A.N Ohmygawd, guys, I'm soooo sorry about being such a slacker. School's cracked down hard on my poor, delicate little head (ya, right), and it's been really hard for me to keep up with everything all at once. I want to give an incredibly special thanks to my 100th poster, Sanluris!!! This chapter is completely dedicated to them, and I love them for all they're worth! That was my goal, you see. I know, I know, pathetic, but hey, it's a big step for me. My writing's not been doing so good, so I need to start up again…so here we go. Thanks again for everything you've ever done to help me along so far.

Milestone: Reached! Yay!

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Riku braced himself on the tiled counter and spat into the sink. The white porcelain was dotted with crimson, and he closed his eyes, shutting out the sight. Breath came, but it was shuddery and weak as he sighed. Damn, it hurt. It hurt a lot.

Carefully, he plucked at his now-bloody shirt, trying to remove it in a way that wouldn't aggravate his wound further, hissing in pain as it failed. Still, he managed to get it off with some maneuvering, dropping it onto the floor carelessly, irritated by himself.

The bandages winding around his stomach were red, and he sighed once again, beginning to unwind them. They fell away from his body, almost floating to the floor and curling up there gently, like some giant white snakeskin falling from some height, withered and yet still elegant.

As for the wound itself…it wasn't pretty. Definitely healing, faster than he'd imagined, even, though it was now defiantly red to deny any such claims of getting better. Now that it had been torn open again, it would probably take another day or so to heal. Maybe even longer. And of course, it still hurt, obviously. It was hard to forget that. The pain he felt now was almost as strong as when Sephiroth had first plunged the blade into him. Wincing at the memory, Riku forced it out of his head as quick as he could manage.

'Damn,' he thought to himself, taking an extra second to examine it before rummaging through a cabinet for clean bandages. When his search proved fruitless, he repeated it out loud. "Dammit!"

A tentative knock came, echoing the obvious feelings of the deliverer, and Sora peeked around the doorway, almost unsure of himself. "Um, hey…" he said gently. "Do…you want any help with that?" He was worried, but he tried to hide it as best he could, knowing as he did how much Riku hated worrying others, though it was a common occurrence, these days.

The silverhair hesitated, but nodded slowly, knowing that Sora was anxious and worried about him despite his best efforts to hide it. Riku never wanted to say it to him directly, afraid as he was of the reaction he'd get, but he'd learned to read Sora like a book a long time ago. So the older teen was content with letting Sora believe that he could hide his true emotions from his best friend, and Riku smiled to himself as Sora smiled, pushing the door open the entire way, going to the cabinet and pulling out the gauze in a matter of seconds. Behind the brunette's back, Riku shook his head.

'Amazing,' he thought to himself. 'This kid knows my house better than I do.'

His thoughts were interrupted as Sora turned and got a good look at the wound, making him suck in his breath as he took in the sight of it.

"Jeez, Riku…" he said quietly. "Doesn't that hurt?" His blue eyes, upturned to gaze into Riku's cerulean stare, were full of concern and…was that sorrow?

"Well…I…yeah. Yeah, it does," Riku admitted, deciding not to lie, since Sora would see right through it anyways. Even so, he added hastily, "It's definitely getting better though," as a defiant excuse, of sorts.

Sora sighed with relief. "That's good," he said with a smile.

"It should be completely healed over by the next full moon," the silverhair added lightly, an innocent look stealing over his features, and just like that, the smile was gone.

"You're not still going are you?"

Riku blinked. "What, out with Roxas and Axel? Of course I am."

"But…last time, you almost died—"

Riku interrupted his friend, cutting off the words that he knew would follow. "Look, I know. And believe me, coming that close to dying isn't a pleasant experience, and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone. But the Organization is back, they've brought their buddies, and they want to kill everyone here." He reached out, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind Sora's ear, a tender gesture that left the brunette breathless. "I would die before letting them do that to you," Riku finished quietly, smiling, and Sora reached up, holding Riku's hand still.

"But…you keep getting hurt…I-I hate seeing you like this, always in pain, all the time!" He leaned against Riku, his head pressing firmly into the silverhair's bare chest, smelling the blood on him and not caring in the least. "It hurts me to see you like this…"

The silverhair's arms encircled his friend, strong and comforting, feeling the younger boy's body shaking with uncontrollable emotions.

"I'm sorry," he murmured into the brown spikes. "I'm so sorry…I'm the one who keeps hurting you…"

"N-no!" Sora protested, pushing himself away. "That's not—"

"Liar," Riku murmured, in a voice that was close to a whisper, but it caused Sora's words to stop as abruptly as if he'd been struck. "Of course I'm the one who keeps hurting you, and both of us know it. I started this whole thing."

