Riku gently cradled Kage's unconcious body in his arms until she began to stir. With a groan, Kage pressed a hand to the back of her head and sat up slowly.

"Ow," she said through gritted teeth. She took her hand away from her head and looked at it, then began probing the back of her skull again. "Ugh, what happened?"

"Maleficent cracked you in the head," Riku informed her, helping her sit up.

"I shouldn't have let my guard down," Kage groaned. "Well, I don't think I have a concussion. Then again, Cloud always said I had an abnormally thick skull." She turned her deep green eyes on Riku and grinned. "You okay, Riku?"

"I'm fine," Riku assured her. "Maleficent left after you went out like a light."

"She didn't touch you? Good. Next time you see her, Riku, get as far away from her as you can."

"Why?" Riku asked. Kage looked so surprised at the question that he had to elaborate. "You're just over reacting, Kage. I think your amnesia's finally getting the better of you."

"I don't have amnesia anymore, Riku," Kage said. "And my name is Mizu. The same name you gave me back home is my real name."

Riku stared at her incredulously, his eyes fixed on hers, then slowly raised his hand to gently cup her head, and pulled her in close.

"She really knocked you for a loop, huh?" he asked, checking for signs of a concussion or lump. Kage just started laughing.

"Riku," she said after she'd gotten a little of her breath back, gently grabbing hold of his wrist and taking his hand away from her head. "Riku, I'm fine, really! I got my memory back at the Olympus Coliseum. Just ask Sora, he was there!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

Riku stared at her for a moment more, then pressed a hand to her forehead, checking for a fever. Kage tried to hold it in, but she started laughing again anyway.

"Kage, look at me," Riku said sharply, grabbing Kage by the head and turning her face so they were looking into each other's eyes. "You're sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine! ... You know, your eyes are just like Sephiroth's."

"Okay, now I'm really worried!" Riku exclaimed, sitting back on his heels.

"Sorry," Kage said, "it's just that this is the first time I've ever really noticed. You look so much like him I could almost swear that Sephiroth's your father."

"How did-- Where did-- Since when-- What in the world are you talking about?" Riku spluttered.

"Idle speculation, that's all," Kage said with a shrug. She got to her feet and gave Riku a hand up, and he caught a glimpse of something on her wrist out of the corner of his eye. He grabbed it and turned it so the veins were facing upwards, along with a fairly fresh scar.

"What happened?" he demanded harshly, gently touching the new cut running perpenicular to the vein and parallel to a dozen others.

"Oh, that!" Kage said, and she smiled at him. "Before it gets firmly lodged in your head, I'm not suicidal. For one, I cut it the wrong way and for two, it's not long enough or deep enough to cause any damage."

"Then what happened?"

"Stop scowling, will you? It's part of a ritual I learned when I was still working the streats. It just means that Sora's my newest brother. He has a scar there, too." Riku glared at her, thinking she was lying about it, and she glared right back. "I'm serious. It's nothing to worry about, so don't." Riku glared for a second more, then sighed and let go of her wrist. She began rubbing it, and Riku saw that his fingers had left marks.

"You'd better not be lying to me," he said, but didn't apologize for hurting her, and she didn't seem to expect him to.

"Why would I do that?" Kage snapped. "And since when have I ever lied to you?" She stopped rubbing her wrist and looked at him with concern in her eyes. "Is something wrong? You've always trusted me before, so why don't you now?"

"I can't trust anyone anymore," Riku said, looking away. "Even Sora turned his back on me. He-- well, you saw what happened."

"Oh, that," Kage snorted. "Riku, Sora really wanted you to come with him, but the thing is that most Gummi Ships can only hold four people, and Donald and Goofy are trying to find their king. All I know is that they need to find him and get him back to his castle as soon as possible. Sora's helping them look, and they're helping him look for you and Kairi. I guess that since you were already here and safe, Donald didn't see a reason to fill up another space in the ship. It's not that Sora abandoned you, Riku, it's that he's trying to help save others."

"Is that what they told you?" Riku demanded.

"No, that's what I gleaned from a boat-load of eavesdropping and several years of getting the most information out of only a few clues," Kage admitted. "Seriously, Riku, Sora's been worried sick. Almost literally a few times, and that had me worried, too."

"Were you worried about me?" Riku felt compelled to ask.

"Frankly I knew I didn't have any reason to be, but I still think I got an ulcer," Kage said lightly. "I even chewed down my nails." She lost the faint trace of humor on her face and stared at him with completely somber eyes. "Riku, I couldn't sleep at night I was so scared something had happened to you. More so after I got my memory back. I kept going through that night over and over again in my head, just to reassure myself that you were alright, or as close to it as you could possibly be. And what little sleep I did get was so full of nightmares about what could have happened that I was afraid to so much as close my eyes. I've never been so scared in my entire life, not even the night Terra died. You mean the world to me, Riku, and I'm dead scared of losing you. I'm just so glad you're alright."

She stepped up close to him and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face into his shirt. He could feel how tense she was, and the strength that she held to him with surprised him. On impulse, he wrapped his own arms around her and held her just as fiercely, resting his cheek on the top of her head. Whether they stayed that way for a second or for a millenium, Riku didn't know, but an unfamiliar voice broke into the moment.