"Sora…" Riku whispered softly as he watched the shadow form of his best friend rip and tear at the Lunar Diviner. I'm sorry, I just wanted to help you. Never meant for it to go this far!

"I think the darkness has gotten to me too." Only because I wanted it to…

"If the world is made of light and darkness, we'll be the darkness." We'll be here, together.

"Yeah, the other side. The realm of light is safe." I can't go back. "The king, Kairi and the others are there." You would stay here with me…forever.

"I was jealous of you." I couldn't be like you…"The way you lived. Following your heart." Knowing how to get exactly what your heart wanted.

"I had my share of problems. Like wanting to be like you." Wanting to be like me? You never had to, I like you just the way you are…

"There is one advantage to being me, something you can never imitate." Something you could never do…

"Really, what's that?"

"Having you for a friend." Being able to have someone like you in my life.

"Then I guess, I'm okay the way I am. I've got something you could never imitate too."

I love you Sora…

Wonk ouY nahT noitceffA eroM deeeN I

Riku

After Sora had left him on the poapu tree to go with Kairi, he sighed feeling empty again. He had known full well what the brunette had wanted to say. However he would betray him by letting him know that he knew all along. Maybe he was betraying him again just being keeping it to himself. He looked at the now beautiful blue sky that reminded him of the beautiful azure jewels that had only just gazed at him in innocent uncertainty. He grimaced at the thought. Sora wasn't stupid. Naïve maybe, but never stupid. He knew the brunette knew exactly what was happening to him but he didn't understand why, that's why he had come to Riku. Riku brushed the bangs away from his eyes revealing them for the first time in a while. Ever since he had seen Sora in that pod, so cold and lifeless, it had done something horrible to him. He knew right then that what ever needed to be done for Sora, he would do it without question. He had known that at first DiZ had the intent to use his affections for Sora to control him. However, he hadn't cared. He would sacrifice any and everything it would make the boy wake up.

Riku had gone to fight Roxas alone with his new blindfold and disguise. If this Nobody was anything like Sora as he had been told, then his eyes would be a dead give away in the fight. He could never let the enemy know too much about his reason for fighting this way. Unfortunately, DiZ hadn't clarified how much like Sora this Nobody, Roxas, would be. He had fought and lost because unexpectedly, Roxas not only could wield the keyblade, but also had actually been able to use two of them. What made it more unbelievable, was the fact that Roxas was using Oathkeeper and Oblivion. He knew that the Oathkeeper was one of Sora's most prized possessions so it didn't surprise him much that Roxas would have Kairi's gift. But why would this boy have Oblivion? Oblivion had been the evolved form of his old keyblade of darkness. The one he wielded to unlock the darkness in hearts. Maybe it was because Oblivion had lent a hand in Roxas's birth. Sora did impale himself willingly on the blade and it somehow had purified the darkness within that cursed keyblade turning it into Oblivion. True enough the Oblivion had come back to him in the darkness that he had been trapped within. But he sent it back. Dark or not that keyblade was powerful and Sora would need it more than he would. Maybe, unintentionally, he had given Sora a means to come back to him just as Kairi had given Sora a means to come back to her. He didn't know and at that moment he didn't care. He had latched on to the Oblivion and fought against Roxas who had remained cloaked. When he lost, he was too shocked to say anything else.

"Why? Why do you have the keyblade!"

"Shut up!"

When he had defended himself that final time it allowed for him and Roxas to escape each other. After that he swore that he would defeat the boy and bring him back so that Sora would be revived. He knew what kinda of power that he needed for this and knew what he would have to give up. He went to see Sora one final time. Naminé had let him be alone with a knowing smile on her face. He could never put into words how much he appreciated Naminé for putting all of them before her own happiness. It had been very hard to believe when DiZ explained that she was Kairi's nobody. Though they did resemble each other, Riku couldn't see a trace of Kairi's personality with in her. He couldn't sense her stubbornness or determination. He felt complete and total passiveness and innocence like the day Kairi had washed up on the shores of Destiny Islands. Her lavender eyes always knew what he needed and what he wanted. He smiled at her a lot making her feel cared for because in truth that was all she wanted. On that day, he had a sad expression on his face and not even Naminé could lift his spirits as she left him alone with the sleeping Sora. Sora had gotten older in his comatose state. His cinnamon shaded hair had become more spiked even though he never thought that was possible. It reminded him a lot of a cat. He chuckled at that thought as he pressed his hands to the glass. His skin had turned a bit paler from lack of exposure to the island sun but it still held that beautiful glow the he had adored so much. Still, the brunette's expression had depressed him. It was all wrong. Sora had almost seemed sad in sleep. Like he was seeing something tragic over and over. Riku wouldn't be surprised if Sora had nightmares while in this sleep.

