Golden Years: Sora Reflects

So many years have passed since that fateful day. So many years…and now my youth is gone. My reckless nature as a youngster has long left my body. I am no longer the young man I was those ages ago. I am now old and feeble. My mind is not as full of spirit as before. But despite that, I have continued to visit the grave of my dearly departed friend everyday for years on end. He once told me to never let go of the light, to live my life to the fullest. Well, I have done so. I have cherished every day of my life. Every day that has passed, I fill with spirit. And now, though my bones are brittle and my strength not as it was, I still hold onto that light that he passed on to me.

But despite my age, despite the days and nights that have passed since the day he departed, I remember every detail as if it were yesterday. I remember that dank cave underneath that city, whose name I can no longer remember. I remember what I saw when I entered that chamber of death and torment. The souls of hundreds of men must've cried out in that tomb of suffering. But none was as loud as that of the living.

There was a bizarre stench reeking through the chambers. Sora reached the end of the stairs, looking to a corridor filled with cells and the other leading to a vast chamber.

Sora decided to inspect the cells first. Using a lit torch, he searched each of the dark cells within the dungeon.

"Riku," Sora said, "Riku, are you there?" He reached the end of the corridor and looked at the cells at the very end, but there was no sign. By now, Sora's heart began to thump. There was no sign of Riku in the cells. He thought that maybe Riku was being held in the other chamber. He walked back to the entry way and headed up the other corridor. He gazed around, but there was no one else around.

"Riku!" Sora cried. There was no answer. He gazed at the chamber's entry way. The old torturing devices had been stuffed up, from their original positions, against the wall, leaving a clean floor in the center of the vast chamber. Only a few torches lit the vast area. Sora just about gave up all hope, until he was a figure hanging from a wooden structure at the very end of the chamber. Sora could barely make out what looked like a naked, white figure.

"Who's there?" Sora shouted. There was no answer. He neared the figure, bringing the brightness of the torch closer. Sure enough, as he neared the figure, he realized who it was. It was Riku, hanging limp, still cuffed and chained to the whipping post. His back had been further lashed and blood seeped from some of the open wounds.

I remember him hanging there, almost dead upon that whipping post. I freed him from his shackles and lay him in my arms. I begged him to gaze at me, but his eyes had been dimmed. Purged of the light forever. I wished to help him, but my hopes were dashed when that man of death appeared.

Just then, from out of the darkness, there was a maniacal cackling echoing throughout the chamber.

"So, you've finally made it, Sora." It echoed.

"Who's there!" Sora demanded. "Show yourself!"

Then, from the shadows, the form of General Ameba appeared.

"Nice to see you again, Sora." He chuckled. Ameba then held up a small sack in his hand. "I assume you were looking for this."

"The senzu bean…How did you get that without me noticing?"-

"I too can lurk in the shadows without being seen." Ameba threw the sack onto the ground and stepped on it, crushing the bean. He then flicked it aside, the bean dust scattering around as it exited the open bag. "Sorry, Sora, but you won't be healing anyone today."

"How could you!"-

"Very easily, I dare to say. And soon, Sora, you will undergo the same torture as Riku did."-

"You mean you did this to Riku?"-

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but yes, I was the one who did this to Riku. Every scar inflicted on his young body was my doing. Either I gave the order, or I did it myself. But I can tell you this much, I enjoyed every second putting Riku through such suffering. Every scream hollered, every gasp of breath, every drop of blood and sweat, every agonizing thrash of pain, I carved into my memory."-

"You're a monster." Sora scowled, tears running down his face. "Riku never deserved that. Because of what you've done, I will see that I take your very life! You couldn't stop at holding him prisoner. You had to make him feel the utter agony of the lash. And to top things off, you took his sight away!"

"Now don't be so brash about that, Sora." Ameba stepped closer. "I may have taken Riku's sight away, but his blindness isn't permanent."

