Kingdom of Loss

Chapter 2, Home

A/N

Lady Rittaker: Well, if this is up then it means I got some review, so I'd like to take the time to thank them, CoffeeWithRiku, Bara, the-freak-on-your-block and Katt

Anyway, I don't own kingdom hearts, even though, as always, I wish I did.

Hope you enjoy this part of Kingdom of Loss

Sora hated routines. For whatever reason, they made him feel uncomfortable. Almost…like he was living with Ansem again. There had always been a routine when Ansem had been in charge.

Sora didn't know why, but he always fell into the routine of Aeris' house. You get up at 7:30, 6:30 if you wanted to be up before the four other boys that lived there. There were also two girls, Aeris' niece Kairi and her friend Namine, who had moved in two years before. The other boys were Wakka, Tidus, Cloud and Leon, all of whom were nice enough.

Sora had dated Kairi for about a year, until she admitted that she was undyingly in love with Namine. So Sora, who had felt nothing but friendship for Kairi anyway, but was always to guilty to tell her he didn't want to date her, had told her that he liked guys for the most part. They had made an agreement that Sora would help Kairi win over Namine, if Kairi would help Sora come out of the closet.

They both fulfilled their end of the bargain. Kairi had won over Namine, and the two of them were happy…but Sora still couldn't get over Riku.

So Sora woke up at 6:30 so that he could get to the food before the other boys, especially Tidus, who Sora had just broken up with. He already felt bad about that. But Kairi and Aeris were awake already and making lunches.

"Good morning Sora!" Kairi said cheerfully, tossing a lunch bag onto the table and laughing giddily. "Have a good sleep?"

"Yes." Sora lied blatantly.

Aeris looked at him over her shoulder and sighed sadly. Kairi didn't seem to notice as she made more sandwiches and tossed them into their lunch bags, and then she tossed them onto the table.

"You want to help or what?" Kairi asked with a smile.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan." Sora said, faking his own and coming forward to help the two girls.

Faking smiles, and laughs, and good moods was something Sora had become accustomed to, even though he was rarely sad…with Kairi you had to always be happy or else she would freak out. Kind of surprising since Kairi was dating the monotone Namine.

Since Sora had been feeling depressed, and now even more since he was thinking about Riku, he had to turn on his old tune. That was Kairi and the other boys wouldn't worry. Except Tidus knew that there was something wrong with his ex, and Aeris knew because Sora told her.

Sora trusted Aeris more than anyone else in the foster home. Cloud and Squall were like his older brothers, but Sora wouldn't talk to them about Ansem and Riku if it killed him. Though, Squall didn't live with them anymore every now and then he would stay over just to visit Aeris, who had taken care of him. Plus, Sora had this weird feeling that there was something going on between Leon and Cloud in the attic…

Wakka was alright as a friend, but Sora wouldn't tell him either. Namine was a little to…monotone for Sora to trust her with his feelings. He didn't know her well enough. To trust her with such…secret information would be almost a breach of his personal rights. Namine could be a little freaky if she wanted to be.

No, Aeries was the only one except the police who Sora had ever told about Riku and Ansem. It was better that way.

"The boys should be up soon." Kairi said, looking at the clock.

"What about Namine?" Sora asked.

"She left already." Kairi said with a dramatic sigh. "She's the only one in this house who wakes up earlier than I do! It's so unfair! Now I have to meet her at school! It's so unfair."

Aeris smiled and patted Kairi's head. "Don't worry about Namine. She needs her own alone time, just like everyone here."

Sora often found himself forgetting that Aeris only took in the worst cases of child abuse for her children. Kairi was only there because her parents had died in an accident, so her aunt had taken her in. Everyone else who lived there had suffered something traumatic. Sora never asked about anyone else's ordeals. His was bad enough, and so far as he knew he wasn't the worst case. Though, his case was one of the worst. Namine's was apparently the worst. Sora had ready about some of it in the paper when her case was big. They never called her by name, but he knew it was her.

Namine had come from Russia, her parents sending her to find a new and better life. But it turned out that the people they sent her to were sex-slave traders. Namine was forced to work for them, even though she was so young. A year younger than Kairi and Sora.

Namine didn't like most men, especially when she had come to live with them. But, after living with her new family, Namine got a little better and eventually warmed up to them…at least a little anyway.

"Aeris, Kairi…I'm going to head out early today." Sora said suddenly.

"Sora…it's not even 7:15 yet…are you sure?" Aeris asked cautiously.

"Yeah. It's no big deal." Sora said with a smile, grabbing an apple for himself and shoving his lunch in his backpack. "I just want to go for a walk. This early in the day, no one should be up yet. I'll get a nice quiet moment to myself."

"Oh, you just want to avoid Tidus don't you?" Kairi said with a sly grin.

"Huh?" Sora felt his jaw drop. He didn't recall telling Kairi that.

"Sora, remember this…" Kairi winked at him and laughed. "I have a way of knowing everything, so don't you dare pretend that you can hide it from me!"

Sora left the house, feeling slightly creeped out, but he wasn't all that surprised. Kairi could often tell things just by looking at people. That was one of the reasons she made a better friend than girlfriend. Though, that could explain her dating Namine. Namine would be a challenge, even for Kairi, to discover her true feelings.

He took a bite of his apple and wandered into the city. The truth was, Sora hated the city and almost everything about. He just wanted to move away from it and disappear somewhere where no one would ever find him. He hated being around all of the homeless people, and the homeless children ever more. He felt sorry for them, and it made him miserable to see them that way. It just made him want to disappear into the sunset, and never come back. There was nothing good about the city that he could think about. Not one damn thing.

Except on that particular day in the middle of winter, the night after Sora had dreamed about his old friend Riku, who had disappeared into the arms of a child molester, Sora saw something that he had always hoped for, but never expected.

On his way to school the way, Sora saw a boy dressed in rags sleeping on the steps of the library, covered in a light blanket of snow. A boy with silver hair, and the face of an angel…an angel who had saved Sora's life all those years ago.

For there, lying on the steps of the library in the cold was Riku.

There was the sound of clatter as Sora dropped his bag, and his apple fell out of his hand and onto the street. The boy on the steps opened his eyes and looked up, finding himself staring face-to-face with Sora.

"Riku…is that you?"

FIN

A/N

Lady Rittaker: I swear I didn't mean for it to end that way…wait, yes I did. Never mind. Pardon my evil smile.

Sora: You're a horrible person. My sanity is on the line here.

Riku: Isn't there supposed to be a lemon in here somewhere?

Lady Rittaker: Maybe next time boys. It's funny, I usually love oneshots, but I can't force myself to write one about you two

Them: WHY NOT!

Lady Rittaker: I dunno. It's just the way I am I guess. Don't worry, you two will get your crazy sex moment sooner or later.