WAI! Fourteen reviews! (thrill joy thrill) And this is only the second day since I posted! I'm SO HAPPY! So therefore, I decided to post this a bit early . This chapter is broken up into three parts. So it'll take two or three weeks for you guys to read all of it, but I'm sure you don't mind, ne? (winks)

By the way, I'm have a question. More out of curiosity, really. The title means something that ties in with the whole story and, if you figure out what it really means, you'll get a good idea of what's coming up in this story! Good luck!

And All Day Long You'll Have Good Luck

Part 1

Heads

Twelve pairs of eyes glared out from the darkness. Twelve mouths narrowed into deep smirks. Twenty-four legs hunched, ready to spring. A dozen katana, sharpened to the deadliest of points, facing the last place Sora wanted them to.

Their necks.

Sora's feet were frozen to the floor. His arms weighed a ton and drug down heavily at the sockets that connected the limbs to his torso. His mouth was open a good foot. He had to be asleep. This was a nightmare. He should know.

He's had this nightmare many times before.

His worst enemies couldn't be standing in the one place he had ever thought safe enough to be home. His worst enemies couldn't have scared the bravest person he knew into a living statue. And his worst enemies DEFINETLY were not saying the following:

"All right, boys. Just take it nice and easy... raise your hands up where we can see them..."

And then they did the most idiotic thing two teenage boys in their position could possibly do.

They raised their hands slowly...

"That's it, boys, no one needs to get hurt..."

...and then they ran like Hell.

"HEY! Get back here!"

"RUN, SORA!"

What did Riku THINK he was doing? Offering them TEA?

And biscuits?

Sora was hungry. He'd like a biscuit.

But not right now!

Riku and Sora darted out of the building at top speed, their sandals flapping sharply, alternating between the soles of their feet and the hard, rock studded road. The sun was still blaring above them, meaning it couldn't have been past noon.

And it was so hot, it made Sora wonder how anyone could stand being in leather. But the man standing not a few yards in front of him, large, shiny blade in hand, didn't look like he'd be bothered with anything.

The man standing to his left didn't look too bothered either, even with the massive amounts of metal embedded into his uniform.

And the girl... well, her lack of clothes assured that she was kept reasonably cool.

Sora dug his heels into the dirt, momentum carrying him a good foot before the arm of his best friend was shot out in front of him, affectively stopping him in his tracks. Riku then clasped at Sora's shirt, fist clenching tightly at the feeble fabric and spinning him around in the other direction.

His blue eyes widened at the sight of the dozen guards running towards them, the ones who had situated themselves inside of their 'home'.

They were trapped between three oddly dressed people, a small crowd of large guards, an abandoned well and a renovated woodshop.

Peachy.

Sora's eyes darted over to the older teens, and he wasn't surprised to see the calm, cool look on his best friends face. His jewel-bright eyes glinted in the sunlight as whirls of ideas rushed through his brains, bad thoughts rushing out of his system and trickling down his pale skin with the sweat that had gathered at his brow.

They were all going to be okay, Sora knew it.

"Just don't run and you'll be all right..." a deep, calming voice behind them warned. A quick glance behind him told Sora that it was the blonde who was wearing a lot of metal. Honestly, how did that guy LIVE in this heat?

But Riku was...

"Just keep still..."

...smirking...?

"Sora..."

"Hey! No talking!"

"Do it."

"I said cut it out!"

"...Riku..."

"Keep your hands where we can see them and slowly back away from each other!"

"I made a promise to you, Sora."

"No sudden movements now..."

A gulp. A thin layer of fear-induced sweat. Wide eyes.

"I'll protect you."

"You'll be okay..."

"Riku..."

"NOW!"

"HOLD IT!"

And with shocked cerulean eyes, Sora watched as his best friend charged into the hoard of guards.

Time seemed to slow. He felt something slowly clamp down on his thin wrist with a bruising force, he saw Riku twisting the wrist of a guard and relieving him of his sword, then twirling around to block another weapon. He felt his arms being yanked behind his back, his shoulders hitching backwards in a painful position.

But Sora was not giving up, oh no. Riku was still fighting. Then why the HELL was Sora standing here like an idiot?

With an animal-like growl, Sora twisted his wrists sharply and heard the person, female from the sound of it, gasp in shock. The metal from her fingerless gloves left little welts in his skin, but he didn't concentrate on that. He flipped his hands and grabbed onto her wrists and then, leaped up into the air.

