Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything Disney or Final Fantasy.

Chapter 8

Sora, curled up tightly on the bed in the gummi ship, sighed as he heard Kairi giggling. "I swear he does this on purpose."

"Knowing Riku? He probably does," she responded and he lifted his head when her bed squeaked and he saw her sitting up. All three beds were squished together thanks to lack of room, and this caused problems since Riku was the most restless sleeper of them all.

"Besides, sometimes you have nightmares and... Well. You sort of curl up and..." she trailed off, looking uncomfortable and he felt a flash of guilt. He knew he had nightmares – they all did, it was one reason he liked sleeping near the other two, but he hadn't know his nightmares were bothering them.

"I'm not waking you guys up am I? Screaming or something?" He didn't remember ever waking up screaming from a nightmare but it could happen, he was sure.

"No. In fact any noises you make are usually low. It's more the fact that you aren't making noises and sort of, um, shiver a lot. It's a little disturbing since if you're that quiet, it has to be bad. But usually you calm down if one of us touches you, so Riku is making sure you don't have them?" She smiled hesitantly and he grinned back, carefully squirming out of Riku's sleeping grasp, stopping in exasperation when he was clung to tighter. Kairi giggled lightly and clapped her hands to her mouth in an attempt to muffle them.

"Riku," Sora grumbled, poking his boyfriend in his rubs. Riku absently slapped at his hand before cracking his eyes open to slits. Sora waited quietly for a few moments for Riku to get his bearings and rolled his eyes as Riku promptly shut his eyes again and wrapped both arms back around the thinner waist in front of him.

"Riku! Get off," he said, pushing at the heavier boy. "I swear I'll use Thundaga."

"Not in the gummi ship you won't," Kairi put in warningly and Sora rubbed at his head sheepishly and shrugged.

"Blizzaga then," he said firmly, calling Ultima.

"You'll get the beds wet when it melts," Riku muttered into his thigh. Kairi didn't bother muffling her giggles this time.

Shooting annoyed glances between them he hit Riku gently across the back of his head with the Keyblade. "We have to get up and start the ship moving."

"Kairi can do it. I'm comfortable." He could feel Riku smirking as he spoke. Sora narrowed blue eyes and his eyes flicked over to Kairi grinning unrepentantly and then the edge of the bed. Riku had the middle bed, but they were mostly on Sora's. He moved one leg carefully and braced it at the edge of the bed while one hand lifted up to land on the wall. The soft material beneath them bunched and shifted as he pushed off hard with both limbs, rolling them over the edge.

He made sure to flip them so that Riku ended up on the bottom, gasping as Sora's small frame landed on him. He grinned in response. He was small and short, but he definitely had enough muscle mass so that he wasn't as light as he looked. He "accidentally" drove a knee into Riku's stomach as he made to stand.

There was a breathless snarl of anger from behind him and he found himself tackled before he had taken two steps. Sora yelped in surprised and caught his body with outstretched arms before his face would have painfully met the metal floor. Unfortunately it met it anyway a moment later when Riku kicked his hands out from under him and plopped down to straddle his back.

"That," Riku crooned slyly, "wasn't very nice."

"Neither are you," Sora retorted, and Riku yelped as fire suddenly swirled around them. The instant there was a shift of weight Sora flung himself back, wincing as his head cracked back into Riku's and the other boy let out a string of oaths. Yet, he leapt forward and heard the tell tale sound of Riku's bare feet as he ran back. Sora shifted his weight and turned, Keyblade up and ready and a grin on his face to answer the cocky smirk on Riku's as Way to the Dawn made an appearance.

"Hey! Rule number three!" Kairi shouted and Sora's grin slipped as he remembered that Kairi had been making a list of rules. He just couldn't remember which rule was number three.

"Is that the one where we don't fight or the one where we don't use destructive powers?" He asked, cocking his head to one side inquisitively.

"Don't fight is actually number one. I built the other rules off of that since I figured most of it could be covered by number one. I would like it if we could actually make it to Disney Castle with the gummi ship still intact." Kairi raised an eyebrow at them both but Sora could see her lips trying to twitch up into a smile and he grinned innocently.

