Title: 100 Steps To Somewhere
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Claim: Cloud/Riku
Theme: 061. War
Word Count: 5,872
Rating: M
Summary: Pete and Repeat were in a boat. Pete fell off. Who's left?
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and the characters contained within (and, you know, all this Final Fantasy stuff I've been using, too) is property of Square Enix, Disney, and probably a bunch of other obscenely wealthy folk/corporations. As such, I am making no profit off this story. It is simply a product of an overactive imagination and a healthy dose of fangirl delusion.
Author's Note: You don't realize how much you just accept on good faith without any true understanding when you play a video game until you try to explain it. Twilight Town Day 3 (as it is obviously time to cover) takes Roxas through his Awakening. This led me to a multitude of questions. Why do Roxas and Sora have an Awakening? What is the point of the Awakening? What is that voice and where is it coming from during such Awakening? And why does Roxas almost fall into darkness at the end of his? I tried to answer these questions. Sorry if it doesn't makes sense or I abysmally failed.
Step Sixty-One: Repeat
Riku sat on the bed staring at the blank display on his cell phone. He sighed, flipped it open, fumbled with the buttons, and then shut it again. He wished Cloud would call, but at the same time was relieved that he didn't. Riku didn't know how good of a conversationalist he'd be right now. It would all have to do with the darkness anyway, his Ansem appearance, and Roxas, which wasn't all that interesting, either. It wouldn't really matter to Cloud if DiZ referred to Roxas as 'it'. He couldn't do anything about what awaited Roxas. There were no words of comfort that could be said regarding how he had messed up.
Roxas was not to know about Sora or his existence as a Nobody under any circumstances. Riku would have done well to remember that. DiZ was displeased with his composure in the alternate Twilight Town today and for good reason. No conversation with Cloud could make him feel any better about any of this.
Still, it would've been nice to hear his voice. That was selfish, though, wasn't it? What was the purpose of dropping this complicated, ugly scenario on his boyfriend when there was nothing that could be done about it? It had never done any good with Maleficent except maybe to get some of the frustration out, but look at how that had ended. Riku just needed to calm down and rise to the occasion. It was the only thing that would do any good.
Cloud would only worry, anyway. He had important business to attend to on Gaea with Reno, Shinra, and Sephiroth. Riku tried not growl at the thought. Like his situation, however, this was something that was unavoidable. Riku understood that Cloud had to do this just as he understood there was nothing he could do to save Roxas. It didn't make him feel better about it, though. Cloud was hardly together enough to face Sephiroth right now. How was he supposed to save Denzel and half the planet from that Geostigma? Why of all people did it have to be Cloud's ex-boyfriend that was mostly just sex to call him about it?
This would be the part where he talked to Leon about how crazy his head felt right now, because Leon would offer a calm, objective view on the situation. He wouldn't get overtly concerned about Riku's self-degrading episodes regarding Roxas. He would sigh and tiredly tell Riku that he had nothing to worry about over Reno. However, last time they had conversed Leon hung up on him after Riku slung about word vomit with the intention of never having to speak to the man again.
Sometimes Riku was amazed at his ability to destroy everything good around him. It had to be a talent.
Frustrated, Riku snapped the phone shut and dropped it in a top drawer of the nightstand. A soft knock sounded at the door, and it cracked open. Naminé stuck her head in and smiled.
"I've got your dinner," she said. "Hungry?"
"Not really," said Riku. He shrugged. "Guess I should eat something, though."
Naminé's smile faltered. She slid inside and shut the door behind her. Crossing the room she placed two plastic containers on the aforementioned bedside table and then she sat beside him. Her hand patted his thigh.
"What's bothering you?"
Riku shrugged again.
"Everything."
"Is DiZ still getting to you?"
"Not really. I mean, yes, but differently. I don't like the way he talks about Roxas."
"The way he talks about Roxas?" she said, and gave him the kind of smile that suggested she might be hiding a secret. "What? Like he's Nobody or something?"
Riku huffed. The corner of his lips twitched up.
"That's not funny."
"Yes, it is. Laugh."
"I don't want to. You're making fun of me."
Her expression softened.
"Riku, DiZ doesn't mean anything against Roxas. Roxas wasn't supposed to exist the way he does. Neither was I. DiZ is aware of that and able to keep it in perspective without becoming attached. I think things are easier that way, don't you?"
