*I don't any of the Kingdom Hearts characters, I only own Katie, Fergus, Clementine, Tori, and Dan

Riku opened his eyes to find himself not at Mysterious Tower, but at a farm in the fall. His face twisted into a puzzled look and looked up to look at the gate's entrance. His eyes widened at what the sign said: Heart Ranch. The logo beneath was a heart with a horse shoe overlapping it. "Katie's home..." Riku walked through the gate and started down the long gravel road.

After many minutes of walking, Riku heard hoof-beats come behind him. He turned around to see a man riding a black horse in his mid-forties with deep blue eyes behind square-shaped glasses and black hair that hid under his black cowboy hat. He was wearing a red plaid shirt and was stuffed in dark blue jeans, he also had on brown working gloves and cowboy boots. "You lost, son?" he asked Riku.

"No...actually, I don't know..." Riku confessed.

"Well, you're on Heart Ranch, son. Did you hit your head on something?" The man dismounted off of his horse and walked over to him. "What's your name? Your ma has to be worried sick 'bout ya."

"My name's Riku."

The man eyes widened and took off his glasses. "Riku?" He repeated, Riku nodded. "...What are you doing here, son? You're not allowed to be in here! Did something happen to my daughter?" The man grabbed Riku by his collar and somewhat lifted him up. "Don't just gawk at me like a Duce, boy! Did something happen to my daughter?!"

"W-who's your daughter?" Riku stumbled.

"You blunt, boy?! My kid is Katie!" The man growled.

"Katie?!" Riku exclaimed. "That makes you her–! But you're–!"

"Dead?" Katie's dad finished. He let Riku go. "Yeah, but I ain't to Bear. This has been my home for about two years now, me and the miss' and the kids. We've lived here ever since that accident."

"So everyone is here?"

"Yeah, including that boy with the gravity-defining black hair...what was that boy's name again...? His name sounds a lot like Bear's damn cat..." Katie's dad scratched his chin as he thinked. "Oh, yeah. Vanitas."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "You know Vanitas?"

"Yep. Had quite the attitude, that's for sure. But once I gave him the belt treatment, he came to senses." He laughed and slapped Riku on the back. "Don't worry, son. I'm not gonna do that to ya. But, I'm tellin' ya, you need to leave."

"Why?" Riku inquired. "Why do I have to leave?"

Katie's dad sighed and moved his hand down his face. "Look, son...you just have too, alright? I know why ya came now; she'll need ya when she wakes up." He held up his hand when Riku opened his mouth, stopping him. "Yes, I know what's going on. So do the miss' and the kids. We were in the dark for a while but we figured it out. Now I have something to ask ya, son."

"Which is, Mr. Heart?"

"Please, son. Call me Fergus." Fergus took a deep breath and asked, "Look after my daughter, okay? That Vanitas kid is gone now and his job was to keep her safe...if you were able to lift that damn darkness outta here, you're strong enough to keep her safe."

Riku shook his head. "But I still have Darkness in my heart...I still wonder why the Keyblade chose me–"

"Now stop right there. You are too strong enough. Trust me; I know a good heart when I see one. And you got a good one, son. And that's why should trust yourself for once." Fergus paused and smiled. "And that's why I trust ya with my daughter." He walked back to his horse and mounted back on its back, he tipped his hat at Riku. "Take care, son." Fergus snapped his horse's reigns and the horse galloped away.

Riku somewhat smiled as Fergus left, "Nice guy…" Then he got curious about the rest of the Heart family. He almost stepped forward to continue down the gravel road but stopped; Riku shook his head at himself and turned around made his way back to the gate. Half down the road, Riku heard sudden shots.

In the distance, two girls, both looked like they were in their early twenties, and a man, also in his early twenties, were by the gate. One had black hair tied in a tight ponytail and had a similar to Fergus' but had on pink plaid and wore shorts and black and pink cowboy boots. The girl next to her had dark brown hair that the bangs covered half of her left eye and was wearing a red shirt that said "Sleeping With Sirens" and had a white anchor on it. She was wearing black skinny jeans and red convers. The man had brown hair that was a bowl cut. He was just wearing a simple white tee, blue jeans, and tennis shoes. He had on a camouflaged baseball cap on. The boy noticed Riku first. "Hey, kid!"

The two girls stopped their conversation and turned to face Riku. The girl with the cowboy hat smiled and waved at Riku. "Never seen you before…I'm Clementine Guthrie, this is my husband Dan Guthrie, and this my younger sister, Tori Heart."

"You're Katie's older sisters and step-brother."

Tori rolled her eyes. "Well, duh…"

Dan elbowed Tori in the ribs and gave her a look. He sighed and said, "Sorry bout that…and you must be Riku!"

"How'd–?"

"Kingdom Hearts video game character, right?" Clementine interrupted. "Yeah, that was Katie-Bear's favorite game…still can't believe you're all real! But you kinda have to face reality when your kid-sister gets taken over by an old guy."

"You know about that?" Riku asked, his eyebrow raise.

Dan nodded. "Yeah. We also know that she was healing that Vanitas kid since she was four."

"You need to leave, Pixel. This place ain't for you." Tori snarled.

"Tori!" Clementine gasped. "Chill!"

"No, she's right. I need to get going." Riku got to the gate but stopped when Dan grabbed his arm.