"Don't worry, Sora. I'll stop at nothing to see you smile again."

He made a decision and he made it final when he delved into the darkness of his heart once again and unlocked the power within. Everything changed from that moment on. He had captured Roxas and eventually, the Nobody had willingly joined with Sora. After that, he stayed away because he was content to see Sora happy and doing what he did best. Following his heart. However, that changed the minute he had gone to the Land of Dragons. He hadn't meant to run into Sora at all but once he did, he felt something change in the brunette. He had fought the boy to distract him but each time he landed a blow and the keyblade connected with his Soul-eater he saw flashes of something horrible within Sora. When he looked down at the boy expecting to meet wide azure eyes he found himself gazing into hatred filled golden eyes. He immediately shoved the boy away protecting him from the surrounding heartless and fled. When he looked back, the boy's eyes were normal and filled with confusion and then a sudden sadness. As he said before, Sora wasn't stupid. He had known it was him the minute he had protected him. It happened again when he had watched the battle between Sora and the Storm Rider. He could feel inside him just how deep Sora's anger and sadness was. How could he have known that the boy hid so much emotion under that optimistic visage? Riku felt angry with himself for not seeing just how upset and fed up the boy was. Then something happened that was more gruesome than he could ever imagine. He watched as Sora attempted the sync blade only to find that a layer of darkness had wrapped around the boy's body. Riku's eyes widened when a shadow burst from the darkness. A heartless…no…it was Sora. He watched with confusion and slight horror as this…this Anti-Sora tore apart the Storm Rider Heartless. When the heartless was defeated, Riku called out to him as Sora turned on his friends ready to tear them apart as well. This was the same Sora that had sat with he and Kairi and dreamed with him. Riku wouldn't stand for him to turn into a murderer. Never!

"Sora! Don't! Don't let it overtake you!"

Riku had decided to stay away from Sora at that point. When the boy had hesitated even though he was sure he was out of earshot of Riku, he realized that that incident was connected to him. He was actually thankful to see the boy fall unconscious and revert to his normal self. However it simply got worse. Each and everytime he watched Sora from a distance, the anti-Sora began to show up more and more. That was when DiZ presented him with a theory. He had gone back to DiZ to ask him about the anti-form.

"I don't understand why it keeps happening. I thought Sora had no inner darkness and that was why he was keyblade master," Riku asked frustrated by the entire situation.

DiZ watched Sora on screen thoughtfully. "Did you ever wonder exactly what a Nobody was?"

"I already know what it is. A nobody is just the husk of someone who had become a heartless yet had a strong heart."

"Yes, but have you ever wondered why they are so similar and yet so different? A nobody is meant to be the true self of a person without the restraints of influence and personal desire. It's who they truly are without the help of peer pressure, or orders or conscience to hold them back from what they truly feel. They may not have hearts but they know what it feels like because they are true emotion themselves. That is why they are able to act as they do. Without mortal restraints we are able to be ourselves."

"Roxas…but what does that have to do with the anti-form?"

"Sora is a unique case. He willingly became a heartless to save Kairi. Therefore he willingly created Roxas. He willingly unlocked the darkness inside. Whether he did it knowingly or not, Sora desired an escape just as much as you were Riku. It's an age-old story, actually. One has so many depending on him and they all expect so much of him that he just wants to get away. Therefore we have Roxas: the escape. But as we all know, they couldn't live without one another so Roxas sought out Sora on his own because he felt incomplete without a heart. Without control so to speak. Once they joined they were one again, but Sora still held the darkness inside him from Hallow Bastion. The reason he held onto it is because that was all he had left to connect him to you."

Riku noticed something in DiZ's explanation. Not once had he mentioned Sora's heart. "And that means?"

DiZ laughed in that way that always pissed Riku off. The one that simply said 'I know something you don't' know. "It means that his desire to find you and your desire to protect him from you has been conflicting within him. His desire to be close to you and the pressure of being a chosen keyblade master are warring with each other. As much as he wishes to drop everything he can't because of the sense of duty he feels. Yet the more his true feelings show the more the anti-form shows up. From what I've seen, you're the one who he feels most comfortable with."

"Why?"

"Because you don't force him to anything he doesn't want to do. He apparently could be himself around you and the moment you leave him or disappear the darkness shifts and it brings about that." He gestured to the anti-form fighting in the Hades cup.

Riku was torn from his thoughts by yelling and squealing behind him. He forgot, weekends meant the dynamic trio would be there, having a good time. His tranquility interrupted Riku slid from the tree letting his bangs fall back his face. He went half way across the bridge before jumping off the side and landing in the soft sand. Tidus saw him first and immediately tried to surprise attack him with a new sword he had gotten for his birthday. It was the weirdest thing he had ever seen a giant blue sword with bubbles floating around it. That was just odd. Then again he sliced at things with a giant key so Riku felt he had no room. He parried the blow letting Tidus try to force his way through his defense. He smirked and stepped to the side letting the dirty blond hit the dirt face first.