"But doesn't that bother you? You're a Nobody. I'm attached to you. You're my friend. What if . . . What if I didn't care when you were gone? Isn't that wrong?"
"Just like Sora. What am I going to do with the two of you?"
Riku frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"You both let your hearts overrule your head."
"Me?" said Riku. "I don't think so. I'm the sensible one. I wish I could be like Sora with the way he just goes with whatever feels right, but . . ."
"Just because you let your head guide your actions doesn't mean your heart agrees with it, and you focus on that instead. You do one thing, your heart tells you another, and you end up feeling torn. Isn't that right?"
"So what should I be doing, then?"
"It's a very sensible situation. Roxas and Sora belong together as one. You might like Roxas. I would hope you do considering he's a part of Sora, and Sora is your best friend."
"Was my best friend."
"Is your best friend. You might not like feeling that Roxas is gone. You might think it's unfair. You might even think you miss him, but he isn't going away. He's going home. When you understand that it will become easier to accept. Having a life as Sora again is far better than any life he could have on his own."
"But in the World that Never Was, Roxas outright rejected Sora."
"Of course he did. Are you telling me that there aren't parts about you that you don't like? That you don't argue with yourself? Tear yourself in half and make those pieces completely unaware of each other. Now try to tell them they belong together as a whole person. I know whichever half of you got your stubborn streak would flat out refuse to even listen to such an idea. That's how this is. Roxas is only part of Sora, and Sora will never be the Sora you once knew without him. He was just given a different name. It's strange the power a name can hold, isn't it?"
Riku dropped his head.
"It's really all that simple for you?" he said.
"Of course not. I hate to think that Roxas is in the dark about it all. I worry that he won't be able to properly integrate with Sora as his other half without knowing the truth. I know so much about Sora already, and being what I am, I'd like to meet his Nobody."
"You haven't met Roxas? What about Castle Oblivion?"
"Roxas was never there. He never left the World that Never Was once Xemnas took him there."
"He's kind of boring, anyway. At least now. There's always the alternate Twilight Town. He's still there. You just can't tell him anything."
"I've talked to DiZ about it. He's expressly forbidden it."
Riku snickered.
"You're a good girl, Naminé. I wouldn't have even bothered to ask.
Naminé sighed. She ruffled her long, blonde hair.
"Let's eat, huh?" she said. "DiZ wants us both in bed early. Tomorrow's an important day."
"What's tomorrow?"
"Roxas's heart has touched Sora's. He's been having those momentary blackouts. DiZ suspects tomorrow will be his Awakening."
"His Awakening? What do you mean?"
"Sora had one, too. An awakening as a Keyblade master. It's when the Keyblade officially chooses you as its master. Roxas has never had one being so disconnected from Sora. Now that their hearts are in touch . . ."
"Oh."
Naminé smiled.
"You never had one, either."
"No."
"Your heart has been too lost and confused in the darkness. You've been a master of shadows, working and living within them. You can wield one because you're meant to, but you haven't become a master of the Keyblade yet. You haven't found a way to walk in the light."
Riku dropped his head toward the floor. Naminé grabbed the food containers from the table.
"Don't worry about that," she said. "You wouldn't be able to wield one at all if the light were gone. The Keyblade still recognizes your heart. It just knows you aren't ready yet. When you are, the Keyblade will let you know."
Riku nodded.
-----0-----
Riku woke the following morning and headed down to the computer room as usual. He grabbed the only remaining paper bag and thermos, said a brief morning greeting to DiZ, and sat in the back corner to eat. This was the morning routine now that DiZ had shoved him away from the monitor, choosing to observe Roxas's interactions himself since Riku had already screwed up his job more than DiZ would have ever liked to allow.
"You might have to head into the system again today if his Awakening does not intervene," said DiZ. "Hayner has obtained 5000 munny from his uncle in an attempt to make up for yesterday's failed trip to the beach."
"They're trying to go to the beach again?" said Riku.
"It appears so."
"That kid has a one-track mind. When do you need me to head in?"
"I wouldn't worry about it just yet. Hayner has just left Roxas a note at their spot. Olette has dragged Pence off to go shopping. Roxas just woke up a few minutes ago."
Riku nodded.
"So if his Awakening occurs, he might miss the beach trip anyway?"
"That's right."
"Okay. So . . . right now all is quiet in the alternate Twilight Town?"
"Not exactly. Roxas saw Naminé when he awoke, though he, of course, does not know it was her."
"What do you mean he saw Naminé?"
