Sora groaned in his sleep as he rolled over. He soon opened his eyes, shielding them from light. Once his eyes adjusted to the lights, he looked at the person sitting in a chair beside him. He was asleep. Sora smiled in amusement. "Riku." he said as he reached out a hand. He immediately regretted it. Pain surged through his entire body making him wince and bring his hand back to the bed. Riku stirred and looked up. "Sora?" he asked, sleep riding his voice. Sora smiled. At least that didn't cause him pain. Riku wiped the sleep from his eyes as he realized Sora was awake. "How do you feel?" he asked as his worried eyes watched him. Sora looked at the wall across from him, a frown on his thin face. "I hurt with every movement. I don't understand though." He said. "Of course you hurt. That Ansem raped you over and over again, that rough bastard." Riku said with a glare at the floor. "No. I meant about why he wanted me to join the dark side so bad." Sora said. "He bet he just wants you as his fuck toy as the rest of his life. That bastard did his work on you." Riku said as his glare to the floor got fiercer. Sora winced in pain as the memories came to him. He hated them. He looked at Riku with an uneasy smile yet it was still happy. "But now he can't do anything. I'm with you." Sora said. Riku smiled at him. "I wouldn't let him if he tried." He answered.
Cloud looked up as Riku stood at the door. He gestured to him to come in. Cloud didn't waste any time in getting over to Sora's side. Sora smiled at him. The hospital was a horrible place. At least it was to Sora. Cloud gave him a comforting smile to try and cheer him up. "How long before you can be released?" he asked. "Two days." Sora replied unhappily. Cloud frowned before taking Sora's hand and patting it. "Don't worry. We''l be here to keep you company. We'll protect you." He said in a brotherly voice with affection in each word. Riku watched the brothers as he sat down. He had known how much Cloud had cared for Sora but he had never seen this side of him. He smiled at the pair. Cloud looked up at him and stopped smiling right away. Cloud pulled a chair up beside his brother's bed and sat in it as he tried to talk about things that would get his mind off the unhappy events in his life. Riku only watched them before he fell asleep again listening to the affection between the brothers.
Finally, Sora was allowed to go home. His energy had been restored and his chubby features had come back. He looked as if nothing had happened to him. Riku and Cloud hadn't talked ever since they came back from the heartless castle where Ansem lived. Riku hung back behind the other three allowing them the get far ahead of them. He was thinking about how he could keep Ansem away. Sora glanced back at him with concerned eyes before he turned and faced ahead. Riku gave him a smile when he caught his gaze again. Sora gave a quick smile before looking ahead of himself for the second time. Riku's eyes showed amusement when Sora glanced back a third time. Sora replied with his trademark smile and soon stopped looking back. Later that night, Leon and Cloud left the pair alone to talk. Well, Leon had convinced Cloud to leave his brother alone with Riku to do more "important" things. Sora sat silently staring at his feet. Riku pretended to watch the television but kept glancing over at Sora. The light from the television kept shining on Sora in just the right way in the dark room. Sora finally looked up at the staring Riku. "What? Do I have something on my face?" asked Sora as a hand flew to the side of his mouth. Riku shook his head and got up. The remote fell to the ground as Riku walked over to Sora and sat beside him with affectionate eyes. Sora stopped rubbing at his mouth as he felt the weight shift on the couch. He looked over at the mood stricken Riku with curious eyes. "R-Riku?" he asked. Riku only gave a small smile before leaning in and kissing Sora passionately. It took Sora a minute to realize what was happening before he responded as passionate as Riku. Then, Riku surprised Sora when he pulled away. Instead of going in for another kiss, Riku pulled Sora into a tight hug, tears slowly crawling down his face. Sora, surprised by this, took a minute to react. He slowly began to relax in Riku's grip. Riku finally spoke after a couple of minutes. "I'm sorry Sora for letting this happen to you. I should have protected you more. I'm sorry." He said to Sora's surprise. Sora trailed his arms around Riku's waist and hugged back, his eyes closed. "It's not your fault. No one expected it. Besides, I should have defended myself in some way before he took me away. It's my fault." Sora said as he began to burry his face in Riku's shirt, tears of his own wetting it. "But we should have expected something. We should have known that it wasn't over yet. I should have known. I just hope I can protect you better in the future." Riku said as he buried his face into Sora's gravity defiant hair. They sat like this for a long moment. Neither one spoke until Sora finally pulled away. "I believe in you Riku. I don't blame you so you shouldn't blame yourself either. That's how you can help me right now." Sora said as he looked directly into Riku's eyes. Riku smiled before nodding. "Okay. I won't blame myself just yet." He said. "Not ever!" Sora said with determined eyes. "Fine. I won't blame myself ever." He said before they kissed passionately. Riku could tell Sora was still shaken by the Ansem incident so he didn't try anything. Sora only smiled as he fell asleep on Riku's lap, arms wrapped around Riku's neck. They simply enjoyed the moment while they could because they weren't sure when they would have this kind of moment again.
Ok, her's the next chapter! I still feel bad about making you guys wait forever for the twenty first chapter. Oh well, I'll just have to make the next chapter really good! Okay?