A/N: I wanted to try Riku/Naminé since I like the pairing but haven't been able to find many fanfics I like for it. I can't say this is the best, but I gave it a shot and I don't think it's terrible.
A small pool of light from the borrowed desklamp illuminated the crayon-drawing Naminé was bent over. Her hair brushed the table where the lamplight faded into shadow, but it wasn't bothersome enough to take her focus from her work, neither was the wind slipping through the window that held her in a chilly embrace. Scratch-scratch-scribble-scratch, the sound of her crayon leaving red marks on the paper blotted out any other noise. Even if it hadn't, she wouldn't have heard Riku's silent footsteps.
Naminé didn't notice his presence at all until his hand's shadow fell over her sketchbook. She jerked up, surprised at his sudden appearance, like he had melted out of the shadows.
"Riku..?" He didn't usually announce himself, and slipping in without explanation wasn't unlike him, but he wouldn't come so close to her without her invitation. When she looked up at him, she saw that his posture was slumped in a way that was unnatural compared to his usual straight composure. "Riku, are you alright?"
He muttered something under his breath as he traced a gloved finger across the spiral binding of her sketchbook.
What's he doing? Naminé wondered. Hesitantly, she shook his arm, and he faced her with his uncanny ability to meet her eyes through his blindfold.
"You shouldn't be here," he said seriously. "Too much darkness. It's not safe."
Naminé frowned. "Riku, we're in the mansion. We're safe here."
"No… Don't take me!" He shook his arm out of her grip, then seemed to half-consciously feel for her crayons, scattering them down the length of the table and knocking some off completely. "Have to find a way back…"
Half-conscious… is he sleepwalking? That might explain his weird behavior, the way he was now addressing the shadows in the corners of the room as if they were Heartless. But she'd never known Riku to sleepwalk.
She was about to get up and try to wake him, but he suddenly jumped back from the shadow he was stomping on, running back to her.
"Have to get out of here… Too dark…"
"Riku, you're safe," Naminé replied as gently as possible, taking his hand without thinking. She was surprised by her quick action, Riku would never allow her to hold his hand if he was awake.
"Safe?" He whispered disbelievingly.
"Yes. You're safe, it's just a nightmare. You need to wake up." He was beginning to creep her out with his panic.
His hand tightened around hers. "I knew you'd wake me…"
But he couldn't be awake. He couldn't be, because now he was stroking her hair rhythmically, a soft, unburdened smile smoothing his half-hidden expression.
"Your hair is soft," he said like he had discovered a deeply hidden secret. Yes, definitely sleeping. But that didn't stop a rose-pink blush from heating her cheeks.
"You can't feel anything with your gloves on," Naminé murmured in reply. To her not-exactly-surprise, he simply removed his gloves, set them on top of her drawing, and went back to combing her hair with his fingers. She should've stopped him, probably, but was it really harming anyone?
Naminé wished he was awake, not so he would stop, but so it would truly have meaning.
It feels nice, as least, she thought as he wove her hair into a loose braid that glowed in the lamplight. She had never felt his hands ungloved – or even with gloves, when she thought about it – this close to her before. Her own hand unconsciously reached up to touch his palm. It was smoother and softer than she expected, probably because his gloves protected them.
"Riku…?" He stopped braiding her hair to tenderly hold her hand. Naminé wished she could see what he was dreaming about now, peek into his memories—
No. She'd already messed up Sora. She lo- liked Riku too much to even think about that. But she couldn't help wondering if he dreamt that it was Kairi who had rescued him from his darkness, whose hand he now held.
…Or maybe he really was dreaming about Naminé? She could always hope.
He placed her hand in her lap, then silently shadowed into the gap between her back and the chair. But she couldn't allow Riku to cuddle her the way he was now, his arms surprisingly warm around her waist and quicksilver hair melting with blonde as his chin rested on her shoulder. Not if he wasn't doing it consciously, if his heart wasn't in it. Letting him continue, however much she wanted to be held in that comfortable embrace, made her feel just as guilty as the thought of manipulating his memories.
"Riku, you need to wake up," Naminé said much too quietly, slipping out of her chair but not his arms. Now standing, they were too far from the lamplight to see much of his expression, even if it wasn't shrouded in dark silk. He was still hugging her from behind, hands linking the circle around her middle. It would be so easy to close her eyes and let go of her reluctance… but she was determined not to, despite her own protesting feelings.
"Riku," she said more firmly, prying at his fingers. His grip was loose; she slipped away like the wind through the window. "Wake up for real. You have to."
"Don't want to…" He murmured groggily, vaguely reaching in her direction. "Don't go…"
Again Naminé wondered what he was dreaming about, but she pushed his hand away. "You're asleep, Riku. You're not acting like yourself."
