Yay!! Yay for snow!! Yay for snowdays because that means I don't have to work (yesterday)!! Yay for living in the middle of nowhere so the snow plows don't come through until about noon so I don't have to go into work until late (today)!! Hehe... I love snow. I just wish I had come earlier, but I guess it's better late than never!!!!!...

Anywho...the next couple of chapters may be a little everywhere, but bear with me please. Starting with this chapter, everything will slowly be explained about Akari and Kurai. There will only be little things in here, but there will be quite a bit in the next chapter and the one after it… I just have the feeling that some of your questions will be answered with chapter, but quite a few more will pop up in their absence. ::hides:: Please don't kill me!!...

WARNINGS: blood, bad language, etc…

Disclaimer: The characters and worlds of Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney…

"…I have never felt like this before
Felt my body sinking to the grassy floor
I have never known a love like this
Felt the flaming arrows of the Hunter's Kiss…"

—"The Hunter's Kiss" Rasputina…

((Another Side, Another Story))
Flaming Arrows …

I ran desperately through the night club, Axel at my side, while our eyes searched wildly for Roxas in the mass of people on the crowded dance floor. We were shoved to and fro like buoys stuck in the middle of a violent ocean storm, with no one seeming to sense the pure panic that was radiating from both of our bodies.

'It's been ten minutes since Sora ran off. If we don't find Roxas soon, I'm going without him,' I sent to Axel via our mental link.

I caught Axel's silent sigh before Roxas' voice exploded in my head.

'Where are you guys? You're panicking! I can feel it. What happened?!'

'We're in the middle of the dance floor. Where are you?'

'By the front doors. I'll wait for you here. Hurry!!!'

I turned back toward Axel. He nodded to say that he had heard the message, and we started our fight through the crowd again. It felt like a bomb full of energy exploded when we finally made our way out of the crowd. My eyes connected with Roxas and, with nothing more than a nod, Axel and I ran out the door with him following closely behind.

As we climbed in the car and I revved the engine, I could sense Axel telling Roxas why we were in such a rush. I felt the blonde's anxiety levels rise twofold and the tension in the air thickened. The interior of the car was beginning to feel like a prison cell and I could feel a slight sheen of sweat starting to break out across my brow.

"He saw you feeding?" Roxas muttered.

Axel nodded. "Yes. And don't try to act so innocent. You know what it is…"

Roxas growled under his breath. "Yeah, I know what it is. What I don't understand is why you were doing it there. Why not later, and in a more private place?"

"It's not like we expected anyone to go wandering into the alleyway!" Axel spat. "And I would have much rather been caught by someone than have Riku risk biting Sora while they were on the dance floor."

"You were going to bite, Sora?!" Roxas shouted. "What the fuck, Riku?!"

I sighed and shook my head. "I wasn't sure, but I didn't want to take any chances. And now everything's fucked up and he probably hates me. The way the looked at me…" I trailed off and shook my head to rid it of the memory. "I have to find him and explain."

"At least you didn't risk it before he remembered. He would have freaked out even more if you had bit him than he did when he saw you." Roxas sighed. "Don't worry. He probably just panicked when he saw you. I know I would have if I didn't know what you were doing."

I sighed. "I know but…"

"No buts," he said. "His memories of what you are will come back to him soon and he'll be fine. I promise."

I wanted to believe him. Every fiber within me was screaming for me to believe him, but I just couldn't. Because of the connection I had with him, I could feel the anger, confusion, and sadness that was raging through Sora's mind. He wasn't okay. I could feel our link weakening with every passing moment. There was only one reason why it could possibly be weakening so quickly. If we didn't hurry, I was afraid that we would be too late.

'Hold on, Love. Please… Just give the time to explain before you do anything drastic.'

I didn't get a response, not that I had been expecting one. I wasn't sure if Sora had been able to pick up on our link enough to use it. Hell, even if he had, I doubted that he would answer me. I know that I wouldn't have answered him had our positions been switched. He would be lucky if I ever tried to make any sort of contact with him again.

