Chapter 22.

She saw him for the first time- the old man with the dark ambition. His face was currently twisted in a look of contempt as he admonished Ansem for allowing his preferred vessel to slip out of their grasp. Ansem himself wore a look of thinly-concealed rage, and Maleficent knew it was only a matter of time before he took his aggressions out. She felt grateful knowing that Riku wasn't there to be the target of the sadistic man's rage.

She had borne the brunt of Ansem's temper as soon as he learned of Riku's escape, which was why she was covered in bruises right now. However, she made her plea before the beatings even began, so he had purposefully spared her serious injury so she could still be a suitable vessel if Xehanort accepted the offer.

The old man had risen from his seat after he finished giving Ansem admonishment, circling around Maleficent and studying her intently. She hated the feel of the man's piercing gaze upon her, it made her feel like an animal being appraised for slaughter.

"It's lucky for both of you that she is in top physical condition..." Xehanort said as he continued to study Maleficent. "Or valuable time would've been wasted trying to relocate Sora or Riku. Shame though, she doesn't have as much potential with Darkness as either of those children had..." Maleficent shot Xehanort a filthy look and snarled at him, not liking the way he sneered at her abilities. "She'll do. Might as well get started at once, we've wasted enough time trying to procure my preferred vessel."

Ansem shoved Maleficent to her knees, facing Xehanort directly. The man was still sneering as he summoned his Keyblade. Maleficent just looked defiantly at him, though in reality, her heart was pounding in terrified anticipation.

So it all ends here. She thought as Xehanort called forth a fragment of his Heart and shot it at her. Riku, you and your friends have to defeat Xehanort. It doesn't matter whether he's allied with Darkness or Light- this man is bad news. Everything as we know it will end if his ambition succeeds.

Then pure blackness engulfed her as her body absorbed Xehanort's Heart.

XXXXXXXX

"Riku, don't you remember me?"

Fate had afforded to give Riku one peaceful dream to break the several nights of horrible nightmares. His mind was now invaded with images of the strange dark-haired girl he had encountered in Sora's dream. A glimmer of faint recognition flashed at the edge of Riku's mind, but he just had no idea where he had encountered her before the journey into Sora's dream.

"Who are you?" He asked her.

The girl began to cry.

"No! Please don't!" He pleaded as he ran to her side, scooping her up in his arms and cradling her gently. "Don't cry! I'm sorry if I offended you..." The girl just gripped the sleeves of Riku's tunic and nuzzled her face into the fabric.

"I can't even remember who I am..." She whispered. "All I know is I fell for you when I lived... You treated me with so much kindness despite what I did to Sora..."

Riku's face clouded into a look of confusion. "I don't understand. What did you do to Sora?"

She began to cry again as she stammered out her confession. "I held onto pieces of his memories, and I was too afraid to let them go!"

"Hey, hey! Easy! Don't beat yourself up! Sora got his memories back, he's..." Riku froze in the middle of his words. He was about to tell this strange girl that Sora was ok when in fact he was not. Sora was gone, and he couldn't bring himself to admit it to himself. Now it was his turn to start crying.

"Are you ok?" The girl asked, looking into Riku's face intently.

"I-im fine!" he stammered, wiping his eyes on his arm. The girl just continued to look at him and suddenly closed the distance between the two of them, taking him in a deep kiss.

"You look like you've been holding a lot in..." She said as she released him. Riku held the girl closer to him in response. She was now splayed on top of him, one knee between his legs. Suddenly he let out a sharp gasp. He did not realize how much this girl's presence was turning him on until he felt her thigh brush against his arousal. Holding a lot in indeed, he thought as the girl shifted her position, causing her to brush against him repeatedly, making him harder with each movement. He had to stop his hand, which he noticed was creeping upward to cup the girl's breast. He was too late to hide his feelings, as the girl suddenly spoke.

"What are you thinking about, Riku?" Her voice had taken on a sultry cadence, her face was flushed. The way she said his name was music to his ears.

"Did I fall for you too? When you lived?" His own voice was thick with lust, and he had failed to halt his wandering hand, which was now gently massaging the girl's breast. The girl held a hand to her mouth to stifle a moan, but Riku just pulled it back down with his free hand.

"Don't hold back, you'll only hurt yourself. Besides, you sound cute when you make those sounds..."

"Rikuuu...please..." she pleaded with him, and he noticed she was trying to wriggle out of her cloak. He moved his hand so she could have room to do so, and she slipped out of it quickly.

The girl had nothing on save the pants and boots that came with the Organization cloak underneath, and Riku stared at her in deep appreciation of her beautiful yet delicate form. His hands were back on her quickly, tracing every detail of her, as she shuddered in ecstasy, her hands weaving into his hair, pulling on it lightly.

He halted his hands when they grazed the waistband of her pants, wondering if she would allow him to continue, and was quickly answered with a needy moan as she bucked into his hands. Her own hands were out of his hair and struggling to unbutton the garment. She slipped out of them with a little more struggle than removing her cloak, and now was lying on the sand in nothing but a pair of black panties, panting in anticipation.

Riku lifted the girl into another gentle kiss, distracting her as he slipped his hand beneath the soft fabric, gently exploring the most secret areas of her body. She broke the kiss with a heady moan and bucked even harder into his hand, loving the sensations his fingers created.

"How about this? Does this feel good?" Riku asked as he slipped two fingers inside her. The girl responded with a shrill cry of pleasure.

"M-M-MORE!" The girl exclaimed as he worked on her, clearly wanting more than his hands. Her reactions were sending Riku dangerously close to release himself, without any assistance. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him, and he wasn't about to deny her. He quickly disrobed and positioned himself between her legs. Not wanting to keep her waiting any longer, he slid himself in as gently as possible so he wouldn't hurt her. She instantly let out a shriek of pure ecstasy and clamped tightly around him.

"R-RIKU!" She screamed his name repeatedly as he thrust into her, meeting him in time with each movement, bringing each of them closer to climax, and they came together, the girl screaming Riku's name and Riku letting out a shout of "Gaia!" as they both collapsed on the sand, warming in the sun and the afterglow.

Riku continued to lie on the sand, now fully clothed, long after the girl left his side, and allowed his mind to clear, very much aware that he was dreaming, but wondering why he had that sort of dream- with a girl he didn't know the identity of.

"I'd say the most likely explanation would be you wanted to let off some steam after all the stress you've endured in the recent past..."

Riku jumped upright at the voice, startled to spot Kodomorashi seated on the trunk of the paopu tree, mere feet away from where he and that girl were. Just how long had he been sitting there?

"So... who's the girl?" He asked with a mischievous look in his eye.

End of Chapter 22.

A.N. If you didn't figure it out, the girl Riku dreamed about was Xion. RikuShi is my personal favorite het pairing in the Kingdom Hearts fandom, and I desperately wanted those two to have a moment together, but I felt the only way i could make it work was in a dream. I thought it would make for a somewhat fluffy moment if Xion imprinted herself in Riku's memories somewhere and showed up when he was most in need of relief from pain, stress, or grief.