The Road to Dawn
By Ariana Aislinn
Chapter 13: Blind Faith

Well, I was wrong, I didn't exactly get my momentum back. I was going to write the next chapter while on vacation, and that didn't happen...and when I got home, KH2 was waiting for me and I just couldn't wait to play it. For those who haven't played it yet...it's awesome! But even though I've now finished it and am on my second playthrough, I promise to keep this fic as spoiler-free as possible. (It's already very AU anyway.) Anyway, I did at least keep my other promise...Riku's back! (cheers) Okay, on with chapter 13.

Standard disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and its characters are the property of Square-Enix and Disney, not me.

It was a gloriously beautiful day, bright and sunny, but deep in the royal orchards it was quite cool and shady. The courtyards likely would have been a better place for practicing forms, but the soft, springy ground under the trees suited just fine.

Step, step, bring the arm around slowly and smoothly…concentrate on fluidity and accuracy. Speed comes later. Step, whirl, slash…twist backward, thrust, parry…

Sweat clung to Riku's forehead in beads and plastered his hair against the back of his neck. The Organization's signature black leather coat lay on the ground a short distance away, discarded before he'd begun the day's training. For practicing forms, he wore loose black pants and a plain, sleeveless blue shirt - and, as ever, a narrow band of black cloth, tied tightly around his temples and securely covering his eyes. His arms were noticeably muscled, and they strained slightly as he moved through the routine without pausing, moving Soul Eater smoothly from one strike to the next.

Riku noted with satisfaction that he had improved a great deal since arriving here six weeks ago - his stamina and control were both much better than they had been after he'd dragged himself out to the orchards to practice for the first time. Riku had spent the first week doing very little except resting, recovering, and thinking. It had taken some time for the ill effects of his trip through darkness to fade, and he still couldn't go without a blindfold in all but the dimmest light. Still, even his sight had improved - the mere fact that he could go outdoors at all on such a sunny day, blindfolded or not, attested to that.

Even so, Riku had not yet recovered from his ordeal, and it was starting to become obvious. He realized he'd been practicing for over an hour, and it was starting to show - his limbs were getting a little shaky. Walking over to the base of a nearby tree, he picked up a cloth and wiped the sweat from his face, letting Soul Eater vanish as he did so.

Riku had never really been sure exactly what Soul Eater was, come to think of it. It was certainly no ordinary sword. It had been a gift from Maleficent - or so he'd always thought, but the weapon had a sense about it that almost seemed to suggest that it had somehow chosen Riku. Certainly the sorceress had handed him the blade, but he got the feeling that if it hadn't wanted to belong to him, it wouldn't have allowed it. He wasn't sure if he liked this idea or not. After all, Soul Eater was a weapon of darkness - it responded to the darkness, and whenever Riku called upon that power, the sword's own power increased as well. As he was slowly coming to accept, however, he needed that darkness. Besides, after all this time, Soul Eater was almost like an old friend. He felt almost naked without it.

Gathering up his black coat, Riku tightened his blindfold and headed toward the castle. It was a warm day, and he found himself wondering if there was any chance of ice cream from the palace kitchens. He grinned. If nothing else, he had certainly been made to feel extremely welcome here in the last few weeks. Generally, if he had a craving, the palace staff would fall over themselves to satisfy it. Of course, Riku had to admit that he was a personal friend of the king.

As Riku pulled the handle of one of the wide, double doors that led into the castle proper, he found himself suddenly pushed backward, flailing to keep from falling as a mass of feathers, silk, and lace rammed into him.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Daisy, the queen's lady-in-waiting, covered her beak in chagrin. "I should have been looking where I was going. Are you all right?"

Riku chuckled a little, brushing his hair out of his face and readjusting his blindfold. Hmm. Getting kind of long…wonder if I should get a haircut soon. "No, I'm fine, uh…"

She wagged a feathered finger at him. "Daisy. Not your ladyship, not Lady Daisy!"

Riku grinned and shook his head. "I remember. So, what's the rush? Is anything up?"

Daisy sniffed, straightening her tiara and smoothing the wrinkles in her purple gown. "Not really. Well, not more than the usual."

Riku crossed his arms in front of him. "Oh? Mad at Donald again?"

"Hmph." Daisy looked away, tapping her foot irritably. "I suppose." She looked at Riku out of the corner of her eye, and he very carefully kept his face politely blank. She did not seem entirely convinced, however, and she sniffed skeptically. "It's just…would it kill him to write a letter?"

Riku grinned. "You never know! Come on, Daisy…it's not like I know him very well, but I do know what he's up to. As far as I know, he's perfectly safe. But he's been through a lot lately and I don't even know how he'd get a letter to you! I'm sure he's thinking about you, though."

"Well…I suppose. Maybe you're right. Maybe." She seemed a little placated, though.