"What do you mean?"-

"With the help of General Kai and his darkness element, I was able to cast a spell that would deprive Riku of his eyesight. So as long as I have a firm grip on him, his sight will never be restored. However, there is one way to break the spell and that is to kill the one who cast it upon the victim in the first place. And since I'm the one who cast the spell in the first place, it is I that you must kill. Take my life and you will break the spell."-

"Don't you worry about that," Sora said, angrily, "I have no argument with taking your life." He gently placed Riku down on the ground, next to the whipping post and the keyblade box. "For what you did to Riku, I will see you dead!"

"Hah! Then, you are free to try and smite me if you want to." Ameba chuckled. "Mind you, there will be dire consequences."

"There will be no consequence in taking the life of a heartless demon like you!"-

"I must beg to differ!"-

I dared to challenge him, I fought him with all my heart and soul, but the secret he held was one, which I could never forget. He had linked his life with that of my friend. He latched onto his life like a parasite. I could do nothing to him, but he could do all the worst to me.

But just then, he heard Riku suddenly cry out in agony. Sora looked to see Riku covering his gut, almost curling up in a ball.

"It hurts!" he cried. "It hurts!"

"Riku!"-

But as Sora turned to Ameba, he saw the general swoop down his saber. Sora saw the attack coming and blocked it. He dodged rolled and stood to face Ameba again. Ameba had been unaffected by the attack.

"Why so glum, Sora," Ameba asked, "Did you think that I would go down that easily."

"Not even a scratch." Sora thought to himself. "But how could that be? I made a solid connection. I saw the blade go in!"

"You said that I was a demon. In most cases, you were absolutely right."-

"I'll find a way to defeat you!" Sora shouted. Sora attacked again, grappling for another five, or ten minutes with the general, but not able to land a shot. However, once again a fatal flaw in an attack was eminent and Sora took advantage of it. He knocked Ameba's saber aside and made a deep slash across the gut. "That should finish you for sure!" But again, there was no damage inflicted. "What? But how can that be! That can't happen!"

Again, Sora suddenly heard Riku screaming out in agonizing pain. He looked to see he friend grasping at his gut. Sora ran to Riku, returning to his normal state in the process. He looked to see a strange red scratch mark streaked across his gut, similar to the wound he inflicted on Ameba. Sora finally realized what was going on.

"You," He shouted, "what have you done to Riku, you bastard!"

"I was wondering when you would figure it out." Ameba explained. "If you recall, I told you that I had prepared for an act of vengeance from you for what I've done to your comrade. Thus, as a precaution, once again with the help of General Kai, I took the liberty of casting a second darkness spell besides the Eternal Darkness spell that was used to deprive your friend of his ability to see. This one is called, The Divided Hearts spell, in which each half of our entities have been placed in the other's body. So in other words, whatever I feel, Riku feels. What pain I suffer, he feels it too. However, it is a special spell that's basically biased to one side. I have taken all the advantages of this technique. Whenever, you strike me, it is Riku that'll feel the pain. Trying to kill me is out of the question because for one to die, the other must perish. So in order to kill me, you must kill Riku. And only through Riku can you ever attempt to kill me!"

"You monster!"-

"Yes, I am a monster aren't I! Am I'm damn proud of it! Such a pity that you have to face such a paradox, isn't it Sora? You want to save your friend, but you also want to restore his eyesight. However in order to restore his eyesight, you would have to kill me. That would've been easy for you if it wasn't for the spell I cast. Now, the only way to kill me is to kill the one you're attempting to save. His side of the heart beats the life source. Thus, I cannot die except through Riku. It's a lose-lose situation, my friend. Either way, you don't gain anything." Ameba sheathed back his sword. "Now that you know, you should know by now that this fight is also one sided. I can inflict pain on you, but you don't dare inflict pain on me because you know of the consequences if you do."

He let my friend suffer. He let him suffer so much. I couldn't watch it anymore. If there was going to be a sacrifice in that dank place under the ground, it would be me. It was I that the tyrant wanted. It was I that took away his pride. So with open arms, I took my punishment. He would dare to strike me down without mercy, but I would not fight back. It was for the good of my friend. To see that he would suffer no more, I took the burden of pain from him.