"Wait. Dad might have already told you but…take care of Katie, okay?"

Riku nodded. "I will."

Clementine grinned. "Good! Now get going, Riku! We'll meet again someday!" She pushed Riku through the gate.

Riku jolted up and looked around frantically; he was back in Mysterious Tower. He slowly turned his head to the bed next to him and gasped. Katie was still unconscious.

Riku had lost track of how many days had passed since Katie slipped into unconsciousness. He even lost how many days and nights he had stayed up, waiting for Katie to wake up. Her skin was slickly pale and her breathing was slow, making Riku worry that her last breath could be moments away. He gripped onto her hand gently. "Katie, please...please wake up..." Riku whispered. Once again, his pleas weren't answered.

Riku turned his head when he heard the door creak open, it was Terra. "Still awake, huh?"

"Yeah..."

Terra walked into the door and leaned against the wall near Riku and Katie. "That's not good for you, Riku. You need to rest. It's been about a week."

"A week too long." Riku sighed. "I can't leave her, Terra. I won't leave her alone again."

"Again?" Terra repeated.

"If I didn't leave her in Radiant Garden while she slept, I could have stopped her from leaving. It's my fault that she ended up into Xehanort's hands."

Terra shook his head. "No. It's mine. I'm the reason why Katie got outside her world in the first place...and the mess we're where in. If I wasn't so arrogant twelve years ago, Xehanort wouldn't have risen." He sighed, "I'll leave you two be. If anything happens-"

"I'll let you know." Riku finished for him with a smile. "Trust me; I'll keep a close eye on your 'sister'."

Terra chuckled at the word 'sister'. "Yeah, I guess you can call her that from my perspective. See you later, Riku." Terra pushed himself off the wall and looked down at Katie for a few short seconds before he left the room. He slowly closed the door.

Riku's eyes averred his eyes from the door back to Katie's prone form. He outstretched his hand and cupped Katie's cheek. He was taken aback when a very soft moan came from Katie, his eyes widened when her eyes fluttered opened. "K-Katie...?"

Katie's eyes only half-way opened to the call of her name. "R...iku...?" she asked, her voice was weak and distant. "Is that...you?"

Riku's eyes were misty as he answered, "Yes. Yes, it's me, Katie." He helped her sit up, Katie somewhat jerked when he wrapped his arms around her. "I missed you." he whispered.

Katie slowly returned the hug. "I missed you, too..." She asked Riku quietly, "What happened?"

"It doesn't matter; all that matters is that you're safe now." Riku assured her. He pulled away from Katie and smiled warmly at her. "C'mon. There are some people that are anxious to see you."

"Are you okay, Riku? You don't look so good." Katie's eyes were now fully opened and revealed her true eye color, a deep azul. Her eyes narrowed at the black bags under his eyes. "...When was the last time you slept?"

Riku shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Four...five days tops."

Katie poked his arm as she told him, "You need to get some sleep, Riku."

"Look who's talking..." Riku snickered behind a smirk.

"Hey!" Katie pouted. "I had a very good reason to not sleep and you know that!"

"And so did I."

Katie gave Riku a questionable look. "Huh?"

Riku just shook his head with a small smile. "Nothing...you look tired."

"I am...and so do you." Katie slouched against the wall and sighed.

Riku scooted closer to Katie and also leaned against the wall that the bed connected to. "You sure you're alright?"

Katie made a hesitant nod. "I think so...I just need to get some sleep."

Riku made a soft gasp when Katie leaned her head onto the crook of his shoulder. He looked down and smiled, Katie was fast asleep. Riku slowly wrapped his arm around Katie's waist and leaned his head on Katie's. His eyes fluttered shut and quickly dropped into the land of dreams.

Sora opened the door that lead to where Katie lye unconscious. "Hey, Riku–" That's when he noticed Riku and Katie sleeping peacefully, together. Sora smirked and shook his head, "I knew it..." He slowly closed the door and let them be.

Riku's eyes sluggishly opened when he heard the wooden door creak shut. He cranked his head to the side to look out the window, his eyes widened at what he saw. Slowly, he nudged Katie. "Katie..."

"Hm?" Katie subconsciously hummed.

"It's time to get up."

Katie's eyes opened slowly, she looked up at Riku. "Why...?"

"We've been asleep for a day." Riku answered, he helped her up. "Time to see the others."

Katie nodded in understanding and said in mid-yawn, "Okay..." As soon as Riku let go, she plopped back onto the bed.

"Come here, I'll help you." Riku gripped onto Katie's arm and hauled her up to her feet. He placed her arm behind his neck and wrapped his other arm around her waist. "Nice and easy, okay?" They slowly made their way to the door. Katie reached for the door's handle and pulled it open. They walked out to the hall and to the common area.

Question Time! ^-^

The guest LightandDarkHear asks: "Is that OC you posted on Deviantart going to be featured in this sequel your planning?" Yes! Yumi Sahza will be in LoaDH: Dark Decent! She'll have a major role, too! ^-^

The guest Nyex asks: "What will happen to Vanitas and Namine and Xion considering they're not complete beings?" Actually, they are complete beings. You see, when the x-blade shattered, it not only released them but completed their hearts. ^-^

Got any more questions? Ask me in a review!

Bless your face. And if you sneezed while reading this KH fanfic then bless you. Peace off. BOOP! (Ba-da doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo do review! X3)