He caught a brief glimpse of black hair and a blur of green and yellow before his feet blocked the view. And with as much strength as Sora could muster, Sora kicked out at his victim's back. Hard. He didn't let go of her wrists until they were forcibly dragged from his grasp by his own strength.

"Yuffie!" Sora heard a voice shout. And that voice was very close. Not wanting to face those tall, strong-looking men all by himself, Sora quickly retreated towards a safer battle with the guards, feet kicking up dusty clouds of dirt as he quickly darted away from the teenage girl who was on the ground, holding a hand to her back and face contorted in pain.

Meanwhile, Riku was fending for himself quite well.

From the first moment he had started his brutal, and completely idiotic, attack, he only had the one thought running through his head. It had kept him going for years, and it was going to keep him going now.

And now here he was. He grabbed onto the wrist of a large, bulky man who didn't look like he could even hold himself up properly, let alone a katana. So Riku decided to put the poor weapon out of it's misery. He grabbed onto the man's beefy wrist and twisted it; he though he heard a dull crack, but he wouldn't swear on it. The porky fingers loosened considerably, letting Riku grab the sword from the guard.

The wire hilt was hot and sticky from the man's sweaty palms, but Riku held fast and swung it in an upwards thrust, effectively blocking another's attack.

There's a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and being the biggest moron on the planet, Riku thought grimly. So what the hell? I'll make the leap.

And he did.

Riku swung the shining blade up above his head as someone swung clumsily at him. Either they were underestimating him or they were just plain stupid.

Either way, it would be the last mistake they ever made.

He felt a sharp pain in his side and he winced as something warm drenched through his flimsy cream shirt. Not wasting a moment to inspect his injury, Riku swung his blade over his shoulder, feeling the hilt slip from his hands.

A scream was all he needed to know that he had gotten his target. Flinging his hand back, he grabbed onto the sword that was now lodged into the thick guards side (Riku doubted if it would even be fatal), he swung his body up and planted a heavy kick into a gangly man's chest, sending him flying back a good few feet before landing hard in the ground.

Swinging his legs up after the kick, Riku landed behind the injured man, yanking the blood-stained sword out with him as another blood-curdling scream rang out through the air.

Riku saw a blur of white and brown to his left, but didn't give it much mind; Sora could defend himself. Riku himself had trained the brunette how to defend himself, so he shouldn't fare to bad...

...he hoped.

There was a started "Oof!" as another guard went down, another soon after. Sora wasn't doing too bad, actually.

Riku slammed the butt end of his sword into the skull of another and it made a sickening crack before the tall man fell into a boneless heap on the ground, unconscious. There had to be five left, no more. And there goes another one. And there... comes another one?

Riku blinked, hesitating for a fraction of a second. There were eight... no, ten... fifteen...

Oh no...

Sora blinked in confusion. He had spared a quick glimpse over at Riku, just to see how he was faring, when he saw it.

Fear.

Gulping, Sora's eyes darted towards the directions in which Riku's frightened gaze was focused. And there, no more then three or four dozen guards were scrambling over the slopey hills of the deserted street, swords held high and glinting with a deadly glow in the hot evening sun.

Anything else wrong? Yeah, just one thing.

There was something very sharp and very fast flying straight at him.

Sora flung his body to the right as something zoomed by him, snaring his shirt and leaving a long, clean cut tear in his shirt. Shocked, Sora whirled around to see the tall, black-haired girl standing there, smirk in place. Her gloved hand ws already dug into the pouch on her brown belt, readying another throwing star.

"Our turn!"

Sora let out a yelp of surprise as, some way or another, a ball of flame flew at his leg. He scrambled back, falling down in the progress. His eyes were wide, reflecting the flames of the wooden barrel that was engulfed by bright red and orange flames.

What the fuck?

Riku's eyes narrowed at the shaggy-haired brunette, who had a determined, cold gaze in his sharp gray eyes, gripping tightly a long blade that had the hilt of a gun. He had watched as a tight ball of flames blossomed from the end of the lethal looking weapon, and harpooned at his best friend who had just missed it.

Then, something thin and tight wrapped around his torso, pinning his arms to his sides, one, two, three times. His feet skidded on the dirt as he twirled from the momentum of the thin cable until he felt two small, but strong hands grip his shoulders.

