Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 31

Maleficent looked over as Sora appeared, looking happier than she had seen him in some time. "You found him," she stated.

Sora nodded and moved to lean against the window opposite her, wings folded against his back. "He called out with his heart, we found him in Traverse Town. Thanks to Naminé, Merlin and Ienzo, his memory's been fixed again. You could have warned me he looks like Xehanort again," he frowned, and she shrugged slightly.

"Appearance means nothing."

"Because Faerie are shapeshifter," he shook his head. "I showed him," he admitted.

"And?"

"He hugged me," he grinned but then shrugged. "I'll see if that lasts after he sees more than just my appearance."

"You fear Riku will turn you away for being a Dark creature when he himself is no longer fully human."

"Well…wait…what?!"

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Axel watched the group, still trying to make himself think of the imposing figure as Riku and not Xemnas or Ansem…or Xehanort…whatever his real name was meant to be. Watching the three of them together was kind of amusing, the way the two younger teens kept pushing Riku into not retreating, making him interact with everyone, not to mention how they took every opportunity to touch him. He wondered if the Organisation had realised that Riku was just as good for bait as Kairi or they had only taken him due to being unable to reach her with his interference. It was obvious to him that the three were smitten with each other. At least they all seemed to realise it, saving the rest of them from the headache of them all dancing around each other.

Still….there was something Sora was hiding, from him at least, and he just hoped it didn't end up biting him, he'd risked his existence to help them after all.

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Riku changed into his night clothes and got into the bed which soon dipped as Sora joined him, his best friend shifting closer until Riku rolled over and held his arm out. Sora grinned and pressed against him, head resting on Riku's arm which then wrapped around him. The cold of his body was still a bit of a shock but he wouldn't pull away because of it. Sora lifted his head, pressing his lips to Riku's, claws slipping into his hair, and Riku shivered as they gently scratched over his scalp.

Sora and Kairi were forever touching him, never shying from his body, and…as much as he hated his appearance, he enjoyed their touches. They accepted how he looked now and wanted him to do so too. He didn't know if he could, but he wouldn't try and make them leave him again.

So when Sora moved to deepen the kiss, he only hesitated briefly before letting his lips part to grant him access. It was all strange and new, he hadn't kissed anyone before the Islands fell. he felt Sora wrap his other arm around him, claws running up and down his back over his shirt as they kissed.

He pulled back, panting slightly, and Sora grinned at him, obviously pleased with himself. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, and Sora laughed softly.

"Not too much?" he asked more seriously.

"It felt…good," he admitted, using the hand not pinned under Sora to run through wild spikes, his widening as Sora began to actually purr, pressing into his touch. "Wow," he whispered, he knew that purring was generally an instinctive reaction in animals so if Sora was the same then…he really did like his touch. "Sora…"

"Feels good," Sora purred.

"So vampires are just big cats?" he teased.

"Mmmm, tease," he mumbled, pressing even closer, and Riku gulped, freezing, as he received proof of just how much Sora was enjoying it. Sora blinked, pouting slightly, and then his eyes widened. "Oh, sorry," he shifted his lower body out of contact with Riku's. "Forgot."

"Forgot?" he asked in confusion.

"Well…Kairi and I…"

"Have you…well…" Riku was very glad for lack of emotional range in his face at that moment.

"Had sex?" Sora asked, and Riku wondered what the illusion would show, would he be blushing? He'd stopped wearing the arm band to bed since the overlay could be weird to look at when Riku was waking up.

Riku managed to nod in answer to the question. Had they gone that far while he was gone? If they had…how did that make him feel?

"No, we were waiting for you. I've held her through the night and we kiss and touch. I've seen her topless and she lets me touch. And yeah, she's uh, felt that before too. Then again, I can uh, smell her reactions too. I've done a lot of reading to make sure it's safe, I didn't want to hurt either of you. Kairi's set the pace, and so can you."

Riku stared at Sora, they were teenager boys, mentally at least, how could Sora control himself so well? Then again, he had to be in control all the time or else he could hurt someone, even kill them, without meaning too. Sora could smell Kairi…then he could smell him too and yes, his body had reacted to what they were doing but he was so much taller than Sora now that he only would have felt it if he'd moved his leg into the right spot.

"Sora…I…" he was embarrassed but…he liked kissing Sora, a lot. So he pressed his lips to Sora's, cautiously tugging him closer again. "You really want this…"

"I want you, doesn't matter what the packaging is," Sora answered. He ran both hands down Riku's spin and he groaned, arching his back, it felt really good, and Sora grinned cheekily at him.

