So here's the epilogue, in Riku's third person POV. Hop you enjoy it~

~Wednesday, November 23rd, Hanabira Graveyard, 8:06 a.m.~

Riku Kagayami had somehow found himself standing in front of Kairi and Naminé's graves again.

This was why when he went on morning walks, he never left the house without being absolutely sure of where he was going. If he decided to wander aimlessly, his feet carried him here.

So here he was.

The graves were still adorned with flowers from the funeral several weeks ago; however, most of the plants were dying and wilted, and the cold, cloudy day would soon finish off the remaining blossoms. Riku had been amazed how many people had come to the female twins' funeral procession. In all of his lifetimes, there had never been more than a few families. The girls' had nearly 150 mourners.

Riku sighed, replaying in his head what Xion had told him about Kairi and Naminé's fight to the death. He really had hoped Naminé would pull through for him. He wondered why Naminé had let Xion into her head, let her drive the blonde to kill herself. Riku knew Naminé was smarter than that. But with a twinge he also realized she was an artist. Artists like to have their hands free, he thought. She probably put the necklace on after she accidently killed Kairi.

"Damn, Naminé." Riku muttered, shivering slightly in the cold of late fall. If only Xion wasn't so stubborn and had let him go in with Naminé…

But he was going to be dead soon anyway, whisked off to yet another life, so it really didn't matter.

However, Riku found it odd that Xion hadn't brutally tortured and murdered him yet. It'd been a near month since she'd wrapped her malicious fingers around the girls… that was an unusually long time for him to go being alive in one place. Maybe his girlfriend was being nice for once. He doubted it.

"… to come back again, Roxas?"

"I'm sorry, Sora. But… this is the only way I can feel close to her."

"I understand."

Riku heard the Hikari twins' voices behind him and he walked away from the tombstones, moving against the wind and standing a far distance away from them. He didn't want to get caught up in idle chatter with those two. He watched them walk up the hill to the adjacent, marble graves. Roxas dropped to his knees and placed white carnations among the rotting plants, while Sora hung back and only stared off into space.

A glint caught Riku's eye. The silverette squinted slightly, trying to focus his vision. What was that hanging from Roxas's belt?

"You're kidding me," he whispered as he realized. It was Xion's necklace. How had Roxas gotten hold of it? Someone – probably those idiot detectives – had given it to Roxas a keepsake of Naminé's. But it was Kairi's in the first place… just because Naminé had it at the scene didn't mean it was hers!

A note floated out of the sky and landed at Riku's feet. He picked it up, trying to sort out how he was going to get the necklace away from Roxas while reading it. The first thing he recognized was Xion's distinct curly handwriting.

I'm not going to kill you… yet.

Now Riku was confused. Xion wasn't going to kill him… but why? It was definitely time for him to move on. He looked back and forth between Sora and Roxas and the note. Roxas had the necklace… and Xion wasn't going to kill him yet. Then it clicked.

So that's why she's not going to kill me. Because her next set of victims are right in front of me.

"Well that's just great." Riku's eyes darkened. Once Xion chose her victims, Riku couldn't interfere. That meant he was stuck here for who knows how much longer, and he wasn't going to get that necklace away from Roxas. That means I have to get to Sora before Roxas goes nuts.

Another note floated down. He reached for it, crumpling the first one tight in his hand.

Beware the ides of March.

"What?" Riku thought out loud, rereading the note. Ides… what the heck did ides mean? At least he knew to beware March – that might be the time when Xion decided to snap Roxas's sanity in two. He might as well get a head start on preparing Sora for what was to come, if he even believed it. He had to. Or else the brunette would have less of a chance than Naminé on surviving. He looked up, his eyes scanning the area for the twins.

They were gone.

Riku sighed again. Oh well. He had a good few months, but moments were of the essence when it came to Xion and her antics. Still, he'd find some way to do some time killing – such as researching the origin of Xion's message.

The sun peeked out of the clouds all of a sudden. Maybe that was a sign. A sign that he might be able to break free from Xion's curse. He held up the first, crumpled note to the sun, the light streaming through with promise.

Though someone I love so much trapped me here, I will break free.

A gust came through and he let the paper loose from his hand, flying away into the sun to never be seen again.

私はいつもあなたの愛が痛みにつながると知っていた。

{I always knew your love would lead to pain.}

It's done you guys! *applause* My first completed multi chapter story ever~ I couldn't have done this without my awesome reviewers:

Witch of Tragedies,

JayDex,

piratejackfan,

Taeniaea,

OuiSexSi,

and last but not least, overreactiveteenagemindsxo! I love you all and thanks for the support! And to those who favorited, thanks to you as well!

For now, I'm going to get my thoughts together about the sequel, Darkest Eternity, which will probably be out, at the earliest, Febuary 2012. So make sure you add me to Author Alerts so you know when the sequel comes out!

I'm not just going to stop writing during that time though. I'll probably be around the Final Fantasy fandom and posting one-shots there!~

And also! Two trailers are up on my Youtube account, one for this story, and one is a bridge trailer (connects this story and the sequel). The link is in my profile, and I'd love it if you'd check them out!

So to conclude, thanks again to you all, and I'll see you when the sequel is out!

Sincerely yours,

Oerba Dia Lukia :)