Sora: (squeezes rubber duckie)

Riku: Okay, I'm going to ask you again. Why the hell are we in A BATHTUB!

Me: Cause while writing this, I'm floating around in a nice hot bubble bath (smiles and shows notepad she's writing on) So while reading this, realize it's all being written while I'm in a bathtub... ya know what, don't think of that.

All: We won't.

Fire:…….( is laughing ass off) rub a dub-dub, 2 muses and a writer in a tub.

Sora: I like rubber ducks!

Me: SILENCE! (shoves handful of strawberry pocky into Sora's mouth)

Sora: (munches contently)

Me: (sigh of relief) Alright, on with the story!

Rubber Duckie: QUACK!

Disney Castle

...Absolutely nothing.

Sora had never thought he'd see the day when he walked into a room of Disney Castle that had absolutely nothing in it. Sighing, he murmured, "So this is it?"

He was in a gray, misty room that was only around fifteen feet in diameter, but seemed to stretch up endlessly. Meek sunlight shown through tiny slits that lined the vast walls of the place, and ran up it's entire length. But the air was so thick with dust Sora couldn't see the ceiling, but he had a strong suspicion that it stretched up through the entire center of the castle.

Just as he was about to leave (it was getting kind of hard to breath in there) he heard voices. Turning around, clouds of dust rising up while doing so, his attention focused on one of the sets of slits.

Slowly walking up to it, he stared at it closely. He then heard the voices again; it was the maids. "What the..." Sora murmured. Squatting down he peered through and saw two Disney Castle maids chatting amongst themselves. Standing up, he trotted over to another set of vents, then another and another; all showed through to different rooms. Staring up along the walls, he finally came to realization as to what room this was.

"The Ventilation Room," Sora whispered to himself. All the room in the palace, everyone one of them, led straight from here through vents in the walls or the floor. This was a safety precaution incase they needed to leave immediately; they'd just climb through the vent and drop down to this room and take a gummi ship out of the castle. Sora had known this room existed but had never known where to find it. The Ventilation Room was at the heart of Disney Castle.

Looking around a bit more he found that there was nothing else. Shrugging to himself he turned fore the second time, preparing to leave. He stepped across the even ground that had at least an inch or two of dust on it when he realized a bit of the floor raised up unevenly. His head snapped to the left as he saw something curling from beneath the thick blanket of gray.

Sneezing as he knelt down, Sora fingered the area gently. Something pried up from the ground and Sora realized it was a piece of paper. Lifting himself and the object up, he used his gloved hand to wipe off the dust. The dirty substance filled his nostrils, causing another sneeze to rack his body so violently that even his crown necklace jangled.

Peering at the slightly yellowing paper through a thin film of gray, he realized it was a picture. Squinting his eyes, he made out two figures.

Sora's heart felt a familiar jolt send tingles through his heart to the end nerves in his arms and legs. There were two young boys in the picture, both with their arms around each other's shoulders in front of a palm tree. He could just make out an ocean to the left. The boy on the left had shoulder length hair, very light in color he could see. It blended well with the dust around the picture, but it was dulled by the years of old that and taken away it's brightness; sea green eyes poked out from short little bangs that hung casually around the top of his face. He had his arm wrapped around the another much smaller boy with spiky hair. And his eyes shown bright from the dust. Bright azure eyes... Sora's eyes.

The brunette's eyes widened to their normal size and beyond, hands starting to shake as he flipped the picture over. On it were words in an untidy scrawl that took up most of the page, and it read:

Dear Sora,

Remember that I'm always right here when you feel scared and we'll see each other again someday. Be good, make new friends and never forget me! Best friends forever! And remember to take care of my necklace!

RIKU

"Riku..." Sora whispered in shock. "Riku... Riku..." he flipped the picture back over and memories suddenly collided with his head like a ton of bricks as those green eyes pierced his.

"Sora, promise me something."
"Okay," Sora said in a small voice, confusion running a mock in his head.
"Promise to be good," Riku said. "Make new friends, don't get too scared... and never forget to smile." He grinned sadly. "And most important, don't forget me, okay?"
"Okay," Sora choked. He could feel sobs choking up from his throat and tears of innocence brimming from his eyes.
"Here, take care of this for me," Riku said. He pulled his chain crown necklace off of his neck and pulled it around Sora's. "I'll be wanting this back, so take good care of it."
"I will," Sora said nodding.
"I'll miss you," Riku said.
"Just don't forget me, okay?" Sora said sadly.
"I won't..." and he hugged Sora close, just one last time.
"I'll come back!" Sora said. "Wherever I'm going... you'll always be my best friend!"
"I'll see you again," Riku whispered, stepping backwards.

Sora felt his eyes beginning to flow with tears, but the memories just kept on coming.

Hands clenched tightly around his arms and he was shaken harshly, eyes rolling back and forth inside of his head. He felt a hard force slam into his right cheek, making his head go flying to the side as he stumbled to the ground.

"Daddy, stop, please stop!"