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Kairi sat down beside Riku, glancing at the book his was reading, smiling. "Reading up?"

"I don't want to do something that could hurt him or anything," Riku admitted, looking up from the book on vampires like Sora.

She smiled and leant against his arm so he lifted it, letting her cuddle into his side. Riku had always been taller, bigger, than her and Sora, now he was big enough to fully shield her and she liked that.

"The magic really keeps him safe from the sun?" he asked after a while.

"Sure, remember, we were back on the Play island when you were grabbed."

"It was overcast though then."

"Yeah, it was," she agreed, relieved to hear him so sure about what had happened that day. "I've seen him in full sun though, he doesn't like it, even protected, but it doesn't hurt him," she assured him.

They fell quiet as Riku kept reading, and she smiled when cautious fingers moved to her hair, when she didn't react, Riku began running his fingers through it. He was still hesitant about physical contact, especially with her, as if his Darkness could infect her. As if, Sora's hadn't so why would his? Although, Sora had been very happy that morning, so maybe he was getting better at physical closeness with Sora? She shifted enough to reach up and kiss his cheek, when he turned his head to look at her, she kissed his lips. She felt him freeze, hesitating, but then cautiously he kissed her back.

"Love you," she whispered when they parted, curling back into his side.

"I love you," he breathed, barely audible to her, but she still smiled.

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Sora grabbed the falling slab of rock, bracing it, and then Cloud moved in, helping him get a better grip so that it could be moved. They tossed it off to the side and Aeleus watched the display of strength in awe. He'd found out about Sora but he hadn't seen him much so he guessed seeing someone his size tossing things around would be surprising. Sora dropped down off the balcony and looked around.

"There's a door!" he called back to the other two. Sora walked up to it and began pulling the rubble away, big pieces first, before forcing it open as they joined him. "Shall we?"

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Ienzo looked around at the destruction, sighing. "There is a lot of clean-up work to do before I can begin," he told the group.

"Well you have plenty of help available," Kairi told him. "Just keep Sora and Riku away from anything more complicated than a book.

"Hey!" they both glared at her, making everyone laugh.

"Just tell us what to do," Riku told Ienzo who nodded.

As much as everyone wanted to free the heart residing within Sora's, he would need to do thorough scans of both Sora and Riku, the longer Riku was left in Xehanort's form, the more chance his heart would come to see it as the correct appearance, leaving him trapped forever, even if his heart was placed in a Replica. Then again, Ventus' heart could come to copy the vampiric state of Sora's…he really wished Even had recompleted as well. He knew far more about Replica's than Ienzo did and it would enable them to work faster. Merlin was doing his best, but Ienzo wasn't sure about using magic to help the process.

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They listened to Axel's full report of his trip to Halloween Town, Sora pouting a little at missing out on meeting Santa while Riku smelt stunned that Santa was real. Sora wished he could go meet him but it was too dangerous to risk when the two places were linked.

So the question was, with their increased group size, who should go where. Axel and Donald flat out refused to work alone together again, so Goofy offered instead and Kairi agreed to go as general magical support. That left Sora, Riku, and Donald as the other team since Dai and Naminé would remain to help protect Hollow Bastion but more importantly, to help Ienzo with his work. Dai looked torn but Riku took him aside to talk to and Sora made himself ignore their conversation. When they returned, Naminé took his hand and then smiled across the room at Riku who nodded.

Sora trusted Goofy and Axel to look after Kairi, he just wished the three of them could go together, but if Axel and Donald were teamed up, someone was going to die or at least end up crispy.

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A vampire lion cub was not what Riku was expecting when they arrived on the new world, but Sora made it work. Unfortunately, the magic did not work on his altered body, although thankfully he could still understand them and be understood by them. Sora used one of Merlin's spells to make him invisible and hide him from even animal senses. It meant he spent most of the time there in silence, but he'd never been the chatterbox Sora was anyway.

Still, he was happy when they returned to the ship and Sora was restored to his true form, immediately pouncing on Riku to kiss him, ignoring Donald's complaints about it. "You were a very cute cat," Riku told him, and Sora laughed.

"You would have been cuter."

"Do you think their lands can recover? The place was very desolate," Riku said as they took their seats.

"There's a lot of magic in the land, it can recover," Donald answered before Sora could.

"See, it'll be okay eventually," Sora grinned at him as they took off. He frowned down at the controls, tapping one of the displays.

"Sora?" Riku asked.

"We've got a return request from Cid," he glanced back at them with a shrug, "no new Gates have opened so we have time."

"Let's see what he needs," Donald agreed, and Riku nodded.

