Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, blah, blah, blah, now on to the story! (A/N: Don't forget to review- flames welcome as long as they're mild and no swearing!) (A/N: Riku x Sora and one-sided Riku Replica x Sora pairings)

"Blah"- talking

(Blah)- thinking

Castle Oblivion. The place where to gain something, you must give up something in turn. In other words, a place where alchemy was always in effect. The home of the Nobodies, Namine, Riku Replica (Rep for short), and now someone else- Sora the Keyblade Master. He was locked up, sleeping, always sleeping- in a coma.

No one even cared that he was in a coma, as long as he was out of the way, locked up in the dark, dank room, his heart always hovering just above his body. So close to him, close enough to keep him alive, and yet so far away that he could not regain consciousness, even for just a second, to grasp it and revive himself. But no one cared. No one… except Rep.

Rep watched him with wonder. He looked like Riku, sounded like Riku, and acted like Riku most of the time. If he changed his outfit to that of the one that Riku had worn on the Destiny Islands, took Sora to the false Destiny Islands in the castle, and woke him up- would Sora be happy? Would he believe that Rep was the real Riku?

(I would be the real thing to him) Rep thought, (He wouldn't be able to tell the difference, would he? If I told him that I was the real Riku, he'd believe me…) Rep thought about the real Riku, locked within Kingdom Hearts. He knew that King Mickey had only told Sora that there would be a way to get the real Riku out of there so he wouldn't feel bad for locking him away. But Rep knew there wasn't a way out, and also that Sora would never stop looking.

He couldn't stand it any longer. He lifted Sora up in his arms and carried him out of the room. He wasn't worried about Sora's heart- it moved where he did, always lingering a little bit above him. He checked to make sure no one was coming before he walked through the hall. But then, who would be up- it was three o'clock on a Sunday morning. Rep carried Sora through the maze of halls that created Castle Oblivion.

Now then, where were the false Destiny Islands? The twelfth floor, wasn't it? They were on the top floor- they'd have to go down some floors to make it there.

As quietly as he could, Rep walked down the stairs and halls towards the twelfth floor. He was almost there- just one more floor to go. He continued down the stairs to the hallway that was just after the false Destiny Islands. He looked around. It was still damaged from the last time the he and Sora had fought months ago.

"Namine is so lazy… she didn't even clean this up, and it's her job," he muttered as he approached the door that led to the Destiny Islands replica. His booted feet touched the fine sand. He quickly changed his clothes into Riku's Destiny Islands outfit with a flash of light and went to Paopu Island.

He set Sora down gently in the sand and the Keyblade Master's heart began to glow, recognizing its home. Rep grabbed the heart softly and brought it closer to Sora… closer… just a bit more…

The heart vanished and Rep knew that in a few seconds Sora would regain consciousness, so he jumped onto the tree and sat down, looking at the younger boy with an amused smile.

"Ugh…" Sora sat up.

"It's about time you came to," Rep laughed.

"What happened? I remember being at Castle Oblivion and fighting you… and the Keyblade… Heartless everywhere… how'd I get here?"

"Castle Oblivion? Heartless? Keyblades?" Rep pretended not to know what he was talking about, "That must have been some dream, Sora. And in case you don't remember, you happen to live on the islands. You just fell asleep here, that's all."

"But what about Kairi and Namine?"

"Who?" Rep asked. Kairi and Namine did not exist on the false Destiny Islands, so he didn't have to worry about them interfering in his plan. And as far as he was going to let Sora know, they had only existed inside his head. He didn't want Sora to start looking for them, too.

"Never mind," the very confused Sora replied, "And I guess that Atlantica and Never Land and all those other places were in my dream too?"

"Guess so," Rep answered. Sora's stomach rumbled hungrily. "How about you tell me about your dream later? Right now let's have some breakfast."

"Okay," Sora smiled at the suggestion of food. He walked with Riku to his house. Things were going just as Rep planned. But he then realized one fatal flaw in his plan- Sora's mother did not exist there either. How would he explain that to Sora?

"You're going to have to do with my cooking," he said quickly, "Your mom left the islands a while ago on important business. She's going to be on the mainland for a while."

"There's a mainland?" Sora asked.

"Duh!" Rep said. If he could fool Sora into this then he wouldn't have to worry about any missing people. It worked- Sora bought it hook, line, and sinker.

"Guess I'll have to go without her pancakes for a while," he shrugged, "You can cook, right?"

"We'll find out," Rep responded with a laugh.

Meanwhile…

"Riku, where are we going?" King Mickey asked.

"I don't know, I can just feel something drawing me this way," Riku responded as he ventured off of the path that they had been following for so long. "Besides, what do we have to lose?"

"Good point," the mouse replied. He looked at his silver-haired companion, who was wearing his black blindfold at the time. All Riku had to go on was his feelings. He couldn't see anything- he didn't know what the right path to take was, if there was a path. He just went where his heart told him and dealt with whatever on the way. Mickey wasn't too useful either- he couldn't sense a thing because he was so far out of tone with the darkness.

"You know, you're walking straight into a Heartless trap."

"Mickey, when did your voice get so deep?" Riku asked.

"I didn't say anything, Riku," Mickey replied.

"Then who-"

"I'm not dead, you know," Ansem approached them from behind, and Riku's Soul Eater appeared in his hand.

"I don't want to fight you," Ansem said, "I want to help you get out of here."

"Why?" Riku demanded.

"Because that is what she would want," Ansem replied. (1)

"Riku, maybe we should let him come along," Mickey suggested.

"Are you insane?" Riku exclaimed, "He tried to destroy the entire universe!"

"And I'm sorry," Ansem said, "Look, let's move on. I could help you and you know it."

"He is better with the Heartless and darkness than even you are," Mickey said, "How 'bout this: we'll through a rock on the spot where he says the Heartless have set a trap. If he's right, he comes, and if he's wrong, he stays away. Deal?"

"Fine," Riku said, "But let's make this quick."