Kairi isn't going to take any of Riku's crap anymore. You go girl!

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is the property of Square Enix and Disney.

Kairi's stare was relentless in its intensity, unwavering and unwilling to let go until she got what she wanted. "I think it's time for you to start explaining everything."

"It's complicated." Riku kept his eyes downcast, thinking hard. Is this what Ansem had meant when he said their meeting wasn't wasted on small talk? He felt even more confused than he had been before. What did this even mean? Ansem hadn't possessed him, unless it had been for a very brief moment. So what had happened? Groaning in frustration, he attempted to stand up only to fall over due to the shaking of his arms. A hand on his shoulder stopped him from trying again.

"No. Sit." Kairi held him in place with her gaze as well as her words. "Don't start that again. I let it slide earlier because I thought it was something stupid that we could talk through and put behind us. This is much bigger than that, so stop pushing us away and tell us what's going on!"

Sora nodded in agreement. Even though he couldn't see him, Riku assumed Lea agreed if the hand still holding him down was anything to go by. With a sigh, he tried to formulate everything that was happening into words. Maybe that would help him understand it, too.

Sora seemed to take his silence as hesitation and grabbed onto his hand. "Come on, Riku! Why won't you let us help?"

"Because I don't really know what's going on myself!" He pulled his hand away from Sora's and tried to ignore the hurt pout that followed his yelling. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He couldn't understand why this was so difficult. Why couldn't he just ask for their help? The doubts Ansem had voiced whispered quietly in the back of his mind. They're just using you. They're afraid of your power. They're just making sure you'll still be able to fight on their side when all of this is over.

A gentle smack on the back of his head shook him from his thoughts. He looked back to see Lea giving him an encouraging smile. "You probably know more about this than we do. Just explain what you know and we'll go from there."

Sora, Kairi, and Lea all waited patiently for him to speak. They were determined to help him figure this out and confident in their ability to fix it. He really wished he had their faith and optimism. His doubts continued to eat away at him, but with so much support from those around him he was able to push them away for the time being. "Ansem is being an ass and messing around in my heart." He winced as the words came out. After holding it in for so long, his confession was a little blunt.

There was a moment of silence as his friends absorbed the information. Predictably, Sora was the first to respond. He stood up with a gasp and began gesturing wildly, trying to formulate his thoughts as they came out of his mouth. After spluttering for a few seconds he managed to get out actual words. "So you were possessed when you woke up!"

"No, I don't think so. I don't know. That's the problem." Riku sighed and rubbed his head, which was still pounding like it wanted to split open. The pain was not helpful when he was trying to think. "I don't know what he's doing. If he completely stole my body, It would be kind of obvious. More so than just my eyes changing color. And from the way he was talking, this was something different."

"Wait, he's actually talking to you?"

Riku quickly waved away Kairi's concern. "That part isn't new. He used to talk to me all the time after I first let him in. He would try to convince me to let him take control when I was weak. When I learned to accept my darkness and not fear it, he backed off. It hadn't been a problem for a while. Until now, I guess."

"You guess?" Lea snorted and began pacing, running his hand through his hair. "I don't think you're taking this very seriously."

"Oh, I am." More than you realize. He hadn't told his friends about the state of his heart yet, and he wasn't planning to do so until he could do something about it himself. Just thinking about it made his anxiety grow. Even if Ansem was behind some of his problems, he knew the man couldn't produce that much darkness in his current state. That meant it was his own doing. He wasn't prepared to tell the others that he had poisoned his own heart again, especially when he didn't know how he had done it.

Kairi still looked concerned, but their was a new determined light in her eyes when she stood up and extended her hand to Riku to help him up. He managed to get to his feet with some difficulty and ended up balancing on Sora to remain upright. "Okay. The first thing we should probably do is tell Master Yen Sid about-"

"No! Please don't." Their was a frantic edge on Riku's voice that made everyone turn and stare at him in surprise.

"Why not? He might be able to help!"

"Because..." Why didn't he want to tell the older Master? With his experience and wisdom, he would probably be able to come up with a solution, or at least a way to stop Ansem for the moment. So why did he feel like telling him would be a bad idea? Unable to think of a reason, Riku shook his head in confusion. "I don't know. Can we keep this between us for now, at least until we know more?"

Worried looks were exchanged within the group, but they all agreed to wait. It did make some sense; if they didn't understand the situation themselves, how would they explain what was happening to anyone else? Sora made sure Riku had a good grip on his shoulder to walk before commenting, "So I guess we're done training for the day, right?"

Riku laughed weakly and leaned further onto his friend for balance. "Yeah, you could say that." As they headed back towards the castle, he tried to ignore his growing fears and doubts as they rose within him in whispers that sounded far too much like his own voice, making it difficult to distinguish what he truly believed.

Poor Riku's going to deal with so many problems before this is over. Sorry not sorry!