Disclaimer: El videojuego de Kingdom Hearts 2 no es mio.

Chapter 5- 4 days remaining

Sora couldn't sleep. Then again, with how much time he'd spent sleeping over the last two days, who could really blame him? It was somewhere around three in the morning and Riku had been lost to the world for hours, long since abandoning Sora in favor of cuddling with his pillow. Sora didn't really mind so much. He got to watch Riku's face, set in that peaceful, innocent expression that was rarely seen when the singer was actually conscious. Of course, if Riku woke up and saw that Sora was watching him, it might bring up some unwanted questions.

With this thought, the brunet slipped out of bed and headed downstairs. He went straight to the backyard and stared at the pool, which Riku had been too lazy to cover for the night. The moon was reflected in the slightly rippling surface of the water. It was pretty. Sora stripped down to his boxers and dived into the chilled water, quickly coming back to the surface and floating on his back, staring at the sky.

It had been nearly a year since he'd been in this pool voluntarily. It had always been one of Riku's havens and it had just been too painful to think about. It was actually a little bit funny. He'd spent a whole year avoiding the thought of his love and then he'd been thrown full throttle right back into the thick of it. He'd been given another chance. More time with his husband and maybe even a chance to stop his death. The real question remained, though. Was it possible?

Was it even possible for Sora to save him? He was supposed to die at that particular point in time, correct? By Sora being there and knowing what was coming, he, by chance, had the ability to stop it. If that were the case, though, couldn't he screw up the future? Sure, his own future would be wonderful, but what about that of other people? Would his happiness come at the price of someone else's? Did he care? No. Maybe it was selfish, but he didn't care. Riku was his. They were meant to be together and they would be. Sora would make sure of it.

The water moved around him, accompanied by the muffled sound of a splash. He sat up, treading in place, to see Riku coming up from under the surface of the water.

"What are you doing out here at this time of night?" he asked, squinting as he spoke.

"I couldn't sleep," Sora shrugged. "I didn't want to bother you and going for a swim suddenly seemed like a really good idea." Riku wrapped his arms around Sora's waist, pulling him close and resting his head on the brunet's shoulder. Sora was a little annoyed to see that Riku could easily stand where he couldn't even touch without submerging his entire body in water. Stupid tall genes.

"What were you thinking about?" Riku asked. Sora could tell he was really tired and felt kind of guilty for being the reason that Riku was up in the first place.

"A lot of things," Sora said quietly. "Mostly about you."

"Yeah? What about me?"

"I don't know, Ri…" It was distracting, trying to think with Riku's breath rhythmically moving against his neck, close enough to touch, yet not actually making contact. "Just everything, I guess. How much I'm gonna miss you when you're gone. How I can convince you to let me hang around with you all the time over the next week without you getting annoyed by my constant presence."

Riku let out a small, breathy laugh. "You're welcome to come wherever I go, So. I'm gonna miss you too, you know."

"Yeah," Sora agreed. "I know."

"I have an interview in the morning," Riku said quietly. "You wanna come with? We can get something to eat afterwards, spend some time together."

"Just you and me," Sora sighed peacefully. "And the random fans who recognize you."

Riku laughed again. "Yeah. Them too."

"Okay," Sora agreed. "We should probably go back to bed if we have to get up early."

This time Riku's laugh was much more of a chuckle. The mere sound of it made Sora shiver. "I can think of something else I'd much rather be doing right now," he breathed, lips finally moving to touch Sora's neck, his tongue lapping out to collect some of the water droplets residing there.

"Yeah?" Sora asked, swallowing with difficulty. Riku's head lifted and his arms tightened around the brunet's waist, lifting him a bit higher so their faces, not to mention other parts, were level with each other.

"Yeah," Riku growled, claiming his lips for a harsh kiss.

Sora didn't object. Even if he wanted to, which was a crazy thought all in it's own, the kiss basically left him completely and totally speechless. Sora could live with that.

