~o~

7

The Other Half

The noisy, milling crowd that surrounded the stage was enormous. My heart skipped a beat as the royal carriage crept through it. People were laughing, talking, and standing eagerly on tip-toes to see their princess and her suitor and hear their grand announcement at last. There were smiles all around; they suspected nothing and they feared nothing.

Setzer got out of the carriage easily and walked onto the stage and into the public eye, waving and flashing his teeth as though it were his chosen calling in life. I knew he was still very angry about the fact that he would not rule over these people, but he hid it well.

I stepped onto the stage after him, though I was trembling with fear and my hands were as cold as ice. I looked down at them and saw that my skin was an ashy gray color. I couldn't seem to breathe right or even swallow.

And yet, though I felt as though I were about to faint at any moment, I was able to hold my head high.

"Here, Setzer," an amiable voice said. It was Chancellor Tsukada, handing him a headset microphone. The prince smiled at him and put it on as though nothing were wrong.

"My good people," he began in an echoing, carrying voice and I knew it would do no good to try and stop him. Even if he did not spread the news here and now, he would find another way to do it. At least this way it would all be over with at once.

"Today you have come here to witness a happy and momentous occasion," he went on, his voice carrying across the now silent crowds. "And so I deeply regret the turmoil that I am about to bring to this great and happy nation. Unfortunately, I am left with no choice, considering the circumstances. You have all come here to hear the announcement of my engagement with your own ears. And now I, in my desolation, must inform you that no such union has ever, or will ever exist."

A great, collective gasp split the air and shocked, horrified faces were suddenly turned in my direction. I immediately picked out the faces of those I cared about most, for they were in the front: Yuffie, Leon, Cid, and Aerith. They were looking up at Setzer with nothing short of black suspicion and Yuffie's dark eyes tried desperately to catch mine. I looked away.

Chancellor Tsukada, who was sitting on a high cushioned seat behind us, looked like he had been hit by a meteor.

Setzer was still smiling, though there was a vindictive gleam in his eyes, now. "Perhaps you should like to know why this princess and I shall not wed?" He said, wetting his lips with his tongue. The excited babble immediately ceased as he began to speak. "I am sure you are under the impression that I, in my greater wisdom and good judgment, have decided that your young princess is not worthy of my devotions." He shook his head and flashed that stupid smile again. "Do not think that I did not consider it."

I looked at the crowd and was surprised to see that their expressions of shock were now mingled with outrage and disbelief.

"However, if you can believe it, it was your very own Princess Kairi who decided against such a marriage. For you see, not only is she a foolish child, unlearned to the ways of politics and government, but she is also an unfaithful tramp, as unworthy of the crown she holds as any commoner off the streets."

My head spun and the words filled me with white hot anger, for I knew that they were untrue. I probably knew ten times more about ruling a country than he did and I was not a tramp—that was an extreme exaggeration. I was a virgin, for crying out loud. He was the one with fidelity issues—he'd bragged about his "women" to me countless times.

I wanted to say something, to scream that he was a liar, that the name that he had branded me with was undeserved. But how could anyone believe me? I would sound like I was begging, pleading, trying to cover it up or sweep it under the rug rather than just facing up to what I'd done. The idea was repulsive to me.

So instead, I held my head high, folded my arms, and turned away from Setzer. I couldn't look at him anymore; I hated him far too much. Instead, I let my gaze fall on the faces of my people, the ones who his words would hurt the most.

What I saw there surprised me again. Now, nearly everyone looked angry. They were glaring at Setzer with absolute loathing.

"A certain 'keyblade bearer' is rumored to be here, in this very city, looking for the princess," Setzer went on, seemingly oblivious to the hostile expressions being flashed up at him. "A young man with a long history of fraternizing with your dear princess. But he would be disappointed with what he found, for she has been courting another young man, even as she was courting me. I will not go into all the gory details, but I assure you that there was nothing appropriate or stately about their relationship at all," he sniffed.

"So how could she do this to me, you may ask? I, the most handsome, perfect, amazing prince in all the worlds? How is it that your princess could be under the deluded impression that I was not good enough for her?"

The people were glaring at him and I could tell that they already hated him as much as I did. Why, I wasn't certain. Perhaps it was because he was shaming our nation. Perhaps it was because he was the biggest idiot they had ever seen and they could hardly stand to listen to his pompous speech a moment longer.