"You gotta be quicker than that Tidus!" he teased knowing full well that he was ten times stronger than he was.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Tidus stood and dusted the sand from his face. "What I'm anxious to see is you and Sora one on one again! You guys haven't shown us any of the cool stuff you learned since you got back. You and him had a fight?"

Riku shook his head. "I haven't challenged him in while. We've both been busy with other things."

Tidus shrugged it off. "I ain't worry about it. After all, after everything you've been through, how could y'all actually be fighting!" Tidus, you have no idea…

Riku smiled at the memory of he and Sora when they fought side by side against Xemnas.

"Hey Riku! How about you go up against Selphie Wakka and me? You know, three to one just like old times."

Riku grimaced. "Only if you keep Selphie's hands on her rope and not anything else!" Last thing he wanted was any part of the threesome's hands on him. Especially since Selphie had a hair fetish and his hair was nearly down his waist.

Tidus laughed and dragged him off. "Sure, but I can't promise anything with Wakka!"

"…Ew…"

After thoroughly beating the spit out of all three of them while avoiding any type of brushing of his person, Riku had taken off. He went on home deciding he had nothing better to do. He kissed his mom and nonchalantly spoke to his dad before going up stairs. He looked around at how it had changed since had been home. A lot of things had been replaced and thrown out. The colors of the room had changed from solid sturdy colors to soft pastels that lightened his mood whenever he looked at them. He had been in the darkness so long had made him appreciate all those soft colors that he had told his mother were girly. He wore light colors more often with dark under shirts. Everything about him was more relaxed and comfortable in order for him to keep a hold of himself. The best part was his balcony, which faced the island. He went outside and leaned on the balcony railing staring out at it wistfully. He took a glance and some of the half-finished images that lay on his floor. Naminé taught him to pass the time while waiting for Sora's revival. She showed him he had talents other than fighting and it helped the stress He had drawn many sketches of the island but never colored them. Naminé tried to get him to but he preferred to see it all in gray. Some sort of odd preference he had. The only images in his mind that remained in color for him were Twilight Town, his own island, Roxas, and Sora. Though sometimes he saw that pyromaniac Axel. He never quite understood the things Axel did until the Nobody had come into contact with Sora. The way he looked at Sora, while admittedly it had made him jealous, he couldn't help but notice how sad Axel's eyes would become. Riku shook his head. Maybe they were more alike than he had considered. He didn't know but he did have a few images of Axel and Roxas hidden away in his sketchbook. He never really drew intimacy between the two because they never seemed the types to show it openly. However, their eyes always gave it away and that was simply the way he drew it. He chuckled; they were both stubborn idiots…just like he had Sora. His eyes traveled out to the island. He could still hear the whispers of that night in his head. Giving himself to the darkness and wanting to take Sora with him. He shrugged it off. He was thinking too much about the past. If kept it up, he would loose what sanity he had left.

Riku returned his gaze to the outside world as entered twilight. He spotted Sora walking Kairi home with his arm wrapped around her waist lovingly though he seemed a little distracted. Still, he had that goofy grin on his face as always as they reached Kairi's house. He felt a tinge of jealousy at the small gesture but he pushed it aside. He had to accept that Sora would never be anything more than just his clumsy best friend. He watched with oncoming depression while resting his head on his arms and leaning on the balcony railing. The redhead pranced in front of him and leaned forward kissing the brunette. Riku's eyes immediately narrowed and his fists balled. Sometimes jealous mixed with rage was a bit hard to control; especially when you see your crush's hand brush the object of your rage's cheek. He never hated Kairi, but he sure as hell disliked her more and more. The dirty looks she'd slide him when he got too close to Sora. The way she tried to keep the brunette away from Riku and shower him with kisses even if she was fidgety about being around Sora. Seeing this only pissed him off. If only Sora knew how she really was when it was just Riku and she. She'd gone as far as to warn him when they had returned. "Stay away," she had said. "You're nothing good for Sora. Not after all you've put him through."

It was true, he wasn't good for Sora but he didn't need her to tell him so! Just having her to tell him that made him want to be around the boy more. This display made him just want to reach out and strangle her. After all, she lived with no one; nobody would hear her scream. He tried to shake the dark thoughts from his head reminding himself where they led him last time. When his eyes focused again, what he saw surprised him. Sora held the girl at arm length off her feet. A dark claw was wrapped around the girl's neck and her eyes were wide in terror. Riku could see the yellow glow of Sora's eyes from here.

