Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- Dream State -, Flashback, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

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(Chapter 11: Other)

Sora opened the door to find Xukir standing there stairing at him meaningfully. "Uh... can I ... help you?"

"Sora... I'm so sorry..." Xukir began hanging his head.

Sora headtilted, "Sorry? What for?"

"I've been lying to you from the beginning. But before you get angry, you have to undersand why... I didn't tell you the truth. You see... I didn't want to burden you with reality... you already seemed to be having such a hard time..." Xukir said softly.

"All... alright... so, what is it?" Sora asked with concern.

"It's me Sora. It's Riku." Xukir said raising his head and offering Sora a piercing stare with his dark emerald eyes.

"What?" Sora managed staring at Xukir in shock.

"I know this sounds rediculous... I mean after all, how can I be Riku when you're so sure that he's dead. But Sora, you have to believe me. It's me... and I've missed you so much." Xukir said desperately, closing the space between them and hugging Sora tightly.

Sora was stunned, frozen in place as he stared helplessly at the silver-haired man who was now hugging him. "R-ri... riku?" He stammered in disbelief, slowly raising his hand and experimentally running it through the older man's silver-black hair. "Is... is it really you Riku? What happened to you?" He asked softly, his curiousity getting the better of him.

"Remember... what I told you in the bar? The whole thing about the pieces of me getting stuck inside of you?" Xukir asked.

Sora looked thoughtful and nodded slightly. "Yeah... I remember..."

"Well..." Xukir trailed off, unsure of how to continue. Luckily for him however, Sora seemed to fit the pieces together himself.

"You're a heartless?" Sora asked in shock, stepping back a bit.

Xukir gave Sora a hurt glance, "No. Heartless are creatures that have hearts, they're just corrupted. You might remember that I'd long ago stopped letting the darkness corrupt my heart. But when my heart left me entirely, I became a 'nobody'. It's... really very strange to be a nobody. I have all of my memories, but only the bad ones. Sora, I came back to you so that I could become whole again. So that we could be together again." Xukir said passionately.

Sora was drawn in like a fish to a sparkling lure. He could have Riku back! It was like his birthday and Christmas all rolled into one. But somehow, even as immense joy spread throught him like fire, a small part of him sensed that something was terribly wrong.

Xukir held out his hand to Sora as an invitation for the brunette to accept the truth.

That scene... from his dreams so many years ago... where it had all began. With Riku holding his hand out... and Sora being unable to reach him. It was happening all over again, a part of Sora felt like he was drowing and he couldn't swim to save his life.

He watched his own hand reach out as though he was actually a spirit on the outside looking in. He wanted to shout at himself, "Wake up you fool! Can't you see that this is only an illusion?"

As soon as the hands touched, a switch turned off somewhere within Sora and his eyes became a dark and empty blue. "Riku..." He trilled happily, cluelessly.

"Now then... give me your heart!" Xukir whispered seductively into the boys ear.

----

Boom. Crash!

A storm brewed overhead as a silver-haired man ran as fast as he could go down the streets in between his apartment and the house of his best friend. Dark rain drops began to fall steadily around him and in no time at all he found himself splashing along.

"I hope I'm not too late..." He muttered to himself as he raced as though his life depended on it across the deserted asphault and in between the thatched cottages.

Somehow, this situation was eerily familiar to him, and though he wasn't sure where he might be remembering it from, he decided he was better left uninformed. He needed all of his will power devoted to the task at hand. Saving the light of his life.

He skidded to a halt at the edge of the block as he saw a dark shadow appear near where he was headed.

"Damn... get the hell away from there!" He shouted angrilly, charging for all he was worth at the same time as summoning his blade. The shadow glanced up, and Riku could have sworn that even from all the way down the street he could see the evil smile that was flashed his way.

"Heh he he... ha... ha hahaha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Dark laughter boomed through the street and shook everything nearby.

"Ahhh!" Chimed a pair of feminine voices at the same time.

Riku's eyes noted the shadow pull forward a very familiar blonde, and a redhead, out from the house as it went.

"Naminé! Kairi! Hey you! Monster! Let them go right now!" Riku shouted as he neared.

Suddenly the shadow stepped out and into the light of a streetlamp, stoping Riku cold in his tracks.

"Sora?"

----

Sora: Yay, I'm a bad guy again! Rawr. :3

Xukir: Dude... quit taking all the credit for my handiwork. D:

Riku: Hey rozu... I'm not going to die again am I? 'Cause you know... that would be

incredibly redundant.

rozu: No Riku... you're not going to die. Cross my heart. Geesh. Hmm... I'm seeing a battle coming up soon. After all, got to give my audience something worth the M rating on this fanfic.

Riku: XD Alright then! Ass-kicking time woo!

rozu: Guess who's going to be getting their ass kicked...

Riku: Hey!

rozu, Sora and Xukir all snicker

Roxas: Well it would be kind of hard to believe that you could actually fight Riku. Seeing as you don't remember anything.

Riku: Roxas... you're not helping.