I couldn't help but notice, though, that the faces that came to rest on me were filled with something along the lines of... Compassion? Sympathy? Respect?

I was astounded. Could it be that the people cared for me enough that they could overlook my faults? Could they see what a terrible predicament I was in? I wanted to believe it. Oh, I wanted to believe it so badly.

As Setzer prattled on, there was a disturbance in the crowd. It was stirring in a couple of different places like boiling water. There were a couple of angry shouts and for a moment, Setzer looked a little nervous.

"So... it is my suggestion that she be forced to abdicate," he went on, his voice a little less sure. "She is not worthy to be your ruler."

Somebody shouted something at him. I couldn't tell what they'd said, but I heard their tone.

"It is understandable that you should be angry. I would be angry, too," Setzer stammered, trying to push it on me instead of himself. I continued to glare at him and the boiling crowd lapped at the stage around us.

To the right of me, not far from the stage, I noticed the source of the disturbance. Somebody was fighting their way through the tightly woven crowd toward us. I stood on tip-toes and twisted my head around to get a better look.

My heart dropped into my stomach as I got a glimpse of silvery hair. What would the guards do to Riku if he tried to make Setzer eat his poisonous words? He was definitely furious—I could see a glint of ice in his eyes as they flashed forward. He was going to be killed; I just knew it.

A movement on my left caught my panicked attention. I saw that someone else was fighting their way forward, just like Riku. This person was hard for me to see, because the people that surrounded him were closing in on him and talking to him in rapid, excited voices, rather than casting irritated glances at him and shoving out of his way. I saw a glint of steel and heard a familiar, angry voice. My breath caught; I couldn't see who it was that was coming, but I had a wild, desperate idea—and my heart began to beat unevenly.

They were coming closer with desperate lunges now. Still Setzer was talking as though nothing were happening. "And I am sorry that you had to suffer though her brief but dreadful rule," he was saying, and the angry roar of voices nearly rode over him, despite the microphone. "She is silly, irresponsible, and not really even all that beautiful, since she always wanders around in the most common and inappropriate clothing imaginable—"

The crowd was about to boil over. I took a few nervous steps back.

"And she's really far too young and foolish for me," he rambled on, his lip curling. "So you see, she really isn't even worth the—"

Suddenly, two tall figures sprang up from the bubbling mass on opposite sides of the stage. Two pairs of blue eyes, different in shade but filled with identical hatred stood out in the brief moment that the figures recovered themselves.

My head swung back and forth and I tried to comprehend what was going on, but it all happened so fast that I hardly caught anything.

With startling speed and agility, the two personages nearly flew across the smooth wooden surface like hunting jungle cats. Setzer didn't have time to move, run, or even blink. I gasped as the hunters closed in.

With a deafening, hollow sounding thud, two heavy, bruised, and battle worn fists made contact with Setzer's pretty face, one on each side. There was an audible snap as his head flipped backward and his mouth was wrenched open. I saw two teeth fly into the air, along with a long trail of saliva.

He fell to the ground with another thud, out cold before he'd even traveled half the distance.

If there ever was a silence as deep as this, it was never had in this world. Not a single person breathed one single breath. Even the air was as still and silent as death itself.

And then they looked at me, it seemed, for the first time. And I looked at them.

I looked at Riku—the one who had come when I needed him most, the one who had held me close and comforted me with his presence. I loved him. I knew that.

But then I looked at the boy who was my everything—Sora—and all the other love in the world was suddenly drifting away, as though its gravitational properties had malfunctioned. It could not hold me, now. Because I could see my own reflection in that vast blue ocean of Sora's eyes and for the first time in a long time, I was home.

And then an earsplitting roar almost made me leap out of my skin. Sora and Riku jumped. The three of us turned to the crowd.

They were jumping up and down, laughing and cheering gleefully. There were hands in the air, reaching toward us as though we were heroes rather than villains. I couldn't believe it.

Riku and Sora exchanged surprised glances, then smiled. Riku gave a swift wave and the people cheered even louder.

I laughed once and Sora laughed along with me. His eyes caught mine and he smiled at me, just as he had in my dream.

He was still Sora. The eyes were exactly the same. The sandy-brown hair fell in a wide swatch across them and the eyebrows pulled upward at the edges. But there were differences, too.

