Home is Where the Heartless Are Chapter 04: It's a Long Way to 6th Avenue Heartache

A chilly sea breeze shifted through Riku's fake pitch-black hair lightly, causing him to shiver slightly in his coat. He stood on a small bridge near the bottom of the Highwind, leaning against the metal railing as he watched the water below. The ship was moving very slowly, manned by only a handful of night crewman on their trip back to Midgar. They were also going to stop by Corel, a small mining town to the North East of Nibelheim, along with Junon, a military city South of Midgar, for people and ammunition, respectively.

Riku had only been able to sleep for a few hours before stress pulled him from the foggy veil of slumber. Though his sea green eyes were focused on the ocean below, staring at the waves as they jumped and crashed, his mind was sifting through his picture book memories of Destiny Island. A pod of dolphins appeared, bouncing and pouncing through the water, clicking to each other as they played in the great airship's shadow. Riku watched them with a small, distant smile across his lips, a memory gently emerging from his mind to envelop him.

It was when he was ten, making Sora nine at most. They had been playing a game of tag and Sora had been 'it', easily catching everybody. Except Riku. Riku was running the younger boy ragged, tearing down the beach in the moonlight as Tidus and the others cheered Sora on. Sora's slender child body was no match for Riku's strength and speed, but the brunette refused to give up, even as his small lungs burned in his chest. Riku had torn into the cove and scrambled up the watchtower, planning to make his escape from the top using the pulley leading down to the ground.

He'd managed to make it nearly all the way up before Sora even started climbing, and just as he was about to grab the pulley's bars and continue the chase, a scream from the ground caused him to whip around. He peered over the edge just in time to see his younger friend hit the ground with a loud thud, causing Sora to scream again. Riku jumped onto the ladder and made his way down it as fast as he could, kneeling before the smaller boy.

Riku gingerly lifted Sora's upper body into his arms, letting the younger boy sob quietly into the crook of his neck as he checked the brunette over. All he found was a large bump on Sora's head, caused by his skull hitting a small pebble painfully. Riku gently stroked the side of Sora's head, rocking him slowly as Tidus and the others came running around the bend, having heard the scream.

As always, Riku had easily taken hold of the situation. With a voice that was firm, but not frightening, he gave each of the younger children a task, helping Sora while at the same time making them feel useful. Wakka and Tidus ran to get Selphie's father, who was working on the small dock, while Selphie ran to the fresh water spring to soak a clothe for Sora's head. Selphie's father carried the small trembling boy back to the docks, where Riku had held onto his friend reassuringly as the fisherman rowed them back to the main island. Sora's parents thanked Selphie's father and Riku for the quick attention given to their son and the day had ended, like any other, with only a small mishap.

But Sora didn't need Riku's help like that anymore. Sora didn't need Riku to take care of him, nobody did really. Sora was a strong and powerful young man, able to defend himself and others when he needed to. He had proven than many times over, twice defeating Riku at the Hollow Bastion, defeating Ansem, and now, fighting Heartless soldiers for hours on end. The frail, fragile, scrawny runt Riku remembered his friend to be had filled out into his body nicely, muscular but not overly so, face shaped in a cute, boyishly handsome way that probably turned heads.

Riku sighed, thinking how easy the lives of the dolphins below probably were. They just swam all day, played in the ocean, ate fish and avoided the occasional shark. The Heartless had no interest in them; they wouldn't hinder the dark creatures when they attacked.

"What'cha doin' out here?" Riku recognized the voice as Stella, looking over his shoulder at the other man. "It's freaking cold out here."

"I wanted to be alone," Riku replied. Sometimes, he felt like the older of the two. Stella was brash, crass, easily distracted and not exactly task- oriented.

Stella sat down next to where he stood, dangling his feet over the edge as he held on to a bar. He was silent for a few moments, joining Riku, watching the pod. "How come you didn't tell us your real name?"

Riku sighed, knowing he was going to have to talk to many people in the days to come. Stella, Nobody, and Sora. All three deserved answers, answers Riku didn't really have. "I guess.I was trying to part myself from the past. I wanted to believe I'd never see Sora again, I'd never see anybody from my home again and could just start over."

"But.he's your friend, right?" Stella asked, looking up at Riku. The electric lights from the Highwind caused the younger man's hair to glint like thousands of strings of black diamonds, his sea green eyes taking on a strange glow that made them seem like pools.

