If we were Together: A year has passed since their separation, and Riku and Sora have grown both in size and in mentality. Sora slept in her chamber regaining her memories while Riku watched over her clouded in the gray spaces between light and darkness.
Author's Note: So we've got about three chapters left in this story… maybe four depending how long the ending comes out. Once this one is finished, as Axel and Roxas have already helped me reveal I'm planning on releasing the Chain of Memories chapter, and then I'll be releasing "If it Never Happened." Now I know it wasn't supposed to come out until all the other stories (except KH 3) were finished, but because I need a refresher on Birth By Sleep and 358/2 Days I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone instead of making you wait for a new installment. Playing the games themselves shouldn't take me too long, a couple of weeks at most, it's getting the ground work set up.
Dream Drop Distance will be the last insallment before the KH3
Chapter 20: The Wisest Gift
Luxord let out a shot of surprise as his tricks failed and he quickly brought up his cards trying to shield himself from Sora's attack. However it did nothing stop, for she slice right through it, and him, and he vanished in a cloud of smoke… "How could you.. Roxas?"
"That's Sora!" She watched him vanish and firmly gripped her blade in hand looking around and smiling when she saw her friends get released from the card trap. "You're all okay!"
"yeah, nicely done, Sora." Goofy complimented. "You showed that big bully who was boss."
"You bet," She shouldered the keyblade and gave a smile. "Though I'm getting a little fed up by all these members calling me Roxas. I've had it up to here with it." She motioned her hand up to her neck.
"Did you ever think that maybe there's a reason they're calling you Roxas?" Riku suggested and poked her in the forehead.
"Ow… hey… i don't care what reason they have, my name is Sora, not Roxas." She pouted at Riku and walked beside him back towards the door.
"Guess you still haven't figured it out yet." Riku murmured.
"Figured what out yet?" Sora asked, and got a little laugh. "It's not funny Riku, come on what aren't you telling me!"
"We'll talk about it later, right now we got other things to worry about. You insisted on staying and fighting, so let's just get it done okay?"
"Fine…" she waited til he was a lil bit ahead of her before sticking out her tongue at him. "Hmph...you haven't changed as much as you think."
They stepped into the room called the Proof of Existence… and Sora took another look at all the markers lined on the floor. There were a total of 13 including the large door which had yet to be available to them. written along each door whether it was open or red lined had words written along the floor. "Freeshooter, Whirlwind Lancer, Chilly Academic, Silent Hero, Cloaked schemer…" She stopped on the one they hadn't entered yet. "Luna Divider."
"There's only two member left." Riku explained. "One being Xemnas, the superior, and the other being Saix. If we step through that portal we'll no doubt be facing against him."
"Then let's get it over with." She rolled her shoulders and rubebd her arm witha grunt.
"You alright, Sora? You've been fighting almost nonstop. You should take a breather while you can."
"I'm fine," She gave him a smile and a thumbs up. "Never better. I just want to get this over with so we can all go home to the islands."
Riku opened his mouth to speak again.. but then decided against it. He nodded his head and they all turned toward the Luna Divider, and stepped through the warp. The group strolled down the space, Saix standing in front of the wide open landscape window watching the large heart shape moon.
He slowly turned around eying the group of friends… Sora in particular. "Only you could have made it this far… Roxas."
"Grrr that's really getting old!" Sora's temple throbbed with a thick vein. Seeing her annoyance Donald and Goofy jumped ahead of her holding their arms out in protection.
"Yeah! She's Sora!" Donald shouted, Goofy nodding his head in agreement. Sora smiled at her friends when they protected her, and she turned sharp eyes onto Saix waiting for a retort. What they got was Saix pulling out his weapon, a thick powerful claymore he wielded with ease despite its enormous size.
"Different name, same fate." He whirled it, and slammed it down creating a massive gust of wind that pushed back Riku and Kairi behind a barrier wall. Riku released Kairi and ran to the barrier beating a fist on it.
"Concentrate Sora! You can take him!" He encouraged and watched her pull out the keyblade.
"Right!" .
Said laughed holding his arm out, his power rising. "Do you feel it, the moon's power?" He began to float up. "Shine down upon me!" His body lit with power, and with amazing speed he attacked. Sora let out a gasp of pain as her body went flying and crashed to the floor. She barely had time to recover and roll out of the way to avoid his next attacks.
Concentrate, she told herself… watch his movements… find the openings… Damn it her side hurts. "THUNDER!" She backed off and released the spell stopping Saix in his tracks and she shot forward pounding her blade into him with quick combos.
"I underestimated you." Saix said on a grunt and then let himself rise up again ready for round two.
"Not this time...DEFENSE!" Just as Saix launched forward she brought up a barrier the energy lashing back out at him and she beat into him again… Donald and Goofy tried assisting, aiming spells and attacks to assist her damage, but they quickly were overwhelmed leaving Sora near by herself to take him on.
She knocked away his weapon, and inspired by the Valor form she grabbed for the weapon to use a second blade. Her eyes hazed over, and all she saw was ready. She growled and shot forward beating the claymore into him… once… twice… three times, again and again until she heard him shout in pain, and the heat in her eyes faded and she fell down, the claymore disappearing from her hands and all that was left was a defeated Saix.
