When Roxas came to, he was hurting all over. His head pounded, his arms felt bruised, and he wasn't entirely sure what his lungs were doing, but it certainly wasn't their job. Even his legs felt like they'd been buried in a pile of needles.

He groaned and tried to move, only to hit some sort of blockage. The jolt snapped him out of the painful daze, sending adrenaline rushing through his veins. His head cleared, and he found himself kneeling on the floor, in the corner of an unknown room. His mind switched into recon mode with practiced ease, and while there wasn't a lot to see at first glance – just a dim room, empty besides himself, and which at least seemed to be largely gray but might be a trick of the light – the occasional greenish blue blinking of machinery told him he'd landed in one of the more advanced worlds which, provided he was in a world he'd visited before, narrowed it down to three, and he immediately discarded Halloween Town. While Halloween Town had machines, the architecture wasn't quite... bizarre enough, which left The World That Never Was and Twilight Town. And the better Roxas' eyes adjusted to the lighting conditions, the more he realized that the patterns on the walls had softer edges than what he'd expect from The World That Never Was.

Twilight Town, then. But how did he get there?

Roxas really wasn't prepared for the onslaught of images racing through his head. His mind had always been sluggish, his memory decidedly awful. Of course he'd been aware of how he grew quicker on the uptake over the past 358 days, but he still wasn't quite used to this.

The flashes of black, the bite of the wind, the lashing rain, the echo of a name. It started with an X. Xo... Xi... Xia...

Xion.

Finally, Roxas managed to wrestle his memories into line. He'd met that impostor, the one who took her and made her act weird. He'd been in the way, so they fought. And then...

Another stab of pain lanced through Roxas' head. He cried out and hunched into his throbbing shoulders as the reflex to grab his head nearly wrenched his arms from their sockets. His eyes were shut tightly and his breath came in bursts, but he pulled himself together. Once the pain ebbed away and his breathing evened out, he tried to look over his shoulder and check what was going on with his hands that he couldn't get them away from his back and each other, but his body refused to contort that far. He had to rely on his sense of touch, and after a few experimental tugs, he settled on rope binding his wrists to his ankles. There even seemed to be pieces of fabric covering his fists, leaving just enough room to relax his fingers but nowhere near the amount of space needed to grip the handle of a Keyblade.

Roxas didn't have a word for what was happening to him. But he knew it was very, very bad.

It was also very, very irritating. He had other places to be, look for a way to free Kingdom Hearts, for a way to get answers, a way to make things right again. He couldn't just sit there and wait for what was coming!

He started yanking on the rope. It was sturdy and rough, and it pulled ever tighter. A part of Roxas knew it accomplished less than nothing, but the frustration only served to goad him into doubling his efforts, ignoring the strain it put on his body. He got to a point where he couldn't even hear his own grunts and cries anymore, much less the hissing of an automatic door.

He only realized he wasn't alone anymore when a deep voice cut through the rushing of blood in his ears. "If you plan on dislocating your shoulders, you're doing it right."

A small gasp escaped Roxas as he was startled into looking up, right into the orange eyes of his superior framed by the hood of the Organization's coat. "Xemnas!" he choked out, deflating on the spot. So they got him after all.

Eyes lowered, Roxas settled back into his restraints, searching for words to justify himself.

He shook his head. No. He was done being the submissive fool who kept crawling back to a bunch of people who wanted him killed. Who sent him on suicide missions and turned his friends against each other.

He was done being Xemnas' little pet.

Roxas' muscles coiled, readying a pounce which was never going to happen. He gritted his teeth and looked up, grim determination in his eyes. "Let me go!"

The orange eyes blinked. "I'm afraid you have the wrong guy."

"Huh?" Roxas nearly flinched. That voice... he could've sworn it sounded different before. And he knew it. "Wait... You're that guy with the blindfold!"

"Yes."

Roxas hummed half-quizzically. But, well, Xemnas couldn't be the only person with orange eyes, right?

The stranger removed the hood. Roxas barely had time to take in the gray hair falling out of it before another hurricane of memories hit him, surging through his mind in bursts and flares too rapid to process. But there was one thing crystallizing out of the chaos, a boy he dreamed of before, a name which jumped him from unconsciousness not too long ago.

"Riku!"

"What the...?"

For once, Roxas was almost glad he was tied up. His head hurt – again – and he felt a little faint. And he really didn't care to faceplant in front of this stranger. (Though he wasn't sure why he suddenly cared – he'd fainted plenty of times before and it never bothered him outside of being inconvenient on missions.)

He took a deep breath and looked up. "That's you, right? You're Riku."

The man silently stared back, arms crossed and an impassive look in his eyes. He really did resemble Xemnas... Older perhaps, or a bit more dignified. Maybe both. Not at all the person Roxas had been fighting – a boy who could've easily been around Roxas' age.

