Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 13

Riku glanced at Sora's face as a picture of the whole group appeared on the screen, it had been taken a few months after Sora's 'death', so no one looked very happy but it was the only one he had of all of them in it. There were no photos from earlier with Roxas, Xion, Terra….even Aqua and Ven were only in one other.

"I want to remember," Sora whispered, seemingly unaware he'd done so.

"You will," he was sure of it. "Sora…can you remember anything that would explain why you forgot?" with more memories returning then maybe something had, but he shook his head.

He'd dived into Sora's dreams while they were apart…but no deeper. If he did, could he help him? It wasn't like Sora's heart was sleeping in Darkness this time so it should be safe enough. He'd have to talk with Mickey at least, Ventus and Roxas as well probably since they had been at least partially aware the last time, to see what they thought before suggesting it to Sora. He didn't want to get his hopes up if everyone thought it would be risky.

"You can remember me using magic?" he asked to change the subject a bit, and Sora nodded but then frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Magic is how primitive societies explain advanced technology and natural phenomenon beyond their understanding," he stated, obviously reciting something he had been taught, by the Borg or the crew?

Riku shook his head. "Magic is very real, you use it too. You are great at air magic. See?" he held his hand out and very carefully cast a low level fire spell, cupping his hand around the flame.

Sora reached out to the flame but didn't try to touch it, just holding his hand above it, obviously testing for heat. It was his metallic hand and Riku wondered how much sensation he had with it, then he touched the flame and didn't flinch. It didn't hurt Riku since he was the caster, but it was hot enough that it'd burn and yet Sora wasn't reacting. "It's real," he stated in shock. "How?"

"Magic," he grinned, unable to help feeling excited, this time he'd be the one to show Sora magic, not Donald or Merlin. But…he looked around the small set of rooms he'd been given. "We could do with some more space if I'm going to help you remember how to use it."

"We could use a Holodeck," Sora offered.

"Is that private?" he asked, and Sora nodded.

"I will book one."

Riku nodded and they went back to the pictures, looking over the ones that had been taken since Sora's disappearance.

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Mickey looked at his desk as his Gummiphone began to ring, walking over to pick it up. He was surprised and relieved to see Riku's name on the screen, pressing the green button to answer the call. "Riku, are you alright?"

"I'm fine Mickey," Riku answered as he appeared on the screen, and then he smiled. "I'm with Sora."

Mickey slumped back in his chair, utterly relieved. He truly was alive then. "When will you be back?"

"That's…complicated," Riku admitted, running a hand through his hair. "Sora…was completely amnesiac at first. My being here is helping, he remembers me and even a little about other things. He doesn't know how to use magic or even summon his Keyblade anymore and…and I don't know if he could," Riku's words shocked him.

"Riku?!"

"Not due to Darkness!" Riku quickly assured him. "He's still Sora at heart, but he feels a lot weaker than he was even after the exam. The people who found him first, the Borg, they changed him. They put technology in his body and some of that is designed to inhibit emotions. I've seen him wince a few times just since I arrived. Mickey…he can't survive without what implants are left," Riku took a deep breath, pausing, and Mickey fought not to show the horror he was feeling.

"The crew of the ship we're on, they found him in a crashed ship, he was the sole survivor. They've dealt with the Borg before, have freed others, so they were able to remove a lot of what was done to him, but they can't take it all. They're stuck a long way from home so they don't have the resources others have had for those surgeries. Mickey, he can't survive on the Islands and there'd be too many questions even if he could. There's a very visible implant above his eye and one of his hands has metal over it too."

Poor Sora! How could anyone do that to another? "And these people? Do you trust them?"

"With Sora? Yeah…he's part of their crew now. And, well," he lifted his hand and it took Mickey a moment to realise it was the one Roxas had damaged so long ago. "They fixed my wrist and my hip. They offered not even an hour after I arrived and the Doctor detected the damage."

Mickey listened as Riku explained what had been done, shocked that he now had artificial bones in his arm but then Riku explained that Sora'd had to have his whole arm replaced because those Borg had removed it!

