They were surrounded. Hundreds of Heartless blocked their way of escaping, well, Sora's way. Donald and Goofy were unconscious, overtaken by the Heartless. He was alone and losing the battle. He was becoming tired and weak. Running low on supplies, he didn't know how much longer he could fight them off. They just kept coming. It was never ending.

As he was backed into a corner, he attempted to transform into his Valor form, but as he did something else happened. Something that Sora feared since he gave his Heart to Kairi. It started with his hand turning black, his fingers fusing together, leaving only three. The darkness stretched up his arm to his shoulder, down his back. Until, finally, it consumed him completely.

Sora screamed but no sound came out of his mouth. He felt trapped in himself. He had an uncontrollable urge to attack. To destroy anything and everything in his path. This wasn't him. This wasn't who he was. It was as if he was someone or… something else entirely. His body twitched, encouraging him to fight. He had to fight.

Suddenly Sora's body gave in and attacked at will. He wasn't sure who or what he was attacking but he didn't care. He just wanted to destroy. He jumped, flipped, and clawed down anything in his way. Making a path to something that was drawing his attention unbeknownst to him, until he was there. He was in front of these two bright, glowing…Hearts. Sora wanted them. He wanted them more than he had wanted anything in his life. Slowly he reached for them.

"Sora,"

Once he grasped them, he heard screaming. Bringing him back from the darkness. Back to his normal self. In a matter of seconds, Sora was no longer a Heartless, but a boy once again. He looked around. All the Heartless were gone, but how could that be? There were so many. He shrugged it off, wanting to get out of there. He glanced to where he believed Donald and Goofy were but was met with lifeless bodies. Their chests with black holes where their Hearts would be.

"Sora, wake up,"

What happened? Did the Heartless do this? Sora looked down to see his hands covered in blood. Each hand holding a Heart. Sora gasped, releasing the Hearts and watched as they ascended into the sky. This couldn't be. Sora couldn't have…he didn't do this… did he? Sora's mind raced trying desperately to remember what happened.

When the memories hit him, Sora panicked. No, no it couldn't be true. He couldn't have done such a thing. They were his friends! He couldn't have killed them. It wasn't him. It wasn't!

"Sora!"

Sora sat up summoning his Keyblade. He was in his room, in bed with Kairi, but he wasn't registering that. His eyes were unfocused and scanning the room frantically. Kairi was on the floor holding her left arm. Sora had struck her when he summoned his Keyblade. He bolted out of bed and started to back into the wall.

"Sora, it's okay." Kairi said softly, getting up and rounding the bed. "Do you hear me? It's okay," Kairi repeated, when Sora didn't respond.

"No, no Heartless," Sora mumbled, as he swiped his Keyblade in front of him. Kairi gasped and took a step back.

"Sora stop it! There are no Heartless! It's just you and me, do you hear me? We are home!" Kairi yelled, losing her patience with the man.

Her words did nothing but upset Sora. He began to swing his Keyblade frantically, knocking over his bedside lamp, pictures on the walls and destroying his dresser. Moving forward as he continued. Kairi backed away to avoid Sora's attacks. She didn't know what to do. Sora wasn't listening to her. It was never this bad before.

Ever since Sora came back with Riku he had not been the same. Kairi didn't notice until Sora moved in with her. They finally got together shortly after Sora returned. That's when she started to notice the changes. He still acted childish and naïve when he was with friends, but once they were home. Sora became someone else entirely. Kairi thought Sora just needed time to readjust to his old life. But as the days turned into weeks, weeks to months, Sora had become less and less like his old self.

He was quite a lot, never completely in the present. Anytime there was a loud noise or something scared Sora he would summon his Keyblade, prepared to attack. He would call Kairi by Donald or Goofy at times and when she reminded him, they weren't there. He would become withdrawn. Embarrassed by the slip up, flashing a fake smile like it didn't bother him as much.

Then there were the nightmares.

The first few months they weren't so bad. Sora would just wake up in a cold sweat only needing a glass of water to calm him down. He would fall back into a dreamless sleep and be fine. It would just happen all over again the next night. He wouldn't talk about them with Kairi. He brushed it off as no big deal. She accepted it, until they became worse.

Sora began screaming in his sleep. Kairi would gently wake him up, let Sora cry and have him explain the dream. It worked for a month. Kairi hoped the dreams would subside, but they didn't. They were happening more frequently, sometimes two or three times a night. It was starting to wear on them both. They were getting to the point where Kairi was unable to soothe Sora back to sleep. When he could, he would stay up all night for fear of having another nightmare.

Now the dreams had taken a new turn, and Kairi didn't know what to do. Sora was having night terrors. He would appear to be awake, when really, he was still in the dream. It took hours for Kairi to get Sora to come back, but it was getting harder and harder. She couldn't use the same approach to soothe him. She constantly had to think of different methods. She wasn't sure she could take this anymore.

Kairi was in the hallway shaking with fear. Sora has lost it. He was destroying their room and nothing she did brought him out of his trance. She didn't know what to do. Should she call someone? Hearing another crash from the bedroom she decided calling someone was her best option.

Going into the kitchen, since her cell was in the room, she picked up the landline. Dialing the one person she knew could help.

They were on the island. It was peaceful, just like it used to be. Before the darkness came, before their lives changed. Riku hoped it would always be like this. It's what they needed, what they deserved. A normal life.

He looked at Sora with a smile. The man was sitting on the bent Paopu tree, swinging his feet back and forth. The sun was setting behind him and it was hitting Sora in such a way that it made him glow. Riku couldn't help but think Sora looked…beautiful.

