Chapter 2

After all this time?

Your body was frigid. What had happened? You tried to wriggle your fingers, your digits uncommunicative. The feeling of ice encompassing your limbs and fingers. Your thoughts were fogged my a black mist, oh so very familiar with the smoke of the night on the day your two closest friends disappeared. Your thoughts scattered as you felt yourself floating in the void, zoning in on a particular night of walking home from your day of ventures on the island with your friends. A soft smile splayed across your face as your mind flashed back onto one of your sweet memories surrounding your three closest childhood friends, your icy environment lost to the moment.

~~~

Sophie, Tidus, Sora, and Kairi paced eagerly towards their destination on the island in front of you two, chatting incessantly of their new goals accompanied with the idea of new worlds. You had lingered behind, your thoughts also resting on the idea of a new world and all of its wonders. Sora laughed heartily at a joke Tidus made, shyly glancing back at you as if he were still making sure you were there. You smiled back at him, his grin was contagious. You couldn't help but smile back as you scratched the back of your head, shy from the immediate attention on your persons.

Riku shuffled in his steps beside you, hands in his pockets as he continued to be lost in deep thought.

"A new world entirely different from our own." He pauses to glance at the setting sun, his silver locks catching the pastel beams in their magnificent prisms. He looked at you and smiled as you both slowed your pace from the group ahead of you.

"There are so many possibilities" you mummer, your mind racing as you tilt your head up to gaze at the same setting skyline painting the shore.

"What a difference we could make in the hearts of others, we could set our own destiny!" You continued smiling brightly, flashing your most hopeful grin towards your wise friend. A small splash of sand sprayed your path as you excitedly walked in the same direction as the group in front of you, Riku's steps mimicking your own.

He smiled even wider. That bright hopeful smile, where his eyes closed in complete and utter hope as he nodded his head. He glanced towards the path ahead of you, his mind wondering.

"Imagine the change, someone, like you or I could make in a different world." His smiled lowered as he lost himself in thought, the corner of his mouth shifting into a sly smirk. He slowed his pace slightly, reaching his hand out of his pocket to intertwine his fingers within your own. It was comfortable, like a warm blanket on a chilly night. He glanced at you, flashing a blinding grin full of all his future hopes.

"Imagine the difference we could make together." His intertwined fingers squeezed your own tightly as if to emphasize the impact of the statement he was making. You tilted your head towards him to glance at his profile. You paused in young wonder, this entirely different being shared the same mindset as you. Your same goals, your same dreams. You shifted your gaze to the sand flicking off your feet as you strode along the path.

"Yeah, together. All of us, always." You flashed a bright grin in his direction, catching him off guard. He paused a moment in his tracks, a light blush spreading across his features as he ducked his head away from you to hide his rose tinted cheeks. Your hand tugged at his as you stopped your pace, glancing back towards your friend as his hand pulled on your continuing form. Your head cocked to the side questioningly.

"Riku?"

His face was still turned to the side, hiding his young and vulnerable expression from you. The group of your friends continued to retreat into the distance, oblivious to your lingering forms. You stood there waiting, confused as to why your friend hesitated to continue on along with the group.

"What about just me and you…what if it were just us?" He turned his head towards you, his aquamarine eyes shifting nervously towards you as his hesitation became more apparent. You sighed, a smile encompassing your lips as you used your free hand to reach over and tuck a stray strand of his silver locks behind his ear. A soft smile crossed your face as you accepted this gentle form of his insecurities you know he'd only expose to you, your young heart soared.

"Just us?" You laughed softly, your hand falling away from his face. "Well, we'd conquer the world." You leaned forward and pressed your lips to his cheek in an encouraging gesture.

His laugh chimed through the night, complimenting the lull of the waves.

~~~

The frigid cold was penetrating deeper into your core as you felt yourself drift even further from the reality you called home. Where was this? Is this how Riku and Sora felt when they were swallowed by the darkness that night? You could feel your face form into a scowl as you thought of how alone and isolated they might have felt at such a young age. What had ever happened to them? Had they dissipated into the darkness as you felt you were doing right at this moment? They were so young, so full of life, of hopes and dreams. You felt the scowl in your forehead as it deepened, your sorrow for your friends ripping through your thoughts. Why was life so unfair? They were so bright and full of hope, so caring and wise. Was dissolving into the pointlessness of nothing their only future?