"Wh…what do you mean?"

Riku smiled grimly. "They…Sephiroth and the others, the Organization…they want to be rid of the 'dogs' so that the blood runs pure…or something like that. At least, that's what they say."

"Which is just another reason you shouldn't go!" Sora cried, leaping at the opportunity. "If they all gang up on you, there's no way you would survive!"

"Which is why we're all going together," Riku insisted gently. "It's not like I'm going to be alone. At the very least, Axel and Roxas will be there."

Sora opened his mouth, an argument already in his mind and at the tip of his tongue, but before he could get it out, before it could actually be spoken, it was cut off by a loud scream that made their blood run cold.

"Oh, god, that's Kairi!"

They both took off, expecting the worst as they pounded down the stairs as fast as they could. Both were preparing themselves for a showdown with Sephiroth, or at least Kadaj or Saix. They skidded into the room, Way to the Dawn and the Ultima Weapon drawn, but the result was rather anticlimactic. Kairi was backed up against the wall, her eyes wide. Radiant Garden was up, but she didn't look like she was very inclined to use it, because it was shaking as she pointed it at the slender figure in the doorway, a guilty expression on his face, looking especially menacing with a white bandage wrapped clumsily around his head.

"Oops," Axel said, trying not to laugh but unable to hide his cocky grin as he looked at her. "Didn't think that she would be here. My bad."

Sora bit his lip, hard, to keep from bursting out with laughter, but instead grabbing Kairi's arm and pushing her out of the room. "Kairi…run!" he said, barely unable to control his mirth. Sora was trying to make it sound as though the Flurry of Dancing Flames really had returned from the dead and was trying to kill them. "Go!" he said, twitching furiously. "Go, we'll hold him off!"

Riku had a hand clamped over his mouth, obviously grinning as well, but Kairi didn't notice as she turned tail and ran for it, looking back over her shoulder once before disappearing out the back door.

Riku smirked at the lanky redhead, who dissolved into laughter. "You're going to get it now, you bastard," he said, laughing just as hard, which hurt, but he didn't care.

Axel clasped his hands to his chest, swooning dramatically. "Oh, dear me! What shall I do?" he crooned in a high falsetto. "It's the brave Keybladers, come to finish me off, whatever shall I do? Woe is me!" He threw his hand to his forehead, falling gracefully onto the couch, and all three, by this point, were laughing hysterically. Roxas poked his head in the doorway. "Oi," he said, disgruntled. "Is she gone yet, or are you just doing Shakespeare to scare her off?"

"Yeah, she's gone," Sora chuckled. "Packed it out of here like a bat outta hell."

Roxas shuffled in, avoiding Riku's eyes, afraid of what he'd see. Riku did the same, avoiding his gaze, but he noticed the pointed aversion of the Nobody, and he flinched slightly. Axel shook his head at the blonde disapprovingly, but Roxas ignored him.

"So…" Axel said after the laughter had died away. "I guess we're here because you," he pointed at Riku, "tried to kill Roxas this morning. Shame on you."

"What?" Sora and Riku spluttered at the same time, and Roxas said, "Axel!" like a housewife chiding a father for teasing his children. Axel giggled. "Yep. You snuck in and tried to smother him with a pillow. Kinky, huh?"

"Th-that's impossible!" Sora said, looking at Riku in shock. "He hasn't left the house since we got back last night, I should know, especially this morning, we were too busy taking care of Kairi, and trying to get rid of her!"

Axel held up a hand to stall any further arguments, saying, "Relax, relax, Sora, it just looked like him, which I guess was the point."

Sora kicked his shin, glaring murderously. "Give us a freakin' heart attack, why don't you? Jerk!"

"Well…okay, I mean, I can, but I'm warning you, I've never done CPR before. No need, you see."

"Oh, shut up!"

Roxas chuckled. "Oh, break it up, you two," he chided, then proceeded to tell them the entire story, from the time that he'd woken up to the time that the other had gone, and he'd taken care of Axel then hightailed it to their house. The two who hadn't been there listened with rapt attention while the redhead lounged on the couch, a half-smile playing over his features.

"Well…" Riku said, after Roxas was done and the awkward silence had dragged out for a while. "That sure as hell wasn't me."

"So that's what that was for," Sora said, pointing at the bandage. "I don't know why Kairi was so scared of you, it makes you look about as deadly as a gerbil."

