Wow, feels like I haven't updated in forever. O.o Sorry guys! Been really busy with school and another story lately (don't worry, this one isn't getting dropped. Just slowed down so that I can give you guys the quality chapters you deserve). You know the drill, read, review, and have a good day!

Chapter Seventeen: Home Sweet Home?

It was only Riku and I who walked down the hall of the Castle in Cadia towards my mother's study. Sora and Kairi had returned home, and so did King Mickey. He didn't even scold me for lying and taking the star shard. He said that he saw the same spirit in me that he saw in himself: a spirit that compelled the heart to do whatever was necessary in order to help those you care about. That was a huge compliment, and a mercy. Of course he took back the Star Shard, but I didn't need it now anyway. I was going to be grounded for a very, very long time.

I wasn't sure if Riku would be facing my mom with me or not; all the way home, he was reassuring me that my mom blamed herself for what I did, not what I actually did. She chased me away, she said. That's what Riku said as well, and he apologized for it greatly. Of course I forgave him. How couldn't I? I was in the wrong much more than he was.

Riku may have forgiven me, but he didn't forgive Gregory. That prejudice would never die. He passed on the queen's order that Gregory was to pack up his stuff and leave, just like his nephew Nathaniel. That made me sad; those two put their lives on the line just to help me, and now they were being punished. But at the same time, I knew that was the lightest punishment my mother could impose. She had to keep the law in her land. She couldn't make exceptions just because these people had good intentions. I accepted their fate with a heavy heart and vowed that I would work to make it up to them somehow.

The door to my mother's room appeared within my vision. My steps slowed automatically. Despite what Riku said, I was scared to face my mom. I ran away from home; I deceived her. I lied to her about her husband being alive. And now I wasn't even bringing him home with me. He said that he had business to take care of first, but he'd come home soon. He seemed…different, when he said that. Maybe because I ran to Riku and not him when I was distraught. I still didn't regret it, though I did wish that I didn't have to sacrifice one relationship for another. Maybe I didn't. I still had time to be proven wrong.

"Riku," I said softly, coming back to the moment. "Will you…come with me?"

My boyfriend nodded silently, keeping his hand on the middle of my back as he led me closer and closer to our destination. "I'll stay as long as she doesn't order me to leave," he said softly.

That's all I can ask for, I thought. The door was right in front of me, so I set a hand on the knob. Courage, Steph. Be brave. I exhaled a soft breath before I turned the knob and pushed the door open, revealing the suite that belonged to my mom. It was a brightly lit room with the lights turned on and the windows open, sunlight spilling in and reflecting the hopeful personality that my mom had. All I could do now was hope that she would forgive me.

I stepped into the room when I didn't see anyone standing there. "…" I opened my mouth to call out for my mom, but I couldn't find my voice. Instead of speaking (or attempting to speak), I looked around the room to the white couches to my right. That was when I noticed her on a couch, looking over paperwork. But as soon as she sensed a gaze on her, she lifted her head and saw me. That was when her expression changed from all-business to an emotional wreck. My expression mirrored hers, and without hesitation, I quickly closed the distance between me and her. She rose off the couch and met me halfway, embracing me in a hug that only a mother could provide. A true mother.

"Mom…"

Andrea shook her head, setting a hand on the back of mine as she cradled my head. "I need to speak first," she whispered, voice shaky. I silently nodded, knowing I had no right to speak after running off. "I have been a terrible mom," she said to my startlement. "I chased you away; I was wrong not to even give you a chance to speak."

"But I was wrong not to tell you that Dad's alive," I interrupted softly.

"I'm sure you had your reasons," Mom responded soothingly.

Reasons? Yeah, not really. Not ones that made much sense anymore. "At first, I didn't know for sure if he was alive. And then once I found out, I didn't know anything, so I thought if I could find him and convince him to come home with me, it'd be better than returning with no news at all."

"I only wish you told me so that I could help you," Andrea said softly, pulling back from the embrace. She set her hands on my shoulders and gazed at me, at my height. "I love you, Stephanie. But I love my husband as well…"

"I'm so sorry, Mom," I said softly. "I know I should have told you. I was wrong."

"I'm sorry too." She gazed at me for a few moments through moist blue eyes, her hand coming up and delicately wiping some of my bangs out of my eyes. "I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself, though. You didn't give up just because everything was against you…"

A weak smile appeared on my lips. "I guess I'm stronger than I thought."

"Sit down and tell me everything," Andrea said. "This time, I'll listen. I promise."

