Wake while you sleep
He looked so peaceful as he slept. And deep in her heart, she knew that she both had and didn't have him.
"Namine?"
"Hmm?"
It was Riku. He had grown to the habit of always popping in and out of rooms with the use of the special dark cloak. It was quite unnerving but everything about the real Riku took a lot of getting used to.
"You have to eat sometime," he said, taking the hood off and shaking his silver-white hair. "He's not going anywhere."
She just smiled and shuffled her feet. He wouldn't really understand since she, herself, had just realized it.
Suddenly she was dragged off her chair and led towards the door.
"Wa-Wait!"
"Tell on me about sexual harassment or whatever, I'm sure DiZ wouldn't mind," Riku said. She couldn't help but grin and follow him.
There was nothing in the vendo machine in the corridor except for bottled ether and warm potion.
"Damn! How many times do I have to say that they need to refill these things with something that's actually edible?" he growled. He slipped in a couple of coins and took out two cans of potion, tossing one to Namine. "Maybe those Organization losers left something in the basement."
He walked on for a few steps before realizing Namine wasn't following.
"Um, where do you think the Riku Replica went off to?" she said timidly. She hadn't forgotten. When she had been held captive, he was the only one who really had her back.
Riku stopped and scratched his head. "I dunno. He just- disappeared, I guess."
Namine nodded and followed, head held down.
"If it means anything to you, he disappeared in the lower levels of the castle," Riku said awkwardly.
"It's ok."
And that left Riku felt more like a loser than anything else.
The next morning, he again found her on the same chair near the chamber where Sora slept. It was hopeless to make her go outside; and DiZ would probably scare her to death if he found her. With that, Riku disappeared to the next world in search of the one who held the key to unlocking Sora's memories.
Meanwhile, in the shadows, the other Riku watched.
"Are you dreaming, right now, Sora?" she suddenly asked, surprising the other Riku from his reverie. It was heartbreaking, really, for the both of them. Namine was gazing intently up at Sora's face, clutching a drawing where three children sat on an imagined beach watching the sun set: a white-haired guy, a brunette and a blonde.
"Because I know I am," she whispered, touching the chamber and crumpling the paper in her hand.
The other Riku turned hastily away as he can't stand seeing the tears running down her cheeks- because unlike the rest of them, he had known his feelings right from the start and certainly was living his dream even if it was in vain.