I pushed the gas pedal to the floor but we still weren't moving fast enough. I would have much rather ran, as we could run faster than any car, but Roxas would have lagged behind. He wasn't as used to using his abilities as Axel and I were, and it would only slow Axel down if he had to carry the blonde.

An eternity of twenty minutes later, I was pulling the car into the apartment complex's parking lot. I threw the car into park and barely took the time to shut it off and grab my keys before I was out and running toward the door to Leon's apartment. I could feel Axel and Roxas right behind me, wasting no time.

A wave of panic struck me as I neared the door and saw that it hadn't been latched. I threw the door open and ran inside with a shout of Sora's name. When there was no reply, the panic increased twofold.

'Help me find him!' I begged Roxas and Axel.

"Sora! Where are you, Sora," Roxas shouted and started down the hall toward the kitchen.

Axel shouted his name as well, but was frozen where he stood. I knew that he was unsure of what to do, and the apartment was small enough that he didn't need to help search.

'It's okay, Axel.' I said as I started back toward Sora's room.

I didn't even make it to the door before Roxas' shout called me back.

"Fuck! Riku!"

I jumped and immediately took off toward the kitchen. Axel met me there. The sight that greeted us wasn't a pretty one. Sora was lying on the kitchen floor, surrounded by blood. It was everywhere. In his beautiful hair, on his white pants, staining his wings.

I gasped and ran into the kitchen, sliding across the floor and gathering Sora into my arms as I did. He felt so light and his blood… Even given the situation, I had to force myself not to bend down and lick it from his arms. I could feel Axel struggling with the same problem as he wrapped a pair of towels around Sora's wrists.

'Thank you…'

He nodded and threw a glance at the kitchen entrance as a sob echoed through the room. He groaned when he did.

"Oh gods, Sora. Not again. Not again. Please, gods," Roxas sobbed, his entire body shaking violently. "Sora!"

"Axel, take Roxas to the living room and calm him down, please…"

He gave me a look that said he didn't want to leave my side. I frowned and with a silent 'Don't make me turn it into an order' he glared at me and stayed long enough for me to grasp Sora's wrists. Roxas collapsed into Axel's arms in the doorway. He was still sobbing, but I had the distant feeling that he had fainted.

When we were alone, I looked down upon Sora's face in pain. He looked so peaceful. I bent down and placed a gentle kiss against his forehead as tears began to well in my eyes. I didn't even attempt to hold them back. I let them fall freely and unashamedly. Some dripped from my chin and I watched them fall and land on Sora's face. If only this were a movie. Then, with the first teardrop that hit his skin, Sora would wake up and be cured because in the movies tears always had healing properties of some sort. Or something like that.

"Sora…" I muttered. "I love you so much. Please hold on a little longer and I'll explain everything, okay? Axel, Roxas, and I… We'll explain everything. And Leon and Cloud. It'll all be okay, alright…" I swallowed back a sob before I could continue. "Don't you dare die on me, Sora! Please don't leave me behind. I won't be able to live with myself if you die…"

To my surprise, Sora moaned quietly and his lids slid back to reveal his beautiful blue eyes. They were dull and glazed over by drugs, but he was still alive! I choked back my sob and forced myself not to crush him to me in a hug.

"Sora?" I asked. "Sora, don't close your eyes, Love. Try and stay awake for me, please."

I could tell that he wasn't really listening to a word that I said. The drugs in his mind would have made it difficult enough for him to concentrate. Add to that the amount of blood loss he had, and I doubted he would understand what I was saying even if he was listening.

"Sora, why did you do this?" I sobbed, holding him tighter to me. "Why didn't you let me explain, Love? Why did you have to run away?"

Axel returned from the living room and settled down on his knees behind me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. I sighed and relaxed into his embrace, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Will you take his wings off?"

