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Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts (c) Tetsuya Nomura
Claimer: everything else (c) me

Chapter Ten: An Unexpected Visitor

"Wow… this place seems even dustier than before," Sora commented as they proceeded down the stairs into the Cave of Wonders.

"Well what do you think?" Aladdin retorted with a meek smile, "It's not like someone comes down here to clean it, right?"

"That's true," Donald agreed, glancing at Riku's still-worried expression. "Hey Riku, don't worry, Yuki will be fine."

Sora placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Yeah, Donald's right," he agreed. "After all, she still loves you, right? And you still love her?"

The 16-year-old nodded. "But what I'm worried about is her heart," he told him. "She must be in so much confusion and pain."

"But the light of your love should heal her, right?" Sora inquired.

He shrugged. "That was pretty sappy, you sap," he joked, chuckling.

"At least it's good to know that your sense of humour hasn't vanished," Donald said in a positive tone. "Yuki should be fine."

"That's what you think," a deep voice announced, and they all turned in alert to see Organization XIII member Lexaeus.

"It's you," Riku hissed, the 'Way to Dawn' Keyblade appearing in his hand. "Give her back!"

His tomahawk appeared in hand as he argued, "No! She'll leave if she wants to! You can't force her to go back with you!"

"You can't force her to stay with you either!" Sora shouted, his own Keyblade appearing in hand.

"Nobody's forcing her to stay with us!" Lexaeus shouted back, losing his cool, keeping his grip tightly on his tomahawk. "It's not fair that you should try and force her into following you!"

"We're not forcing Yuki to stay with us!" Riku hissed angrily. "It's you that took her with you in the first place!"

The fiery redhead shook his head. "I made her a promise a long time ago!" he shouted.

Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream echoed through the cavern, and almost instantly both Lexaeus and Riku recognized it.

"Yuki!" Riku cried out. "What are you doing to her?!"

Before the Nobody could answer his confusion, another Dark Corridor appeared, and Zexion stepped out, slightly panting.

"Lexaeus," he breathed, before noticing Riku, Sora, Donald and Aladdin. "Hurry, come help me before it's too late. It's Marluxia! He's out of control! He's going to kill Yuki unless we do something, come on!"

Almost instantaneously, Lexaeus followed Zexion through the Dark Corridor and Sora and the gang tried to follow, but it closed before they made it in.

"Dammit, we have to go help her," Riku swore, twisting towards the next door before a bag of crystals fell from his pocket.

"What's this?" Aladdin inquired, picking it up and inspecting it.

"I'm not sure," Sora retorted, taking it from the ex-thief and looking at the clear bag. "Riku, do you know what it is?"

He shook his head. "Yuki must have slipped it into my pocket before she left. I'm not sure what it does," he said, then he growled in frustration, taking the crystal bag and putting it back into his pocket. "Ugh, but that doesn't matter now! We have to save Yuki! You heard what Zexion said; Unless we go to save her, Organization XIII member Marluxia is going to kill her!"

Another bloodcurdling scream filled the air, and they began to run quickly towards the source.

- - -

"Dammit, Marluxia, let her go!" Zexion ordered as Marluxia held his scythe close to Yuki's throat, a trickle of blood fell from her neck. Cuts, burns and bruises covered her body. "What do you want with her anyway?! This wasn't part of Lord Xemnas' plan!"

Marluxia grinned. "All for the sake of revenge," he told him. "I told myself that if I had the chance, I would kill beautiful Yuki… or should I say young Kixyu."

"She did nothing to you," Lexaeus argued. "Just let her go!"

"Zexion…" Yuki whimpered, "Lexaeus…" She knew if she summoned her Keyblade, Marluxia would kill her mercilessly without a second thought.

Marluxia tightened his grip around her, firmly keeping a grip on his scythe. "I'm not sure how you've managed to make about half of the Organization feel like they have a heart, but I'm planning on making sure that the Organization won't be engaged with fools like you any longer."

With that said, he planted a hand firmly on her back, where a dark purple hue began to glow and she screamed, her knees breaking underneath her as he slowly began to kill her, but he held her up.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Lexaeus shouted, "Don't hurt her!"

Taking his hand off her back, her head began to tip against the sharp scythe before she caught herself, her neck just touching the sharp edge.

Zexion and Lexaeus both had their weapons ready, but they both hesitated to use them, knowing that Marluxia wouldn't hesitate to kill Yuki.

"Please… just let her go," Zexion nearly begged.

Soon enough, Riku, Sora, Donald and Aladdin ran into the room.

"Hmph," Marluxia grunted, "It's you again."