His build hadn't changed too much, but he was much taller now. He was sinewy and muscled, though not as thickly as Riku, and his face was more hollowed and handsome than it had been before. The sweet roundness and look of youthful innocence was nearly gone, to my dismay. But there was no denying that he was still Sora.

Just looking at him took me back to our island days—back to a small cavern at the base of a tree, where a mass of wriggling white lines decorated the walls. Back to the place where I had been happy. Back to the place where I'd grown up believing that I had already experienced love to its fullest, only to have my horizons expanded with every moment that I spent with my grubby hand in his.

My eyes filled with tears of joy. "Sora," I whispered.

His smile was like pure, undiluted sunlight. He inclined his head toward me, ever so slightly, and said, "Hey, Kairi."

I could only stare at him and blink rapidly at the tears which were forming in my eyes. I felt like I needed sunglasses to look at him, such was his radiance.

And then the brightness, the glory and beauty of that moment were taken from us and torn apart. Chancellor Tsukada had come out of his stunned silence, leapt to his feet, and was suddenly screaming, "Guards! Guards! Seize them at once!"

And then there were thickly armored men closing in from every direction. Riku leapt out of the reach of their grasping hands, but Sora was either not quick enough or too stunned to move. He gave an angry shout as three guards caught hold of his arms and held him fast. For a moment he looked as though he was going to summon his keyblade and fight. Then he seemed to decide against it.

"No!" I cried. "What are you doing?"

"Take him away," Chancellor Tsukada ordered. "Take him to the castle and throw him in the dungeon! And find the other one as soon as you can."

"Oh no you don't!" I shouted. "I'm still the princess and you will do as I command! Release him immediately!" I stamped my foot.

The guards hesitated and Chancellor Tsukada's face turned bright red. "I think not! I am still head of the royal family!"

"I'm the heir to the throne, though," I said angrily. "I should have a say in this!"

"This filthy commoner just dealt a very violent blow to the prince of Albrook! I will not negotiate his punishment with you or anyone else," Chancellor Tsukada said fiercely. "And I don't know where you find the nerve to even open your mouth, young lady. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

It was as though he had struck me. My own uncle could not stand by me in my blackest hour. And now he was trying to steal away my life, my soul. How could he do this to me?

Tears ran down my face and I balled my hands into fists. "What is wrong with you?" I wailed. The crowd behind me roared in agreement. "Don't you have a heart? Don't you care about anyone?"

His face turned, if possible, even more red. "You're the one who has done a great wrong to everyone but yourself," he sneered. "You have failed me and you have failed your kingdom. At least I always do what is right and do my duty to my crown."

"Yeah, congratulations. I'm sure Ansem The Wise would be very proud of you," I sneered.

He gave me a furious glare, then, as more loud and excited babbling broke out, said, "Take Princess Kairi to her room immediately. She is not to leave it or see anyone besides her servants. The guards must be positioned at her door at all times."

I gave Sora a panicked look as the guards began to drag him away. It would seem that we were both prisoners, now.

~o~

Yuffie looked oddly strained and anxious as she came into my room and closed the door behind her.

"They're so loud," she whispered. As she spoke one of the guards gave a hearty guffaw. "How are you supposed to sleep?"

I shrugged and looked around the cold, empty room. "I guess that's my problem."

She sighed and came to sit by me on my bed. "Oh, Kairi," she said. Her arm came to rest on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"What for?" I wondered, raising my eyebrows. "This isn't your fault."

"Yes it is," she said miserably. "If it weren't for me, that loser would have never found out about Riku. And Sora wouldn't be—" she stopped short.

I tried to comfort her. "If anybody's to blame, it's Setzer."

"Yeah, no kidding," she said sharply, her eyebrows pulling together angrily. "What a jerk!"

I grinned widely as the image of Setzer, wobbling and bleeding freely from the mouth came to mind. He'd left for good about an hour after his little announcement, too stunned and humiliated to do or say anything. A cheering mob had seen him off and a few tomatoes had been thrown at his stupid Blackjack ship.

"Sora and Riku were great, weren't they?" I said, staring off into space and smiling blissfully. I laughed.

"Yeah," Yuffie agreed. "They sure showed him. And Leon says that there's a petition going around for Sora's release."

