Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Prince's Hope ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

A/N: Hello. I make I don't own Kingdom Hearts and make no money off my fic. Thank you to my two reviewers, anime lover kohaku and HappyDragon. I treasure your reviews. ^_^

Also, on another note, I will be updating this fic once a month, most likely on the 16th, just because. This will go on until the chapters have caught up with what I have on other sites. To anyone who just can't wait for the next parts, one of those other sites is fanfiction.net.

Chapter 2

In the Castle…

In the morning, Roxas couldn't keep himself from shaking as he stood before the king's bedroom. He was pacing in front of the tall door that kept him from his father. He was glad to have it as a barrier… for now. His father's wrath was something to be feared. Axel, who was also there with him, tried to comfort him by massaging his shoulders.

“Rox, don't get yourself worked up over it,” he soothed.

“But what do you think my punishment will be? We both know he favors Sora. And since I took part in his favorite's escape…”

“You'll be fine, love. Even if he doesn't like you as much, it's not as if he would have you executed. You are his son, after all.”

“But—”

“No buts!” Axel teased, shaking his finger at the boy. “Now, let me announce your arrival before you go in.”

Roxas straightened himself and composed himself, putting an emotionless mask upon his face. Axel smiled at how princely Roxas was and pressed his lips against the little blonde's. He brushed away a few blonde spikes, then turned to knock on the large door.

“Yes?” came the king's gruff voice.

“Prince Roxas is here to see you, sire,” Axel said as he looked back at his love. He stepped back and bowed to Roxas, whispering, “Best wishes, my little prince.”

With a nod, Roxas walked into the room. As soon as he closed the door, Axel pressed his ear against it.

On the other side, Roxas stood tall before his father's bed, which was facing directly at him. The king was sitting upright under the covers, supported by several pillows. His strong fingers were woven together and laying in his lap. He was staring right at Roxas with dark eyes.

“Roxas,” the king's voice resonated through the room, “I have thought long and hard about your punishment—the whole night, really. Pray tell, why did you allowed Sora to escape?”

Roxas closed his eyes against his father's cloudy ones. He was glad his voice didn't betray him when he answered, “He was miserable, Father. I could not stand to see him in the pain he was in.”

“What pain?” the king asked, now full of concern for his son.

“You are forcing him to marry Princess Kairi. He does not want to marry her because he does not love her, Father. Never has.”

“Does not love Kairi? Of course he does, he told me a week ago!”

“He said he loved her as a friend. It is not the love that he wants with his future wife.”

The king pulled down his sheets and walked toward the boy. “Love does not matter in marriage, my son, especially in our family. For centuries, the marriages of the seven great kingdoms have been arranged according to the will of the gods. Do you realize what you and Sora have done?”

Roxas paled. He hadn't taken the gods into consideration. But he knew that even if he did, he would have gladly deceived them for Sora's happiness. So, he boldly answered to the king, “He desperately wanted to find his soul mate, Father, just as I have found mine.”

“So this is your fault!” the king accused, slapping the boy across the face. The sound echoed throughout the spacious room. A second later, the doors flew open, and Axel came in, rushing to Roxas's side. The blonde, who had fallen to the ground, was clutching his face in shock, for the king had never laid a hand on him before. The king, with anger boiling through his veins, continued his tantrum, saying, “You have unsettled his sense of duty by filling his head with fantasies of love and soul mates and other nonsense!”

“Sire, we had nothing to do with this,” Axel insisted, “it was Prince Sora who was thinking of all that from the time he was very small; his mother, the queen—may she rest in peace—would often entertain him with stories of love. Your excellence, whatever goes on in Prince Sora's mind is purely of his own doing. Roxas is not at fault.”

“I will hear nothing of this; you are a part of the problem, as well!”

“Father, please, calm down!” Roxas cried.

Silence fell on the room. The king turned from the two lovers and began rubbing at his temples with his fingers.

“Roxas, your punishment for allowing Sora to escape is to serve as Princess Kairi's personal servant for a week,” he sighed. “And in addition, you are not to see Sir Axel for the entirety of your punishment.”

The boys nodded obediently and got up to deeply bow before their king, then left the room. By the time Axel closed the doors behind Roxas, the little blonde was scowling. Axel turned the boy to face him.