"Don't leave me again… Don't… Why can't I see…?" Instead of his normal steady movements, he staggered towards her, like his blindfold had only now started to affect his vision. "I want to see you…"
Naminé backed up a step, bracing herself against her chair. "…Who do you want to see?"
The sound of her voice, she supposed, called him to her. He smiled warmly and hugged her around her shoulders.
"You." That didn't answer Naminé's question, but Riku seemed perfectly content with silently holding her again. She wasn't sure how long she could resist his touch.
"You can't see me. You're asleep."
Riku frowned. "I can't see you when I'm awake, either."
Suddenly he let her go and gripped his blindfold with both hands, but she dived to knock them away.
"Don't!" She yelled, accidentally tackling him to the floor in her panic. He couldn't take off his blindfold, she knew what could happen—
Riku froze underneath her. There was a thick silence, interrupted only by the wind whistling through the window and the electric hum of the lamp.
Naminé jumped away from him, breathing hard from shock and fear. Had she hurt him? Not likely; he'd been tackled by worse than a small girl before. Was he still asleep, then?
"Riku?" Her voice quavered. "Are you alright?"
His chest rose and fell unevenly, and a slight gasp escaped his lips. Other than that, he was still and silent for a few moments. Naminé wondered if his eyes were open under his blindfold.
"...I was sleepwalking," he said with the voice of someone who had seen a ghost. "I was sleepwalking…" He stood shakily, backing away while Naminé sighed in relief.
"What did I do?" He asked. She fidgeted with the crayons that were still on the table, trying to avoid his question.
"Do you not know?" How conscious had he been? He did sound slightly worried, not just curious…
"I… have an idea," he said, his embarrassment sounding as foreign as his earlier unease. "I'm sorry."
Naminé almost snapped the blue crayon she was fiddling with in surprise. "…Who were you dreaming about?" She had to ask.
Also for the first time ever, Naminé saw Riku blush. "I'd rather that secret stay with me."
She could've guilted him into telling her, take it as a required part of his apology. But that thought made her feel sick.
"Please?" She asked instead. He looked as surprised as she was, if his barely-open mouth was anything to go by. "You don't have to…"
"No." He took a sure step forward. "I think I do, actually. Because you're my friend."
She smiled in pleased surprise. Had he ever directly called her his friend before? "Thank you, Riku."
He almost-smiled. "Could you promise that we can stay that way, even if you don't like my answer?"
This time she did snap a crayon, her favorite yellow one. It had to be Kairi. He must've been dreaming about her the whole time he'd been hugging and smiling at Naminé. She felt an aching pang of jealousy.
"Of course," she answered dejectedly.
He took a moment to reply. "It was you, Naminé."
Her brain broke. "Wait, you – What?" He had—he really had—?
Riku grimaced. "I don't have any excuses."
"Wait – you thought I'd be upset by that?"
"You mean you aren't?" He asked with an equal amount of surprise. "You kept running away from me in my dream, so I assumed…"
"That I was trying to run away from you in reality too," Naminé finished, tentatively laying a hand on his arm.
"Yeah." He nodded.
"I only did that because I didn't want to take advantage of you," Naminé whispered. "You weren't conscious. It would've been wrong of me."
Riku slowly brought his hand to Naminé's waist, like he was moving through molasses. "I'm conscious now," he said softly.
She smiled so brightly, he could probably see it through his blindfold. "Would you hold me again?"
He smiled back, looking relieved, and hugged her tenderly.
"I'd like to."
When DiZ found them the next morning, Naminé slept in Riku's lap with his chin on her shoulder, his arms still hugging her and both of their peaceful faces smiling. Her hand was still curled around a silver crayon, limp over an unfinished sketch of them holding hands.
A/N: Riku is hard for me to write IC, especially in romantic situations. I'm best at writing him in DED where he's the seventh wheel. XD Even though I like single!Riku best probably, I enjoy this pairing as well. I think it would work better post-3D at some point, though.
Anyway, this was inspired by this picture: ladyneige . deviantart art / Dearly-Beloved-319265468 Minus the spaces, and also by a failed AkuShi one-shot that I haven't posted because it was a fail. *sweatdrop* The plot was pretty different, but still close. It apparently wasn't happy enough with getting written and then abandoned. *sweatdrop*
Naminé was too self-conscious and unnecessarily worried that she didn't think about the fact that Sora and Kairi like each other too much for Kairi to be with Riku. She's just used to taking Kairi's place with Sora, and she felt guilty that she might be accidentally doing the same thing with Riku. If that made any sense at all. It worked better in my head…