Okay, I guess that there should be a warning. This chapter will contain a scene which some people might find a little bit offensive. Emma's been begging me for a lemon, and here it is. It's not a real lemon, but it's as close as I'll be getting. Okay? Right. Just a warning. It's not anything huge, I don't think it'll offend anybody, since this fic is rated T anyways. But just in case. Now, on with the show! And finally, the explanation you've all been craving of the 'broken lock' prophesy :D

Chapter 18: A Broken Lock Can Be A Good Thing

Riku carried Skye back up to the City, meeting Gaden and Jade on the way. As soon as Gaden saw them, he insisted on accompanying them back up to the City. Skye drifted in and out of consciousness over the trip. Riku laid her in bed and let out a long sigh.

"So, now that Skye's been injured, what's going to happen to me?" He asked, sitting down hard on the floor, leaving back against the wall. Gaden tilted his head to one side, looking lost.

"Why would something happen to you?" He asked slowly. Riku lifted his head and smiled.

"Back where I grew up, there were these fruits. They grew on trees, and they were everywhere. But only on the Islands. They don't grow anywhere else. And when you share one with someone you care about, your destinies intertwine, so you share the same fate. I shared one with Skye last time I was there." He answered. "She was worried something bad would happen to me that she wouldn't be able to do anything about, and I was worried that something like that would happen to her."

"But something bad still happened to her." Gaden said, climbing into Riku's lap. Riku ruffled Gaden's hair absently.

"I think, that if you hadn't been there to help her, she would have died." He said quietly, watching her slow breathing as she slept.

"I didn't want my only big sister left to die…I didn't even know where to find her in the town. How come you knew?" Gaden asked Riku curiously. Riku shrugged.

"I think it might have had something to do with her and me sharing a destiny now. I didn't know where I was going either, but fate just kind of…took me there."

"Oh." Gaden said, yawning." But I still don't get why something would happen to you."

"I'm just not sure whether us sharing destinies means that I'll be injured too. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. I don't really know."

…………………………………………

Skye stirred slowly, the sunlight pouring through the window waking her. She stretched, pointing her fingers and yawning. She let out a long breath and rolled over, smiling at the sight she held when she first opened her eyes. Riku was sitting against the wall, beneath the window. The sunlight touched the top of his head, giving the whole scene an almost angelic glow. He was sitting with his legs crossed, fast asleep, with his chin resting on Gaden's head and his arms still around the young boy in a hug. Gaden was just as fast asleep and curled up, leaning against Riku's chest. Skye lazed in bed, watching the two of them contently for a long time, though just how long she had no idea. Riku's eyes finally opened slowly, and he smiled when he saw her.

"You're awake."

"I am. I feel much better." She paused, an amused smile touching her lips. "Should I be jealous?" She asked, nodding to Gaden. Riku blinked, confused, and then rolled his eyes. He picked Gaden up and placed him on the bed next to Skye.

"You watch him. I'm going to take a shower. My back is killing me after sleeping like that." He said, grimacing as he practically hobbled off towards the bathroom. Gaden bounced up and down on the mattress for a moment before pouncing on Skye.

"I get to have my sister back!" He said in a sing-songy voice. Skye fell backwards onto her pillows, unprepared for the weight thrown at her. She rolled over onto her side and smiled at him.

"Can you talk to my mother?" She asked. He nodded quickly.

"And our father. But I don't think you want to talk to him…" He said, his words slowing as he finished. He frowned.

"What's wrong?' She asked. He shrugged.

"I can't contact him… Oh well. I don't want to talk to him anyways." He paused thoughtfully, trying to remember something. "Oh!" He nearly tumbled out of bed as he reached for a small pouch on the floor. "Jade gave me this. It's supposed to help fix you. You make tea with it." He said offering it to her. She smiled thankfully and took it before finally getting around to crawling out of bed. Skye walked out into the living room and leaned against the wall, listening to the ambient sound of the shower running, and watching the beginnings of movement in the rubble that was the remains of the village. She sighed, her guilt feeling like a ball forming in her gut. It was her fault that the village was destroyed. It was her fault that people were wandering through the rubble, looking for survivors and the bodies of their dead loved ones so that they could be given a proper burial. It was her fault that the village would have to be rebuilt, and she supposed that it would be the least she could do to help as much as she could, though nothing could be done to allow her to repay for their loss.

"It's not your fault." A voice said firmly behind her, followed by an enthusiastic 'yeah!' from Gaden. She hadn't even realized that she'd been speaking out loud. Riku slipped one arm around her waist. "You did everything you could. Most of the villagers were saved because of you. And you got rid of Dax."

"But at the cost of so many lives." She said quietly, her voice pained. He pulled her closer.

"Skye, if you hadn't done what you did, there would have been a massive war, and many, many more would be dead before it was over. And even then, Dax might have won."

"But if I'd held on just a little bit longer…"

"Listen to me. No one blames you. Dax did it, and you nearly died trying to stop him. This isn't your fault." Riku repeated, placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her around to face him so that he could look into her eyes as he spoke. She let out a sigh.

