Chapter 32: Fragments of Sorrow
"Riku. You did it."
He turned, surprised. He was still slightly shaken from what he had just witnessed. Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie all stood, almost as if they had been waiting for him. Maybe they had. He didn't care. He looked at them, but couldn't really focus. He could still see Sora, in his mind's eye. He couldn't shake the look on Sora's face, as he was being dragged down into darkness. He kept wondering about what Sora had meant to say. He had been running through countless possibilities, but none of them seemed to fit.
"Are you okay?" Aerith asked.
"Huh? Yeah," he said, roughly. "Why are you guys here?"
"We came in Cid's gummi ship, duh," Yuffie replied.
"This was our childhood home," Aerith explained. "We wanted to see it again."
Leon shook his head sadly. "It's in worse shape than I feared. It used to be so peaceful…"
Riku tried to look sympathetic, but probably failed at it. The closest thing he had to a childhood home was Castle Oblivion, and he wouldn't care if that place fell to ruins. However, he was also preoccupied. He still couldn't shake that image of Sora out of his brain.
"Don't worry," Aerith said, as if she could tell he was worried. However, she obviously didn't know what he was worried about. "You defeated Ansem, so all should be restored. Even your islands."
"Cool," Riku muttered, not really thinking about it. He was still worrying about Sora.
"Everyone should return to their homes, too," Yuffie said.
That got his attention. "Really?" he asked. That meant Namine and Kairi and- well… Sora probably wasn't included in that. Sora had been dragged into darkness. He probably wasn't even-
Riku quickly shook his head. He couldn't think stuff like that.
"You should return home, too," Aerith said.
He looked at them, still shaken, still not focusing. "Yeah, right," he managed to say, and slowly opened up a dark corridor behind him. "I'll be going then…"
And he was gone.
xxx
His face hit the sand. He groaned. Talk about a rough landing.
That's what I get for not focusing, he thought, pushing himself up. At least I landed in the right world…
"Riku!"
He smiled slightly, finding Namine running towards him. He rose to his feet, still shaken slightly. It felt good to be back home, but Sora-
"You're okay!" Namine said, happily.
He nodded. He hurt, but he wasn't focusing on it. He wasn't really focusing at all. His mind kept drifting back to Sora.
"Are you okay?" Namine asked, suddenly worried. He nodded again. She frowned.
The sound of footsteps caught his attention. He turned, slightly shocked. It was only Kairi. Thank goodness she was okay! He had been slightly worried, after what Ansem had done to her…
"Riku, where's Sora?" she demanded, as she reached them.
Riku flinched back. His stomach bottomed out.
"Riku! Riku, what happened to him?"
"I- I'm sorry. I don't know where Sora is. I- He… I'm sorry."
He couldn't say it. It was as if not saying it would change the truth, or something. Namine had a troubled look on her face, and Kairi looked absolutely horror stricken. They knew that it was bad, even without him finishing the explanation.
Riku took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. It kind of worked.
"Listen, I'll find him," he told them. "I'll find him and I'll bring him home safely. I promise, okay?"
"Riku," Namine said. "You don't have to-" She paused, noting the look on Riku's face. Just the look on his face, and she knew. He wasn't just doing this for Kairi.
"I'll be back. Soon." Riku opened up a dark corridor. "I'll find Sora, and I'll be back. It won't take me long. I'll find him, alright? I'll find him!"
He stepped through.
xxx
Sora wasn't quite sure where he was. He couldn't exactly feel anything around him. He couldn't feel at all, to be honest. He wiggled his fingers, or attempted to, but felt no movement. He opened his eyes. Darkness surrounded him. He couldn't see a thing.
"Close your eyes," a voice told him. "Surrender to the darkness."
He was about to do it, too, but then something occurred to him. He quickly opened his eyes. "Wait a minute!" he shouted to the darkness. "I gotta see Kairi again!"
"Surrender yourself," the voice repeated. "Become the darkness."
"But I…" he started to say, but lost control of his body again and slowly went back to drifting.
"Stay asleep," the voice whispered. "Surrender yourself to the darkness and sleep. Here, sleep is eternal…"
Sora closed his eyes again, about ready to give up. Kairi crossed his mind again, and he cringed. What was he going to say to her, if he ever got out of here? After all that he had done. It was painful, all those memories… She had only been trying to help, and he had only pushed her away.
She probably hated him, by now.
If only he had never given into the darkness in the first place…
"Maybe I should just surrender," he mumbled. "And fade into the darkness. Then I won't have to worry about it."
His heart ached though, at the thought of not seeing her again.
"Kairi…" he whispered. "I'm sorry…"