"Yeah, Sora's my friend. But you know.I did some pretty horrible things to him. I attacked him, kept him from Kairi, hurt him in so many ways. How do you explain that to a person?" Riku looked away, knowing his emotions were beginning to churn, causing his throat to tighten.

"But if he's your real friend, which he is, he'll forgive you, right?" Stella asked, kicking his feet slightly. "He won't hate you."

"How do you know? You've known him less than two days." Riku scoffed, sitting down next to the older man. He folded his legs and leaned against a bar, facing the airship's outer wall.

"That doesn't matter. He's come this far, forced the doors of Kingdom Hearts open to see you, he's not going to hate you," Stella said. He lay down across the deck on his back, staring up at the sky what should have been full of shining stars. However, the Heartless blanket of darkness created by the Black Planet blocked them out, only small light inkblots against the velvet now. "If he hated you, he would have tried to kill or attack you already."

Riku remained quiet, not knowing what to say. He wanted desperately for things to just go away, wanted to be fifteen again and only have to worry about making sure Sora didn't hurt himself or pick fights with the older kids at school. He laughed at the memory, smiling fondly.

"What?" Stella asked, blinking as he frowned over at his friend. He'd never seen Rain, or Riku, smile so openly. "What are you laughing at?"

"Your face," Riku said, monotone, a deadpan look on his face. "It's just so ugly, I find it hilarious."

"Fine, screw you too," Stella muttered, punching Riku's hip lightly. "But, seriously, I've never seen you smile, let alone laugh. What was so funny?"

Riku smiled, his memory smile turning full on his pale, flower petal lips. "Just.Sora and I went to school together, and since we were on such a small island, the junior high and high school were connected. This one time, at lunch, this high schoolgirl made our friend Kairi cry, so Sora called her skanky. She got her boyfriend, some big beefy guy, to try and beat Sora up. Sora.Sora was really small at the time, and pretty much ran circles around the guy. It was great to see this little, scrawny runt dodge between the guy's legs, and then our friend Tidus smacked him on the head with a rock and knocked him out."

Stella laughed a loud, open sound that was so inviting, at the mental image. "Your parents were probably so pissed."

"Oh God, the school called Sora's mom right? And when we were walking home, we waited by his house to see if she would make him sleep on the roof again and-"

"She made him sleep on the roof!?" Stella cried, laughing hysterically now.

"Yeah," Riku was trying hard not to join in his friend's merriment, trying to calm himself and continue the story. "He was throwing his mom's really expensive dishes out the window at a rabid dog or something, but it wasn't really a dog, it was a rock!"

"Oh my God!!" Stella howled, grabbing at his stomach. "Keep going! What'd she do?"

"Well, it was kind of scary, since we heard her being really, really nice to him and stuff, and then just as we were about to go, this shoe comes flying out the living room window and she starts yelling at him and we take off. We thought she was throwing the shoe at us!" Riku wrapped his muscular arms around his trim waist, shoulders shaking as he succumbed to his mirth and laughed loudly.

Stella's boyishly cute face was flushed now, causing Riku to point and laugh harder. Finally, after a few minutes, their giggles subsided, leaving them heaving with the effort of laughing so hard.

Stella looked at Riku, still grinning. "You know, I've never seen you like this before. Sora must be doing wonders for you or something."

"Sora does wonders for everybody," Riku said quietly, mood becoming somber again.

"He's like pot for you. He makes you really happy and stuff, and you want to quit, but you just can't because they don't have a pot patch and.um." Stella stopped where he was, noticing Riku was looking at him like he'd just admitted to sleeping with a chocobo. "I think I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. I never was good at creative writing and metaphorical stuff."

Riku snorted. "That's an understatement."

"Oh, I love you too." Stella yawned hugely, covering his mouth as his eyes fluttered close. "I'm going back to bed. I actually got up to use the bathroom, but I couldn't find it."

"What, did you figure you could go on the poor dolphins?" Riku asked, raising a brow.

"Yeah, that's it. Damn dolphins!"

"Just don't piss into the wind again."

"I won't," Stella replied, standing up. He waved at Riku as he walked away and Riku returned to his standing spot, leaning against the cold metal railing. He snorted however, when he heard Stella distantly from inside the Highwind, "hey, what do you mean 'again'!?".