Axel rubbed it ruefully, his embarrassed grin returning. "Well, yeah…I guess I wasn't really expecting them to sneak up on me while I was sleeping. I mean, that's pretty low, and anyone who'd do that's a total pussy." He looked at the others. "No offense, if you've done that before."

"I thought Zexion had more pride than that," Riku mused, partly to himself.

Sora shrugged at the silverhair's comment. "I guess, by this point, they're willing to sink to any level.

They all had a short 'hmm…' moment, which lasted for a couple moments while they all contemplated just what this meant for all of them. Axel finally broke the silence by shrugging and sighing loudly, "Well, we'll just have to be a lot more careful now."

"And we'll have to tell Cloud and the others what happened," Sora added.

Riku shuddered. "Eurgh. You can do that. I still think that Cloud's got a grudge against me. Now, that may be my mind playing tricks on me, but…"

"Oh, be nice," Sora reprimanded.

"He tried to kill me!"

"But he's saved your life, so you're even."

"Hey," Riku said with a wry grin. "I've saved his ass, too."

"Oh, really now?"

"Yep. If it wasn't for me, he'd be fanged and furry, now."

"Oh, knock it off," Axel laughed. "You sound like little kids."

"Mo-om!" Riku whined, tugging at Axel's hand. "Sora's being mean!"

Sora and Axel cracked up again at the silverhair's petulant whining, but Roxas could only manage a weak smile, though he didn't know why. Somehow, he didn't feel like laughing. In truth, it felt like he'd never laugh again.

"Anyways," Sora chuckled, "You don't have to worry, Riku, we'll just let Roxas over there tell the grumpy non-fanged and furry Cloud himself. After all, this shit did happen to him."

"Fine, fine," Roxas grumbled, pulling Axel to his feet. "We should head over there now, in fact. I just want to get this over with, if it really must be you." He started to walk towards the door, but Axel hesitated, then gently pulled himself out of the blonde's grip, resisting the other's pulling.

"You know…I'm gonna hang here for a while," Axel said carefully. "I mean, you can do this, right?"

"U-uh…" Roxas said, looking between the redhead and the door. "B-but…you're going to have me talk to Cloud by myself?"

Axel chuckled. "Yep. It'll be great practice, I promise. If you can face Cloud by yourself, you can be ready for anything, from an assassination attempt to facing Sephiroth. Go on, I'll catch up with you later, all right?"

"U-um…all right…" Roxas said, reluctantly drawing out of the room. As the door closed behind him, the pyro sighed heavily, sitting back down on the chair again. He looked odd, not dressed in an Organization cloak, instead using some of Riku's clothes.

"Poor kid," he said quietly. "He really thought I was dead, and now it's hard on everyone." He looked at Riku. "I really am sorry, you know."

Riku laughed. It was easier, now, with Roxas gone. "For what? Being alive? If you are apologizing for that, you're as much of an idiot as I thought you were."

Axel laughed, too, though it sounded a bit more forced than the silverhair's. "I did want to talk to you, though. Both of you."

Riku and Sora looked at each other, unsure of what to say, wondering what all that could be about. Without a word, Riku sat in the chair that Sora had slept in, while the brunette sat next to Axel on the couch. "So…" Sora said, fidgeting slightly. "What is it?"

Axel's finger jabbed straight at Riku, who jumped slightly. "You."

"Um…what about me?"

Axel dropped his hand, hesitating for a second before saying slowly, "I…well, I just wanted to tell you that…"

"Yeah?" Riku asked, even though his heart was telling him that he really didn't want to know.

"Roxas is saying that he…doesn't want you coming with us…to search…during the next full moon…he…" the pyro's words trailed off.

Something died inside the silverhair as the words left the redhead's mouth, and the silence that followed served only to fill that emptiness with a stabbing pain that overshadowed the wound he'd received from Sephiroth completely. This was a hurt that couldn't be fixed quicker with different blood, and he knew it. Riku stayed silent, not knowing what to say, but Sora was already there to fill in the silence, coming to his rescue as he had so many times before.

"Why the hell not?" the brunette cried out, indignant.

"I'm…not really sure, but…he thinks that Riku would do better with you guys, Sora," the redhead mumbled, not looking at either of them. "I…think he might be worried about your wound, but…I think…I just got the feeling that something wasn't right. It was…weird, y'know? Usually, I can tell how he's feeling or what he's thinking, but…this time, it was like he didn't know how to feel or what to think himself. Even he didn't know what he was saying. I've never seen him so confused over anything…I just…thought you should know. I'm sorry."