"But Kairi, we have to practice. If we can't spar, how will we get better?" He made his eyes go wide and tried his best to look innocent and honest. Kairi put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Sora, I have known you since you were five years old. That hasn't worked since you were ten. I know when you're faking. Now you go drive the gummi ship. Riku, go take a shower," Kairi ordered, grinning as Riku narrowed his eyes.

"Are you telling me I stink?" Riku asked, looking offended.

"You smell like burnt hair." Kairi paused and added mischievously, "Might want to check that. I think Sora might have burned a few strands."

Riku's eyes widened comically and he rushed out the door, shouldering Sora aside on his way to the bathroom. Sora stared after him and tried not to laugh. "He needs a haircut anyway."

"I think he looks good with long hair," Kairi protested mildly, giving Sora a curious look.

He shrugged. "Sure, he looks hot with his hair like that but it's not really practical. Kinda wonder how he sees half the time with his bangs like that, too."

"Probably the same way he was able to see and even fight with a blindfold on," Kairi giggled.

'Badly,' Roxas put in dryly and Sora scowled at the implied insult to his friend. He could feel Roxas's amusement at his reaction and tried to ignore the Nobody. Something he rarely tried to do since Roxas rarely made himself known but sometimes it just had to be done. Though, he never could do it for long. He always had the feeling that if he ignored him for too long he would just disappear or something. Despite the fact that it possibly was something that was supposed to happen in some form or another, he didn't want to. Roxas was a separate personality than him and he didn't want him to disappear.

"Let's get going. I don't think we're that far away. Maybe just a couple more hours. It's just... there are a lot more Heartless gummis about than there used to be and I was getting tired last night, so..." He trailed off, not sure how exactly he could put it.

"Neither me or Riku are skilled enough at flying yet. I get it. I do know now how to get the most out of the engines when we need to run away, but we always seem to get a lot of damage when Riku drives." Kairi slid into one of the side chairs as Sora hopped over the side of the middle chair and settled into the uncomfortable pilot's chair.

"I think either of you could manage the ship enough to get us anywhere we've been at this point. It's just that I'm still the one who can do it with the least damage. You're getting really good though Kairi. Riku's good with the weapons, but he has this problem with running away and tends to want to make sure that none of the enemies survive if he can help it." Sora shrugged. He had to curb that instinct himself sometimes, so he understood Riku's need to make sure none of them got away, it just usually caused the ship a bit too much damage.

"I miss more than both of you," She murmured and he blinked, surprised at her frustrated tone.

"Kairi, when I first started flying – and believe me, Donald and Goofy were very leery of letting me try – I didn't do so well either. The only reason I'm any good at it is experience. You two both took to it better than me. In no time at all you and Riku will be in this seat most of the time." He grinned. "Then I can sleep most of the trip."

"The poor universe. Stuck with lazy heroes like you and Riku," she teased, smiling back.

"And you. You're a hero too Kairi – though I guess that makes it three lazy heroes instead of two, doesn't it?" He laughed as she folded her arms at him and tried to glare. It was unbelievable since her eyes were shining happily and she was fighting down a grin.

'For once, I have to agree with something Riku once said. You are a sap, Sora,' Roxas muttered, though his voice sounded suspiciously fond.

'Yeah. But I'm their sap. And that makes it okay,' he answered and he could feel Roxas' exasperation. He would have been rolling his eyes if he had a body, Sora was sure.

Kairi was talking with Queen Minnie – probably about that magic that Kairi had been using lately. Riku was talking with the King about the situation. Goofy and Donald were not in the castle as they had a mission elsewhere. So Sora was left to his own devices.

He was sure that seeing exactly how far he could get towards the tip of the castle was not what his friends would have called productive. But it was wroth it to climb to the top of the tallest spire and look across the Kingdom. It had taken hours to climb up, what with the roof not exactly being flat, and there were a few Keyblade marks around the castle from when he had used Ultima to keep him from slipping back down. He tried not to do that often, as he was sure the King wouldn't like his castle being riddled with marks from the Keyblade.