"Please!" Sora pleaded. "Don't hurt Riku anymore! He's suffered enough! You wanted to take your anger out on me from the start! Well here I am! If you want to strike me, then go ahead! I won't fight back! Just please don't hurt Riku anymore!"

"You will accept your sentence then?" Ameba chuckled.

"I throw myself upon you tender mercy. I will receive the blows. Just please, spare Riku of any further torment."-

"Then, I will take my revenge upon you a hundred fold! But don't expect any mercy from me!"-

Ameba sheathed his sword and then struck at Sora across the face. He then punched the boy in the gut and then struck another blow to the side of his head. Ameba's grin grew bigger and bigger with every blow he inflicted on Sora.

"Yes, Sora," Ameba chuckled, "You will pay for the humiliation you threw upon me in the 'Seed Realm.' I will make you suffer just as much as your friend did! I will take back every insult, take back every act of insolence, take back every act of defiance against me! Now, I can really unleash my anger!" Sora was given a severe thrashing about by Ameba, but throughout that time, he did not dare to raise his hand to stop his beating. Like a rag doll, Sora was tossed and thrashed about, receiving blows to the head and gut.

My friend would not have it. He would not see me harmed and tortured for something that he had done. So he made the one great decision of his short life. He sacrificed himself for me, throwing himself into the path of the sword, which was meant for my heart. By smiting my friend, the tyrant staggered and died as well. A most gruesome and horrible form of death. But as a consequence, my friend too withdrew his own life.

"Farewell Sora!" Ameba suddenly shouted. He turned and quickly thrust in his sword. Sora's eyes grew wide with fear and everything seemed to flash in an instant. There was the sound of flesh being pierced by hard, cold steel an the spurting of blood upon the ground.

However, Ameba's eyes turned from a look of pleasure to a look of shock. Sora's eyes too were widened with surprise. It was not his body the sword had pierced, but Riku's. Riku summoned the last of his strength to carry out the deed and threw himself in front of Ameba's sword and Sora. The sword had entered just under Riku's left breast, piercing his lung.

"R…Riku…" Sora uttered.

"R…Riku!" Ameba shouted. "But…but that's impossible!"

"Well, well, well," Riku uttered. "I guess you weren't as invincible…as you thought you were…"

Ameba suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left breast. He looked down to see blood spurting from an open wound. He suddenly began to stagger and his energy gave way. Blood dripped from his mouth in streams now and his eyes were still wide with shock and now fear.

"But…how can this be?" he uttered.

"Sora…has sacrificed himself…for me…" Riku uttered. "And…now I…do the same for him…" Riku took hold of the sword and dug it deeper into his gut.

"But how? You couldn't even stand!"-

"You've underestimated…my will power…"-

Ameba's blood spilled onto the ground as he tried to run from the chamber. The pain grew even greater in his breast and the blood continued to drip. He fell to his hands and knees, trying to reach the door way.

"This cannot…be…" he uttered.

"What's the matter…Ameba…?" Riku gasped. "You…seemed to enjoy it…when you made Sora and I…suffer. It's not…so enjoyable…when it happens to you…is it!"

"But how could…you throw your life…away like that?"-

"When…the only…alternative…means that one of us…must die…then so be it…Let this act…be my atonement for abandoning my friends…" Riku gripped the sword and plunged it deeper into his body. "There…is a really big difference between us…Ameba…I can endure…far longer than you…"

"Damn you…to hell…Riku…!"-

"You…first…"-

With a final gasp of breath, Ameba had reached the entryway of the chamber before collapsing upon the ground, dead. Riku smiled and attempted to pull the saber out of his chest. He slowly gripped it and pulled it out a little at a time, before the massive blade fell to the ground.

"Riku…" Sora said, still shocked at what he had witnessed. He watched as Riku swayed back and forth. Riku grasped his wound as soon as the sword hit the ground. He placed pressure on it, but the blood still dripped from his wound. Blood dripped from his mouth now, but it was of no concern for him. Riku was already at the point where he could no longer feel any pain. He withdrew his hand from his ghastly wound and gazed at it. It was then that the color of the blood was eminent to him. His vision had returned. Ameba's curse had been lifted and Riku smiled as he staggered backwards.

