Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. Riku is not mine, although I have made many offers. Never heard back on them, either. dammit...

A/N: Sephy says I have to stop reading sadistic fanfics. I have no idea what he's talking about.

Sephy: She's beating me with an eggbeater! AN EGGBEATER!

Honestly, I have no idea what he's talking about. (hides eggbeater)

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I had much fun writing it. Oh yes I did. The next one should be good too. Oh boy.... Anyways, buildup for one of the mini-sequels in this, just to let you know. Rarg, I like Riku. Eeee... that was totally random.

Enjoy.

Chapter 16

Sasha moved slowly, her back against the wall, then stopped to listen. It had been a few days since she'd gotten here, and after that mad dash out of the room, she'd made it down to the lower levels of the castle and hidden in what seemed to be an out-of-use dungeon. After the panic wore off, she came to the sickening realization that she was stuck here. Without the stone, without the courage to face Riku, she had no way of getting out of this world. She had lain low for a almost two days, only leaving the room she had hidden in to take a quick look around and to take care of the small heartless that had come too close.

Now, though, both hunger and dim hope of escape had driven her out of hiding and into the higher levels of the castle. She'd met with a few heartless along the way, doing her best to eradicate all that saw her. It wouldn't do any good for one of them to go running back to Maleficent and telling her just who was in her castle, and where. Doing so was more than difficult, and she was resorting to stealthier methods of making it through the hallways.

She creeped up silently to the corner, leaned over to look past it. Fingering the rock she had taken with her, she tossed it into the hallway, watching as it clattered against the stone floor and rolled through an open doorway. Almost immediately heartless appeared. A large one with the biting shield, and two wizards. All three looked at the ground for a moment, then the large one shuffled through the doorway. The wizards followed after him, and as soon as the last one passed into the next room Sasha hopped out. Beating her wings furiously and pushing off the wall, she managed to fly past the room and into the next corridor. Landing lightly, she crept down the length of the wall, pausing at the next corner. She sighed inwardly as she pulled another rock out of her pocket. It was a painfully slow technique, but it was keeping her from getting ripped apart by the beasts. She looked around the corner and readied the stone, then frowned. Something was bothering her. She gripped the stone, then whipped around and flung it back the way she had come.

Riku tilted his head to the right, dodging the stone, then quickly reached out and grabbed her still-upheld arm. Sasha froze, in the first moment of surprise, the next terror. She stared at him, not even attempting to pull her arm out of his hold. In his turn, Riku watched her. His hold was light, and had she wanted to she could probably have pulled free. In all honesty he didn't know what he wanted to do. He had wanted to find her, but now, looking at her, seeing the fear in her eyes, he didn't like the idea any more. Besides, what was he going to say? Sorry for going AWOL and setting a Heartless tree on you? But now he was here, and it seemed he should say something before the rising fear in the girl's eyes reached a critical point.

"Sasha... Sasha, just stay calm, okay?" He said, in what he hoped was a genuinely gentle voice. In truth, her fear was making it difficult for him to keep his own voice from shaking. "I"m... i'm not going to hurt you..."

"...said the spider to the fly..." Sasha muttered, but her voice faded into a whimper. Riku frowned slightly, and with a sigh released her arm. She pulled back, but didn't bolt. It was missing, today, it seemed. She took another step back, just to be on the safe side.

"I didn't mean to..." Riku started, stopped. What could he say? How could he say it?

"Sorry excuse," Sasha snapped back, and then stopped, surprised at her own audacity. Where had that come from? Focusing back on Riku, she tried to ignore the hum that seemed to be coming from the Masamune hanging on her back.

"I... Listen, I've caused you enough trouble. The least I can do is get you out of here." Riku said finally, then grimaced. "It might take a little bit, though. Maleficent has all sorts of spells going right now, if I try the portal without her knowing it might throw something out of whack. Not only would it get you nowhere but she'd be really angry..."

Sasha looked at him suspiciously. She wasn't sure what to do, now. She wasn't sure if she could really trust him in this. She looked around, turning slightly to look behind her. Something struck her as odd. Quite a lot of time had passed with them standing there in the hallway; generally, the hearless would be all over a place that contained hearts to be stolen.

"Where are all the heartless? Shouldn't they be crawling all over by now?" She asked suddenly, still looking behind her. She didn't see the sudden tightness on Riku's face, the tension between frown and grin that crossed his face. "Why aren't they here?"

"I... I told them not to come." Riku said nonchalantly. Sasha whipped around to face him.

"What?" She said, shocked. "You're telling me you can control these things now?"

"Sasha, just listen, I just want to help you," Riku tried to get her to listen, but she was on an entirely different topic now.

"I mean, damn, I should've known with the tree thing, but that's like calling a heartless. I mean, if I tried hard enough and long enough, maybe I'd be able to call heartless too." Sasha continued on, speaking right over his words. "But controlling them? That is something entirely different. That is something really, really different."