So we talked about everything. Riku came over to join us but he was quiet for the most part. I told her about the clues I used to track down my dad, and the times that I found him. I told her how he was keeping a lot of secrets from me and running off before telling me what was up. But we both ended up agreeing that he would come around whenever he was ready to. All we could do was trust him.

And then once that topic was done, we spoke about Isabella. Not even Riku knew that I first went to Disney Castle to confront her before she somehow escaped and captured me in Twilight Town. I told both of them the whole truth of that situation: I wanted to kill her because I was so bitter about my past and all that she did. But in the end, I discovered she wasn't worth it. She wouldn't define me any longer.

After talking for what felt like an eternity, my mom sent me to my room. Not as an order or as punishment for my actions, but to let me get some rest. I must have looked pretty exhausted.

So Riku and I went back to my suite, where everything looked the same as I left it. Except for the blankets uncovering the pillows that I had under the sheets to look like me. To think that Riku had been fooled by something so simple…Well, he didn't look into it because it was nighttime and he thought I was asleep. He was wrong.

Instead of walking over to the bed, I sat down on the couch. I was tired but not ready for bed yet. Besides, it felt like Riku and I had unfinished business here.

"Let me guess," Riku said softly. "Now it's our turn to talk?"

"Yeah," I responded with a small nod, patting the couch beside me. Without hesitating, Riku came over and sat down next to me. His arm went over the back of the couch behind me but not around my arms. Honestly, it was better than what I was expecting: I thought he'd sit far away from me because he was angry. If he was even angry. I didn't even know. So that was why I asked my next question. "Are you mad?"

"At myself, for a lot of stuff," Riku said softly. "Like how I freaked out on you and made you run off like that. And how even when I had you with me, I still managed to get caught up in my own grudge and let you get into a dangerous situation. I'm so…furious that I vowed to protect you but gave up that goal right away."

At that, I glanced down at my lap. I hadn't known that Riku vowed to protect me recently; I knew he did in the past, but I didn't know he rekindled the vow and then left me to fend for myself. Before I could tell him to lighten up on himself, he continued.

"I don't even know why I acted that way," he continued. "I guess…Maybe the Darkness still has a hold on me after all."

My eyes widened drastically as I looked over at the boy beside me, though his gaze was down. "Riku!"

"No, it's true," Riku said as he shook his head softly. "All this Darkness in the air…I was so scared that you weren't ready to face it that I tried to keep you as close to the path of Light as I could. It may not seem like it, but I was on the path to Darkness. Any path that isn't Light is Dark."

"Isn't there any middle ground?" I whispered. This was a lot of what I dealt with myself lately. Was it okay to take a dark path to reach a light ending?

"I used to think there was," he responded, not aware of my thoughts. "I said that I walked the path between Light and Dark; the Road to Dawn. My views changed when I saw people who were in Darkness and undeniably wicked and the people who were in the Light and undeniably good. I thought to myself, 'There can't be any middle ground. You're either evil or you're not.' And because of my past struggle with the Darkness, I shrank away from everything that could connect me to the Darkness." He paused, looking over at me then. "But maybe you're right. Maybe things aren't so black and white. There are so many gray areas that maybe it's impossible to even tell if you're on the path to Light or Dark until you reach your destination."

"I have no idea anymore," I said softly. I turned my head to the side and leaned it against Riku's arm that was running along the back of the couch. "I guess…It doesn't matter too much what you label something. It is what it is, whether you can define it or not."

"It is," he agreed. "But I still want to be able to define what's right or what's wrong. I hate this uncertainty."

"There are so many questions…"

"…And so few answers," Riku finished. He sighed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer to him. The warmth of his embrace made me shut my eyes in comfort. I had missed feeling this close to Riku. It had been a while since we weren't fighting. We were finally at peace with each other, but not at peace with what was going on in our lives. "Someday we'll figure it out," he said quietly, looking down at me as I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Until then, at least we have each other." He hmphed, smiling faintly. "We can be clueless together."

"Sounds fun," I said sarcastically, though a small smile appeared on my lips. I lifted my head and looked up at Riku, his small smile matching my own.

"I'm open to other ideas," he stated as his smile changed into a smirk.

"I got none, sorry guy."

"'Guy'? That's the best name you can come up for me?"

Hmph. There's just no satisfying you, I thought, shaking my head faintly against his shoulder as I looked up at him. "What, would you rather I came up with something cuter, like 'snuggly boo'?"

"Snuggly boo?"

"Or 'Sugar-Pie Honey Bunch'…"

"That sounds the name of some weird cereal. Or pie. I can't decide which…"

"'Sweet Tart?'"

"…"

"Oh! How about 'Sugar Muffin'?"