“Roxas, are you all right?” he asked, rubbing his thumb against the blonde's reddened cheek.

“I am fine,” Roxas growled.

Axel brushed back some blonde locks from the angelic face and leaned forward to kiss his the cheek. Roxas smiled and gave the redhead a chaste kiss on the lips.

“Why don't we have some fun before we start our little punishment?” Roxas suggested as he set one long finger to the center of the knight's chest and let it slither down the slim torso. He felt himself getting excited when Axel's arms began to encircle him in an embrace.

“Then let's take this to my room,” the redhead mumbled.

“What did I say about your punishment?” the king's loud voice rang through the door.

Emerald pools darted to the door in annoyance, then went back to drown into ocean-blue. Axel bowed before Roxas and looked up at him from his bent position.

“How about I escort you to the princess before we part?

”

“All right, then,” Roxas sighed, taking his knight's hand and kissing the palm.

In the City…

At the sound of a pan being banged throughout the house and some yelling of breakfast being ready, Sora fell off his bed. When he sat up, he looked around and began to panic at the strange surroundings. It wasn't until a short, portly man with a pan and ladle in his hands came in the room that he began to calm down.

“Breakfast is ready, my prince,” the baker announced with confusion on his face as to why Sora was on the ground.

Sora looked down at himself and smiled at his servant's clothes. He remembered how he ran five miles from the heart of the city. The baker and his wife had been waiting for him in their house, so when they saw him coming, they quickly ushered him in. After answering a few questions from their son, Entreri, Sora was led to a room, where he quickly fell asleep on the bed.

Sora was glad it hadn't all been a dream. He ran a hand through his brown spikes and began to laugh, “I did it!”

He quickly stood and ran to give the baker one of his famous bear hugs. He then left the room, singing of his victory and praising the gods.

When he reached the family room, he was greeted with a vast assortment of food.

“This looks wonderful!” Sora said to the baker's wife.

With a bow of her head, the baker's wife answered, “Our only wish is to please his highness.”

Sora set his hands on her shoulders. “Please don't call me that, ma'am; I have renounced my title as the prince and future king of this land. From now on, I am just Sora.”

He cupped the woman's face and brushed his lips against hers. She gasped and began to blush brightly. Sora smiled and took his place at the table as her son came scampering into the room.

Soon, breakfast came and went. Sora helped the baker gather empty dishes the kitchen for washing.

“So, your high—I mean, Sora, how long do you plan on hiding with us?” the baker asked as Sora began to scrub the plates. Entreri, who had quickly befriended the ex-prince during breakfast, was waiting for the plate so he could wash it and store it away.

“Well, I was thinking I could leave immediately after doing the dishes. I plan on being far, far away from the kingdom by the end of the day.”

The boy stopped washing and looked at Sora with pleading eyes.

“You can't go, Sora!” he cried. “You just got here!”

The baker nodded. “Yes, it may unwise to move so soon; the knights and guards would all be searching the entire city. You may get caught by them before even reaching the gates!”

“Yes, but we don't know if that will happen,” Sora reasoned, scrubbing a bowl. “I will just roll around in some dirt, rip up parts of my clothes, and keep my head down. They wouldn't think twice about looking at a dirty boy.

The little boy looked up at his father with wide eyes.

“Daddy, can I run around the dirt, too?” he asked.

The large man shook his head sharply. Entreri whined and went back to work. The baker's attention returned to Sora.

“Your highness, I implore you to wait a few more weeks. By then, the knights would take their search outside the kingdom.”

“No!” Sora insisted. “By then, all the kingdoms would know about my escape! I need to get a head start on them while I still have the chance. Even if I stayed with the family, where would you hide me? Before even going to the kingdoms, the knights would have to search houses, so staying would be a lost cause!” Sora set the dishes down, got on his hands and knees, and bowed. “I must go. I need to get as far away from my father as possible—even as far as the Destiny Islands, if need be!”

The baker looked hard at his prince, but soon gave up when the boy looked straight in his eyes. He knew that there was no way he could stop Sora.

“All right,” he mumbled.

Sora smiled brightly, and he turned around to the sink to finish the dishes.

Back in the Castle….