"Sasha..." Riku attempted again. "I want to help you. Just give me the chance, I'll get you out of here. Safely."

"Hmph," She looked at him, crossing her arms. She didn't know what was getting into her, one moment she was cowering in fear, the next she was snapping back at Riku, her fear gone. She decided not to think on it and pushed it out of her mind, along with the slightly growing humming coming from the Masamune.

"Please?" Riku said, resorting to one thing he had never wanted to do: begging. "Come on, I'm sure you're hungry. We can go to the kitchen and I'll get you some food. I'll make sure Maleficent knows nothing, and then get a portal as soon as possible and get you out of here."

Sasha still looked at him skeptically. The hallway behind her was clear, and she had her axe. And rocks. Plenty and plenty of rocks. Although rocks wouldn't do too good when you're starving, her stomach reminded her, growling loudly. She frowned at it, then looked back up at Riku, thoughtfully.

"Food first.But I swear, you so much as touch me and I'm shoving my axe into that pretty head of yours, got it?" Sasha said, sounding much braver than she actually felt. Where was all this bravado coming from? She was getting confused, just slightly, but decided to leave it for that night.

Riku was slightly surprised at that comment, but reminded himself that he'd probably say the same thing if he'd been her. He relaxed slightly, not having realized he'd been so tense, and managed a sad sort of half-grin.

"Fine. Follow me." Riku said, and led the way to the kitchen.

Sasha sat in the library, leafing through the heavy book she was holding. Riku had kept his word so far, keeping both Maleficent and the heartless from finding her. She turned another page, trying to see if there was any information about that amulet that Sephiroth had spoken about. She scanned over the page quickly, turning to the next one. Her concentration was broken by the sound of someone knocking, and she looked up to see Riku standing next to a bookcase not far from her, hand still resting on the spot where he had knocked.

"Hey," She said, not entirely coldly, and he grinned, just slightly, but his eyes were dim.

"Hey, good news." He said, stepping a bit closer. He stopped a few feet away from her, careful not to make her uncomfortable. The past few days he'd been careful to knock whenever she was focused on something else, worried that if she grew scared again she'd leave him. He was terrified of it, it was the truth. He was more comfortable with the darkness now. He was learning so much, but knowing that that learning was the cause of her pain hurt him. He'd much rather keep her hidden away in the castle, close to him, someone that he could run to when Maleficent turned scary, when the darkness began closing in too tight. But he knew he couldn't do that, not now. Not after what he'd done.

"What's the word?" Sasha said, perking up. She closed the book and shoved it to the side, standing up and stretching her wings.

"Well, actually, its sorta half and half." Riku said, then added quickly when she frowned. "I can get you out of here, but only to Limbo."

"Only Limbo?" Sasha said thoughtfully, then shrugged. Anyplace was better than here, she thought. "Works for me."

"Are you sure?" Riku asked. He wouldn't have admitted it, but there was a part of him that hoped she would've said no, that she'd wait until the portal could open somewhere else.

"Yeah," Sasha said, grinning. She spread her arms out. "Get me out of here!"

Riku couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm. As hard as it was, he held out a hand and focused, opening a slightly swirling, glowing portal. His grin faded, then. As soon as she stepped through, she'd be gone from him. He'd be alone, again. Only this time, it'd be thanks to him.

"Riku..." Sasha paused as she was about to go through the portal. "Thanks. I really mean it."

She smiled at him, then, a real smile, and he felt warmth spread through him. He did the right thing, he knew it. He returned her smile, and she faded away into the portal. He sighed as it closed and turned away, walking towards the doors.

So, you let her go...

He stopped, looking around warily.

Into Limbo... who knows what she could find there...

The voice sounded sickly sweet, as if on the verge of laughing, and a sudden chill went through Riku. His breath caught as he realized something; his portals had never failed him before. Why could he only open one to Limbo, when usually he could open them into any world? Why...?

The voice laughed in answer, and Riku felt the cold creeping into him, through him. Oh no, he thought, not again. He was going to do it again.

Dark surrounded her, and she felt she could cry. She never thought she could be so happy to be back in this dark hole, but she was. Limbo surrounded her, fading, appearing, and she sat down, overwhelmed by it. She was free, she thought, free from that horrible castle. From the fear that had plagued her all her time in it. She shook her head, then looked around contentedly. Maybe, she thought, maybe Sephiroth had been sent back here! The thought made her giddy. As crazy as her time with him had been, she desperately wanted to see him. When she knew he was around, she didn't feel so scared, so lost. Just knowing his presence was somewhere where she could reach him consoled her.