'It looks nice. Peaceful,' Roxas murmured quietly. Sora tilted his head, trying to sort out what his Nobody was feeling.

Going with his instincts to guide him he asked, "Do you miss Twilight Town?"

'The clock tower wasn't this tall. But we could see the whole town and beyond from the top of it.' It wasn't an answer, but Sora didn't expect a clear one from Roxas. Not about Twilight Town. Roxas still felt bitter about the whole experience – and yet he still saw Hayner and the others as his friends.

"We should check on Twilight Town anyway. Make sure that it's alright," Sora said out loud. He felt Roxas' surprise – and a jolt of fear. He followed the whirl of thoughts and felt a bit of worry himself. If they had known where Sora and his friends came from, couldn't they know that Roxas had come from Twilight Town? Would they care? Sora didn't know, but he decided that they could skip Radiant Garden and go straight for Twilight Town after they left.

He glanced once more at the landscape with the setting sun lighting it in orange and yellow before he braced his legs and jumped. It was a long way done, and he made sure to jump clear so that he was over the courtyard that came from the ship entrance. At least, he thought it was that courtyard. It was hard to tell from up there.

As he fell, black portals opened up beneath him. He almost sighed but instead called Ultima to his hands. Yet, still more were opening beneath him and he blinked, wondering what was with the large number of Heartless lately.

The Heartless surged toward him and he met them with a sweeping blow of Ultima. After that he was lost in automatic swings and twists. Claws would scrape at his back and dart away when he would twirl in mid air toward them. He let gravity pull him down in the moment when the blows of his blade weren't keeping him up – and didn't even notice how close he was to the ground until he hit it hard.

He ignored the pain in his back and head and leapt back up toward the Heartless, angry at how he had lost track of how long he had been falling. He had defeated over a thousand Heartless on his own, and he wasn't about to let a few fast fliers defeat him.

Munny dropped around him as shining hearts flew upward, but there were still a lot of them. It was hard to breath. He cleared the air around him with a few Thundagas, long enough that he could cast Curaga right after, removing many of the bruises and scratches that he had been given as well as healing some of his physical exhaustion. But the Heartless were darting back in soon enough and in frustration he delved for the power he called on sometimes. Roxas stirred worriedly as he did.

'It's harder without Donald and Goofy to give you energy and easier to slip into that form. Do you really want to do this?' Roxas always thought ahead. But Sora was already reaching for one of the forms and Roxas hoped that he didn't accidentally trigger Anti Form.

They were both relieved when the burst of light that came when they transformed cleared and Sora was now in yellow and black, and not any different mentally than he had been a moment before. Sora sprang up, higher than he could normally thanks to Master's stronger Aerial Dodge and Ultima and Fatal Crest hacked into the Heartless quickly.

They died much faster then, and when Sora's magical energy was rejuvenated, Thundaga was even more powerful in Master Form. He was breathless by the time he had finished the last of the Heartless off, and he quickly let Master Form disappear.

By habit, he walked around the courtyard and picked up the munny and items they had left, his heart rate slowly dropping. He cocked his head as he pocketed a power gem, the sound of familiar hurried footsteps reaching his ears. He glanced up when they stopped, slowly straightening as he watched Riku look him over casually. Sora had to admit he was good at hiding when he was worried. Certainly the older boy didn't look worried now as he casually leaned against the green wall of the miniature castle behind him. If it weren't for the slight flush in his cheeks and the way Riku's breathing was a little too even, he wouldn't even have realized that his boyfriend must have run here when he saw what was happening. His lips curved up into a cheerful smile. "Sorry Riku. You missed all the fun."

"That's because you're selfish Sora. You couldn't even leave a few for me?" Riku retorted, relaxing minutely. Sora pretended not to see it and turned as more footsteps came toward them. He grinned as King Mickey came into view. Unlike Riku, Sora really didn't think he had run. Hurried maybe, but Sora liked to think that King Mickey trusted in his abilities. He liked to think Riku did as well, but if he had seen Riku or Kairi in a similar situation, he would have sprinted to their sides, despite any abilities he knew them to have.