"I want to dive into Sora's heart, to see his Station of Awakening and find out if it's damaged or not."

"Oh," he blinked.

He knew that was what Riku had done to wake Sora after their exam, because he hadn't let him do it. in the end, Riku had been right to insist, they were far closer and that had helped. Would it help now? So long as it wouldn't harm him, did that matter? At least Riku could have a better idea of what he was dealing with.

He talked it through with Riku for a while before sending a message to Master Yen Sid to see what he said. Riku had refused to speak with him for years and honestly, Mickey understood why. His methods just did not work for their generation but he refused to change. He hoped that Sora would re-learn to summon his Keyblade, he couldn't imagine Sora without it.

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Kathryn sat at the conference table with Chakotay and the rest of the Command staff, including Seven and the Doctor. The door opened and Sora entered, Riku just behind him, the taller male scanning them silently as they approached the table and the two empty chairs. She quickly introduced the crew to the newcomer and he nodded in greeting. Usually, she would have organised a meeting sooner, but between repairs from the Hirogen and Sora's worn down condition, she had decided to wait, only to receive notice that the Doctor was about to perform surgery on the young man.

He was an unusual looking young man, relatively tall, with striking cyan eyes and silver hair. It seemed to be natural as his eyebrows were the same colour. The doctor had confirmed they were human, although with the slight changes that came with adapting to a different world, so perhaps the hair colour came from environmental impact on his ancestors. Or from being, what had he called it?, a Dream Eater?

"You look much better now Sora, I hope you are recovered?" She asked, and Sora nodded.

"Yes Captain," he confirmed.

"I apologise for how disorganised you have found us Riku."

"It's understandable Captain, you were invaded after all. I contacted Sora one of the very few times he was sleeping during that period so I was prepared to help you when I arrived. I was glad to find it wasn't needed."

That was a surprise, and Chakotay leant forward slightly to speak.

"How much could you have done, no offence meant. But the method you arrived in appeared unarmed."

"The glider is armed," he admitted.

"I'll admit, we're rather curious about your peoples level of technology."

"Sora told me about the Prime Directive, we have something similar called World Order."

"Really? So you do travel between planets regularly. I am curious as to how you've come to the Delta Quadrant as humans are native to the Alpha Quadrant."

"We're from the Destiny Islands," Riku answered, obviously considering his answers. "Getting here was complicated and without Sora acting as a beacon, I doubt anyone would ever be able to find this place. Further trips would be simpler since I have the navigation data now in the ship, which I had to abandon to get here. Most of the Worlds I have been too can't match what I have seen on this ship technology wise."

"I can't go home, it would break the World Order," Sora spoke up, and she looked to Tuvok and then the Doctor who both nodded at the shift in his language use, Tuvok appearing intrigued while the Doctor looked unsurprised. So he'd likely noticed when they were in Sickbay.

"If we could hide the most obvious changes you could visit, see your Mom again," Riku told him.

Ah, that was tricky. They knew Seven's parents were either dead or Drones, but they'd had no idea about Sora's family. And Sora was shaking his head.

"She has to think I am dead by now, telling her when I cannot stay would be unfair."

"Think about it," Riku told him, not pushing which was good, and Sora nodded.

To all of their surprise, Sora reached for Riku with his prosthetic hand, and the young man showed no hesitation in taking it, no fear, nothing. Had what they had told him of the Borg not been fully understood…or did he simply trust his friend that much even after years apart? He caught them looking and stared back at her, making her smile slightly. It was trust, he trusted Sora to not harm him, despite his lack of memory and years as a drone.

"Can you tell us more of the worlds you know? If they are not technologically advanced then is there much travel and how do you explain it?" Tuvok asked, getting them back on topic.

"It's complicated…but there are Realms and Worlds," he started, and she could hear the capitalisation of those words. There's the Realm of Light, Realm of Darkness, Realm Between, and Realm of Sleep. Within those Realms are the Worlds. Destiny Islands is in the Realm of Light, as are most Worlds. For the most part, the Worlds are isolated, cut off from each other by barriers," he explained.