"…Still, I want to help them rebuild." She said, glancing back out over the wreckage. A smile passed over Riku's face.

"Then let's help them rebuild." He leaned over and scooped Gaden up into his arms. "And you're helping too, kid." He added, poking him. Gaden grinned.

"M'kay!" He wriggled out of Riku's grasp and ran out the door, shouting something incomprehensible to Jade once in the hallway. Riku stared after him.

"Why does that kid like work? I don't get it..." He said, in a state of disbelief.

"Not every kid is as lazy as you are, Riku." Skye teased. Riku smiled, pleased with himself for making her forget about feeling guilty.

……………………That night………………………

Riku was standing on the balcony, watching the little lights bobbing around in the village below; they were people carrying lanterns. He was wearing only a pair of cotton pajama pants, as he was entirely too lazy to be bothered to put anything else on. His hair was still damp, as he'd just gotten out of the shower. Skye was showering now. They'd spent the day doing hard labor in the village to prepare for rebuilding. Skye appeared in the doorway a moment later, yawning loudly.

"Riiikuuuuuuu…" Riku glanced at her, smiling, and then returned his attention to the little bobbing lanterns. She walked up behind him and put her arm around his waist. He, in turn, placed his arm around her shoulder. She tugged gently. "Come to bed." She said. He didn't budge.

"Tired?" He asked in reply instead. She yawned for her answer. He grinned. "If you're so tired, then go to bed. I'll come…later." He said slowly, really not feeling tired. He glanced down at her again. She was wearing one of his shirts, and it was long enough that it fell down to her knees and it didn't look like she was wearing much else. The top three or four buttons of said shirt were also undone, making her pout that much more…persuasive. He sighed, feigning reluctance. "Alright, I'll be in in a minute." Her expression changed instantly to a smug grin.

"Oh, you're making me twist you arm." She said sarcastically, giggling and disappearing back inside. She wandered into the bedroom and let out a long breath. Normally, Skye would have been marveling at the moonrise, or cooking up some plot for the Rebellion. Her mind was always full of such things, usually multiple of such things at once. Instead, however, she let her mind be blank as she crawled into bed after a long day of clearing debris and other such work. Her talents with fire had come in handy today, but it left her magically drained. Riku walked into the bedroom and flopped down on the bed with a satisfying thump. She propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at him. He had his hands behind his head and his eyes half closed.

"Night." She whispered, leaning down and planting a quick kiss on his lips. She started to pull away, but one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her back down into a much more lingering kiss. She grinned when he allowed her to pull away. As soon as she was given the chance, she grabbed both of his wrists and wrestled them down above his head, pinning him. He cocked an eyebrow, as if in a dare. Her wicked grin widened in reply. He just continued to watch her with mild curiosity.

"Well? Now what?" He asked, waiting to see how she would use this advantage. She pursed her lips in thought and then smirked. She leaned down so that they were close enough that they were nearly kissing.

"Now?" She asked quietly. He parted his lips slightly as hers brushed against his, waiting for a kiss that wasn't coming. "I haven't decided yet." She whispered slowly. She let her body down slowly so that it was like a dead weight on his chest, and kissed a trail along his neck. His breathing hitched and she smiled to herself, well aware of what she was doing to him. With lying down, however, she had removed the vast majority of the pressure on his wrists, so he slipped easily out of her grasp and, grabbing her shoulders, rolled over so he was on top of her. He smiled down at her as she pouted at him.

"Aww, how cute." He said, imitating her pout and, cupping one hand over her cheek, ran his thumb along her bottom lip. She just kept pouting. Not that she was upset. She didn't particularly mind this arrangement. Her hands wandered down to the buttons on her shirt and they were deftly undone in a matter of moments. Riku was trailing warm kisses along her collar bone and venturing lower all the time. She tugged at his pajama pants with her feet, which didn't so much succeed in removing them as getting both Riku and Skye completely tangled in them. Riku had to turn his attention away from her and more to unknotting his pants from their legs and the blankets. Skye decided to make it a little more challenging than it already was and started kissing his neck, nipping every few moments, which caused him to pause and then he seemed to have forgotten where he was in the process. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down.

"Stop." He ordered, kissing her hungrily. "We can't go any further until I get rid of these stupid things and you're making it harder." He finished, kissing her again. She grinned, tugging her legs out of the mass of cloth to make it easier for him.

"Oh, I know. I'm just such a terrible tease." She answered amusedly, toying with his hair. Riku finally freed himself with a boyish grin and she pulled him gently down to her and kissed him. It was long and sweet and slow, as if they had all the time in the world. Neither pulled away, despite lungs screaming for air. Skye found herself incapable of any coherent thought as her mind was focused completely on the burning sensations building inside of her. Riku leaned down to kiss her again, his own ragged breathing matching hers, with one hand passing through her hair while the other wandered over her body. One of her hands grasped her sheets so tightly that her knuckles were white, with the other arm around his neck, pulling him closer, and her finger nails digging into his back. And then… SLAM! Both froze in place, surprised. Riku rolled off of her and she sat up a little, pulling the blankets up around her to cover her lack of clothing.