"Let Yuki go," Riku hissed threateningly, the Keyblade appearing in his and Sora's hands.

He held the scythe blade closer to her throat in warning.

"Watch it," he warned. "One false move and I slit her throat."

Yuki's terrified eyes met Riku's worry-filled ones, and he knew she was scared. He had rescued her once before when Marluxia had tortured her in Castle Oblivion. She had been a terrified young girl, and she had been gravely injured by him before Riku found, saved, and healed her.

"What do you want, Marluxia?" Riku demanded. "What can you gain from holding her captive?"

Almost instantly, Marluxia began to slowly draw his scythe blade across the base of her throat, slicing open her skin causing her to bleed. Then he pressed his hand against her back once more, this time absorbing her energy, and her eyes began to flutter.

"No!" Donald shouted, and Marluxia soon stopped, taking a moment to adjust to his newfound energy, but that was a wrong move on his part.

Lexaeus tacked Marluxia, and Yuki flew from his arms, crashing and rolling on the ground before stopping against a sand dune. Instantly as Sora, Donald and Aladdin attacked him, Zexion assisting, Riku ran to protect Yuki, kneeling next to her fallen form as he watched the others fight Marluxia while protecting her.

"Give me the girl!" Marluxia hissed, lunging for Yuki as he slipped out of Riku's reach and tackled Yuki from the sand dune, landing on top of her. Poising his scythe, he plunged the end of it into her chest, and she cried out in pain, her power flowing into him.

"Yuki!" Riku shouted, both he and Sora knocking him away with their Keyblades.

"You'll pay for this!" Donald shouted angrily.

Both Zexion and Riku kneeled next to Yuki's side, blood beginning to spill from the wound.

"Yuki, just hold on, 'kay?" Zexion told her quietly, placing a hand over the wound and she gasped in pain before he began to slowly heal her, his hand glowing blue.

In all honestly, Riku was a little surprise at the affection Zexion seemed to hold for her, and watched as the wound began to close while keeping one hand tightly in his. Through his touch, a different kind of healing power flowed into Yuki, healing the rest of her wounds.

"Yuki, come on," Riku coaxed. "Please… you've just gotta be alright."

After Zexion withdrew his hand, he gently took her into his arms, her head resting against his upper arm.

"Yuki, wake up," he ordered quietly, and almost immediately her eyes fluttered open, fluttering azure for a moment before returning to its normal golden.

"Zexion?" she murmured, her gaze turning to Riku, "Riku?"

"Yuki," Riku sighed in relief, gathering her into his arms and holding her tight. "I was so worried. Are you alright?"

She nodded, pulling away and slowly standing, Zexion helping her up. The Keyblade appeared in her hand, tightly in her grip.

"Yuki…" Riku murmured.

Ignoring him, she poised her Keyblade before swiftly charging at Marluxia, before there was a flash of bright light and the next thing they knew, Xigbar stood in Yuki's path, his hand on her arm.

"Hey, girl, it's been awhile, ain't that right, Kixyu?" He greeted. "Just kidding Yuki."

She lowered her Keyblade. "Xigbar…" she murmured with a soft smile. "It's nice to see you again too."

"Ha ha," he replied in a chuckle, giving her a one-armed hug, while the other held one of his Arrowguns. "Right back at ya."

"Xigbar… what are you doing here?" Lexaeus inquired.

Ignoring him, Xigbar glared at Marluxia, still embracing Yuki with his other arm. "The boss would like a word with you, Marluxia. Return To Castle, now. This is currently Zexion and Lexaeus' mission, not yours."

Marluxia poised his scythe threateningly at him. "You really want to challenge me?" he taunted.

In return, Xigbar pointed his Arrowgun at him, releasing Yuki, and the girl ran into Riku's arms, and he held her tight.

"Yuki," he breathed, pressing his lips against her hair.

"No, I'm asking you to RTC," Xigbar sighed, his tone now speaking as if he's repeated this over and over again. "And if you attack me first, I will have no choice but to attack you in return to defend myself and the subject and fellow Organization members that haven't betrayed our main cause."

Marluxia smirked. "You're helping a traitor," he argued with amusement.

"Xigbar…" Yuki said quietly.

He smiled at them with his one good eye before looking back at Marluxia. "What you say is a lie," he challenged hotly, "Yuki is still one of us. She only left because of what you and Larxene did to her, and you both nearly killed her. Because of you, Yuki lost her memories of being one of us. It was only a miracle that Riku saved her in time. She's still one of us, no matter what."