He sighed and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small flower. It was a very peculiar flower; the petals were deep purple, shaped like folded wings with a cotton ball center that seemed to glow silver against the dark. It was the last thing, other than the Keyblade, that he had from the other side of Kingdom Hearts. He touched the dried petals with his fingertips and they were soft against his skin. It felt like he was touching velvet, or peach fuzz. He let out a breath and threw the flower in the breeze, watching as it tumbled down into the ocean and disappeared into the crashing waves.

-------

Cloud glared harshly at the silver haired man standing in his doorway, taking a step to the side, putting himself between Aeris and Sephiroth. Anger and rage were whirling in his chest, along with something he really couldn't name. Something that made him want to set the sword down and embrace the ex-Shinra general, something that knew him and knew of the being that managed to survive behind the wall of Mako ice.

"I'm not here to attack you." His voice was sharp and clear, not cold or cruel, but down to business. "We have more important things to worry about at the moment than what's between us."

"What is it?" Aeris asked, stepping past Cloud.

"You know, you should be sensing it through your Cetra blood." Sephiroth stepped inside and closed the door behind him quietly. "Another wave of the darkness from beyond Kingdom Hearts is going to hit."

Cloud lowered the buster sword; his clear day eyes turned hot neon cerulean by the Mako poisoning settling on Sephiroth. Half of him was screaming to attack the silver haired man, whip the huge blade across his chest and nail him to the wall with it. The other half wasn't angry or afraid of the man, merely content with his presence, and the two halves fought viciously in the blonde man's head. He sighed angrily at himself, putting the buster sword back on the mantle. He walked briskly into the living room, anger in his body language.

Aeris followed him with her eyes, the endless emerald irises smeared with worry for the man. "Well." She shrugged her petite shoulders, knowing it didn't really matter what she said. The past between the two men was bad, put nicely. It was a horrible mark on all their lives, a black stain of terrible emotions and events that seemed to eat away at them from the inside like an acid. She followed Cloud into the small living room and sat beside him. Sephiroth followed the two and sat across from them, a small coffee table made of graceful rod iron curves separated them.

The ex-General sat calmly though his usually calm and cool interior, always level headed and able to easily assess the situation, was raging with thoughts. He knew Cloud had no reason to forgive him, to forgive the burning of his hometown, the murder of his family and so many of the other terrible things they shared. The puppetry controlled through Mako and Jenova cell strings, the near destruction of the planet through Meteor, the fake shell personality Cloud created that Sephiroth merely enhanced for his own purpose.

But Sephiroth knew, buried inside Cloud Strife, there were three separate personalities. He could feel them simmering around each other, two fighting over the real Cloud, circling each other like boxers. Two, he didn't really care for. He had no reason to care about them, they were weak, one shy and quiet, twisted beyond recognition from childhood abuse, the other arrogant and angry, created to handle that abuse. The third, the one Sephiroth was here for, the only reason he was bothering to reach out and warn them, stood calmly in the back of Cloud's head. A person, fully formed, a personality that was slowly implanted into Cloud's head over the course of five years, that was really the only person Sephiroth cared for.

Cloud felt Sephiroth's burning ice green eyes on him and looked back into them, the two silently agreeing to ignore the past-for the time being.

"I can feel the darkness coming because it's affecting the planet," Aeris said, folding her hands in her lap. "The planet is readying itself for war, creating the WEAPONS again to protect itself."

Sephiroth nodded, locks of his straight hair dusted with moonlight toppling over his shoulder. "I can feel it as well, I believe because I have such a large amount of Mako cells in my blood."

"But how would that connect you with the planet?" Cloud asked, tilting his head slightly, blond spikes waving comically. The gesture brought to mind long talks in the dark and a half-living memory for Sephiroth, causing a dull ache in his chest to tighten.

"We don't really know what the Lifestream is capable of," Aeris said softly. "Maybe the Planet wanted to warn Sephiroth, or maybe the Jenova cells are strengthening the Lifestream's effects."

Cloud tipped his head to the right, towards the kitchen, and got up suddenly, walking with long strides through the house. Aeris sighed as he walked out, both confusion and frustration wrapped around his steps and movements.

"This isn't going to be an easy discussion," she said, her voice soft as she fingered her many bracelets. Sephiroth nodded wearily.

-----

/Take it Sora! Take it and seal the darkness forever!/ /No! Riku! There has to be another way!/ /There is no other way! Do it now!/ /Riku!!/ /Now, Sora! Before it's too late!/ /But what will happen to you!?/ /It doesn't matter! Now do it!/ /No!/ /Yes! Sora do it or people will continue to suffer!/ /But what about you!?/ /I don't matter!/ /You do to me!/

[.a reckless tumble into the darkness of a peopleless city.]