Standing up she set off to look through the area she was in.There were the disappearing walls. A stove popped into existance, drifting a few feet before fading again. Voices murmured, only slightly though. She flinched as a lit candelabra appeared suddenly, illuminating her surroundings a bit more. She looked around, taking in the drifting, shifting walls. There was an armchair by one wall, looking suspiciously like the one that had last been there before Sephiroth had left for the battle. She made her way over to it and sat down. Something poked her from behind, and she reached back, slightly irritated, and pulled out a book. No, she looked at it closer, an album.

"My Friends, Best and Greatest: Anastasia Starler. Hmm.." Sasha opened the album and started looking through it. A smiling, brown haired girl looked up at her on the first page, her chocolate brown eyes glowing warmly. She smiled and turned the page, looking at the pictures. They were the regular sort, school pictures, pictures in front of a storefront, on a bridge. She turned the next page and gasped. "Is that...? Oh my gosh, it is! Sephiroth!"

She looked closer at the picture in the album, at the silver haired youth captured just as he was walking through a doorway. He didn't seem to be much older than she was in the picture, dressed in what seemed to be a black uniform. His eyes were narrowed, one eyebrow raised in annoyance, and his mouth was pulled into that smirk that she had grown to know. His silver hair was pulled back, although quite a few strands hung in front of his face. She smiled sadly, and a pang went through her. She didn't think she'd miss the psycho quite as much as she did. Sighing, she continued turning the pages. She lifted the album to a more comfortable position, and as the pages shifted something fell out. Curious, she picked up a length of chain, at the end of which hung a tri-colored stone in the shape of a triangle. Its center glowed eerily, and something struck her.

"This is it!" She said happily, sxcited by her find. This was the amulet Sephiroth had told her about. She hung the amulet around her neck to keep from losing it. Quickly she tucked the album into her pack and looked at the amulet intently. "Now, what do I do with it-"

A flash, and Limbo had disappeared from around her. She whirled around, recognizing the fountain in the entrance hall of Hollow Bastion. She let out a whimper, turned back to the doors and ran at them, pounding on them when they didn't open.

"Did you really think it'd be that easy?"

His quiet, nearly whispered voice reached her, and she whirled around. Her back smacked into the doors as she pulled back, wings stretched to either side, her hands plastered to the wood behind her. Riku stood before her, a smirk on his face, nothing but that cold, cold darkness in his eyes. She trembled as he walked forward, her legs not listening to her attempts to make them move. He walked up to her slowly, what seemed like an eternity passed as she stood there, fear locking her knees. He stopped before her, close, and leaned in slightly until his face was mere inches from hers. She whimpered and he chuckled, eyes glittering.

"You have something that I want." Riku said, his and while his head stayed still his gaze dropped to the amulet that was hung around her neck.

"N-no..." Sasha said, attempting to move sideways away from him. His arm struck out suddenly, pressing her shoulder back into the wood as his fingers dug into her arm. He grinned sadistically as she winced, taking pleasure in her pain.

"Why not give it to me?" He said, his voice low and sweet, so gentle. "You have no use for it. You don't even know what it is..."

"No... I c-can't." She said through gritted teeth as his grip on her became stronger. He brought up his other hand and brushed his fingers along the side of her face, down her neck to where the chain of the amulet rested. She whimpered, and his eyes bored into her, so dark. She shook her head, trying to break free of his hold, and he frowned. Grabbing her firmly by both shoulders he pulled her away from the doors and slammed her back into them. A cry of pain escaped her as the bones in the joints of her wings crushed painfully into the wood, her spine slamming into one of the protrubences in the carved doors. Her knees gave way, and she slid to the ground, Riku's hands on her shoulders all the way as he knelt down to her level again.

"I don't want to hurt you, Sasha," He said, his eyes, though dark, slightly concerned. He brushed a strand of hair off of her face, and his voice became hard. "Don't make me hurt you."

"No... you can't have it. I won't let you." She said, still shaking with fear. His face darkened, and a sneer spread across it. He gripped her shoulders again tightly, his strength surprising, and pulled her up as he stood. He held her close, their faces an inch apart, and glared into her eyes.

"You're making me do this, Sasha," He said angrily, then his voice changed to gentle again, his eyes saddened. "I'm so sorry. But its the only way..."

"No..." Sasha breathed, staring at him in terror.

"The only way..."

Endnotes: Thanks for reading. Please review, okay? I'm not going to beg, just, please please please review.

Thank you everyone who's ever taken the time to read this crazy thing and review. As always, if anything seems to be wrong, feel free to correct me.

Dun dun dun... why does he want the amulet? Oooooo.... I can't wait to finish the next chap. Oh happiness!

Sephy: She's insane, i'm telling you. Insane! (Looks around) Ooo! Lollipops!

Oh, and the Kairi thing? Its allllll figured out... just in case you're wondering, this is after Neverland. I know I'm not exactly following the storyline all that great, but its difficult. Arg...

Laters everyone,

Zoshi