Flee From Our Troubles

The One I Need

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I now own my very own copy of Kingdom Hearts 2! I luvs it!

Author's Notes:
Sorry for the long wait! I got side-tracked by a ton of stuff ... anyways, here's the next chapter!

"Promise me we'll be together always?" the brunette asked his older friend. The beautiful boy looked down at the adorable boy and smiled.

"I promise," he replied, hugging the boy in his lap close to him. "I'll protect you for as long as I can."

I woke with lovely warmth surrounding me, and instead of trying to find out what it was, I simply snuggled closer. I had learned all to well that good things don't last forever. I felt the warmth tighten around me and I let out a contented sigh. I felt a deep rumble as the warmth laughed, and I froze up. In an instant my memory came back, and I carefully opened my eyes.

"Riku?" I asked, looking up into the aqua eyes of the older boy. Whoever came up with the phrase "ignorance is bliss" was really on to something.

"Finally awake, huh?" he asked, removing his arms from around me. He gave me a soft smile as I examined my surroundings, and realized that we were in a hotel – Yuffie and Aerith's no doubt. I turned my attention back to the boy whose lap I was in, and with sad eyes looked down at the sheets that surrounded us.

I noticed his smile falter out of the corner of my eye. "What's wrong?" I felt his hand tilt my chin so that we were face to face. I averted his gaze by moving my eyes to the side.

"You … you bought me … so now you're my master …" I murmured mournfully. I noticed that the shackles around my wrists were now gone, yet the slave collar was still around my neck.

"Sora … I already told you. You're not a slave, you're free," he replied, stroking my cheek tenderly. I shook my head.

"No, I'm only a slave. That's all I'm good for. Nothing more," I cried, breaking his hold and looking down again. I didn't deserve to be eye to eye with him. I was nothing …

"Sora, please! Please, just do it for me," he pleaded, grabbing hold of my shoulders and forcing me to face him.

"Why? Why are you being so nice to something as wretched as me?" I whimpered, still managing to avoid his piercing gaze.

"Sora, listen to me! You're not just a 'thing', okay? You're not property! You're a person! A person who deserves better!" he insisted, squeezing me tighter to emphasize his point. But I didn't believe him. How could I? My old master had been sure to drill that into my head before he sold me at the auction.

"I'm a slave … that's all I ever will be," I replied quietly, my trembling hands reaching up to finger the rope collar around my neck. This was my proof.

"Damn him! He did this to you, didn't he? He made you this way!" Riku yelled, carefully removing me from his lap and laying me on the bed. I saw him reach into his bag and pull out something that glinted off of the fading sunlight from the glass window. Convinced he was going to hurt me, I lay perfectly still. After all, he was my new master, and his to do with as he pleased. He held me down and said, "Don't move."

I closed my eyes as he leaned over me, and I felt the rope around my neck being pulled. There was a slicing noise, and suddenly the pressure on my neck was gone. I felt the rough material being pulled out from underneath where I was laying, and soft hands caressing the gashes around my neck.

"This isn't even the worst of it, is it?" he asked, backing away and starting to lift up my shirt. I was too fast for him, though.

"Don't!" I cried, my eyes snapping open and my hand grabbing his before he could push up the thin fabric. "I'll … I'll bandage them myself," I said quietly, my eyes still not daring to meet his.

"Oh … okay …" he replied, backing off more with a slightly saddened expression. I moved off the bed slowly, starting towards the bathroom. "Sora … I – I managed to grab your bag before they took you …" he mumbled.

"You – you did? Did you look in it?" I asked, alarmed. I didn't want him to know about my illness. Or my knife. I didn't know why, I just didn't. Maybe it was because the knife was stained with my blood?

"Well, no … I didn't," he said, reaching over by the bed and grabbing a familiar bag. "I think there's some clothes in there, if you want to change out of those," he said while motioning towards the clothes I was currently wearing.

Now I felt guilty for snapping at him the way I did. All he was trying to do was be nice, and I wouldn't even let him help me. But I didn't deserve to be helped – I was still just a lowly slave, whether I had a collar or not. He held out the bag towards me, and I took it and scampered towards the bathroom. Shutting the door behind me, I slumped against the wall. I eventually slid down to the ground, pulling my knees close to me. Silently I started crying, the tears rolling down my face in burning trails. I reached a shaking hand to my bag and pulled it closer, putting a hand in to search for a familiar tool. I felt my hand grasp it and I pulled it out.

"There you are, old friend," I whispered, gliding the metal over my skin. There was a sharp sting of pain and I bit my lip to keep from crying out. I watched as the crimson poured out, looking almost like it was overflowing from the pale skin. And as I stared, I realized. I was human. Just like him, I bled. Was this not proof that we were equal? Was it not proof that we were both just human beings?

