Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square-Enix and Disney.

This chapter was almost finished when my computer died, so I lost the file. Here's the new version. I like it better, actually. I'm listening to music, so it might have a different feel. Dimmu Borgir, if anyone's interested.

Yea! The story's really getting there!

They arrived at Rising Falls just after noon. It was a beautiful day, the golden clouds floating casually along the horizon. Kairi watched from the bottom of the falls as everyone slowly made their way up to the castle. She wasn't feeling in much of a social mood, really hoping to just avoid as many of her friends as she could. Taking her small bag from her seat, she walked slowly out of the gummi ship and sat down behind it, where she thought no one would see her. Taking a thick book from her bag, she flipped it open to a designated page and began to read. She hadn't been reading long when a voice from behind her made her jump.

"Romeo and Juliet? And here I was thinking you'd skip that one and read something more like Julius Caesar." She looked up in surprise as Ansem sat down beside her and picked up the book she had dropped. "I'm really glad you like it enough to read it though." He said, lowering his voice as though someone was listening. She smiled at him in reply.

"What's wrong?" He asked seriously, handing the book back to her.

She shrugged. "I just don't feel too great. I'm pretty tired and stressed out, actually." She looked at him sadly and stood. "We should head back up to the castle, don't you think?" She smiled cheerfully, but she knew there would be no fooling Ansem.

"Yes, we should set up some plan to get everyone dinner." He replied, trying to shove aside his worry. If she didn't want him to know she was upset, he wouldn't push her.

She smiled brightly and turned to begin the long walk up to the castle.

"Kairi," Ansem called softly. She turned to look back at him, smile fading. "Do you want me to carry you?" She laughed, shaking her head. She was about to turn and keep walking when she caught the look on his face, he was completely serious.

"What? You'd carry me all the way up there? That's sweet, but I can't ask you to do that.." She stopped and stared at him. He smirked at her, and she turned away playfully to continue her trek up the falls.

"It really wouldn't be that difficult.." He whispered in her ear. She turned tell him to stop it when she realized that he was floating beside her. She yelped and blinked in surprise. She had totally forgotten that Ansem could fly.

He grinned happily. "Come on, I'll be careful." He knew she hated heights from their first encounter at Hollow Bastion. But before she could deny his offer, he had lifted her from the ground and began a graceful arch up toward the castle.

Kairi didn't complain, but she had a death grip around his neck. Her eyes were fixed on his shirt, and she refused to look down. Ansem thought it was so much fun that instead of setting her down before the main hall, he flew upward around the castle instead. She yelped in fright when she realized what he was doing, and buried her face in his chest so she wouldn't have to watch. He spiraled around the castle happily until the topmost spire was far below them. He stopped then, gazing down at the castle in wonder. He'd never really seen it that way before, it was pretty amazing.

"Kairi, look." He whispered. She couldn't believe it, but she actually felt herself lean back and open her eyes to stare down at the ocean and castle far below them. Her heart was beating so fast and loud she was sure she was going to go deaf soon.

"You trust me, don't you?" He rested his cheek against the top of her head, hugging her gently. She took a deep breath. "Of course I do." She replied, closing her eyes again as she felt them begin to descend.

After a few minutes, she felt cold, as though they were in the shade. She opened her eyes to see the castle walls around them, they were entering Lift Stop on their way back down. Another door and she saw the Castle Chapel before them. It was dark inside, there were no lights or candles to light it up. Ansem gently set her back on her feet and moved past her into the chapel. She rushed forward and took his hand.

It was eerily quiet inside. Their footsteps seemed to echo endlessly off the thick, dark walls around them. Ansem lead her to a small chest hidden against the altar. Taking a candle from it, he lit it and placed it on the altar.

"I know you like your peace and quiet, so you can read some more here and rest a bit if you like. I won't tell anyone where you are if you don't want me to." She smiled up at him. "Thanks.." She could feel herself blushing, but she knew it was too dark for him to be able to see it. He nodded and turned to go, but she grabbed his hand again to stop him.

"Tell me exactly what happened last night before you go. Maybe I can help.." She looked up at him so hopefully, he couldn't help himself.

"All right." He sat on the floor beside her and began.