[.flashes of auburn hair hidden in TV snow.]

[.heartless sprouting from the ground.]

[.a sparkling meteor shower burning like fire.]

[.the quiet crashing of the waves.]

"You have opened the Door to Light. Now you must seal the darkness forever."

"You will seal the darkness."

/RIKU!!/

Sora woke up gasping, a film of sweat drenching his body, sticking his light brown hair to his skin. He looked around the small room he'd been given aboard the Wingblade, raking a shaking hand through his hair, dark blue eyes wide. He signed and flopped back down onto the squeaky mattress, kicking the blankets off his body to cool himself off. The last fragments of the dream fluttered through his mind like bird wings, quickly and somewhat transparent, causing him to frown.

He stared up at the ceiling, lying on his back with his hands folded up behind his head, twiddling his toes idly. His throat ached slightly and his stomach growled, reminding him he hadn't had anything to eat or drink in almost thirty-eight hours. He stood and stretched, pulling on a pair of wrinkled jeans from his backpack and shrugged into a black dress shirt. As he patted through the Wingblade he looked at the aircraft's interior, sharp blue eyes scanning the walls and well-worn burgundy carpet.

The ship was in power save mode, so the lights were dimmed down and only a string of greenish bulbs on either side of the hallway led him. He strolled along the ship, half-heartedly looking for the kitchen, mostly wanting to find Riku. He looked up when he heard footsteps approaching and found Stella coming towards him, a soda can in his hand, sandwich in the other.

"Food good. Where's the kitchen?" Sora asked, eyeing the older Keybearer's soda.

Stella grinned and pointed behind him. "Down that way, pass two hallways then make a left. Riku's up on the deck at the end of this hall."

"Thanks," Sora said, smiling.

Stella nodded. "So, your mom made you sleep on the roof once?"

"Twice actually," Sora mused. "Hey, wait a minute, what did Riku tell you!?"

"Nothing." Stella lied, not bothering to hide the fact. He waved as he walked off, munching away at the sandwich.

Sora shook his head and jogged down the hall quietly, wanting to see Riku. He hopped up the stairs, finding his friend watching the ocean, long, slender body wrapped neck to knees in a black coat.

"I can't believe you told him I had to sleep on the roof." Sora said, coming up behind him.

"You didn't scare me."

"Damn." Sora muttered, folding his arms on the bars. He shivered slightly, wishing he'd brought a jacket.

"Do you need help finding your way around the Wingblade?" Riku asked, looking at Sora with his eyes.

"Hmmm, no. Stella told me where the kitchen is."

"I suppose that's all you really need to know."

"What does that mean!?"

"Nothing." Riku smirked, pale lips turned rose petal pink in the electric lighting.

Sora didn't respond and hunched over the railing slightly, elbows set on either side of him as he stared at the water. The two stood out on the deck in silence, wound up in a companionable feeling. It seemed as if they were getting used to each other again, Sora quieting his own breath to hear Riku's, while Riku's personal space sensors seemed to reach out and accept his friend. A cold squall blew through and the two unconsciously scooted together, as if trying to press their body heat together.

Sora looked over towards his friend, searingly blue eyes tracing their way down Riku's androgynous profile, soft lips slightly parted, ocean colored eyes half lidded as his jagged abyss black hair gently shifted around them. His friend was pale, as he had always been, but now the contrast between his dark hair and light skin made his eyes stand out more, causing Sora to notice Riku's long, lush lashes.

Riku noticed Sora's eyes on him and looked at his friend, raising a black eyebrow. "You okay Sora?"

Sora shrugged. "You look different."

Riku turned his face to his friend, long black hair now reaching his shoulder blades jumping in the wind to tickle his chin. "So do you."

Sora opened his mouth to respond; however, his stomach growled loudly and he blinked. Riku laughed and shook his head, folding his arms across his chest.

"You should get something to eat," he said, walking into the ship. Sora followed him at an easy pace, taking huge steps with his long legs. Though Riku was taller than the brunette was, Sora's shoulders were broader and his build bigger. Riku's body was slender, as it had always been, and compact, muscles tucked tightly under his skin.

Riku led Sora down a hall and through a doorway, into a small kitchen.

Sora blinked, looking around at the modest cooking appliances. "Wouldn't it be bigger?"

