Disclaimer: H'okay so….I don't own these guys, I just manipulate them.Might I add that I also do this for no profit whatsoever (though I will accept charitable donations 3)

Caution: Riku x Leon fluff…

/I was blue, just as blue as I could be
Ev'ry day was a cloudy day for me
Then good luck came a-knocking at my door
Skies were gray but they're not gray anymore

Blue skies smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies do I see

Bluebirds singing a song
Nothing but bluebirds all day long

Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my how they fly

Blue days, all of them gone
Nothing but blue skies from now on

I should care if the wind blows east or west
I should fret if the worst looks like the best
I should mind if they say it can't be true
I should smile, that's exactly what I do
/

-Rod Stewart, feat. Dave Koz, Blue Skies

Riku had been on death's doorstep when Sora plunged the Soul Eater into his breast. He was pulled out of the whiteness and plunged into so many memories of Sora and Kairi, of the time they spent together on Destiny Islands before that fateful night, the few memories that Ansem had left within him…. And the pain from his near-dead body. The boy knew that Sora was seeing everything that was flashing before his eyes, and so much more.

He tried desperately to push forward the images where he had shown nothing but kindness and near adoration to Sora, but he had no control over what gushed forth from his soul. He had lied to himself when he thought he was ready to die…. No, upon seeing Sora the way he had been rekindled the burning desire to live.

Let me save him!

White light engulfed everything, placing him back into his pain-free stupor as he floated in nothingness. Before him, he saw the image of the Dark Sora and he reached for him—just as Riku had before he fell into darkness.

Sora! Take my hand this time!

He felt as if there were tears streaming down his face as he reached out. He wanted to move closer, but he couldn't.

Sora would have to come to him.

The blue-eyed boy took a step forward, a vibrant splotch of black against the endless abyss of light. He too, appeared to be crying as he reached forward. However, as soon as their fingertips touched, Sora's new skin and body began to crack and crumble. Beneath, patches of Sora's real skin color and clothing emerged.

Grab my hand! I can save you! I can bring you back to the light!

"NO!" Sora screamed, recoiling in pain and horror. As he shrank away, more darkness poured into the white and engulfed him within it.

Sora!

Yet Sora heard nothing, said nothing. The shadows surrounded him, and he sank back into them, his mismatched yellow-and-blue eyes staring forlornly at Riku, as if that was to be the last time they ever saw each other with one of them leaving alive. Sora reached out once more, the white fingertips from his glove standing starkly against the shadows. His mouth moved, but no words came out as he was ripped from the void.

Riku would not give up! He had almost had Sora that time—he had almost reclaimed his best friend and the only one he had ever loved—and to give up now would have wasted everything. He looked wildly around him, seeing nothing but the same colorless space around him. And so, he stepped forward realizing that now that nothing from the real world touched this realm of limbo, he was free to move.

He began to run.

"Riku!" Kairi shouted wiping her tears away and getting off of her bruised and aching knees. The shock and utter self-loathing caused by Sora's words would have to wait—her friend was dying. She ran over to the place where the silver-haired boy lay paralyzed. She dropped to the ground again next to him, drenched from head to toe. She put her hands on his shoulders and examined the damage from the wounds the Heartless left.

Only…there were no wounds…. There wasn't even a gash from where Sora had rammed his sword into Riku's chest. "Wake up…" She whispered, shaking him gently. "Riku! Wake up!"

"Stop shaking him" A cold voice said from behind her.

She turned around and saw Leon towering over her, Gunblade in hand as he looked past her and down at the injured boy at her side. "What happened to him?" He asked calmly, crouching down next to her to get a better look at Riku. He reached forward, placing his hand against Riku's throat to check for a pulse.

"S-Sora came…H-he gave into darkness and tried to kill Riku and I!" She said frantically, almost on the verge of tears. "He drove a sword into Riku's heart, but then a white light came and swallowed us all. When it left, Sora said he contained Riku's memories and my memories and…. A-Ansem's memories…. But I don't know who that is!"

Leon searched her eyes for a moment before standing again. "The Keyblade master has gone over to the side of the Heartless?" A pained look flashed across his face before vanishing into the same stoic countenance he usually displayed. "Donald!" He shouted at the duck that then came at a fast paced waddle over. "Riku has no injuries and he's alive. He may just be sleeping, but I want you to use Curaga and an elixir on him—just in case. I need to go talk to the others…Bring him into the Green Room of the Hotel before you try to heal him. He needs to get out of this rain before he contracts a sickness that magic can't heal."

