• 1-Return to Self

(AUTHOR’S NOTES: his his story is now as revised as
I can make it, though I would be all too happy to receive opinions on anything
else that needs improvement. For the real products of my revision, re-read the
battle scene. I would also love opinions on whether I should make this into a
chapter fic or just leave it a one-shot. Please R&R. Thanks.)

Home. My home had been gone for
around a year, but it was back. I was detained from it for a year longer, though
I would prefer to never think again about what kept me away. All I cared about
was that, after two long years, I was finally home. Yet it didn’t feel like
home anymore. As much as I’d dreamed about coming back and how things would not
have changed, I found that I was the one that had changed. Destiny Island was
no longer my home. I don’t know where my home would be.

Anyhow,
I chose to stay a little longer after I arrived, but I planned to take my leave
soon afterwards. I didn’t feel that I could bear to face either of my old
friends, former friends actually, and I knew they were here. I could sense
their hearts and the strength of those hearts. I had to leave before either one
of them found out that I was on this island again.

Quietly,
I knelt down near the natural pool, fueled by a small kind of waterfall, of
fresh water and dipped my hands into it before splashing a good amount on my
face. It felt good to relieve my skin of the blood on it caused by a wound that
curved down the left side of my face, barely missing my eye. Beside me, a queer
sort of animal was sniffing around. It looked somewhat like a short-legged frog
that did not hop. I don’t know quite how to describe the breed of Heartless
known as a Shadow. That was my sole companion in my life as of that day.

“Riku!”

Really,
I was a little surprised that he had reczed zed me. I knew I looked different.
I had grown a couple of inches since I had last seen him. My outfit was
different too. Black boots protected my feet, and my black slacks were a touch
tight. My deep violet shirt bore a black Heartless emblem on it, and the
marking was outlined in scarlet. The midnight colored jacket I also wore bore
the same crest on leftleft sleeve, though it was black on the interior as well,
outlined in white thread. My hair had grown without much attention, so it was
shoulder length and filled with dead and split ends. I do believe that only my
eyes were the same.

I
couldn’t help my bitter tone as I addressed my former friend, rival, and my
enemy.

He
was nearly untouched by the years and his adventure. His brown hair, though
well groomed, was still without order, and it sprang every which way. Those
same sapphire eyes looked at me with that classical, innocent look. At first,
he seemed delighted to see me, and then his expression changed to slight sorrow
to see the hostile look I gave him. He was dressed not too differently than
when I’d last seen him, though he had grown a bit, and I saw the Keyblade still
at his side.

“Riku!
We’ve been so worried about you!” the girl then cried out, grinning from ear to
ear. “We thought…” she trailed off. Her auburn hair was longer now, chin
length, but her outfit wasn’t much different.

It
was nice to see that Sora and Kairi hadn’t changed, even if I still hated Sora.

“That
I was dead?” I asked coldly, smirking just a bit. “No, Maleficent’s powers
protected me. Of course, nothing is for free. I still owe her something that
I’m glad to deliver. I owe her for how good of care she took of me.” I honestly
believed everything that I was saying. Maleficent had filled my head with
thoughts that I took as truth. The idea that she alone cared for me and that my
two dear friends had abandoned me had not yet given way. Besides, I was a
little jealous. I had done so much for Kairi! I had been the one to find her!
And yet, in the end, I was powerless top hep her. It had been Sora who had
beaten me in the end.

“Riku,
she doesn’t ca--”

“What
does she want?”

Sora
was smart to interrupt Kairi there. Telling me I was wrong was never a good
thing, and Sora seemed to at least know that. He also wanted to know something
that I must give him credit for. He wasn’t normally one to know what was most
important to ask about. This time, however, he did seem to have his priorities
straight.

“A
second life,” I murmured calmly. I then began to stride forward, and I held out
a hand, “Give me the Keyblade, Sora.” I knew he wouldn’t hand it over, but this
was fair warning. Once I ordered, er… asked, him once, I could take it as
liberty to attack him to get it. Naturally, he withdrew from me, motioning
Kairi off to the side, whispering to her to stay out of the way. I couldn’t
blame him. I didn’t want to see Kairi hurt either. This was simply between he
and I. Not her. No.

