Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Together In Our World Alone ❯ The Aftermath ( Chapter 3 )

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

By: BDP

Hmmm, I guess I've made a lot of sceptics out there, oh well, not that I really do care about those people, but still, I'm glad some of you haven't lost their faith in me so far.

I will admit that there will be a lot of curves and unexpected u-turns in this story, but ya'll just have to have wait to find out all about them.

If you don't like it, I appreciate you tell me, but please, disrespectful comments like 'that doesn't make me want to read the story anymore' I really do not need. The ages-old policy is of vigour here people: DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ.

It's really a shame that some people out there just don't have the maturity to keep non- useful comments to themselves.

To those out there still with me, please enjoy.

-Blackdiamond Princess

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THREE: The Aftermath

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"Soraaaa! Nooo!"

Riku ran over to his immobile body on the snowy ground, throwing himself next to him and turning him around to look at him. "Oh God, please no…"

Blood.

So much of it, it was everywhere…

"Babe…" Riku pleadingly whimpered, staring at the spatters of blood that were beginning to roll down his paling face. A rapidly growing red spot around the hole in the right shoulder of the grey fabric of his sweatshirt caught his attention and he let out a loud wail as he held him closer to his chest, his tears rolling down his face at the pain that tore his heart apart. "Wake up, Sora…! Oh please…" He sobbed even though he could feel his body growing colder with the increasing amount of blood he was losing.

Shaking his head as he saw how Sora's head fell back lifelessly and his limbs hung down behind him, Riku reached out to his face only to break down in more sobs at the blood that smeared itself out on Sora's face from beneath his own fingers. "Don't go like this, what am I supposed to do without you?"

Confronted to the growing feelings of desperation and the increasing agony of the situation, Riku let himself willingly drown into his sea of sorrow as he continued to sob the loss of Sora, not seeing a future if he wasn't part of it. What was there to live for if Sora wasn't there?

It was the sensation of a pair of hands shaking his shoulders slightly that made him wake up into the nightmare he had thought to have left for a brief moment.

"Sir, please… let us take a look at him…"

Riku looked up at the blonde man in total confusion, not understanding what the man wanted to come look at. "He's dead." He whispered, feeling more tears well up in his eyes at the realisation of that one sentence. "He's gone…"

"Sir let us check, please…"

Shaking his head as he held Sora close, Riku rocked them back and forth, refusing to let go of what he had left of him. "Sora…"

"He may still have a chance if you let us look at him, sir." A black haired medic said, kneeling next to him in the snow. "He'll die if we don't help him now…"

"…iku—"

Riku opened his eyes as he heard the distinct whisper of his name and loosened his hold on Sora to see him form his name soundlessly with his lips, his eyes still closed, but unmistakably suffering. "Sora!"

"Ok, this one is alive as well." One of the medics exclaimed to his partner, who immediately began calling for a brancard.

A third man arrived with the stretcher and Riku let go of Sora who was lifted onto the small litter and rushed over to one of the waiting ambulances.

Riku shakily gathered himself on his feet and began to make his way towards the ambulance they had reserved for Sora when a soft whimper hit his ears coming from somewhere near his feet.

He found Trooper standing next to him, the small puppy was shivering from the bitter cold as he stared up at him almost pleadingly.

Riku bent over and took the dog in his arms, holding it close to his chest as he silently thanked whomever it was that was looking over them up there. If it hadn't been for this dog, Sora would be dead for certain now.

He covered Trooper underneath his bloodied jacket and zipped it up enough for the puppy to be safely protected from the cold.

"Sir, are you riding with us?"

Riku looked up and quickened his pace, stepped into the van and sat himself next to one of the two medics from before, his eyes never leaving Sora who was lying in the middle of the small space, barechested as they were wiring him to different apparatus and back to his unconscious state, now wearing a breathing mask.

The car began to move and Riku took hold of Sora's left hand in his, closing his eyes as he saw the hole the bullet had made in his right shoulder and intertwining their fingers. "Is he going to be alright?"

The blonde medic next to him nodded, "He's lost a lot of blood, but he can make it if we transfuse him the minute we arrive at the hospital." He checked the supply of oxygen the brunet was receiving and watched how his colleague nodded after having controlled Sora's pulse and other vital signs on the small monitor next to him at the other side of the ambulance. "He's stable for now. Do you know his blood type?"

Riku brushed back the wet strands of Sora's bangs with his right hand, "He's an AB positive…"

"That'll facilitate things." The black haired medic whispered to his colleague who nodded in agreement.

"Take some of my blood, I'm an O." Riku said, sitting back a little to look at the two men, "He can receive blood from me, right?"

The one sitting next to him gave him a comforting smile, "If he is an AB+, he can receive blood from any blood type."