"HELLO!" A muffled voice called, with the strangest lisp that Skye had ever in her life heard. She frowned, not terribly interested in being particularly polite to whomever it was that 'interrupted' them. There was another slam, followed by the angry voice of Venus. Another voice followed shortly after, apparently already engaged in an argument with Jade as they arrived. Another pair of voices joined those a few moments after that, Mars' and a female voice, sounding as if they were trying to calm the other arguments. Skye and Riku were able to catch a few snippets of the arguments.

"…just let us explain…!"

"You broke…!"

"…lock of stone…!"

"We were just looking for…"

"…lucky we didn't…!"

"…if you'd just stop…"

"…argue with a DUCK!"

Riku snatched a towel off the floor and wrapped it around his waist. Skye stood up and wrapped the blanket from the bed around her body. They opened the bedroom door and stepped out into the living room. All movement and sound stopped. Everyone stared at them. There was a long silence, and then the short, white, crabby-looking duck began to shout.

"You're the ones we've been looking for! What do you think you're doing, just running off with no explanation! You're lucky the King knew where Dawn's Oceans was, or…"

"Donald." Riku interrupted him irritably. "Shut up." He looked up at the others; Sora, Kairi and Goofy. "Look, it's great to see you guys and all, but this is kind of a bad time to be barging in here."

"Thanks for the welcome committee." Sora said, crossing his arms and glaring at Venus.

"That's what you get when you show up in the middle of the night." Skye answered.

"You know Sora, you could have just explained yourself." Kairi said. She and Mars had been trying to calm everyone down, though their efforts had been rather unsuccessful.

"They broke the lock!" Venus cried. It took Skye a long moment in her groggy state of mind to realize that she was talking about the lock that Venus opens to let you into the Rebel City. Sora glowered at her.

"Oh come on! Who makes a lock that breaks as soon as you open it!"

"Well, who carries around a key that's bigger than they are! Seriously! Besides, that lock wasn't supposed to be unlocked with a key!"

"What kind of a lock isn't supposed to be unlocked with a key! I mean, locks and keys kind of go together. I thought that was a given!"

"Stop arguing!" Mars ordered. Both Sora and Venus did as they were told, and proceeded to sulk like little children about being yelled at. Riku's jaw dropped, only having realized just then exactly what had happened. He'd been feeling as if this was all a hazy dream in which his two worlds had collided and weren't fitting together very well. It hadn't occurred to him until just then that this was real, and that it was a big deal. And from the look on Skye's face, she was feeling the same way he was, though it was her who gathered her wits first and spoke.

"Wait, Sora and Kairi! What's going on? How did you guys get here? And why are you here? And why are you in our room?" She asked, stepping towards them. She was walking towards Kairi and stepped on the edge of the sheet covering her, nearly tugging it off and falling flat on her face in the process. Kairi giggled helplessly and helped her to her feet.

"Umm, did we interrupt something?" She asked. Skye grinned sheepishly and Riku chuckled awkwardly.

"Maybe a little." He admitted after a moment. Kairi smirked.

"And here we didn't even know that you two had even admitted your feelings for each other until the last night you were on the Islands." She said in a mocking accusatory tone.

"We would have told you more, but being kidnapped kind of hinders that a little…" Skye answered. "So, I think me and Riku need to go put some clothes on and then we'll have a chat. I'm not so keen on standing here with a blanket and little else…"

"At least you have a blanket." Riku answered, looking down at the towel wrapped around his waist that was suddenly seeming very small. Sora glanced uncomfortably at the doorway, where both Venus and Jade were standing with their arms crossed. Lodi appeared behind them and Sora started, displeased at the appearance of someone who seemed to be yet another who would beat him up for breaking the lock.

"Who are you?"

"Call me Lodi. And just who are you?"

"HE BR-!" Venus began furiously. Sora interrupted her at a shout.

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Just then, a small yawn from behind Venus drew everyone's attention.

"Wassseverybudydoin?" A very tired Gaden asked, rubbing his eyes as he walked into the room. He blinked at Skye. "Whadhappened t'yer pajamas…?" He asked, blinking at Skye in her blanket, and then at Riku with his towel. Skye nudged him towards Kairi, in a hurry to change the subject.

"This is Kairi, and that's Sora. Our friends from Destiny Islands. Do you remember me telling you about them?" Gaden nodded and Skye continued. "Alright, you talk to them for a while okay?" She said before hurrying into her room, dragging a momentarily disoriented Riku behind her.

………………………………………………

I'm sooooo sorry that this took so long! I just got my first job, full time and it's KILLING me. Plus any free time that I've had for the past few weeks has been eaten up by world of warcraft. I'm aware that I'm a huge nerd, you don't need to tell me XP Hopefully the updates will come a little sooner from now on…eeep! Review everybody!