"Good that you found something to do while you were here Sora. Just one question?" Despite the amused smile, Sora had a sinking feeling that he was going to get in trouble – though maybe not from the King. He slid just a bit farther away from Riku as he nodded encouragingly.

"Just how high up were you? You were going by the window pretty fast." Frantically, Sora tried to think of exactly where the King and Riku would have been. But the King was looking at him in such a way that Sora was pointing before he knew it.

"There. The tallest point." He didn't need to look at Riku to know what the reaction to that would be and waited. When the reaction he expected didn't immediately come forth, he chose to glance over at Riku who looked a little annoyed, but otherwise unruffled. Good, he wasn't in one of his overprotective moods then.

"Welp, I'm going to find Minnie and Kairi and tell them what the situation is. You can tell Sora. We can all talk after dinner tonight." In another moment, the King was gone, back into his castle, and Riku was shifting away from the wall.

"I should be mad at you," Riku said, and Sora snorted and began to walk. Riku fell into step beside him.

"And if you hadn't been talking with the King, then we would have beenracing to the top," Sora pointed out, because he knew it was true. It was too good of a competition to pass up.

"I think the getting down would be hard if you were attacked up there," Riku pointed out dryly.

"Oh, they didn't attack until I jumped down," Sora said before thinking about it. Riku stopped a moment and glared at him.

"You could have just climbed down," Riku grumbled when Sora raised an eyebrow at him. The younger boy snorted and then grinned.

"And if you were up there and knew you could jump all the way down and not die you would have..." Sora trailed off but looked at Riku pointedly, who scowled, but reluctantly nodded.

"I would have jumped. I just think it's dangerous. Don't you ever worry that the abilities aren't going to last forever and will just stop one day?" Riku asked, folding his arms across his chest as they began walking again. Sora blinked rapidly before shrugged.

"Nope. Besides, in this case the Heartless kept me in the air... Well, for most of the time. I guess I cleared out too many at once because I hit the ground a bit hard." He rubbed the back of his head, still remembering how his head had ached after that landing. Curaga had cleared it up quickly, but he really should have paid more attention to where the ground was.

His teeth clicked together hard as the palm of Riku's hand slammed into the back of his head where his hand had been a moment before. He brought the hand back up and glared at Riku and asked angrily, "What was that for?"

"For being stupid. What's the point of having those abilities if you don't use them?" Riku glared right back at him and Sora's expression changed to an open mouthed incredulous one, complete with his head tilted and one eyebrow raised.

"So do you want me to use them more, or less? Ow!" Riku's hand hit him again and he contemplated just calling the Keyblade and starting a spar so his ears would stop ringing.

"Stop being stupid," Riku growled, and crossed his arms over his chest again, looking sullen.

"After following your example for so many years, why should I stop now?" Sora snapped back, and grinned as Riku whipped his head to the side to glare at him, his eyes glittering with anger. He waited a moment for Riku's fists to clench and for him to take a step forward before asking, tilting his head to one side, "Wanna spar?"

Immediately, Riku smirked and Way to the Dawn was suddenly in his hand. Sora called the Keyblade, removing the Ultima chain so that only the silver blade of Kingdom Key was left. His boyfriend scoffed and replied, "When do I not?"

"When you're sleeping, when you're being lazy, when we're kissing," Sora began to list them off, but was interrupted by a black Keyblade swinging toward his head. He ducked under the blade and attempted to hit Riku's unprotected side. With a twist that put him off balance, Riku avoided the hit – but not the next when Sora took advantage of him being off balance.

Eventually, Sora and Riku did get around to talking about the plans that were going to be made. But only after Sora had thoroughly defeated Riku.

For once, Sora was left alone on the gummi ship. Riku was saying a longer good-bye to King Mickey and Kairi was taking one last lesson from Minnie. Sora had promised them he would move everything back up to the gummi ship and prepare it for travel so they wouldn't have to worry about a thing. It was too bad that he did that so quickly, because it left him time to think. While he wasn't think in the same terms as he had been on Atlantica, there was still a seed of persistent guilt and a part of him that said he could have donesomething.

