?" Riku asked from the sick bay, his voice lined with pain. I went to his side to discover that the jolt had knocked him out of the cot and almost made short work of the job I'd done on his ankle. We managed to get him back on the cot—my arms were beginning to get sore from the incident at Hollow Bastion—and I told him what I knew.

"I have no idea."

"That's helpful," he said sourly. I would've poked his manly scar just then, but I figured he was undergoing enough pain as it was. Just then, he paused, the spark of realization crossing his face. "Where are we?"

"I don't know—I didn't take the warp hole and it's only been half an hour, so we should be over Neverland about...right...now..." I stopped speaking, realizing what was going on. "You don't think it'll crash!" I asked him, panicking. If we crashed, first and foremost, we could die. And then there was the fact that we would be out of a Gummi ship, out of communication, and out of luck. I wanted to get Riku to proper medical attention as soon as possible, but it's hard to get from Neverland to Traverse Town without a Gummi ship.

"I think it'll crash," Riku told me.

I just couldn't express to him how much that boosted my morale.

So I poked his manly scar.

-

Five minutes later, we landed. Or, well, crashed. Riku was shouting at me, demanding to know whether I realized exactly how much pain it caused him to have his precious manly scar poked. I retaliated by telling him I was very much aware of that, and he decided to fix me with an accusing glare for a while. I dared to think he was cute when he was like that, once again ignoring the shrieking librarian in my head.

As it turned out, we had landed in the city around the clock tower. "I wonder if Peter's around," I said aloud. Flying would be a distinct advantage over our deteriorating luck. For this reason, our luck said no.

"You'll use these to get around," I told Riku, digging out a pair of crutches. He fixed me with an indignant gaze that also held a hint of disappointment. I knew how much he hated being in any way handicapped, but this was clearly necessary. Me carrying him around the town wouldn't make much difference, and I told him so. He grudgingly let me help him align the crutches right. "First I want to take you to a hospital," I told him when we managed to get out of the ship without too much difficulty.

"A hospital!" he groaned in protest.

"Cut it out. I'm not sure I set your ankle right, and we don't want it growing back crooked, now do we?"

The very thought made him look sick.

After a wild goose chase, in which all of the townspeople clearly delighted, we managed to find the small infirmary not three feet from our ship. The nurse who answered the door took a few minutes to stare moronically at Crasher before we got her to take Riku inside. At this point, she became obsessed with Riku's strange garb until the doctor hauled him away. "It looks like it was set right," he said later when he left the room.

Riku shot me a dark look.

"You never know," I told him, feeling a little upset that he wasn't showing more gratitude.

"But there's one little adjustment I need to make." The doctor gave Riku's ankle a short twist, drawing a pained shout from him. "There—that should let you heal right," he said, patting Riku's shoulder in a fatherly manner and seemingly oblivious to the rigid grimace on his face.

I made a monetary exchange with the doctor, even as Riku complained and said he could pay. "And could you keep him here awhile?" I asked, taking care not to look at Riku. "I don't want him getting hurt again."

The doctor nodded. "You definitely don't want to be walking again anytime soon, young man." Again, he didn't seem to notice the way Riku's eyes were burning red.

"Sora, you can't leave me here!" he shouted even as I turned to leave. "I'm not an invalid or something!"

"Riku, face it," I said to him then. "There are Heartless all over the place. You can't wield a weapon at this stage. I understand how you feel, but I can't let you get hurt again."

"Why not?"

"I—!" I stopped then, caught off guard, as a flush crept up on my cheeks. I couldn't meet his eyes. But then I looked up, recognizing his expression. Dawning comprehension was like a lantern in his eyes, and I felt my heart sinking in my chest. I ran out, slamming the door behind me. I barreled past the nurse, oblivious to her surprised shout, and finally stopped outside in the night air.

So Riku knew. I felt my eyes welling up with tears. The road passed under my feet as I left the area without any clear idea where I was going. Riku knew. That knowledge repeated itself in my mind as I walked, brushing aside tears with my knuckles. I knew Riku was straight, just somehow I knew. And now, because of something wrong with me...the fact that I was...was...

I threw one fist angrily against the wall, not caring as I felt the rough surface scratch my skin. It was my turn to face facts. I was in love with Riku, and he wasn't in love with me. He probably hated me just now...he was probably embarrassed...there was no way I could ever face him again...

"Sora?"

I almost screamed. I hadn't expected for someone to burst in on me just then. "Peter?" I recognized the red-haired boy in front of me. He was wearing simple green clothing, a bit darker than his usual garb, but somehow he looked different. Had he gained weight? No, he must've lost some...or had he done that? Just then, my eyes landed on the goatee under his lip. "Peter, have you...are you older!"

He looked embarrassed. "Uh, yeah. I finally gave up on Neverland. Kid's stuff, really." But there was a yearning expression on his face. "It was really...well...Wendy. After she left, I just couldn't stop thinking about her. I guess it was..." He paused, searching for a word.

"Love?" I supplied, feeling a sudden pang in my heart.

"Yeah, that." Peter rolled his eyes. "I used to think it was all so stupid. Crazy, even. But now that I've felt it..." He shook his head. "It's still hard to get used to."

"Hm." I leaned against the wall, trying to look interested, but it was hard when I still had the incident with Riku to think about. I must've drifted off just then—I can't remember what exactly I was daydreaming about, but the next thing I knew, Peter was snapping his fingers under my nose.