Roxas was sulking in front of Kairi's door. He was purposely stalling from his punishment. Axel was with him, too, and was getting annoyed by the silence. He crossed his arms as he watched the smaller boy glaring at the door. He let out an irritated sigh.

“All right, I'm leaving,” he announced.

“No, Axel, let's savor these last few moments we have together,” Roxas ground out, glaring at the door. “When she comes out, then you may leave.”

“You weren't thinking of me before we spoke, much less `savoring these last few moments we have together'. I've known you for a long time, love, and I know how you think. You were contemplating on how to kill Kairi.”

Roxas turned his head and batted his eyes at his knight while innocently saying, “Oh no, Axel, I would never do anything like that!”

Axel sighed and set his hands on the blonde's shoulders.

“Look, Roxy, as much as I don't want to be separated from you, I need to work. After all, no one else knows I helped Sora leave. A simple knight like me who doesn't have much of a noble status doesn't have the same kind of luck with a furious king as you do.” Axel hugged the prince before whispering, “Now, let's start working on that punishment before the king comes and makes it worse. And don't kill the princess. Got it memorized?”

With that, Axel kissed the prince's head and walked back the way he came while whistling a tune.

“Axel—wait!” Roxas cried.

Axel answered by quickening his tune and waving a hand back at him.

“Stupid knight…” Roxas muttered as he faced the door blocking him from his nightmare. He glared at it bitterly. With a scowl held firmly in place, he knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” came Kairi's voice. She sounded a bit shaky.

“It's me, R—” Before he could finish his sentence, the door opened, revealing a teary-eyed Kairi. Her midnight-blue eyes looked straight into his ocean-blue ones and then began to water. She pulled the prince to her own body and buried her face in his chest.

“Oh, Sora, you are back! Please don't leave me ever again!” she sobbed.

Roxas was almost shocked as she did this and tried to push her away. She only held onto him tighter.

“I am not Sora,” Roxas growled, trying to push her more.

“Of course you are. No one else in the kingdom has your eyes.”

“Kairi, I have the same eyes as him; we're twins.” The blonde gave up and let her cling on him.

“No, Roxas's eyes are different, So—” At that time, she finally looked up and saw just who it was she was crying on. She quickly jumped away in embarrassment and slammed the door right in his face.

Roxas crossed his arms at the princess's rudeness.

“Let's try this again,” he muttered to himself. He cleared his throat and said, “It's me, Roxas.”

“Good morning, Prince Roxas,” Kairi greeted through the door. “Umm… I am sorry for mistaking you for Sora.”

“It is all right, your highness,” Roxas answered with a roll of his eyes.

There was a short pause, followed by what sounded like a foot stomping behind the door.

“What are you doing here?” Kairi asked, frustrated. “You've never visited me before! Have you come to tease this miserable wench?”

Roxas kneeled in front of the door, keeping his head bowed before answering, “You are not a wench, my lady. And, if it may concern you, I miss Sora, as well.”

Another foot stomp. “Why are you so formal with me? You despise me!”

“No,” Roxas said. He took a deep breath and continued, “For seven days, my opinion of you does not matter.”

The door opened to reveal a single midnight-blue eye squinting suspiciously at him. “And why would that be?”

“My lady, my punishment for letting Sora escape is to be your personal servant for a week.”

The eye narrowed even more. “Really?”

Roxas growled, “My father's orders.”

The door opened, and Kairi fell to her knees, draping her arms him.

“Then your first task is to comfort me for my loss!” she cried and began to sob again. Roxas looked down at her and decided to let her cry.

Back with the gods…

Riku woke when he felt a hand caressing at his face. He pulled away from the touch, in favor of the warm mass that was behind him… breathing warm air on his neck… A chuckle reached his ears. The hand began to slide down from his side to his hip. It then began to move toward his stomach…

Wide-eyed, Riku leaped from the bed and looked back. In the bed was the God of Darkness, Xemnas, with an amused smile on his face.

“Ah, Riku, that was priceless!” the god laughed.

“Xemnas, what are you doing in my bed—again?” Riku hissed.

“I'm only teasing you,” Xemnas replied. “We all know you are the most… responsive… of the gods in the realm.”

Riku opened his mouth to speak but then closed it. He turned to find the mortal-like clothes that he had conjured up the night before. Xemnas turned on his side as soon as he saw the god start to strip.