Your mind scattered again as the cold ran through you. So many jumbled memories surrounding your existence, so many moments defining who you've become.

~~~

The sun warmed your cheeks as you lie in the sand next to your friends. You took a deep breath of the fresh sea air as the waves lulled you into a relaxed state. The lukewarm foam of the waves was nipping at your feet as time passed all of you by. A soft, troubled sigh escaped the brunette lying next to you. You cracked one eye open to glance at him, a soft grin playing across your face.

"Something wrong Sora?" You chided.

Sora opened his blue pools as he gazed at the tropical sky above you, his expression far away from where you all lay.

"I heard my mom talking about love" He huffed. "I just don't understand what it is." He wriggled in his spot frustrated, a small wrinkle furrowing in his young brow. He lowered his hands from underneath his head to rest on the belly of his white, blue-rimmed shirt.

"Love is when you decide to devote yourself completely to another person." The young silver-haired blonde chided from your left, leaning upon one of his elbows to glance at you towards your younger friend. Your eyes darted towards him. Your young mind scoffed, what did he know about love? You frowned. 'But then again, what do I know about love?'

Sora seemed to chip up, leaping around and tumbling over to hug you, Riku and Kairi.
"Then I love all of you!"

You all laughed heartily, grabbing onto him as the moment of happiness lingered.

~~~

If the cold overtaking your body wasn't enough, then the frigid wind now aiding in your lowering temperature wasn't helping. You could feel the change in the shift of the air as it ran past you, your temperature dropping. You were moving, flowing towards an unknown destination in the darkness. You tried flexing your hand again to no avail, your body refused to respond. The scowl continued to splay across your face as you shifted at a higher speed through the dark depths of nothingness. Your mind raced a mile a minute, where on earth could you be going? Just a moment ago you were waiting to start your shift at your normal job, and now all of a sudden one of your many questions finally found validation in your existence at this exact time? The irony. After years of searching for the black nothingness that swallowed your dearest friends, it shows up out of nowhere and transports you to god knows where.

Your mind drifted once again towards your dear memories, a happy distraction from the pain the impeeding cold was bringing on.

~~~

It had been the morning you realized your true feelings.

You had fallen in love with Riku. His inquisitive and ever questioning mind, his wise nature, and intuitive perception of his closest friends, his insecurities.. You loved all of it. It had been confusing and frustrating in the beginning, but as you slowly began to research and question your feelings, you began to understand the depth of your hearts desires.

It was an exceptionally sunny day. You, Riku, Sora, and Kairi were walking towards school as per your usual morning ritual. The usual chatter continued on, taking a turn towards crushes thanks to Kairi's egging on.

"So do you guys have a crush on anyone?" She giggled cheekily, her knuckles coming to rest daintily over her mouth. You took a moment to glance towards Riku, trying to hide your line of sight under thick lashes. He continued to walk on, deep in thought as his school bag was slung over his right shoulder.

"Well, I kind of have someone in mind." Sora laughed shyly, scratching the back of his head as his school bag swung lazily by his side. Kairi gasped dramatically.

"Who is it?!"

You looked past Riku at Sora quizzingly, curious as to who your sweet brunette friend had a crush on. He smiled sheepily glancing at you quickly, only to close his eyes and laugh nervously.

"Well, it wouldn't be a secret crush if I told you, now would it?" He laughed heartily, trying to hide his nervousness. Kairi huffed, crossing her arms.

"You're no fun Sora." She leaned forward to glance across her previous target to focus her sights on Riku.

"What about you Riku, do you like anyone?" She chirped, a light blush staining her cheeks.

You darted your gaze towards him, your heart beating with anticipation. Did he have someone that he had a crush on? Were all hopes lost? Could he like Kairi or Sophie?

Riku sighed, slinging his bag down from his shoulder to start swinging lazily at his side.

"I can't really disclose that to you right now." Riku darted his eyes over towards yours, smirking so only you could see. "I have to be sure she likes me too."

Your heart leaped into your chest. Were your legs giving out? This has to be a dream right? This kind of thing only happened in love novels and Shoujo Manga. Riku chuckled beside you as your face burned up to the resemblance of a tomato.

The sun was just exceptionally warm that day.

~~~

The drastic difference of the warm island sun versus your current icy darkness gave you a headache. Were memories supposed to be this vivid? You squeezed your eyes shut tighter if they could possibly be any tighter as it is. You felt your body continue to sift through the darkness traveling towards an unknown destination if there even was a destination. For all you know, this could have been a death sentence for your friends and very much the same consequence for your own future. Your heartbeat slowed, remembering the day after their disappearance. There was so much pain, so much sorrow.