"You're really obsessed with something, aren't you?" he asked when I looked up. "What's wrong?"

"It's..." I shook my head, forcing a dubious expression onto my face. "It's not important."

Peter let out a laugh that sounded interestingly like a rooster. "Oh, yes it is! I can see it in your eyes, there's something wrong."

"What's it like to be in love?" I asked, and at once wished I hadn't.

He leaned lightly against a small fence around one of the houses. "It's kind of nice, and kind of trying. But it's still a big deal—especially when it's someone you love so much you'd die for them before you let them get hurt."

The pangs in my heart became increasingly painful.

"But you know all about that, don't you, Sora?"

"Hm!" I jerked up, hearing my name, and absorbed what he had just said. "What do you mean?"

"That's what's wrong with you," Peter said simply. "You're in love. Everything makes sense now."

"Oh really?" I demanded, surprising myself with my harsh tone. "If you know so much, who am I in love with?"

He studied my eyes for a moment, his own shining softly in the moonlight. Suddenly the shine escalated to a sparkling brilliance and his lips parted, as though he would say something. Instead, only a gasp escaped him, and his shoulders drew upward. His eyes closed as he turned away. "...I see."

"You see what!"

"I can tell you don't want me to know who it is, so I won't tell you. I imagine I'm wrong, anyway."

"Who is it?"

Peter shook his head.

I walked over to him and seized him by the shirt. "Tell me," I said in a measured tone, "who I love." For some reason I needed to know this, if only to confirm it for myself.

"It's Riku."

For a moment, I stared at him, dazed. How could he read someone like that just by looking at their eyes? I felt strangely violated, even though I knew I'd brought this upon myself. I released him, leaning against the wall and watching the ground reflectively. Now I almost wished he hadn't told me, but at least Peter had the good graces not to say, "I told you so."

"All right," I said finally. "Supposing that's true, what do you think he thinks?"

Peter shot me a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean...do you think he's angry, or maybe just embarrassed...?"

Again came the rooster-laugh. "Angry? Because you love him? I'll bet you he's thrilled!" Peter told me. "Would you like to know just how long he had to argue with Captain Hook to keep him from killing you? Of course, that didn't necessarily work out after Riku left," he acceded.

The world was jolting under my feet like a bull trying to buck me off. I grabbed the fence to keep from falling, feeling dizzy and confused. "What?" I managed shakily.

"It's clear he values you more than anything," Peter told me, his eyes on the stars. "I wouldn't be surprised if he loves you back."

I tried to remember the expression on Riku's face. My imagination had inserted a grimace of disgust, but I knew it must've been different. "I just hope he accepts me," I said slowly. "I'm afraid our friendship will end because I'm..."

"Gay?" Peter supplied sympathetically. "Sora, you can't run from something like that. You'll only get yourself hurt. I mean," he looked toward the clock tower, "look what happened to me. I ran away from growing up, and that was almost twenty years ago. Now both my parents are dead, my little sister is older than I am, and I have to start school all over again. Because I ran away, I can't live a normal life anymore." He turned solemn eyes on me. "Don't let that happen with you and Riku. You just don't know when you'll lose him."

"Thanks, Peter," I said quietly, setting a comforting hand on his arm.

It was only after Peter had left that I thought to ask about pixie dust, but I figured he might only laugh anyway. Neverland was a child's dream to him now, even if it was one that he shared. I sighed. I'd kind of miss flying, and I knew Peter would ache for it. But still, if Riku was okay now, I wanted to see if I could get the ship up and running. After all, it's not typically hard to re-fit Gummi blocks by hand.

The nurse met me at the door, looking as though I were here to tell her bad news. "I'm sorry, sir," she said to me, her face white as a sheet. "I'm sorry—this doesn't usually happen, you understand—there was just nothing I could do—!"

Fear attacked me like a Heartless, and Peter's words floated back to me. Had I lost Riku already? No, that couldn't be it—they must've messed up the diagnosis a little, that's all. "What happened?" I asked, willing myself to be calm.

She looked frightened, but she carried on. "He just got up and walked out—there was nothing I could do to stop him! He said something about finding you, but then...then someone...!"

I panicked, feeling as though I was drowning in the anxiety that was eating me alive. "Someone what!" I demanded, even though I feared the answer. "And then someone what!"

"Someone attacked him! I don't know what they did with him, they just grabbed him and left!" she explained, very nearly bursting into tears. "I'm so sorry, I just didn't know what to do...!"

I almost keeled over right then and there. Riku was gone. Taken. Not here. Maybe in worse health than he had been. Maybe dead. I tried to maneuver my thoughts around the thick fog settling over my mind. Gone. Dead. Worse. Worry descended upon me like a curtain of smoke. Who had taken him? Why? And, more importantly, would they hurt him at all? I wouldn't be able to bear the guilt if he was crippled or killed, all because I got a little scared and ran away. I hadn't run away from the Heartless, I never ran from Maleficent, or even Ansem. There was no reason why I should've run from him, and now he was in danger—it was all my FAULT!

I let out a scream just then, a keening wail that startled the birds resting on the roof. The boy I loved was gone. Because of me.

-

A/N: You read, now review. Please. (smiles)

Dai: And guess who shows upnext chapter? Kairi! (dances)

Sora: ...(blinks) (cries) Rikuuuuu! (runs away)

Dai: (sighs) Come back! You're the protagonist, here!