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. I put the knife away, and reached for the first-aid kit I knew was in there. I pulled out a bandage and carefully placed it over the self-inflicted wound near my wrist.

Next, I stood up on my weakened legs and pulled off my shirt and jeans and fished in my bag until I found some clean jeans that actually fit and a long sleeved white shirt. I put them on and finally pulled out my pills. I had gone a week without them and already I had passed out more than five times from what was happening to me. I really was hopeless. I carefully took out the allotted amount and grabbed a glass from the bathroom counter. I filled it with water and drank both at the same time. With the pills safely in me, I replaced the orange canister into my bag and stood up straight, gathering my precious bag in my arms.

"Is everything okay?" Riku asked as I left the tiled floor of the bathroom and entered the carpeted section of the hotel room. He was currently lying on the bed, staring at me with his piercing aqua eyes.

"E-everything's fine," I stuttered, the exoticness intimidating as I walked towards the bed. I sat on the edge, not daring to get any closer.

"So … I was thinking we would head out together tomorrow …" he started, trailing off at the end. I jumped.

"You mean you want to travel together?" I squeaked, shock evident on my face.

"Well … yeah. I wouldn't just leave you after all that. Besides, it's my fault … just like the last time …" he said, mumbling the last part. "Unless of course you don't want to…"

"No!" I was quick to reply. "I want to be with you!"

"I guess that settles it," he said, sliding off the bed with an almost cat-like grace. "I'm gonna go tell Yuffie and Aerith that we're leaving and get something for us to eat." He left the room, and suddenly, the room felt so empty.

Did Riku really want to be with me? Or was he just doing it because he felt responsible? Did anyone truly want to be with me? I started shaking again as tears started to well up in my eyes once again. I resigned myself to a corner of the room and sat in a crunched up position. I buried my hands in my arms, which were currently holding my legs to my chest and wept silent tears once again. I can't remember the last time I cried this much or hurt this much inside. Perhaps that day when my parents and best friend were all murdered? It didn't really matter now, did it?

I had no idea what I wanted to do from now on. I had lost my reason for living, now that he was gone … So what did I want to do with my life? I wasn't sure, so I simply huddled up closer and continued to cry silently.

Lost in my own thoughts, I distantly heard the sound of the door opening, and a shocked gasp as the door was slammed shut. I felt strong arms wrap around me, and someone whispering comforting words in my ear. A hand started to run itself through my chocolate spiky locks, and I started to calm down.

"Sora, what's wrong?" a husky voice asked, hugging me tight. I didn't – couldn't answer. After a moment of silence, I felt myself being pulled from my place in the corner and led to the bed. I curled back into my ball afterwards, and I felt a hand stroking my arm. "Tell me what's wrong," he ordered, but not in a demanding way, more like an 'I'm-worried-so-spill' kind of way.

"Do – do y-you really w-want to travel w-with me?" I stuttered out between gasps of breath. I knew the answer. Why would anyone want to travel with me anyways?

"Of course I do, silly," he said, his hand never stopping its task. "Is that what all this is about?" I nodded. "Sora, don't do this to yourself. You're a really great person to be around."

"Then why did you leave?" I whispered softly, not looking him in the eyes.

"Sora … you have to understand me," he said, turning me around so that we were face to face. He leaned back on the pillows and pulled me so that I was lying next to him, face to face. He sighed. "Sora … when you kissed me … I freaked out. I don't know why, I just did. It was so unlike me … I guess I was just shocked. You were always so quiet; I always figured you were thinking about … I don't know … a girlfriend or something."

'If only you knew what I thought about,' I thought bitterly as I continued to listen.

"As the night wore on, I started … dreaming. I dreamt about a certain boy I knew once as a young kid. I loved him. He might not have returned the feelings, but I knew that I loved him. He was one of the first people to ever show me kindness. Not even my own parents ever said that they wanted to be with me forever …" I watched as his eyes got a far-off, glassy look.

"That kiss made me feel like I was betraying him, betraying all of the thoughts and feelings I had ever had for him. And I just … wasn't ready to let all that go. It's what's kept me going for so long … for all of these years out here on the road."

"Riku … won't traveling with me be a risk then?" I asked cautiously, afraid of his answer, yet needing to hear it regardless.

"I – I think I may be ready to move on, to open my heart to someone new … someone like you," he said, rubbing my cheek to show that he meant it.

"R-Riku …" I stuttered, in shock at his admission. Did he really want me in his life? "N-no, you can't!" I mumbled incoherently, once again pulling myself into the fetal position. "N-no one should like me … I don't deserve you …"

"I swear, I'm going to murder that bastard if I ever see him again," Riku growled, attempting to pull me out of my current position. After realizing it was hopeless to move me from my current position, he pulled something off of the bedside table and shoved it towards me. "Come on, Sora, you should get something to eat."