Usually this wouldn't have hit him quite as bad, but having another part of himself who was used to thinking about things and not just shrugging them off made it a bit more difficult – and Roxas being furious at whoever had done it had left him hollow and turning his anger inward.

'A bit of a turn around for us,' Roxas commented softly. Sora agreed with him, and smiled slightly when Roxas added, 'I like it better when your anger is directed outward – at least then you're otherwise cheerful.'

'I didn't exactly like feeling like that either but... Never mind. If I think on it too much Riku will have to cheer me up again and I think that causes him some kind of obscure pain. He's used to being the one who angsts.' Sora leaned back in the pilot's seat. He ran his fingers over the side. 'So, Twilight Town next. And then... the Coliseum? We need to open more paths.'

'I think that's a good plan. I think I would like to see Twilight Town again – maybe I can see them again. As myself.' Roxas sounded slightly nervous over it. Sora grinned, shaking his head. Roxas knew him better than that.

"Did you think I wouldn't agree? Of course you can see them as yourself! Hayner, Pence, and Olette should get to know you. Though... they'll probably recognize you from the pictures so at least you won't have to explain how you know them so well. Or your dislike of Seifer."

'Anyone who meets Seifer dislikes him. I think the only time Seifer has done anything other than make me angry is when you were near him and that's usually because you were kicking his ass.' Roxas sounded overly pleased by that and Sora had to chuckle. That had been fun at first – but it was unfair as it went on since he had the advantages his journey gave him and was constantly getting stronger. He had spent some time with the boy outside of Struggle tournaments, and he was a bit odd and rude, but not as bad as Roxas seemed to think he was.

"I'm sure he'll grow up better," Sora tried to rationalize. Unfortunately his thoughts were too close to the surface and Roxas's emotions heated up.

'He's a bully. He'll grow up and probably still be a bully. He's an asshole and... You have too much hope for people. Seifer has nothing going for him except looks!' Roxas finished ranting and fumed silently in Sora's mind. Sora on the other hand, was trying not to laugh – he failed.

"H-his looks, Roxas?" Sora put a hand over his mouth as his laughter grew. Taking a breath and trying to smother all his urges to laugh he asked mischievously, "Have something for assholes, Roxas?"

'Shut. Up. That wasn't what I meant. I'm allowed to find someone attractive without having feelings for them. And his personality is an obvious turn off.' Roxas paused for a moment. 'Axel wasn't an asshole. He was just... Axel.'

"Right. And he didn't kidnap people either," Sora replied sarcastically. Immediately he felt bad for it and added quickly, "I mean, he was doing it for you. But, he was still... He wasn't the most... He did save our lives, he just..."

Sora trailed off, feeling as if he had done something very wrong and hunching up in the chair. Unexpectedly, Roxas laughed. 'He was manipulative and selfish for the most part. To most people he was an asshole. Even to me sometimes. But to how we were back then – I could take it, and dish it back, or ignore him. He hated being ignored. I think I was the only one who could play his games and turn them around on him.'

Sora relaxed, hearing the fond tone in Roxas's voice and he smiled as he could see snatches of the memories. Roxas hadn't been the nicest person either back then, really, and he could see that – and see how the two had made biting comments at each other but still could smile. Mostly, he was just glad he hadn't offended Roxas and had instead somehow managed to make his other self feel happier.

The armband on his wrist felt warm and comfortable. No matter what Kairi had said nervously, Sora was sure her present to Riku and he was in fact genuine. He had told her that too – she had smiled to hear it, and Riku had looked skeptical still. But he was confident that it was a good gift – and an extra connection to Riku was never bad.

In using the excuse that Roxas wanted to see the town by himself, he had managed to slip away from them both. Roxas had agreed to give him some time before they switched. His Nobody was as curious to see if the project would work as Sora was – though Roxas was less confident that it would.

Sora played with the armband on his wrist and looked up at the gates to the mansion. Roxas asked silently, 'Why here?'