It was getting late, and everyone had gathered in the dining hall for dinner. Kairi had wandered back down an hour earlier to help set up, and Ansem was thankful to see that she was smiling and laughing along with Selphie and Arashi. The meal was basically over, and to everyone's relief, no food fights had begun between the boys. Squall and Cloud got up and left after thanking the girls for the meal. Riku rose to follow them, but Ansem called out across the table.

"Riku, can I talk to you?" he stood casually but purposefully, gazing across at the young man. The room went silent. Kairi shifted nervously in her seat, Ansem had never said anything to her about talking to Riku. Maybe it was nothing important..

Regardless of the reaction of the others, Riku nodded and walked around the table to follow Ansem out the door.

Sora, Wakka, and Tidus started joking around then, and Aerith shooed them out of her way as she began to clean up. Seeming disgruntled, the three boys quickly disappeared., leaving the girls all alone.

"Sooo, Kairi. Tell us about Ansem!" Selphie appeared to jump at the opportunity to harass one of her best friends without the boys around. Arashi quickly joined in as well. "Yeah! How'd you two wind up together?" She asked excitedly.

"Uh, I didn't know everyone knew about us…" She grumbled, leaning back as if afraid of her two friends.

"How could we not know? It's totally obvious. Besides, Riku knew. You told him!" Arashi said. Kairi blushed darkly, hadn't he said he wouldn't tell anyone? What a jerk..

"Wow, way back when everyone still lived here, it was pretty difficult to catch Ansem's attention. He was really into studying his research. The only reason he ever took up an interest in my sister Ame was because they had known each other all their lives. They were best friends. I'm sure he never would have thought twice about her otherwise." She mused, seemingly lost in her memories.

The three were silent for a moment as Arashi thought about it and Kairi tried to think of how to get away from them. Just then she watched Aerith walk by with some dished. "Oh, hey. I'm gonna help Aerith clean up." she said quickly as she slid away from them.

"Heeeey.." Selphie whined after her, not daring to follow.

Ansem lead Riku into an old unused room he knew no one would overhear them in and locked the door. "This is about the Heartless thing, isn't it?" Riku asked right away. He was feeling more comfortable with Ansem, but not this comfortable.

"Yes, you've been thinking about it. What do you think?" Ansem asked him quietly.

Riku thought for a moment, but it was hard to focus with the musty scent of misuse and death hanging around them. "I think it has a lot to do with Kairi and her keyblade. They told me that I was part of the Heartless, and it reminded me of Arashi. She was more Heartless than I was, why didn't they talk to her? Then I remembered the first time I saw her, Kairi had "purified" her or something with her keyblade. So does this mean Arashi truly isn't Heartless anymore?" He looked up at the older man.

"Excellent, Riku, those were my thoughts exactly." He brought a hand to his jaw in thought. "I think Kairi did "purify" Arashi in a sense, I think she was so new to her keyblade, she didn't know what she was doing, and over-dosed Arashi with light. I think that's why she lost consciousness when it happened, too. It was too much, almost too much for her body. It just ripped the Heartless out of her. Though, I do not believe that Arashi was more Heartless than you. She became one, true, but it is much deeper in you. I don't know if Kairi can help you to get rid of it, but I am sure that she can weaken it enough to protect you from them." He lost himself in thought and Riku shifted nervously.

"But that's not what you have planned, is it?" He said, almost typically.

Ansem grinned, "You know me well, Riku. Of course I've considered using this to our advantage. I believe we could, too. If you were to rejoin the Heartless undercover, I think you could not only find Sephiroth's lair, but you could help us discover his weaknesses."

"Whoa, you want me to willingly join the Heartless? To get closer to Sephiroth? Isn't that a bitdangerous?"

"Yes, it would be extremely dangerous, but I'm sure you could do it. I would try it myself, but I would be seen through in a moment. Sephiroth knows me too well."

"But wouldn't I just be taken in by the Heartless? I wouldn't really have a choice, would I?" He sounded worried, but eager. Ansem knew he was seriously considering the plan.

"You have gotten much more powerful, I don't believe they could take you in so easily. You must choose to be taken over by darkness. Though, if you do this, I will not be able to help you. If the Heartless discover our plan, they will tell Sephiroth and he will kill you. But I do believe that you could trick them, they can't read you like they can me. Will you try it?" Ansem asked hopefully, this could be their only shot at defeating Sephiroth.