Yuki's fingers clutched on tighter to Riku's white and yellow vest, and his arms tightened around her. He never wanted to let her go again, keeping her taut against his chest. He loved her so much, he didn't want any more harm to come to her.

"Say what you will," Marluxia said, lowering his scythe. "Very well, I will RTC, but don't forget Yuki, I will be watching you closely."

"Just try, Marluxia," Riku spat acidly, keeping her closer against him than ever.

Marluxia disappeared, and Xigbar, Zexion and Lexaeus relaxed their tense positions, allowing their weapons to vanish before turning back to Sora and the others.

"Yuki, are you alright?" Xigbar asked softly.

She nodded. "I-I'm fine, thanks you all of you guys," she replied.

He dipped his head. "Then I'll be taking my leave. See you around, girl. Take good care of yourself," he bid before disappearing.

Very gently, Yuki pulled out of Riku's arms, staring deeply into his worried pale azure eyes.

"Yuki…" he whispered, unsure of how to begin to apologize for hurting her. "I-I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

Softly, she smiled at him, and he kissed her, his arm wrapping around her waist tightly as his other hand was firmly on the back of her head, keeping her face pressed against his.

"I love you, Yuki," he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers as he kept his eyes closed, fearing that if he looked into her eyes, he would only find rejection.

"I love you too, Riku," she murmured back, "so, so much." As she was pulled back tightly against his chest, she looked at Zexion and Lexaeus. "I'm sorry, Zexion, Lexaeus," she apologized. "But my place is here."

Both Organization members gave her a soft smile.

"Don't worry about it, Yuki. We're just glad that you're safe from Marluxia for the time being," Zexion assured.

"But we will miss you," Lexaeus added with a pout.

She smiled at them apologetically. "I'm sorry that things can't go back to the way they used to," she told them. "We were all really close, weren't we..."

They both nodded.

"You'll always have a special place in our hearts… if we had any, that is," Zexion replied. "Until next time, Yuki, we bid you farewell."

The Maiden of Light nodded. "Bye guys," she said softly as they vanished through the Dark Corridor.

"So you're staying with us?" Sora inquired.

Yuki looked at him and nodded with a smile. "Yes, I'm staying," she replied, looking back up into Riku's eyes. Then she looked at Aladdin. "By the way, who are you?"

"The name's Aladdin," he greeted. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too. I'm Yuki, friends with Sora, Donald, and Riku," she replied.

Riku looked at her. "Though I think it's safe to say that you and I are more than just friends," he corrected, which earned him a smile in return.

"Yeah," she agreed in a whisper, pressing her cheek tightly against his chest as she closed her eyes. "Yeah…"

"I promise I'll never let you get hurt again," he whispered into her hair. "I'm so, so sorry if I hurt you."

She pulled away and looked up at him. "I know you are," she replied. "You didn't know that I was a Nobody, so I don't blame you. Then again… neither did I… So… I guess that means our love is doomed, right?" Her eyes dimmed. "Like you said, eventually I'll fade back to darkness… right?"

Riku shook his head abruptly. "No," he argued hotly, burying his face into her hair. "I won't allow you to go into the darkness. We'll find a way to make our love work. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Riku," Yuki replied quietly before he tightly pressed his lips on hers, capturing her into a deep, loving kiss.

"I will never stop loving you," Riku told her as he buried his face into the side of her neck and shoulder. "No matter what you do to me, no matter what you say, please don't ever leave my side."

Smiling softly at him, she pulled away and Sora and Donald hugged her.

"We're glad you're okay, Yuki," Sora said, hugging her tightly.

"Thanks," she replied. "I'm glad you guys are okay too, especially that none of the Organization members hurt you."

Suddenly, Yuki tensed, and looked at them as Sora and Donald pulled away. "We need to head back to Radiant Gardens. Now!" she said. "Something has gone terribly wrong." She turned to look at Aladdin. "I apologize, Aladdin, but we must be on our way. We need to leave to help out our other friends."

The ex-thief nodded. "Come back anytime," he replied.

Yuki turned to an empty space and held out her hand, and a Dark Corridor appeared in front of them.

"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed. "You can open up those strange paths too?! I thought only Organization XIII could!"

She turned to give them a grim smile. "I used to be one of them, remember? Now that I've already travelled through the Dark Corridor, my memories of being in the Organization have reawakened, and the Dark Corridor is no longer a threat to my light, and the same goes to all of you. The Dark Corridor's darkness will not affect any of the light within you all. Now come, we'll all board the Gummi Ship and proceed to Radiant Garden to help Leon and the others out. We need to get there before it's too late."

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