Once again, I do not own anything besides Sam and eric! Although I am working on kidnapping riku. I'll let you know how that goes.

Thanks to my reviwer, FlowerLady-Aerith.

Chapter 4

by hanyou-samurai

Zexion told me later that I looked like I was dancing, not fighting. Hm. A sword dance. I liked the sound of that.

Larxene's kunai couldn't hit me. My swords hit her though. Several times. Larxene all of a sudden disappeared, then reappeared on shore, holding a kunai to Riku's throat.

"Can you save him in time, Tejina Mizu?" I quickly calculated the distance between us.

"Can you do it little water mage?" taunted Larxene. And then I lost control.

A huge storm boiled the sea, waves crashing around me. It seemed as though a dome was around me, keeping me dry. A downpour soaked those on the beach. I was lifted up on a tendril of water, hair blowing around me. And then, Riku did something on shore.

Something appeared in his hand. A keyblade! I recognized it as the soul eater. He swiped at Larxene. She let him go, jumping away. I was headed to shore quickly, the water carrying me.

"I tried to forget, to live a normal life," said Riku. I heard him over the torrent. "But I guess when you have a keyblade, that just can't happen."

"What happened to Sora?" I whispered, but nobody heard me. Heh. Nobody heard the Nobody. And then I had another vision. Riku was lying on the ground, covered in blood. I didn't have a chance to examine his eyes to see if he was dead, because the vision ended.

By the time I reached shore, Riku and Larxene were fighting. The rest of the Organization was just watching, for once an Organization member was fighting, others could only intrude by invitation. As far as I was concerned, Larxene was still my opponent, so this wouldn't count as interfering.

Larxene raised her kunai. I watched in slow motion as she sliced her hand down. I'd seen her use that move before. If she connected, Riku would be dead in a matter of minutes from blood loss. It was also in slow motion that I realized that I was in front of Riku. The way I jumped, I knocked him to the ground. As soon as we hit, I rolled off him. He was covered in blood.

"Riku! Riku!" I screamed, shaking him. He sat up. He was okay. Then whose blood-?" That's when I felt the pain. I looked down at my sliced stomach, blood pouring from it just as the rain was pouring from the sky.

"Heh…" had I interpreted that vision wrong. Riku wasn't covered with his blood. He was covered with… mine.

I fell to the ground. I vaguely felt Zexion holding me. And then there was no more.

When I woke up, I was in a warm place. I opened my eyes. I was in my room, at the castle. Beside me were Zexion, Riku, Axel, and Roxas, my two closest friends at the castle. I sat up, my stomach aching.

"Sam! You're awake!" cried Zexion, then, with no regard for the consequences, he threw his arms around me. After a split second, I realized he was weeping.

"I was afraid… so afraid that I was going to lose you!"

"Heh heh heh. The Cloaked Schemer and the Tejina Mizu, an item," snickered Axel. Zexion glared at Axel, no sign that he had been crying. I realized that I was still in my swimsuit, then I realized that since Larxene was the only girl, they hadn't changed me.

"You guys, I need to talk to Riku alone for a bit. When I call, you can come back in, okay?" They nodded and left, closing the door.

Riku looked uncomfortable.

"Riku, what happened to Sora?"

"How do you know Sora!"

"I don't know!" I almost shouted. "I don't know. I went to those islands, and I remembered all these things. And I saw Kairi, and I recognized her."

Riku sighed. "All right. Did you see her with a guy?"

"Yeah. He's a jerk. I would kill him if I ever fought him in battle."

"Yeah, I know, me too. His name's Eric. Anyway, Kairi and Sora loved each other. Their hearts were connected. I used to like Kairi, but I realized that she was meant for Sora, and now we're just friends. But then, after Sora saved me from my Ansem form, and from the darkness, the heartless were coming, and the gummi ship was only big enough for one of us. He shoved me in, and told me that if I escaped, he could too. And he also told me… to erase Kairi's memories of him. So that she could be happy. And I did it. Now she's with that jerk, my best friend is missing, and I'm stuck on that stupid island surfing!"

I caught the feelings of self-loathing in his voice.

"Riku, it's not your fault. And I feel… that it's my job to find Sora. And I think I know where he is."

"Where!"

"I'll show you. But first you have to get out of here so I can change." He nodded and left. I got out of bed, noticing that my stomach was bandaged. I smiled, and changed into what pretty much amounted to a ninja outfit. I took off my pendant that I always wore. It was my only momentum from when I was still human. It was a silver teardrop on top of a flame. The pendant was small and silver, but the teardrop was tinted blue, and the flame, red. On my right shoulder I have a tattoo of a teardrop, and on my left, a flame. Teardrop blue, flame red. Once I was done, I walked out of my room.