Axel nodded. I lifted Sora as best as I could while still holding pressure on his wrists. Axel slipped his hands between the two of us and quickly undid the rope ribbon. I couldn't stand to look at the crimson wings when he pulled them away. They filled me with an overwhelming sense of nausea and déjà vu.

Sora's eyes slipped closed again, and I panicked.

"Sora? Sora! Wake up, Love. Come on, open your eyes! Don't go to sleep on me! You need to keep your eyes open, okay? Sora!"

Axel made soothing sounds in my ear and kissed my temple as I started shaking.

"Why did he do this? Why didn't he just let me talk to him? Why did he have to run away? Why didn't he let me explain?" I muttered through my sobs.

"I don't know, Riku, but we need to do something. We can't just leave him here…"

"No!" He didn't have to finish his statement for me to know what he was going to say. "We can't take him there. They'll take him away from me!"

Axel sighed. "A hospital, then. We have to do something or he'll die! Do you want that?!"

I took several deep breaths in attempts to get my shaking under control, but it just made it worse. A hospital. Yes. They had taken good care of Sora before, so I bet that they would do the same this time as well.

"Fine, a hospital… But I want you to drive, okay? Get Roxas and I'll get Sora. Sora and I will ride in the back."

Axel nodded and stood, letting his fingers linger for a moment in a reassuring gesture before going to the living room to get Roxas.

"I'm sorry, Riku. Forgive me…"

The sound of Sora's voice made me jump. It was so weak, as if he were almost gone. No! I couldn't think like that. He couldn't leave me. He was going to make it through this and we were going to be together forever. I would make sure of it.

"Oh, Sora. You have nothing to apologize for. It's me who needs to apologize…"

I struggled to get Sora into my arms and then struggled to my feet with him still in my arms. When I finally made it outside, Axel had a conscious but panicked Roxas in the front passenger seat of my car and was waiting for me with the back door open.

I nodded to him in thanks as I slid into the seat. Roxas immediately turned around in his seat and let out a loud groan when he surveyed his friend. He reached out and gently brushed Sora's bangs out of his eyes.

"Hold on just a little while longer, okay, Sora? Please."

There was no response, though I didn't think that he was expecting one. He ran one more gentle hand through Sora's hair and turned around in his seat while Axel backed out of the parking spot and got onto the main road.

I held Sora close to me as Axel flew through the streets and went back into the city. The buildings and cars that passed us by were nothing more than blurry spots of light through the windows, not that I paid much attention. Painful sobs were torn from my chest as I focused on Sora and the towels around his wrists that were growing more crimson by the second…

o-o-o-o-o

"Riku, calm down!" Axel cried.

He stood behind me and held my hair as I retched uncontrollably into the ceramic toilet before me, an unending river of tears streaming down my face. My stomach calmed just long enough for me to cough and take a breath, but then I was doubled over the basin again. I held the edge of the toilet so hard my knuckles were white. I was surprised I hadn't broken it yet.

My stomach finally emptied with a loud gasp followed by a cough from me, and I fell backwards into Axel. He caught me and let me lay across his lap. I closed my eyes as he started to comb out my hair with a gentle hand, swiping my sweaty bangs away from my face with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Axel," I croaked. Between my sobs and the vomiting, my voice sounded like crap.

"No. Don't apologize. You're only being rational. Everyone has their weak points, even you. You have to remember that sometimes. You're allowed to breakdown and cry. It doesn't mean that you're weak. If anything, it makes you stronger because you're not letting your emotions build up and become unhealthy. You may be a prince, but you still have the same emotions as us normal people, including the nasty ones like sadness and despair. You're no different than us. Got it memorized?"

I sighed and let my eyes slip open. I stared up into his intense emerald eyes for a moment before I chuckled and cupped the side of his face in my hand.

"I'm beginning to remember why I fell in love with you all those years ago," I sighed.