“Well then, I am glad that I won't be around tomorrow morning,” Riku mumbled.

“Where are you going?” Xemnas asked.

“Seph is letting me spend the next few days in the mortal world.”

Riku came around the bed to show his clothes. The smaller god was dressed in white trousers, a black shirt with a white vest, and black gloves. In an arm, he held a cape. Xemnas almost licked his lips at him and almost forgot about his plans.

When Riku suddenly let out a small cough, Xemnas got out of his fantasies and stood before him, clamping his hands on the smaller god's shoulders, demanding, “Why?”

“I need to kill someone.”

“And you cannot do that from here?”

“It would be more interesting from down there.”

Xemnas rolled his eyes. All the gods knew Riku was fascinated with the mortal world so hearing something like this wasn't much of a surprise. What was surprising was that Sephiroth had allowed it.

Xemnas turned his head to Riku and asked, “Must you go, Riku?”

“Xemnas, you are as worrisome as Sephiroth,” Riku laughed.

There was a glint of anger in his cousin's eyes that made Riku feel excited. It was a bit of a rare sight for him to see.

Riku bowed his head at his fellow god and left the room. In an instant, Xemnas was by his side with a frown on his face.

“Why is it that Sephiroth and I are subject to comparison?” he muttered.

Riku stayed quiet; he enjoyed moments like these when he was with his cousin. When Xemnas was concentrating on something other than him. But it was true. Xemnas had always been as concerned with him as his brother…

Riku looked at Xemnas from the corner of his eye.

“I will be leaving now, cousin.”

Xemnas turned to face him.

“Just kill whomever you need to and come back to me soon. I plan to overthrow Sephiroth, but to do that, I need you.”

“Another one? What does this plan entail this time?” Riku asked.

“I cannot say it here.”

“When would you have this plan commence?”

“Immediately after I explain it to you in my room.”

Riku raised an eyebrow. He didn't believe that Xemnas's plan, whatever it was, would ever work; there was a reason why Sephiroth was the Head God. And Riku was actually quite happy with his brother being in that position.

“I am sorry, Xemnas, but it will have to wait until I come back.”

They walked into a huge room with arched ceilings, murals, and a large pool of water in the middle. When they got to the water, Riku waved a hand over it, and a temple appeared in the reflection. There were monks and other worshipers kneeling around an idol that looked somewhat like Riku. Riku stepped into the water and slowly descended into the temple among his worshipers. They were all silent as they gaped at him. Riku smiled at them and simply walked out of the temple, ignoring all the whispers of witches and other things from the worshipers.

Riku was able to see the palace clearly in the day. He saw many men filing out of the front doors and dispersing themselves into the city. He smiled and ran in the same direction, his feet light.

When he was satisfied that he was thoroughly lost in the city, Riku stood against the wall of a building and relaxed. It felt good to be away from the realm… And things in the human world were very different from up there.

Riku cocked his head to the side as he watched one of the humans acting different from all the rest. This one was just a boy who was taking in all the sights and staring at people. Riku was quickly entertained by how the boy was acting and couldn't keep from watching him.

In the City…

Sora had found himself wandering around the city instead of going directly to the gates as he had planned. He couldn't help himself; everything was so new to him. During his little day trip, he had stopped at several outside markets and had just watched the people bustling about. Whenever he saw any of the knights, he made sure to quickly run away in the opposite direction. At the end of the day, he was barely any closer to the gates than when he got out of bed that morning. He was completely unaware of the aquamarine eyes that had been watching him intently for quite some time…

When it was night, Sora was a little frustrated at himself for making no progress. He soon forgot the frustration, however, when he suddenly felt very thirsty. Luckily, he was right next to a tavern.

Inside were groups of various men who were all drinking merrily. Sora felt out of place when he saw that every one of them had someone to be with while he was all alone. He only dismissed the thought as he walked toward the bar.

He smiled shyly at the bartender, who was leaning back in a chair. His hands were on his lap, and his feet were crossed on the bar. His eyes were small and were darting around the place every few seconds, watching all the tables, but they never seemed to acknowledge Sora's presence. As Sora got closer to him, he could smell an unknown stench rolling off the man. He noticed how his clothes were filthy and far too small for him. Sora tried to ignore the man's faults, though, in favor of looking at the assortment of drinks that were behind the man.

