Chapter 7

Riku wandered aimlessly around the little island composed of his childhood memories. He had discovered in recent months that these memories had the strange property of cleansing a persons heart and mind of dark and troubling thoughts. It was where the heart of his replica, who Sora had nicknamed "Kodomorashi," dwelled. Riku was simply trying to ease his own thoughts, and had been drawn to this place in the hope that these memories had that same effect.

It had helped a little. His mind was clearer and more able to process the thoughts now, but he was still troubled by them. He had been sent out to the realm of Darkness to seek out a keyblade wielder but had only slowed them down because he got injured. He was very much aware of what had been happening in the waking world, and that he was almost cured at the hands of Aqua, but it had also led to these concerned thoughts.

War was imminent. People were at risk of getting hurt and dying, and yet, the only adept healers Riku knew of in the army of light were Mickey and Yen Sid. The army was going to need more than those two, especially since Mickey was going to be in the fray himself. He had decided to insist that Mickey and Yen Sid train every warrior in the healing arts in the hope of preventing casualties. But how receptive would they be, and how well would these prospective warriors learn in such a short time. More so, where were they going to recruit these warriors?

A whining cry broke the silence. It sounded... vaguely familiar. Standing still and silent, he strained his ears to listen again. There it was, louder this time.

"Who's there?" Riku exclaimed. In response, a brightly colored, round creature bounded out of the nearby brush and leaped on Riku, giving him affectionate, slobbery kisses. It was a Meow Wow, one of the creatures that had been both his opponents and allys in the Sleeping Worlds he had visited with Sora during their Mark of Mastery exam. This particular one he recognized as Sora's, the same one who had led him to where he had been trapped, asleep, in the World that Never Was.

"Ok, that's enough, I know you're happy to see me, but knock it off!" Riku said, laughing, as he tried to pry the Meow Wow off him so he could stand up.

"So that's where you ran off to..." Another voice, this one also extremely familiar, came from the same brush the Meow Wow just escaped from. Riku's replica, Kodomorashi.

"Why are there Dream Eaters here?" Riku asked his counterpart in disbelief.

"Oh, they're not exactly real..." Kodomorashi-Riku explained. "They're just an embodiment of your memories. Make nice companions too..."

"I get the point, I should talk to you more often..." Riku said, exasperated. "My mind's just been more focused on other things lately..."

"I understand. I actually brought them here in the hope of presenting an idea to you..."

"Dream Eaters? How are they going to help with our current situation?" Riku asked.

"Just remember this... in the Sleeping Worlds, the Dream Eaters were dangerous opponents... however, you discovered another thing about them too. That you could tame them and turn them into allies..."

"Heartless wouldn't be so simple..."

"Heartless ally themselves with whoever is strongest, and they would make a far better ally than opponent, trust me. Make the army of Light strong enough, and naturally, the Heartless will no longer be a threat. Nobodies are a different story though. They're smart, you've seen the cunning of Organization XIII in action . I can imagine there must be nobodies out there who can see through Xehanort's ambition, and would sooner ally themselves with the army of Light. Think of Roxas, Axel, and Namine."

"All of them have become human again..."

"That's not my point..." Kodomorashi-Riku said, chuckling slightly. "What I was trying to say was that they all saw through Xehanort's ambition before the end, and had allied themselves with the Light, however briefly. There must be other Nobodies still alive out there, who want to ally themselves with someone other than Xehanort and Organization XIII."

"You think... we should recruit Nobodies! It sounds lik a good plan except... How do we distinguish those with pure intention from the imposters?"

"Time will tell in that matter. Even those you believe to be enemies may see reason before long..."

XXXXXXXX

"His fever's finally broken..." Lea said, laying a gentle hand on Riku's forehead. "But, I don't understand. Shouldn't he have woken up by now."

"Give him time, Kupo. He's probably worn out. It takes a lot of energy to drive out a sickness, and blood poisoning's not an easy thing to recover from as it is, even with medicine."

Aqua had brought the Moogle with her to the small house they were hidden in. It had turned out that the creature was trapped in this realm too, and had been seeking out an escape for close to three years now. Allowing it to return with them to the realm of Light was the least Aqua could do after it had saved Riku's life. The aura of pure relief was evident in the creature's behavior.

"Well, can't we use Elixir or something to replenish his energy? We need to get out of here soon. This endless exposure to Darkness can't be doing any of us good."

"I looked, there's not a single drop to spare in this small village." Aqua said. "Though I agree with the Moogle, let him recover his strength naturally. It'll be better for all of us in the long run. And stop being so impatient." Aqua added as an afterthought. "Remember that the three of us have been in this realm for far longer than you. Riku's been here three days longer, the Moogle's been here for three years, and I've been here for close to eleven. I don't think another day or two is going to kill us."

Lea's face soured. "Fine. But don't expect me to hang around if you guys wanna traipse in Darkness again..."

Aqua just laughed, deciding not to remind Lea that he was in the realm of Darkness by his own actions. He was just as hotheaded as she remembered him, and knew how easily his pride could get burned.

End of Chapter 7

A.N: On inner-story canon:

1) Kodomorashi-Riku: In the first installment of the "Bait" series, after a brief encounter, Sora gives Repliku the nickname "Kodomorashi," meaning "childlike" or "innocent." The reason is because, in the "Bait" series' inner canon, Repliku was crafted using Riku's childhood memories, and his personality reflects such. Repliku is idealistic, loyal, and a little naive, much like Riku was in Birth By Sleep. That doesn't mean that Repliku isn't smart or mature enough however, as we come to discover time and again that Repliku is a massive source of advice and emotional/moral support for Riku throughout the series.

2) Lea and Riku: In the Kingdom Hearts series, you don't really see a lot of interaction between Axel/Lea and Riku, the only moment being that one in Dream Drop Distance where Lea corrects Riku about his name. "No, I already told you, my name is... fine, Axel, whatever..." I continue to get the impression that Lea and Riku must be in a "frenemies" type of relationship. Lea, being older than Riku, probably resents the fact that Riku is a master while he is only a novice, meaning that Riku probably plays a part in training Lea. It's comparable to being babysat by your youngest sibling. But at the same time, Lea cares a great deal about Riku because he is close to Sora, who is the "somebody" of Roxas, and knows that Riku will not allow Sora to come to harm while he still lives.