He smiled and put a hand over mine. "Well, now you have Sora…"

I nodded. "And you have Roxas. The hard part will be getting him to admit it."

He laughed and shrugged. "Yeah, but if Sora's ever up for a threesome," he said and winked, "you know who to call."

I rolled my eyes and pushed myself up from his lap, though I needed his help to get to my feet. He led me awkwardly to the sinks so I could splash some water on my face and had a paper towel in his hands for me to dry off with when I was finished. I patted my face dry and led the way out of the bathroom and to the waiting chairs where we had left Roxas.

When I'd gotten sick, we hadn't heard any news of Sora's condition and hadn't been allowed to see him. Judging by the look on Roxas' face, it looked like he hadn't heard anything in our absence either. To seal the deal, he looked up at us and shook his head slowly as we approached.

"Dammit!" Axel cursed and fell down into the chair beside the blonde.

I sighed and slumped into the chair beside Axel. It wasn't long before he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him. As I rested my head on his shoulder, I realized he had a tight grip on Roxas' hand and that the blonde had buried his face in Axel's shoulder to muffle his sobs.

I don't know if I fell asleep after that or had just zoned out, but the next thing I knew Axel was shaking my shoulder to get my attention. He pointed to the doors. I sighed and closed my eyes as a doctor came out with a morose look on her face. This woman didn't have good news and wasn't trying to hide it.

"Riku, Axel, and Roxas, right?"

We nodded together, and she nodded in response. Axel was the first to find the strength to ask the dreaded words.

"How is Sora?"

Doctor Akiko sighed. "He's stable, but he fell into what seems to be a self-induced coma to escape his pain. We had to pump his stomach to take care of the drugs and he needs to go through at least one more blood transfusion. If he hasn't woken by then, we'll keep him here on observation."

"He's alive, though?"

She nodded, and I could feel the tears of joy filling my eyes.

"Would you all like to see him?"

We jumped up from our seats, and Doctor Akiko cracked the first smile I had seen since she left the ER. She led us down the hall and into a different corridor that led to the recovery rooms. I had to choke back a sob during the walk. It was so familiar. Less than a month ago, we had walked down these same halls to see Sora after a similar incident. The only difference was, that time it had been an accident. This time, his aim had been death.

She stopped outside a cracked door and offered us weak smiles. "He looks worse than he is, okay? He'll be fine. He's very pale from the blood loss and we had to attach more machines than last time because of his condition. Don't worry, though. He may be asleep, but he knows you're with him and that's all he could ask for."

My first smile since finding Sora twitched at my lips as Roxas latched onto the doctor in a hug. She chuckled and patted his head gently.

"He needs you now."

Roxas pulled away and nodded and followed Axel into the room. I stayed behind for a couple of minutes to let her know that Leon and Cloud were on their way to the hospital and should be there any minute. She answered with a nod and smile and said that she would make sure they were sent back as soon as they arrived. When she turned on her heel and left, I went into the room. I couldn't hold back the sob when my eyes landed on Sora.

Pale had been an understatement. He looked like he was dead. His cheeks were slightly sunken and deep, dark circles surrounded his eyes. His usually vibrant and silky hair was dull and greasy, though they had washed the blood out of it at some point in time. The pale green gown he wore looked disgusting on his frail body. The pair of brilliant white bandages that donned his wrists made a shiver ripple through my body. The one on his right arm went up further to cover his reopened wounds, but the one around his left wrist was just as menacing.

Axel had settled into one of the chairs beside the bed, Roxas in his lap. The blonde held Sora's hand in his and rubbed his thumb gently across the back of it. Tears were pouring freely from his eyes, though no sobs escaped his mouth. Axel looked numb. He was the only one who hadn't cried during the night, but I could tell that it was affecting him just as much. The only reason he had been able to be so strong was because he had a stronger will than either of us could ever wish for. Sometimes, that will was a curse.

