Sassy's Note: Argh, I apologize for the utter CRAP this chapter has to offer… Sorry, but I just wanted to get it out of the way for bigger things to come. As of right now, I have no idea how long this will be or even when you guys will start understanding both the plot and the sideplot, so just hang tight, okay?

The World's Heart

Riku was sure he kept hearing soft sniffles coming from Demyx, but he didn't say anything. Kioshi kept his arm around the Nocturne. Their group was slowly making their way to the study. Riku found himself hoping that Tron had already found something that could help them. He doubted it, though. Tron was as good as any artificial intelligence could be, but researching files like that took time. He knew it could take several days before they had anything, especially if that data was locked or encoded.

Cloud's phone rang half way there, and with a blond eyebrow raised, he answered it, listened to it for a moment, then snapped it shut and stuffed it into his pocket again.

"Leon's yelling at us to hurry because he has no idea what he's doing," he said with an annoyed huff. "As if any of us are computer experts."

"Not an expert," Kioshi said with a shrug, "But I'm apt with computer programs."

"Hey, that's good!" Yuffie spoke up. "You and Riku can tackle the computer together."

Riku blinked. "When was I nominated as knowing anything about computers?"

"You did manage to recover Sora's computer when it crashed that once," mused Kairi.

"Because I was screaming at tech support on the phone for two hours!"

Demyx rubbed at his eyes and chuckled. "Let's put it this way, Riku. Out of us, you're the best man for the job."

"Fine. If I completely screw up the DTD, it's not my fault."

---

"What the hell took you people so long?" Leon groused and glared at them as they all walked in the computer room. Cloud met his glare with one of his own, and after a moment, the scarred brunet back down with a sigh.

"Tron can't access the information on his own. It has to be unlocked."

Riku bit back a groan of protest. Great… He glanced at Kioshi. Hopefully he at least knew what to do. The older silver-haired man looked at the terminal.

"So if any of you have any idea where to even begin, have at it," said Leon, crossing his arms and glaring at the machine. Kioshi glanced at Riku, a smile quirking his lips.

"Shall we have a try?"

Riku shrugged. "Why not?"

---

They gave up less than an hour later. Kioshi was cursing almost nonstop, and Riku was developing a slight headache. When the two of them finally stepped away from the terminal, no one was really surprised. Riku hadn't even understood most of the numbers and files they were going through in an attempt to hack the system. He got the feeling Kioshi hadn't either.

"So how the hell are we going to access the data now?" Riku asked no one in particular. They were on the way to Tifa's bar now. The sun had almost completely set, and Riku was thoroughly exhausted.

"Not a clue," said Leon shortly. He was on edge too. Riku personally thought that he was too uptight, but, whatever. None of his business.

They reached a side street that branched off in the directions of the new apartment complex. "Well," said Demyx, coming to a stop. "This is where we leave you guys."

"Leaving so soon, Dem-Dem?" Yuffie asked, giving him puppy eyes. He smiled apologetically at her.

"Yeah, I'm tired and not feeling so great all of a sudden." He grabbed Kioshi's hand. "We'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye, then," said Yuffie, waving. Kioshi waved over his shoulder, then turned back in the direction of their apartment. Riku saw their fingers intertwine and Demyx rest his head on Kio's shoulder.

"Demyx took it pretty hard," said Aerith sadly, watching them go as well.

"He'll bounce back," said Leon. "Demyx never stays upset for very long."

"He's also never had to deal with something like this," said Kairi. She looked worried.

"He'll be fine," said Leon firmly and walked ahead of them. Riku frowned.

"Hey, Cloud," said Yuffie offhandedly. "Go tell your boyfriend to pull all of that leather out of his ass, because he's acting like a real jerk." She said it loud enough for Leon to hear her, but he gave no indication that he did. Just kept walking stiffly ahead of them. Cloud sighed.

"I'll talk to him later," he muttered. He looked horribly unhappy.

---

They met Reno and Rude inside the bar. Reno was nursing what no one doubted to be a very strong drink. Rude was simply sipping on a glass of water. Leon strolled inside and sat down a few seats away from Rude and looked at Tifa, who nodded understandingly and began fiddling with the bottles behind her. The others walked forward and sat at the bar as well.

"Hey, Tifa," Riku greeted the woman with a half smile. She did too, but it was clear from the look on her face that she knew what had happened. She gave Leon his drink – which also looked to be very strong – and then turned to Riku.

"So, you going to be an alcoholic like these guys, or would you rather have a soda?" she teased good-naturedly.

"I don't mind, but I hate soda." She nodded and shuffled off out of Riku's line of sight.

"Hey, that's right," said Kairi from the seat next to him. "Aren't you allergic to soda or something?"