"Riku…" Sora whispered again.

"My blood…Sora…" Riku said. "I can…see my blood…" He then suddenly fell.

He fell into my arms, his body as cold as ice, but his lips parched of thirst. There I would comfort him. Comfort him until he had reached the end and lost all strength. I remember that moment when we gazed into each other's eyes. My own eyes were filled with tears. I could only hold on to him. I could only cradle him and nuzzle him close to me, attempting to keep him warm. He told me that I was his only comfort in that hell. The only comfort he had so far, far away from home.

"Sora? Sora!" he uttered, grasping at his friends shoulder.

"I'm right here, Riku." Sora said. "I'm right here!"

"I…can't see you…" Riku gazed about blindly, no longer able to see again. His eyes till filled with tears. He took another deep breath. Blood still dripped from his mouth. Sora wiped the blood from his friend's lips. Riku then gazed in a blank stare at him. "Take care…of Kairi...alright?"

"What do you mean, Riku!" Sora asked. "You're gonna be there to watch out for her too."

"I can't…Sora…"-

"Please, Riku! Don't talk like that! You're gonna make it! You're gonna make it! I'll see that you make it!"-

"Sora…you have to…let me go…Please let me end my suffering here…let me die in peace…"-

"But Riku, you'll never see home again!"-

"I am home…" Riku reached for Sora's face and placed his hand upon his cheek. "You…are the closest to home…that I'll ever be…" Riku began to waver in his friends embrace. Sora held him tighter in his arms, cradling him like an infant. He could feel Riku's body grow heavier and heavier.

"Riku…" Sora sobbed again. "Without you…what'll I do?"

"I will always be with you…Even in death…"-

"Riku…"-

"Don't worry about me…Sora…I've finally…found…my happiness…I'm here with you…You are a true…friend…and my only comfort…so far…away from home…" Riku laid his head against Sora's breast.

"But what'll I do now!"-

"Just hold me close…Sora…Hold me tight…" Riku's breathing began to become more labored. "Live your life…as if I were still there…Live it to the fullest…Do not depress yourself over me… I'll always be there, watching over you and the others…Never let go…of the light…"

"I'll hold you close, Riku. I'll never let go. I will live my life to the fullest."-

"Tell…Kairi that…I'm sorry…"-

"I will, Riku. I will."-

Riku stretched out his hand, grasping at the air. With one final gasp of breath and the last ounce of strength he had, he uttered his final word.

"M…mother…" he uttered. With that, his hand fell to his side and his head lay close to Sora's breast. His body grew heavy as his life exited out of his body. After a hard struggle to stay alive, after such stress and devotion, Riku died. But he did not die alone. Though far from home, far from his family and friends, Riku was not alone. Sora was there beside him, to comfort him in his final moments. Though in a strange land, unfamiliar and hostile, Riku could rest in peace now, sheltered by the light.

We brought my friend back to our home, our island. This was where we rested his body to rest in eternal slumber. For those next three weeks, I could only mourn his death. No matter how much I tried, no matter how hard I attempted not to cry, I would go into a deep depression. My friends began to worry about me. My family tried to comfort me, but still there was this pain of loss that still infested in my soul. I wished for just one more day. One more day to say my farewell properly. And as fate would have it. I was given that second chance.

"I've come back to visit. I was given the privilege to seeing you again because of the sacrifice I made. I was allowed to stay here until the sun sets completely."-

"But that's not long enough. That's only for another thirty minutes."-

"Then, why don't we spend it doing what we do best?" Riku thumb pointed to a pair of old wooden swords leaning against the stone wall at the beach head.

"Alright!" Sora picked up the wooden swords and each took one.

"This is how our time should be spent." Riku chuckled.

"Let's go!" Sora said. "And don't hold back!"