That was…unlike anything she had ever heard of, even in theory. A glance at the others showed they were just as perplexed, except for Sora who was frowning slightly, trying to remember?

"When we realised Sora was still alive and began looking for him, one of the clues given was that he was in the Other Side, a place not connected to the realms we know. It's what made getting here so difficult and took so long."

"So your home world is not technologically advanced? Then how did you leave it?" B'Elanna asked.

It was almost undetectable, but Riku flinched at her question. Sora frowned and squeezed his hand, causing Riku to smile slightly at him.

"Our home fell to Darkness, and we were separated. Sora ended up in a world in the Realm Between, which is what happens to most who survive if their world falls. I ended up in the remains of Hollow Bastion, a world that had been overrun but was still just within the Realm of Light, and in the hands of the enemy, not that I knew it."

"Is that how you ended up possessed?" the Doctor asked, and Riku nodded.

"Thankfully, Sora ended up with people who were working to end the threat, even if it meant we ended up on opposite sides for a while. Sora was fourteen, I was fifteen years old. Sora vanished when the war was finally, truly, over which was two years later."

Children should never have to fight in war, it was against the rules in Starfleet. You couldn't even enrol in Starfleet Academy until you were sixteen for a human. By the time a cadet graduated, they were at least twenty years old, occasionally you got a genius who graduated younger but they were not sent to postings were conflict was likely to occur. Ships like the Enterprise with entire families aboard were different, technically they were meant for exploration and scientific missions. Unfortunately, being the flagship meant the Enterprise did see a good amount of combat. Ever since Wolf 359 the amount of civilians on Starfleet vessels had dropped, even on the few Galaxy-class ships. They only had civilians on board because they had joined in the Delta Quadrant, or been born on board like Naomi.

Then again, by the sound of it, they'd had little choice with their World gone.

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Riku wasn't sure how much more he could or should say about the Realms, but stayed quiet since they seemed to be digesting what he'd already said. They were still holding hands, but he wouldn't be the first to let go, he wanted Sora to feel able to turn to him for whatever he needed. He'd seen the surprise in the crew when he'd taken Sora's prosthetic hand without hesitation. And yeah, maybe he didn't fully understand the dangers, but he would always chose to trust Sora.

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Yen Sid looked up as Mickey walked into his study, unsure why he was there. The Worlds were mostly peaceful now, any trouble easily handled by the large group of Keyblade wielders and their associates. He rarely heard from any of the except Master Aqua, not since young Riku had confronted him and then left, refusing to speak with him again, the younger ones following his lead in putting blame for Sora's fate on him, for not acting more and putting so much pressure on the boy. He had done what was necessary and he had not told Sora to abuse the Power of Waking. Riku had made it clear that he disapproved of how he had treated Sora; from refusing him the rank of Master despite his sealing the Keyholes to always pointing out his faults. How was the boy to grow if he did not?

"He found him, Riku is with Sora," Mickey told him.

Yen Sid was honestly surprised by that, he had thought Sora lost to them forever. He might have survived his first abuse of the Power of Waking in restoring the other Guardians hearts to them, but his insistence on saving Kairi had been too much. He had not been at all surprised when they had told him of how Sora had faded away on the island, of how Riku had felt the Dream Eater link break. When Riku had begun sensing something again, then he had been surprised.

He was glad the boy…young man lived, but he doubted if it would be an easy road home.

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Sora listened to them all talking, trying to remember more from what Riku was saying. He winced slightly as his frustration spike and his implants reacted, smothering the emotion. He felt Riku squeeze his hand and glanced at him, seeing his look of concern.

"Sora?" the Doctor called.

"I am fine," he answered.

"The implants?" Commander Tuvok asked, and he nodded reluctantly.

"You okay?" Riku asked softly, twisting in his chair to face him, a hand moving to cup his cheek, and Sora leant into the warm touch.

"The implants responded to my frustration and smothered it," he explained.

"Why were you frustrated?" Riku asked him.

"It feels as if I should know what you are talking about but…I can't…" he shook his head, and then Riku leant in, pressing his forehead to Sora's.

"Shh, it's okay," he whispered.

