Moonglow

Tying New Strings

Summary: (multiple pairings) What would have happened if Kairi hadn't recognized Sora as a heartless? Would Riku have been able to break free from Ansem's grasp in time to save Sora's heart from being completely destroyed by The Darkness? Let's find out, shall we?

Disclaimer: man…haven't written one of these in a looooong time…. But yeah, as much as I love Kingdom Hearts and all the charries involved in the game, Alas, it's not mine. I wish I had enough money to change that though.

-For all we know
We may never meet again
Before you go
Make this moment sweet again

We won't say goodnight
Until the last minute
I'll hold out my hand
And my heart will be in it

For all we know
This may only be a dream
We come and go
Like a ripple on a stream

So love me, tonight
Tomorrow was made for some
Tomorrow may never come
For all we know
Tomorrow may never come
For all we know –

Rod Stewart "For All We Know"


"A-Ansem…what are you doing?" The heartless boy asked nervously as he was strapped to the same wall Riku was during his imprisonment.

"Hush..." The older man said quietly. "This is all necessary. I need to remove all those awful memories of Riku in here" He laid his hand over Sora's chest, delighting in the icy feel of a heartless against his palm. "Now it will hurt, do not think that it won't." He flashed a devilish grin and took a step back, sending forth the same type of corrosive darkness he had given Riku in the beginning, knowing that it would eat away at all the memories on the surface and bury the rest deep underneath the wreckage his mind and heart would become.

The boy had squeezed his eyes shut as the blend of acid green and black energy tendrils shot at him, sinking into his chest and burning so badly, it felt as if the fires of hell had been loosed within him. He cried out in pain , thrashing as much as his ties could allow. "STOP IT! MAKE IT STOP!" he shouted at the grinning madman in front of him. But still the energy came, attacking the light within him and trying to smother it.

"Don't beg!" Ansem shouted back, displaying distaste for the first time since discovering Sora. Instead of listening to the boy, he doubled the load and then tripled it, giving him more power than he had ever given Riku. He would make Sora the ruthless killer that Riku never could be. "It's most unbecoming!"

The world frizzled, sparked and then went black. Sora had so much strength now that he could barely control his breathing, much less anything else. His fists clenched and unclenched as it coursed through his veins, turning the heartless flesh back into human skin, only to be covered with what looked like blue material, outlining his every tendon. The same happened to the rest of his body as his mind was dragged further and further into sweet chaos.

He opened his eyes, ignoring the part of him somewhere deep down forcing the tears to the surface. They spilled over his cheeks, but he did not feel weak, far from it.

Ansem had made him stronger.

Ansem had saved him from Riku's corruption.

He mirrored his master's maniacal grin as he pulled his fist forward, easily tearing the ties of darkness that Riku never could. Then he tore the dark rope from his throat and freed the rest of his limbs. He was no taller than before, no physical change other than reverting to a somewhat normal looking state, and yet he had changed profoundly on the inside.

"Call the heartless." Ansem barked.

And Sora obeyed. And the Heartless obeyed, pooling around his feet like loyal dogs. Sora was disgusted with them and kicked the nearest one as hard as he could, sending it screeching back into the darkness out of sight. He grinned and picked up the next by its head and tore it from its body and tossed both pieces aside, watching as they vanished in a puff of smoke and as its heart tried to escape, only to be mauled by the other Heartless.

Ansem was purely and maliciously pleased with his new pet. "Come here, Sora" The boy obeyed without a second thought, lowering himself to one knee before the silver haired man.

"Yes Master?" He said in a voice that was a horrifying echo of Sora's voice; filled with hate and malice and malevolence that even Ansem's voice didn't contain.

"Tell me, Sora… Who do you serve?"

"You, Master." His head never left the bowed position as he answered, his entire manner entirely obedient. There's no room in a servants brain for any thought other than to please his master.

"Very good. Stand."

Without a second's hesitation, Sora rose to his feet, head still bowed so as not to look Ansem in the eye.

"Why are you crying?" He lifted the boy's chin, regarding his pallid, tear streaked face. "Are you not happy with what I've done for you?"

"The foolish part of me weeps for what I've lost." He said bitterly, averting his eyes again. "But it shall be gone soon."

"It had better be. Now I have a few more things to teach you before I let you go play with Riku."

"Yes, Master."


Kairi… Kairi…

He was really going to see her again? Oh god he couldn't take it! He'd go back to Ansem rather than face the very person he and Sora fought over all those times. He had never really liked her in that way. She was merely an excuse to spend more time in competition with Sora, as much as he hated to admit it, even after his heart had been corrupted by Ansem's poison.

They made their way through the First District in Traverse Town, Goofy on his left and Donald on his right with that annoying prick Leon in the lead. He wondered how the other people viewed him. Did they think he was a dangerous convict, which he must've looked like with his tattered clothing and glaring expression, or like some haughty famous person fresh out of an epic battle with the heartless? Did famous people even exist in Traverse Town? He didn't know only having been there once before. And even then, it was only to see Sora…and …

And…

It felt as if someone stabbed him in the chest as he looked back on his last time in the town. To think how stupid he was back then was painful in itself. He thought Sora had left him for the people surrounding him now! What an IDIOT! Why hadn't he seen Maleficent's claws wrap around his mind back then! It was so blatantly obvious now!

They made a few turns, walked through a few doorways and made their way into a sparsely decorated house that looked like it had been a storage shack previously. The haughty side of him, used to the huge rooms in Hollow Bastion, felt disgusted by its quaintness. But the rest of his brain humbled the arrogant side and he was plunged in misery again.

"Riku? Is it really you?"