"W-Why…. Kingdom HEarts…. W-where is,,, My heart?" Saix stretche dout his hand towards the moon as his body began to fade and melt into darkness.
Sora, with the heat of battle fading, felt a twinge of regret for the moment… and then she shakes her head sighing. "I… I just don't get it. Why is everyone calling me Roxas?"
She turned around to face Riku. He smiled at her and reached out touching her hair. "Still can't figure it out? The reason why everyone is calling you Roxas, is because she's your nobody."
"My… nobody? That's impossible, I never turned into a hear-... oh wait."
"It was when you came to rescue me, remember?" Kairi smiled.
Now that the story'd begun Riku continued it. "Xemnas was the one who found Roxas, she could use the keyblade because she was your nobody. Xemnas brought her into the organization, but she betrayed them." Riku remembered the angry look on Roxas' face… the hurt, the loneliness, and the determination to tear apart the work she'd helped accomplish. "I went up against her, and I lost… but the next time we met, I made sure I was the stronger one."
"That was when you released the Darkness? Why did you have to fight her if she was trying to destroy the organization?"
"Because I wasn't sure she could take them on alone, and we needed you to wake up, so I fought her to bring her to you…"
~Flashback~
Riku stood over Roxas' collapsed form, stabbing the dark oblivion blade into the ground beside her. Thinking the battle was over he backed away from her to take a breather… but she was up, grasping the blade and rushing forward. Those blue eyes harsh and determined to beat him. "Why don't you quit?!" She shouted at him.
He stared for a long time, looking at her stance and seeing Sora eclipsed over her like a moon. He smiled. "Come on, Sora, I thought you were stronger than that."
"Huh.. .Get real, look which one of us is winning…" Roxas gasped touching her mouth wondering where those words were coming from. "What…"
"So it's true… you really are her nobody."
"What are you talking about?" ROxas snarled at him her free hand taking up a second keyblade. "I AM ME! NOBODY ELSE!" She rushed forward, With fervor she lashed out at him, Riku falling back and to a knee. She was just too powerful. There was no way he would be able to defeat her as he was.
"Tch, how many times to I hafta beat you?" She scowled down at him.
He couldn't give up now… Sora needed Roxas to wake up… and he wouldn't let Sora sleep, he refused to give up on her. "Alright then… looks like I don't have any other choice."
"What is that?" Roxas narrowed her eyes as he slowly rose to his feet.
"I have to release the my heart… and the dark power I've been holding back." He lifted the strip of cloth from over his eyes… "Even if it changes me forever." He snarled and released the power, encasing himself in the dark. his body morphed and changed into that of Ansem, and with the quick rise of power at his disposal Riku made quick work of capturing Roxas.
"I have accepted it."
~End of Flashback~
"Riku?" Sora looked up at his face leaning in close. Embarassed for spacing out he took a step back clearing his throat.
"Sorry… I was just thinking that maybe I didn't need to fight her after all. I think the real reason she wanted to leave the organization was because she wanted to meet you."
"Roxas…" She thought of the blonde haired girl in the photo… thought of all those images she'd had in twilight town… "I wish I could have met her too."
Riku smiled. He knew she would say that. Lifting a hand he pointed to her chest.. and Sora lifted a hand to hold her heart. There were no words that they spoke, but sora knew what he was getting across. If she wanted to meet Sora, all she'd need to do is look inside herself. She was there.
"Alright… let's go." He turned and led the way out of Saix's territory and back into the proof of existence. The path was now open to move on, and when Sora and the other made their way up Sora noticed something weird about the Heart shaped moon. There was a beam of some sort leading up to it.
"What is that?"
"It's probably Diz. He had an idea about removing the data from Kingdom Hearts… but I've got a bad feeling he's in over his head. We need to hurry." Riku hurried them along.
~Diz & Mickey~
"I'm a fool." Ansem said after a sad bout of laughter. "I've spent years studying the workings of a heart. Yet I haven't learned a thing." He tried holding his machine as it began to vibrate and skitter. "The process of encoding the hearts is incalculable."
"What do you mean?"
"My Twilight Town inhabitants were created by data using real hearts… I was convinced they would think and act the way I had envisioned, but I couldn't have been more wrong. A heart is so much more than any system. I saw it, when Roxas and Kairi crossed paths… I knew, but was too stubborn to admit it." He sighed with defeat.
"It's always the same. I try to wrap my mind around something my heart already knows, only to fail. While I was trying to bring Sora back, I had so many plans in store. Once she was an acting force, however, they fell apart. All my research… amounted to nothing, compared to that one girl's heart."
"Ansem… the machine!" Mickey took notice of the machine's instability and his worry grew.
"All the more proof that hearts cannot be contained. Run my little friend, it's going to self destruct, and anything could happen." Ansem warned him just as Sora and the others showed up.
"Your majesty!" Sora shouted and gasped when she saw the new figure. The two of them stared at each other, Ansem looking at the source of all his failed plans. Such a young girl, beautiful on teh outside… but more so inside.