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Tuvok watched them, intrigued by Riku's actions and how well Sora responded. It showed just how well the young man knew Sora, that he could comfort him so easily, without needing to guide him into meditation. Sora's frustration was natural and completely understandable. He wished that their sessions were helping more than they were, but all they could do was continue, especially now that more of his memory seemed to have returned.

"Do you have methods for helping with memory loss?" he asked to take the immediate attention off of Sora.

Riku looked over at him. "You were in Sora's mind before."

"Indeed, we have been using mind melds to attempt to retrieve his memories and we have had some success."

Riku looked back to Sora who was watching them both, obviously trying not to hope. "If Sora's memories were locked away how I think they were, then I believe I can get them back."

"What do you mean?" the Captain asked.

"I think Sora sealed his own memories away," Riku admitted. "It would explain the last things I sensed from him," but he did not say what those things were, respecting Sora's privacy?

"Is it dangerous?" the Doctor asked in concern.

"I've done it before," he told them, which definitely had everyone focused fully on him, including Sora. "Sora's Heart was put into a deep sleep he couldn't wake from, I dove in to wake him. That time was risky because Sora's Heart was sleeping in Darkness and I had to fight a Nightmare armour that was surrounding him. There shouldn't be anything like that this time."

"I don't understand, what do you mean that his heart was sleeping in darkness?" Seven spoke up, she'd been rather quiet around the newcomer which was intriguing and something to watch.

Riku sighed and leant back in the chair, running a hand through his hair. "A being is composed of three parts; the body, heart, and soul. The Heart is responsible for the composure of memories, will, goals, and ambitions, as well as emotions. The soul gives the body life, it's the force that wills the body to live and drives it to survive. The body is the vessel that gives them form."

That was different to most philosophies that he had studied and he wondered if perhaps Riku had texts on the subject that could be copied for further investigation.

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"Xehanort had a plan to possess Sora, he couldn't do it in the same way he did with me, Sora's Light was too strong. So he hijacked our Mark of Mastery exam and tricked Sora into going deeper and deeper into the Sleeping Worlds. When I found him, he wouldn't wake up, he was just sitting there, asleep even as we fought to get to him," he hated explaining even some of what had happened during their disastrous exam. "With Sora's Heart asleep, he would have had full control of Sora's body, with Sora unable to fight back and likely completely unaware of everything forever. Thankfully an enemy turned friend showed up at the last second and managed to block the transfer, literally carrying Sora under one arm," that caused a slight smile. "Even once we returned to Master Yen Sid's tower, nothing would wake Sora. Because I had become his Dream Eater, I dove into his Heart to wake him."

"And a Dream Eater is what exactly? The Doctor said you are human," the Captain stared at him and Riku bit back a grimace.

He was not the best choice for explaining, he either said far too little, or too much. He was giving them a lot and getting nothing in return, yet, but he understood that at the moment, the focus was Sora. Unfortunately he was the only one there who could tell them anything. They saw Sora as part of their crew, if they thought his Diving would be dangerous, then they would likely attempt to stop him. That would complicate things since he needed to be near Sora to Dive into his Heart.

"Dream Eaters are native to the Realms of Sleep where they consume the dreams and nightmares of its denizens. There are two types, Spirits and Nightmares. Nightmares consume dreams and cause nightmares while Spirits do the opposite. "While Sora was undertaking the exam, I was actually within his dreams, I just didn't know it. And it's not like I could see my own back to realise I had the Dream Eater symbol on my vest."

"So you can only enter Sora's dreams?" the man from Sora's mind asked…Tuvok.

Riku nodded. He'd never tried to enter anyone else's dreams, although he thought he might be able to enter Roxas and Xion's…maybe even Ventus', Kairi was the least likely because all of them had once been within Sora's Heart. They didn't need to know that. "I'll only do it if Sora wants me to though," he told them, looking at Sora again.

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Riku thought he could help him regain his memory? That he'd somehow done this to himself? If he had, was that bravery or cowardness when faced with the force of the Collective? To truly know who he was, to understand everything Riku said, to truly be a person again… "Please."

TBC…