The girl's voice sounded strangely surprised and disappointed at the same time and he grimaced as he heard it. "Yeah, it's me." He said, forcing a smile while murmuring under his breath "unfortunately…" When he raised his eyes from their fixed place on the ground, he saw her face and it had life behind it instead of the death like expression she had had before. Granted, it was not the same as the life she had on Destiny Islands, but then, none of them would ever be the same. He kept his fake smile plastered on. "Glad to see you're finally awake. Sora'd be happy to see it too."

"Where is he? Is he with you?" Her face brightened at the mention of Sora's name and Riku immediately felt a sharp stab of anger and jealousy.

Sora was his. Sora loved him. Why did she care? She didn't fight. She never lost anything. She had no right to worry about Sora.

His smile faded. "No. He's not. It's not your problem anyway." His words sounded harsher than he meant them to.

"I see." She looked hurt and then gave him a bright smile, forced and faked obviously, before retreating to a spot on a bed in the corner. She watched him from across the room as he took a seat at the rickety old table, putting his gloved hand over his face.

"What exactly happened between you all?" Leon asked as he took his usual place leaning against the wall. "Why have you and Sora been fighting? What drove you two to hate each other so much?"

"We never hated each other!" Riku snapped, his head jerking up and his sharp eyes resting on Leon's face. "We fought because…" He paused. He wanted to shout that it was because of her! Because of Kairi! She was the one that drove them into competition. She was the one who made them wonder what was outside the islands! She was the one who drove him and Sora to opposite sides of the battlefield just to find her! She was the reason he fell into Ansem's hands. It was all her fault! "We fought because we were friends… always trying to be better than the other. We were always trying to get the same prize and sometimes we," Each word was ground out as he tried to fight back the hatred welling up inside, as he tried to fight the darkness that was seeping into his heart again. "…we just lost control." His eyes left Leon's and fell onto the split and cracked wood surface of the table, it's appearance was attempted to be hidden underneath a few coats of paint, but it would not change its real status of decay.

"W-where is he now?" Kairi asked meekly, breaking the uneasy silence.

"In the hands of a psychopath." Riku said quietly with an ironic smile, not sure where the amusement came from. "For all I know he's probably being beaten, lied to, corrupted and desecrated by Ansem and the Darkness as we speak." His eyes rested on Kairi.

"W-what! Surely you don't mean that! You've got to be joking!" She shouted back, her hands balling into fists at her sides.

"Do I? He's probably going through the same things that I had to endure while you slept so peacefully. You have no idea what's been going on since your heart was locked within Sora's."

"I didn't ask to be put to sleep! All I wanted was to spend time with my best friends on an adventure! The one that you suggested! You can blame me all you want, but at least tell me what's been happening!"

"You don't need to know. Now, you're an unimportant player in this game." He stood, pushing the chair back as he headed to the door. "All of you are unimportant now…" He opened the door and glanced over his shoulder. "I'll rescue Sora myself… Much like I'm sure you had to do for your loved one, Leon." And with that, the door slammed shut and Riku was wandering through the empty streets of Traverse Town with a heart so corrupt and broken, that not even the Heartless wanted it.

TBC…

A/N: Sorry it took so long, but the outside world has been pushing me around. I got kicked out of my house and I'm now at my grandma's. I'll try to get updates posted as soon as I can, but I can't make any promises. I need to work on A Killer Within next and then after that I'll work on the next chappie.

R/R time:

Tipsy-Dragon: xD! Nice! Well here's the update, enjoy.

Squirrelgurl: I'm glad that someone other than me and my friend kal enjoys the pairing! Everyone else is like "ew that's weird." Or whatever. Meh. Keep reviewing and I'll keep updating!

clueless97:I think Riku would've won! Sure, Leon played the good guy and had to suffer a little, but the puppet (riku) has to suffer humiliation, degredation, angst, possible rape, and all that other good-er I mean terrible stuff! Riku sooooo would've kicked his ass in the argument. Anyway! Yes, Donald has calmed down and probably won't be in the fic for a while. (Thank god.) and hopefully, neither will kairi! XD

Gabrielknight: LMAO! That is the perfect way of describing Ansem! "Insane Ansem is scary. Like some hot, evil version of Michael Jackson minus the singing..."! I laughed so hard after I read that. Anyway, I hate to break it to you, but Ansem is a crazy pedophile! He's always hitting on Riku in Kingdom hearts and making Sadomasochistic innuendos! And I'm glad you enjoy the story : )

Sai-ryo Aura Feana: xD! Get her! RAWR! (helps in chasing after Kairi after donking Sora on the head for being stupid enough to trust Ansem.)

Krimzon: Woo! Didya all hear that? My story is PIMP! (dances) xD Thanks and I'm glad you also enjoyed it!

Xeora: Hey! Now I'm all covered in salt! Yucky!

Will's Girl: Yes, now sora is evil.

Kitsunechibiko: I updated now review!

Yersi Fanel: Please do! Link me to the site! I'm flattered that you wanna put my story up there! Thanks!

Kiishi-kun: Ah okies! Now I know who you are again xD. Um yes, Ansem is an evil, sadistic, mind bending bastard. Poor Riku and Sora (huggles said bishies)

ShadowedDarkness: wow! That's the second review that started out as "Damn you!" And I beat it because I rock. Email me if you'd like me to give you advice on how to beat certain bosses or whatever! I'll be glad to help. And YES Sora is with Ansem! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! It' kinky. I like it. (blows raspberry)

R/R for the ppl who reviewed "Light of the Sun":

Chibi Atariel Tsukai: thank you!

merlyn1382: lol only a little bit : )thanks

All the reviews I get for this fiction are sooo funny or sooo sweet. Thanks for reviewing! Until next time!

DB