"Riku… he's this way," I said dreamily, walking towards the Superior's room. Riku, along with everyone else followed. It was obvious that Riku had filled them in. I opened Xemnas' door, and walked in. A barrier stopped everyone else. I turned.

"I'm going to find Sora. Wait for me." Then I turned and disappeared into the darkness.

A staircase led down and down, farther than the basement of the castle. Eventually, the staircase opened into a large, round, brightly lit room. And in the back, chained to the wall, was Sora.

I ran to him, and immediately picked the locks. Sora slumped to the floor. I caught him. He was still awake.

"Who are you?" he asked, leaning on me.

"A friend."

"You're one of the Organization, aren't you?"

His happy demeanor had disappeared. Who knows how long he'd been down here. Waiting, and waiting, and waiting for someone to rescue him, just to get the cold darkness over and over. I examined his heart. It was beginning to flicker.

"Yes Sora. I am one of the Organization. But I used to be your friend. You just forgot about me, as did Riku and Kairi."

"What's happened to them?"

"Riku erased Kairi's memory, just as you wished. She has a new boyfriend. I believe his name is Eric. He's a real jerk. I'd steal her away quick if I were you."

"How's Riku doing?"

"He… he surfs."

"He surfs?" asked Sora, incredulous.

"Yes. Sora, he's been trying to find you since you disappeared. He searched just as hard as you did for him. He's depressed, and it's obvious that he's lost a ton of weight. He misses his best friend horribly."

"I thought… I thought they'd given up," said Sora, ashamed. We were about halfway across the chamber.

"Oh Sora. Riku would never give up on you. You're his best friend."

"Yeah… yeah I am!" Sora suddenly stood up on his own, the light in his heart renewed.

"Let's get out of here, um, what's your name?"

"Sam."

"C'mon Sam, let's go!"

I was a few feet behind Sora, when somebody grabbed me from behind. I knew it was Xemnas, and I knew that he wanted payment for the loss of his new torture toy and case study. I sent an astral projection after Sora, and when they got to the others, it said, "I had to stay behind with Xemnas, or else Sora would still be down there. Be well, all of you." Then it disappeared. Both Xemnas and I heard howl of fury from Zexion.

"Silly girl," Xemnas hissed into my ear. "Thinking that you could let him go and not pay the price. How should I make you pay?"

He had let me go, and was circling me, examining me.

"What to do, what to do?" he said to himself. "Any ideas, water girl?" Then he gasped, an evil plan forming. "I know. I'll take away your water magic." He saw my horrified face. "Water magic gone it is!" I wouldn't be able to feel the tides moods… swim as fast as a dolphin… I was going to lose what had been my only companion for years.

Xemnas placed both hands on my head, and suddenly, I felt empty. It felt as though he had taken my soul. I saw some moisture on the walls, and I reached my hand, stretching for the magic that lay just out of reach. But the water didn't come to me. It didn't react at all. He had just taken my soul.

"All done. Leave now. And if you ever come back to this room without an invitation, the punishment will be much more severe."

I ran up the stairs and out of his room. Standing there were my worried friends. As I reached them, I noticed that tears were streaming down my cheeks.

"Sam! What happened!" asked Zexion, trying to hold me. I brushed past him and slammed my fist against the wall. Then I used that same wall as a support as I emptied the content of my stomach. My body couldn't handle the sudden lack of magic.

"Zexion… Zexion…" I sobbed. "It's gone. My magic… it's gone!" I fell into him, and he held me as I wept.

"Zexion… do you still love me… now that I am just a Nobody?" I asked him. His arms tightened around me.

"It's supposed to be impossible for us to feel love. But then, how would I describe this emotion I feel inside me? I would describe it… as love. I will love you forever, no

matter what happens, or what you lose."

I then straightened up, tears running silently down my cheeks. I would reclaim this magic, or find something to fill the empty void inside of me.

"Zexion."

"Yes?"

"I'm leaving. I don't believe that I will ever see you again, nor do I hope to. Goodbye. It was fun while it lasted."

I couldn't turn around. I couldn't see his devastated face, or I would come back. I had to leave. I had to find something. And this was a mission of me to do alone. I tried to make it as hard on him as possible. I tried to make him hate me. If he hates me, he won't love me, and hopefully, he'll forget about me.

I turned the corner, and walked to my room. Inside it, I locked the door, kicked off my shoes (I wasn't wearing socks) then sunk against it and began to cry. I cried for the loss of my magic. I cried for the oblivion inside of me. But mostly, I cried for the man who would never know how much I loved him, and for the fact that I had just caused him unbearable amounts of pain.

Yay, Sora's alive! Read and review!