"It's…all right," Riku said hollowly, staring straight ahead with eyes that were obviously nowhere near the room where the three of them were sitting. "It's…better to hear it from you than him."

"He was going to tell you the day we were going to head out, but I thought that it would be easier if you heard it beforehand…you know, so you're not surprised when he…tells you. He doesn't know why I'm staying here right now, so he'll be telling you when…you know."

Riku smiled, and it was painful, for him and those watching him carefully. "I understand, and you're right, it's better to hear it ahead of time, than…well, thank you, Axel."

"You honestly can't mean that," the redhead said desperately. "I just told you that he's trying to get rid of you, and you thank me? Shouldn't you be, y'know…mad?"

"I guess, in a weird way, I am," Riku said, his eyes returning to the present to stare into Axel's emerald gaze. "But not at you, or at Roxas. I'm more angry at myself than anything."

"Why the hell—"

"Because even after this, I can't stop loving him. And I hate it, and I know I should be pissed…but I can't do it."

Axel sighed, shaking his head. "You're…doing the same thing that I did. I presumed that he'd gone to Sora permanently, and I tried to get over him. I tried to find a distraction…and the one that I found came in the form of a quirky, hyperactive, and overall painfully cheerful blonde ditz with an affection for water and being spontaneously random."

"Demyx."

"Yep. But I think that…Roxas did much better at forgetting me than I did him. He found…someone who truly loves him. I don't think Demyx and I really connected…not like you two."

"That's not true!" Riku protested, startling both of them with his vehemence, and the force that he put behind his words. "No matter what he did or the number of people he'd go through, he could never forget you, believe me. The reason…anything ever connected between us was because I reminded him of you, and he told me that on a number of occasions. I guess I shouldn't have been led on by that, because…being with someone because they think you're like the one they really want to be with…it's not…a true bond. It's weak, easily broken." He smiled at the pyro, the reassurance coming through in everything from his expression to his words. "Don't worry. He won't ever forget. He couldn't if he tried." Shaking his head, he stood.

"Shit, I need coffee," he grumbled. "I can't preach or whatever if I'm half-asleep. I don't even remember what I said just now, that's how tired I am. You guys want anything?"

They both answered, Sora declining and Axel accepting. The pyro waited until he could hear Riku in the kitchen, still muttering to himself, before leaning back to stare at the ceiling, saying quietly, "Amazing."

"What's amazing?" Sora asked curiously, and the pryo continued.

"He just…doesn't give up, does he."

"Riku? Well, no, not often, but what do you mean?"

"Look at him—he's torn apart by what Roxas is doing to him, and Roxas is being a total dickwad if I may say so myself…but he's still trying to save our relationship. I mean, he could've taken that opportunity to place some doubt, or something, but he just focuses on reassuring me that Roxas will love me forever, without a spare thought to the pain that it brings him to see the two of us together. I mean, he's good at hiding it, I'll give him that, but if you're paying attention, it's pretty noticeable—if you know what to look for, of course."

Sora smiled sadly. "Yeah, I know what you're talking about. We've been friends forever, I can read him pretty easily by now. He flinched when something hurts him, though his expression will never change. I've always wanted to be able to do that. And if he does show anything, it's—

"—only for a second," the two said together, and Axel nodded. "I''ve noticed. But it doesn't seem like he cares for his own feelings…he's more concerned with Roxas' happiness than his own. I don't know if that's very healthy."

Sora agreed with a murmur that was more of an assenting hum than words, then said sadly, "Well, I think I can say one thing for certain."

"What's that?"

"It's going to be a very long time before he forgets anyone."

They fell silent, lost in their own thoughts, one thinking about what he could do, if there was anything that he could do, the other wishing things that would never come true.

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A.N. YAY! Chapter done! I rewrote the entire thing, because I'd had an earlier draft that made absolutely no sense, even to me. But it went kind of along the same lines as the chapter above, so there we go! And this one's longer! So here we have Chapter…oh, god, I've lost track. But I am going to break it off somewhere to become the third and final book. God knows what I'll call it. God knows when I'm going to get around to it. In short, God knows a lot more than I do, and I'm very jealous about that little fact. I don't think Jesus ever got a D on a math test, but I sure did, oh yes. Anyways, I will be seeing you all later, honeys! O how I love you all so much! I thank every single one of you for absolutely everything you've ever done! I love you! I LOVE YOU!

P.S. First, let's say, three posters get their names and my dedication in my next chapter! Because I feel like being an idiot!