The two attacked and locked in combat. In the final half hour they had together, the two grappled against each other as if nothing had changed, like it was their daily sparring routine.

"Just like old times eh, Riku?" Sora asked.

"This is the best fight I've had." Riku replied. The sparring lasted for almost the entire half hour. Finally, in a final attempt to strike, Sora used the power of the Amakakeru ryu no Hirameki, which he learned from Kenshin, as a coup de grace. Riku fell to his knees as the defeated.

"Sorry about that." Sora said. "Did that hurt?"

"No." Riku uttered. "Besides, I'm already dead." The two sat on the beach and gazed into the setting sun, which now began to hide itself behind the clouds in the horizon. "It's been great seeing you again, Sora. But now, I must be on my way." Riku stood up and dusted the sand from his black overcoat.

"Must you go now, Riku?"-

"Was it worth my being here?"-

"More than you think. But it seemed so fast."-

"Time marches on for us, Sora." Riku placed his hands on Sora's shoulders. Then, he placed Sora close to him and hugged him tightly. "This is over for now, but there will be another time in the future." Sora's eyes filled with tears and began to roll down his cheek. He nuzzled himself tightly against Riku, taking in the warmth of his being for one last time. Riku then gazed into his friend's eyes. "Don't cry for me, Sora. This isn't the end, but only the beginning. Live your life to the fullest and I swear, we will meet again."

I have done as you said, Riku. I've lived my life to the fullest. Kairi and I have spent our lives together. We were married and were blessed with children. And now, my children have children of their own. Life could not be better my friend. If you were here, you'd be proud. And once again, I place these flowers upon your grave as I had since those days long passed.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted. She approaches him, this now feeble elder. "Are you here again?"

"I am just paying my respects to Riku, dear." Sora replied.

"Such dedication, Sora. That is why I love you." She gazes at Riku's grave. "I believe if he were here, he would be proud of what you've done."

"Yes. I know he would be." He gazed into Kairi's eyes. He then held her hand tightly. "Tell me, Kairi. Have I led a good life? Have I lived every day to the fullest?"

"You are my husband and a loving father and grandfather." Kairi replied. "I would not have you any other way."

"Thank you…"-

Suddenly, a voice shouted out from the beach. It was a child, one of Sora's grandkids. A young boy with blue eyes and funny enough, strands of silver hair. Because of this, in memory of his relative, he was dubbed the name Riku.

"Grandpa!" the child shouted. "Grandpa Sora! Grandma Kairi!"

"Riku!" Sora cried. The child worked his way to the island and ran into his grandfather's arms. "What are you doing here, my boy?"

"We're collecting mushrooms, Grandpa! Just like what you and Grand Uncle Riku and Grandma Kairi did when you were kids!"-

"That's right, Riku! You are absolutely right!"-

"We're gonna build a raft and go places! We'll see other worlds just like you did!"-

"And I hope you get there, Riku!" He patted the boy on his head. Little Riku smiled and then ran back to join his friends as well.

"He has such high spirits, Sora." Kairi said, linking her arm with Sora's. She laid her head upon her shoulder. "Just like we did when we were kids."

"Brings back old memories, eh sweetheart?"-

"It certainly does." She looked at Sora. "Well, what do you say we start heading back and leave the kids to play around?"

"Yes, I could go for a nice stroll in the town." Sora chuckled. The two walked together, back to the boats tied up at the dock. Sora's grandchildren scampered about the island, playing games and going on little adventures. Sora gazed back at where Riku's grave was located. He smiled and he and Kairi went on their way.

Rarely anything has changed around here since we were kids, Riku. The old Paopu tree you used to sit on and think is still there. Its roots grow deep and the tree stays strong. The activity we used to do when we were kids now reverberates through my grandkids. The island is still the same even after so many years. The spray of the sea, the glistening of the beaches, the shining sun, the cool sea breeze rustling in the trees. All has remained the same since then. My time is almost finished in this life, but I have no regrets. I have lived my life to the fullest. And soon, Riku, we will meet again.