"He spent a lot of time in this mansion," Sora answered, and took a small object from his pockets. It was a mishmash of metal and an attached chain. Sora's fingers still ached from trying to control his magic enough to weld some of the metal together. It looked very rough right now, and he wasn't sure the final step would work. He didn't know how half of the keychains had been made, and many of the people who had given them to him didn't either – though anyone he had asked had agreed that it probably had something to do with their hearts.

His blue eyes roamed over the plants climbing the mansion wall and he walked over to them slowly, his eyes darting up and down the stems and branches. There were many thorns, but that didn't bother them. He wanted a thorn – he wasn't sure why, it just felt right. But none of them seemed the right length. He curbed his impatience and moved on, brushing leaves aside to peer at the larger stems. Small thorns pricked his hand, but he ignored them for the most part.

He was almost ready to give up when he saw a thorn the right size. Larger than all the other thorns, it had to be nearly an inch long. Carefully, he reached for the thorn, long scrapes forming on his arms. He ignored those as well as he tried to bend the thorn off the stem. It was having none of it and he drew back, frustrated.

'I can do it,' Roxas said confidently. Sora only hesitated a moment before giving up control, curious to see how Roxas would manage it. He pocketed the future keychain and closed his eyes, letting his mind drift back.

Roxas opened his eyes and glanced down at his attire. He looked just like he had before. He wouldn't say it was his normal clothes – some of the time he still thought of his Organization robes as the normal and his white and gray outfit as the abnormal.

Shaking his head free of nostalgia, he rolled his eyes as Sora's eager curiosity infected his mind. "Calm down. This will only take a second."

Reaching up, Roxas removed his necklace. The four points weren't sharp, exactly, but they had enough of an edge that he could probably saw through the base of a small little thorn. He reached into the bush, held onto the branch with one hand, and began his work with the other. The thorn was stubborn and soon Roxas's forehead was creased and his mouth was forming a scowl. He was slowly getting through, but it was frustrating that a tiny little torn – or even not so tiny thorn – could take so long to get off the bush. He muttered, "Fits Riku's personality."

'Hey!' Sora protested, more out of habit than anything else. Riku could take being stubborn a little too far.

"Shush. I almost have it." Roxas didn't pay attention to Sora's mental huff and annoyance as he put his necklace back on and then used one hand to pull the thorn free. Some of the skin of the bush came with it, but he ignored it in favor of smirking triumphantly down at the thorn. "Told you I could do it."

'Yeah, yeah. Just put it in your pocket with the rest of the keychain and go introduce yourself to Hayner or something.' Roxas smirked at the put out tone. Apparently his Other hadn't believed him. Putting the thorn with the rest of the future keychain, Roxas turned and observed the mansion with eyes darkened in memories.

"I am glad I met you and that we're one, but sometimes..." Roxas let the words trail off, but Sora caught the thought.

'I know. What DiZ – Ansem the Wise – did hurt you. I'm not exactly comfortable with his methods. I kinda wonder if Riku was right – would you have found me eventually? Did you want to meet me?' Sora couldn't guess if Roxas still would have joined with him – the need to be complete again against wanting to be his own person was something Sora knew wouldn't have been an easy choice.

"We all wanted to be whole. I didn't know about you, but I wanted to know why I had the Keyblades – a question Riku had asked the first time we fought." It was an evasive answer, but Sora didn't push it. He lay silent in Roxas's mind – well, mostly. He was humming slightly, but Roxas didn't call him on it.

Finding Hayner and his friends had been easy. So had explaining some of what had happened. The awkward silence had been harder to get through. Fortunately, Seifer had interrupted it and the mutual hatred over the blond and Roxas proceeding to kick his ass when challenged to a fight had quickly forged – or perhaps reforged – a bond with the other three teenagers. The end of the day found the four of them sitting on top of the clock tower.

It was a bit after this, just as the other three were going home, that the boys experienced the disorientation of being forced to change back.

Roxas felt the first hint when there was a sharp pain in his head and he stumbled in surprise. The rest of it could have been said to be normal for a change – not more pain after that than normal, except that instead of a change that could take minutes, it was almost instantaneous and Sora wasn't ready to be in control. It sent them both into a spin, and for a moment, the world went black. Considering that Naminé and Kairi had been asleep while they changed, it was obvious they probably hadn't experienced that part.