"Exactly what I've said. He saw Naminé. I'm attempting to discern why—she's not programmed into the system—but I can't find any evidence that the system has been tampered with. It came from within, so it has nothing to do with Organization XIII. Have you seen Naminé this morning?"
"No. I saw her last night, but . . . Didn't you see her when she brought in breakfast?"
"It was here when I arrived."
Riku frowned.
"You don't think she's up to something, do you?"
"I don't try to understand the workings of teenage girl Nobody's mind. Now what's going on?"
Riku got to his feet, food and coffee abandoned. He joined DiZ by the screens and found Roxas in Market Street at Station Heights with Pence and Olette. His friends were frozen, and then Naminé was there, walking up to him. DiZ banged the computer and started pressing a lot of keys.
"What is going on?" said DiZ.
Riku cocked his head.
"Hello, Roxas," said Naminé.
"Why is Naminé in the system?" said Riku. "Why did Pence and Olette freeze?"
"I don't know. I didn't do it," said DiZ.
"Eh . . . Hi . . ." said Roxas.
Riku almost groaned. If he hadn't seen any proof that Roxas was actually Sora before, there it was in the slight blush. The almost shy voice as the pretty girl actually looked at and spoke to him. This Roxas and Naminé thing was Sora and Kairi all over again, and Naminé just stood there, smiling like he wasn't tripping over his own tongue.
"And you are . . .?" said Roxas.
He even bent his head forward in her direction with an almost stupid smile on his face for half a second. Naminé held up her hand as if to block him from coming any closer. Riku snorted.
"Dissed and dismissed," said Riku.
"This isn't a joking matter," said DiZ. He was still mashing keys. "I can't access Naminé. I can't even access the entry points to be checked. Everything is locked down."
"I wanted to meet you at least once," said Naminé.
"I told her no," said DiZ. "Why won't that girl listen to anything I tell her?"
Riku frowned. If the computer was locked down and Naminé has somehow found her way inside it . . . Maybe it had been a bad idea to call Naminé a good girl. He sincerely hoped that last night's conversation had nothing to do with Naminé's sudden desire to pop into the alternate world against DiZ's orders. She wanted Roxas to know all about Sora. That couldn't happen. Riku couldn't track Roxas down again if he ran off, and if he started causing problems in the alternate world, Riku couldn't keep beating him to the point of unconsciousness.
"She can't tell him anything he ought not know," said DiZ. "We have to get her out of there."
"Send me in," said Riku. "I'll get her to come out."
DiZ's eyes glared at him through the dark red bandages.
"I can't access the data machine through the system. You're her friend. Did you know anything about this?"
Not this exactly, Riku thought. He shook his head.
"Nothing."
That was all Naminé had said, however. That she wanted to meet him. She just walked away, leaving Roxas alone, confused, and actually scratching his head in wonderment. The parallels between Roxas and Sora was impossible to miss at this point, and Riku almost laughed again, his attention drifting from where it should be—concern over Naminé's presence in the computer—to amusement at Roxas's distress. He even got the bright idea that he ought to go off to the haunted mansion (DiZ's mansion, in the real Twilight Town) and ran off into the woods.
His amusement faltered. DiZ banged the desk again as Dusks appeared on screen.
"Organization miscreants! What is Naminé doing?"
It was through a lot of confusion and data rapidly racing across the screen that Riku watched Roxas run from the Dusks all the way to the Sandlot. Seifer and his friends were already there, and when Roxas ran by, Riku's momentary panic faltered as Seifer called out, "Chicken wuss."
"Thanks for the comic relief," said Riku.
"I'm glad you're so easily amused," said DiZ.
The Dusks entered the Sandlot not far behind Roxas. Seifer and his friends prepared to fight, too, as Roxas grabbed one of the Struggle clubs, but the weapon had no effect. Riku on instinct looked at the Keyblade by the data machine, not that they could send it to him anyway with the data machine out of commission. DiZ was practically pounding the keys now, attempting to control something—probably anything—in the computer, but it was futile. Then, just as Olette and Pence had done, Seifer and his gang froze. Somewhere from up above, Naminé walked to a ledge and shouted down.
"Roxas! Use the Keyblade!"
It would've been a fantastic idea, except the Keyblade couldn't be sent to him. Naturally, as unusual as things were today, it appeared anyway, within his hands, gone from the computer room. Roxas held it out before him, and then he was nowhere to be found. Naminé disappeared from the system.