I went to the bed and took a seat on the edge. I grabbed Sora's free hand and twined his fingers with my own, while my other hand went up to brush his bangs out of his eyes gently. Leaning forward slightly, I pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead.

I would have thought that it was impossible for me to have anymore tears to shed, but I did. The red-tinged droplets ran down my face and dripped from my chin, though I didn't break down into sobs again. I was too tired and in too much pain to fall into another sobbing fit. Inside, though, I could feel myself slowly becoming numb to what was happening.

The door across the room burst open and pulled me out of my thoughts. I jumped up from the bed and turned in time to see Leon and Cloud rushing into the room. Both men were in tears and had wild looks on their faces. When Leon spotted Sora, he ran into the room and collapsed onto the bed where I had been seated, half lying on top of his younger brother. He sobbed into Sora's chest for a while, whispering incoherent words under his breath. Cloud stood behind him with a hand on his shoulder, lost in his own silent tears.

When Leon finally calmed enough to think straight, he sat up and immediately glared at me.

"What did you to do him this time?!" he shouted. "What did you do to make him do this?!"

"Leon, don't…" Cloud started, but Leon cut him off.

"Don't tell me to calm down, Cloud. I knew that something like this was going to happen the moment I realized Sora had found him again. History repeats itself, and look what happened!"

I tried to be angry with Leon because of what he said, but I couldn't. Instead, my shoulders slumped and I dropped my head, letting my hair hide the shame that was written all over my face. I heard Axel growl quietly before he spoke.

"Don't you dare blame Riku for any of this, Leon. He didn't do anything wrong. How were we supposed to know that Sora was going to find us? We were in the most private spot we could find, okay?"

"'Us'? Who is this 'us'? You and Riku? What were you doing? Were you cheating on him?"

I shook my head, but didn't look up from the floor. Leon growled and in a matter of seconds he was off the bed and had a handful of my hair in his grasp, yanking it back to lift my head and make me look him in the eye.

"What the fuck did you do, Riku?!"

"I…I didn't cheat on him…" I muttered, ashamed at how weak my voice sounded. "Axel and I… If I hadn't gone out, I would have drank from Sora, and I couldn't do that to him! Axel helped me, but Sora found us and… He probably thought that I was cheating on him. He ran away before I could explain anything to him…."

"You were going to bite my brother?" Leon muttered, letting go of my hair so my head could drop.

I sighed and let my eyes find the floor again. "If I hadn't have been able to take blood from Axel, I would have, yes."

Silence followed my admission. I looked up to see Leon shaking with rage, his deep blue-grey eyes locked on me with nothing but murderous intent. Cloud reached out and put a hand on the brunet's shoulder, but he shrugged it off easily. Axel and Roxas had moved from their seat and were standing to the side, watching the spectacle with wide eyes.

"Get out…" Leon finally muttered.

"Wh-what?!" I gasped.

"Get out!" He added enough force into his voice that it made me stumble backwards.

I shook my head. "No! You can't tell me to leave Sora. I won't."

"Oh, but you will." He stepped forward and made me take a step back. "You will leave this hospital and you will never see my brother again, you hear me? He doesn't need you, especially if it's something you did that drove him to attempting suicide."

"How can you blame Riku for this?!" Axel shouted, throwing an arm out. "It's a complete freak accident that Sora found us out there! This isn't his fault, and it's not mine either. It's no one's fault. You know how unstable Sora has been. If it wasn't this, it was going to be some other trivial thing that was going to set him off. How can you fucking blame Riku for this?"

Leon turned his attention from me to Axel and growled. "I can blame Riku for this because it gives me a reason to get him away from Sora for good!"

"What?! Why?!" I shouted. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Leon laughed. "You know what you did! All it took was two visits to Kurai and you dragged him down into the darkness. He thought that he was in love with you, but it was just you playing tricks on his mind, wasn't it?"

I shook my head and tried to open my mouth to argue, but nothing came out. He advanced on me and I took another step back.

