Chapter 3: Panic!

Riku stared in shock. Had Sora just…?

"Sora!" he shouted, looking up at him in shock and disbelief, traces of fear on his face. What had just happened? He couldn't say anything more. He wasn't sure what to say.

Sora was speechless also.

Namine, who had been sort of watching the fight, but focusing more on her drawing, looked up now. She studied the scene with interest, wondering what was going on. And then she saw the blood. The pencil nearly fell out of her hand as she put down her sketch book and ran over.

"Riku, are you alright?" Namine asked. Riku nodded, but his gaze remained on Sora.

"I-I" Sora stammered. "I'm sorry. I-"

"Riku!" Kairi called, "have you finished with the-" she stopped. Her eyes glanced over the scene before her. Namine at Riku's side. Riku bleeding. Sora standing there in shock. All eyes were on Sora, and Sora was freaking out.

"What… happened?" Kairi asked slowly.

"Yeah," Riku said, looking from his wound to Sora. "What happened?"

Sora turned from Riku to Kairi, looking horrified. "I-I don't know," he stuttered. "Riku beat me, a-and I was kind of frustrated." He stopped, breathing hard. "I-I just… I didn't mean for-" he seemed frantic now, unable to get out the words he wanted to get out. "I didn't even mean to hit him!" Sora shouted. "One second I was sitting here, Riku declaring he won, and then I reached for my sword and-" his expression grew sick. "I-I… It was all sort of a blur, and-and then Riku was sitting here in pain!"

All eyes were on Sora. He was frantically looking around, hoping to find something but shock on one of their faces. Riku seemed almost angry, and a bit preoccupied, as if trying to hold something down. Namine was silent and confused about the situation, which wasn't unusual. Kairi was staring at Sora with… fear.

Sora dropped to his knees and reached out to Riku.

"Riku, I-"

Riku jumped back, hand flying to cover his wound again. Sora stared in shock.

Riku looked at Sora, anger rising in him. The pain building up in his arm was making it harder to resist the urge to strike back. It would be so easy to pull out his blade, or shoot Dark Firaga, or…

No, he told himself, Sora's not my enemy. It was just an accident.

He couldn't really convince himself that though. There was something about the way all this had happened. It didn't seem like Sora hadn't planned this. It seemed like Sora had really meant to hurt him. But the way Sora was freaking out now…

Riku turned to Kairi, who stood away from the scene, shaking. Her eyes were on Sora, and she was growing paler by the second. Even if she hadn't seen it happen, just the thought of it was freaking her out. Sora, I-can't-harm-a-fly-Sora, had just wounded Riku. Riku turned to Namine and nodded in Kairi's direction. Namine looked, and then noticed what was wrong.

"Hey, Kairi," Namine said. "We should get Riku bandaged up."

Kairi turned, stared at Namine and Riku for a second, and then nodded.

Riku let the girls drag him off to bandage a wound that probably didn't need much bandaging. It didn't matter. Hopefully, this would calm Kairi down.

"Wait!" Sora called. "Guys! You gotta believe me!"

Only Namine turned back. She flashed him a small smile. "Sorry, Sora," she replied.

Sora watched them go, and shuddered.

He was alone.

It was cold.

xxx

Riku paid almost no attention as Kairi bandaged his wound. Something wasn't right with Sora, and it was a scary thought. What in the worlds had made him do that? He usually took losing rather well.

"Riku, what happened back there?" Kairi asked quietly, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Riku turned to her. "Same as Sora said," he said with a shrug. "We fought, I won, and," he paused, thinking. It really had been a blur. "Sora sort of screamed in frustration, which wasn't unusual at all, and then- he struck."

"That all?" she pressed. He merely nodded.

Kairi nodded too, but her hands were shaking and she was unable to tie the bandage properly. Namine must have noticed, for she took over the job.

"You alright, Kairi?" Namine asked.

She nodded again. "Just a bit freaked, I guess" she replied. "I've known Sora my entire life and never has he done anything like this. He's never been able to hurt anyone." Riku noticed tears running down her face, which she quickly tried to wipe away. "It scares me to see him so scared" her voice got quiet as she said this, almost as if she was admitting this for the first time.

Silence passed.

Namine was the first to speak up. "Maybe you should go talk to him," she told Kairi.

Kairi seemed taken aback. "But what if-"

"He's not going to hurt you," Riku said, a bit impatiently. "Something would have to be seriously wrong with him to even consider that."

"He's scared too" Namine added. "Maybe you can help him."

Kairi nodded slowly, then rose to her feet and headed off to find Sora.

"What was that about?" Riku asked, watching Kairi's retreated form.

Namine turned to look at him, a bit surprised. It took her a second to realize what he was talking about. She shrugged. "I'm not quite sure…" she said slowly. "It just felt… like the right thing to do."

"Hmm…" Riku muttered, thinking about it. There was something a bit off with that statement. Namine had finished bandaging his wound by now, and sat down next to him.

"How are you dealing?" he asked.

"Fine," she replied, looking out to the horizon. "It seems strange, but-" she paused, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear. "This is all familiar. The two of you fighting and all. I know I should be shocked, or something, but-" she frowned, thinking hard. Riku couldn't help but smile. She was so adorable when she was thinking hard.

"It's almost as if I expected this to happen. Or something like this to happen…" she trailed off, eyes growing distant. "I'm not surprised at all." She tore her gaze away from the horizon and turned to look at Riku.

"What about you?" she asked

"What about me?" he replied

"How are you dealing?" she clarified.

"Fine," he said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You scared me a bit back there," Namine said. "For a second, it looked like you were about to kill Sora."

"After I realized what had happened, that was my first instinct. To strike back."

"I'm glad you didn't."

"Me too"

They sat in silence, listening to the sound of the waves. Namine closed her eyes, and smiled. She sighed after a moment.

"I wish the world could just be this," she said. "No worries, no problems, no troubles. Nothing to do but sit here and listen to the waves."

"That sounds a bit boring" Riku laughed.

"Yeah," she admitted. "But peaceful."

"Peaceful, yeah," he agreed.