"This is Ralph's private kitchen, but he won't mind us in here," Riku said, hopping up onto a stool. "

Sora made an agreeing noise absently and poked around in the fridge, pulling out things for a sandwich. As he spread mayonnaise over the bread, he asked randomly, "so how come you dyed your hair black?"

"I didn't dye it, it's Heartless blood." Riku replied, leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest, boots hooked on the last horizontal bar on the stool.

"What?" Sora asked, blinking at his friend.

"Heartless rarely bleed, they're usually destroyed and sent back to join the Black Planet's heart, but when they do, their blood is pure black and dyes anything it touches black. I sliced one of the flying soldiers open and it bled into my scalp and my hair started growing black afterwards." Riku shrugged. "Stella keeps telling me to dye it blond."

Sora laughed. "You'd look funny blond." He hopped up onto the counter after he was done fixing the sandwich, taking a huge bite into it. He chewed noisily and Riku enjoyed his friend's youthful nature, the older Keybearer's lips spreading out in a smile.

"I'm sorry," Riku said suddenly, gripping the sides of his arms painfully as he waited for the brunette's response.

"It's alright," Sora replied around a mouthful of food.

Riku blinked his sea green eyes, staring at him. "How can you say that? Don't you remember what I did to you? I hurt you, I kept you from Kairi, I nearly destroyed the universe, Ansem almost killed you through my body. I was cruel to you, I taunted you, I attacked you and your friends, I sided with the darkness."

"But you regret it," Sora said softly, pausing as he was eating for a moment. "I never hated you Riku, never. I was pissed at you for screwing around in Monstro, but on Hook's ship.I was so scared. I knew, eventually, the darkness would eat your heart and I'd lose you, like I'd lost Kairi to the Heartless. What you did hurt me, yes, but God Riku..I can't hate you. Whatever your reasons for joining the Heartless, I'll forgive. It's not like it's totally your fault."

Riku laughed, almost bitterly, to himself. "Since I've been in Kingdom Hearts I've been wanting you to rescue me, but at the same time, I never wanted to see you again. I'm afraid of explaining myself, because I don't have any valid reasons to give you."

"Yes, you do," Sora said, looking at Riku. He suddenly looked far older than he was, his searingly blue irises looked tired and aged. It seemed like they had withered thousands of years along the dusty endless road between worlds. "You're just afraid of looking week (weak), you always have been." When Riku was silent, staring at his hands, Sora added, "but joining the Heartless wasn't all your fault, there are a lot of people to blame for it."

"Like who?" Riku asked, shaking his head. "It was my decision, I didn't have to do it."

Sora shrugged. "But different things affected you and your judgement."

Riku tipped his head at Sora, looking at his friend curiously. "I've never heard you speak like this before."

Sora grinned ferally, though his eyes still held concern for his friend. "You're changing the subject."

Riku fell silent and looked away, towards the ground, feeling like an idiot. Sora was right, he was afraid of looking weak. Because he was weak, dependent on the young man before him for his definition. His heart was fragile and naïve, he'd always tried to look so strong and powerful to protect it from the world. But he'd failed, and he grew attached to Sora, clung to his carefree nature and kind, amazing heart. He had succumbed to the darkness in his heart, and it had cost him dearly. What safe guards were there if it should ever happen again? What if he tumbled down into the abyss created by his own doubts and fears and needs and Sora wasn't there to save him again?

However, instead of voicing these concerns to Sora, Riku buried them deep inside himself. He pushed them away, shoved them into the darkest place of his mind and ignored their existence. He stood and walked out of the kitchen, closing the door behind him, closing it in a way that seemed so very final.

Sora sighed and stared at the sandwich, not really hungry anymore. He knew Riku was hurting, frustrated with himself, confused with Sora, and most likely stressed out over the situation. He threw the sandwich into the trash, along with his soda, and jogged after his friend. He moved into the hall and spotted Riku, running up behind him and stopping in front of his friend.

"Look, tell me what's wrong," he said, planting his feet firmly in front of the black haired man.

"It's nothing," Riku replied, smirking with his cool exterior.

"Bullshit," Sora said flatly. "I'm not going to ignore you this time."

"You had every right to ignore me." Riku's voice was unemotional, face set to blank.

"No, I didn't." Sora said. "If I had been more attentive to your feelings, you wouldn't have felt so alone."

