A/N: Back! Okay, I'm ready to write the next chapter. I'm excited for this one. This one is supposed to be long. I have like three parts to this battle. It shall be a very important part in the story since if you didn't get it from the last chapter, they're running into Sephiroth. Excited now? Yep... The Final Battle.

Chapter Twelve

Sin Harvest Part One

"Whoa!" Riku yelped, as he lept back away from the energy sent hurling towards him. He lept again holding Aerith tightly so she would not fall off or get hurt. Riku jumped to a platform from above watching the dark-winged-angel glare at them from below. Aerith stuck her tongue out at Sephiroth, while flipping her messy bangs out her eyes. He growled, but simply replaced the frown with a candid smirk. Aerith's emerald eyes gazed around cautiously as they were in the main entrance hall of Hollow Bastion. There were bound to be heartless lurking around. It was Sephiroth after all.

An evil chuckle interrupted Aerith's thoughts causing her to look over at the man, who stood within feet from them. "Eeep!" Aerith squealed as it now became a chase. Riku turned on the heels of his feet and sprinted down bouncing from edge to edge of the walls. The flower girl glanced behind them as she continued to grasp onto Riku. Sweat began to pour down Riku's face as he concentrated on evading the one-winged-murderer, who currently had fun like a child chasing them. His laughter roared behind them as he began to shout to them.

"A game of tag is this? How futile, yet a little game seems to amuse me. I have been rather bored. I will let you have your fun first." Aerith glared darkly, yet screamed as Riku jumped up and over the stairs heading through the door, swiftly. Sephiroth was traveling so fast that he was running on the walls. Where was Sora when they needed him? Usually, Riku would have stayed to fight but he had Aerith with him. He couldn't risk it. Anyway, he would have been a lot slower than usual, a big disadvantage. That Masamune Sephiroth carried was really close to them. Too close for comfort.

Riku, who moved out of reach, whipped around and chuckled with a smirk added nicely along. "Are you trying to fill Ansem's role? A jealous One-Winged-Angel trying to be greater than the one who discovered him?" Aerith gasped.

"What!" She choked out. No time for questions. She guessed that was Riku's time for catching his breath, before he was once more bouncing away, quickly might I add, from the murderer. It seemed to boil a reaction from the silver-haired-warrior because he was hot on their tail with a not-so-happy expression. "Riku, I can kill you right about now!" Aerith hissed in his ear. He literally put her life in danger by telling the man that. Sure, it hit a weak spot, but she didn't want to take the fifty-fifty risk and only have the slighter chance of living. A lively (almost insane) chuckle escaped Riku, as they evaded Sephiroth lashed out to get them. It was a chuckle not of his own, but a familiar man. Surprisingly, it took both of them by shock letting them faultier slightly. Riku mis stepped and tripped letting both of them fall of the wall they were standing on. Aerith's hands reached out as she began to put together what was happening. She was falling fifty meters and it wasn't pleasant. Riku, as well, was fighting trouble. He grabbed onto an edge and swung himself around coughing heavily. He clasped his hand onto his chest, before he whipped his gaze towards the falling figure. She was gaining speed quickly.

"Aerith!" He bellowed as her form disappeared into the Rising Falls fog in a matter of seconds. Riku had no time to act on her because a long sword sliced his way. It sliced right through his shoulder blade causing a hissing burn to swell as blood began to pour quickly. "Ahh," he groaned wincing. His face began to turn redder leaving a purple tint coming to his hands and body. Riku scowled and growled deeply. "That was a cheap shot." Sephiroth chuckled.

"You stopped moving," he informed him then gruesomely twisting the hilt of the Masamune causing Riku to cry out in pain. They echoed Hollow Bastion's empty walls. Yellow eyes watched from Rising Falls anxiously wanting to tear his heart apart, take it for themselves. He held Riku on the edge of the walls, the boy only being able to oblige. He laughed and continued to laugh as he edged Riku closer. "Hmph. Ansem's toy. You are nothing but I..." He trailed off, the mako in his eyes bubbling with delightful madness.

