Chapter 2

Aqua's eyes widened at the mention of the word "comrades," in them reflected the familiar flicker of painful memories many said Riku himself wore.

"Ven? Terra? You mean... they found a way?"

"That's why we need you. My master says only you know the exact location where one of your friends sleep. I have a friend, he may hold the secret to waking him up."

Riku saw true happiness flicker across Aqua's face briefly as she contemplated all that this new information meant. Then it went back to the same serene, haunted expression she wore most often.

"Wait... I get the impression we've met before."

Riku could remember it too, though the memory had been pushed far back in his mind for a long time. It all came flooding back, the time where those three strange visitors came to the islands. One of them had given Riku the ability to wield a Keyblade.

"Yes, it was you, and another little boy, on an island where star-shaped fruit grow."

Sora. Paopu fruit. Two things he didn't want mentioned in the same sentence as himself. Especially after one bad drug-induced encounter at Disney Castle months ago.

"I must say, you've grown into a handsome young man. And your friend, what has become of him?"

"Sora? He's grown up a lot since then too. There's something... special about him. He has this way of bringing the brightness out in nearly everyone he meets."

Aqua laughed. "I suspected as much, he was a splitting image of Ventus when I met him." Her expression darkened again. "Do you really think he can save him?"

There was no time to speculate, as suddenly a mass of 50 or so heartless swarmed out of nowhere, attacking at random.

"A swarm!" Aqua exclaimed, summoning her own Keyblade as Riku did likewise, ready to take out the fray.

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"But it's been three days, Master! How do we know Riku hasn't been taken hostage by the Organization again?"

Sora was becoming increasingly impatient, every day without his best friend's presence at his side was now a cause for alarm. He had become extremely overprotective of Riku ever since an Organization member named Xigbar turned rogue and stabbed him with a prototype of a Draining Blade. Riku had nearly died from the efforts of removing a mere fragment of it from his body. Though Sora had been put through psychological training alongside his usual sparring and magic sessions, it had done little to ease the anxiety he felt whenever Riku was involved.

"Sora! You need to focus on maintaining your calm in times like this." Yen Sid admonished gently. "Use that connection you both share, can you sense any distress from him?"

Sora tried to calm down and focus his energy on the connection. He could feel no pain, panic, distress, nor the hazy feeling he'd experience if Riku had been drugged or rendered unconsious. Just a sensation he could only describe as... an adrenaline rush. Riku must have been in combat, but not in any danger.

"There, did you feel anything?" Yen Sid asked when Sora returned his thoughts to the here and now.

"Nothing to get freaked out over..." Sora replied sheepishly.

"Very good. Next time, try to focus on your connection should you feel that anxiety start to grow again. You know I would have sent someone to find him by now if I suspected anything out of the ordinary, you have nothing to fear."

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"I think... that was... all of them..." Aqua panted as she let her Keyblade vanish. It was a difficult battle, but not an unusual one.

"Yes, I can't detect any more...AHN!" Riku suddenly cried out and fell to his knees, clutching his left arm. Aqua ran to his side.

"Are you all right?" She asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, it's n-nothing..." he answered.

Lifting his hand, he found that one of the heartless, a lancer most likely, had struck him and left a deep gash on his upper arm. He hadn't even felt it until just now. He gave the injury no thought, simply reaching in his pocket and retrieving a length of black cloth- the blindfold he had worn while trying to suppress his inner darkness years back. He now used it to bind the wound, then forced himself to drink a potion.

Shuddering from both the pain in his arm and the vile taste of the potion, Riku stood up, holding out a hand to Aqua and helping her to her feet.

"Come on, it's going to take a couple days, but let's get out of here..."

End of Chapter 2