Escape
"Please, Riku. Let's not," she pleaded, shifting uncomfortably.
"Alright, alright," he raised his hands in surrender. A witty smile played over his features. "But you know I'll only ask again tomorrow." He turned and left, arms casually crossed behind his head. The door shut behind him. Naminé exhaled.
The Replica was growing restless within Castle Oblivion. He wanted to see other worlds. However, he wanted Naminé to join him- he said he wouldn't leave without her. The girl would have loved to accompany him, to leave this place where blank walls trapped her on all sides. She dreamt of reaching the snow-topped mountains of The Land of Dragons, feeling the warm ocean waves radiate around her in Atlantica and to listen to the free, whispering wind of Destiny Islands that she had so often seen in Sora's memory.
But she couldn't.
If the Organization found out she ever left the castle, she'd never be allowed outside this room again. They wouldn't physically hurt her… much. They needed her. But the Replica… it was him she was worried about. What would they make her do to him? Wipe his memories and 'restart' him? She couldn't bear to do that again.
Or worse. What if they claimed he was too unstable and stubborn? He never really did take orders seriously. They would break him completely. Larxene would surely want him as a torture toy. Naminé shut her eyes tight, clenching her small fist.
No. She couldn't let that happen. So for his sake, she would sacrifice her freedom. No matter how much he begged her, she would not go with him. No matter how much she longed to…
He had been asking her everyday for the past month, using all the persuasive techniques he knew. He tried to charm her, spun tales of places he'd heard of so they'd enter her dreams at night, he spent more and more time with her in order to guilt-trip her into joining him. And it was working too.
It killed Naminé to see his heart break every time she said no.
He came in again the next morning, whilst she was drawing.
"Aha! See, you do want to leave the castle," the Replica grinned, pointing to the horizon she had coloured. "C'mon, Naminé. Let's just go and see what's out there. Don't you wonder?"
The girl shook her head, pressing her lips together lest she spill the truth. She couldn't go. Oh, if only he could understand. They'd hurt them both if she left.
"No Riku. You go, taste your adventure. I'll be waiting here when you get back. I'll be fine on my own."
The Replica stood abruptly. "But that's just it. You won't! I know you, Naminé. If I leave and Larxene does anything to you, you'll just take the hit and I won't be there to defend you. I can't let that happen." He walked round to her and gripped her shoulders. She stared at the floor.
"Naminé," he began firmly, "I don't want to leave you behind. I couldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you while I was gone. Won't you come with me?"
He lifted her chin, catching her gaze with the intensity of his green-blue eyes. Eyes like clear ocean waves, yearning, for something more, for the outside world. It was cruel to keep him locked up here because she wouldn't leave. And she was so close to accepting the offer, to exploring those new worlds-
Where Marluxia would find her and drag her back by her hair, leaving the Replica in a bloodied heap. She averted her eyes and the spell was broken.
"Wouldn't you like to come with me?" the Replica repeated, hoping.
"No," she whispered. The Replica sighed, defeated, and left the room. Naminé smiled ruefully at the empty space where he no longer stood and mustered in a soft breath…
"…I'd have loved to go with you."