"I am something. You are nothing... nothing but a puppet...Heh. Sin Harvest..." The silver metal slid out of his body leaving any support. Riku's body spilled over the edge and fell into the everlasting darkness of Rising Falls...

"Riku!" A voice echoed the quiet outdoors. A sneer left Sephiroth as he turned around almost in an evilly graceful way.

"I thought I got rid of you. Sin Harvest." The move was familiar. Very familiar to the warrior. He knew how to evade it. His mischievous blue gaze followed the footings of the heartless murderer, as he drew in closer with the weapon of death.

"Strike Raid!" His Key Blade left his hands hurling towards Sephiroth. His black wing covered his body as he deflected the key. A smug grin settled on the face of the Key Blade master as he stepped forward. "You're going to pay for that," he informed.

"I am going to help," another voice chipped in. The other one-winged-angel stepped forward clasping his metal hand upon his long buster sword. The cool metal of the blade ran slowly along the tile stone of Hollow Bastion's floor as he gazed upon the murderer with pure putrid hate. It made Sephiroth move none though for Strife's cerulean glare slide of his body like water on wax.

"So we have a boy who knows nothing so he can understand nothing, and a merchanery trying to save the life of that Cetra," he coolly stated. Sora noticed Cloud's hand stiffen slightly for the blonde man stepped forward and growled.

"We've beaten you before," Cloud shot back, "Remember Jenova's Puppet?" The two men's glazed eyes lit with fiery memories as both of them remained quiet. Sora blinked turning his azure gaze back and forth between the two, before inquiring quietly, "Cetra? Jenova?" The Key blade master shivered as an eerie feeling began to creep up his spine. The two men have known each other for too long and Sora felt oblivious to them. They had much more then Hollow Bastion together. Much more...

The first one to move was Sephiroth, his shoulders relaxing and drooping slightly. His mako gaze slowly turning upon both of the warriors like they weren't even there. Both of the warriors stiffened knowing Sephiroth had something in mind planned. His eyes were half open as he began to murmur a couple things, a couple of inaudible things, but Cloud could certainly hear it. His eyebrows creased downward quickly as both hands made their way towards the buster sword grip. Sephiroth's gaze then snapped open as he stood straight up.

"Tch. Games are all you give me. Show the true one-winged-angel a fight." Not even finished with the sentence, his clean cut Masamune came in contact with the mythril Buster Sword. Sora stumbled backwards regaining his balance and whipped his gaze towards the fight. Both figures were all over the place, each in intense battle heat. The brunette's eyes widened as he murmured one name.

"Riku."

He had forgotten about his friend for the moment as he was interrupted by Sephiroth's proposal. Well, it certainly wasn't a friendly proposal, and the offer was mainly directed towards the blonde warrior. Shaking his head quickly, Sora ran forward to the white-silver mixed stone edge gazing over. His breath caught as his chest tightened at the thought of Riku...dead? His eyes widened as the engine in Sora's mind began to work double. What happened to Aerith, their born white healer? Riku said she was safe. Sora's eyes narrowed as he began to think more about it. Safe. How safe was this flower girl?

"Aerith!" He called out over the edge, and added, "Riku! Where are you guys?" He leaned more over the edge intent on finding the pair. He had seen Riku twist at the grip of the Masamune. The brunette winced deeply as the images flashed his mind once more. "Riku," he called out once more, only weaker. The key bladed warrior supported his body by pulling his elbows to support the upper half of his body, while his legs remained half bent.

"Hello?" The question seemed to echo into the endless depths of Rising Falls and bounce back and forth between the hollow walls. His throat began to feel like a thousand frogs had just made themselves at home in his body. The lump in his throat began to grow as realization dawned upon him. Riku and Aerith were dead...