When he didn't find anything he liked, he decided that water would suffice and began calling for the bartender. However, the man's eyes were lingering on a group of drunken men who were acting boisterously. Annoyed, Sora knocked on the wooden bar. Again, the man ignored him as though he wasn't there. Sora frowned and began to tap on the bartender's foot. The man suddenly swung his legs down and leaned forward, almost causing Sora to gag.

“What?” the man yelled.

Sora frowned at the terrible service he was getting. Despite this, he replied, “I would like some water, please.”

The man's tiny eyes studied him up and down before he laughed, “This is a bar, kid, not some restaurant. If you're not here to drink what I've got, then you're not getting service. So leave before I get mad.”

Sora forced a smile on his face, showing his pearly whites, as he reached for the moneybag, which he carried in a pocket within his tattered clothes. With his right hand, he used only his index fingers and thumb to reach in the small hole of the bag, making sure his other fingers were spread out. Slowly, enough to captivate the bartender's attention, he pulled out a single gold coin.

Sora looked up at the man and sighed with false pity, “It's a shame that I got upset first because I would have given you one whole gold piece.” He rubbed his fingers against the shiny sides and studied the coin a bit before opening his fingers, letting the coin fall back into the bag with a small “plink”.

Sora almost laughed when he saw the bartender's shocked face. He turned and was surprised to see all eyes on him. There was a certain pair of eyes that captured his attention, though. A pair that was a beautiful aquamarine color. Sora snapped out of it, though, and held his head high as he walked out the bar.

Once outside, he took a deep breath of the sweet, fresh air. Then he sighed when he found that he was thirstier than before. He looked up and down the street, looking for restaurant. Suddenly, two pairs of hands took hold of his arms. He jerked around to see the boisterous group from the tavern that the bartender had been staring at. Two of them held his arms while the other two grinned at him. Sora struggled against the men as they pulled him into an empty building.

He was pushed on the floor, which was just dirt. The two that held his arms before got him again as soon as he got back up. The leader, who was wearing a cheeky smile, snatched his hair and pulled it back so he would see Sora's face.

“Well, if it isn't the little brat?!” the leader said, getting very close to Sora's face. “How are you doing?”

Instead of answering, Sora spat in his face. The one next to the leader kicked him in the stomach, causing him to fall forward with a grunt.

“Give us the gold!” the man yelled.

Sora growled and lashed out at the man before him, but was held firmly in place by the two who had his arms. Sora began to struggle out of his captors' grasps.

“Unhand me!” he ordered.

All four of them laughed. The one holding his left arm mocked, “Oooh, he said, `unhand me'!”

“Who do you think you are, a prince?” the one on his right asked.

Sora was about to answer that but remembered that he was trying to hide that fact. So instead, he kicked the leader in the groin. The man bent over, and both hands flew between his legs, cradling his treasures.

“You bitch! He hissed. He looked at his comrades and growled, “Do what you want with him.”

The one next to him pulled out a knife and licked his lips, saying, “That's fine with me; you know this little bitch is kind of cute…”

Sora became wild as he tried to get away from his assailants. The one on his right arm covered his mouth while the other began to tie him with some rope that he hadn't seen. The one with the knife began to shred his clothes, exposing his skin while trying to find his gold. Sora became more frantic when his chest was being caressed and even nicked a few times. One of the assailants kicked him in the back, causing him to arc back and kneel. His feet were then tied, and he was gagged with a random piece of cloth. The leader watched, his hands still at his crotch.

Through the struggle, no one noticed the god who had snuck in and watched them…

Riku was watching from the shadows. He didn't like seeing those fools harming the boy for some reason. When the situation started to get worse, Riku stepped out of the shadows and stood behind the bending leader. He glared at the fool and kicked him in the rear. The idiot fell but quickly stood up.

“What the hell was that for?” he demanded as he turned around. “Who the hell are you?” he yelled, balling his hands into fists and coming toward the god.

Deciding that this fool was not worth wasting his breath over, Riku clapped his hands together and spread them apart. The ground quickly began to part, causing a small earthquake. The group behind the fool stopped hurting the boy, watching their leader fall into the large crevice that was being created. Just before the leader completely fell in, Riku brought his hands back together, making the ground come back together until it trapped him. He began shouting to be freed. Riku only kicked dirt in his face and glared at the rest of the group.

