Riku/Namine;

"I Have To Go"

Enjoy.

--

The classic tale of the princess and her knight.

She sits alone; drawing, waiting for someone or something to come and either save her or bring her more agony; the sleeping period of her life when nothing really matters anymore. She takes orders, just like a good little minion, and even though she has the power to manipulate hearts and memories she still stays with her ice-blue eyes and sand-blonde hair to listen to what they tell her to do.

At least, that's what she tells herself.

The lines between fantasy and reality have been radically blurred ever since she took her post with her crayons and paper in the big white room (with more purity than she thinks she'll ever deserve.) She draws and draws and bends and changes things so much that she can't tell what's fake and what was real to being with.

That's what happens when you're never meant to exist.

But when he comes, she smiles, and waits for him to visit her in her farthest room in the tallest tower; to save her from everything, give her a kiss and live happily ever after.

Because, like all things, misery loves company.

He's a slave too, only not to others but the darkness inside himself. He's somebody, a real person with real feelings and emotions, and he's searching for a way to redeem himself in the eyes of those he cares about most; the eyes of her other half, and the eyes of the one she draws for. He's got silver hair and bright green-blue eyes, and he fights for the hero and for her, even though he doesn't know it yet. He fights to be free.

...and she has the path to it.

So when its all said and done; when the dragon-cloaked demons within him are gone, and the one who she called master is defeated for good, she smiles, and waits for him to come and sweep her off her feet. She waits for him to save her; to take her from the hollow-white walls and into the reality she longs for; more than she longs to find out where she's from and why this is and who she is. And, just like she'd planned, he comes.

Only...he's not there for her.

He looks at him; the one in the pod, and smiles and feels like crying, because its all his fault that he's there and not awake to tell him that its alright and not his fault (as is the way with protagonists.) His blue eyes are closed, and he can't see that redeeming ring of blue ocean that was always there even when they were full to the brim with tears of resignation and defeat and loss. He's afraid - so afraid - and fragile and so much like a young child that he can't stand it.

And even with a less-than-whole heart, she feels bad for him.

So she makes him an offer, one that ruins her plans but makes him- her knight in shining armor- happy. she tells him he can forget what's happened and be though with it; that he can go on and out and leave without caring about anything that's happened here.

But he refuses.

He says he'll carry his burdens, and live with them as a reminder of humilty and what he's done; erase himself and try and forgiving and forgetting the past he led. That he'll go on with the heart of led and lead his own life.

So she lets him go. And the classic tale of princess and knight flys away like the things she thought were dreams.

--

Its different now.

Things are normal, as would so be proclaimed by the boy she once had to destroy from the heart out. She's no longer herself; she has red hair and darker purple-blue eyes that shine with something more positive and serenely beautiful; but she's there, and she's finally found that little nitch she can call reality and actually mean it.

And so can he.

He's bigger now. His hair's gotten longer, his eyes narrower, and his body more toned; he's humble too, and no longer the show-off she saw back in her post in her fairy-tale castle. His voice has gotten deeper, and it carries a more honest tone than she's even heard before, not counting the brunette now holding her - their - hand.

The adventures and stories and lies and fears have all gone, and left them both to stay together in the paradise they left when this all began. Things have changed, - as they always do - but this time its for the better, and they can stay together with the other they both care about for the rest of their days.

They're both home.

And, she thinks, maybe you don't need a knight in shining armor or a damsel-in-distress princess to have a happy ending.

--

Review?