Notes: This is the longest chapter yet and it will be the longest of the three chapters that get posted with the last probably being the shortest. I'll put the third up as soon as I'm finished with it. This is just a recap of what happened in the original (or what will be the original) fic as soon as I put it up, which I've decided that I will! ^.^

Chapter 1

Ai…I still love you…and I want you to come home to me…but…

"Come on, Riku, cheer up already!" Sora and Kairi gave their friend a forced smile as the trio walked across the beach of the small island that they were already back in the habit of visiting daily. The younger two glanced at each other and sighed at the same time, "You know, Riku, when I was told we were going home…I thought that everything would be going back to normal…so why are you so depressed!?"

"Yeah, Riku, cheer up. King Mickey said that he'd find a way to bring her back…and…" Kairi trailed off looking at the ground.

Riku blinked at Sora and Kairi before sighing and staring up to the sky, "You two got everything you wanted." He said in an almost bitter tone, "You're finally together but…Ailey…what if she hates me? After everything I did she has more than a right too…"

"You did what you did because you love her, Riku…" Kairi said softly.

"Riku, come on, man. Don't be so negative about it." Sora sighed lightly.

"She loves you too much do hate you." Kairi said in a hushed voice.

"Come on, Riku! Let's go have some fun for once! We've been back for two weeks and you've done nothing but sit on the beach like a piece of washed up driftwood. I'm surprised the tide hasn't taken you back out to sea yet!" Sora stared at Riku long and hard before turning to Kairi, "let's go."

"But Sora, we can't just leave Riku here alone…who knows what he'll try to do…" Kairi's voice was quiet as she spoke to Sora.

"Are you saying that you think I'll commit suicide over her? I'm not that crazy…it's an option but she wanted me to be happy…I would be…if I could just forget her already…" Riku walked closer to the water and kicked off his shoes, letting the tide wash over his ankles. "She loved this beach…this island…this place…this world…she loved it…more than anything…more that she loved me. Really…it's the only thing that'll bring her back…if she even wants this old place anymore…there are bigger, better things waiting for her…" He sat down, "She's what…a princess in some world…why would she want to come back here…into ours…into mine…"

"She will come home. She has to come home." Sora said sternly, "She told me personally that she'd never leave you alone…that she'd never leave you unhappy like this. You're the one who's all depressed when she's the one who loved you more than anything and you just left her behind! She'd be here with us if you would have taken a bit of a risk with her."

"I couldn't put her life in danger!" Riku jumped to his feet, glaring at Sora. "Just like I wouldn't have put your life in danger or Kairi's in danger! I couldn't do that, I wouldn't do that! Not even if she begged me too, which I promise, she did! I would never risk her life or anyone's life like that!"

Kairi stepped away from Riku, her eyes wide. "She cared more for you than she did herself!" Sora yelled, "She would've gladly died for you!"

"I'd rather her live hating me than die loving me!" Riku snapped before thinking about what he had just said.

"What if she dies hating you for not letting you love her…" Sora calmed himself down looking up at Riku with sharp eyes, "What happens then?"

Riku stood still to think about it, "Then I'm nothing but someone lost in what was past…what would have been…what should have been…but…I would rather not watching her die to seeing her body dead before me…I wouldn't be able to stand watching her die."

Kairi looked from Sora to Riku and looked up at the sky, "Guys, she'll come home. We'll all be together again just like we were before…and we'll be happy. I know we will…we just have too."

Riku sat down again and Sora sighed and sat down next to him, watching Kairi over his shoulder as she sat down on Riku's other side. "You two still don't understand…"

I know I've done far too many terrible things for you to ever love me again…

Even with everything that's happened…Riku, I still love you…

"Ailey, have you chosen…?"

Ailey looked up and blinked at the group before her, she'd been staying at Disney Castle for a week now and they were still working on a way to get her back to the home of her choice. She could go back to her real home where she was born or she could go back to Riku but as soon as she made her choice she couldn't go back.

"Remember you can stay…"

She hardly wanted to leave Disney Castle as she was treated like a true queen while she was there. She continued to stare at the ground for a long time as she pushed her long red hair over her shoulder uneasily. She was dressed in a beautiful gown that Queen Minnie had the seamstress make for her. It was a pale pink wedding gown that fell like a true queen's gown should, with shorts sleeves and a matching chocker and headdress as well as earrings of gold and pretty shoes. Part of her flaming red hair was held in two high buns on both sides of her head while the rest of it fell all around her going past her waist. She didn't belong in Disney Castle, this much was true, but she felt happy there.

"You can go home to Alex…"

Of course then there was her brother and all the people she finally remembered who lived back in her true home. All the people who missed her so much and who needed her more than anything. All the people that wanted so much to see her. Her true friends, her real family, they were all waiting for her. She could go home of course, but she didn't feel like she would belong in a place she'd never been or hardly remembered at least.

"Or you can go back to Destiny Islands…to Riku…"

Ailey froze at the last word spoken from the tiny king's lips. She swallowed hard as her green eyes began to sparkle with tears. She missed Destiny Islands, she missed the sand, the beaches, the faces, her friends, her home, her childhood, but more than anything she missed that boy. Riku…He'd snuck off from her before she could even say goodbye to him. She'd never said goodbye.