"Alright," Riku approached Sora again and pressed a kiss on his forehead, "Hold on just a bit longer, Sora… I'm coming to save you…"

He looked at the small scar on his right shoulder as he stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, observing the pale, new skin that had grown over the bullet wound with an attentive eye.

Touching it still felt kind of awkward so he didn't and simply gazed at it from different angles, pushing a little of his bathrobe aside to look at it better.

Thinking of that fated night 18 months ago didn't bring him nightmares anymore like it used to, the thought of the person who did this to him even less. Somehow, during the lapse of time that had passed, he had come to terms with what had been done to him and that he was still alive even if things could've gone way differently and ended more tragically then they did.

Everyone had survived and life had carried on, even now that the stone had sunk to the bottom of the lake and become part of it.

That, actually, was what the scar epitomised to him; that life had gone on. He nearly died, but he was standing strong today again. Life had gone on.

And now, he knew it was time to define the dots on the 'i' a bit more clearly. He knew that he wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for Riku who shared his blood, but he did not come back to life to be saddled with the shit he had put him through lately.

No way.

He proved it to him last night. If Riku thought that he could just fool around with whomever he wanted to, he could do the same. But, next time he wouldn't be here to scrape up the pieces of another broken heart.

It would be over. For good.

And life would move on.

He wrapped the robe around his body and put up the hood, ready to step out of the bathroom as he suddenly heard three soft knocks on the door.

"Sora, can I come in?"

Roxas.

He walked over to the door and let the blonde in.

"You have classes?" Sora asked, seeing as how his friend was already fully dressed and refreshed from last night.

"No, I'm meeting up with my dad later on." Roxas replied, closing the door behind him. "I just wanted to congratulate you."

"For what?"

"For last night." He took a step closer and kissed him on his lips, "You made me realise that you do have things under control and that you know what you're doing."

Sora smiled, "You ever doubted about it?"

"Well, I did begin to wonder when I saw how much you enjoyed yourself in our arms." Roxas chuckled, seeing Sora's impish smile and the eyebrow risen in silent observation.

"You can't blame me for enjoying good sex, now can you?" He whispered with a chuckle, rubbing his hair dry underneath his hood.

Roxas chuckled back and crossed his arms over his chest with a nod, "He'll think twice before he looks any other way again."

"Let us hope so," Sora answered sternly, turning around to look at his face in the mirror above the sink. "I'm not giving him another chance."

The blonde nodded, smiling at his friend's decisive tone. "Hopefully he won't need another."

"I've suffered enough; it's time for me to actually live my life." Sora said softly, staring at himself. "Love is nice, but not to the expense of my self-esteem."

Roxas nodded again in understanding.

The brunet then turned to him, "Thank you for last night."

A pleased smile was his first response before Roxas moved in to hug him. "I'd say 'Anytime', but I know that what we did was a one time thing only." They held each other tightly. "I'm glad you proved me wrong about you. You DO know how to stand up to that jerk of a boyfriend of yours and I don't need to come and save you from his clutches."

Sora giggled, "I'm glad you were there as a safety net, Roxas…" He whispered with his eyes closed, "We could've worked, you know."

"Maybe in a galaxy far, far away…" Roxas whispered back, making his friend laugh heartedly.

"No regrets?"

The blonde now let go of him and tipped his nose playfully, "Regrets will always be there, Sora…" He said, smiling a comforting smile, "But I find peace in knowing that you're happy."

"Thank you again…" Sora whispered, "For everything."

"You're welcome, hot kitty cat." Roxas chuckled at the embarrassed pout he received. "Make him see who's the boss."

Sora nodded with a content smirk as he watched Roxas turn to leave, "Say hi to your dad from me and I'll call you later, okay?"

"That's good," He nodded, "Ciao your hotness." And with a last giggle from Sora he exited from the bathroom and from the bedroom, descended the stairs and was out the front door a few moments later.

Sora now walked to the door and halted in its opening, leaning against the frame to look at the lump still asleep in the large bed.

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There was a slightly cool wind blowing over the beach that morning, the sea slightly agitated as it washed onto the shore.

The little red rubber ball flew through the air as Riku threw it away for Trooper to go fetch, watching how the dog ran after it enthusiastically.

Sora smiled, tucking his hair behind his ears to prevent it from being blown away with the wind.

They were walking bare footed over the abandoned sands of the beach, having decided to talk things out after the events of the past night.

"Nothing is what it seems lately, is it?"

Riku turned to look at Sora with an attentive gaze, "It's time for things to change."

"I agree…" Sora whispered, looking at Trooper jumping after the ball in the distance.

"I can't expect for you to keep forgiving me when I hurt you."

"No," The brunette breathed in the salty air and looked up at the pale blue sky, "You can't."

Riku could hear the hardened resolve in his voice and nodded, not having expected anything different from him.

