Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters; however, the idea of this story is mine. :D It feels cool saying I own something...
------Waking Up------
"I see he's getting stronger. That's good. Very good indeed."
The blue haired man said casually, not looking up from the clipboard as he spoke to the two young men.
Riku had been trapped in the white room for, from what he could tell from the long periods of sleep he went through, about two weeks.
Every time he awoke, Sora was in the chair beside his bed, usually exhausted or sleeping.
Each day, he attempted to do something active, something normal, against the small scientist's wishes to rest and be thankful he was alive.
Today, with Sora supporting him with one hand, he had enough strength to sit up all the way.
The brunette's eyes were bright blue, and almost sparkled.
"Yeah. Do you think he'll be able to walk soon?"
Riku had been rapidly growing bigger (growing pains had never hurt so much); each day, it was a goal to gain at least a pound.
At the rate he had been going, being a healthy weight was only a few more weeks away. But he was much too impatient for that.
During the times he had been awake, Sora and the scientists hadn't told him anything about what was going on in the world, what had happened to the islands- anything.
Chuckling, the bluenette humored Sora's obvious question,
"Well, when he gets the strength to sit up on his own, then we'll talk. You must remember Sora, he was seconds from death when we found him."
Rolling his eyes, the brunette grumbled under his breath.
The small scientist had been using that excuse for days when he didn't feel like explaining something to them.
Riku smirked, ruffling Sora's hair and increasing the pout.
"I'll be up when I'm supposed to be up, and there's no changing that I suppose."
The brunette grinned.
Experiments involving mind-manipulation and video-processing had been used upon Riku, to help his ten year old mind evolve to the rightful mind-age he was supposed to be.
About now, he was in the mind-set of around fifteen, which meant he was putting forth more thought processing, and could carry out at least a semi-intelligent conversation.
The smile fell flat when the dreaded ear-piece buzzed in his ear.
"Sky."
"We need a little help with one of the local tribes." Frowning, Sora creased his eyebrows in concern.
"Which one?"
"The Vongola tribe is at it again." Rubbing the bridge of his nose, and groaning in displeasure, Sora placed a hand on silver locks.
"I have to go. I'll be back soon, alright?"
The silver haired boy nodded, a little disappointed the brunette had to leave so soon. Smiling, the brunette ruffled the silver, reversing the roles, saying softly,
"See ya."
"Sora, look!"
Riku was about seventeen now; looking much better than he had weeks before.
His hair was thinner. Brushed out and trimmed, it only extended to his shoulders. And while his skin still the fair white, he had a little color in his cheeks. His bones, were no longer visible from stretched skin.
The brunette glanced in the direction of his friend, pleasantly surprised to find the silverette standing, all by his wobbly self.
He clapped his hands, grinning like the proud parent of a bench-warmer-child who had just scored their first goal.
"Great job Riku! I'm gonna' tell Zex."
The brunette ran off, disappearing through the doorway. Riku looked around the dull room, trying not to think of how close he was to falling over.
The smaller scientist arrived, being dragged by the arm by the very excited Agent Sky. Sora pointed towards Riku,
"See? See? Look, look!"
Rolling his eyes, Zexion retorted,
"I have 20/20 vision, thank you, Sora."
The brunette drooped his head in apology, much like a puppy. Zexion scanned Riku's figure up and down, almost to the point where the silver haired teen became self-conscious. He smirked a little.
"Sora, would you like to show Riku's existence to the others? I think by now it's safe to say he's going to live long enough until training begins, yes? I'll bring out a wheel chair."
With that, the scientist vanished.
Excitement and wonder filled Riku's mind.
Finally, after being asleep for years and trapped in this room for months, he was going to see a sliver of the new world. An involuntary grin made it's way on his face.
Sora shared the notion.
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe how far you've made it." The brunette's grin died into a playful smirk. "You know...Zexion and Demyx didn't think you'd live past that first week. But I knew you would."
"Is that right Sky? As I recall, you were, at first, hoping that the 'imposter' would die...painfully, at that."
The brunette's face went up in a blush while Riku's brow raised. Flustered, he attempted to defend himself as Zexion assisted Riku into the chair.
"Yeah but...that was before...and...well after I found out he was real I didn't! I mean, I did. I mean, I believed he would!"
The silver haired teen laughed, snorting a-
"Don't bust a vessel Sor."
Agent Sky, blushing madly, looked to the floor for comfort, a pout set upon his face. Zexion rolled his eyes,
"Alright, you're good to go." The scientist stepped back, gave a final approving glance, and went through the mysterious door frame.
Silence.
Sora, the blush now gone, stood behind the wheel chair.
"Riku...I know this is kinda late, but I'm curious. Do you know how long you've been gone?"
The silverette threw a clueless, sarcastic to him.
"No Sora, I've just been buried for quite a time, of course I've kept a calender."
Sora (ignoring Riku's sarcasm) fidgeted, disturbed by something he wasn't going to tell Riku.
"I...wenyun..."
"What? Speak up."
"I...I'm almost twenty one, Riku. You've been gone for...eleven years, almost twelve."
Riku nodded. He had been expecting something like that.
"I'm telling you this just in case no one remembers you, okay?" Sora took his time in carefully choosing which words to use next, as to not offend his friend. "So don't...don't feel bad if no one recognizes you- or, or knows you, alright?"
Riku was impatient now. He wanted to meet people, he wanted to see what this immense castle had to offer. He wanted to live for a few seconds, dammit!
The silverette nodded.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's just hurry up! I'm dyin' here!" He snapped, pausing for a moment to realize what he said, "Er, figuratively speaking, that is."
Nibbling his lip for a second, Sora shook his head and smiled.
"Alright, alright. Mr. grumpy-pants. Yeesh, you're so impatient. Just like when we were kids."