"You played tricks with his mind and made him believe that you cared, you bastard! You were the reason why he committed suicide before, as well."

"You can't blame Riku for that, either!" Axel shouted. "Sora did what he did because he was led to believe that Riku was dead, and by you, might I add. He killed himself because he couldn't bear to imagine life without Riku. He loved Riku as much as Riku loved him. Why do you think Riku disappeared the day after he found out Sora was dead? You didn't think he ran away out of shame, did you?" Leon kept silent and Axel laughed coldly, tears dripping from his eyes for the first time that night.

"He fucking followed Sora," he continued, "and I had to watch. Do you know how it feels to feel the cloth of your best friend's shirt slip through your fingers? Do you know how it feels to watch him plummet five hundred feet to the ground? Do you know what it feels like hold your breath until he hits the ground? You don't know anything about anything!" he shouted. "Open your fucking eyes and pay attention to what's going on around you, Squall!"

Leon was shaking again, and if looks could kill, Axel and I would have already suffered extreme overkill. I looked to Cloud for help, but he stood behind his boyfriend with his eyes glued to the ground. I looked to Roxas next, but he had collapsed onto the ground with his face buried in his hands in a fit of silent sobs.

"Get out!" Leon growled. When I didn't move, he grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me to the door. "Get the fuck out! I never want to see your face again. If you so much as touch my brother, I will fucking kill you!"

"Get your hands off him!" Axel shouted and chased Leon out of the room.

The brunet turned on Axel and smacked him across the face. Too stunned to react, Axel stumbled backwards and fell onto his butt. Leon reeled around and glared at me again.

"I don't pity you or your cause, Riku. I have no reason nor want to feel pity for you. Your entire family sickens me…"

I laughed. "So that's what this is about? You're blaming me for what Sephiroth did to Cloud? That's hardly fair, Squall. I had nothing to do with my brothers actions. I'm the one who helped Cloud escape, for gods sakes…"

Leon didn't answer. He stormed into the room and slammed the door behind him. I grabbed for the handle, but let my hand fall slack when I heard the small click of the lock slamming into place.

In a fit of shame, I fell to my knees and pounded on the door futilely, painful sobs wracking my body. Axel crawled behind me and pulled me away from the door and into his lap. He held my head to his chest and ran his hand through my hair, whispering soft words into my ear.

"He-he's wr-wrong!" I hiccupped. "I-I love S-Sora with m-my heart and s-s-soul! H-how can he s-say that I w-was using hi-him? H-how c-can he tell m-me th-that I c-can't see S-Sora again?"

"Shhhh…" Axel whispered. "Don't listen to what he said, Riku. He's an asshole. You'll see Sora again. I'll make sure of it. You know where he lives. And we can still talk to Roxas, remember. We still have the mental link. He says that he's sorry and he'll keep us up-to-date on Sora's condition, alright? Roxas will help us get you to Sora again, okay?"

I nodded and snuggled deep into Axel's chest, finally letting my exhaustion take its toll on my body.

o-o-o-o-o

The first day of separation from Sora was Hell. I had to fight with myself every second of the day to not jump out of my bed and rush to the hospital. I didn't care how Leon felt or that he would probably kill me the instant I set foot into the hospital, much less Sora's room. All I wanted was to see my little lover and hold him in my arms and tell him how sorry I was. He needed to hear the whole story. He needed to know how sorry I was for what had happened.

When the weekend was over and school started again, Axel skipped school and stayed home with me. Neither of us had any want to return to the damned place, anyway. I doubted that we would ever see it again after his whole ordeal was over, anyway. I had the lingering feeling that Sora was going to wake from his coma with all of his memories and then all hell would break loose. Axel and I would be ordered to NeoKurai while Roxas would probably be ordered to take Sora with him to NeoAkari.