“I’m
not letting you have it!” Sora shouted at me. I expected no less. Naturally he
wouldn’t hand it over so that I could revive a woman that had put him through
all of his quests. I saw a vague change in those dark eyes of his. He’d grown
up since last we met… He had become more able to handle things like this. I
could vaguely see Kairi out of the corner of my eye. She was nearly in tears to
see Sora and I facing off like this. Obviously, Sora was the only one of the
two who matured from that quest.

“Have
it your way.”

With
this said, I held out my right hand. In it appeared my faithful sword. The base
of it was a deep blue, and it was shaped somewhat like a miniature dragon wing.
The blade of it was a dark scarlet, a turquoise stone set into the hilt, and
the blade went at a curve in-between prongs of navy colored metal, stretched
out slightly. Sora’s hold on the Keyblade tightened, and I darted forward.

“Riku,
don’t!” I heard him say, a pleading undertone to his voice, as my sword met
his, both of us applying pressure to knock the other away. He won, and I backed
off a foot or two.

“I
will have that Keyblade.”

I
made another slash at him, and blood flowed from his cheek. I paid the price,
though, as his weapon caught my left arm, rendering it nearly useless as blood
ran down it.

“Riku,” Sora’s voice
invaded my mind, “don’t make me do this.” Now it was a complete plea, but
something else rung in my head. It was another voice, the voice of the one who
had saved me from… that… place. Maleficent’s voice urged me on. A few more
parried occurred, then I became even more serious. So did Sora.

I took another lunge, but his blade was fast
enough to block once more. In mock defeat, I began to back away, but then he
let down his guard. My chance shone suddenly. I made a feint for his left side,
and he moved to block that. Instead, my blade fell on his right shoulder, and
he reeled back a little. Suddenly, though, he moved forward, going for the
flesh under my right shoulder. Or so I thought. However, when I dodged to the
left, I realized that he had changed his mind and struck for the other. Rather
than a blow to either shoulder, I felt the metal slide into my chest, missing
any instantly fatal area just by mere centimeters. The sand beneath me began to
turn red as I fell to my knees.

“Riku!”

Kairi’s
v vag vaguely caught my ears as the Keyblade was pulled out of me and I felt
myself slump forward, the loss of blood slowly rendering me unconscious.

“Riku,” a soft voice, Sora’s, whispered to
me as I felt a hand on my cheek brush away some of the blood leaking out of the
corner of my mouth. I managed to grasp what was going on long enough to see
that I was in the tree house he, Kairi, and I had always played in when we were
little. I was lying on something soft. I opened my mouth to try and say
something to him, but my strength failed me. Despite a battle of will against
it, my world slipped slowly into black once again.

“Riku!” a
voice shouted now, and my eyes opened. I was fifteen again. Kairi and Sora were
once more fourteen, and they were near me. Kairi was sitting in the sand beside
where I was lying down, the rolling waves just missing my feet with their
waters. Sora was running over to the two of us with a grin plastered on that
cheery face of his.

“We’ve been waiting for you, you
lazy bum,” Kairi said with a smile, throwing a small pebble at him. He ducked
the rock launched at him before settling in on the other side of me. My right
side. I don’t know why I remember that, I just do. “We need to start planning
our supplies,” Kairi suddenly informed us, and I almosugheughed at the almost
random nature of it.

I was orchestrating our planned
departure from this small island. The others were fairly content on our dear
little home and just a touch restless. I, however, was desperate to leave. To
me, there had to be something more for me than this place. I was not afraid,
really, to leave this place and never return.

“Well, we’ll need plenty of food,”
Sora stated with a grin. My eyes examined my blue eyed friend as he looked at
Kairi, those eyes of his lighting up even more as she looked at him with an
approving nod. ”And water,” the boy said, eager to keep the girl’s opinion of him
high. He really thought a lf hef her.

pan>pan>“We need a sail and wood for the
actual raft,” I added, not about to be outdone by my friend and also slight
rival. He figured we were rivals for Kairi’s attention, and I did nothing to
deter his thoughts from that assumption.

The plans continued to be made while
we were unaware of the dark dears looming in the near future.