You had finally come to realize your feelings for Riku, you had finally taken a step forward in the right direction. Only to have your reality ripped right from your very grasp in a matter of minutes.

~~~

Your room was a mess. Your belongings lie scattered along your floor as you wailed into Kairis' arms, tears streaming down both of your cheeks.

"They were right there, but I couldn't save them!" You sobbed yet again into her small form encompassing your own. A hiccup racked your lungs as another cry escaped you. "I couldn't save them!" You buried your tear-streaked face into her pink dress as you quivered uncontrollably.

Kairi shushed you, her hand gently petting your (y/c) locks soothingly. Her arms grasped you tightly as she rocked the both of you back and forth. Your redhead childhood friend grasped you tighter as a sob racked her own body, your long arms wrapping around her waist desperately. If there were a time that Kairi had truly shown her strength, it was then. Your respect for her had grown from that moment.

"There was nothing you could have done (y/n)." She shushed. Her cheek came to rest upon your head, nuzzling your hair into her skin comfortingly. "You did everything you could…"

You lifted your head and cracked open your puffy red eyes to look up at her, more tears pouring from your (y/c) orbs. "But it wasn't enough Kairi" Another sob wracked your body. "If…if I had gotten there sooner I could have at least told him. Maybe that would have changed things!"

Kairi looked at you, a soft and sad smile playing across her features.

"I know (y/n), it's still not your fault."

You buried your head back into her chest, sorrow wracking your body with continuous sobs.

"I love him Kairi." You mumbled repeatidly into her tear soaked chest.

"I love him, but I'll never be able to tell him!" You sobbed, clutching her pink zippered dress in your now destroyed room.

~~~

The taste in your mouth was bitter, salty just like the taste of tears. You had tried so hard to forget that day. The day after everything happened, the day you lost a part of your most precious self. Both and you and your best friend had changed, losing a part of who you were along with your friends.

The cold was starting to feel a little more comforting, numbing almost.

The wind began to pick up even more than before, you could feel gravity start to pull at you as you floated toward a final destination. Your head began to tip backward, you felt yourself plummeting downwards towards an unknown location. Finally, your body was starting to respond to your commands. You opened your eyes as you tilted your head back to see your landing point. There was so much darkness, darkness, and the moon. It was bright and beautiful, its pale rays reflecting on the odd black shapes lining the coast you were fastly approaching.

You could see the shimmering water line approaching at a steady pace, you inhaled as you braced for the impact of slamming into the said water.

It came as a crushing sensation, a rushing sound through your ears and forcing the air from your lungs on impact. A large cloud of bubbles floated up from your form towards the surface as you quickly sank from the weight of your fall. You could see the beams of moonlight reflecting through their many spheres. If your breath had not already been taken away, it surely would have been at this point. The sight was unforgettable, if this was your last moment you wouldn't quite mind.

Your body floated in the water as you watched the odd form of bubbles from your fall slowly retreat up towards the surface. The surface with air. Oh how you wished you could muster the strength to pull yourself up out of the depths, but you were so tired, and the sight from below was so beautiful. Maybe drowning in an unknown place wouldn't be so bad. You smiled softly, smirking at your own sense of melancholy.

As you drifted deeper into the water you heard muffled panicked voices from the surface, followed by splashing heading in your direction. That's confusing, you were sure that you hadn't seen anyone along the shore. However, darkness holds many surprises.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you close to a firm and solid chest. You glanced up, your vision foggy from the water. It looked like beams of moonlight had decided to follow you into the ocean, floating softly around your face. Had you finally gone crazy?

A strong force pushed you upwards, your body still pressing into the chiseled chest of your unknown moon boy. You broke the surface, gasping for air in unison with your savior. You glanced at his face, it was pale, just like his moonlight locks. They had a black cloth covering their eyes. You scoffed. 'How stupid.'

You scrutinized his face, slowly gaining recognition from his chiseled jawline and high cheekbones. This had to be a dream right? Riku was surely dead. You had to make sure though.

You reached your hand around the back of his head as he swam the two of you towards the shore. Better do this now while he's distracted and incapable of defending your advances right? You steadied your resolve and yanked the black cloth from his eyes, gasping in shock as his aquamarine eyes glared at you in annoyance.

"Took you long enough (y/n)." He gave that all-knowing smirk, lowering his eyes to look down at your dumbfounded expression.

It was your Riku.