Cloud and Leon had been standing to the side watching the scene unfold before them. Cloud through down the book and drew his sword. Ansem turned toward him at the sound of his metal. "You have nothing to do with this so don't interfere. I came for them, not you." He said before saying something under his breath. Cloud suddenly couldn't even move his hand much less his entire body. Ansem turned his back to the two men and returned his attention to the passed out Riku and trapped Sora. He whispered a spell and the three of them disappeared from the room. Cloud was finally able to move. He grabbed the book from the floor and opened it to the correct page. "What are you doing?" Leon asked as he saw this. "Sora would have wanted me to finish the spell. I'm going to finish it and maybe they can help us save them." Cloud said as he began the chant again without interruption. Leon only stood back as the light began to shine again starting the same process Sora had gone through. When the light faded in the middle of the shattered heartless sign, there stood many men and women Cloud's and Leon's age. They seemed dazed as they looked at their hands and feet. One looked up at them with glistening eyes. "Thank you. We will do anything to help you. Just name it." She said. The others nodded without hesitation.
Sora sat across from Riku, his hands bound behind his back. He looked at the silver haired boy in front of him before speaking. "What did you mean? You know, when you said that he was the one who had done those things to you?" Sora asked, his voice sounding mature for the first time since he had turned eighteen. His face was so sad and filled with emotion that Riku couldn't look at him. "Remember the spell he used on you? Well he tried to use that spell on me when I was fifteen. It was interrupted by something so I got lucky. I could have been one of those failed experiments you saw back there." He said as he looked at the ground. Sora couldn't imagine Riku being one of them. He just couldn't. Sora then began to wiggle beside his boyfriend as carefully as possible. Once beside him, he leaned onto Riku making the older boy smile slightly. Riku laid his chin on Sora's brown gravity defiant locks, closing his eyes as he rested there. Sora didn't know what was to come but he didn't want to go without making up with Riku. "Riku." he said in a small voice but loud enough for Riku to hear. "Yes?" he asked. "I'm sorry about everything. If it wasn't for me then you wouldn't have gotten tangled into this mess." Sora said in a sad voice. "Don't say such things. There's nothing for you to apologize about. It was me who cheated on you. It was me who decided to get involved in this mess because I love you. I could have ran away from that fight two years ago in the hallway if I hadn't of loved you then. I still love you now no matter what my actions may say." Riku said. Sora smiled slightly as Riku said this. He had chosen to stay by Sora's side during that fight. "Riku, why did you cheat on me?" he asked timidly. Riku didn't even stiffen at the question. He felt that it was about time he answered the so long avoided question. "I…I just thought you would be happier without me in your life. I figured that if you caught me then you would never want to come near me again. I always brought pain and misery in your life so I wanted to remove myself from your life. But then I realized that I only caused even more pain and misery for you. I instantly regretted my decision. I realized, Sora, that there is one thing that will never change no matter what I say. I can't ever stop loving you even if I tried." He said in a soft voice. Sora was quiet for a moment before speaking up again. "I love you too Riku. Besides, no matter how hard you tried you couldn't survive without love." Sora said before gently dozing off into sleep while still leaning on Riku.
Riku woke to someone's voice. "But they just look so cute! I don't want to disturb them!" said a woman's voice. "Do you want to save them or not?" asked a man's voice. Riku opened his eyes to see two people standing in front of them with the keys in hand. "Aw, they woke up anyway." Said the woman who moved in and undid the chains that were holding Riku's hands together and moving onto Sora. Sora slept through his release. "That's just like him to sleep through the most important things." Riku said. Sora's chest rose and fell in the rhythm of sleep. Riku smiled slightly as he watched him. The woman smiled along with him but it was the man who interrupted them. "Hello? You want to save him or not? If you do get him up and get your ass moving." He said before he crossed his arms sternly. "Ok, ok, you don't have top be all stern about it." Riku said as he lightly shook Sora awake. The boy only groaned in his sleep before turning over with his back to them. "He's hard to wake up." Riku explained to the impatient man and giggling woman. The man sighed in irritation before he began to help Riku in trying to wake Sora up. Finally the brunette opened his eyes, irritation clear on his face. "Geez, you're worse than my alarm clock in the morning." Sora said as he sat up rubbing his eyes. "Finally! Get up. We have to leave here as soon as possible." Said the man. "Who-who are you! Are you trying to kidnap me! Ah! Get away! Riku help!" Sora began to rant. Riku laughed at Sora as he scrambled behind the silver haired boy. "First of all, my name is Jonathan and this is Cacie. Second, we're here to rescue you." Jonathan said. "And third, Sora, you can use your keyblade when you're in danger you know." Riku said as he looked at him over his shoulder. Sora smiled sheepishly before stepping out beside Riku and giving the two apologetic smiles.
The four snuck down the halls without a sound in case Ansem or Sephiroth were prowling the hallways. Soon they entered the room again, Sora and Riku awed at the sight of all the people back to their original state. He looked at Cloud and smiled his trademark smile before turning to the two people who had led them through the hallways and saved them. "Thank you. Riku and I appreciate this so much. What can we do to repay you?" he asked. His eyes were sincere, he actually was starting to look and act his age. Riku and Cloud couldn't help but give small smile to another as Sora did this. This experience hadn't been such a bad one after all. Sora was finally realizing the world around him and that he had to grow up sometime so why not now? Sora really was becoming a fine young man. Cloud's face fell slightly as he realized how he would slightly miss the old Sora. The one he used to have to keep a good eye on no matter what happened. But now he wouldn't have to. Leon placed a hand on Cloud's shoulder as if he knew what he was thinking. Cloud smiled at him before looking back over at his younger brother. No matter what he would still be older than him. That he was thankful for. "Oh, no! We were paying you back for helping us. So you don't have to repay us. You did us a much bigger favor when you turned us back to our normal state. We thank you for that. Besides, this was the least we could have done for you." Cacie said as she smiled at Sora. Sora nodded before he turned and face Cloud, Leon, and Riku. "There's still one thing we have to do before we leave this place. We still need to defeat Ansem and his stupid dog Sephiroth. But first we need to get these people to the ship where they will be safe until we can leave." Sora said with a serious face. This time, it actually worked. Cloud, Leon, and Riku nodded as soon as Sora finished. The sooner this entire thing ended the sooner they could get home.
Sigh Only one more chapter left...so sad isn't it? Well, I hope you all have enjoyed this so far. I'm happy at how many people have supported me throughout this entire story. Thank you all!