Sora shook his head frantically, trying to clear away the unwanted memories. 'Make them stop! ' Sora thought frantically. 'Please, dear gods, make it stop!' There was no heed for his please.

Little Sora huddled shakily under the blanket of his bed in his new room. Lightning shattered across the skies and he curled more into a fetal position, wishing his best friend were here to tell him it was alright. To tell him it was just lightning and Riku would protect him from the monsters that hid under his bed and in his closet. But all he had was the flashlight the silver-haired boy had given him.

Thunder followed the lightning with an ear splitting crackle that sent another surge of shock through the fragile body, and the flashlight died.

He banged it desperately with his tiny fists, tiny sobs drowned out by the force of rain drop bullets slamming into the walls of the castle and cold glass of his window. But no matter how many times he hit it, the flashlight would not turn back on. He was left alone in the dark.

Innocent tears rolled down his paling cheeks as he tucked his head into his knees and lay there beneath the blankets, trying to forget about the demons in hiding. He wasn't safe. Not without Riku.

More sobs erupted from his throats, body jumping every time the thunder boomed and lightning lit up the room with an eerie light every minute or so. Tears fell like the rain outside until eventually, the little boy cried himself to sleep...

"No, no," Sora whimpered, the picture falling from his trembling fingers and his feet slipped in the gritty thick dust on the floor. He scrambled backwards from the dropped photo, attempting to get as far away as possible. No matter how far he got. the memories kept on coming.

A seven year old brunette walked along side his guardian, Oram, hands held out and balancing himself as he walked on the banister. Oram kept a close eye on him, just incase gravity decided to take it's toll and bring him down.

"Hey Oram?" Sora asked, a confused frown on his face; something had been lurking at the back of his mind for a while, and he needed to ask before he forgot like he usually did.

"Eh?" Oram replied.

"I always lived here, right?" Sora said innocently, smiling up at the father-like figure beside him. Oram stopped in his tracks, eyes widening in surprise. Seeing the older male stop, Oram blinked the glowing blue orbs that were his eyes and asked, "Oram?"

Oram shook his head to clear his mind, seeming as if a battle was going through his head. Looking the adolescent straight in the eye, he smiled softly. "Yes, Sora. You've always lived here."

Sora beamed up at him.

"STOP!" Sora shouted at the top of his lungs, voice drifting through the hundreds of vents, bouncing off the walls and echoing into every room of the castle.

Somewhere else...

"STOP!"

Oram and Ninna looked up, along with their King, as they heard a familiar voice shout. Although it was a bit blurry, they could still figure out who it was.

"Sora!" Oram cried, eyes shining with concern.

"C'mon!" Ninna exclaimed, racing off in the direction she knew Sora had been heading from Goofy and Donald; the Launch Pad.

Oram's cape twirled behind him as he struggled to keep up with his friend, panting with the effort. But nothing was stopping him from getting anywhere, especially with the thought of Sora being hurt fresh in his thoughts.

"Where is he?" King Mickey thought aloud as he raced behind his two best spies.

"Last I saw he was at the Launch Pad," Oram shouted over his shoulder, but he slowed to a stop when he saw the people standing in his way.

"What happened?" Aerith asked urgently, Leon and Yuffie standing on at her side.

"We heard him scream," Yuffie whimpered, a bit nervous.

"C'mon, you guys!" Goofy shouted, peeking his head around the corner as Donald stood at the ready beside him. "Sora may be hurt!"

"We're coming!" Oram snapped, darting past.

"That guy can run fast!" Yuffie exclaimed as she and the others raced behind him.

"He's just worried about the kid," Leon said calmly, refusing to show his fear as well.

Half way down the hall they stopped, panting for breath as they stared ahead of them.

Although covered in a thick coat of dust, the brunette boy was still noticeable. Sora had his face down turned, not giving any recognition that he noticed they were there. He just stared down at the ground.

"Sora?" Oram asked cautiously, slowly stepping up to his charge. He reached out a hand to touch the boy's shoulder.

A loud smack echoed through the hallway as Sora abruptly slapped Oram's hand away. His wrist burned from the impact, but what hurt even worse was the look in Sora's eyes.

Blue eyes that always seemed to be dancing with joy were now darkened with anger, hurt, hatred. But what hurt him most was the look of uttermost betrayal sketched along every line of Sora's face.

Oram backed away from Sora and to the others, still staring wide eyed as Sora continued to glare with pure loathing. It was a look that did not suit the young man at all.

"Sora, what's wrong?" Aerith asked worriedly.

Sora said nothing, just looked all of them in the eye at turn. It was like he was looking for something, scanning their eyes as if looking for some sort of truth.

"Sora?" Goofy murmured quietly, getting a bit scared.

Slowly, very slowly, Sora brought up his hand to Oram, a piece of paper laying on his palm. Gulping nervously Oram stepped forward and with shaking fingers, snatched the paper up.

Bringing it up to his face, some sort of explosion went off in the pit of his stomach.

It had been ten years, but Oram could never forget that face. It was Riku, the little kid who had brought Sora to Oram. The one who told him to take Sora away... the one Sora had forgotten about over the years.