"Really?"

"Yep. You made a good choice, Kairi. Setzer would have been the most unpopular king ever." She grimaced.

I smiled at her. "So you really think I did the right thing? I wasn't just being selfish?"

"Selfish? Well sure. You had to think of yourself in a situation like that. But there's no doubt that it was the right thing to do." She laughed.

I looked at the floor. "I'm sure the people aren't as... proud of me as they were before. They must think I'm a..." I didn't bother to finish.

She paused for a moment, mulling over something I'd said. "Um, wait here. I'll be right back," she finally said. Then she left me alone in my room. I sat there and stared at the wall until she came back. When she did, there was an enormous bouquet of roses in her arms, as well as three boxes of candy.

My eyes widened. "What are those?"

"Gifts from your admirers," she said, smirking. "And only a very small portion of them, I might add. There's a ton more downstairs."

"My... what?" I was bewildered.

"Your admirers," Yuffie said again. "Your faithful subjects sent them to let you know that they still support you and wish you the best. Chancellor Tsukada is keeping piles and piles of gifts in the entrance hall and he's ordered us to throw them away. He says you're not to see any of them, so I'm taking a risk bringing these here."

She dumped the roses in my lap, opened up a box of candy, and helped herself to a couple pieces.

"Wow," I said breathlessly. "Wow."

"I think I'll rescue some of the better ones," she mused, her voice thick with chocolate. "There was this satin box with a really pretty necklace in it that you might like."

"You can have it," I said, sniffing the roses. I looked up at her with a wide grin on my face. "This is crazy! And here I thought everybody would hate me!"

"Ha!" she laughed. "They're more loyal than you'd think."

"Obviously," I said. Then I frowned. "I wish there was some way for me to thank them."

She popped more candy in her mouth. "Oh, you'll think of something," she said, then headed for the door. "I'll bring up your dinner later."

"Okay. Thanks, Yuffie."

She smiled at me. "You're welcome."

~o~

Another lonely night stretched ahead of me, but I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep through this one at all. How could I possibly close my eyes when I knew that Sora was somewhere beneath me, in the cold and dark dungeon, all alone? It made me anxious, to be so close to him and be unable to see him.

So I tossed and turned in my ridiculously large bed until I could hardly stand it anymore. I sat up, turned my light on, and stared around the room to amuse myself. I wished I could get a book to read, but the library was on the other side of the castle.

I thought of Sora and wondered if he were freezing to death in that cold, dank, dark place. Did they get him a blanket, or was he just sleeping on the icy stone floor? Why didn't deserve a bed just as thick and warm and comfortable as mine? It wasn't fair.

I was so bored and lonely that I actually considered calling Yuffie with my servant's bell to come play a board game with me. I looked at the clock and laughed at the thought of her reaction; it was one-thirty.

Then, something in the corner of the room caught my eye. It was a black mop with a long wooden handle. Hmm. The maid must have left it there by accident.

I was so bored that I actually got up out of bed, walked across the room, and examined it. The mop fibers were surprisingly thin and fine. They were as black as coal, strangely enough. They even shone a little, so much that they almost looked like Yuffie's short black hair. And about the same length, too.

Suddenly, I had an idea. With a quiet giggle, I sprang to my feet and ran over to the place where the strings to my servant bells hung on the wall. I quickly picked out Yuffie's and gave it three sharp pulls in rapid succession. Then I waited.

After a very long time, Yuffie came stumbling into my room, bleary eyed and irritable. She was wearing a long, dark pink bathrobe that hung clear to her feet. The sight of her made me laugh.

"Who do you think you are, calling me up here in the middle of the night?" She growled. "I was trying to sleep, you know."

"Yeah me too, only I wasn't successful," I said, still giggling. "Yuffie, I need to ask you a favor."

She scowled at me and grumbled, "What kind of favor?"

"Can I borrow that bathrobe?"

She looked at me as though wondering if she were still asleep. "Um... what was that?"

"Can I borrow your bathrobe? And I need you to sleep in my bed and pretend like you're me until I get back."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh. That's all. And where will you be going?" She said with polite, mock indifference.

I picked up the mop, unscrewed the end attachment from the handle, and shook it out. Then I gave her a wide smile and said, "I'm going to go see Sora."

