Chapter 20

Hayner, Pence and Olette were playing cards in the Usual Spot when Riku and Naminé arrived, hand in hand. None of them looked up from their cards, too engrossed in their game and afraid that any slight distraction might result in one of the others taking a peek at what they had in their hands.

"Hold on," Olette said, holding out her index finger while she kept her cards close to her chest. The boys grunted in agreement. Olette put down some munny on the table and sat back in her chair triumphantly.

"Try to beat this one, guys!" she said happily. "I'm going to wipe the floor with you with the cards I have!"

"Um, everyone?" Riku piped up. "Nami and I have something we want to tell you-"

"Not now!" Hayner interrupted in frustration, peering at Olette's face closely to see if she was actually telling the truth. "This is an important game!"

Riku and Naminé looked at each other in amusement and shrugged helplessly.

"Okay...okay," Hayner muttered. "I think you're bluffing, so I'll raise you by three munny."

"Call," Pence said.

"I'll see that," Olette replied, throwing her munny in. "and I'll raise you another two."

"Call," Pence said again.

"I'll raise you one after that!" Hayner retorted.

"And I'll raise you another four!" she said with a grin.

"Oh yeah?" Hayner replied. "Well, I'll raise you..." He looked at his stack and realised he had no munny left. "Fine," he mumbled. "I'll call."

"Call," Pence said, throwing in some more.

"Guys?" Naminé said, hoping they might take more notice if she were the one to speak.

"NOT NOW!" Hayner and Olette yelled simultaneously.

"Okay, let's see those cards so I can see my munny," Olette said.

"Two tens," Hayner said with a smirk, one which was returned by Olette to his utmost horror.

"Royal Flush," she said, letting her cards fan out slowly on the table. "Oh, munny, how I do love thee..." She made for the pot in the centre, but Pence's hand stopped her.

"Wait," he said, and pointed to his cards on the table. Olette looked at them in shock.

"No way..." she replied.

"Thank you," he said sweetly, and took the pot from underneath her hands with a wink.

"Do you want to talk to us now?" Riku asked with a grin.

"Well, since Hayner and I have no munny for the next three months we might as well hear it," she replied, waving her hand dismissively. "What's up?"

Riku and Naminé looked at each other with a smile, then nodded towards their intertwined hands. All three of them looked down at it in stunned silence for several seconds until the meaning of it finally dawned on them. Hayner, Pence and Olette started cheering and clapping enthusiastically.

"Finally!" she said, leaping up to give Naminé a hug. "It took you long enough!"

"Yeah," Hayner agreed with a firm nod. "It really was about time, you guys were going around in circles for aaaaaaaaaaages." He stopped, and turned to Pence.

"Which reminds me," he said, stretching out his hands. "Pence..."

Pence looked at the big pot of munny wistfully before handing it over.

It was after an hour after lunch, and Naminé and Riku were still sitting together at the kitchen table. Their empty plates lay discarded at the sink; Naminé promised she'd 'get down to them in a minute'. Riku smiled, thinking how long this minute had lasted, but somehow, he didn't want it any other way.

"I still can't believe the looks on their faces," Naminé giggled quietly. "That was the best idea ever."

"The guys kept annoying me about you all the time," he admitted. Taking a deep breath, he stuck his chest out. '"Riku, would you ever get a pair and ask her!'"

Naminé laughed heartily, poking his chest until he exhaled. "That's a brilliant Hayner," she replied. "But you know, you never asked me, you just attacked me in the lab instead."

"You liked it," he countered slyly.

"You betcha," she said, giving him a wink. "And for some reason I think you want to do it again…"

Riku grinned and leaned in to kiss her, but Mickey walked into the room before he could complete his little ambush on Naminé. She stood up quickly, almost hitting Riku's chin as she did so. He leaned back in his chair, disappointed at Mickey's intrusion.

"Your Majesty!" she said, picking up Riku's habit of addressing the mouse so formally. "Do you need me to pick up something for you?"

"That's okay, Naminé," he replied. "I'm not here because of that. I'd just like a chat with Riku, if you don't mind."

"What can I do for you?" Riku asked.

"Let's talk outside," Mickey answered, somewhat enigmatically, and walked out the door again. Riku gave him a puzzled look but complied, giving Naminé a quick kiss on the top of her hair before joining him. The King opened the main door to the mansion and they walked out into the lush garden. It was a beautiful day, and Riku immediately put up his hand to shield his eyes from the direct sunlight until they had some time to adjust.

"I heard what you are planning to do," Mickey said, leading him to the middle of the open lawn. There were less insects around this area, the vast majority preferring the multitude of flowers and bushes that lined the perimeter. He stopped at a statue; one that was shaped in the style of a woman holding an urn of water in clothes that seemed vaguely similar to those of the Coliseum world. Beyond it, to his left, several birds were drinking water from the fountain. Riku didn't reply, knowing that anything he was going to say would only aggravate the situation and deepen his friend's disapproval.

