Title: Lead Me Through

Part:1

Pairing: RokuRiku, SoraRiku

Notes: Riku dreams of a past he's not sure if regrets.

This is a semi-sequel to my previous fanfic On a Dark Beach (a SoraxRiku fic). Don't need to read previous fic, but it's helpful. Thanks to Vulchu and Palatyi for beta-reading!

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Lead Me Through

Part 1

The World That Never Was is dark, but Riku has little trouble finding his way around. The problem isn't about getting in – it's about getting out.

"Who are you?" the Nobody pants, tuffs of blond hair plastered to his face with sweat. He presses the tip of his Keyblade to the other's throat.

"How can't you remember me, Sora?" Riku asserts from the cold ground. He's tired and sore from the fight and perfectly willing to lay there for a moment to catch his breath. Your eyes, he thinks. If I could only see your eyes.

"I'm not Sora," he answers, an edge to his voice. He throws back his hood, glaring with a stormy look that could part the seas. "My name is Roxas."

And it isn't – at least, not really. This boy, this Nobody, smelled the same as Sora, the way Kairi and Naminé smelled the same. There is something in him that is not entirely dark and Riku wants to reach in, grab it, and shake it free. Though he was blindfolded, it took being blind to really learn how to see – and what he sees is Sora. Though the name and mannerisms aren't the same, it is Sora's Light… the Light he once tried to kill, the Light he now swore to protect, and the Light he wishes he had for himself.

"I'm Riku." Then adding a bit of familiar cockiness, he says, "Your best friend?"

"You're no one to me," Roxas answers. Riku's chest tightens.

"A nobody to a Nobody, huh?" He gives a small, dry laugh. "Pathetic, isn't it?"

"No. Just stupid that you'd come here, with that heart of yours. I should just leave you to the Shadows." Heartless are gathering again, filtering in from the corners of the city; attracted to the noise and battle. The pressure of the Key is suddenly gone and Roxas steps away.

"That's your job isn't it," Riku says, angry. "That's what the Organization tells you to do? World to world, wait for those things to take all those people, and then cleaning up once they're done?"

"Yes," he answers sharply. Then, head shaking, "No…"

"Does that feel right to you?"

"It doesn't feel like anything at all," he snaps back. "I have no heart."

"Heart or no heart, you at least have a conscience." Riku echoes the words he heard from what felt like forever ago. He gets up, standing with fists balled. "What is Kingdom Hearts to you?"

"It's my duty!"

"Your duty as the Keyblade Master is to save people!" Riku shouts. He's angry for him, that anyone would try to pollute Sora – a piece of Sora – like this.

"What do you know of Keyblades?" Roxas seethes. His blades are crossed and his shoulders hunched.

Riku summons his Soul Eater blade – it is not a Key, but a blade of darkness. His heart, his darkness. Yellow eyes scramble closer - but, it's not him the Heartless are watching. As Roxas marches back to Riku, the Shadows are staring the Nobody.

"They're drawn to you, too," Riku realizes. There isn't time to comprehend what this might mean; Roxas leaps, his Keyblades singing as they crash into his sword. They spar, and they dance, and Riku wonders if this is what Sora could be: full of focus and concentration, each swing of weapon and turn of stance graceful. It is the difference between an awkward puppy and an experienced wolf.

"Don't you want to become Somebody, again?" he yells between blows. "Isn't this what that damn moon is for?"

They clash, coming close, and Roxas' breath is warm at his cheek. A short stalemate.

"I…" The sigh is so soft that Riku isn't sure he heard it at all.

"Sora…" he whispers.

It's the wrong thing to say. There's a low growl, and they fling away from the other. The Heartless gather, coming too close to avoid – so they take the battle higher. Riku jumps from window ledge to ledge, and the other follows. They swipe at each other as they crisscross the empty city and the chase is on. Alleyways ring with the sound of their weapons. Like shadows themselves they melt behind concrete and steel, with only the neon glow of signs lighting their path.

Finally, Riku stands alone on a ledge jutting from a skyscraper's corner. He tilts his head and listens to the still air, having suddenly lost track of Roxas.

Did he give up? No, he would never –

There's a sharp whistling sound from his right, and Riku realizes too late what it is: Strike Raid. He turns, but is too slow. The flying Keyblade hits him hard, and forces him backwards – he's falling. There's nothing left to break his fall except the hundreds of Heartless waiting at the ground below.

Will I become a Nobody, like Sora? he wonders. He has been to Neverland, but he never learned to fly. Even if he had he's sure there are no happy thoughts for him to cling to, not anymore.

Something crashes into him, mid-descent. It's Roxas, tackling him from the air. He thinks he'll slam into the side of the building, but they both end up soaring through an open window. Miraculous, considering they would have been sliced to ribbons if there had been glass.

They tumble into the dark room, sliding to a stop before reaching the other wall. Riku is on his back again with the wind knocked out of him, and Roxas sits on his stomach. A hand reaches up, grasps his blindfold, and rips it clean off.

Roxas' eyes are blue. The same blue from flickering memories that threaten to slip away as Naminé re-chains Sora's memories. He doesn't want to lose that gaze ever again.

Cautiously, Roxas leans forward, his arms planted to the side of Riku's head. He doesn't know what the Nobody plans until the moment before their lips meet. The kiss is firm, almost curious, even soft, but he's too shocked to react. He remembers, then, what happens to fairy tales involving wolves: someone was bound to be eaten.

They separate, still only inches from each other.

"What are you doing?" Riku demands. His heart skips painfully.

"Becoming somebody."

Roxas kisses him again, and it's angry. Riku can't help but kiss back.

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That night had been his first time.

Panting, Riku wakes up more than a little uncomfortable. The sleeping bag is too warm, but dry and fortunately absent of the usual teenaged nerves. He tries to calm the racing of his heart and thinks of things other than the past.

I'm in the Tree House, he remembers. Or, rather, we are. Sora is next to him, and Kairi is to Sora's left. The both of them are sleeping like the dead after a late night celebrating the first day of spring break in their first school-year back. Riku's chest feels weary, like a steel plate had been set on him and his whole body, and it's an adventure trying to crawl out of the sleeping bag and climb out of the Tree-House. He lands stiffly and starts to walk – maybe he'll shake off the dream with a swim.

It's still dark out.

The sand under his toes is cold and the water probably even colder. It's an eerie reminder of another beach, far away from here. He strips down and tries not to give in to the demands in his shorts – and jumps in.

Riku's wrong – the water isn't cold it's freezing. But that's good enough, and he makes small laps around the little island across the bridge. For a short period it keeps his mind off of things, off of –

Roxas.

Away from the islands, he swims. The waves fight to pull him under, but he's strong and stays on his course.

He never told Sora.

He couldn't tell him. He wouldn't. Sora could never know. It felt… like a betrayal, somehow. Dishonorable - not because it had wrong to do with Roxas what he did… but because the next time they met, Riku had kidnapped him back to the Mansion. They never spoke again, after that, as Riku and Roxas.

Taking a deep breath, he dives deep – as deep as he can, in a moonless night where the ocean is nothing but cold, silent, darkness. His lungs start to protest and his ears hurt, but he keeps going, imagining some kind of goal waiting for him. However, when he hits the bottom there is nothing – only sand and rock. Not even a clam or pebble-fish to claim.

Disappointed, he pushes away from the ocean floor and launches himself upwards. Riku explodes to the surface just in time to heave a desperate gasp. He sees a shadowy figure on shore, waiting for him and waving.

It's time, he decides, to head back.

To Be Continued

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Notes: Thanks for reading!