She could only gape at me as I pulled my hair back into a knob at the base of my neck, then plopped the tangled attachment on my head and arranged it to look like Yuffie's head of hair. I turned to grin at her. "What do you think?" I asked.

"What do I think?" She cried. "I think I'm gonna beat the crap out of you! My hair doesn't look anything like that!"

I threw back my head and laughed, but stopped short when I remembered the guards standing watch outside. "Gimme your robe," I whispered.

She shook her head slowly back and forth, but pulled it off, revealing a set of red cotton pajamas, and handed it to me. I slipped it on and pulled it tightly around me so that my own blue pajama pants and tank top did not show through.

"If I keep my head down and shuffle, I don't think they'll know the difference," I whispered, examining myself in the full-body mirror.

"Only if they think I'm a troll," Yuffie growled.

I tip-toed over to the lamp and turned it off. We were submerged in darkness. "Thanks, Yuffie. I'll be back in a couple hours," I whispered.

"Hmph," she said, and I heard her climb into my bed. "Don't get caught," she said sleepily.

"I won't."

"How will you get around the guards downstairs?" She asked.

"The prison guards aren't very... high quality guards," I said with a shrug. "I've got a diamond necklace on; I'll just bribe them."

"Well... be careful."

"I will."

I opened the door, walked outside, and shut it quietly behind me. Then, without looking at the faces of either of the guards who were standing on either side of the door, I power-walked out into the semi-dark hallway. They didn't try to stop me.

Ha! They'd fallen for it!

There were bright night-lights every one-hundred yards or so, so I found my way through downstairs fairly easily. But once I was headed down the narrow, winding staircase to the basement, I was submerged in semi-darkness. The lights flickered and the tile was cold.

My footsteps echoed off the vast walls and my own breath was so loud that it frightened me. It was dark and cold in the corridors in the daytime, too, but for some reason it hadn't been as frightening to me then. I took a different route than I had this afternoon, a route that would take me deeper into the castle.

I could hear voices as I got closer and closer to my destination and I could see a brighter light not far ahead. I came around a tight, narrow corner and there were two guards standing in front of a thick wooden door with a small, barred window in it. They stopped talking as soon as I appeared and watched me warily as I came closer. A torch on the wall cast flickering shadows over them.

They looked so intimidating, standing there in the flickering light. One was large with a curly black beard and fierce-looking eyes. The other was much younger, about seventeen, and had bright red hair and tons of freckles. I recognized him immediately as the guard who always used to accompany Chancellor Tsukada and I when we went about in the city on foot. I'd always liked him.

"Um, I need to speak to the prisoner," I said in a tiny, shaky voice. I directed my question at the redhead, but it was the other guard who answered me.

"No one is to speak to him but Chancellor Tsukada," the burly voice said. He gave me a strange look before continuing. "Those are our orders."

The boy was watching me with a curious expression on his face. His eyes kept flickering from my face to the tangled mess on my head and his lips began to slowly form a smile.

"And what if I were to give you this?" I asked, pulling the diamond necklace from around my neck and holding it out in the dim light. It sparkled.

The gruff guard looked somewhat tempted, but after a moment of indecision turned his nose up. "We have our orders," he repeated firmly.

"Why is it that you would want to speak to him in the middle of the night anyway, Princess?" The redhead asked, smirking at me. His colleague gasped as his eyes fell on my face.

I sighed and pulled the mop off my head. Then I pulled the elastic out of my hair so that it could fall around my face and make me more recognizable. The burly guard looked back and forth between us, mouth agape.

"You know why I'm here. Please help me," I said.

The burly guard shook his head. "We'd be killed for doing something like that," he said quickly, dismissively. "Sorry, Your Majesty, but we just can't let you."

I pulled the bathrobe more tightly around me and shivered. "Please. Please, I'm begging you. I'll give you anything you want."

He shook his head again and the redhead gave me an apologetic glance.

Suddenly there were footsteps. "Kairi?" A glorious, laughing voice said.

"Sora!" I gasped, running to the door. His hands reached for me through the bars and I grabbed them in my own. They were so cold.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, though there was definite excitement in his voice. "Won't you get in big trouble?"

"It doesn't matter," I said. "I had to come. They can't keep us apart, no matter what." I kissed his fingers joyfully they caressed my cheek. He was trembling, whether from the cold or something else I wasn't sure.