"Yeah, sure." Donald said with a shadow of his old attitude. He had been terribly shaken upon witnessing first had what Sora had done to Riku and couldn't muster the energy to be happy. "Goofy an' I'll take him right up."

"Good. When you're done, leave him alone in the room and I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't let him out and don't let anyone but me in…. This includes keeping Kairi out too." Leon said briskly before he took off at a jog in the direction of the third district.

Riku stopped running suddenly, his body convulsed with pain and he stumbled and fell on the "ground". He shouted into the void and tried to stand but soon felt his limbs anchored to the floor, his arms restrained at his sides as a cold numbness spread into his body.

Am I finally dying?

He thought, striving to fight against it still, to no avail.

I can't give up…I won't give up!

But his entire body felt so cold, so heavy. The pain he had felt lingered upon the surface of his skin still, though not nearly as acute as it had been. He tried to shout for help, but found that his lips were immovable. His heart sank.

…So this is really death…

"His heartbeat is getting faster"

What?

"Gawrsh, d'ya think we should leave him now?"

Who is that?

"I think so…. Come on, let's go…"

No! Don't leave me!

The white void was slowly turning into gray and then fading further into blackness. First, he felt the dull throbbing of his heart as it pumped the blood in his veins. Then came the air in his lungs being slowly pushed in and out by the involuntary machinations of his subconscious. Then came feeling of cloth against his skin, then warmth and the coldness down in his toes.

I'm alive…

He opened his eyes and sat up, his bones and joints aching in protest. He suddenly felt lightheaded and shook his heard to clear his blurry eyes. The room around him was entirely green and, though the tones of it were meant to be gentle, they hurt his eyes.

He looked slowly about the room and realized that he had been left all alone. Part of him was comforted by that fact, but the other part was growing frantic. He needed to leave here, to get his sword back and go hunt down Sora even if it meant destroying himself in the process.

"I was given a second chance…" He whispered into the empty room. He drew his knees up to his chest and rested his chin upon one of them and stared out into the green wall in front of him. Yes, he would go to any lengths to get Sora back, but he still didn't want to die. "I'm a coward…"

"Some would say that, yes." Came a smooth, almost cold voice from the door. "But some would say otherwise…"

He looked dejectedly towards the door and saw Leon leaning against the frame. The man's eyes were down at the floor and out of focus, as if he was remembering something that he rather wished to forget.

"Go away…" Riku murmured, looking away from him. "I don't want to hear your stupid musings…" As he spoke, he felt tears welling up in his eyes. What could Leon possibly have to say to him that could make him feel better? What kind words could this man, this man who had looked at him with righteous contempt since they first met, have to offer. "Leave me alone…"

But, the man did not.

Riku could hear Leon's soft footsteps as he crossed the space between the door and the bed. He moved so quietly that it had startled Riku when he sat down onto the bed next to him. "They aren't stupid…" He said calmly, with a hint of some emotion riku couldn't name tinting his voice. "And I don't care if you don't listen to me…What you did—going into darkness—wasn't cowardly. You plunged yourself headfirst into it…You became a coward when you ran away from Sora."

Riku's head snapped up and he shot a glare at Leon that could melt steel. "I never ran away from him! HE PUSHED ME OUT OF DARKNESS!" He shouted at Leon who didn't look the slightest bit muffled by the forceful outburst.

"I wasn't talking about that." He said calmly, setting his piercing gaze on Riku. "It was before that, when you gave into Ansem…when you started to believe the lies that were told to you…Every time you ran that much further away from Sora." He looked away, down back at the floor.

Riku stared at him in awe for a moment before letting his head fall back against his knees. Leon had verified his every fear and self-accusation.

"But…that doesn't mean that Sora hasn't run from you either…take it from another 'hero'," He snorted at the word. "He ran away every time you tried to reach out to him, to pull him over to the shadow side so that you two could fight together. He ran away every time you challenged his decision to remain rooted in Light." Leon's voice cracked slightly, his stoic behavior betrayed by a past he was continuously being forced to remember.

Riku looked back at him and swore that the man's eyes glistened slightly with tears. "Leon….?" He realized that Leon was no longer speaking of Sora, but himself.

He shook his head and looked over at Riku. "That's not my name, you know. My real name is Squall…I just tell everyone to call me Leon because I don't want to deal with the history that my true name carries. I don't want to remember…And so I run away. I ran away from him right before our world fell into darkness and was destroyed….I don't know what happened to him…" His eyes went out of focus as he looked past Riku out the window behind him. "He could be anywhere…he could be a heartless…But if I had remained by his side, then I would be with him…And not here alone."