"Most of these names involve food…Are you hungry or something?"

"…Maybe," I admitted. But mostly I was coming up with the most ridiculous names I could. Both of us knew that there were no pet names appropriate for a "tough guy" like Riku. Besides, I wouldn't want to call him anything but his name. Riku. I loved saying it, because despite the arguments, I loved having him in my life. Just like I finally realized that I was in love with him. But I would tell him that another day. I wouldn't ruin this goofiness.

"How would you feel if I called you weird names like that?"

"Weird? I worked hard on those," I whined, looking away as if I was offended. Despite my terrible lying skills, he believed me and was silent. Chuckling, I looked back up at him. "Kidding!"

"…Jerk."

"It's only to make up for the times when you were a jerk to me."

Riku arched a brow. "Like?"

"Like when I woke up and freaked out about being late to class, and you waited to tell me that class was cancelled."

He was silent after that, and I couldn't help but smirk. "I win," I said.

Riku sighed, lowering his head so that his face was in my hair. "Yeah," he said into my hair. "You win."

But we both knew that was far from the truth. I won the little teasing match we just had, but we both were winners now. We were alive and together, and there was no longer a threat. Well, sort of. Isabella was out there and free to do her business, but she couldn't come here. This was our safe haven; our private heaven. There was nothing that could happen to collapse that.

I snuggled up closer to Riku, an arm wrapping over his stomach as his face stayed in my hair. We didn't fear anyone walking in on us; my mom was smart enough to assume that Riku and I had to talk things out. She didn't know we were a couple, but she did know that we were best friends. That was what we would always be, or so I hoped. I didn't want to lose this person who managed to break down my walls and care for me despite my many imperfections.

I loved him. Now I could just hoped that he returned the feelings.

*…*…*…*…*…*

Feelings, I figured, would have to wait till another day. After a while of cuddling, Riku and I both departed to our separate beds. We were both really tired from all the running around we did, whether it was before or after I took Gregory and went off on my own. But I went to bed before Riku did; he sat in the room and was watching the TV quietly for a little while before he decided to sleep. I had the curtains on my canopy bed around my bed even after he was gone since I was asleep by the time he turned off the TV. I just had it closed so the light wouldn't bug me when I was drifting off to sleep.

The hours passed on and on, even when the clock struck midnight. Why wouldn't things go on like normal? It was a normal night.

Or so I thought.

A startling dream suddenly woke me up. Somebody's hand was over my mouth. But I quickly realized that it wasn't just in my dream. Somebody's hand actually was on my mouth! I started struggling against them, but they were strong. Their other hand was first on my arm as they pulled me closer to the edge of the bed, but then around my stomach as the dragged me off the bed.

"Let me go!" I cried through their hand, though my voice was muffled and very quiet. They didn't listen anyway, dragging me into the corner of the room where the shadows were especially heavy. And that was where he stopped. What the?

"Shh," they shushed. "Steph, it's me. It's Dad."

My eyes widened, and then I stopped trying to talk or cry out. Dad? I glanced over my shoulder and was barely able to see him in the darkness, even when we were so close. But it was him. Instead of fear, my heart was overwhelmed with confusion. I turned around to face him completely, eyes narrowing. "And you couldn't have told me this two minutes ago?" I hissed, whispering because he shushed me.

"Quiet."

That's all you have to say? I thought. But before I could respond, he gently put his hands on my shoulders and turned me so that I was facing the rest of the room. After a few moments of tense silence, the door to my bedroom creaked open. I didn't know who would be coming in at this late hour; it was just past midnight. Then I saw that it was more than just one person; it was a bunch of men, dressed in armor. Men from the Castle Protection Service, or the CPS. They were like the secret service. If they were in my room at this late hour, there must have been something wrong…

All of them surrounded the bed that was surrounded by sheets, as if prepared to pounce on it. But they didn't. All at once, they pulled out their crossbows and aimed for the bed. Dad's hand came over my mouth just in time to silence the gasp that left my lips.

They shot the arrows into the bed, unable to see that I wasn't in it because of the curtains. They didn't need to see it; they assumed I was asleep in there. Why wouldn't I be at Midnight? They shot multiple arrows each just to make sure that…their job was done.

But that made quite a ruckus. The door of Riku's bedroom slammed open and my boyfriend stepped out shirtless in alarm. "Steph!" he screamed. It broke my heart to hear that and I nearly stepped out to tell him I was okay.

Before I could take any action, the eight men with weapons turned around and shot their arrows at Riku in hopes to kill him. He was quicker than they were. He summoned his Keyblade in a flash and cast a shield around himself as he deflected the last of their ammunition. As soon as they saw how in trouble they were, they all fled.