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"Hey, fellas, you're just in time. Got some good news for ya, so get yourselves over the Castle," Cid called as they walked in.

"What kind of news?" Riku asked, glancing around but there was no sign of Kairi being back yet.

Yuffie grinned, almost bouncing in place. "We found the computer Ansem…I mean Xehanort was using! Well…technically Ienzo found it. had to bust down some doors that were stuck or hidden in the study and further on."

"Oh boy!"

"Yep. Should be able to get all kinds of info on the Heartless and the Organization that even red and the kid don't know," Cid smirked. "Go see for yourselves!"

"With that computer I wonder if that means. Ienzo can do the scans he needs of us?" Sora asked, and Riku shrugged.

He didn't know much about computers, they weren't a big thing back home. He knew more than Sora though.

They left Merlin's and headed for the Castle, fighting their way through scattered Heartless and Nobodies. He hoped that one day there would be none left to fight, but he doubted they would ever be gone totally.

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"So you made it," Leon called as they entered the study with the picture of Xehanort from after he'd gotten rid of the real Ansem.

"Leon!" Sora waved, and Leon nodded. "Isn't the King with you?" He'd been hoping to see him, to let him know Riku was okay. They hadn't seen each other in ages and he was worried about Mickey.

Leon held a finger to his lips. "You'll see him soon enough."

"Hey!" Donald complained.

"Here, this ought to tide you over." He pressed part of the wall and the wall vanished. They walked down several metal hallways and then into a larger room with a big window overlooking a massive room with…machines? Containers of some kind? "Ansem's computer room."

Ienzo looked up from the computer as they entered. "Good you're here. Although I am sorry to say I am not having much luck with the system."

Donald looked up to the ceiling and saw a furry blue creature. "Whoa!"

"Hmm?" it responded, losing its grasp on the ceiling. "Whoa!" It fell down onto the keyboard.

"What is that?" Ienzo ducked back in case it attacked.

"Get offa there!" Donald yelled, jumping onto the keyboard to get Stitch, who jumped on Donald and scurried away laughing. Donald turned around, accidentally pressing buttons, and an alarm sounded. Donald froze.

"As I said, the system is proving problematic," Ienzo sighed, but then they all froze.

"Attention current user. This is a warning. Further misuse of this terminal will result in immediate defensive action."

"That is new," Ienzo frowned.

"Who's there?" Sora demanded, looking around, even as Riku moved to search the other side of the room, seeing another door where an enemy could enter through.

"I am the Master Control Program. I oversee this system."

"Where are you?" Riku asked warily.

Donald pressed another button with his feet and the alarm blared again.

"Donald!" they all yelled, Ienzo eyeing the screen from around his body.

"I'm sorry..."

"Decision gate reached. You are now under arrest."

"Arrest!?" Sora demanded, Keyblade appearing.

Donald was stuck standing on one foot, so Ienzo grabbed him off it, setting him down near Sora before moving to the side of the table, kneeling down to examine something. .

"Run!" Leon yelled, looking behind them.

Sora looked back to see something on the wall powering up.

"Sora run!" Riku yelled, lunging for him.

The system shot out beams of light and confined Sor and Donald into grids. Riku tried to get to them but couldn't get passed the beams. Sora met his eyes, worried more for Donald than himself. He reached back to Riku even as he began to disappear, seeing the terror in Riku's eyes before everything went black.

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Riku stared at where Sora had been, only for that beam of light to literally take him apart. "What happened?" he demanded, glaring at Ienzo.

"Something is very wrong with the computer, the MCP should not have such power," he answered.

"But they're alive?" Leon asked the question Riku hadn't been able to bring himself to.

"Yes, it appears they have been digitised and sent into the system….and I do not know how to get them out."

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Sora woke up on the floor of a very strange room. He stared at himself and saw that he was covered in blue-lit lines. What had happened?

"Sora!"

He was relieved to hear a familiar voice and looked over to see Donald, also covered in the lines, being led over by Strafer Heartless.

"Go on, show 'em who's boss!" he called, dodging as he sensed something. He looked over to find someone standing there. "Who're you?" he demanded.

"I am Commander Sark."

"A Heartless commander?" That was new.

"Observe." Sark pressed a button on his data emitter and Donald was shocked with data.

"Okay, you're the boss! I get it," Sora yelled, dismissing the Keyblade, not willing to risk Donald's life.

Sark put the data emitter away and smirked, Sora couldn't wait to wipe that smirk off his face.