"What happened?" said Riku. "Where did they go?"
DiZ sighed. He stopped pressing keys and leaned away from the monitor.
"Roxas is lost to us," said DiZ. "Only the Keyblade can reach him now."
Riku frowned.
"What do you . . . You mean the Awakening? Now?"
"His heart called the Keyblade to him. It's only natural. As for Naminé, I can only guess. I hope she is keeping an eye on the state of Roxas's heart. If he is lost to the darkness during his Awakening . . ."
"How can he be lost to the darkness?" said Riku. "I thought the Awakening was the Keyblade choosing him as a master. He should be within the light."
"Roxas is a Nobody. He is the remains after Sora temporarily fell into darkness. A Nobody has never had an Awakening before. Sora walked into the light, but a Nobody could easily fall away from existence into nothing. Naminé needs to prevent that from happening by pulling him back toward Sora."
"But Naminé's a Nobody. Wouldn't she fall into the darkness, too?"
"Naminé is not like other Nobodies."
DiZ hit the desk again. Riku sighed.
It felt like a very long time that Riku waited and nothing happened on the screen. Then out of nowhere, Sora's progress leaped four percentiles. DiZ looked up in alarm.
"Find Naminé," he said. "Find her now."
Riku didn't bother to question. He headed off toward the room where Sora slept, but DiZ shook his head.
"Check her room," said DiZ. "She works on the restoration there."
The urgency in DiZ's voice set him in motion. He practically ran up the stairs and out of the library, across the balcony, and slid open the door to Naminé's room. What he saw there made a weak feeling in his legs spread through his muscles for a second. It was her room, only it wasn't. The drawings were gone. It was hazy, like the same blinding light that had almost destroyed him on the fake Destiny Islands in Castle Oblivion. As he stepped through the doorway the same disconnected feeling he got when transferred through the computer washed over him. The balcony through the open door disappeared. The door itself was gone, too, and there was Roxas to the side, staring at Naminé, who was sitting up on a ledge.
"Roxas . . ." said Naminé. "Do you remember your true name?"
In blind panic, Riku darted to her side and grabbed her by the upper arm before this could continue. Roxas couldn't know. DiZ was going to kill him. Roxas could know, Roxas couldn't know, and Roxas couldn't know.
"Say no more, Naminé," is what Riku actually managed to say. In this odd space that was and wasn't Naminé's room, their voice echoed strangely from the walls.
"But if no one tells him, Roxas will . . ."
"It's best he doesn't know the truth."
"Hey!" said Roxas. He pointed defiantly at Riku. "You're that pickpocket!"
For the love of . . . Riku held a hand out. There was no time to knock him out and take him down to DiZ. Organization XIII had found a way into the access points, and the Dusks were still infiltrating. He concentrated hard on where Roxas had been left—back in the Sandlot—and opened a portal. Roxas jumped and backed away from it, but before he could dash off, Riku dropped his grip on Naminé and walked forward. Roxas fell through the portal before he ever realized Riku had been the one to push him.
Riku sighed. He turned back to Naminé, only slightly aware that the room was back to normal. The pictures were there again. Sounds, their voices sounded almost muted after the empty, hollow, echo before.
"What was that?" said Riku.
Naminé turned her back on him walked to the other end of the room.
"I can't believe you did that," she said.
"Naminé, Roxas can't know."
"He has to know! If he doesn't, he might reject Sora. If he doesn't know . . ."
"He rejected Sora anyway. DiZ says . . ."
"DiZ says what? I thought you were the one who told me you wouldn't even bother with what DiZ says! I wanted to see him, and he has to know."
"It was reckless! What if he hadn't been able to call the Keyblade? What if he tried to go to the beach and I couldn't get in to stop him?"
"I thought you understood. I thought . . . you know, what, Riku? I'm sure DiZ needs you, and I don't want to talk to you right now so you might as well just go."
Naminé pointed toward the door. Riku sighed.
"Naminé . . ."
"I don't want to talk about it."
Riku sighed. He spared one last look at her before making the long return walk to the computer room. DiZ didn't even move at his entrance.
"Roxas is back. He and his friends are in an argument about the missed trip to the beach. However, I can access the system again. Did he learn anything from Naminé?"
Riku hung his head.
"No. I stopped it."
"Good."
"So what happened?" said Riku. "How did you know she was here?"
"Sora's progress was so quick I simply assumed Roxas must have been nearby. The Awakening played a part, of course."