"I shouldn't have needed attention at the time, you should have been able to focus on stopping the Heartless. But you weren't, because of me."

"Stop blaming yourself," Sora muttered, raking a hand through his hair angrily, pulling slightly at the brown cap. "You just can't accept it, can you? You hate yourself so much over it you're refusing to see it isn't all your fault."

"What am I supposed to do, Sora!?" Riku asked viciously, aiming his cruelty inward, mentally tearing himself to pieces. "I've wanted to apologize and beg forgiveness for four years, and now that you're here, I can't think of anything to say!"

"I. I want to talk to you Riku, I really do," Sora said, looking at his friend with those aged eyes again. "Enough so that I'm willing to wait. I don't really know what to tell you, how to speak with you. You feel so different, but the same too, it's really weird."

"I 'feel' different?" Riku asked, pitifully thinking to himself he'd never changed. He was still clinging to Sora, clinging to his friend and afraid to let him go again. Sora had grown up inside, matured emotionally, mentally gained more knowledge and power than Riku would ever have. He couldn't be different because he wasn't different, only changing on the outside. His mind still held the same frailty it had four years ago and would continue to hold it till the day he died. As a Keybearer, he was a failure.

"Here," Sora said, touching the part of his chest where his heart was, looking down embarassedly. "I know, it's stupid and childish, but being around you is different. It's like knowing everything about the person, but meeting them for the first time."

Riku was silent, watching the younger Keybearer stare at his bare feet. The black haired Keybearer opened his mouth and spoke hesitantly, as if he were dragging a struggling secret kept hidden in the darkness of his mind for years. "I.I know what you mean." He sighed and looked down, towards one of the lights bordering the hallway, folding his arms across his chest. He'd always hated giving up even the most trivial thoughts outloud, only doing it when his emotions forged a hole in his jaded wall from the world.

Sora looked up at his friend from under his creamy brown bangs, endless blue eyes peeking out between the spikes. He smiled slightly, because Riku had an intensely thoughtful look on his face, as if the light he was staring at was terribly interesting. Sora knew the look and knew Riku was mentally mulling over what to do.

Riku noticed the brunette staring and looked up, sea green eyes coming into focus at Sora's face. The two stared at each other for a few moments before turning back to staring away, a nervous and anxious feeling curling around them like air. Neither knew what to say or do, neither wanted to be the first to do something. Each expected anger from the other, but neither got it.

Finally, Ralph coming around the corner muttering darkly to himself about being hungry disturbed them, breaking the silent barrier between them. "What, is the hallway becoming a popular hang out?" He asked with raised eyebrows as he walked by, heading towards the stairway leading to the bridge.

-------

Nobody stood above a grate in the floor, watching and listening to Riku and Sora converse through it. A few vagrant strands of his light colored hair obscured his rainy day eyes, toppling out of his hood like a shower of silvery blond drops as he watched, but he didn't move to brush it away. His stare was fixed on the two, catching every detail of their chat. Every shift in their voices, no matter how small, and every body movement, no matter how minute, was carefully observed and filed for later criticism. He turned and left, walking down the dark hall without a noise a few moments after Ralph arrived, deciding the conversation was over.

He turned and moved down the hall towards his room quietly. However, before he went to his room, he went to the one across the hall. He silently opened the door and peered in, catching sight of Stella peacefully sleeping on his bed, sprawled out with his feet sticking out of the blanket, his cat Chien curled up on his chest. Nobody shook his head fondly as Stella snored loudly, causing Chien to stir and glare balefully at her owner. The blond Keybearer shut the door and slipped into his room, not really surprised when he found a small figure sitting on his bed, wrapped head to toe in a musty brown cloak.

"How are Sora and Riku reacting?" The figure asked, tilting its hooded head slightly.

"Well, considering how it could have been. They are both confused, but I think that's understandable," Nobody responded, shifting out of his coat. "How have you been?"

"Fine," the figure replied warmly, and Nobody got the sense he was smiling. "The worlds here are very nice. But we need to talk about Sora now, how is he reacting to the darkness here?"

Nobody sat down in a chair and tied it into a quick, messy ponytail, leaving wild strands to frame his face and brush against his collarbones. "Nicely. He helped us defeat a Darkside in Nibelheim, along with a Heartless attack. The Keyblade must be speeding up his adjustment."

"Ah. What about Donald and Goofy?"

"They are both well. Both seem to fall behind Sora, but they are very helpful people." Nobody answered.