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Leon watched Riku pace as Ienzo tried to get around the MCP, without ending up in the system himself. It was hard to look at the adult form and remember it was the teenager he'd met months earlier. He really hoped that Ienzo and Merlin's work could help him, to wear the face of a another would be hard enough, but to be trapped in the form of the enemy? He didn't think he could handle it, then again Sora and Kairi were doing a very good job of keeping him from moping or worse. Those two were very…determined.

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Kairi smiled at a disgruntled Axel who crossed his arm, looking away. She held her hand out and wriggled her fingers.

"Fine!" he threw his hands up dramatically but then took her hand, drawing her out onto the dance floor.

She giggled but they were soon swirling among the other party goers. Their job was done and there was no rule about having fun afterwards. Anya and Dimitri had been seen off safely onto the boat, heading for somewhere called 'America' while Kairi had passed on the tiara and message to the Dowager Empress. Rasputin had been dealt with, Axel happily burning the weird glowing bat things he summoned. She'd had to thicken the ice on the frozen river since the man had nearly sent Anya plunging into the icy water. It had been Anya who had ended him though, crushing the source of his power under her high heel after Dimitri had been injured. Kairi had healed him fully as soon as she'd been sure the Princess was safe.

Who would have imagined that Anya was actually the missing Princess Anastasia? Not a Princess of Heart, Kairi could sense that, but still a Princess. Hearing about the deaths of her family when she was a child, her own near escape which had led to amnesia, it was a bit close to home. Kairi had no idea what had happened to her family or even how she had ended up on the Destiny Islands. She was glad she had landed there though, her childhood could have been as dismal as Anya's…or worse.

Goofy grinned and took her for the next dance, but eventually they slipped away from the party, not wanting to listen to the disappointed talk over the Grand Duchess never making an appearance. Titles were odd, why was she both a Princess and Grand Duchess, what was the point? They said their goodbyes to the Dowager Empress and Sophie before leaving the world.

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"So what did you want us to do?" Sora asked as Tron worked on the console.

"Find my User. He'll give you the password to access the DTD."

"You bet!" Donald agreed.

"So, um..." Sora rocked on his heels.

Tron stopped working and stood up. "DTD is the name my User gave to the dataspace. Copies of all the original system programs are stored there, along with anything that's sensitive or restricted."

"Is there stuff about the Heartless, or Organization XIII?" Sora asked curiously.

"Hmm...Most likely," Tron turned around and began to work back on the terminal. "A number of my functions were appropriated when I last took on the MCP. That's why I need the password. If I can get inside the DTD, I can access my original backup program and restore all my functions. Then, I'll be able to put this system back the way it was before the MCP got control and changed everything. The way it was supposed to be - a free system for you - the Users."

"Wait!" Donald frowned. "Tron, isn't the MCP one of those programs, too? Do ya know who it was who made it?"

"Actually...I don't know."

"Okay, we'll just have to find your user and ask him. What's his name?" Sora asked, it had to have been Ansem or one of his Apprentices, hopefully Ienzo would know the password or where it might be written down.

"You mean you don't know? My user is the user of this system: Ansem the Wise."

"Ansem?" Sora groaned, great. They had no idea where the real one was, no one had been willing to say which probably meant he was dead.

"Looks like the MCP's on to us. I'll keep this terminal up and running. You better exit the system, now!" Tron turned to them.

"Sure... But Tron...Ansem is..." he could he tell him his User was probably dead?

"We'll get ya the password!" Donald butted in.

"Okay. You're good to go. Hurry!" Tron stood aside and watched, as they were teleported out of the system.

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Leon and Ienzo were busy typing at the computer when the power system behind them whirred on.

"Look out!" Riku called and they quickly dove out of what they assumed its range was. Light played over the area, starting at the ground and moving up…..reforming two familiar figures. "Sora!" He moved in, wrapping his arms around his…boyfriend? Sora let out an oomph but hugged him back.

"We did it!" Donald cheered.

"Where have you been?" Leon asked.

"Well, uh... There's a...world inside this computer, where these, um...programs live, and..." Sora struggled to explain something he didn't seem to understand much.

"So in other words...Ansem's research data is off-limits unless we know the password. DO you know it?" Leon asked Ienzo.

"I may be able to work it out, of course that is assuming Xehanort did not change it after Ansem's exile.

"That means...this is all a wild goose chase."

"Only if we can't find the password, it might be written down somewhere," Sora tried to cheer him up.

"First you two get looked over to make sure you really are okay," Riku told him sternly. Who knew what side effects being digitised could have on a body, even a vampiric one. "Don't make me call Kairi," he threatened when it looked like Sora would argue. He saw Ienzo turn away, hand over his mouth, even as Leon smirked, when Sora deflated and nodded.

TBC…