Kingdom Hearts 1. Riku's Dream

Darkness...everywhere. Impenetrable, complete, engulfing darkness. Solid black, almost suffocating. Wrapped entirely with no way out.

A dream...it must be. Nothing was there except for the never ending sea of black. It wasn't even worth to mention him. Here...he was nothing. All was darkness.

_If this is the dark, then maybe it's not so bad._

He looked around again. He was all too familiar with this place. But then someone stepped out of the darkness and his eyes widened.

_It's because of who's lurking inside it._

"I thought you were gone," he said to the figure.

"You'll never be able to get rid of me," was its answer. "Your heart will always have darkness in it; I'll always be able to come back."

"Not if I beat you again," he retorted.

The figure did not seem disturbed by his confidence.

"I've grown stronger since the last time we met," he continued. "Beating you will be easy." He held his arm out, and with a flash of light, a weapon appeared in his hand.

"I see you still have a keyblade," the figure said in a casual tone. "But you really attack someone who was defenseless, even me, Riku?"

Riku tensed up, saying, "We both know you're not defenseless. And I know you're not Ansem, Xehanort."

Xehanort narrowed his eyes, and they seemed to glow a brighter yellow than they usually were. Then his expression changed entirely, becoming relaxed before the corners of his mouth turned up into a grin that Riku knew didn't bode well for him. Or at least that's what Xehanort thought.

Mimicking Riku, Xehanort held his arm out. A staff appeared in his hand, twin dragon wing-like blades were on either end of it. Simultaneously, a shadow appeared right behind him, hovering above his head. It was his Heartless bodyguard.

Riku charged forward, his similar-looking keyblade that looked like a dragon wing also with a small angel wing at the tip being held before him. He leapt into the air and brought Way to Dawn down. Of course the Heartless blocked the blow and Riku fell back, rolling back to his feet to regain his balance. When he did, he charged again getting several blows on Xehanort's bodyguard.

Finally it disappeared and Riku charged Xehanort to get a hit on him, but when he jumped up, he found himself suspended in midair, being held up by the Heartless. Xehanort spun his staff and attacked Riku, landing many blows until his Heartless disappeared and Riku fell. He felt sore all over, but he got back up and charged towards Xehanort yet again. He jumped into the air, doing a flip over the Heartless and hitting Xehanort in the back hard, causing him to fall forwards as Riku landed behind him. Before Xehanort could react, Riku had landed several more blows. Xehanort's bodyguard had disappeared, and now he was on his knees, one hand on the ground to steady himself. His staff disappeared.

"See...I told you I was stronger," Riku said.

"You will return to the darkness," Xehanort gasped. And then he was gone.

Riku opened his eyes. It had been a dream. But maybe it was more.


	2. A Message

"Riku! Riku!"

Riku turned to see Sora running towards him across the wooden bridge.

"What?" Riku asked as Sora stopped in front of him. He noticed that Sora had a glass bottle in his hand with a piece of paper in it. Trailing him, Kairi ran over to them.

"Riku, look at what's on the paper," Sora said excitedly, moving his hand so Riku could see it better.

Riku straightened from leaning against the paopu tree. "It's from the King?"

They just stared at it, curious and mystified, until Kairi reached them, panting. "Well...are you going to open it?" she asked.

Sora grabbed the cork and pulled it out before dumping the little rolled up piece of paper out. He could hardly keep his hands from shaking as he quickly unrolled it. All three hovered over it, reading. When they were finished, expressions of shock appeared on their faces. After reading the message, they were silent for a moment.

Finally Sora broke the silence. "How could that have happened?" he said in disbelief.

"Beats me," Riku replied.

"I thought we beat them all," Sora continued. "Well, except for Axel..."

Kairi remained silent.

"I hope the King is okay," Sora added quietly.

Riku nodded, silently agreeing. He then glanced at Kairi, wanting to know what she was thinking. He saw a sad, thoughtful look in her eyes, distant as though she were thinking of some memory.

"You guys are going to leave again, aren't you?" Kairi said softly, looking out at the sea.

Sora was caught off guard. "Huh?"

"You two are going to go help the King," Kairi repeated.

"Even though we want to, we can't," Sora replied. "Donald and Goofy took the gummi ship to return to the castle. If the King wanted our help, he would've sent them here to get us."

Now Riku remained silent, thinking about his dream. Something wasn't right...

"Can I see that?" Riku asked, pointing to the paper.

"Sure." Sora handed it over, now filled with curiosity.

Riku read it again.

_Dear Sora, Riku, and Kairi,  
_

_Xemnas is back. I'm not sure how, but I am going to try to find out. I also think that the rest of the Organization is back too. After I figure things out, I'll send another message, and we can plan what to do about it._

King Mickey

If Xemnas could come back, what about Xehanort? Maybe that's why he had visited Riku in a dream last night. Xemnas was back. Riku looked up, his eyes scanning the tiny island. Before his eyes he saw himself, a year ago, welcoming the darkness, wanting to leave and travel to new worlds.

"Riku?"

He blinked, returning to the present. "Yeah, Sora?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Riku lied. "Just thinking..."

"About...?"

"A dream." With that, he walked off across the wooden bridge, dropping the King's message without looking back.


	3. A Decision

Riku stared blankly at the cave's walls. He had come here in order to get some privacy, hoping Sora and Kairi wouldn't come looking after him. Sora had probably gotten the message, though, when he had walked away. Or at least Riku hoped he had understood, and not thought he was mad or something. He needed time alone to think. Something was wrong, that was for sure, but what should he do?