"It's been over 3 years now, Riku, you and me. Almost 4." They continued to walk while Riku listened, "I'm ready to spend my life with you until the day I die, but I'm not willing to lose neither my identity nor my self-esteem because of you. I love you and I'd willingly put my life in danger all over again if it could save yours, but you have to show me that I can trust you again, that I can look at you and see the man I've always seen in you. The one I fell in love with, the one that made me feel like the most important person to him in the world.

Most of my friends would've ended our relationship a long time ago if they had been me, but even when I felt like I was this close to give everything up, I still had that image of my Riku in my heart and in my head. The gentle and protective Riku from my childhood who was always there for me, who never did something knowing it would make me sad with no grounded reason."

Sora squat down and took the ball Trooper had brought back out from between his teeth and threw it away again, watching lovingly how he ran after it once more.

"You've put me through hell, Riku, but it was that image I had of you that kept me hoping that you could change." He stood again and now looked at him, "I'm no longer that naïve 17 year old who didn't know better but throw himself into his first love. I know now that love is not supposed to be this way, it's not supposed to be vindictive or supposed to hurt. I'll be 21 in two weeks and if given a reason to leave you for good, I will. I've only began my life and you're not irreplaceable."

Sora took a shaky breath and looked away from him to see where his dog had gone to, beginning to take a step away from him when Riku grabbed him by his right arm to hold him back.

"Don't have your talk and just leave; please…" Riku watched how Sora's eyes closed for a moment, "I guess that that was something I needed to hear." He whispered with a small smile, "I'm not irreplaceable, especially not with how desirable you've become…"

Sora looked at him, expecting for him to defend himself now that he had finished saying what he had felt like saying. "Riku, if I really meant anything to you, I shouldn't have felt the urge to say these things to you."

"You mean EVERYTHING to me, Sora." Riku whispered, holding him back again as the brunet had wanted to leave.

"With all the fighting we've done over the past year I just felt like I needed a break. From everything."

Sora turned to him again and looked at their naked feet. "It has been a rough year…"

Riku nodded, "We bought our new home, and I inherited half of my step dad's companies around the globe and became a vice-CEO overnight. You began your full-time work at the DC Chronicle as a columnist… there's been a lot of pressure on both our shoulders, babe." He took a step closer, "The more I came back home late, the less time we had for each other and I had to watch with helpless eyes how you and Roxas became more and more close with each passing day. The arguments we then had because of things that didn't work out or because of the stress we both had didn't make things better.

I was afraid I'd be pushed to the background and my fear became worse when we had that fight that made you leave me for the first time.

It was like my world collapsed and I thought that I could find my refuge in my work…

I have my moments of insecurity, Sora, but what I do and the results from that are never created with the intention of hurting you. Most of the time they're just not thought through…" He fell silent and gave him a remorseful look, "I'll gladly take the blame on me if you want someone to blame for the situation we're in and all I can say is that I'm sorry. From the bottom of my heart, I truly regret everything that has happened."

Sora closed his eyes, thinking back of how he had felt when Riku brought him back home two nights ago. He had felt then that, for a part, it had been his fault that Riku had ended up with that woman in his office and that Riku wasn't the only one to blame here… he had his share in causing the problems they had now. Instead of supporting Riku with his new hectic way of life, he had to admit that he had been busy with his own career and his new found friendship with Roxas.

He had blamed Riku for not making time for him and their relationship, while in fact he had barely given him the chance to right all the wrongs then.

"We are both such screw ups…" He finally whispered, placing his hands on his forehead, still not facing him, "And now I feel like an insensitive bastard."

Riku smiled softly, "If there's anyone who should feel like a bastard that should be me. You haven't done anything wrong and you're right to want to leave me for good if I mess things up for the umpteenth time. I'll—"

Sora silenced him with a kiss, his hands holding his face as he pressed himself up to him. "You talk too much, so shut up and listen." He looked at the surprised, blinking eyes of his lover for a second and then took a step back.

"If we both had taken the time to look at our relationship instead of blaming each other for all the things that went wrong, we wouldn't be here. We messed up and I was just mad and in the mood for revenge.

The truth is that if I left you, I'd regret it for the rest of my life.

Granted, you're far from perfect, but I've loved you from the very beginning and you've loved me for who I was my entire life. I'm ashamed to say it now, but I abused that fact to make you go through the same suffering I thought you had inflicted on me on purpose… I just wanted to feel in control for once. In control of my feelings and of my life…"

Riku wrapped his arms around him, "You've always lived your own life, babe…"

Sora gave him a semi-nod, "It's so easy to lose yourself when you're so attached to another…" He lifted himself on the tip of his toes and planted a kiss on his lips again.