The other men had all backed away from the spiky-haired boy. The boy was staring at Riku in fear and was desperately trying to get out of his binds. His clothes were tattered and barely clung to his body. There was a single long line of red across his chest, as well as a few others around his body. Angered at the sight, Riku turned toward the shivering group of three. They tried to run away, but the silver god twirled a finger and caused the earth to twist under their feet, which made them to sink as if they were in quicksand. Then a second later, the ground hardened and had them trapped to their knees.

With a dangerous gleam in his eyes, the god growled, “The money.”

One of them dropped the moneybag almost instantly. Riku raised his right hand and brought his fingers back as if he was beckoning someone to come to him. The ground directly under the bag and the struggling boy was raised, and both were carried to the god. Riku put the money in his pocket and held the boy in his arms.

Shimmering tears were pouring from the ocean-blue eyes. Riku moved to wipe them away, but the boy was thrashing around to get away from him. Riku quickly hugged him and whispered, “Please stop struggling; I've no intention of harming you.”

Still, the boy struggled. Keeping as tight of a grip as he possibly could on his bundle with one hand, Riku walked toward the assailant who had hurt the boy and snatched the knife that had been forgotten in the idiot's hand.

Riku cast an angry glare at all of them and warned, “Don't you dare come near this boy again.”

He walked out of the building.

When he found himself in little park, he set the boy down underneath a tree and brought the knife before him. The boy yelled through his gag and tried to crawl away, but Riku took one of his arms and held him in place to cut the rope. As soon as Riku was finished with that, the boy rolled away and tore out the gag from his mouth.

“S-stay away from me!” he stammered, attacking the ropes at his legs with his hands.

“Calm down,” Riku soothed as he cautiously walked toward him. “I only want to help.”

“I'm sure you do!” the brunette interrupted, his hands going wild because he couldn't get his legs free. “You want me to relax and think that you were saving me, so when I fall asleep, you'd kill me and use my body for your witchcraft!”

Sora yanked hard at a loop that he had found and ended up tightening the rope even more. He yelled in pain and tried even harder to free himself. Riku put on his kindest smile and sat next to him. He used the knife to cut some of the rope.

“I do not perform witchcraft,” he told the boy. “And if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it a long time ago, along the other four.”

The blue eyes were looking away from him and stared at the moonless sky. In anger, he punched the ground.

“Damn,” he whispered. “I am stupid…”

“Why do you say that?”

The boy didn't show any signs of hearing him, so Riku was surprised when he answered, “I should have brought my Keyblade with me when I left home… or done something more… I should have found a way to defend myself!”

Riku got through the last of the rope and captured the soft face. The boy tried to pull away, but Riku put down the knife to hold him better. He stared deep into those eyes and whispered, “I don't want to harm you. I only want to help you.”

“Why?”

Riku smiled at the question and released him. “Because you are an interesting boy.”

The boy wrinkled his nose and rubbed his aching ankles.

“Don't call me boy; you are not much older than I am.” Riku had to stop himself from laughing out loud because he was several centuries older than the boy. The boy stared into his eyes, instantly mesmerizing the god, as he said, “Just call me Sora.”

Riku was delighted that the boy trusted him enough to give him his name. He took off his cloak, put it around the boy's shoulders, and sat next to him.

“Riku,” he firmly stated.

They stayed quiet for a while before Sora asked, “Where are you from?”

“Far away,” came the simple reply. Riku quickly became bored with where the conversation was going and asked nonchalantly, “Can you tell me anything about the runaway prince?”

Sora froze. He hadn't anticipated that word would get out through the city so fast. He knew that the knights would be around searching the city even more than usual, but it wouldn't have aroused any suspicion of his absence since that was a regular occurrence whenever there were escaped criminals. Sora had estimated that it would take at least a few weeks before the citizens to find out.

“Sora?” Riku called.

Sora decided to feign innocence and gasped, “The prince ran away? When did it happen? Which one was it?”

Riku narrowed his eyes. Sora was being a bit suspicious… Riku leaned closer to the boy and took a good look at him. He smiled when he saw that Sora looked just like the prince who had fought with the princess the night before. That would explain why he had that bag of gold coins. And the way he was trying to back away and avoid Riku's aquamarine eyes only helped prove the god's suspicions.