"Sora, the rest is up to you-" he addressed her and lowered his head. "Roxas… I doubt if you can hear me but, I am sorry."
"Ansem!" Mickey reached out but Ansem shook his head.
"My heart is telling what I must do, please allow me to do this."
"No, Ah,.. Riku." He turned as Riku put a hand on his shoulder.
"His heart's decided, we can't change that."
"I was wondering…" Xemnas appeared in a cloud of smoke staring up at his moon with a somber glance. "Who would dare interfere with my Kingdom Hearts? Look, here you all are… heh Ansem the wise." He shook his head. "You look pathetic."
Sora watched the interaction between Man and former apprentice. She wasn't sure what all was happening.. they spoke of research, of the heartless and how Ansem was the source of it all. Was that really the way of it she wondered?
"Xehanort… foolish apprentice of a foolish man." Ansem shook his head in a defeated and disappointed tone. "You've surpassed nothing… only proved how little we both know."
Sora leaned into Kairi. "Why do I get the feeling this isn't gonna end well?
"Whatever it is, it's the same feeling I'm getting. I really think we shouldn't be here." Kairi held her heart feeling a slight panic.
"We've spoken enough! RIku, you know what to do.. .Mickey my friend, forgive me." Ansem turned his head up, his eyes drinking in the light of Kingdom Hearts. "Farewell" The machine roared up, light spewing from the machine. Sora ran forward to try and help but Riku's large arms closed over the group holding them back.
A whirlwind of light stormed around them. RIku turned around, as the group was engulfed in it's light, energy sparking all around him. Sora became blinded by the light and she closed her eyes her hand reaching for Riku… She felt Kairi's hands on her shoulders and heard her scream a little as they all fall back and fall from the ricochet of the explosion. "RIKU!"
Hearts fell from the sky, having been extracted by the machine, but without a containor or bodies to return to the raining hearts fell into darkness and became heartless, millions of black forms now climbing up the castle walls.
Sora lay on the ground, dizzy still from the ricochet. She slowly rose up to her knees her eyes looking around to check on her friends.. and she gasped seeing Riku laying face down on the ground. "Riku!" she scrambled to run to his side… she knelt and touched his silver hair. He stirred and sat up, and Sora suddenly broke out into a smile when she saw the familiar face of her best friend. "Riku…"
Riku sat up making little shocked noises when his vision felt… different. He saw darkness… but not because he was shadowed by it… but because of the cloth over his eyes. He reached up touching it and his face.
"Ansem did say anything could happen."
When Riku got to his feet, he heard Sora giggle. "Riku, aren't you gonna take that off?"
"Huh? Oh… right." he reached up, but Sora's hand stopped him. Instead he felt her reach up and around untying it herself… he kept his eyes open… blinking as dark gave away to light, and the first thing he saw was Sora's smiling face.
"There you are…" Sora said happily.. and going with instinct she rose on her toes and leaned in to kiss him. He stopped her just before their lips touched and he firmly took hold of her shoulders holding her back.
"Sora wait… please don't."
"What?" Sora blinked in confusion. "Why? Riku I thought-"
"I don't want to make the same mistakes I did before… and if you kiss me now… everything will change."
"Did you ever think that maybe I wanted them to change?" Sora pulled his hands off her and gripped them in hers.
Riku stared at their hands, her grip tight and comforting. He gave a little pull, testing to see if she'd let go… but she just held on tighter. "Riku… why do you try to do so much of it on your own? You've got friends… all of us here."
His eyes lifted from the hands, and he looked at all the others… Donald, Goofy, Kairi and the king… all of them smiling and giving little nods of encouragement. "Did you forget? Heh, I'll tell you why. It's because I'm not a total sap like you."
"What?" Sora let his hands go so she could beat a fist into his chest. "Say that again, you jerk!"
Riku let out a little laugh.. and grabbed her hand again. Defeated he gave in, he laced their fingers and touched her cheek. Sora's annoyance disappeared when she felt him lean in and place a small kiss on her lips. Caught in the moment she wrapped her arms around his waist and enjoyed the warmth of it.
Goofy covered his face chuckling and forced Donald to look away by covering his eyes with his free hand. "Wha, let go goofy!"
The moment was interrupted when the castle shook. Sora looked around, flushed from the kiss and she spotted hearts rising back into the broken moon. She and Riku looked over he edge and spotted the heartless climbing up the side. "What should we do, Riku?"
"We must defeat Xemnas. He's the Organization's last survivor." He spoke with affirmation.
"Then let's go!" Sora clenched her fist grinning and she jogged ahead. "Let's go!"
RIku smiled and he gripped hold of his black cloak and tossed it off with style. He jogged up to meet her, the two shared a look of confidence before marching off together to track down their enemy.
Yay another chapter done… I hope you guys enjoyed this installment and that I'm pleasing you with the Soriku action. It's been a long time coming I think.
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Author: Eh… Sora… Riku?
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Author: Um… you know you guys stopped kissing in the fic… so you can stop now right?
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Author: *Sigh* forget it… hopefully I can get them unglued by the time I finish the next chapter.
Next Chapter: Breaking Point