Or just really good at faking it. They certainly weren't responding to his calls, but the jokes did not make him feel better. Riku could not fake nor Aerith. A sobbing choke escaped Sora as he turned his back to the depths of Rising Falls. His water glistened eyes gazed up at the warriors lashing at each other. They could really go at it! He could not even make out their form, but only the black wing on each warrior. They could call this fight the Doomsday Fight, the Apocalypse of Hollow Bastion. If they didn't win, no one would. All worlds would die out eventually due to the Heartless and their leader, no one could possibly fight the one-winged-angel, and Kingdom Hearts would be taken over completely with darkness. There would be no other worlds to conquer. Only suffering would remain. Sora shook his head. He was getting to deep into this. All he knew was that he had three words going through his mind.

Kick. His. Ass.

Sora's pearly whites clenched as a low growl escaped his mouth. His eyes and face fumed with anger--furious revenge. It did not seem he could get into the battle just yet. They were flying... IN THE AIR. I'm not sure about you, but I haven't heard of sixteen-year-olds flying in the sky. Yeah, I'm sure you're thinking 'Sora can fly!' But they aren't even in Neverland. It would never work. If only Cloud could paralyze those wings of his...

BOOM! Sora stumbled over to his left as the stone next to him crumbled. One of the one-winged-angels crashed into the stone leaving a cloud of dust to fill Sora's lung. He began to cough as his hands waved in front of his face for a chance to see what happened. Too quickly, the two warriors were at it again. It surprised Sora at how swift his friend was, but then again... all Sora could say was that his friend's mind burned with pure love for a certain girl and revenge. His eyes followed the two as best as he could, but positively failed at the attempt.

He would find Riku. Yes, that was what he would do. There was no room for him here it seemed, so he took advantage of the moment to go find his best friend and the flower girl. Turning towards the edge Riku was last seen, Sora jumped atop the stone. It was firm but it felt like it was going to break if he weren't careful. Surely enough, the stone was stable. It just felt fragile. Maybe that was because he had seen his best friend struck to what might be his death. The memory still flashed his mind. If he didn't find Riku, this might affect him for the worse. If Cloud failed, he would be the only one left to fight the one-winged-angel, and if he couldn't concentrate, he could just welcome death's cold clutches. He gripped his key blade and said a small prayer. He prayed on Kingdom Hearts that the light and King Mickey was with him, and then... he jumped floating down as best he could with the power of Peter Pan's friend, Tinker Bell. The power to be able to fly, but he could not fly here in Hollow Bastion. The anxious brunette would just float down quietly sorting out of his thoughts, while he searched for his friends.

"Riku?" he called out, the echo of his voice filling the air. "Aerith? Hey! You guys down here!" At that moment, his hopes almost died. Were they really...? A dry gasp escaped his choking throat. "Riku!" All he could see was stone, stone, and more stone. Below him, he began to search. His cerulean eyes widened as he watched the glazed surface of Rising Falls below him. It was filled with Heartless; his doom to be. He grasped out for the wall as best as he could trying to grab a stone that stuck out. A pang struck his stomach causing him nausea. What was this feeling he was feeling? It had been too long since he felt this timid.

Fear...

They were aching for his heart. That's what those monsters did because they were the heartless; monsters that devoured hearts for their own taste, lust, and hunger. It would continue with these monsters until no more hearts were left, but to be born within the darkness, then the process would start all over. A harmful process, one which Sora would not stand for anymore! No more indeed. He decided right then and there. The key blade master would fight. The feeling in his body beginning to fade quickly as his eyes began to glaze over with excitement. Excitement meant he could concentrate on the battle and kill those roily monsters, which terrorized this world, and then he would worry about his best friend. Riku was strong. A sudden hope that died moments ago erupted deep with in him. The aura of battle began to seep into his senses as a smug smirk suddenly appeared on his lips.

His slender fingers grazed the grey stone wall as his feet planted themselves quickly on the side for leverage. He used power, strength, and whatever he had to start his boiling battle senses to leap into the dark crowd of bright yellow eyes.

"For the civil, for the right, and for Riku!" He bellowed, his body becoming accustomed to something he had longed for for years. The desire to tear apart the villains like he had done with Donald and Goofy two years ago.

... ...