Riku looked at the screen covered in Sora's restoration progress as it announced he was up to forty-eight percent.
"Was that Naminé made of data?" said Riku.
"No . . . Naminé hijacked the data herself. Look what she's done now . . . She's totally beyond my control!"
DiZ slammed the desk with his fist. Again.
"Calm down."
"It doesn't matter. As long as Naminé accomplishes her goal we needn't worry about what befalls Roxas."
-----0-----
It seemed that Riku was just pissing people off and losing friends all around these days. He lost his family. He lost Sora. He lost Kairi. Cloud was practically untouchable since the World that Never Was, the same place had made an enemy out of Roxas. He couldn't just call up the Hollow Bastion crew, especially after Sora was awake. He pushed Leon away, and now Naminé was mad at him. She stayed that way for the remainder of the day. The only person he hadn't upset or pissed off in one way or another seemed to be DiZ. This was less horrific than Riku thought it would be. He supposed he might be getting used to it.
The next morning Riku walked into the computer room. Naminé was there already, handing DiZ his breakfast. She glanced at him as he entered, handed him his bag and drink, and walked out of the room. Riku sighed.
Once again, like Kairi, Naminé sure could hold onto a grudge for a few days. If she was anything like Kairi, though, it should blow over by this afternoon. He hoped Naminé held true to his comparison.
"What's going on today?" said Riku, looking in the bag at the banana and sandwich. "No impending beach trips, I hope."
"Struggle," said DiZ.
"Really?"
Ever since he first learned about the alternate Twilight Town, Riku looked forward to watching the Struggle. This was action. This was something that wasn't completely boring, and he'd just love to see Seifer get wailed on by Roxas again. Sure, he didn't fight nearly the way he did in the World that Never Was, but he was still pretty damn good, and Seifer really had it coming to him.
"They're listening to the rules now," said DiZ.
Riku picked a spot on the floor by DiZ where the screens were still within view. He absently peeled his banana, focused on the events. Fireworks sounded high in the sky as the commentator looked at Hayner, Seifer, Vivi, and Roxas. The crowd cheered loudly, whistling and catcalling. Hayner and Roxas were slated to go head to head first, which was apparently a big deal to Pence and Olette because after the incident in the Sandlot yesterday and the second missed beach trip, Roxas and Hayner had some sort of disagreement. Roxas was still deeply troubled by it. Riku thought Hayner was a little weird about how much he really wanted to go to that beach.
They looked ridiculous. Velcro strapped to their bodies, and attached to it these big, silly-looking balls that were called orbs for the sake of the tournament. The goal was to knock off as many orbs on the opposition as possible and the one with the most remaining at the end won. Riku was reconsidering how cool he thought the Struggle might be. Still . . . it sure beat picture thieves and poster duty.
Roxas and Hayner faced one another in the arena. Hayner looked ready to rumble like the bad boy he thought he was. Roxas looked like he might cry. This friendship was severely bizarre. He hoped that since Roxas was Sora in this duo, he was not Hayner. If Riku ever made a face like that in his life, someone really should have shot him.
"Hey . . ." said Roxas. "Sorry about yesterday."
Hayner dropped his fighting stance.
"What, you still worried about that? You need to learn to let that stuff go."
Riku clutched his chest.
"Holy shit, he said something intelligent!"
DiZ spared Riku a glance akin to amusement.
"I've got a lot on my mind," said Roxas.
"Sorry, man," said Hayner. There was a short pause. "Wait, what am I sorry for?"
He grinned. Roxas stopped looking like someone shot his dog. Riku sighed as both boys finally took fighting stances on opposite sides of the fighting ring.
"Our first match of today's Struggle tournament will be between Roxas and his best friend Hayner!" said the announcer.
It was a pitiful fight. Roxas, with his renewed appreciation for his friendship with Hayner, annihilated him. Out of the one-hundred orbs they started with, Hayner ended up with seventeen. Roxas only lost twenty. Seifer matched off against Vivi, but Vivi completely assaulted him. Riku's hopes and dreams of watching Roxas cream Seifer vanished as all one-hundred orbs fell off in the first twenty seconds. Seifer only got one hit in.
As Seifer came off the fighting ring, he paused before Roxas.
"That's not Vivi," said Seifer.
"Huh?" said Roxas.
"Thrash 'im."
Seifer headed off.
"What a sore loser," said Riku.