The thought struck down on her hard as she turned to face the King. She never did get to tell Riku goodbye but she didn't have the choice of making a trip just to say goodbye. Her only choice was to stay or never see Riku again. Her only choice was to go there to stay or to never hear his voice; feel his touch; or see his face see his face; his smile (not that she saw it often); or his beautiful eyes ever again.

She thought once more about the castle and shook herself mentally. "I can't stay…" She told Mickey gazing at him sadly.

"I understand that, Ailey." Mickey said nodding up at her.

"That means I have to go…"

"Yes, it does, Ailey. Where do you want to go? I need your answer because the ship is almost ready to take you there…" Mickey stared up at Ailey for a long moment.

Ailey though about Alex and felt the tears run down her face. I'm sorry, big brother. She thought, but you'll have to rule the kingdom on your own. "I can't go home…" Ailey finally looked back at Mickey, "I can't go home."

"So that means…"

"Riku…he needs me…doesn't he…he misses me…doesn't he?" She whispered kneeling down in front of Mickey.

The mouse locked eyes with her and nodded, "He misses ya more than ya think." Mickey said looking at Ailey.

"But how do I know…" Ailey looked down at the ground again, "How do I know he really loves me if…he left me like that…how can I trust that he isn't with someone else…that he doesn't love someone else…that he's just using me…"

Mickey stood still before walking forward putting his hand on Ailey's shoulder, "Ai…he loves ya, I'm sure of it. He misses you…and he felt terrible about never saying goodbye…but the fact that he left you before sayin goodbye shows how much he wanted to protected ya which shows how much he cares."

Ailey looked up and stared at Mickey, "I want Riku…" She finally whispered, staring long and hard into Mickey's eyes. I want to see him again…I have to see him again…I miss him so much…"

"Alrighty then!" Mickey smiled, "I'm sure Riku'll be thrilled when he sees you, what with the way he talks about you."

"The way he talks about me?" Ailey stood to follow Mickey as he started out of the room.

"He said all sorts of things about you, how amazing you are, how beautiful you are, how you're the best thing that happened to him in all that he went through. He says it all the time; you changed him, just like Sora and Kairi did. He cares about ya more than I think even he knows."

Ailey stood still, "He does?"

"Yeah."

If you miss me like everyone says…you'll smile when I come back…won't you?

I've caused you so much pain…I don't have a right to want you back…

"What do you mean with all that you've done? You've done more than I know?" Sora demanded staring down at Riku.

Riku stared into the water for a moment, "I hurt her…with my obsession with saving Kairi…I wouldn't give up even when the darkness started to take over totally…she stood by me through it all…begging me to stop…"

"But you didn't…" Kairi asked staring down at Riku.

"No. I didn't." Riku stood up slowly and glanced at Sora and Kairi, "I kept everything up, despite her vicious warnings and in the end…well…let's just say it took a year to realize how important she truly was to me…"

"And then…?" Sora asked, finally calming down a bit.

"I was found in the darkness and she had come to be serving a man whose true name was Ansem the Wise. She was helping him, with what I can't fully remember and she can't either but he was studying her necklace and kept constant watch over her…" Riku paused.

"The necklace…? The one that…" Kairi started.

"Yeah." Riku sighed. "And then…I let the darkness take my body and came back with a new name…but she knew it was me…shortly after that…I left her behind…without a goodbye."

"You didn't even say goodbye?" Sora frowned, "That doesn't really seemed like something you'd do to her."

"If I did say goodbye she would've never let me leave without her. I didn't have much of a choice." Riku laughed, "I saw her one last time with Ansem just before I changed back, but I saw two of her. One with blue eyes and short hair, dressed in black and the other…the one you guys saw, was her…the girl in white."

"HER!" Kairi gasped, "I knew I'd seen her. The one in the long white cloaks that looked like the opposite of the cloaks that Organization XIII was dressed in, right?"

"Yeah…she helped me a ton over my adventure, never appearing in the same place twice of course. I couldn't figure out who she was either, though her long red hair hung out and I could always see that necklace but I just couldn't figure it out…" Sora sighed.

"You two really are thick." Riku laughed, "She was looking for me…trying to help me…the white was part of the getup that Ansem put her in."

"Ah. I see." Kairi and Riku said together.

"So…you see…I've done much more to her than you two know." Riku laughed lightly.

But I want you to come home…please come home…

I'm going home…

"Alrighty, Ai! All you have to do is sit in the ship. We've got it set to take you right to Destiny Islands! Just hold on tight!" Mickey smiled at Ailey.

"Be good!" Donald called.

"We'll miss ya!" Goofy was next.

"Don't forget…" Minnie said smiling.

"As long as you keep us in your heart we'll always be there." The four smiled together.

"Bye!" Ailey called and before she could say more the ship shot away from them and she was soaring home.

Nothin much to say down here. Hope you like it. Give me reviews please! Course, you don't have too but it'd be nice! ^.^