Roxas narrowed his eyes. He should know... But his memory refused to provide the end of their fight. Did he faint again? Get knocked out? Either way, he lost, which had seemed so unlikely. Something must have happened.

But it didn't seem like he was getting anywhere. This Riku character was just as close-mouthed as everybody else.

Roxas huffed bitterly and threw himself back against the wall. His elbows didn't agree at all, but Roxas couldn't care less at this point. "Of course. What did I expect? Not even Axel gives me any answers, why would an enemy of the Organization do so?"

Riku uncrossed his arms with a sigh and, much to Roxas' surprise, sat down. "If it's answers you want, well... My knowledge is pretty sparse, but I can try."

Roxas was so taken aback, he forgot all his questions for a second. Then there were so many at once, he couldn't form a coherent sentence. It took him a moment to organize his thoughts and remind himself not to get his hopes up. This Riku wasn't speaking to him as an equal, or he wouldn't be here in the first place, tied into a neat little black bundle and then tossed into the corner of a dark room.

Still, it was all he got, and it was worth a try at least. "Why did the Keyblade choose me?"

Riku hummed pensively. "I was wondering about that as well. Why does the Keyblade choose anyone, really?" With a far-off look in his eyes, he reached out a hand and a wing-shaped blade materialized in a shimmer of light, blue and red except for the white bit.

"A Keyblade?!" Roxas blurted out. "You have a Keyblade?!"

"Pretty strange, huh?"

The Keyblade vanished, and Roxas was starting to feel ignored again. "Are you talking to me, or are you talking at me?" he snapped, and the far-off look disappeared.

Riku regarded Roxas intently, but whatever it was that was going through his mind, he kept it to himself. It was an uncomfortable gaze, but Roxas didn't permit himself to shift or look away. Eventually, Riku leaned back on a hand and drew up a knee as an armrest for the other. "I'm sorry. I guess I've been alone for so long, I ended up talking to myself."

Roxas frowned, but he nodded. It wasn't like he'd never seen people with hearts act in peculiar ways before. And he got an apology, which was a lot more than he could've asked for. "I can't say I understand, but... fine."

Riku sighed. "Anyway, that was the complicated answer." He raised a brow, and he got that 'talking to myself' look again. "For a broad definition of 'answer', that is. The obvious answer would be you're a Keyblade wielder because you're the Nobody of a Keyblade wielder. Your Keyblades... All three of them... They take the same forms as Sora's Keyblade has taken at some point."

There was that name again. Sora. "Who is Sora?"

Riku smiled, but his eyes looked sad. It puzzled Roxas to no end. Why was he smiling when he was sad?

Roxas was about to ask, but Riku was quicker – he took a deep breath and said, "Sora is my best friend."

That was the point where Roxas did avert his eyes and shifted uncomfortably, and it wasn't just because sitting all folded up really did a number on his legs. He wasn't sure what to make of that statement. He'd thought he knew about best friends – but he wasn't so certain anymore. His only source of information on that had been Axel, who turned out to be not so trustworthy after all. "What is it like? Having a best friend, I mean."

Riku was a considerably quieter thinker than Axel, Roxas found. He'd hummed before, but he didn't do it again. He didn't wave his hands around, or use filler words. It was almost eerie, to the point where Roxas wouldn't have been surprised if Riku suddenly stopped breathing. The only sign he was pondering the question at all were the narrowed eyes.

Must've been a really tough question.

Eventually, however, Riku relaxed. "Pretty crazy," he decided. "It's fun, it's comforting, and sometimes it's rough, but it's always worth it in the end."

That wasn't very helpful. "Could you go into more detail?"

Riku eyed Roxas skeptically. "What are you getting at? You're not going back to the Organization. There's nothing you could gain from knowing more about my relationship to Sora."

"I don't care about the Organization!" Roxas snapped. "They can do whatever they want! I just..." He trailed off. I just want to know where everything went wrong...

Roxas suddenly felt tired. He realized he'd leaned forward in his agitation, and his stinging legs were getting increasingly hard to ignore. He reclined against the wall again to get some weight off of them and twisted in his fetters, testing their limits.

A huff startled him from his struggles. "Argh, stupid, Riku!" Roxas looked up in time to catch his conversation partner pinching the bridge of his nose. "Good grief, Roxas, use words!"

Roxas didn't have time to be surprised before he felt Riku fiddling around with the ropes behind him. He could hear the puffing of air being slowly exhaled. "You really couldn't help yourself, did you? This will take a while."

It took Roxas a second to realize Riku was talking about his fit of rage. Way to shoot himself in his own foot there. "I didn't think you'd care."

"Fair enough."