"That hurt."

He blinked into the deep brown eyes of the smirking ninja, who looked like the cat who had caught the mouse. She let her fingers entwine in a loose tuff of his silver hair and she tugged a little. "Heehee, you're a hot one..."

Riku lifted his arms in vein, trying to release himself from the tight hold of the wire, but to no avail. He was just debating on whether or not to actually do something so amateur as to step on her foot when he saw Sora dart in front of him, the brunettes back facing Riku.

Riku blinked as Sora suddenly leapt to the side and a thick, heavy silver katana sliced through the air, the gauze wrapped around the weapon flapping from the speed, and it sliced down in front of Riku.

Seeing the opportunity immediately, Riku took a small step forward and let the blade slash at him. The silver-haired teen didn't even wince as the blade sliced into his skin, causing hot red blood to bubble from his pale, scarred skin. The blade had sliced off the rope, and that was exactly what Sora had hoped for.

He hadn't anticipated Riku getting hurt, but it was a small price to pay.

Sora's breath quickened as he took in the scene before him, letting out a cry of pain as one of the guards blades cut sharply into his shoulder. Sora twisted his leg so that his ankle was behind the guard's and gave a sharp pull, sending the man down to the ground.

There were too many of them! More and more guards were coming from the Castle, there had to be at least twenty here now! They were woefully untrained, but anything can be dangerous if there was enough of it.

And then there were the other three to worry about. Riku was now trying to fight off the blonde, who kept o ricocheting off of the walls and slamming into Riku with a brutal force. The older teen wasn't down yet, but Sora had a bad feeling he would be soon if the brunette couldn't help.

The tall one with brown hair had gone to aid the blond (as if he needed help) in apprehending Riku. Sora was beginning to think they were in real danger; the two men, that is. Riku looked angrier then a stung boar and he was finally getting some hits of his own, setting Cloud's cape on fire when Leon threw fire at him and hitting Leon over the head with his own Gunblade.

But... where was the girl?

"WHEE!"

Oh, there she was!

"ACK!" Sora cried as one hundred twenty pounds of ninja slammed into him, sending him sailing into the wall. His head throbbed sharply, body going numb as multi-colored dots flew in and out of focus.

"Oooog..." Sora groaned, rubbing his head and stumbling a bit.

"Now I've got you!" Yuffie cried triumphantly. "You... you...!"

Sora blinked, confused. "Whaaaa..."

"Aww, how can I hurt you?" Yuffie squealed, hands clasping in front of her as she jumped up and down. "You're sooo cute!"

From behind them, the gray-eyed man groaned and smacked his hand to his forehead. "Yuffie!" he snapped, "get him!"

"Heehee, okie dokie Squall!" Yuffie chirped in a sing-song voice.

"For the last time, it's LEON!"

But this 'Yuffie' never got the chance to strike Sora down, for the brunette took her moment of delay as an ideal opportunity. His hand flew out and grabbed the gloves wrist she was carrying a coil of thin rope in and, upon closer inspection, tiny little strands of metal were strung in it for extra strength.

"What the...?"

The teenage ninja didn't' get another word in edge wise as Sora yanked the cord out of her hands and with a resounding snap, unfurled it. Holding it tightly in his two hands, he swung it high and circled it around her torso once, binding it tightly in a quick not before circling the stuff around her more.

But she had more in surprise for him. With a sharp snort, she bent her knees and then jumped up and kicked, catching Sora underneath the chin.

Sora was lucky to not get a broken jaw and he grunted in pain, but didn't let her go. He could feel blood flow freely from his mouth where he had been forced to bite his tongue and inner cheek. The rich, metallic taste made him dizzy for half a second before he got back into action.

With a harsh tug, he wrapped it around her one more time and yanked, pulling her upper body down, legs soon following. As she plummeted to the ground, he wound it tightly around a wooden post. And then, for good measure, he cracked a barrel with his foot and sent it sailing over her, affectively pinning her underneath the heavy weight of wood, metal, and sawdust.

"Leon, Cloud!" Yuffie cried in distress, desperately struggling against her pell-mell prison. "Help!"

Breathing heavily, Sora quickly dragged a hand over his face to rid his gaze of soggy bangs. Leon was marching towards him, a murderous glint in his eyes. But Sora didn't focus on that. He only saw Riku.