"I'm not hungry," I mumbled inaudibly.

"What did you say?"

"I said, 'I'm not hungry'," I repeated, and I heard him give a loud sigh.

"Sora, please eat?" I shook my head. He sighed again. I could tell I was starting to get on his nerves, but I still refused to eat. "Sora, if you don't eat, you can die of starvation," he said, and I reluctantly accepted the bread with melted cheese on top. I took a bite out of it and started to chew as he watched. "That's better," he said, standing up from the bed and heading towards the door as I continued to eat. I stared at him the entire time. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I just need to talk to Yuffie about something, okay?"

"O-okay," I replied, finishing off the small amount of bread that he had given me. He shut the door softly behind him, and I lay back on the bed. 'So Riku doesn't hate me,' I thought to myself, a small sense of happiness burning in my heart. A bubble of hope swelled in my chest at the comforting thought.

'But,' a little voice in the back of my head piped in, 'that doesn't mean he actually likes you, you know.' The bubble popped. I shut my eyes and bit my lip. I heard the door open again and I saw Riku standing there with the same concerned look, although by now he was doing a better job at hiding it.

I watched him climb silently inside the bed, and pull me closer towards him. He was warm and his smell was comforting, a spicy mix between cinnamon and peppermint, a smell I could get used to. I buried my head against his chest and we just sat like that for awhile, lost in the comfortable silence.

"Sora, I think maybe we should get some sleep," he said after a few moments of silence.

I nodded silently, and then as an after thought said, "I wanna take a shower first." He nodded and helped me untangle myself from him and the blankets on the bed. I saw him lean over and grab his bag and reach inside for something.

"Here are some sweatpants," Riku said, handing me the clothing from his bag. "I'm sure jeans aren't exactly comfortable to sleep in." I thanked him and then made my way over to the door and with a glance behind me at the drowsy boy who was smiling softly; I shut the door behind me and locked it.

It didn't take me long to strip off my clothes, the garments landing in a pile near the door. I undid the bandage around my wrist, and placed it on the counter, and proceeded to turn on the water. I made sure that it was a durable temperature before I stepped in.

The very first thing I felt as I stepped in was the stinging of the wounds on my wrists, back, legs, chest … I guess I could say over my entire body. I let out a cry of pain and shock, and quickly turned the water to a cooler temperature before I let my muscles un-tense and relax. The water was almost cold now, but it did wonders to sooth my skin. Finally, I could think.

Who was that boy that Riku knew so long ago? Why did I have these emotions? Was it possible that I was even … dare I say it, jealous of the other boy? Why should he have Riku's affection all the time, when I was with him? When I was the one who needed it most right now? Well, whoever he was was very lucky.

I reached for the shampoo and poured a small amount into my hand. It smelled like cherries. I ran it through my hair, and rinsed it out afterwards, watching the dirt and suds go down the drain. I didn't dare attempt trying to scrub my skin of the dirt that had accumulated, knowing that it would brush over the not-yet-healed wounds, a lasting present from Ansem. I shut off the water with a sigh, and stepped out carefully wrapping the towel around me. I patted off as much of the water as I could with the towel without hitting the cuts, and dried off the mop of hair on top of my head. Getting it as dry as possible, I replaced the towel to dry, and grabbed the bandage off of the counter. I rewrapped it around my self-inflicted gash and then put on my shirt and the sweatpants that Riku had given me.

I opened the door, the coldness of the room contrasting to the heat of the bathroom clashing on my skin. I shivered at the strange sensation that caused little bumps to rise on my arm, and slowly walked back towards the bed. I glanced out the hotel window, and noticed that it was now night time. Realizing this, I climbed in next to Riku who was only half asleep. It startled me when he started to talk.

"Sora," he said suddenly.

"Huh?" I asked, surprised.

"I heard a yell in the bathroom. Are you okay?" He looked at me with hidden concern showing in his eyes. It was hard to see, but it was there.

"Oh … uh, yeah," I replied stupidly, surprised about his concern. I snuggled closer to his warmth in the queen-sized bed, and sighed. "Riku?"

"Hm?"

"I … I just want to say thanks … for everything…" I said.

"Anything for you," he replied sleepily, and I let the shores of sleep claim me.

Author's Notes:
Poor Sora. Riku shall save him ... I think ...
Anyways, please review! Your reviews are really encouraging and I cherish each and every one of them. Sorry I didn't respond this last time; I was so busy! The Riku's version shall be written after Sora's version. Don't worry, it will be a complete story in itself. I'll try and update soon! I've been writing this in the little free time I have. Reviews, please! Ja ne.