"I'm telling you now, Riku," he continued. "This is something that is not going to happen."

"I'm sorry," he replied with a shrug. "But that's not your decision to make."

"You're sixteen, and I'm not going to let a kid like you go and mess up your life. I'm going to find Roxas myself and subdue him."

"Your Majesty-"

"I want none of it!"

"You can't stop me," Riku replied. "This is something that must be done."

A golden Keyblade appeared in Mickey's hand, which he pointed at his friend. "You are not doing this, even if I have to stop you myself. You could die, Riku. I'd rather hurt you to keep you safe than let you give in to darkness!"

"If it was Minnie in that pod instead of Sora you'd be doing the same thing as I am!" Riku argued.

"Don't ever assume what I'd do or wouldn't do," Mickey said, his voice low like thunder. "You haven't earned the right."

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "But that's Sora in there."

"It's also Goofy and Donald too, or have you forgotten? They're my friends, Riku, just like you are, and I'm not letting you take that risk, not when the price is too high. Now, stand down."

Riku spread his arms apart, giving Mickey a perfect target. "Your Majesty," he said, shaking his head slowly. "I'm not going to fight you."

Mickey smiled. "Thank you. I didn't want to have to do it either. I'll start preparing for my departure-"

"You misunderstand," he interrupted. "I'm still doing this. I'm just not going to fight you. Too many of my friends have been hurt. I don't want you to be another one."

The mouse raised his Keyblade again, and fixed a firm fighting stance. "Riku, please….don't make me do this."

"I need darkness to defeat Roxas," he answered, clenching his fists at his sides. "Without it, I'm useless."

"It can be a last resort," Mickey countered. "If I lose, you can try it, otherwise, I'm not going to let you throw your life away on what could very well be a pipe dream!"

"What if you do lose?" Riku replied. He was surprised at how calm his voice was, even though his mind was screaming at him to settle this with his sword. "And then, I try it, and my mind goes…and I'm taken by darkness-" His voice caught upon remembering the those days where Ansem had a firm control of his heart, when he had only been a puppet to be used to fulfil the dark ambitions of his puppet-master. His mind had been so tightly enveloped in darkness that often it was impossible to see the light. It took everything he had to crawl free from that prison, and it took every ounce of discipline he possessed not to give in to the fear that had been left behind in his heart since.

"Who'll get Sora to wake up then?" he asked. "Diz? Don't make me laugh. He'll just make Naminé go after him, and then we'll all be dead!"

"Riku-"

"You need to be the last line of defence, Mickey, otherwise we're not going to win anything!"

The flock of birds at the fountain, startled by the sudden outburst, flew away quickly over the mansion. Both males remained though, locked in a battle that needed no clash of metal. Mickey stared at Riku for a long time with an icy glare that the boy knew he would probably never see again.

"Look," he sighed. "I-"

"You really love her, don't you?"

That one took him by surprise. Words failed him, and he didn't know how to answer. Mickey rolled his eyes.

"I'm not an idiot, Riku," he said shortly. "Don't forget Diz saw you two together also. This most definitely isn't just about Sora anymore."

"So what?" he replied defensively. "It doesn't change anything."

Mickey let out a rueful laugh. "I forget that you're young sometimes."

Again, Riku found himself not knowing how to reply. His gaze drifted back to the mansion; following the lines of ivy that grew on the walls to where it led to the upstairs rooms. A shadow moved briefly behind the curtain of the white room, and he knew that Naminé was inside. She was probably settling down to do some drawing; he bet that she thought there was nothing to fear when he and Mickey were together. Somehow he almost found that irony pathetically amusing.

"It seems," he said, slowly. "It seems that everyone I care about is connected to Roxas. I need to make sure that nothing happens to them. Roxas is my responsibility, your Majesty, and I know, deep down, that only I can finish this. I need you to trust me, if only this once." Riku let his aquamarine eyes close.

"But, if you're going to do it, then get it over with."

Riku stood there for a good while, bracing himself for the blow. His clenched fists curled together tighter and tighter until he couldn't bear it any longer. When he finally opened his eyes, he found that the mouse had left him alone in the garden.

Author's notes

This was a complete loose-ends chapter, so sorry if it was annoying or anything. This took so long to get out because basically, I was being too lazy to do it. I was actually surprised with myself that I hadn't written anything in the last month, but I had work, and a few addictions (battlestar galactica mainly) to get through. I've the rest of the fic pretty much done except for the beginning of the next chapter, and the beginning of the chapter before the epilogue. Speaking of which, since I've been guessing at how many chapters I had left for the last two years, and now I can safely say that there are three left, and an epilogue, so things are getting into the last stage. Hard to believe, isn't it?

I'm going to update once a week now until I'm finished. That should give me the time I need to fill in any gaps I have, while also allowing for my laziness, ha ha.

Well, thank you all for your lovely reviews, and thank you to everyone else for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.