Open Cage
He always liked watching Namine draw. It was the one time he could find calm amid an otherwise constant storm – the one time he didn't have to worry about anything but her.
She drew pictures of all sorts of things – the islands they used to live on, their best friend Sora... sometimes joined by a red-headed girl who tickled the edges of his memory with her presence. He guessed she might've been another friend Namine had had before – he didn't remember her. He only remembered Namine and Sora, that was it. His everything.
Sometimes she drew other people – like Axel and some other person from the Organization. He didn't know why she bothered to draw them. He hated everyone in the whole damn group. But... the way she drew them, they looked like they could be normal people. Best friends, even... as if that was even possible for their kind.
One day, he saw her drawing a silver-haired figure trapped in a cage with an open door. He thought it... odd. He'd seen her draw herself in a locked cage, and knew exactly what that meant, but this...? What... what did this mean?
When he asked her, she stopped drawing for a long moment – hand shaking as it gripped the crayon tightly.
"...It's you." She breathed, finally.
He knelt down beside her, wanting to touch her but not daring to – he feared she'd break if he did, and that was the last thing he wanted.
He tried to smile for her. "I could tell that, Namine. But... what's the rest mean?"
She looked down, hair covering her pretty face. Her hands were still shaking, and her voice trembled too, when she finally spoke.
"...You don't have to stay, you know. You're free to leave me here whenever you want – free to... to go your own way."
He frowned, looking from her to the picture and back again. Then he sighed and shook his head. "I don't know what you mean, Namine. I could never leave you alone with... with them. That'd just be cruel. You deserve to be freed from your cage... to come back to the islands with me. Come back home."
He offered her a hand, but she didn't take it. Instead, she stared at her paper blankly, refusing to meet Riku's eyes. "...Whatever makes you happy." She whispered, eyes full of unshed tears.
Quietly, Riku turned and sat back down where he'd been before.
...He didn't bother asking her about her drawings after that.
Author: Long drabble/One-shot I wrote for a prompt on tumblr. Yeah. I'm rping as Riku's Replica there now. XD So yeah... Have I mentioned I ship this before? Maybe?Well, actually, I almost prefer it to RokuNami except I'd feel bad for Roxas getting both his loves stolen by Rikus. XD
Anyway, about the actual drabble...
Oh god, the FEELS. The first thing that sprung into my head was that image of Riku's replica in an open cage. Because Namine knows what he doesn't - that he's not the real Riku, that she planted all his 'memories' in his head. And that she's bound him to her, like it or not. She's locked in her cage, and he's stuck in his even though it has an open door because he won't leave.
Or, maybe she knows that the Organization just enjoys tempting him with that promise of "freedom" that will never exist for either of them? Maybe he's really locked in his cage too, but thinks it has an open door because he doesn't know better.
I feel so bad for Repliku... D: