Title: 100 Steps to Somewhere

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts

Claim: Cloud/Riku

Theme: 07. Sky

Word Count: 3,005

Rating: R/M

Summary: Riku finds Kairi, but things are so much worse that he ever imagined. Sometimes the best things are the simple ones.

Warning: Contains allusions to boy on boy promiscuity. You've been warned.

Disclaimer: No. In my absence, I did not become affiliated with Disney, Square Enix, or anyone who makes money off of anything related to Kingdom Hearts. I don't even work for a company that sells Kingdom Hearts video games. So, there. Nothing. At all. I am only affiliated with a potato chip company, and will soon be affiliated with the Dollar Tree. That's it.

Musical Inspiration: 30 gig iPod on shuffle. Because I can.

Author's Note: I had this entire thing mapped out in my head before I wrote the last installment. Why didn't I write it sooner? meep 30 gig iPod. Yep. Oh, and I worked.

And I suppose this is in order, huh:

kyou: Sorry you don't care for the sap, but damn I love it. ::cheesy smile:: Thanks for appreciating attention to grammar and spelling. It seems so few appreciate it these days.

dimonyo-anghel: I just realized you reviewed twice. I guess that makes you special. This chapter is for you, then. Oh, there will be trouble for our lovebirds all over the place. I'm disappointed by the lack of CloudxRiku, too. I suppose I took it upon myself to rectify that. I'm sure this story will only be the first of many. Power really does seem to get to people.

Toons: Blow it out of proportion? Riku takes it to a whole new level. It just fit so nicely, though. I really don't think he was this nasty little demon thing set out to destroy Sora and steal Kairi for his girlfriend. Geez, I mean, he hardly even pays any attention to Kairi except when he's all nutty in darkness. CloudxRiku is progressing, and I'm glad you for your sake you don't have to wait too long for updates. I am sorry, however, that they do not come every day. I'd be happier if they did.

Tears of Darkness: Riku doesn't exactly get tainted by darkness, does he? He submerges himself in it. I like this pairing, too. We seem to be among the few.

Kaze: I love CloudxRiku, too. I will admit, I'm a bigger Riku fan, but I adore Cloud almost as much. This pairing just made sense. I actually have read Razrantha's work. It's hard to find CloudxRiku. I digest what I can. :)

To anyone who read and didn't review, thanks for taking your time out to give this a try. It's much appreciated.

Step Seven : Failure and Blame

"That smarmy vizier could've had 'em—if someone had stuck around to give him a hand."

Riku could've punched Hades in the face. As if Sora being a snot-faced brat, Kairi missing, being separated from Cloud, and this emergency meeting weren't bad enough, now he had to force some of the blame on Riku? If Hades thought Riku was going to take this abuse lying down, he was sorrowfully mistaken.

"Hey, I did my part. I brought the princess, didn't I?"

"Jafar was beyond help, consumed by his own hatred," said Maleficent. Riku appreciated the assistance. "One should beware of letting it burn too fiercely."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Hades. "Lighten up. I'm as cool as they come, okay? By the way, kid, have we got something special for you."

Riku didn't like the sound of that.

"Huh?"

"We had a deal, yes?" said Maleficent. "You help us, and we grant you your wish."

In the center of the meeting area, Kairi's image appeared, transparent. He rushed toward it.

"Kairi!"

"Go to her. Your vessel is waiting."

Captain Hook stepped forward and gave Riku one of his creepy smiles that Riku had grown to become distrusting of.

"Just remember," he said, "this is no pleasure cruise. It won't be a pleasant voyage."

No shit.

"Why are you doing all this for me? What's the catch?"

"Catch? What's the catch?" said Maleficent. What? Did he stutter? "Silly boy. You're like a son to me. I only want to see you happy."

She reached a hand up to cup his cheek. Riku pushed her hand off and backed away.

"I seriously doubt that."

"Believe what you wish. But lest we forget, I kept my end of the bargain."

Riku allowed his gaze to linger on her for a moment. She couldn't possibly be serious. Like a son to her? Yeah, right. He'd had a mother once and she was nothing like Maleficent. She was warm, caring, and would never ask him to barter when he needed help. He turned his back on her and headed toward Captain Hook.

He didn't have a mother, anymore, and Maleficent was nothing like one. Sora was gone. Cloud was off searching for Sephiroth. Kairi, however, was waiting, unknowing that Sora didn't care about them anymore like he once had. She was alone. Riku wasn't going to let her remain all by herself, lost and confused. He wasn't like Sora.

----------0----------

"What's wrong with her?"

Riku stood in the Captain's Room of the Jolly Roger, Captain Hook standing by his side. Kairi lay there, unmoving, unconscious.

"She hasn't woken since I found her. I brought her to me cabin days ago and she's been that way since."

"Is her heart—"

"Gone forever. Taken by the Heartless."

"No—"

This was too much. Riku wanted to rewind time. How did things end up this way? Sora was off with new friends unfazed by Riku's disappearing act or the fact Kairi was missing, and now that Kairi was found, she was lifeless and unmoving. Was this what the Heartless did to people? Was this because he or Sora hadn't found her sooner?

He couldn't lay all the blame to Sora for this one. He'd been so preoccupied with finding Sora, simply assuming Kairi would be with him, that he hadn't stopped to think of what would happen if she wasn't. If he had stopped to think about it, however, this would have been the last thing he'd have expected. Kairi was impervious to things like the darkness; she wasn't like Riku. Riku accepted the darkness willingly, if only because he saw an opportunity to see other worlds and grabbed it. Riku continued to accept the darkness to best Sora and his new attitude. Kairi—Kairi wouldn't do something like that. She had one of the strongest hearts he could think of. Kairi was pure. How could something like this happen to her?

It couldn't. Kairi's heart couldn't be gone forever. It just couldn't. There had to be a way to wake her up. Riku had darkness on his side, too. Surely there was a way to exploit it, help her wake up. He was partially to blame for this situation, and if Sora wasn't going to be around to help rectify it, then Riku would have to do it on his own.

"Can I have some time with Kairi by myself?"

"You're wasting your time, boy," said Captain Hook.

"Don't you have other things to attend to? Like kidnapping that Wendy girl? I thought you said she could be one of the princesses."

"Aye," said Captain Hook. "That I did. I still say you're wasting your time."

"I don't care about your opinion. Tend to your own business and I'll attend to mine."

Captain Hook sneered at him and walked out of the cabin, muttering under his breath about Riku's attitude. Riku couldn't care less.

"Hey, Kairi, it's Riku," he said, kneeling down beside her. "I don't know if you can hear me or not, but—I don't know why this happened to you, Kairi, but I'm going to do everything I can to make this right, okay? You—you really don't deserve this."

Riku took a deep breath and took hold of her hand.

"I saw Sora the other day. He's . . . he's got some new friends. He's a Keyblade master. They're really special, you know? Picked by the Keyblade because they've got strong, good hearts. He—I don't know if he and I are going to be friends anymore. I know you really love him, though, so I hope he treats you better than he treated me when he sees you again. I may have deserved it a bit, I guess. I haven't been doing the best things lately, but . . . I'm really mad at him Kairi, but I won't say those things to you. Maybe you should just judge it for yourself.

"I—uh—I have a lot to tell you, you know. I know I never told you before . . . I was afraid of what you'd say . . . but I know you're not judgmental and you probably can't hear me anyway, but . . . I'm gay. Did you know? I bet you might have thought so. The point is, though, I've got a boyfriend, now."

Riku laughed a little to himself. God, he hoped Kairi couldn't hear him. He sounded like such a moron. Not telling her things about Sora for fear of hurting her and spilling about Cloud when she was lying there, most likely heartless. He just couldn't bring himself to tell her what he'd seen with Sora.

He was grasping at straws, but maybe talking to her would help.

"I never really thought I'd find a boyfriend or anything," Riku continued. He wished she were awake. He needed a friend so badly right now. "His name's Cloud. He knows Sora, too. He's so gorgeous, Kairi, I mean, you should see him. He's got these eyes that are so blue it's unnatural. I love everything about him. I can't wait until you can meet him. I just know you're going to love each other."

Riku brushed his hand over her hair. It felt as if there were a large lump stuck in his throat.

"I miss you, Kairi. I'm so sorry about all of this."

----------0----------

"Pinocchio?" said Riku, arching an eyebrow. "A puppet with a heart? You're kidding me?"