Speaking of Roxas… He was a godsend. He also missed school to stay with Sora and he sent us random updates on his condition throughout the days. While they were all the same, it still meant a lot to me that he trusted Axel and I and was going against Leon's orders. He could say whatever he wanted, but he really did love Axel.

Axel and I were sprawled across my bed when the first promising message came through. Axel was listening to his MP3 player on full blast and I was just lying back with my eyes closed, but when Roxas' voice came into our heads. My eyes snapped open and he pressed mute immediately.

'He's calling for you Riku, and Leon's pissed. We can tell that he's only dreaming, but just the fact that he wants you is driving Leon crazy.'

I smiled and laughed in my head. 'Tell Squall to fuck himself.'

Roxas snorted. 'Then he'd know that I was talking to you and he'd do some voodoo thing to make it so I can't. We don't want that happening, now do we?'

'You're an ass.'

He laughed. 'No…I'm just being smart. But I have to go. He's looking at me weird.'

'What's been your excuse for the past few days?' Axel asked.

'That I've been zoning out and blaming myself for everything. It's kinda not a lie, but yeah… I'll send you guys news again in half an hour, sooner if something happens.'

'Thanks, Roxas,' I said.

'Yeah…thanks, Love…' Axel said.

'It's the least I could do…' And then he was gone.

I knew that I could have still sent him something, but I didn't want to bother him. I could only imagine the trouble he would be in if Leon knew that he was talking to us via a mental link. He wouldn't kill him, seeing that he was technically his younger brother, but he would do something to make life very uncomfortable for the blonde. He would probably send him home until Sora woke up.

"I wonder what he's dreaming about," I thought aloud.

I felt Axel shrug. He stretched and settled down beside me, sharing my pillow. "I dunno… Maybe it's something good if he's calling for you."

I rolled my eyes. "You're a perv."

He looked at me and smiled. "No, I'm just an optimist. I'd much rather Roxas call for me when he's dreaming about our mind-blowing sex than if he was reliving a bad moment between us or something."

I had to admit. Axel did have a point. But I wouldn't admit it out loud. I sighed and snuggled down into my bed after closing my eyes.

"I'm gonna sleep for a bit. Maybe it'll take my mind off things."

"Okay…I'll wake you next time Roxas has news."

I nodded and curled into a ball under my blankets. If I wasn't able to be with Sora in real life, I would wander with him through my dreams. As I drifted off, I wondered if he was dreaming about the same thing I would be, but my thoughts came to an end as I fell into unconsciousness.

TBC…
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A/N: Depressing, ne? And Leon is a complete and utter asshole in this chapter, but he does have his reasons. I would be an ass, too, if it were me. Thankfully it's not, though… And at least it's finally revealed that Leon and Cloud are the same. If I was Sora, I would be pissed off at Leon when I woke up for not telling me about everything. Yeah…that would really piss me off…

I had soooo much trouble writing this chapter. Once I got passed Riku, Axel, and Roxas finding Sora, I couldn't think of anything to write, so I started writing the next chapter. Then, for some random reason, I got the picture in my head of Leon blowing up on Riku and Axel and blaming them for what happened and came up with this. And poor Roxas. He's a double agent. Hehe… At least he trusts them, though…

A note on the lyrics I chose now that I'm done… The song is really about, as the opening words say, a deer and a man, but I thought that the lines I chose portrayed Riku's feelings well. He's usually strong and collected, but when he finds and when Leon lashes out at him, he shows his weaknesses. And Leon's words are as sharp and painful as any arrow could ever be, especially when he says that Riku can't see Sora again…

To come…
Sora's dreamland…memories and "awakening"…a lemon??…partings…NeoAkari and NeoKurai…

Eight more chapters…::cries::…But there's no worries 'cause there's, of course, a sequel. Hurrah!!! ::dances:: Hehe…

Anyway…sorry for any typos or anything else that was wrong with this chapter… And thanks to everyone who reviewed. I love you all!!!! ::hugs::…

'Til next chapter, adieu…