Riku didn't give chase; he ran over to the bed immediately to check on me. "Steph?" He pulled back the curtains and saw all the feathers from the sheets and pillows, but not my body.

"Riku!" I called shakily from the corner. He spun around in alarm as I stepped out of the shadows, along with my dad. As soon as his eyes landed on me, relief flooded his expression. He summoned his Keyblade away as we both closed the distance between each other. We didn't embrace, but his hands found my face as he looked me over.

"You okay? What just happened?"

"My Dad," I said, glancing over at my shoulder and looking at the man who was approaching us. "He hid me in the corner before they came in."

Riku sighed, keeping his hands on my face as he looked to my Dad. "How did you know they were coming?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"I've been observing Cadia ever since you guys came back yesterday evening," Terry said, looking from me to Riku. "I overheard things I wasn't meant to hear and learned of what was going to happen." He shook his head, turning and looking away. "This was the only thing I was able to do."

"Why? What's going on?" I asked as Riku dropped his hands and I looked to my Dad.

His expression when he looked at me was angry, bitter. "It's a coup."

Riku and I both grunted, startled. But there was no time to linger in shock.

"You need to go, both of you," he said. "Andrea's in danger, and so are you as long as you stay here. Leave. Go somewhere safe."

"What are you going to do?" I asked. He made it sound like he wouldn't be joining us.

"I'm sorry, Steph. …I can't stay here."

"Why not?" He had to stay; he had to help protect me and my mother!

As if sensing my thoughts, he stepped over and wrapped me in his arms. His strong arms around me made me feel safe, even if this was an extremely dangerous situation. I hugged him back despite my confusion, knowing that he could disappear again at any time for any amount of time.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Terry whispered. "I'm sorry for all the secrets. I'm sorry I can't help you fight this fight. But soon, I'll be able to tell you everything. I promise. Please…" He lifted a hand and tucked back some of my brunette hair, his blue eyes gazing at me in sorrow. "Please just trust me for a little longer."

I was the one to pull back from the embrace first this time. I looked up into his earnest, bright blue eyes, seeing how he was pleading with me. It was genuine. Absolutely genuine. I smiled faintly, shutting my eyes briefly. "I do trust you," I said softly. "I always will." I would always be "daddy's little girl." Time and distance apart wouldn't make a difference with that.

When I opened my eyes and knew that he was gone, I understood that it was time for me and Riku to act. I looked over my shoulder, but he was missing as well! Startled, I shifted my eyes to his bedroom door just in time to see him coming out, putting on a dark shirt over his muscular torso. Okay. Gotta stay calm. Now's no time to get distracted by Riku's abs or let fear take over. "What do we do, Riku?"

"This battle's going to be too big for us to fight," he said. "We need to recruit some of the CPS that's still loyal to your mom."

I nodded faintly. "They should be in the security room." It was a room downstairs where there were televisions set up and men were monitoring the cameras. It was also where you could call out to other members of the CPS on duty and ask for assistance.

"Stay close to me," Riku said lowly, grasping my hand as he started towards the exit. "We'll be walking in the dark."

Right, so that they don't see us, I thought, mentally finishing off Riku's idea. "You know the castle well enough to be blind in the dark?" I asked softly. We had only been living here three months.

"I won't be blind," he said. He stopped by the door and peeked his head out into the hallway. The coast was clear. He led me out, still holding onto my hand as he walked ahead. "I can see normally in the Dark because of past experiences."

"Guess the Darkness was good for something after all," I said quietly, knowing that was what he was referring to. His time in the Realm of Darkness gave him abilities that he wouldn't have otherwise.

He only grunted, and the rest of the way, we walked in silence. We had to reach the security room without getting spotted by members of the coup, or they would sound the alarm and we'd have an army after us. How many people were a part of this, anyway?

Riku was much more stealthy than I was as we went through the dark halls. Not only were his footsteps absolutely silent, but he was able to duck both of us away before I even sensed that anybody was coming in our direction. Because of Riku's superb skill, we were able to make it to the security room.

I nearly spoke to the men with relief even before we walked into the room, but Riku wisely motioned for me to stay silent and let him peak inside first. Since I trusted him, I obeyed. He stepped forward and set a hand on the knob, cautiously turning it and then opening the door. I couldn't see past him at first to see the men in their chairs, but I could see the televisions were all static. The cameras were taken offline.

Daring to peak around Riku, I stepped closer to him and to the side. When I saw the room that was only lit by the TV screens, I nearly let out a scream.

The floor was covered with the CPS security men. They were dead.