The silver-haired boy opened his mouth to speak, but could find no words. He knew very well the guilt that overshadowed Squall's heart. If only he had taken ahold of Sora's hand, he could have saved him…He had been so close, their fingertips had touched…but, well…Riku was still empty handed, wasn't he?

"It was really hard to me to hear the stories Sora would tell about you and Kairi when he was here, waiting for Cid to repair the Gummi ship. It sounded so much like my past that it came to the point where I could no longer stand to listen. Sora's plights were my own and your antics were Seifer's…" His gaze locked onto Riku's. "And I promised myself that no matter how bitter I was, I would help you two come back together—for better or worse…Then maybe I could find some solace for my own mistakes."

Riku smiled and shook his head. "There's no way you could have been like Sora, you're way too serious about everything." He put one of his legs down and reached over and placed his bare hand over Leon's gloved hand and squeezed gently. "And I don't know about Seifer or what happened between you, but if he's anything like me…he's been looking for you by any means he can."

Squall turned his hand so that their palms touched. He squeezed gently in return and smiled gratefully, as if Riku's words had lifted some huge burden. "Thanks, Riku…I hope you're right." He then pulled away and stood. "And don't forget about Kairi…she may not be Sora…and you may hate her for what she's caused…but she still loves you."

Riku looked away. "I know she does…and I've been trying to make her stop…I already have Sora to worry about, I don't want to have to look for her again. "He chuckled softly.

"I see. Well, you're free to go whenever you'd like. Your clothes are over there and we've got you stocked up with all the healing stuff you could carry. If…no, when you find him…come back here and say goodbye before you go back to your islands, would you?"

Riku was caught offguard by the sudden realization that he'd been naked. So with a blush he, looked away from his friend. "I-I'll try my hardest…See ya around, Squall." He glanced back over at him to see him smile.

"I'll let you get away with calling me Squall in private."

"Gee thanks, and I'll be sure not to tell anyone that you were alone in a room with a naked 14 year-old boy." He gave Leon a thumbs up.

"Whatever." He said with a small smile and the shake of his head before he left, leaving Riku alone in the room again.

"Not too bad of a guy past the ice…" Riku said as he climbed out of bed and hastily put on his clothing. Once dressed, he rummaged through his pockets and found a plethora of Mega potions and Mega ethers and Mega elixirs. "Wow….he wasn't kidding!" He said with widened eyes. "well then, I guess I have no choice now but to go into the darkness and save Sora…" He held out his hand and willed for the Soul Eater to appear. Sure enough, he felt the familiar weight of it in his palm. "And destroy Ansem once and for all…"

He sliced open a portal into darkness in the room and took a deep breath before he stepped into it, taking one last furtive glance around the room.

The shadows welcomed him as they always had.

TBC…

A/N: yeah, nothing really happened in this part, but I figured I should update before GREEL's head exploded. This fic should be wrapping up very shortly and I haven't figured whether it should end happily or in disaster. I'm open to suggestions, because yeah. And I could have had so much more happen between Riku and Leon, but I didn't know how you guys would react. (sweatdrop)

R/R:

MoonGoddessKonoko: Of course I stopped right there! I gotta keep you guys reading somehow lmao

The Brat Prince: Well, there you have it. Keep reading! And yay for the Lestat reference!

KamirineGoddess: xD Thanks! But I don't really think this story is all that good. It was better in the beginning when I could actually remember where I meant to take this story. (sweatdrop) but I'm glad that you like it! Thanks for your review!

Mizuki hikari: Wish granted.

SiLvEr-kLoWd: Thankies!

OrochiGreel: Yeah Ansem x Sora is an odd pairing, which is why I chose it! Thanks for your multiple reviews and constant ushering me to update.

Lonely Moon: Thanks, I hope you won't lose interest before this thing is over.

RavenColoredNight: wow! Thanks a lot! I was really worried that everyone was acting super OOC. But your review renewed my confidence a bit!

Elemental-Zero: There ya go! I look forward to what you think!

Nikore Strife: well now I'm past Timeless River. It's my bf's copy so I don't get to play too much. And…I'm more addicted to the Gummi ship levels than anything. (sweatdrop) And I already know how the game ends and I've seen the secret ending so it's all good! Thanks for reviewing!

Xeora: He lives, never worry. Chances are that he'll live through the end of this story…maybe. Yeah…keep reading! And don't eat me!

Well that takes care of the lot of you. Please give me some tips. I could use them….Because this thing could end up with some people you want to live dead. Yeah. Until next time I'm bored!

DB