Riku poured over ledgers that Captain Hook had obtained. It appeared that a giant whale by the name of Monstro had appeared amongst the worlds, swallowing up travelers as they journeyed across the worlds. Maleficent seemed to have sent these papers with Captain Hook upon their departure; her handwriting was unmistakable. Monstro, according to the ledger, had recently swallowed a puppet by the name of Pinocchio and his father (what kind of puppet had a father?), Gepetto. The papers said that the puppet was alive, and contained a heart.

This was, frankly, impossible, as far as Riku knew.

Impossible though it may seem Maleficent wasn't wrong about these things. She knew what she was talking about when it came to hearts and the Heartless. Riku was left, inevitably, with one solution: it had to be true.

This opened worlds of possibilities.

How did a puppet get a heart? Furthermore, and far more important, if puppets could obtain hearts, surely Kairi could get hers back.

He needed to see this puppet for himself. Study it. It couldn't be too hard to figure out. He'd leave for Monstro tomorrow.

Riku propped one elbow on the desk and dropped his chin to his palm. He stared out the window at the sky outside. The sky always made Riku think of Sora and Kairi. Back on the Islands when they were younger than now, they never wanted to go home when night came. The three of them would sit on Riku's paopu tree and stare at the sky. Kairi sometimes said that even though they had to go home, they were still together in way, because no matter where they were, they were still under the same sky. Riku imagined that went for other worlds as well. They all shared the same sky, and in a way, he was still with his friends, his mother, Ayumi, and Cloud—

Riku stood from the desk and walked out onto the deck of the ship to get a better look.

He and Cloud were still together under the same sky. He smiled and pulled the cell phone out of his pocket. It meant a lot, getting something like this from Cloud. There was this nagging part at the back of Riku's mind telling him he'd seen Cloud just yesterday and there was no reason to be missing him already. It was too soon to call. He was being a baby about it. Riku shrugged it off, found Cloud's number in the menu (it was the only one there, after all), and hit send.

The phone rang twice, and then that soft, sweet voice that Riku loved so much came over the line.

"You called."

"Yeah."

"I was hoping I'd hear from you today. I was going to call you sooner but I didn't know how that meeting with Maleficent and company went."

"Maleficent found Kairi."

"Yeah? How's that going?"

Riku almost broke down and cried right there.

"She's—I'm in Neverland. With Captain Hook. On the damn Jolly Roger."

"That guy creeps me out. Sorry to hear it."

"I appreciate your sympathy."

"How's Kairi?"

"She's—it's like she's dead, but she's alive and breathing, and her heart's—I don't know. It might be gone."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

"I don't know what to say to that. I'm sorry."

"I'm trying to figure out what to do to help her, but, I don't know. There's this puppet, Pinocchio, who's got a heart, and I figure that if maybe I figure out how that can happen, than maybe I can figure out how to help Kairi."

"I wish you the best of luck, Riku. That sucks."

"Tell me about it."

"I wish there was something I could do."

"If I think of anything I'll let you know, but until then, what I really need is just someone to talk to."

"I can listen."

"I know. I like talking to you. I feel like. . ." Riku sighed and leaned on the banister of the balcony overlooking the ship's deck below. "I feel like I'm not being judged for my decisions—good or bad. I don't . . . quite honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing Cloud. All I know is I'm trying my best to make the most of what I have right now, and you make me feel that whatever I do, it's okay."

"That probably has something to do with us both being lost in darkness. But you make me feel that way, too, you know. And that there might be some light left in me. I guess you bring out that last bit."

"There's always a little light left in the darkness, right?"

"Right. I guess, anyway."

"I miss you."

"I miss you, too."

"I've been thinking about you."

"Oh, yeah?"

There was a hint of a smile in Cloud's voice. Riku smiled.

"Yeah."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Boring stuff. Cheesy stuff. Like I miss you. I was thinking about the sky."

"The sky?"

"Yeah. Kairi used to say we were all together even when we were apart because we were still under the same sky, and we could look up at it and know that we were sharing that sky. I—I guess I was just thinking about that and I ended up thinking about you."

"Cause even though we're worlds apart, we're still sharing the same sky."

"Yeah. I figure that has to work for all the worlds, right? Cheesy, huh?"

