Namine watched the two boys fight wordlessly, praying for Roxas's safety. She gasped as Roxas went sprawling on the floor. She saw Riku lift his blade again, intending to make the final blow. Namine darted out in front of Roxas, arms outstretched. "Riku stop!"
Riku lowered his blade, but only slightly. "Namine get out of the way! I don't want to hurt you! This is the only way for Sora to awaken!"
Tears were streaming down Namine's face. "You've been so obsessed with getting Sora back that you've forgotten something: Roxas is a person too! He's not just some puppet pulled out of Sora! He's a living, breathing person and all you want to do is destroy him so that what he's taken from Sora will return to your friend! Haven't you thought that maybe there's a way to extract that without destroying him?" She grabbed onto Riku's shoulders, shaking him once, "Haven't you?"
Riku looked dumbstruck. "Can… can you do that? … How?"
Namine looked down, releasing Riku's sleeves. "It's long and hard. I don't know if Diz would approve…"
Riku blinked. "But you can?"
Namine looked up at him. "Yes." She bent down and gently touched Roxas's hair with her hand. She reached under him, pulling him up into a sitting position. She went on smoothing out his hair. When she finally looked back up at Riku there was anger burning in her eyes. She lifted a bloody hand so that Riku could see. It wasn't her blood, but Roxas's. Her voice was level and yet full of endless hate. "You hurt him."
Riku reached a hand out to her as if to comfort her. He bent down and opened his mouth to speak. "NO!" She slapped him. "Shut up! I don't care what you have to say!" Her voice was a roar now. "I don't want your comfort!" Her voice cracked and she broke into sobs.
Riku rubbed the side of his face and winced. Looking at the small, sobbing bundle in front of him was too much to bear and do nothing. He braced himself to be slapped again and moved to her, wrapping her in his arms. She didn't resist, she couldn't. "Namine, I'm sorry," he whispered.
Taking her face out of her hands she looked down at Roxas's scraped and bruised body. "It's too late for that now," she said her voice low and filled with pain instead of anger. "I don't know if I can help him this time. He could be…" She couldn't finish her sentence. Her sobs broke out anew as if they had never stopped.
Roxas's honey colored hair was beginning to turn red as blood bubbled out of a gash in his head. Namine placed her hand on it, not even flinching as blood seeped over her fingers, a sight that would have made most people sick. She brushed her own hair out of her face, red smearing across a few strands. Riku gave her a small squeeze to show extra support. He wasn't sure how much he could help her considering he was the one who had caused her pain. He realized now that she was right. Roxas wasn't Sora and Roxas deserved to live just as Sora did. He might want his friend back, but he shouldn't have blamed Roxas for something he couldn't help.
Namine pulled out of his arms now that she had finally gathered the strength to. She didn't want to be in Riku's arms. She wanted to be in Roxas's.