"I was just on my way inside. I need a bath, I think, and then I was hoping for a snack…do you think the kitchen would oblige?"

The change of subject sweetened Daisy's expression considerably, and she smiled warmly. "Of course! You've already been told that you only need ask. You're our honored guest, after all."

"Sheesh, you don't have to say it like that! What do I look like, some kind of hero?" Riku grinned.

The duck gave him a wry smile in return. "Maybe more than you seem to think! But in any case, get inside with you." She shooed at him with a free hand. "If you like, I'll see if their majesties can spare a few moments to join us, and we'll all have a nice afternoon tea."

Riku bobbed his head in thanks. "That'd be great! All right, I'll see you in a little bit."

The two took their leave, Daisy continuing on to enjoy her stroll in the orchards as Riku headed inside the blessedly cool shade of the castle halls. He shook his head, grinning to himself - even now it was hard to believe he'd befriended such strange creatures. Who would have known people like this existed? Sure, he'd always dreamed of seeing other worlds, but sometimes he wondered if he'd ever had even the slightest inkling just how strange some of them really were.

The hallway was quiet and peaceful as Riku retraced the familiar steps toward the northern wing, where his bedroom was located. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, however, he heard a frenzied pitter-patter coming from the direction of the reception hall. He looked up, curious, his eyes adjusting as he squinted to see what the fuss was.

Two small, brown shapes came into focus, scampering down the hall. As Riku paused, watching, they skidded up to him, panting. The two little chipmunks were both outfitted in leather aprons, the trademark uniforms of their jobs as engineers. As soon as they had caught their breath, they both start jumping up and down in a rapid staccato.

"Riku!" Dale exclaimed. "Ya better come quick! Someone's here to see you."

"Yeah!" agreed Chip, nodding. "The king seemed kinda surprised…he said to fetch you right away! Can you come to the audience chamber with us?"

Riku blinked. "Uh…I guess so. Who's here?" He looked ruefully at his sweaty, rumpled clothing. "I'm really not fit to see anyone though…"

"That doesn't matter! His majesty said this was kind of important. I think he has something to ask you about the visitors."

Visitors? Riku's heart rose. "Who is it? Who's here?"

Dale scratched his head. "Uh…I'm not sure, but one's a girl, and one's a really tall man who's kinda scary-lookin'."

Riku sighed. Not Sora and his friends, then. Oh well, it was too much to hope, and besides, what would he have done if it had been them? Better to just go see what was up. He shrugged. "All right then, I guess I'll come for now. But as soon as it's polite, I'll need to get away and go bathe!" He grinned ruefully.

"Right-o!" Chip motioned to him. "Follow us, then." The two chipmunks scampered off again, and Riku hurried to keep up.

The route to the audience chamber, while not quite as familiar as that to the kitchens or the orchards, was still rather well-known to Riku - Mickey had often invited him there or to the nearby library to discuss future plans. These visits had increased in frequency as Riku's strength slowly returned. To tell the truth, he'd been feeling a little restless lately. He still had some healing to do, but now that he was feeling better, the time to act was certainly nearing. The question was…what was their next course of action? They'd spent some time poring over books in the library, but so far nothing had really been of much use. Well, depending on who these visitors are, we might have a little more to go on.

Chip and Dale skidded to a stop outside the door to the audience chamber, and Riku obligingly opened it, seeing as they were too small to manage unassisted. He strode down the long, red carpet toward the throne, where three figures stood talking. Mickey rested a hand idly on the arm of the throne but did not sit in it at the moment. His two visitors faced him, the taller one composed and at ease - but the girl seemed very uneasy. As Riku neared them, he realized he recognized the two. Naminé's pale face broke into a relieved smile as he entered, and she turned to face him, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Didn't expect to see you two here," Riku said casually as he joined the three. "Naminé -" he smiled at her - "DiZ." He looked up at the other man, a tall, imposing figure in red robes, with the trademark red bandages wrapped around his head, concealing his features. As always, Riku felt a little on guard around the man. DiZ always had been very good at hiding his motives, and Riku didn't feel he knew enough to really trust him yet.

"Ah, Riku. It is good to see you again. You are well, I trust?" DiZ nodded slightly in greeting.

"Well enough." Riku shrugged, moving over to stand between Naminé and Mickey. He raised his hand in greeting to the girl, and she smiled back brightly.

"Hello again, Riku! I'm glad to see you're all right." She furrowed her brow a little. "When I heard what you and the king had been through, I was a little worried…but you seem to be all right, as he said."

"Yeah, I'm good as new, almost! No need to worry about me." He glanced warily at DiZ as he spoke.

The tall man laughed heartily. "No, indeed, I can see there is not." His deep, smooth voice gave away little; it was hard to tell if his mirth were real or feigned. "Well, as I was saying to King Mickey, I have come to beg your assistance. I require a temporary refuge for Naminé. It is no longer safe for her to remain in Castle Oblivion."