Sora was also sure they hadn't awakened to find disappearing darkness dripping from their skin and faded, hazy memories of fighting some Heartless and Nobodies that had appeared – no, that he had gonelooking for. For a few beats of his heart, Sora felt horrified – and afraid. He had never been unconscious before when he changed and Anti Form had always been caused by drawing on too much power before.

'And wasn't it this time. Isn't our change much like a form?' Roxas asked quietly. Sora pushed his own fear aside and down, angry at his reaction. He had transformed, but he was definitely overreacting. Roxas was right, they did use power keeping Roxas as dominant, it was just such a slow drain neither realized it – and when Sora was back in power, overusing it must have caused backlash. At least, he hoped that was what it was.

'You know, I hate to say it, but both Riku and Kairi are better at figuring these things out than either of us.' For Roxas to suggest that, he must have been worried. Sora frowned and bit at his lip.

"I don't know, Roxas. I mean, I know they would understand, but I don't want to worry them. They have enough problems." He took a breath and stood up, his eyes flicking to the sky. It was dark out, and Kairi and Riku would be wondering where he was. He hoped that it hadn't been too long – the sky still had some light to it, and he was hoping that Anti had only taken over for enough time for evening to fall and not long enough that it was nearly morning. He really would have to explain to Riku and Kairi if it was nearly morning.

'I suppose,' Roxas responded dubiously.

Sora smiled and said as he wandered out of the forest and back toward where they were staying, "We'll just have to remember not to switch for so long next time. But it was worth it, right? You had fun."

He felt the warm glow of happiness from Roxas and grinned as the other answered, 'Yes. I had fun. Thank you.'

"No problem," Sora chirped, and went into quick run, trying to hurry home. Just as he reached the front door of the hotel they were staying in, Riku stepped out and the two crashed together.

"There you are," Riku muttered from underneath him. "I was about to go find Hayner and get you. Kairi wants to go out for dinner and... Sora, why do you smell like darkness?"

Sora blinked in surprise at the sudden change and rolled off of his boy friend, keeping his eyes away from Riku's as he took his time getting to his feet. "Well, I ran into some Heartless on the way here. I guess that could explain it."

He turned and smiled at Riku. The other teenager was staring at him, his gaze unreadable. After a moment of silence where Sora silently hoped he wouldn't have to explain Anti Form, Riku smirked. "Right. Figures you would. They can probably follow you and your heart better than Kairi's and mine. So, Kairi found this nice little place to eat down near the middle of town."

"Oh, that diner? Yeah, the food there is pretty good," Sora responded, and inwardly sighed in relief – and guilt. He hadn't lied – but it wasn't the truth either. He just didn't want to worry them. Especially since he knew that Riku would try to blame Anti-form's existence on himself. Neither of his friends needed more worries, and Anti Form wasn't bad exactly – it was just all instincts and violence.

In a few minutes the three of them were walking toward the diner and Sora forced thoughts of Anti-form from his mind. Instead he put his hand in one of his pockets and felt for the thorn and pieces of metal there. It wasn't ready yet – but it was almost there, and he would rather have bright thoughts in his mind while it was being created.

They all had enough darkness to worry about without bringing his personal darkness into it. It was needed, and it would only cause problems. Despite his constant reassurance to himself on the matter, there was the uneasy thought that wasn't from Roxas that told him he should tell them now, before they found out on their own.

He ignored it, and enjoyed his dinner.

End Chapter Eight.

Plot is going slowish, or at least the action part, but it's necessary. You'll have to wait on what Riku really thinks about this incident until his chapter – but I can say right now that Sora isn't a very good liar and Sora should know how observant his boyfriend is. Next chapter is Kairi, and more on her and Naminé's feeling about this whole thing. They'll be in Coliseum for at least next chapter, possibly for some of Riku's as well – in other words, chapters will no longer just have just one-world in it – they could be split like this one, or the worlds may end up stretching for more than one chapter. There will eventually be a couple of original worlds – and yes, more Nobodies. Leave a review with what you liked, didn't like, the usual!