"Don't doubt them, they might not be the brightest, but both know right from wrong and they won't ever stray from the light," the figure's voice was firm, allowing no room for questioning.

Nobody nodded, folding his arms across his lean chest, feeling at home around the man. "Have you learned anymore about Kingdom Hearts?"

The figure sighed. "Not really. I'm going to make another trip through it and search the Hollow Bastion library. I also need to find a few friends of mine; one of them should be sensing the darkness approaching. I need to make sure that they are readying themselves."

Nobody frowned, thinking quickly before asking, "I know both sides of Kingdom Hearts are going to be needed to fight the Heartless this time, but how exactly are they going to connect?"

"The White Doors will open when they need to, and I won't tell you another word," the figure said as he stood, pulling on a small backpack. "I've got to go though, I'll be back soon. Keep an eye on Sora and Riku, they can't split apart at any cost. They need to be close, or everything is doomed."

"I will," Nobody said, standing to open the door politely.

"Well, see you soon!" With that, the small man left and Nobody closed the door, worriedly wondering about the approaching future and its secrets.

-----

Aeris watched as the Coliseum disappeared as the Highwind flew into the air, breaking through the clouds with its huge silver hull, soaring up into the endless bounds of space. She wondered quietly if she'd ever see the small world again, wondered if she would be dead or it would be gone. She touched the small tied string on her neck absently, a nervous habit she'd always had. Her long fingers fiddled with the knot, tracing the small leather band again and again.

"So, what's this all about?" Cid asked as he walked in, having left them in the conference room aboard the Highwind until he got the crew on the move. His clear day eyes settled on Sephiroth, caution and suspicion ringing in their depths. "And how come you're suddenly so buddy buddy with him?" The scruffy pilot asked, looking at Cloud.

Cloud sighed and responded simply. "I can't explain it."

Cid scratched his head and took a long drag from his cigarette, flicking the ash into a nearby tray. "Alright. If you two both say he's fine, I'll trust you. But Leon might not."

"Who is Leon?" Sephiroth asked, breaking his silence from where he leaned against the far wall.

"The current king of Hollow Bastion," Cloud replied, "which is where we're going."

"And why are we going there?" Sephiroth questioned.

"Leon fought against the Heartless before, when Sora was here," Cid answered. "Hollow Bastion was Maleficent's H.Q for a while, and it's got the best damn military out of all the worlds. If the Heartless attack again, that would be the best place to be if you wanna live through it."

The silver haired ex-General filed this information quickly.

Aeris turned to Sephiroth, her long milk chocolate brown hair jumping around her as she did. "Sephiroth, where have you been the last four years?"

Sephiroth shrugged and replied, "I own an inn a few miles behind the Coliseum."

Cid chuckled as he put out his cigarette. "Shinra's greatest military leader ever owns an inn. The service there must be wonderful."

-----

"Do you know what was taken?" Zell asked as he walked over the rubble of what used to be a cement wall two feet wide.

"Not yet, we're running inventory. But I've got a hunch it was the Translations." Quistis replied as she punched in a keycode.

"Fuck." Irvine muttered, raking a hand through his caramel bangs. "This is bad. Why did the alarms go off when the creatures busted through the wall?"

"We don't know," the tall blond answered, sighing to herself. "An alarm would have sounded as soon as they were within a five mile radius of the facility. The only thing I can think of is that they teleported in."

"Could it have been the Heartless?" Zell asked, following the woman.

Quistis nodded. "That's what I think. But, they've never been this coordinated before, and we've never seen this type. They usually attack mindlessly, really only looking to suck people's hearts and the hearts of worlds. Suddenly they're pulling black ops style operations?"

"Maybe something got them to do it?" Irvine guessed.

"Yeah, somebody just walked up to the Heartless and asked them nicely to steal a bunch of classified government documents." Zell said, running his hands over a set of large claw marks in the wall's surface.

~End Chapter 04~

Yay. I finally finished it, whee hee hee. Interesting fact 1: The Wingblade is named after Riku's sword, as it is a blade shaped like a wing. Interesting fact 2: Nobody's Keyblade is styled after the sword Arwen has in Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Interesting fact 3: Stella has a pet named "Chien". Chien means "dog" in French. Chien is a cat. Hee hee.

X__x I'm really worried Stella turned into a scary marysueish thing this chapter, I really hope he didn't. There's a fine line between Mary Sue and a good original character, I just hope I didn't cross it x_x.