He wished he would have taken the comment more to heart. Roxas paired off against Vivi. The fight was brutal, almost vicious, and Riku sat closer to watch the exchange.
"Something's not right," said DiZ.
At the end of the time, Roxas won, but as the crowd cheered, everyone froze. Everyone except Roxas and Vivi, who stood there blinking for a few seconds, then there was a Dusk in his place.
"Again?" said Roxas.
"Oh for the love of . . ." said Riku.
More Dusks appeared in the area. They didn't even need to send the Keyblade; Roxas's heart called it to him.
"Again. . ." said Roxas for the second time as the Keyblade materialized there.
"Organization miscreants!" said DiZ.
He slammed the desk. Again.
Riku watched as Roxas battled the Dusks. DiZ hit about a thousand keys per second, but Riku's eyes were glued to the screen. When the Dusks were gone, Roxas stood there panting for a few seconds. The sound of clapping caught his attention, but Riku was already there, focused on the hooded, cloaked figure that was not him. Riku recognized that coding.
"Roxas. All right. Fight fight fight." The man approached Roxas. "You really don't remember? It's me." He threw back his hood to expose that wildly spiked, vivid red hair. "You know, Axel."
"Axel?" said Roxas.
God, the boy was clueless.
"Get over here," said DiZ. Riku stood and rushed to his side. "They have the Sandlot all blocked out. We need to hack in. I can't get in myself so we have to send a data-based projection. We don't have much time."
"But I . . ."
"Do it!"
"Talk about blank with a capital 'B,'" said Axel. "Man oh man, even the Dusks aren't gonna crack this one."
Two chakrams appeared in flames. Axel caught them in his hands.
"Wait a sec," said Roxas, "tell me what's going on!"
"This town is his creation, right?" Axel looked around. "Which means we don't have time for a Q & A."
"He knows," said Riku. "He knows about us."
"Hurry," said DiZ.
"You're coming with me," said Axel, "conscious or not. Then you'll hear the story."
Riku took over DiZ's place at the monitor. Hack in, he said. It was harder than it sounded, but Riku didn't bother even trying tell DiZ that. He plugged away at the computer. Axel seemed to have noticed, made some sound of recognition, and without realizing it gave Riku the determination to keep going. He was, at least, getting somewhere.
"What's going on!?" Roxas demanded, throwing the Keyblade away. It reappeared in his hands. Roxas had anger issues.
"Number thirteen," said Axel. "Roxas. The Keyblade's chosen one."
Axel remained in fighting stance.
"Okay, fine! You asked for it!"
Riku ignored the fight, focused on cracking into the system. Sometime through it, DiZ appeared within the computer, only DiZ was still standing beside him. The projection must have worked. He motioned for Riku to move from the computer, so he stood, choosing a spot behind DiZ; Riku sighed. He only needed to watch now.
"So it was you," said Axel, noting DiZ's presence.
The look on Roxas's face as he stared at DiZ was priceless. Riku was sure Sora would make the same astonished face if a caped man with a bandaged face ever showed up on Destiny Islands. Axel, however, glowered, still in fighting stance, and threw both chakrams at DiZ. They rebounded when they neared off some invisible wall. DiZ seemed unconcerned about the attack. He turned away.
"Roxas, this man speaks nonsense!" said DiZ.
"Roxas, don't let him deceive you!" said Axel.
"Roxas!"
"Roxas!"
Axel and the projection continued to call out Roxas's name. He back away, and from the look of it, on the brink of losing his mind. DiZ typed away at the computer, attempting to delete the projection as Roxas covered his ears, muttering his friends' names under his breath as if to keep his focus and block out the weird things happening to him.
"What's going on?" said Riku.
"He's trying to expel the projection and that Organization fool from the system. He's trying to make it all go right," said DiZ.
"Is it working?"
Roxas shouted his friends' names, face toward the sky. The projection and Axel were gone. Everything unfroze, and Vivi was back to normal.
"Yes," said DiZ.
-----0-----
Riku thought Axel would be the high point of the day. He was calm when Naminé brought lunch around mid-afternoon, and calmed further when she briefly touched his shoulder and offered her apologies. Roxas won the match against Setzer and obtained this lame trophy with four little crystals on it. Late afternoon, Roxas and his friends went to the clock tower where Roxas proceeded to disassemble the lame trophy, giving one of each crystal to his friends.