"Sora…" he whispered. "Stop!" he all but yelled.

As if hearing him, Riku saw Sora's eyes widen as if he were looking at Kairi for the first time. The girl hit the ground and watched Sora grab his arm taking a few steps back from the girl. Riku didn't even wait to see Sora run away before bolting back into his room and slipping on his shoes. He then jumped off the balcony landing agilely on his feet. He ran fast as he could, following the boy who had already made it to the boat dock and was rowing away. When Riku got to the island it was dark already. He searched the island trying to find the boy then went to the last resort, the Secret Place. He crawled through the entrance and walked slowly in hearing small moans and soft gasps that sounded nothing like pain. Riku felt his face warm and his heartbeat increase. He looked around and saw a small dark heap lying next to the wooden door in the cave. He called Sora's name softly as he approached and received a strained mewl in response. Sora's entire body was covered in darkness save for the outer edges of his hair. His eyes glowed eerily as they gazed up at him pitifully.

"Please," Sora moaned. "Make it stop…"

Riku visibly shuddered and shook his head. He would not take any type of joy in seeing Sora suffer this way. "Sora…I'm so sorry." This was his entire fault and he knew it. He should've told Sora about this before it got this bad. Slowly, he lifted the boy from the ground only to be caught off guard and attacked. He had barely dodged Sora's dark hand and it grazed his cheek causing a small trail of blood to flow down it. He hurriedly jumped away when Sora moved to attack again. He dodged all the attacks, but was kicked back into the cave wall by one the shadowed legs. He grunted and darted to the side as Sora broke the rock behind him. He needed room so he ran out the exit hoping Sora wouldn't use that lightening speed of his. Amazingly, the boy didn't. Instead a twisted grin formed on his face and he gave chase.

Riku made it out onto the beach to find Sora already out there, his eyes aglow and his grin sadistic. Riku called his keyblade to him. Way to Dawn appeared in his outstretched arm and he launched and Sora, hoping to just knock the boy out so that he would revert back. Sora playfully dodged and Riku was shocked to hear the boy laughing at him. Sora's voice rang clear in his ears; not distorted like Riku had expected it to be. The younger boy swiftly evaded all of Riku's attacks and in a split second, he had jumped the older and pinned him painfully to the ground. Sora licked the smalltrail of blood off hisvictim's cheek.Riku expected the anti-Sora to attempt a murder now that he was helpless. He struggled trying to get up but Sora simply shoved him back down and held him in vice grip. Once again, he surprised Riku by softly nuzzling his neck. He felt teeth softly graze the exposed skin there and he tried to hold back a shudder. Sora smirked and looked down at Riku with his head tilted. He leaned close to Riku's ear.

"Tell me what you desire Riku?" Riku didn't hold back the shudder this time when he felt Sora's warm breath brush his ear. This couldn't be the real Sora but the voice hadn't changed save for the lustful undertone. He tried to save a bit of dignity and struggled a bit more.

"Come on, Riku. Don't fight me this time and don't run away from me." Riku bit back a moan when Sora softly bit down on his neck. He fought his body's reaction though he already felt it relax and his arms slack in the shadow's hold. How did he know exactly what to do? Riku wondered that as a hand released him and ran through his platinum hair. He felt the heat rise to his face when Sora begin to trail soft kisses up Riku's neck while massaging his scalp with gentle fingertips. He noticed that a hand still tightly grasped his blade arm. Like he had always said, Sora wasn't stupid. Riku felt his eyes roll back and all thoughts of resistance left him. His body arched and he cried out when Sora bit roughly at the juncture of his neck shoulder.

"Riku! Sora!"

Sora growled against him and Riku tilted his head slightly to see Kairi there with her mouth covered. He saw it in her eyes; she thought Sora was attacking him. God, how much more wrong could she be? He almost felt angry that she had interrupted. This was something he had wanted for so long. Even if Sora was not himself, it still felt so right. She was always there when she didn't need to be. Always separating them! Hejust wantedher gone. He wished she would just die!Sora chuckled in Riku's ear. He lifted himself slightly and grinned in that twisted way again.

"Is that what you want, Riku?" He wrapped his hand around Riku's throat apparently to throw Kairi off. "I could do it now if you asked. It would be so easy to snap that pretty neck of hers or even better, I could run her through with Oblivion foryouand watch her heart drift away. Tell me you want her gone and I'll do it…tell me you want her dead and I'll lay her at your feet. I want to hear it. Tell me what you want Riku…"

Riku's lips parted to answer…

Konoko: hah! Cliffhanger! No decision for you people. You have to wait. You want a freakin answer, get off your asses and review...well stay on your asses and review. It's not hard. Just a click!