“But how do you know this when I've heard nothing at all about it?” Sora gulped as he pulled the cloak tighter around him. “Surely the king would have made some sort of announcement!”

Riku was positive that Sora was indeed the prince. He leaned toward the prince and whispered teasingly, “It's a secret!” He then pulled back and reached into his pocket for the moneybag, juggling it with one hand. “I was hoping that you were him because it is hard for me to understand why you have a bag full of gold pieces.”

Sora blushed brightly as he reached for the bag, only to have it pulled away.

“Well, I'm not the prince,” he lied. “And I found the bag on the ground, earlier today.”

“Really? And the owner did not notice that he dropped something so valuable? That's very surprising.”

“I did not steal it, so don't get that idea in your head,” Sora hissed, feeling angry. “May I have it back now?”

Riku held the bag in front of his own face and seemed as though he was contemplating on the decision. Then he pulled it back and put it in his pocket, simply saying, “No.”

Sora jumped on Riku as he tried to get it back. Riku only laughed as he put a hand on Sora's head to keep him away. But then, Sora ducked under the hand and rammed his head into Riku's stomach, causing the god to fall on his back. Sora's hands flew to the pocket that held his prize. Determined to thwart the prince's plan, Riku set his forefingers on the ground, on either side of his body, and curled them back. The ground below his body began to curl from where his head was until it formed a crescent moon with Riku attached to the top and Sora hanging from his vest. The cloak from the boy's shoulders flitted gracefully to the ground.

“Get me down!” Sora yelled in slight panic.

“Get yourself down; we are not high enough for you to get hurt.”

With an angry scowl, Sora reached up and punched Riku's cheek before letting go of the clothes. Riku, being shocked by that lucky hit, ended up losing his concentration and fell on Sora, causing the boy to cry out in pain. Sora pushed the god off him and curled up on his side. Riku, afraid that he had seriously injured him, turned the boy so that he could search for any wounds.

“Damn…” Sora ground out as he looked down at himself. The long gash was bleeding a bit. He took in a deep breath of air as he reached for a bit a hanging piece of his clothes and used it to wipe off the blood. Riku watched and smiled.

“Well, it seems like you are fine,” he said. Then he laughed, “You are lucky that I am not my brother, Sora, otherwise you would have been dead before you hit the ground for that punch!”

“Oh well, you are not, so I get to live a little longer,” Sora smiled. “And look at what I was able to retrieve…” He brought the moneybag out of his cloak pocket and dangled it in front of his face.

As he moved the ground back to the way it was, Riku laughed, “Fine, you are not the prince. You are just a petty thief.”

“I am no thief!”

Getting frustrated, Sora stood to leave. Riku looked at him from the corner of his eye. Sora took a look back, and Riku gasped. There was the feeling that Sora was familiar to him. And it wasn't from seeing his twin the night before. There was something about this boy… Riku was sure that he had never met before. What was so special about him?

Riku sighed from his musings as he watched Sora leaving. “Where are you going in your injured state?” he asked, feeling annoyed over his thoughts.

“I am going to the gates, for I am going to leave the kingdom tonight.”

“Do you really think you are going to make it there at this time of night, Sora?”

Sora thought about it and chuckled.

“Probably not. After an hour, I would probably fall asleep somewhere in the middle of the street.”

“Exactly,” Riku replied. “Now come rest by my side. I will watch over you and wake you up in the morning.”

Sora was in deep thought. He didn't want to trust Riku so easily. After all, he was only a stranger. But then again, he did save him…

Sora sighed and nodded. He walked toward the tree behind him and sat down. He carefully watched Riku as the god crawled toward him but soon found himself getting very tired. Then Riku put his arm around him, and he couldn't help but scoot closer to him to have some warmth in his sleep. Within seconds, his eyelids shut, and he was softly snoring.

Riku blinked in surprise at the noises that were coming from the boy's mouth. He had never heard anything like them. But somehow, they made him smile.

He reached for the cloak that had floated close to where they were. He covered Sora's body over it, and he smiled softly at how sweet the prince looked. He leaned back and let the prince rest on his chest as he watched him snore in peace.

A/N: Please R&R!