The next morning brought them to the realization that they were not in their bedroom. At least they were actually in the house, though. The two tended to lose their heads a bit when, well…you get the drift.

No, instead, they were on the couch, a throw blanket pulled over them, squished very close together. Sora was okay with that as well, considering Riku was holding him in a death grip. It was nice to be held. He shifted slightly, sending pain shooting up his spine. Strangely enough, he didn't mind that either, though he was sure to be feeling it all day long.

Riku's watch started beeping, an alarm they'd set to actually wake up on time considering they were too lazy to walk all the way upstairs. Sora could hear the alarm in the bedroom going off as well. Riku jerked awake in shock, rolling off the side of the couch. Sora had no choice but to go with him, considering he was still being death-gripped. He landed with on Riku, who let out a grunt and pushed him off.

"I hate alarm clocks," he hissed, pulling himself to his feet. Yeah. Riku was a bitch in the morning, especially when technological devices were part of the reason he'd been awoken in the first place. Sora carefully pulled himself to his feet, grabbing his boxers from the floor and pulling them on. They were still slightly damp from the pool, but they would do until he got in the shower. Riku was still grumbling about being awake when Sora jumped onto his back. Riku stumbled, but managed to right them both before looking over his shoulder at the brunet.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

Sora nuzzled his face into Riku's neck. "I'm in pain and it's your fault, so I've officially decided that you're going to carry me upstairs."

"You enjoyed it," Riku muttered, starting up the stairs dutifully.

"You're the best," Sora informed him.

"I damn well better be," Riku retorted playfully. "I'm carrying you up the stairs, aren't I?"

The interviewer was a redheaded woman with kind blue eyes by the name of Kairi. She didn't even bat an eyelash when Riku informed her Sora would be sitting in for the interview. She'd taken it all in stride, sticking to her job and Sora took a seat next to Riku, idly doodling in the sketchbook he'd nabbed before they left the house. Drawing was another thing he hadn't done since Riku died. Now that he was at it again, though, he wondered why he'd ever stopped. It was such a calming exercise. He didn't pay much attention to the shape coming to life on the page, but actually listened to the interview going on next to him. Kairi and Riku spoke easily back and forth as if they'd known each other their whole lives. A tape recorder was running on the table between them.

"So, the initial reason for the Organization's hiatus was…?"

Riku shrugged. "We'd been working non-stop for a few years trying to get ourselves noticed, and then when we were, trying to keep ourselves on top. We were in a pretty comfortable position and I met Sora and Naminé and Marly were getting married. Eventually, those two, Nami and Marly, that is, decided they needed some time to spend together alone and So and I got married about that same time so the whole band decided to go on a year hiatus to give some structure to our personal lives."

Riku nudged his glasses back up on his nose and nodded with finality. He hated wearing them, but he was legally blind without either the glasses or his contacts. His eyes had been so tired from late night activities that he'd decided to suck it up and wear the offending frames.

"What are your feelings about the tour starting up again?"

Sora was now enraptured by their conversation. He wouldn't be surprised if he were now sketching on the table rather then the paper.

"Mixed feelings, I suppose. I'm certainly going to miss all the free time, but it will be good to be out doing the music thing again. For me, there's nothing better then seeing all the fans screaming in the audience. It's a powerful, exhilarating feeling."

She nodded as if she knew exactly what he was talking about. "Yeah, I get that feeling whenever I have a byline. To see my name in print, it's just…" Riku was smiling and nodding his agreement. "Are you going to accompany him?"

It took Sora a long moment to realize she was talking to him. "What? On tour?" he asked. She nodded. "Definitely not. I don't think my sanity could stand that long trapped in such close proximity with Axel." She laughed and nodded.

"Won't you be lonely alone for so long?" Riku cocked an eyebrow and even Sora was a bit shocked. He didn't know much about journalism, but wasn't that somewhat of a personal question? Sora was even more shocked when Riku actually answered.