"Yea, I'll do it. But.. Don't let Arashi worry. I know you can't tell her what's going on, but let her know I'll be okay." Riku said calmly, already thinking of how to approach the situation.

"You know what to do already, don't you? You must make it believable. Even if that means hurting one of us. But if it comes to that, attack me. That would show Sephiroth that we do not see eye to eye." Ansem suggested, his voice even lower than before.

Riku nodded, "I know. Just don't let it get too far. If I get out of control, you can stop me, can't you?"

"Yes, I'll stop you if you can't handle it. Good luck. I'm counting on you." He held out his hand for Riku to shake, and to his surprise, the boy actually took it and smiled. "Don't worry about me." He said before unlocking the door and leaving Ansem alone in the darkness.

It had been almost two weeks since Riku and Ansem had last spoken to each other. Riku was slowly distancing himself from Sora and Kairi, much to everyone's surprise. Kairi watched from across the hall as Sora regained his balance from her last attack.

"You're getting pretty good, Kairi." He huffed, balancing himself again and rushing at her. She easily sidestepped his attack and slapped him across the back with Oathkeeper, sending him sprawling on the floor.

She glanced up lazily and continued watching Riku glare at them from the other side of the hall.

"Whoo! Way to go Kairi! Kick his ass!" Selphie called from her seat on the floor beside Aerith and Cloud.

"She's gotten unusually good very quickly." Cloud observed, looking over to Aerith. "It's almost unsettling, isn't it?" he said quietly.

Aerith nodded. "It's as though this is what she was born to do. And it's fairly ironic, I mean, she was terrible at the beginning." She couldn't suppress a giggle at the memories.

"Sora, what's wrong with Riku?" Kairi whispered as he stumbled past her.

"Huh? Oh. I dunno, maybe he hates it here or something. He hasn't been acting that funny, has he?" He replied, trying to come up with an attack she wouldn't expect.

"Sora, he's glaring at us. Something's up. And where has he been disappearing to lately? Have you noticed that? I don't trust it. He's our best friend and all, but he's acting pretty suspicious." She pouted over at him, but he took no notice. She dodged quickly out of the way of Sora's attack combo, tripping him neatly as she went.

He fell heavily and pouted back at her.

"I mean- ah!" She leapt back as Sora bounced to his feet and struck out at her, nearly knocking her off balance, then swinging back around for a follow-up attack. She tried to focus on him, but her brain felt so fuzzy, she swayed to the side. Ducking clumsily, she tried to bring her keyblade up, but felt a deep wave of nausea hit her. Sora's eyes widened when he realized she wasn't going to stop him, and had to kick his keyblade back before he accidentally hit her with it. It landed several feet away and he crouched beside her in worry.

"Are you okay? Kairi? Geez, you look.." He didn't bother finishing as she leaned over and threw up on the floor. "I think that's enough training for today.." he said lamely as he helped her to her feet and Arashi and Selphie ran over to help.

Riku watched sadly from the other side of the room. He wished he could go help her, but he had to keep his distance. Not even Arashi would come over to him, he felt so left out. Sliding from the railing he was perched on, he crept silently from the room. He needed to get out of here, he had work to do. It didn't take him long to reach the Castle Chapel, and he continued through the doors he knew would lead him to his destination.

The hall was absolutely deserted when he entered. It looked at though no one had used it in quite some time. He checked to make sure he was alone before approaching the Dark Depths. Checking again to make sure no one was around, he stepped inside. The darkness wrapped itself around him. It reached out to embrace his form, in a way he found to be disturbingly loving.

'Riku..'

That familiar nearly nonexistent voice called out from within the darkness, beckoning for him to come further in. He obeyed, walking slowly through the thick blackness.

'Come back to us, Riku..'

He closed his eyes. It was so comfortable. Nothing frightening or foreboding about this place. After all, he belonged here, didn't he?

'Yes.. Riku. We're waiting for you.'

He thought he felt a presence near him, so he opened his eyes. Sephiroth stood before him, frowning slightly, and apparently studying him. He knew he should have been startled, or afraid at least, but he felt nothing.

Sephiroth reached out and took Riku's jaw in his hand, moving his face from side to side. He smirked then, apparently pleased with what he saw.

A/n: Short chapter, I know. But I really wanted to update while I have a computer I can use. I might update later this week, I'm not sure. Maybe tomorrow, maybe later tonight, I'm in a writing mood.