Awkward silence ensued. While Riku worked on the ropes, Roxas used the time to process everything he'd heard. The most burning questions were out of the way, but the answers had been pretty underwhelming. The Nobody of a Keyblade wielder... of Sora.

"Is that why you hunted me down? Because you want your best friend back?"

"In a way, yes. That's the end goal."

"But I don't remember my former life like the other Nobodies."

Riku sighed and the feeling of hands fiddling with the ropes ceased. "Roxas... You never had a former life."

"What?!" That couldn't be right! All Nobodies had a former life! Except... Except Xion. Who was special. Like him. Had Axel been lying to him about the puppet thing after all? "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that this is not Sora's body. You don't look remotely alike. You're Sora's Nobody, but you're also... not."

"Great," Roxas muttered dryly. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Riku replied, as cool as they come. "It's not every day a Nobody is created while the original still hangs around. Who knows, might even be the first time ever. If there's any research into it, I haven't found it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up!" There was a brief moment where Roxas reflexively tried to turn around and Riku just as reflexively clamped down on the ropes, but Roxas was too upset to care. "Sora is around? Not a Heartless?"

Riku tilted his head slightly, an eyebrow raised. "Did the Organization tell you anything?" He sighed and picked his work on the ties back up, prompting Roxas to turn forward again.

"Guess nobody felt it necessary," he squeezed through gritted teeth, glaring at the wall like it offended him personally. He was angry at the Organization for keeping him in the dark, but he was even more angry at himself for letting them get away with it for so long.

"You're shaking," Riku said, and it almost sounded compassionate. But Roxas was determined not to let himself be fooled again. No matter how kind this Riku person pretended to be, he was still his enemy.

"What do you want from me?" Roxas growled. "You just said yourself that Sora is fine. Let me go!"

"I didn't say Sora was fine."

"What?!" It was getting increasingly hard to stay still and yell at the wall instead of turning around and doing it to Riku's face. "And when were you going to tell me that?"

Riku sighed. "And here I thought Sora was a hothead... I'm afraid I can't beam everything I know into your mind all at once. And frankly, I don't even know where to start by now. Do you know about Castle Oblivion?"

"Not a lot, except that it exists."

"The Organization conducted experiments there. Making copies of people, among other things. And they tried to get Sora under their control by messing with his memories. He's been asleep for a long, long time, and he won't wake up unless all the pieces taken from him are returned."

"What pieces?" Roxas' mind raced. This shouldn't have anything to do with him, but it obviously did. Memories, Sora, Axel's reticence about Castle Oblivion, about Xion and Roxas himself...

I belong with Sora. And now I'm going back to be with him.

The last thing you'll get is your life back.

You're next, Roxas. I have to make you part of me, too.

I want back the rest of Sora's memories.

Roxas cried out. His head felt like it was going to explode. Suddenly, it all made sense.

Terrifying sense.

Roxas yanked at the ropes, and for once, it actually worked. His legs had turned into pin cushions, but they were free, and Roxas retreated deeper into his corner, teeth bared. "It's me, isn't it?! I'm the piece that needs returning!" And if Xion's fate was any indication, he wasn't going to survive the process. "That's all I am to you, ain't I?! Just some Nobody you can sacrifice for your own ends!"

Roxas' vision blurred. He struggled against the ropes, frantically wriggling his wrists and flexing his fingers in a desperate attempt to work himself free. If he could just stretch his hands enough to summon his Keyblades, then maybe...

"No. You're not."

Roxas stopped struggling for the moment. The man in front of him had stood up, and Roxas was forced to tilt his head back in order to face the orange eyes glowing way too far above him. He could barely see through the water in his own, but it was enough to tell that Riku meant it. "Then why?!"

Riku took a deep breath, and his face hardened. He'd been an enormous presence already, but now he seemed to grow taller and taller. "Because I will do whatever it takes to make sure my best friend is safe."

I can't win this.

The thought struck Roxas out of nowhere. There was no basis for it, no prompting. But he knew it to be true with the clarity of an ant facing off against a lion. He was completely and utterly powerless against this wall of unwavering loyalty and fierce determination.

The realization sucked all the fight out of Roxas and he collapsed like a house of cards, sobbing uncontrollably. He didn't want to die. He didn't want the last words he ever said to his best friend be No one would miss me. He just wanted to sit on the clock tower and eat ice cream and laugh about silly things again.

"I'm sorry. If there was any other way–"

"Shut up!" Roxas roared. "Keep your worthless excuses to yourself! You killed Xion! And you're going to kill me! Because that Sora of yours was too weak to take care of himself!"

"Kill? Ridiculous. One cannot kill what does not exist."

If Riku had been going to say something, the arrival of a third person stopped him in his tracks. Even Roxas was shocked into silence, incapable of wiping his eyes but doing his level best to discern a little more than a red blob from the blurry dimness of the room.