"Does he even have a blanket?" I said sharply, turning to the guards.

The redhead frowned. "No. Chancellor Tsukada told us not to give him anything, except a little food and a glass to drink from. He'll be fine though; there's a bathroom in there and a shower and everything—we checked before we locked him in. It's the nicest cell down here."

"But it's cold," I whined. "He'll freeze!"

"No, I'm fine Kairi. Really." His face was closer now and I could see that he was smiling widely. He was just happy to see me.

"Please let me in," I said to the guards. My eyes filled with tears. "I won't tell anyone. Nobody will ever know! Please, please, please."

"We can't," the burly guard said, looking rather upset as a tear coursed its way down my cheek. "Don't cry, Princess, please don't..."

But I let out a desperate sob and clutched Sora's fingers tighter against my face. "Just a little while! Please!" I wailed.

"Aw, c'mon, Jack," the redhead said after a moment. "She's right, nobody will find out."

The other guard grimaced. "You've got nerve, kid. Don't you know what will happen if she gets caught? If we get caught?"

"Sure I do. But we aren't gonna get caught, are we?"

The burly guard sighed.

With an impish smile, the redhead pulled the key from his belt and stepped over to the door. I beamed at him, then gave him a swift peck on the cheek before bounding out of his way. He blushed and smiled even wider, then unlocked the door and pulled it open enough for me to slip inside.

The click of the door being re-locked behind me only added to my excitement.

The long, strong arms were around me in an instant. I wrapped my own arms around his neck and clutched him to me, savoring the sweet, unique smell of his skin. I ran a hand through his spiky, tousled hair and noticed that it was shorter than I remembered it. His shoulders were much broader, too.

Then I could hear footsteps from outside. I turned an ear curiously toward the sound. "Where are they going?" I whispered.

I felt him shrug. "Giving us a little privacy, I guess."

"Hmm. That's nice of them." I buried my face in his hair.

"Yeah." There was a nervous tremor in his voice.

We were silent for a long moment. I wondered what could possibly be said in a moment like this. What words could begin to describe the feelings coursing through me? I had so many, many questions for him, and I was sure he had many to ask me, too. In reality, there was too much to say. But no words would come.

"Sora?" I whispered.

"Hmm?"

"I love you." Those words were so very simple. Simple, but sweet.

He held me tighter. "I love you more," he whispered against my ear. His teeth grazed my earlobe.

I laughed at the absurdity of that.

He pulled away from me for a second to look at my face. "You look… different. older."

I laughed. "Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically. "What, do I have crow's feet?"

He rolled his eyes. "Not that much older. I just meant that… well…" his skin darkened. "You look amazing, Kairi. You're even more beautiful than I remembered. And that's saying something."

"Oh." I blushed. "Um… thank you."

He pulled me close again. But not before I had time to scrutinize his features and notice the new touch of masculinity around his chin that I found different, but appealing nonetheless.

"You've grown up, you know," I said against his shoulder. It was easier to say when I couldn't see his expression. "You're not really a boy anymore, I guess. It's kind of sad, in some ways… but at the same time, I like it."

I reached up and stroked his jaw, a little curious of the subtle roughness that my fingers encountered there.

"Sorry about that. They said they'd give me a razor as soon as they could smuggle one in. These guards really aren't that bad. They try to make me as comfortable as possible."

He released me and his cold fingers began caressing my face again.

"Here," I said, shrugging out of Yuffie's bathrobe. "Put this on; you're freezing."

"No way," he said, pushing it back at me. "You need it more than I do. And besides, it's pink." He wrinkled his nose, then ran his hands along my bare shoulders. I shivered with delight. Apparently he thought I had shivered with cold, because he let his hands fall to his sides.

"Stop being chivalrous," I said. He just laughed.

I looked curiously around the room. It was dark and dingy and gray. Through an open doorway I could see a tiny washbasin and a shower.

"Are you… alright in here?" I asked, looking anxiously up at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, shrugging. "I have a place to shower and brush my teeth. I just get water out of the sink in there. And they feed me enough, for the most part."

I frowned. I didn't like the idea of him being here in this dark, cold, lonely place. I reached for him, but he still wouldn't reach for me. His hands were still limp at his sides.