"Hello? Hello..." A small soft spoken voice called out. A dismantled grunt escaped his lips. He wanted to turn over but a soft, yet firm hand held him down. "Please don't move yet. You're not healed."

"Huh?"

"Just... don't move. Give me a second." A soft aura began to fill his body with tingling warmth. His breathing pattern began to stabilize, as he wanted to now peel his eyelids open. The feeling stopped for a moment, but his head still felt woozy. The blood from his body wasn't all there, of course. Then a moment of silence came about.

"Can I open them now?"

"If you can," she told him quietly. This girl... So soft spoken.

"If I can..?" He inquired. It seemed more of a statement then a question. He tried. The young man literally wanted to take his hands and peel his eyelids open, but he couldn't feel them; he was numb. After a moment, another soft chuckle hit the room. It was from the other side of the room he could tell, but he was not really familiar with the voice.

"Eager, yet can't fill his words out when he says them."

"Hey," the young man called, "Shut up."

"Don't worry," the soft spoken girl said, "Just give yourself time... You lost a lot of blood, Riku." Riku breathed in quietly, as he was now feeling the fresh air. He was grateful to be alive. Riku wasn't finished yet. His battles weren't over. He knew he had to live. "You sound familiar..." Riku suddenly blurt. There was an uncomfortable shift in the room, before she spoke again.

"Yes... I am familiar... Of course I am. I must have made you deaf when I kept screaming," she told him laughing, suddenly. Riku opened his eyes sitting up quickly and rubbing them. He groaned out of annoyance at the sudden blood rush to the head, before he glanced around. He could see spots in the air over his vision.

"Oww..." He turned towards the girl and gave a rough smile. "Thanks Aerith..." It dawned upon him. "HEY!. You're okay!" He soon began to babble to her with all these questions, speaking too quickly for her to understand. She tilted her head and laughed at the sudden energy filling him, before she interrupted him.

"Riku," she told him putting a finger on his mouth, "Shush." He immediately stopped and just glanced around. He then turned his aqua gaze towards her when she began. "I, luckily, caught onto a statue when I fell. Leon here pulled me into here."

"Leon?" Riku asked. When she pointed to another spot across the room, he saw a man leaning nonchalantly against the wall. His face contorted not knowing what exactly to think. From where Leon was standing, it didn't look to nice. Squall growled and glared.

"What's that look for? We saved your life." Riku raised his eyebrows in apology and spoke, "Sorry punk." He muttered the last part under his breath. Where we they?

"Where are we?" Riku inquired suddenly. Aerith, who was tending to another certain girl, looked over.

"We're underground. Leon brought us here. He caught you when you fell..."

"It was more like he fell on me and I had no choice but to fall with him," Squall chipped in. Riku glared at the man, before turning back to Aerith. Squall's glare bore into Riku's back but he shrugged it off.

"Underground?" He said suddenly. "That means we went through Rising Falls." Riku turned back towards the lion like man and inquired, "What were you doing here?" Squall choked slightly, but recovered.

"We were looking for you guys...Sort of..." He finished lamely. Shaking his head, he corrected, "We were by Hollow Bastion entrance and I figured Cid might be around here, but when I did get down here, his Gummi Ship was gone. He left." A spark settled in Squall's eyes as he muttered under his breath. Riku rolled his eyes and looked towards Aerith once more. His gaze shifted to the other person, who was currently placed on the floor.

"Who is that girl?"

"Yuffie. The whole reason everyone's here," Squall told him curtly. Riku's eyes widened slightly. Squall noticed this and inquired, "You know her?" Riku turned his head sharply and shook his head.

"No relation whatsoever." Squall wasn't satisfied. He said that a little fast. Squall leaned closer towards Riku hoping to shoot him a better glare.

"Right," Squall retorted. Riku glared back. These two weren't going to get along. Aerith laughed slightly and sat up against the wall. Riku stood up brushing away fake dust quickly, before turning to see the setting in which they were at.

"When do we leave here?" The other two glanced at each other then looked towards Riku.

"Ughmm," Aerith stammered.

"We don't know." Riku looked at Squall and frowned.