"Oh yeah?" Riku turned to look at the girl. "What happened?"

She flushed just a little. "Oh, nothing! Everything's fine. It's just…DiZ says the Organization's plans are moving forward, and I have no idea what they are, but he said it wasn't safe for me to stay. So here I am. If you want to know why here, well…your guess is as good as mine."

DiZ placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Naminé has a special part to play yet, and I could think of no safer place for her right now than this castle. It will not be long before you will have to depart, but might I prevail upon you to offer her your hospitality and protection? It may even be that she will need to accompany you when you leave, but we shall see how events unfold."

"Well, I've already said I don't mind. She's more than welcome to stay for a while." Mickey smiled brightly at Naminé. "But I still don't quite understand why, or what's going on. I was actually hoping, DiZ, that you might be able to shed a little light on the subject for us. I'll be real honest with ya - we're having a bit of trouble figuring out where to go from here."

"Ah, but I trust that you will decide in good time. I have faith in you and Riku, your majesty. I fear I cannot tell you what to do, but I assure you, it will become clear soon enough."

"Huh." Riku cocked his head to one side, frowning. "Well, I've got no problem with it if the king hasn't, but I'm not so sure I share your blind faith, DiZ. We've been here for weeks without finding a lead."

"Now Riku, that's not entirely true! We've gathered lots of information about the light and the darkness, and even a few old stories about the Keyblades. I wouldn't call that nothing."

Riku shook his head. "No, Mickey, but it's not enough, either. It doesn't give us enough to go on! I mean, Sora needs our help, but we don't know what we can do yet, or what's going on out there." He blinked suddenly, then turned to Naminé. "Hey, how is Sora? Did he wake up okay? Where is he now?" He frowned, a little concern showing through.

Naminé smiled. Though she could not see his eyes, she could detect the worry in his voice. "Yes, he's fine," she said reassuringly. "Sora and his friends woke up a little while ago and left the castle to continue their journey. I'm sure they're just fine." She looked a little wistful. "It's been awfully quiet since they left. Not that it wasn't while they were sleeping, it's just…well, you know. To be honest, I'm rather glad to have left the place. Castle Oblivion is just so…empty, you know?" She smiled ruefully.

"Oh, I know." Riku nodded. "I remember all too well. Well, glad to have you here anyway, Naminé…and I'm glad to hear Sora's all right. If he's awake though, that means we have to get busy and do our part, too."

"One thing I can tell you - Sora will indeed require your aid. It will not be long before the two of you fight together once more, but before that time comes, you have much work to do. I cannot show you the path, but I can tell you that you will discover truths that he must know. Some of these truths may indeed be found in books…but some you will have to discover on your own."

Riku frowned, giving DiZ an annoyed look. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

DiZ quirked a smile, the bandages twitching. "It means that some of the answers you will have to find within yourself - answers that you will need, and answers that Sora and his friends also must know."

"Oh, that's real helpful," Riku muttered, but Mickey reached up to pat his arm reassuringly.

"Aw, don't worry about it, pal. I'm sure we'll find the clue we need soon! And when we do, we can be on our way." Mickey turned to Naminé. "I can't say for sure what our journey will be like until we know where we're going, but it might be kinda dangerous. You think you'll be okay? I mean, we'll protect ya, of course, but this might not be an easy trip."

"Oh, I'll be fine!" Naminé shook her head vigorously. "When DiZ brought me here, we traveled through one of the pathways that are opening up. There's some darkness inside it still, but the paths are getting wider. It's not as dangerous as when you passed through." She cast a worried glance at Riku. "The king told us what happened. I'm just glad you made it through all right - but at least it won't be like that this time. The darkness is still there, but it's dissipated quite a bit."

"Well, that's a relief," Riku said sardonically. "I'm not going to bet on this trip being a breeze though. Still…everything depends on where we're going." He turned back to look at DiZ and Mickey.

The mouse-king turned to DiZ. "It'll take us at least a few more days to come to a decision, I'm sure. Will you be staying with us?"

DiZ shook his head. "I'm afraid not. My business calls me elsewhere. I must leave immediately."

"You could at least stay for dinner…"

DiZ smiled. "Thank you, my friend, but I really must go. Again, I offer you my thanks for your assistance. I will see you all again very soon." And with no more warning than that, a smoky black portal shot with ripples of dark blue appeared, and DiZ stepped backward through it, vanishing into the darkness. The portal immediately closed up again, leaving no trace.

The other three stared, wide-eyed, and no one spoke for a little while. Finally Mickey cleared his throat. "Well…he sure comes and goes quick, doesn't he?"

"That's an understatement." Riku shook his head. "There's something about that guy that really bugs me."