Until now.

He schooled his face into a blank stare although if you paid close attention, you could see fear on his handsome face. Flipping it over slowly, he read the words on the back.

Sora waited, watching his 'friend' closely. When no words came from Oram's mouth, no one shouting "Surprise!" or "Fooled you!", no one telling him it was all just a big prank, he decided to speak up. "Oram..."

The others felt the hidden message within his voice; Sora was not sure if that name was real anymore. The dark-haired man looked up into Sora's eyes with regret. He never meant to have Sora find out this way. Never...

"Who am I?" Sora asked quietly, and they were suddenly reminded of a bomb, just waiting to go off.

"You're Sora," Oram said blinking.

"Are you sure about that?" Sora hissed. "For all I know, I could be a Phil!"

This would have normally made them laugh, but now. They just stared in stony cold silence. Oram felt his heart twist painfully in his chest, hurting from those words. "Sora, you have to--"

But Sora cut him off. "Who am I?" he asked. "Who am I really?"

Oram sighed; he really wished someone would step in to help him right about now. "You're name is Sora."

"That's nice," Sora said sarcastically. "Now what about the rest?"

"What do you...?"

"WHERE DID I COME FROM!" Sora roared, the bomb inside of his heart finally going off. Everyone in the room winced. "WHO IS MY FAMILY, WHERE IS MY HOME? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY..." he pointed to the picture is Oram's now shaking hand. "WHO IS HE!"

"Sora, please don't be mad," Ninna whispered, walking up to Oram's side and placing a hand on the trembling adult's shoulder. "We were just doing what was best for you."

"What's best for me?" Sora repeated slowly. "Hiding my past from me is best! I don't know what the hell your idea of 'best' is but this isn't it! You lied to me for years!" His breathing came out in heavy huffs, stray locks of hair twisting around his face which was beat red from the anger and the screaming.

It was a shock no one suffocated from the silence that thing about the room, echoing thickly across the walls. Ears were clogged by unheard noise and it was a miracle they heard King Mickey say, "Sora, yes it's your real name, you came here when you were four..."

"Where did I come from?" Sora asked, the curiosity the only thing keeping him from screaming again.

"Another world, one called Destiny Islands," Oram croaked. "We got transported there by accident."

"And you loved the place so much you decided to bring me back home as a souvenir?" Sora hissed.

"No, that's not it at all!" Ninna exclaimed fearfully. "You couldn't stay there, we had to bring you here!"

"Why!" Sora snapped.

"Do you remember Riku?" Oram asked quietly.

Sora paused for a moment for slowly saying, "A bit... I remember he was my best friend."

"Anything else?" Oram asked bitterly.

"Sora blinked, recalling his vision in the Ventilation Room. "Darkness and... and... pain."

Oram nodded grimly. "That's why we took you away," he whispered. "Your friend, Riku, told him to take you with us so you could heal. Physically and... and emotionally."

"How did I get hurt?" Sora asked.

"Your parents beat you," he said so emotionally it made Sora take a step back in surprise. "They hurt you and Riku knew it."

"And... he told you to take me here," he whispered, eyes studying the carvings on the floor. There were tiny roses imbedded on the floor, he never noticed them before. Yeah, he wasn't looking at them.

"Yes," Aerith said softly. "When you came here, we swore we'd tell you but..."

"But what?" Sora asked, looking up at long last and finding his anger again. "You just forgot about it?" Looking at Oram who seemed to be praying he was going to wake up from the nightmare anytime now, he said, "I remembered something in that room. I remember asking you if I'd always lived here." Pausing to see if Oram would take up a defense for himself, which he didn't, he continued, "You said I did. You told me that I've always lived here!"

"I didn't want you to get hurt!" Oram said softly.

"Well what do you think I am!" Sora roared. "I don't care if you waited this long!" The others looked up hopefully. "But when I ask you something and you lie to me, that pisses me off!" Their faces fell. "I asked you all those things about my past. I asked why you had no baby pictures, who my parents were... and you lied! Every single one of you!"

"Sora, we're sorry!" Yuffie cried, small pinpricks of tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "We didn't want to lie to you!"

"But you did," Sora reminded her softly. His eyes weren't angry anymore, just hollow. His voice lost all emotion as he said, "You may not have wanted to, but you did. Every single one of you had plenty of chances to tell me the truth, but you never did. And that's why..." he slowly stepped backwards, "I can't trust you anymore."

End

Sora: You and your evil cliffhangers of doom.

Me: (sweatdrops) Oops, sorry. And incase you were wondering whether or not Riku will be coming into the story, he will be; I'm just not sure when. I'll try to fit him in as soon as possible! Oh, and if this seems a bit rushed, I apologize. I'm working through a case of nasty writer's block. Can you believe I started this chapter, like, two weeks ago?

All: Yes.

Fire:……(takes out Staff) You had to leave it hanging right there. Just WAIT till I I.M you tomorrow!

Me:... just shut up. Oh, and review, too! (flies away on Wishfire, her dragon)