"So…" Riku frowned down at him with a pensive smile, "with all the confusion set aside, you'll only leave me when I'm the one who completely messes things up next time?"

"I can't keep forgiving you if you don't make an effort to change?" Sora said with a shy smile.

"No you can't." Riku agreed. "And it's not because I mess things up that you're not to blame for it at times…"

Sora rolled his eyes in an annoyed manner, but smiled nonetheless, "Yeah, yeah… I have my imperfections."

They laughed and Riku embraced him, looking into those endless pools of magnificent blue, wanting to drown into them without surfacing ever again. He watched how his giggle slowly stopped and his lips formed a smile, his cheeks flaring up cutely at the attention he gave him. Riku lifted his right hand up to one of them, closing his eyes as he felt the softness of his skin glide underneath his fingertips. He opened his eyes when he felt Sora kiss his fingers and gave him a questioning look which he returned with a happy smile as he threw himself in his arms again.

"I'm so sorry, baby…" Sora whispered, pressing a kiss into his neck, his eyes tightly closed.

"Ange…" Riku breathed out; tightening the grip he had on him. "I love you."

"I love you too." The brunet murmured back, holding him tightly as well, "I didn't mean it when I said you weren't irreplaceable… No one compares, you know?"

Riku bit his lower lip and nodded, feeling tears sting behind his eyelids, "But I still needed to hear that, babe… Makes me realise all the more that there could be a day in which you could leave me. For good."

"Riku…"

They let go of each other and Riku immediately moved in to kiss him long and slowly, taking the time to explore every depth of his lover's mouth, entangling their tongues sensually and lovingly, feeling shivers run down his spine like it was the first time all over again.

Sora let him lead, making him moan softly as he felt him suckle on his lower lip, catching it between his teeth briefly before letting go and sliding his tongue back into his mouth, moving away from his lips and pressing kisses against his left jaw after having caressed his tongue back and forth over his, murmuring loving words and whispering soft promises.

"If I wasn't addicted to your kisses…" Sora whispered, tilting his head back at the fingers running down his throat and the soft lips that followed suit.

"Sora." Riku now looked at him again, a strange determination in his dark aqua eyes. Sora cooed questioningly, running his right index over his lips amorously. "Let's go back."

Sora smiled and took his hand, "Yeah, let's go back home…"

"No, not home," Riku whispered, holding him from walking on, making him look back confusedly. "Let's go back to where we come from."

The brunet frowned and slightly shook his head in non-understanding, "Riku…?"

"Destiny Port, Sora!" Riku whispered with a smile, taking both his hands in his, "Let's go back to where we fell in love and fall in love again…"

Sora could hardly hide a chuckle at how romantic that sounded, "But what about your work?"

"I can easily take a few weeks off with all the work I've been doing over there. Besides, Mister President of Nobuhiro Zaibatsu won't mind, he's been urging me to take some time off for days now."

Sora bit his lower lip in excitement, "I can always send my column in by e-mail…"

Riku nodded in agreement, "We do this, then?"

"Yeah!" Sora embraced him again, "I can't wait to see them again!"

"Yeah, and perhaps we can ease their minds with the good news of our reconciliation; Kairi hasn't stopped calling me at the office to scold me." Riku whispered with a slight frown over Sora's right shoulder. "What is it that you told her anyway?"

"Oh, nothing…" Sora said with a mischievous smile, letting go of him now and slowly backing away. "Nothing at all…"

"Why oh why do I NOT believe you?" Riku said with a playful scowl, taking a step closer whith each one Sora took back, "Sora…?"

Throwing his hands in the air and shrieking comically, Sora turned and ran away in the direction of the sea, knowing Riku had set in the pursuit. "It was nothing…!"

Riku laughed and soon had caught up with Sora, lifting him off his feet from the back and taking him for a spin in his arms, "You're a lousy liar and you're badly out of shape if I can't even give you a 5 second head start!"

Sora laughed and writhed in his grip until he stood with his feet in the shallow water, facing him,"Am not!"

"Are too!" Riku replied chuckling, covering his lips with his before Sora could reply again. "How about a race then?"

"Last one to the car is a rotten egg!" Sora giggled, already running away from him.

"Sora, that's cheating!" Riku called after him and wanted to run, but got slowed down by Trooper who brought him back the ball. "Ack, Troop! Bad timing!"

Sora laughed his heart out as he watched the scene from a distance, "Riku is a rotten egg!" He giggled, waving his hand in front of his face. He laughed again and then hit himself on his thighs to call his dog over. "Come on Troop, come to Sora! Good boy!"

Riku growled as Trooper ran towards his other owner. "Real mature, Sora! Real mature!"

But deep down he was endlessly happy to see that joyful smile again on Sora's face, making him realise even more what a lucky man he was.

The luckiest man in the world.

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