Or rather, what state Riku was in after fighting the two men at once.

His cream shirt was now a dark red, thoroughly soaked with the teens blood. Blood dribbled freely down his back, down his light brown pants and into the ground below, staining it into a dark burgundy shadow. Riku's body was covered in sweat that was tinted red from blood, and his eyes were tired, haunted looking. Almost like... he was giving up.

But his movements were no less quicker, no less furious. Even the blonde he was fighting with was beginning to take pity, landing fewer and fewer blows. But Riku took this as a chance to land more of his.

And this, more then anything else, was what fueled Sora to do what he did.

Clenching his teeth, some blood leaking through the cracks between his teeth, Sora charged forward, arms pumping quickly at his sides and legs a blur.

Leon didn't even have any time to reach out an arm to stop Sora in his tracks as the boy ran towards his best friends.

Riku's hair was beginning to slowly get a red tint from the blood seeping from a gas in his head, the sweat making it slide over his face like oil over water. Blood seeped into his eyes, and out of the corners, making bloody tears that left salty tracks down his cheeks.

Riku was grateful for it. No one would know he was crying now.

Crying from the pain as the gashes from yesterday opened, fresh blood leaking from beneath the scabbing. It added to his pain as his skin was ripped asunder, fresh wounds criss-crossing old ones and tearing through old and new scars, making way for new ones.

Gods, it hurts!

But Riku kept on fighting. If he didn't, then who would? He still had that though in his head. And it kept him going.

Make it stop...

It took a few moments for Riku to realize he was no longer fighting The stolen sword had slid from his grasp and, numbly, he realized he was running. More like being dragged.

"C'mon, Riku!" Sora hissed. "We have to go!"

Sora was... running?

Oh wait... so was he.

"Riku, move!"

Reality tore through the painful haze that had started to fog over his mind. Shaking his head, Riku began to run on his own, breath coming out in short, painful gasps. He had twisted his left ankle and a long gash ran down his leg from his thigh to his calf, splattering dark red blood everywhere with every step he took. It wept through his flip flops, making sick sucking sounds as they began to stick to his heels. The sun burned down, and Riku felt like he was baking in the sun; the heat made the stench of blood stronger, and more vile.

His stomach churned and his muscles burned. But he kept on going. Spilled blood made him hotter, wounds shooting dizzying amounts of pain up his body.

They were in the main part of town now, and Riku knew Sora had as much of a clue as to where they were gong as he did. They were trapped by hundreds of eyes, and Sora could feel them breathing down their necks.

"The guards are finally catching up to them!"

"Someone help that poor boy! Look at the blood!"

"About time they were taught a lesson!"

"Someone help them!"

"Let the guards catch them!"

"This isn't right! They're only children!"

"Children who made the wrong choice!"

Oh if they only knew.

Riku couldn't keep going. He was going too slow and the guards would catch up to them at any moment. Sora was going slow only so Riku could keep up, but the silver-haired teen wouldn't let is stay that way.

"Sora," Riku gasped, small spurts of blood leaking out from the corners of his mouth. "I can't... I can't..." He coughed.

"Yes you can, Riku!" Sora said in a distressed voice, trying to convince Riku as well as himself. "We have to keep going!"

"No!" Riku snapped. "We have to split up!"

"No!" Sora protested. More people gathered; they were getting closer to the Castle Gates. "You knows they'll catch you!"

"And if we keep going this slow, they'll catch us both!" Riku snapped. His lungs burned from lack of air and he could feel a few droplets of blood drip down his dry throat, making him close to gagging. "Sora, when we get to the Castle Gates, we split. You go left, I'll go right!"

He could hear the shouts of the guards and the others now, he cold smell them. Feel them in his skin. In his bones.

"Go, Sora!" Riku gasped. "Go now! I'll see you again, we'll get through this! I promise!"

"You promise...?" Sora whimpered. They were almost there.

"I promise!" Riku said in a raspy voice. "Now run! Run as fast as you can! Find someplace safe and stay there!"

And with a burst of energy, Sora exploded from Riku's side, legs carrying him at top speed down the left wall. Within seconds, Sora was out of sight as he dodged into an alley well known by the two thieves.

Riku made a right, stumbling as he still ran. He heard the shouts closer now... yes, they were going for him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a few dart to the left in attempts to bring in Sora, but once that boy was out of sight, you didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell finding him.