"Really cheesy. But you're a teenager, still, so I'll let that slide."

"Don't use the age card on me, Cloud. I don't care how much older than me you are."

"Seven years, Riku."

"I don't care if you don't care."

"You know, there would have been a time when I would have cared, and it would have bothered me, but in dark times like these, you don't let something like age get in the way so long as you connect with someone, and I connect with you. Right now, that's all I need to know."

"Would it really have bothered you?"

"Well, yeah, Riku, you're only fifteen years old. You were eight years old when I was fifteen. Imagine dating an eight year old."

"I'm not eight years old, but I see your point."

"But like I said, I'm not concerned about that right now, which is a good thing. If it weren't for the circumstances, I'd be so hung up on the age issues I wouldn't have gotten to know you, or be with you like this, and I'm grateful for getting to know you."

"I'm grateful for knowing you, too."

"Hey, Riku?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm outside."

"Good for you?"

"No, I mean I'm staring up at the sky with you."

Riku smiled.

"Now you're being cheesy."

"Maybe."

"Made me smile, anyway."

"I bet it did. You're a teenager, after all. Immature like that."

"I'm not immature."

"Come on, Riku, you still have a lot of growing up to do, but it doesn't bother me, so don't let it bother you, either. You're still mature for your age, just immature compared to me."

"Because you're so adult."

"I know."

"Arrogant cocksucker."

"Only if it's your cock."

Riku's eyes grew wide, mouth slightly open. Sure, he'd said things like that before, and his infamous chain-smoking friends were known for lewd comments, but this was the first time one had been directed at him in such an overtly flirtatious manner. He swallowed.

This may have been the first time since dating Cloud that the very real possibility of having sex with him occurred to Riku. Sure, he'd jerked off at the idea, but it had seemed like just a fantasy. . .

This could actually happen . . .

"Uh, Riku? Are you still there?"

"Yeah."

"Caught you off-guard there or something?"

"It just—" Riku felt his face burn. "I hadn't occurred to me before that we would . . . or could . . . or might . . . one day . . . do . . . anything . . . like that."

Cloud laughed.

"What, you haven't thought about?"

"No—I mean—yes—I mean . . . yeah, I have, but—"

"What? Didn't think I returned the attraction?"

"No . . . I don't know."

"I've thought about it, too, Riku."

Riku's face was on fire.

"The night sky's pretty, isn't it?"

Cloud chuckled.

"Yeah, it is."

"Would you really?"

"Really what?"

"Um . . . suck . . ."

"Suck what?"

"I hate you."

"No you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"Sure I would, Riku."

"You would . . . oh." Riku swallowed again. He looked up at the sky. "I miss you, Cloud."

"You just miss me now because I told you I'd suck your cock."

"Could we please stop talking about that?"

"I like embarrassing you."

"Sadist."

"Masochist. You love it."

"Shut up."

"I miss you, too."

"You still outside?"

"Yep."

"Cloud?"

"What's up?"

"Will you . . . will you always . . ."

"Spit it out, Riku."

"Will you always care about me? Even if I get lost in the darkness?"

"You scared?"

"Terrified is more like it."

"Yeah. I'll be here for you."

"I don't . . . I don't have anyone anymore."

"You have me. Okay? You're helping me see the light to get out of this darkness with Sephiroth. The least I can do if you get lost is help you out of it."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"I have to get some sleep. I have some stuff to do tomorrow."

"Puppets with hearts, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Call me tomorrow when you get an opportunity?"

"I will."

"Goodnight."

"Night."

Riku waited to hear the click from the other end of the line and then hit the end button.

There were a thousand thoughts racing through his mind.

Kairi.

The darkness.

Even though he hated to admit it was a big one, Cloud would have sex with him.

Yeah.

A lot of thoughts rushing through his head right now.

He looked up at the sky and smiled. They were all under the same sky, and maybe, one day, everything would tie together and get good again. Sora would remember his real friends. Kairi would wake up. He'd get to see his family again (Riku never thought he'd miss them so much). Sora would care what was up with Riku. Kairi, Ayumi, and his mother could meet Cloud.

It was simplistic, Riku knew, but recently, simple didn't seem so bad.

To read is human; to review is divine.