"DiZ..."

"I could hear the commotion from the far end of the corridor. It would appear Sora produced a particularly... aggressive specimen of Nobody."

"Shut up!" Roxas couldn't take it anymore. He leapt to his feet, unthinking, and it immediately came back to bite him when pain shot up his legs and he found himself on the floor again, still crying miserably.

This was it. This was the end, and there was nothing he could do about it. Even his own legs refused to hold him anymore.

"I think you're wrong, DiZ," Riku's voice cut through the despair. "About Nobodies being unable to feel."

"Because he is crying?" the newcomer said, his tone one of contemptuous disinterest. "Tears are a physical reaction to injury. Do not let it fool you."

"But..."

"Perhaps your fight did more damage than we initially thought. But it is of no importance. He will have plenty of time to rest."

Roxas did not like the sound of that. Dread slowly started to override the despair, and the stream of tears dried up. Then the dread faded too, leaving an odd sort of determination. Even if there was no way to change his fate, he wasn't going to take it lying down.

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" he cried. "Of course we can feel! We can laugh, and cry, and yell, and make friends like everybody else!"

"Oh really? Is that so?" DiZ replied, not even deigning to look at Roxas. "Then I suppose I must have imagined your so-called 'friends' wiping each other out. Tell me, did they not try to get rid of you, too?"

Roxas clenched his teeth. He couldn't deny that last part, but the first?

He glanced at Riku. "What is he talking about?"

"Castle Oblivion," Riku explained, tilting his head. "I don't know what happened, but I know it wasn't Sora, DiZ, or me who disposed of them, which doesn't leave a lot of options."

Axel!, shot through Roxas' head. That would explain why he was the only one who came back, and why he'd been so secretive about it. But no, Axel wouldn't just kill people... Roxas refused to believe that. This DiZ person was just messing with him.

Then again, DiZ didn't believe there was anything to mess with.

Roxas shook his head. "Shut up!"

"Would that be the full extend of your vocabulary? Not very civilized, I'm afraid." DiZ waved dismissively and directed his attention at Riku. "I believe this has been quite enough. My preparations are finished. Please take care of yours."

And with that, DiZ strode out of the room, leaving Riku and Roxas to awkwardly stare at each other. But after that episode, Roxas almost appreciated it.

"Pleasant guy."

"I owe him my life."

"That's somehow even worse."

Riku chuckled darkly, but made no comment. Roxas averted his eyes and shifted uncomfortably.

"So, what's going to happen now? I..." He suppressed another sniff. "I want to be prepared."

"You'll forget everything. It won't matter."

"I... forget?" Roxas felt a glimmer of hope, but he suppressed that, too. "No dying involved?"

"I don't know. I only know DiZ is wrong about you. For what it's worth, I've met a puppet with a heart before. I think... I think you could have one, too. And hearts can be restored."

Roxas couldn't believe his ears. "You think... I have a heart?"

"Maybe." Riku shrugged helplessly. "Or maybe DiZ is right and I'm deluding myself. Anyway, is there anything I can do for you?"

Roxas didn't need to think for long. "There's this guy called Axel. Red, spiky hair, green eyes, and he's got those markings under them. Bit overdramatic, uses chakrams and has a preference for fire magic. If you meet him... Tell him I'm sorry. For the way I left things."

Riku nodded soberly. "I will. I promise."

Roxas had forgotten to ask why anyone would smile when sad. But now he answered that question himself. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I don't deserve it." Riku bent down and grabbed Roxas' upper arm, pulling him to his feet. Roxas' knees were still wobbly, but he could stand with the hand supporting him.

He felt strangely calm, even when Riku summoned his Keyblade and reversed his grip, pointing the pommel at Roxas' temple. "Anything else?"

Roxas shook his head. He remembered the way he felt when Axel showed up after Roxas thought he'd lost him at Castle Oblivion. If he was going to die here, at least it wouldn't be in vain.

He grinned. "Say hi to Sora!"

Riku shut his eyes tightly, and Roxas could've sworn he heard a strangled sniff. "I'm sorry."

Then the blade came down.


*sniffs* Yes, I made myself cry. Cry with me! T.T

I vote to rename the franchise 'Kingdom of Broken Hearts'. No heart here, just hurt.

I've always been partial to the idea of Roxas and Riku having a very awkward conversation after everything's sorted out. KH3 lays some foundations, but it's never adressed. And then I woke up crying one morning because this popped into my head in relation to it, or at least something similar did. I forgot how it was originally going to go, except that it made me cry a lot harder... Woes of a writer. Anyway, I plan on adding a second one-shot in which said awkward conversation happens, but I think I need a break first...