Meh. Got inspired and wrote it in less than two days. XP But I was depressed and all…I'm still chasing after Riku in KH2, and this is kind of what was born from it. Enough hinting! Lessgo!

Finding You

"I…I don't understand."

The words sounded so quiet, muffled by the steady stream of rain. Sighing, the cloaked boy tried to remember. Hadn't there been another time it rained, only recently? No, it had been a few months. But he still remembered that fight, the one that had him gritting his teeth against the blood and the tears. To restore…him…

"I found you. I found you, Riku," the speaker continued, taking a step forward. "Don't you realize how much that means to me? I've been searching for so long…"

"I'm sorry, Sora."

"Don't say that!" Sora's voice bordered on a scream. "Don't say that," he said again, quieter, "since you don't mean it."

There was a silence broken only by the whispers of the rain as it borrowed into their clothes, bounced against the street. "I have to go now," Riku said finally, drawing the hood back up over his flowing silver hair.

"Bastard," Sora muttered. "You heartless bastard. You don't even know what you've done to me, do you?" He shook his head, laughing bitterly. "I've been chasing you for the past four years, Riku! And all you've been doing for so long is dancing in front of my nose, teasing me with the illusion of getting closer to you. It's been going on for so long now, that…it's the only thing that keeps me going. You're the reason why I get up, the first thing I think about, the only thing that gives my life direction and purpose."

"I thought that was Kairi's job." Riku's voice was like acid, and Sora turned away, as though burned.

"Kai…didn't you hear, Riku? Kairi's…not alive anymore." Tears burned at the corners of Sora's eyes, and he turned a sizzling blue glare on Riku. "She was waiting for you, too. Used to be, you were the only one she asked about, before the fever got her."

Riku shook his head, a self-mocking grin appearing on the lower half of his face, which was still visible even with the cloak. "Kairi. Don't you remember, Sora? You replaced me with her. You replaced me, found a new best friend that you could even share a paopu with. And then you replaced me with them, your new friends. So when both of them are gone, you finally turn back to me. Heh." He started to walk away, hands on his hips, and Sora followed anxiously. "It's too late now, Sora. I got tired of you. I got tired of waiting for you to realize that I'd always be there for you, and I finally decided you never would."

"Riku…" Sora shook his head. "If you meant so little to me, I would have stopped looking a long time ago."

Riku stopped walking abruptly, turning to Sora slowly. His lips were slightly parted in surprise, but he said nothing. Instead he waited, in case the younger boy intended to continue.

Which Sora did. "You're the reason why I didn't go back to the islands with Kairi. If I loved her, she would have been enough. But I didn't love her, Riku…" He strode forward suddenly, seizing Riku by the cloak firmly. "I loved you, you heartless bastard. And I still love you," he said firmly. "I'm not afraid to say it anymore."

Blue eyes glared into aquamarine, and suddenly a sad smile appeared on Riku's face. He shimmered faintly, eliciting a startled gasp from Sora. "My hold on this world is very weak, Sora," he said in a voice that echoed slightly. "It has been ever since Ansem took hold of my body. I'm little more than a specter now." He tore his eyes from the pain in Sora's blue ones, looking at the rain-spattered ground. "But I promised myself that…I would meet each of you one last time. I met Kairi last year, before she died. And now I've met you."

Sora's eyes widened in horror. "No, Riku…!"

Pressing a finger to Sora's lips, Riku shook his head. "I don't have the strength to hang on any longer, Sora. I would do anything, if it meant I could stay with you. But there's nothing left to hold on to. So…" He reached up and pulled back the hood, brushing a silver strand out of his eyes. "Let me have this." And he pressed his lips to Sora's, bracing one hand behind Sora's head to hold him there. It didn't take long for Sora to return the kiss, but it was fleeting.

A lump rose in Sora's throat as Riku drew back. The city around them was turning black but for the place where they stood, and it was eerily familiar to Sora. "Riku," he said once when he saw Riku's feet leave the ground. The silver-haired boy stretched a hand out to him, as he had so many times. "It's not gonna happen," Sora whispered, reaching out and finally seizing the offered hand. "I'm not gonna let it happen!"

But Riku's body was already floating, anchored to the ground only by their intertwined hands. The shimmer was growing stronger, so that at times he looked like molten silver. "I'll see you again, Sora," he promised, a faint memory of his old smirk appearing on his face. He released Sora's hand and started to drift away, still shimmering until only a few blue gleams were left. "On the other side…of the door…"

"Riku!"

A/N: Yeah, yeah, angst. It kind of ended like this because I have this fear that I'll finally find him, and he'll just disappear in my (Sora's) arms…whoa. I'm getting to deep for myself. More importantly, why can't I just write a happy fun fun story every once in a while? Sigh…well, I'm working on my latest project, which ya'll will love, cuz…NOBODY DIES! (And it is essentially happy fun fun, so that's good too.) :D