“Sora, he’s coming
around.” My eyes slowly cracked open again to peer into worried lavender ones.
Kairi was by my side, and I soon was aware of Sora in the doorway. From what I
could see, we were in the tree house we’d always used as a fort when we were
kids. Sora had to have brought me here, more than likely on his back. I could
only imagine the blood that must have fallen from both he and I on the way up
here, though at least he’d been conscious. I could still feel every bit of my
tried body protesting my being awake.

“We
were worried we’d lost you,” he muttered quietly. Why in the world were they
worried about me? I’d tried to kill Sora not very long ago. A cool cloth sound
my forehead, and my eyes slowly slid closed again. I tried to keep the room in
focused, but the image faded into darkness.

“Where is he?” the agitated voice of Kairi
muttered after having helped me lug our supplies for our raft to the cove where
we set up a type of camp. However, as I had expected, Sora had yet to show up like
he’d promised he was going to, on time as he had sworn he’d be,

font-family:"Book Antiqua"'> “Okay, go!”

Kairi’s shout of glee sent Sora and
I running. Originally the odds of the race had been for the name of our raft
and the position of captain. I’d struck a slight chord, however, when I
proposed that the winner of this race share a legendary paupa fruit with Kairi.

The legend of the paupa fruit is
that when two people share it, their destinies become intertwined, and they
will remain a part of each other’s lives forever. No matter what.

We
ran with all our hearts, Sora and I did, both eager to make it to a set up
landmark, a tree with a golden star atop it, and back to the starting position.
A section of bridge collapsed as I ran over it, and it took Sora a moment to
get over it, having hesitated at the creaking sound. Every muscle in my body
strained with the desire to win this race.

I did, indeed, beat Sora back to the
spot, but I waved off the final terms of the bet, settling instead for the
original ones. Funny how relieved Sora looked when I discarded the idea about
sharing one of the fruits with Kairi. Quietly, I watched as he strolled away to
get a list from Kairi of our provisions. He didn’t realize how much I simply
wanted his attention.

I wouldn’t have minded sharing a paopa
fruit with Sora. I still wouldn’t mind it. Not a bit.

l'> “Damn it, Riku…
you have to stay awake. Please… don’t give in…”

Sora
sounded so worried, and I felt a hand curl once more around one of my own as it
began to tremble.

“Sora…”
I whispered, clutching to that hand around mine in a vain attempt to stop the
darkness’ new attempt to claim me. Once again, I lost the battle.

“Sora! Sora! Kairi! Help me! Someone!”

The pain was unbearable. I could
remember reaching out for Sora’s hand. He had been so close, and yet he hadn’t
been able to take it! I was on my back on a cold surface. At least twenty
Shadows were on top of me, ing ing at my chest. It hurt so badly. I didn’t know
it then, but they were trying to rid me of my heart.

“Sora!” I cried again. I had always
helped bail Sora out of trouble whenever he had needed me. I needed him now. I
needed him so badly. Where was he? He had to come…

“Oh my,” a female voice murmured
quietly. “Let him be,” she snapped slightly, and the creatures attacking me
stopped. “You’re a friend of Sora’s?” she then asked, and I felt myself… almost
levitating.

“Yes…” I managed to say, aware of my
badly bleeding chest, though this woman was wrapping it slowly. I never
bothered to think that it was odd that she knew who Sora was. “And Kairi. Where
are they?”

“Kairi?” she murmured quietly,
tending my wound and muttering something I couldn’t understand. Suddenly, I was
back on the ground, but I felt a whole lot better. “Oh, the girl. I can help
you find her. As for Sora… he’s forgotten you, or at least replaced you,
already.”

“No! Sora wouldn’t do that!”

“Fine, fine. If you will do me a
favor or two, I’ll take you to him, and then I’ll help you find this Kairi
you’re worried about. If he has replaced you, though, I’ll gladly take you in.”

“Thank you, miss. I’ll help you with
whatever you need if you can find my friends. What’s your name?”

12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:20.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua"'>“Sora!”

'> I
half shouted it as my memory jolted me back to consciousness. My entire body
was quivering, and I could barely breathe. However, that cool cloth found my
head again, and I felt myself be lifted slightly and set against someone’s
chest. It had to be Sora. As my head rested into the crook of his neck, his
hand went up behind my head. I could almost sense how worried he was about me
as my eyes fluttered shut once again.

It
was time to see if the darkness would allow me to live or if it would consume
me fully.