"It clogs my throat so I either hack my lungs out or choke on my own phlegm," said Riku offhandedly. This earned him a few raised eyebrows, but he paid them no mind. It was at that moment that Tifa came back, laughing a bit. She slid a drink his way.

"It has no soda in it, I promise." He accepted the glass as she wandered away toward Rude. The liquid inside was a dark red color with a slice of orange floating somewhere in the middle of a few ice cubes. He took a sip of it and found it to have a tropical taste, much like the drinks found back home on the Islands. He took a larger gulp. It was good alright, and he could definitely taste a bit of rum in there somewhere. Not that he minded. It might help him sleep tonight.

Sleep… simple concept, hard to do. When he was tired, his brain went into overload. It had always been that way, and he was sure when he finally lay down tonight to rest, he'd be replaying the day's events over and over in his head. It wasn't a very pleasant prospect.

He took another gulp of his drink. Cloud was right. He was rather bipolar right now. Speaking of Cloud… Riku looked in the blond's direction. He was sitting beside Leon, but they weren't talking. Leon was staring hard in front of him, and Cloud had his eyes trained on his glass of light amber liquid. He looked so… somber – resolved to the fact that Leon wasn't willing to open up to even him. Riku could only hope that two would talk later, when no one else was around. He remembered that was the way it used to be, back when they were "just friends." He remembered the silent conversations and mutual understandings the bond between them supported. How did a change in their relationship – a change everyone had been expecting – damage that bond so much?

Riku shook his head. Maybe he was reading this all wrong. It was possible they were both just worn from the recent happenings, but Riku could remember a comment made by Sora about the two of them…

"You're miles and miles away, aren't you?" Kairi asked, head propped up on one arm. It startled the silver-haired teen out of his train of thought, and he decided that was probably for the best.

"Just thinking," he said. She poked at her drink – it looked to be the same as Riku's – and took a little sip of it.

"I think everyone is. We're all kinda quiet tonight, even Reno."

"That is unusual." Riku's eyes sought out Reno this time. The usually flamboyant redhead was simply sitting at the bar, occasionally looking around, then looking back down. Was everyone currently depressed? And why had they been perfectly fine a few hours ago? Sure, the situation was horrible, but knowing that there was a way to reverse it had taken a great weight off Riku's chest. Sora wasn't gone; he was just away.

"Hey, Riku?" asked Goofy suddenly, and Riku swiveled around on his stool to face him. "You seen the King anywhere 'round here?"

Riku shook his head. "Not since we got off the gummi."

"Hmm, well, we're gonna go find him. Come on, Donald." The duck quacked irritably. "See ya later."

Kairi waved and Riku nodded as the pair exited the bar. "I hadn't noticed that the King was missing," said Kairi after a moment.

"He didn't follow me after we talked earlier. I… don't know where he went."

"He's rather secretive, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but he knows what he's doing. I get the feeling he knows more about this situation than he's telling us. He's got a bit of a need-to-know attitude about this kind of thing." Riku paused to take another drink. "It's probably why he's a great king."

"You think he's keeping something from us?" Kairi looked rather concerned at this.

"Possibly, but don't worry about it, Kai. We'll know everything when we need to know." She looked discontented but didn't pursue the subject. Riku knew that it was highly likely King Mickey was keeping something from them, but he didn't let it bother him. After all… he hadn't told the King everything himself.

He had told neither Kairi nor King Mickey that Sora had been hearing the voice as well.

---

"What's up with that face?" Riku asked as he strolled into the brunet's room. Sora was sitting on his bed and staring down at his phone.

"Eh… just talked to Aerith."

Riku blinked as he sat down beside his best friend. "Is something wrong?"

"You could say that."

"What is it?"

"Cloud and Leon."

"What? Are they having problems already?"

"Kinda. It's strange, though. Aerith said that Cloud just hasn't been himself since they started seeing each other."

"How so?"

"Well, you know when I first met him he was always quiet and reserved, but then he opened up after he finally defeated Sephiroth. Now, he's gone back to the way he was. She said he never talks anymore, hardly even to Leon."

"Hn, what do you think's up with that?"

Sora sighed and laid his phone down on the bedside table. "I don't know."

---

Riku awoke with the sun shining in his eyes, and he rolled away from it irritably. He had been sleeping so well…

"It's time, you know."

This made Riku sit up. "Time for what?" he demanded of it.

And, to his great surprise, the voice laughed. "Time to find yourself."

To be continued…

Sassy: Boring, ne? Oh well. This chapter was mainly to establish the relationships between a few of the characters. Meh… anyway, I'm hoping the next chapter will be better, and I KNOW that when I FINALLY get the scene I'm DYING to write, you guys will hate me with a fiery passion. 8D

Leave a review or you'll never found out what's wrong with Cloud.