Riku was getting slower. He saw a few guards cutting down an alley; they were going to ram him into the wall. If he could just go up a bit further, he could escape that. Just a bit further... further...

Too late. Pain exploded in his left side and he felt a scream tear it's way out of his throat as a heavy-set guard rammed him into the hard stone wall, head cracking on the cement. He felt his arm and a few ribs finally crack, not standing a chance at the powerful impact.

Slowly, Riku slid to the ground, leaving a bloody smear on the wall. He fell into a boneless heap at the guards feet, eyes closing gently. He heard the dull thud of heavy boots and screams pierced the air. A few may have been his as the guards harshly slammed feet into his battered body in painful kicks. Another rib was gone, this one ripping through the tender flesh of his chest. He felt the sharp, splintered bone pierce through his skin, a flower of the brightest red blooming on his already red-stained shirt.

He saw dark shapes before his eyes as someone grabbed his arms, hulling him to his feet. Their grip was so hard, too hard. His broken arm was twisted at an awkward angle and being held harshly behind his torn back. He struggled to relieve himself of the painful position, but fell limp a moment later. Someone had landed a heavy punch into his stomach, knocking the wind from his sore lungs. He choked and gasped for air, knees giving way and buckling beneath him.

More shouts. These ones angry, but he couldn't make out what they were screaming. But whoever it was, they didn't sound happy at all.

Riku was beginning to shake. He knew he'd go into shock soon; he'd lost too much blood, and more continued to gush from his wounds. His vision was blurred crimson. The only thing keeping him standing was the powerful, painful grip someone had on his forearms.

He couldn't feel his arms anymore.

He couldn't feel his legs.

He felt nothing. Nothing but fear. For his life, fear For Sora's... he had to protect Sora from these people. It was all Riku's fault, not the brunette's. It was never Sora's fault. All Riku's...

All mine...

And then the pain in his arms returned, and Riku realized that they had let him go. Someone had placed a hand to his heaving chest and pushed back gently. Riku collapsed into a strong arm that had been placed around his shoulders, and he felt another arm slide beneath his legs and lift him up.

Riku hadn't even noticed he had closed his eyes. With a small groan, he cracked an eye open. The sun was till glaring down at him, making him feel dizzy. Or was it because of blood loss? Whatever it was... it made him so confused.

And as he felt a gentle wind sweep at his face, and a harsh rocking, Riku knew he was being carried somewhere... but he didn't know. He could still hear the angry shouts, but they sounded more afraid now. Afraid for what? For him?

They couldn't be afraid for him... there was nothing wrong with him.

Just something wrong with everything. The light still blared at full force... it burned so badly. It was only light... and Riku was so afraid of it.

His thought still burned strong.

"I promise..."

More shouts. The light from the suns rays was blocked, but now he was bathed in more colors. Blinking lightly, Riku watched as he was carried through a marble hallway.

"I promise you..."

Light from the sun shown through the stained glass, casting shadows of every color spilling over Riku's battered body.

"I promise you, that no matter how bad it gets..."

Someone was calling someone's name. But not his. They couldn't know his name... he wasn't sure if even he remembered it anymore.

He felt warm.. something warm spreading from within his heart... memories flashing before his eyes. Was this what it was like? Was this what it was like to die? If so, it wasn't that bad. It felt sort of nice...

"...no matter how bad it gets..."

He could see Sora's face... was he okay? Was he safe? Or was he as hurt as RIku was? Riku? That's who he was... that was his name...

But not him.

"...I'll be right here for you..."

The motion stopped. He was being laid down on something soft and warm. Faces swam in and out of view, the teen never getting a good picture of just one. They went by too fast... too blurry...

And the light shined. In so many different colors.

And Riku smiled a bit.

"...we'll never be apart..."

A tiny trail was traced down his cheek, made by the purest substance on Earth. Tangible emotion streaked his face, red completely absent...

"...no matter what, Sora... I'll always protect you..."

Riku's eyes slipped close.

"...I'm right here for you, Sora."

But where are you?

And Riku slipped away into unconsciousness.

Chapter End

Well that was a ton of fun to write! I hope you all liked it; it was very long! YAY!

C'mon! Didn't that deserve a review? It may not have been good to you, but I liked it. Could you tell me what you think? Please?