"What do you mean 'you-don't-know?'?" He inquired. Irritation clearly visable in his voice. Squall, yet again, shot Riku a glare.

"It's safer down here right now. Sephiroth doesn't know where we are. He thinks you and Aerith are dead, and me and Yuffie..." Squall didn't finish, as Riku was grasping his shirt and holding him up in the air. Such strength they did not know they boy held.

"Riku!" Aerith yelled in shock. There was an uncomfortable tension that was filling the air. Squall was staring at Riku in disbelief as it seemed Riku was struggling within, and Aerith stood by Yuffie incase Riku might turn around and head for her. After a moment, he eased Squall back onto the ground and finally, Riku's arm let go of Squall's shirt. He stared at the ground a moment and muttered a sorry.

WHAM! Next thing they knew, the two men were tangled in a fight on the floor. Aerith let out a yelp of surprise and held onto Yuffie. She was scared. No one in there could stop the fight. Squall was a top Riku straddling his hips clenching his fists tightly. He punched Riku square in the jaw, and then planted another one on Riku's other cheek. After realization, Riku's senses awoke as he brutally kicked Squall off him as best he could and was soon a top of the man giving him punches to the jaw.

"You don't understand!" Riku growled punching the Lion once, before Squall had him thrown off with unknown strength into the wall. A loud thud echoed as his body impacted the stone. Aerith winced and cried for them to stop. "We need to go now! No where is safe, you moron!" At that moment, the aqua-eyed man launched himself onto Squall's back and tried to choke him. "Haven't you heard of surprising him, you idiot? We get him when he doesn't know, and bam! We'll have him-"

Riku landed on the floor, Squall's impacting his side as he had thrown a swift kick to the ribs. Squall growled vigorously, his breathing echoing the room.

"You selfish bitch! Do we look like we're in any condition to fight him?" Another swift kick to Riku's side and Riku cried out. Aerith sat with Yuffie in the corner almost sobbing. "I could just strangle you right now! You have no mind!" Squall was soon on his back as Riku had held onto his ankle. He had yanked Squall to the floor causing him to lose his balance. The younger man pulled the older one across the floor with a screeching echo because he was so fast. Squall impacted the wall with a sickening thud.

"Strangle me then you bastard! Or can you not because I have already strangled you!" Riku's hands came in contact with Squall's throat as the air was now leaving Squall. Soon, the Gunbladesman's hands were on Riku's throat doing the same thing.

"Stop! Stop!" Aerith cried once more. "STOP!" She was soon trying to break the two free as they were not responding. Her strength was nothing to them, but it did make them realize that their fighting was useless. They both broke free, Squall rolling away from Aerith and Riku gasping for air. Riku fell back on the floor holding his hand against the spot where Sephiroth had pierced earlier and gasped for air. Aerith's eyes were stained with tears as her cheeks were puffy. She stood there, her gaze stained upon the floor.

"S-Sorry... Aerith... It was not meant...to be like that," Riku stumbled through what air he drew in. Her fists clenched by her sides as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Y-You... you idiots," she finished. They both became quiet except for their attempts to catch their breaths once more. "Do you realize that even though the fighting was useless, they might have discovered we are down here? Unarmed? And with an unconscious girl!" Her attempt to be calm was not working. Her fists shook and reeked of anger. With a huff, the healer whirled around on her heels and walked across the room. She remained silent. Riku sat up to go after her but stopped. He had made her mad with his stupid temper. His aqua gazed turned towards the ground as he closed them shut. He seemed to be debating within about something. Maybe anger... he was angry at himself. Squall, on the other hand, was lying on the floor catching his breath and massaging his bruised jaw. He could find nothing to say to the healer. Not even an apology like Riku had done.

"Just...Just help me here okay? Can the fighting wait till after we defeat Sephiroth?" Aerith continued softly. Riku nodded. He had no intent on fighting with Leon again. Not anytime in the future anyway. Squall remained silent. A small smiled grazed Aerith's lips. "Okay... Thank you." Her auburn hair swished as she walked towards Yuffie.