"Oh, no!" Naminé shook her head. "He's really rather nice, I think. He still unnerves me, and I don't really know what it is he is seeking…but I don't think he bears us any ill will. I think he really does want to help us, and he was very kind to me." She frowned. "It almost feels as if I know him from somewhere, and I know he means no harm. But that's rather strange."

"Not at all." Mickey shrugged. "I feel the same way, and I don't know why either! But there's no need to worry about this right now. Let's get you settled in the palace, all right Naminé?" He turned to Riku. "Hey pal, I'm sure Minnie will fall all over herself getting her settled soon enough, but last I saw her she was just going out for a walk and might not be back for a bit. Would you show Naminé to a room? I'm pretty sure the one down the hall from you was cleaned and freshened recently, and I'm sure she'd like to sit down for a bit. You must have had quite a journey, Naminé!"

She smiled softly. "It really wasn't so bad. But I would like to rest for a bit, yes."

Riku shrugged. "Right, no problem. I was on my way back to my rooms anyway…I just came in from practicing and I've been sweating like a pig." He stopped when he saw the look on Naminé's face. "Uh…not very genteel thing to say. Sorry. I'm not good at mincing words."

Naminé shook silently for a moment, then erupted into silvery laughter. Riku grinned, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as he watched her. She caught her breath, still giggling, and shook her head. "You know…you're very different in some ways, but in others, you and Sora are exactly alike!"

"Oh?" Riku blinked, taken slightly aback. "What do you mean?"

She grinned. "You both seem to make me laugh so easily. I haven't laughed this much in a very long time."

Riku grinned back at her. "Oh. Well, no harm done then, I guess! Should we get going?"

Naminé nodded, and with a quick exchange, they took their leave of the king, who headed off to inform the kitchens that there would be an extra guest for dinner and for afternoon tea. Before long, Riku and Naminé were walking side by side out the audience chamber door and down the hall. Riku had to concentrate to keep his strides short enough that Naminé could keep up…he seemed to be getting awfully tall lately.

"So…any other news?"

"About Sora? No." Naminé shook her head. "I'm sorry…I really don't know where he went after he left us. I sent him to Gateway, though…I'm sure he was able to get passage from there to wherever he was going."

"Wherever he was going? You mean you don't know?"

Naminé shook her head. "No. We…didn't have the chance to talk much about plans. To tell the truth, I think he was rather confused. But he hid it well."

Riku looked ahead, his voice a little distant. "Yeah, he would be kinda confused, wouldn't he? After all, he had his memories rearranged…" He looked back and saw the expression on Naminé's face. "Oh, uh…sorry."

"Oh, no, it's all right." She smiled. "It's true, after all. But he'll bounce back quickly, I know he will."

"He…didn't remember you, did he?"

"No. But he was very friendly all the same!"

Riku laughed. "Yeah, that's Sora, all right." He looked at Naminé. "You okay though? Seems like you got to be pretty good friends with him before…well, you know."

"Yes, I suppose you could say that…but it's all right, really!" She smiled again, brightly. "He said we could be friends anyway…even though he doesn't remember me and all he really knows is what I told him about what I did to him."

"Ha! Like I said, that's Sora through and through. And he means it, too. Go figure, huh? He's always been weird that way." Riku grinned. "A total sap no matter how you look at it."

"I wouldn't say that. I think it's very sweet that he can forgive so easily."

Riku sighed. "Yeah, well…it's not something we can all do, that's for sure."

"Oh!" Naminé looked distressed. "I didn't mean…"

"I know you didn't. It's just…Sora really does forgive easily, and I guess deep down I know he'll forgive me, too. But…I can't do the same. I've never been good at that like he has." His voice dropped, and he spoke quietly, "I still don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive myself."

"You will."

Riku looked up at her, a bit surprised by her quick and confident answer.

Naminé smiled at him again. "You're a lot more like Sora than you think. You are best friends, after all."

"Best friends…" Riku paused thoughtfully as he started up the stairs to the northern wing, Naminé following. "Hmm. I guess you're right."

They headed off to their quarters to freshen up before afternoon tea - and also to think. Naminé felt out of place still, but she also knew that she was among friends here…and Riku knew that pretty soon there would be a lot for them all to do, and another journey to begin. Who knew where that journey might lead, this time?

Oh well. Guess I just gotta have faith…kinda like Sora would. Riku grinned. That kid always was nuts. But yeah…faith. Blind faith.

We'll just see where it leads us.

There ya go. Nice and long, too. I'll do my best to keep writing...rest assured this fic will not be abandoned! I've left too many other fics unfinished and I vow to finish this one. I know where it's going, at least! Not sure who the next chapter will involve...I may switch back and forth for a bit. But expect plenty more Riku! (hugs him) Oh, and during my downtime I wrote two new short fics, based on KH2 but lacking in any major spoilers. Be sure to check them out if you feel so inclined; they were fun to write.