Child No Longer

Tidbits of the dream are mentioned here, and will be explained in finer detail in the next chapter during a happy little scene with Roxas. So don't worry about it if you don't completely understand it all now, next chapter things that are left hanging will be fully fleshed out.

Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, Riku and Sora would never have gone back to the Islands.

Chapter Four: The Truth of the Light and Dark

Standing on the edge of the balcony he'd been dragged out onto, slim hands gripped the railing so tightly that his knuckles were white from the strain exerted. His mind worked furiously as his eyes stared forward uncomprehendingly at the view afforded to him. "Dammit!" Tearing his gaze away from the view he kept his grip tight on the railing as he squatted down and leaned his forehead against the cool stone.

Everything that he'd done to seal away the other worlds from the darkness and after all of that, this world had been there with no one 'alive' who could even help them. Pulling himself back up he let go of the railing to lean his weight on it instead as bright gemlike orbs clouded over with emotion. Unbidden the dream that had disturbed his recuperative sleep flashed through his mind again in vivid detail. Straightening his posture the fingers of one hand began tapping on the railing as he rested his cheek on the palm of his other hand.

"All Light is not pure, just as not all that is pure is Light. Everything contained within the worlds must have a balance."

His mouth set grimly he pondered on the meaning hidden behind those words, as the dream had seemed too realistic for it to be some figment of his subconscious. The pure thing he could grasp with no problem, what had been giving him a migraine was the balance part. You'd think these people were trying to sell painkillers instead of giving him a warning. Balance, balance, balance, balance.

Balance!

Hitting himself in the head with his open hand, he groaned in exasperation as his mind finally caught up with what the hell that person had been trying to tell him. Everything had something that could counter it, it had too otherwise you would have a lot of all-powerful things running amok. Biting his lip his eyes widened at the next thought that popped into his head. The keyblade was something that could be used to either save or destroy, it did whatever it's wielder wanted it to.

So…

Did that mean since he used it for saving things that there was something out there that balanced out the keyblade being used for saving? A shiver ran through his body as the last thought played out. Was that-was that what the dream was all about? To warn him that there was someone or something out there that was the exact opposite of everything that made him the Keybearer?

Opening his closed eyes (even though he didn't remember closing them) he looked out over the landscape in front of him sadly. If he were honest with himself, the view was eerily similar to the place in his dream. The land was layered with a coating of fresh snow, while a freezing wind whistled through the hilly area mixing with the light flurries that were floating down from the almost completely overcast sky. With the faint illumination from the full moon peeking through the clouds, it looked like something you would see only in a fairytale. Everything, down to the way that the moonlight danced off of the snow in a glittering array of colors, to the way that it all seemed to be completely untouched…or untainted.

Withdrawing into himself again, he jumped in fright and spun around when he felt someone place their hand on his shoulder. At the pointed look Riku was giving his hands, he glanced down only to look back up and grin sheepishly as he dismissed the keyblade he'd called out.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Leaning back against the railing with his elbows resting on the edge, he avoided Riku's eyes as he tried to line his thoughts into something resembling order. Blowing a spiky piece of hair that had somehow fallen into his eyes, he hesitated briefly. "How did things end up so bad out here?"

A light sigh leaving his lips, Riku moved his back until he was resting against the wall comfortably with his arms crossed in front of him. "The guy I talked to said that things started not long after the keyblades turned up. After that, everyone started fighting for them."

"The Keyblade Wars." Tilting his face up to the pink-tinged (1) night sky, he closed his eyes briefly enjoying the cool night air that was gently caressing his face. "It's sorta unbelievable that all this time people were fighting over the keyblades that held our souls." Shrugging his shoulders, Riku's silver hair blew in his face as his worried gaze fixed on the normally optimistic brunette.

"I-I feel like we messed up. Like it's our fault that this all happened." Sora whispered in a voice choked with emotion. "May-maybe things would have been different if we'd just stayed, because then there wouldn't have been anything to fight over." Pushing himself off of the wall, Riku crossed the distance between him and Sora and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "It wouldn't have changed anything, Sora. People fight all the time, we were just an excuse."

A brief look of pain crossing his youthful face, a small sob forced its way from within the tight lid he was struggling to keep on his emotions. Feeling the feather light touches of the falling snow, he let the tears slowly begin to drip from his pained sapphire eyes. "It isn't right." Sora whispered vehemently. "Life isn't supposed to be all about pain and suffering." As Sora's face buried itself in his shoulder, Riku's voice spoke soothingly to the distraught boy. "Thinking like that is why you're the Keyblade Master and I'm not."

Pulling back slightly, he gently lifted Sora's face so that he could look into the teary blue eyes as he spoke. "Sor, you have the power to change things. Forget about what happened in the past because you can't change that...no one can. What you have to concentrate on is the things in the here and now that you can change." Tugging him into a tight embrace again, he rested his chin in the downy cinnamon hair as he continued on. "The keyblade recognized you as its true master because it's a weapon of light, and you are the light of so many people, Sor. No matter what happens you always seem to find the time to smile for someone, even if you're hurting inside."

"So you're saying that the keyblade chose me because I can smile?"

"Not exactly." Watching as the tiny snowflakes began to dot the spiky brown hair of his best friend, he smiled softly. "The King told me once that even in the brightest of light there will always be a shadow. But as long as that single light shines, the shadow will forever remain a shadow, forbidden from ever becoming true darkness."

Through the hands he held on the other boy's back he could feel the fine shudders coursing through to his hands. Concerned he swiftly stepped back to check if he'd made things worse with his words. Pulling his friend's resisting head up to meet his eyes he was startled to find that the other had begun to laugh. "You-You're laughing?" Riku asked incredulously.

Fighting against the giggles that seemed to hold no end, Sora tried to contain himself. "You just…You sounded so stuffy just now." Rolling his eyes before raising them to look upwards as though to question the Gods about the sanity of his friend (Or lack thereof) he shook his head in disbelief.

A slightly malicious glint entered turquoise eyes even as his hands began to rise. Catching the movement from the corner of his eyes Sora tried to escape, but was tackled by the heavier boy after only a few steps. Pinned to the freezing floor, laughter spilled from his lips as his ticklish spots were attacked mercilessly. Flailing around he heard a small 'oof' as his foot made contact with something squishy and the heavy weight pinning him down rolled off of him.

Exhausted both boys lay sprawled on the icy floor of the balcony connected to the room Sora had awoken in. Still giggling slightly, Sora lifted his arms and tucked them underneath his head to protect it from the hard stone. "Can you believe that it's really been 179 years since the last time we were able to do stuff like this?" His sapphire orbs alight with a childish sort of glee; Sora turned his face to look over expectantly at Riku who was already peeling himself off of the floor.

Shaking his head to move the silver strands of hair that had been blown into his eyes, Riku held out his hand to the younger boy. "It seems like it should be impossible but then again a lot of the things we've done were supposed to be impossible." Heaving Sora to his feet he gave him a gentle push towards the room. "You should get back inside. You don't want that doctor to find out you've been outside, trust me."

Watching as the slender brunette entered the sliding door that separated the warm room from the balcony, his ever-present smirk slowly slid off his face. "Sora, when are you going to remember that you don't have to do things alone anymore?" Leaving his words behind him to float along in the crisp night air, Riku stepped onto the carpeted floor and carefully closed the glass door behind him.

TBC…

HA! This was originally going to be much longer, but in the end I cut out quite a bit of it because it was too soon to bring it up. BTW has anyone else been having problems loading their stories?

Moonlight's Childe

(1) I don't know about you guys, but in my area the sky turns this really pretty pinkish color when it's ready to snow.