Then I had an idea. "Where's your bed at?"

He laughed and pointed at a wide bench in the corner. "If you can call it that."

I took his hand in mine and pulled him over to it. We sat down on one end and I curled up against his shoulder and threw the long bathrobe over us like a blanket. I wrapped my arms around his neck and, without thinking of his reaction, kissed his cheek.

For a second the air was still. Then his hands were cradling my face and his breath was coming hard and fast in my ears. I searched for him frantically, almost painfully, in the dark.

He kissed me very softly at first, but he didn't do it in the teasing, seductive way that Riku had. Rather, he was hesitant and unsure. His lips were light and intuitive as they waited for some kind of response from mine. Waited to ensure that the energy he felt between us was not merely one-sided.

But I couldn't stand any more speculation. Not from him. He smelled way too good and his skin was way too warm and soft—it was purely torturous of him to hold me at a distance. I couldn't stand any more games. Because in truth, I wanted him so badly that it hurt—I wanted to feel his long, sinewy body against my own and run my hands through his hair till it stood on end.

So I stood on my knees, threw one of my legs over his lap so that I was directly in front of him, then sat down. He seemed a little surprised at first—but then his arms constricted around my waist, pulling me closer to him—as if it were necessary. Because I had already pressed my body against his as hard as I could. His lips came down braver and stronger on mine, and I kissed him back with a silent, desperate fervor.

There was no craftiness to the way he touched me; nothing that was precontrived or well practiced. There was only raw energy and raw desire.

And I loved it. There was fire everywhere. My blood seemed to be boiling under my skin and my thundering heartbeat nearly drowned out the deep, shuddering gasps that came from our mouths when we pulled apart to breathe.

This was so much more. So much more than I had ever known. The wounded half of my heart was beating like a war drum, surpassing the other half in both strength and speed. The fire was there too, fueling it on even faster and faster and faster until I was sure it would combust. It was healed.

The other half slowed, until it was frozen in a state of agonizing shock.

But the fire blazed on and I couldn't dwell on the other half of my heart whose glory was dull and cold in comparison. Because even though Riku was sexy and suave, Sora was just…Sora.

His hands were warm now and they were clutching and sliding along my bare, smooth arms. I was trembling beneath him. I desperately wanted the heat that radiated from his body to engulf me in all its entirety. I wanted it so badly that I actually moaned with longing. At this sound, his breathing hitched and his arms tightened around my body.

I let my hands trail down his chest, then my fingers found their way beneath his shirt and onto his warm stomach. I pulled the fabric upwards and he must have understood what I wanted because he pulled the shirt over his head and let it fall to the floor.

His stomach and chest were hard and muscled. The skin was so smooth that my fingers slid across it effortlessly. When I released his lips to watch my fingertips as they danced over his warm, suntanned pecks, his eyes followed them from beneath their curtain of thick, dark lashes. He shivered a little as my thumb brushed his nipple, then took my chin in one hand and guided my face back to his.

The warmth of his smooth, half-naked body seeped through my clothes and left my mind in a delicious haze. And yet I was hyper-aware of his fingers as they traced my tank top straps hungrily. A little knot of anticipation began to form in my stomach, but the straps stayed in place and the fingers continued their journey down my arms and across my stomach.

Our lips continued their frantic dance as I traced every muscle and every inch of his chest. I wanted to memorize him, memorize every cell of his body, so that I could have him with me for every moment of every day. The thought of letting go of him, even for just a moment, was torturous…

Suddenly, he stiffened beneath my touch. He cocked his head and I reluctantly released him.

There were voices, coming closer and closer down the passage. I could hear the burly guard and then a swift, fluid, low reply, a voice that I recognized...

"Riku!" I whispered. Sora nodded. I groaned. This was going to be so awkward. I leapt up, picked up the T-shirt on the floor, and handed it to Sora. He gave me a strange look before putting it back on.

"Riku," I called, walking to the door and peeking out. "We're in here!"

"I know," was his quiet response. I could see him now, coming with the guards. His silvery hair was falling into his eyes and his expression was blank. He was so good at hiding the things he didn't want anyone to see.

"We told him we'd let him in if you said it was okay," the redhead was saying. "He wants to see Sora."

"Of course," I said quickly. "Riku is our best friend!"

The latter grimaced.