His eyes wandered over the drawings without him really taking anything in. But then they rested on the door. He remembered when he had wondered what was behind it, imagining a variety of scenarios and coming up with adventures. Of course, that hadn't been quite enough for him. He had wanted the real thing.

He needed to leave.

The sudden thought surprised him, although he knew all along that it was what he had intended to do. It sounded so simple, but he knew that wasn't the case. There was no way to get to Mickey's castle without the gummi ship. Or at least there was no way he wouldtake to get there if it wasn't absolutely necessary. And he felt that it was.

You will return to the darkness.

He shook his head. 'He was just saying that,' he tried to reassure himself. But he knew that it wasn't just a hollow threat.

For a moment he bowed his head, closing his eyes. He felt the feeling of unease well up inside of him, pressing against the barrier of his skin. There was no ignoring it. Slowly he raised his head, opening his eyes again.

There was no way Sora would let Riku do what he intended. Kairi of course had already expressed her opinion. He let out a sigh. There would be no goodbyes, but hopefully it wouldn't be too long before he saw them again.

Tonight he would leave.

He would go to the castle and see if Donald and Goofy were there. If they were, he would only have to ask them if they had heard anything. If they weren't…then he knew where these bad feelings were coming from.

He got up, feeling as though his fate were sealed. 'No turning back now.'

* * *

That night Riku knew what he was committing himself to when he fell asleep. He was surrounded by the impenetrable darkness again. For a moment it was just him. Before he could reconsider what he was about to do, though, he saw the person he was waiting for.

Xehanort smirked. "Old habits die hard," he commented.

Riku ignored the comment. He closed his eyes, opening his heart to the darkness.


	4. The Kidnapper

"Kairi, have you seen Riku?" Sora asked. "I haven't seen him since we got that message."

"No, I haven't either," she replied, a look of curiosity on her face now.

"I wonder where he is." 'And why he would leave without telling anyone.'

"I bet he didn't want us to know because he thought we would stop him," Kairi said thoughtfully. "But he'll be back. He just thinks he need to do this himself."

'He's always been like that,' Sora thought to himself. 'I just hope he knows what he's doing.'

* * *

Riku pulled his hood up. It had taken him a bit to get used to the body again, but it was still familiar. It really wasn't that bad. Last time everyone had understood; hopefully they would understand again.

Despite the cheery and bright atmosphere of the courtyard of the castle, Riku still couldn't shake the feeling of unease. It was mysteriously quiet and still. He had expected Donald and Goofy to come running out to see who had appeared. That was, if they were here.

Riku went through the door on the side of the castle, stepping onto the carpet that lined the hall. He walked up the stairs silently, still seeing no sign of anyone around. Deciding to check the library first, he made his way down the long hall, stepping in and out of shadow. When at last he reached the doors, he paused for a second before opening one and slipping in. There was Queen Minnie, her back turned to him. As he closed the door behind him, she turned around.

"Oh, what is another one of _you_ doing here?" she asked, distressed. "Have you come for me too?"

Riku stood there silently as she questioned him. When she was finished he simply lowered his hood.

For a moment Minnie just stood there, shocked. Then she finally cried, "Oh, Riku!" A mixed look of both sympathy and relief spread across her face. "I'm so glad you're here! It's just terrible!"

Riku tensed up. Wondering if his suspicions were true, he asked, "What happened?"

"One of them came here last night! He kidnapped Donald and Goofy! They were caught off guard and couldn't put up a fight, and I couldn't do anything to stop him!" Minnie wrung her hands, distraught.

Nodding, Riku pictured the scene in his mind's eye. "Did you happen to see the person's face?"

"No, he just kept his hood up," Minnie replied.

He had expected as much. "I'll go and try to find them," he said. "The King might be with them. If so, I'll make sure that he gets back here."

"Thank you, Riku, for offering to go find them, but you look tired," Minnie told him, concerned. "You should rest before leaving. It won't help any of us if you get caught too."

Minnie was right: he was tired. He hadn't slept at all last night, being too busy preparing to come here. Although he didn't like the aspect of staying longer now that he knew for sure that his feelings had been right, the possibility of running into a member of the Organization was too high to take lightly. He would need all his energy if he got caught.

Riku let out a sigh. "Alright, I'll get some sleep before I leave."

"Don't worry, Donald and Goofy can handle holding off for a few more hours," Minnie reassured him. "They did travel around with Sora after all."

Mentally, Riku winced at the mention of Sora. He still felt slightly guilty about doing all this without telling him. How would Sora react when he saw Riku again?

At least this hadn't all gone to waste. Riku would've hated it if he were stuck in Xehanort's body for nothing.

* * *

Moonlight shone on Riku's face as he walked down the hall again to the library. A crescent moon hung in the sky tonight, surrounded by stars. It felt good to have had those hours of sleep. Minnie's suggestion had been a good one.

He entered the library again, it being where Minnie had told him to come find her when he woke up. She looked up from the book she was reading as soon as he came through the door. She had an excited air about her.

"I just remembered that something wasn't quite right about last night," she said somewhat hurriedly. "Last night there was a full moon! And the night before that the moon was even smaller than tonight's."

Realization dawned on Riku, and he knew instantly who had kidnapped Donald and Goofy. "Saix…"


End file.

Kingdom Hearts, Adventure