Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts I'd probably rape Riku. But I don't, so he is safe. For now….muhahahahahah.

Author's Note: Yeah, yeah, you all know how it goes. Nite is fucking lazy and fucking busy and she doesn't have time to write. Sorry about the delay again, guys.

This next chapter starts after the final battle with Xemnas. I didn't feel like writing that huge, long fight, and you guys know what happens anyway. And if you don't, I'll give you a little hint. They win.

Chapter 17

Homecoming

Here they come marching down the street,

Like the desperation murmur of a heartbeat.

Coming back from the edge of town

In the summer heat...

"Homecoming"

-Green Day

"Hey…" Sora's face creased in confusion. "This is the ocean…"

Riku squinted. He was right. Somehow, the portal between that goddamn funhouse of a battleground had sent them to a beach. The familiar smell of salt and spray filled his senses, but he was sure this wasn't Destiny Island. It looked nothing like it. It was too dark. The sand was a sickly grey, the water almost black. The sky was overcast. A cloudbank over the water tumbled ominously in the stiff breeze.

"We're still in the Darkness," he muttered. He started to get up, but pain shot through his chest, forcing him back down.

"Here," Sora said, throwing his friend's arm around his shoulder and hoisting him to his feet. He grabbed Riku by the back of the belt, making for the tide line. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Riku grit his teeth. "I'm fine," he gasped. "That bastard really did a number on me, though."

"Yeah, but we kicked his ass!" Sora proclaimed happily.

Riku smiled fondly. "Well, aren't you vulgar?"

"Riku…" Sora rolled his eyes. "We just saved the universe. I think I have the right to a little vulgarity.

Riku laughed. "You're right. You probably—argh!" He stumbled, pain lancing up his side. Sora made a grab for him, but the silver-haired boy collapsed to the sand, pulling him down on top. The two heroes rolled the rest of the way in a tumble, coming to rest just before the tide line.

"Shit," Riku coughed.

"Totally," Sora agreed, smiling in spite of the situation. "Do you want me to heal you, Rikkkuuu?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "No, Sora. That's alright. I can heal myself, thank you very much."

"Why dontcha then?"

"I'm gathering my strength."

"Whatever." Sora turned his gaze out to sea, the grin dropping off his face. "Do you ever think we're gonna get out of here? I mean, I don't think I know how to open one of those swirly black things."

Riku shrugged. "I don't know, Sora."

Sora looked back at him. "At least we're together, right?"

"Yeah…"

Riku fought back the tears that were threatening to spring to his eyes. Sora had turned back to the sea, expression thoughtful.

He looks so much older…Riku thought. He's grown so much since the last time we fought together…

"Your hair's a lot lighter," he commented.

Sora gave a grunt of exasperation, though he was grinning all the same. "Everybody's obsessed with the hair. You all just want me for my body."

Riku snorted. "Yeah. That's it."

Sora shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but I think it has something to do with Roxas. I think all of this has something to do with Roxas." He waved his arms in an all-encompassing gesture. "It doesn't seem fair, you know? That I get to live and he doesn't even exist anymore."

Riku was shaking his head. "No, Sora. He's right here."

He pressed a sweaty palm to his friend's chest, feeling the resilient pulse. He chuckled.

"What's funny?"

"I was just thinking…Something so fragile…is so strong."

Sora blushed. "I-I'm not that strong. If it hadn't been for Donald or Goofy or Leon or—."

"No, Sora," Riku said again. "If it hadn't been for you." He ruffled the boy's spiky hair, making him laugh and swat his hand away. "We would all be dead if it wasn't for you."

"Come on, Riku. Don't get all sappy on me now…"

Riku chuckled again, but the laugh quickly turned to a hacking cough, rattling his whole body. When he drew his hand away from his mouth it was dotted by speckles of blood.

"Screw this." Sora pushed Riku onto his back, pinning his arms down.

"What the hell?"

"I'm healing you. 'Gathering my strength' my ass." He put his hands on Riku's stomach, splaying his fingers over the fractured ribs. He closed his eyes. The magic came easily now, like a second nature. As simple as breathing. A faint green glow traveled down his arms, seeping into Riku. The boy clenched his teeth against the pain as bones mended and muscles knit back together. He was very pale and his hair was a complete mess, but Sora still couldn't help but be struck by how beautiful he was.

I'm such a girl, he thought wryly.

Riku took a deep shuddering breath. The pain had lessened somewhat, and he gave Sora's hand a squeeze of thanks.

"I missed your eyes," he muttered, then instantly colored when he realized what he'd said. He tried to cover it up with a laugh, sitting up and brushing his hair out of his sweaty face. "Wow, that came out funny."

"Yeah," Sora agreed lightly, embarrassed. He'd always been kind of self-conscious of his eyes. They were too blue. Like, fake blue.

"Riku?"

The silver haired boy was looking down at his hands. It seemed like he was trying to work himself up to something. He glanced up.

"Yes, Sora?"

"Are you alright?"