Pushing himself off the tree that he was leaning against to face Sora. He smiled at Riku with that goofy child-like smile. It was impossible not to smile back. He jumped off the tree and playfully pushed Riku away. He ran off to the edge of the cliff, twisting himself to look back to Riku.

"Come on, Riku," He called. He pulled off his shoes, socks and t-shirt before jumping off the cliff. A mischievous smile played on Riku's lips.

Quickly he followed Sora's lead, jumping into the water after stripping. When he resurfaced, he scanned the area for Sora, but he was nowhere to be seen. Riku swam around trying to figure out where the brunette went. He soon found Sora on the other side of the island floating on his back, with his eyes closed. Big mistake.

Riku grinned and silently swam over to the man. He stared at him for a moment just appreciating how good he looked. With his tan skin, chocolate brown hair, his boyish face and toned body. It was hard not to think he was attractive. Riku became lost in his thoughts, he completely forgot what his original plan was.

He felt himself lean down, slowly inching his way to Sora's soft pink lips. He was just about to place his own lips on Sora's…

Riku was ripped from his pleasant dream by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He groaned, as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Checking the clock to see it was three, he groaned again. Who the hell was calling this late? Blindly he reached for his phone.

"Hello?" Riku answered his voice rough with sleep.

"Riku, did I wake you?" He heard Kairi ask timidly.

"Kind of," Riku grumbled.

"I'm sorry…I…I know it's late. I just didn't know who else to call." she admitted.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked, rubbing his face. He was not awake enough for this.

"It's um Sora," She whispered, as if she was worried that the man would hear her. "He had a nightmare, and I can't calm him down. I don't know what to do." She added, her voice cracking.

"Okay, okay, I'll be there in a few." Riku assured her and hung up.

Quickly he threw on clothes and made his way outside to his motorcycle. Kairi and Sora only lived a few streets down, thankfully, making his late-night ride short. He made his way inside knowing the door would be unlocked. He was met with Kairi at the front door, in tears. The sound of things breaking could be heard from the second floor.

"He thinks he's in a battle with Heartless. He's been at it for about an hour and I-I couldn't get him to wake up." Kairi said as she cried.

Riku gave Kairi a small hug before heading to their bedroom. He opened the door to find Sora sitting on his knees in the middle of the room, panting. His Keyblade next to him just in case of another attack. The room was destroyed but Sora didn't seem to care. His eyes were unfocused and shifting back and forth. It was clear that Sora thought he was somewhere else.

Cautiously, Riku entered the room. Crouching down next to Sora but kept his distance from him. He didn't want to be hit by his Keyblade. Been there, done that, not going to happen again. Sora noticed Riku right away and reached for his Keyblade.

"Hey, hey," Riku said quickly. "It's okay Sora, it's just me, Riku." He announced. Sora's hand hovered over his Keyblade in confusion. He looked at Riku, then his blade, then back at Riku. "That's right, there are no more Heartless here. You took care of them, surprisingly." Riku teased.

"They…they were just here." Sora mumbled.

"You're right, they were but now they're gone. You got rid of them," Riku assured Sora.

"Oh," Sora breathed. "I…I didn't mean to," Sora whispered, looking at his hands as if something were on them.

"Didn't mean to what?" Riku asked, confused.

"I didn't mean to kill them. I…I wasn't myself. I didn't know." Sora explained. Tears started to build up in his eyes.

"The Heartless?" Riku raised an eyebrow. Didn't they just go over this?

"No, no, Donald and Goofy!" Sora sobbed pointing to the corner of the room, as if they were there. Riku stared at Sora in disbelief. Did he actually dream that he killed his friends? Kairi never said Sora's dreams were this bad. Why would she hide this from him?

"You didn't kill them Sora," Riku said reassuringly. Sora violently shook his head. He grabbed his hair and pulled down causing him to curl into himself.

"Don't lie to me, I know I did. I couldn't control myself. I wasn't me!" Sora cried.

"Sora, it wasn't real. It was a trick by the Heartless." Riku said, placing his hand on Sora's shoulder. The man flinched but didn't pull away.

"I don't believe you," Sora said harshly.

"I wouldn't lie to you about this, Sora," Riku said softly, "Donald and Goofy are fine. They aren't even here. You were fighting alone."

At first Sora shook his head not believing Riku. Slowly he stopped and uncoiled himself and looked at Riku. His eyes were no longer clouded, and he seemed to be in reality now. He gave Riku a lazy smile and flopped onto his side. He curled into a ball and was fast asleep before Riku knew it.

"Is he okay?" Kairi asked from the doorway. Riku turned his attention to her and smiled.

"Yeah, he's fine. Back to sleep, like nothing happened." Riku informed, keeping his voice low.

"Thank you Riku," Kairi sighed, releasing all the tension in her body.

"Anytime, I'll just put him in bed," Riku offered standing up. He picked Sora up with ease and placed him on the bed, it was surprisingly the only thing not destroyed. He pulled the covers over the man and smiled at him fondly. The poor guy had been through a lot, no wonder he was having nightmares. "Is it cool if I crash here?" Riku whispered, as he tore his eyes away from Sora.

Kairi jumped slightly, pulling her eyes to Riku. She was so focused on Riku and Sora she didn't even realize that he was aware she was in the room. It was weird how Riku just looked at Sora. Was he…?

"Y-Yes, the guest room is all set up," Kairi smiled.

"Thanks, I'll see you when the sun's up." He smiled and made his way out of the room.