"Of course I'll be lonely. It will certainly be different waking up alone every morning." Honey, you have no idea. "We'll get through it, though. Ax will be pining for his lover too, who's staying here with So. We'll have company."

They continued to chat about random things and Sora finally looked down at his drawing. He had to fight to keep from gasping out loud at the sight. The picture was of a face. The man had long hair that was spiked in places. The structure of his face was strong and slender, a slightly arrogant look painted on his features. His eyes were hard, slightly narrowed, and incredibly familiar, though Sora wasn't quite sure why. He was fairly positive he'd never seen the face before in his life…but then, why would he draw it in the first place? And why did it look so familiar?

He snapped his sketchbook shut and stood. Kairi and Riku stopped and looked at him.

"Are you okay, So?"

"Yeah," Sora waved them off. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to get some air, I feel kinda dizzy."

"You want me to come with you…?"

"No," Sora shook his head. "No. Finish your interview. I won't be far."

"If you're sure…"

"I am." He slipped out the door and took a deep breath, clutching his sketchbook close to his side. He started walking until he found the way outside. He reached into his pocket and found his cell phone, dialing the number from memory as easily as if he did it everyday. It rang four times before there was an answer.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Cloud?"

"Yeah…Roxas or Sora?"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Cloud, you've known me since the day I was born. We don't even sound that much alike! You should be able to tell us apart!"

There was an annoyed sigh. "Sorry Roxas."

"It's Sora!"

"Sorry."

Sora had half the mind just to hang up on his cousin, but he resisted the urge quite well.

"Listen, I have a favor to ask."

Sora was quiet as he waited for a response. He should have known better. Cloud was most definitely a man of little to no words.

"I'm listening," the blonde said finally.

"Oh. Right." Sora bit his lower lip, eyes scanning the street around them. A woman was dragging her protesting daughter down the street, the girl's wrist in one hand, a cell phone pressed to her ear with other. A man pushed a shopping cart full of cans in the opposite direction, talking to himself in a rather loud voice.

"Are you still…in contact with Reno?" he asked.

Cloud let out a hissed breath. "Why do you want to see him? He's not really the type of guy you should be getting involved with, Sora, trust me."

"I'm not planning on a long term deal, Cloud. I'm trying to find someone and…well, last I heard, Reno knows everyone and everything in and about Hollow Bastion." Cloud let out a deep sigh and Sora could almost picture him pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"That is true…how important is this person you're looking for, Sora?"

"It's life and death."

There was a long amount of silence from the other end of the phone.

"All right. I'll call Reno and get you a time to meet him. But I'm going with you. I don't trust Reno farther then I can throw him." Sora didn't point out the fact that, because of Cloud's bodybuilding tendencies and Reno's own lean frame, he would probably be able to throw the redhead quite a substantial distance. Instead, he pointed out the other obvious matter.

"Cloud, you dated Reno for three years."

"Then you should trust my judgment of him."

Sora could see that Cloud's stubborn side had set in. He let out a frustrated puff of air before grumpily agreeing to Cloud's demand.

"All right, fine. You can come with me. Just get me in to see him."

"I'll call with a time later," Cloud said and hung up promptly. Sora snapped his own phone shut and slipped it back in his pocket just as Riku exited the building.

"Feeling better?" his silver-haired lover asked.

"Yeah. Let's go get some food, huh?"

So they did.

--

A/N: I am a serious Reno/Cloud lover. I don't know why, they just make me squeal with fangirly happiness. I was gonna have them together in the fic, but then I eventually decided against it because of the fact that Reno isn't actually in Kingdom Hearts. Still, I couldn't deny him a place in the fic because he (tied with Auron from FFX and, now, Axel) is my most favorite videogame character ever! Oh, and what's up with the picture, hmm? For a limited time only, all reviewers will win a cowboy hat (color of their choice) filled with popcorn (or other requested snack food)! Why a cowboy hat? I have no idea.