Riku took a deep breath. "Sora, I gotta talk to you about something."

Reno rolled over onto his stomach. "So, what now, yo?"

Axel glanced at him through eyes slitted against the sunlight. "Not quite sure." The sun hadn't moved an inch; it was still high noon. Axel imagined they could be here for a goddamn week and it would never look any different.

"Do ya think we're…you know…dead?"

Axel shrugged. "Does it really matter?"

Reno gave him a 'you're fucking crazy, yo' look. "Hell yeah, it matters. We're fucking dead, man! Doesn't that upset you just a little."

"I don't get upset." Axel frowned slightly. "I don't get anything." He lay back down on the sand, feeling it burn against his unprotected back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Reno demanded.

Axel didn't look at him. "It means that I can't feel."

"So you can't feel this?"

Axel felt a light hand on his stomach. He looked up, recognizing his own smirk on Reno's face.

"No, I can feel it, I just…you know what I mean."

Reno smiled without any real conviction. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Axel sat up once again, feeling restless. He drew his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on his knees. He sighed, long and drawn out. "I can't love, and I can't hate. I don't feel pity or envy." He gave a little laugh. "Or at least that's what he told me." He didn't explain this cryptic comment any further.

"But there was someone, right?" Reno prodded. "You—we—loved…someone."

"We did." Axel's eyes were glued to the yellow sand. "But he's gone." He glanced up to see how Reno would react to the 'him'.

The man shrugged. "Hey, sex is sex. Doesn't really matter to me where you stick it in." Axel chuckled at the crudeness, but quickly sobered as Reno asked, "What happened to him?"

"He's gone."

"Sorry, yo, I didn't mean'ta—."

"Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal." And then, quieter, almost to himself, "I'll get over it."

"I hate boys, Pluto. They're stupid and they should all be shot."

The big yellow dog wagged his tail happily, seemingly unconcerned that Kairi was bashing his gender. They were both seated on the beach on Destiny Island. It was getting on toward sunset, and Kairi was still waiting for Sora and Riku.

She'd gone through the portal home first, expecting the boys to emerge after her. When they didn't she'd had to face the facts. The little sons of bitches had gone to finish the bad guys off without her.

Is that really so surprising? They're just concerned about you that's all.

Kairi groaned, messaging her temples. "Shut the hell up, Namine."

Light laughter echoed through her mind. It reminded her of church bells, not the funeral kind. The good kind.

Don't be rude, Kai. I know where you live. The laughter sounded again. Besides, it's your fault that you can hear me.

"What the hell do you mean?" Kairi demanded, almost whining. She and Sora had excepted their blonde counterparts back in, thus securing their souls and making themselves whole again. It had been weird—to say the very least.

But now she was hearing perpetual voices in her head. That wasn't just weird. After all the bullshit she'd gone through in the past week and a half, it was downright criminal.

What I mean, Namine continued, sounding light-hearted and happy despite Kairi's annoyance, Is that you can only hear me when you're at a vulnerable state emotionally. When you need to get in touch to your…sensitive side?

"Namine, I'm a girly girl. I have nothing but a sensitive side."

A girly girl, huh?

"You better fucking believe it."

Whatever. Anyway, you're going to continue to be conscious of me until you rid yourself of what has been weighing on your mind since you found your boys.

"What do you mean? Nothing's weighing on my mind!" She didn't even manage to fool herself, let alone her other self.

There's something you need to talk about with Sora, isn't there?

"Yeah…" Kairi said. She sifted her fingers through the sand. The sun had left this side of the island, sinking into the horizon in a blaze of red and gold. She'd found herself on her home world after she'd stepped through King Mickey's portal, but she had no inclination to go find her parents or Selphie or Tidus or anyone else. She felt separate—as if her time away had made her different. So different she could never go back.

And Namine was right. There was something she needed to talk to Sora about, but the conversation wouldn't go the way she had previously imagined. Only a few short hours ago, she had been prepared to admit her undying love for the keyblade wielder. But things had changed.

Sora changed. I changed. Riku changed. Why did everything have to fucking change?

"That's just life," she said aloud, to know one in particular. To Pluto, perhaps, who had showed up shortly after her return to Destiny Island. She hadn't asked, and he hadn't provided any explanation.

She was just about to say 'fuck it' and head home (she was getting kind of hungry) when something caught her eye out at sea. A brilliant flash and a rush of wind. She squinted. There was something out there, bobbing in the waves. Two somethings. She watched them come closer and closer, a million conflicting emotions boiling inside her. She managed to force on what she hoped was an ecstatic look of glee, as Sora ran from the surf, dripping wet, and launched himself at her.

"Kairi!" he squealed. She wrapped her arms around him and held him close, and when Riku jogged up from the tide line and joined in the group hug, she found herself unable to stop the tears. She had her boys back. Her best friends. Everything she'd hoped for.

Which made what she was about to do that much harder.

Yeah. The next chapter is going to be the last one, and then there'll be an epilogue. If you liked it, review it!