"Always like you to pick the fights huh, Squall?" A voice echoed as Aerith stopped. Everyone stopped. Squall was the first one sitting up and looking into the shadows.

"Yuffie!" He was soon on his feet and walking over towards the dark shadows. She emerged holding one of her Ninja stars, a grin settled on her face.

"My cold teacher's worried! So cute," she teased. Squall stopped in the middle of the room and quirked an eyebrow. Did she not remember the kiss? Aerith gazed at Squall with question.

"What is wrong, Leon?"

"Leon?" She inquired once more. Yuffie was now giving him a peculiar look as well as Riku. He shook his head snapping out of his daze.

"What?.. Oh nothing." He shook his head and eyed Yuffie. "How much do you remember? Do you even know where you are?" Yuffie found a hand resting on her forehead feeling for a fever or amnesia.

She glanced up at her trainer and stepped back. "Squall?..You're not correcting me... What's wrong with you?" His eyes widened slightly. A disappointed look appeared in his eyes. She didn't remember. "Leon?" He snapped his gaze towards her and creased his eyebrows in ire.

"Hmph.. Don't worry about it." Yuffie huffed at his response. She turned towards Aerith. "Aerith!" She squealed out in glee practically tackling her. "You're okay! Sephiroth took you and.." It dawned upon her. She screamed. They all covered their ears.

"Where are we!" she inquired. Perspiration began to form on her forehead.

"Yuffie," Squall began, "Calm down." He began to coo her into calming down so they could explain. It took her a minute of catching her breath and Squall shook his head. "Hollow Bastion underground." Yuffie flashed her brown eyes up towards Squall in question.

"Why?" She questioned.

"Sephiroth," he simply responded. Yuffie winced at the name and looked around. Her gaze came upon Riku. "Who are you?" She asked suddenly. His eyes widened slightly like he didn't know what she was saying.

"Me?.." He paused, and then continued. "Riku." Yuffie leaned forward to examine him from her dark depth and became mildly interested.

"Riku," she murmured softly testing out the name. "I know that name from somewhere..." Riku almost gulped. She..did? Shaking her head, she added, "I'll figure it out later." She turned around and squealed.

"Sora!"

A/N: Hey guys.. I wonder what you think of this chapter.. That's why you shall review.. So I can get the next part out eh? I'll update it when I get back from camp! Sound good? Camp's till the 22nd and I leave the 18th. Well.. I will only update the 22nd if I have more than 7 reviews.. But yep! Hope you like it. Sorry It's more than a month since I updated.

Starling94

Thank you's:

YK2: HEY! Yah.. I updated. Amazing huh? Well I updated plenty faster than last time. Sheesh..6 months is a long time isn't it? hahaha I'm working on getting it done faster! Fun huh? Thanks for the review!

plumbob: I'm writing! I'm writing! (whimpers) don't kill me.. hehe.. Yah the Riku/Aerith part was my favorite from the last chapter! I loved it. This chapter was kind of dull.. cept for the fighting.. but maybe that's just me. hehe Thanks for the review!

xcloudx: Muahahahahaaha.. Yes! OVERPROTECTIVE is good. Cloud's a charmer. Hehe Let's see if Sora can get Cloud to act more if he starts threatening him. Hehehe Thanks for the review!

star-chan89: SQUFFIENESS! I love it.. No matter what.. even if people say it's getting old.. Yay for squffie! Thanks for the review. I enjoyed it.

Cat the WildMage: Hehehehe the bet.. and riku.. Hehehe I love them all. Yes.. quite the cliffie. another I shall say but it's not a big one I guess. "Sora!" haaa "so" big. hehe thank you for the review!

CetraNYHAHa: You glad I updated like 6 times faster now? Haha..it wasn't fast though but better than last time! YAY for updating! I was inspired to finish today cause a friend had major Writer's block and I didn't.. so I was wondering why I wasn't working on it.. hahaha Thanks for the review!

Phew.. Thanks guys! More than 7 reviews! Will update the 22nd!

Starling94