They did this bizarre little thing where they all held them up the light like sun shining through a colored, semi-transparent rock was the most fascinating thing in the world. Riku imagined Twilight Town ranked high in the worst world to originate from ever. His suspicions were only confirmed when Olette gave them each a sea-salt ice cream bar.
It all happened so fast Riku never saw it coming. One second Roxas was sitting there accepting his ice cream and looking at the light through his stupid blue crystal, and then he was standing, teetering on the edge of the clock tower. He fell, and Riku was only aware of one thing. If he hit bottom, he was dead, and if he was dead, no Sora.
But Roxas didn't fall fast. His speed slowed, almost graceful, and thoughts of Naminé drifted through his mind. DiZ didn't even move, didn't press any keys as he watched with a look of high interest—no worry. Then the most unexpected voice made itself present.
"Who are you?" she said. "And that's not my name. I'm Kairi."
It resonated strong with Sora's heart. His percentage went up by two in that second. Roxas's speed slowed further.
"Kairi . . ." said Roxas. "I know you. You're that girl he likes."
"Who?" said Kairi. "Please, a name!"
Riku stared, unable to move as Kairi and Roxas communicated through the system in a way that made DiZ actually cock his head to the side in intrigue. The reality of her words only cut deeper. She couldn't remember Sora, either, but Sora remembered her. His progress climbed again.
"I'm Roxas."
"Okay, Roxas, but can you tell me his name?"
Riku couldn't stop the snicker. Kairi got right to the point, didn't she?
"You don't remember my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi."
Riku could've fainted dead away. DiZ clicked at the keyboard.
"Get into the system," said DiZ. "I'll have Naminé modify his memory. Doubtless he'll survive the fall, but do get him home, won't you?"
Riku gave the screens a longing look, no longer able to see what words passed between Kairi, Roxas, and Sora. He walked to the data machine. Get Roxas home. He had a job to do, but that didn't stop the voice in the back of his mind whispering to him. That was Sora's voice. That was what Sora sounded like. It was the first time he had heard it since the door to darkness closed with him behind it.
With Roxas back at home and the memories of Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette modified, Riku walked into the computer room, tossing the blue crystal. He wasn't quite sure why he nabbed the crystal. Maybe it just got on his nerves. Maybe he just wanted Roxas to have it back once he was part of Sora again. The computer announced Sora's progress had climbed to seventy-nine percent—thirty-one percentiles in a day.
"His progress is astounding," said DiZ.
"So, what happened?"
Riku caught the crystal, paused, and slid it in the munny pouch he refused to delete, keeping it out of DiZ's view.
"Naminé's encounter with Roxas put his heart in contact with Kairi's. And that, in turn, affected Sora. You see?"
"Naminé . . ." said Riku. "She's a wonder."
"She wasn't born like other Nobodies. She can interfere with the hearts and memories of Sora and those aligned with him."
Yes, Riku knew this. Sometimes he thought DiZ just liked to show off how much he knew about everything.
"But whose Nobody is she?"
"I could tell you . . . But first, perhaps you could tell me your true name?"
Riku was thrown. There had been so much going on the past few days that he hardly had time to think about the Ansem debacle. He just knew to keep his hood up and ignore the voice. They were just talking about Roxas. Axel actually talked to Roxas today, and then the fall off the clock tower . . . it was all so much.
It had to come to this eventually, though, didn't it? What was his true name? The answer that most easily came to his lips was Riku, but that wasn't who he was. Not to the outside world. Even Cloud could hear the difference in the voice, see the difference in appearance. He was Riku on the inside, but on the outside . . . he just wasn't Riku anymore, couldn't hide this anymore.
Maybe it was just that day. Maybe it was the whole week. Maybe this was going to be how he was forever, thrown off his game just when he thought there was a routine to fall into.
Riku took down the hood, and the answer slid off his tongue with more ease than he ever thought possible.
"It's Ansem."
DiZ smiled. He had the audacity to laugh.
"It's an honor, Ansem!"
Riku felt that somehow he missed the joke.
Riku did not give me trouble. Good boy.
Replies next time. I am horribly depressed. I want CloudxRiku to read, but LeonxRiku (and the dreaded RikuxSora, of course) seems to be where it's at these days, so alas...
I could write more, but it just requires too much brainpower.
Off to get out of my pajamas. One should not spend eight waking hours in their pajamas on one's day off. Think I may also plot a short. Something funny. I could use funny right now.
Please excuse me. There is nothing really wrong. Am just not in a good effing mood today.
All my love.
-D