Closing Your Eyes to Darkness; Opening Them Up to Riku

This is a small… behind the sexy, silver curtain kind of piece. xD

Inside the darkness of my mind, there's a light that never goes out.

And his name is Sora.

Riku POV, intended Yaoi (SoRiku DUH) ~ Rated K. Quick-read.

As usual, not mine. Just the thoughts and interpretations.

YHS
xDelfin

I'm no one –just a castaway from the darkness.

For a while, I really believed that. Look at me. Look at what I've become. Kairi beckons Sora to come to me. After all this time… how can I face him?

"Here, you'll understand." Kairi puts our hands together. I try to look away, but it still has the same, strange effect on me. I'm only grateful for how stoic this body's face really looks. "Close you're eyes." She tells him. I shivered. He was going to see me. Really see right through me. I dared to look at him through the corner of my eye. He blinks with apprehension and my heart flutters in anticipation, but I remain stark-still.

Did I ever notice how beautiful he is when he's concentrating? It makes me think of two years ago in Hollow Bastion. When we first saw each other after our home was destroyed, I had tried to take the reigns. I told him to just trust me and I'd take care of everything. I wanted Sora to trust me. Not so that I called the shots, but so I could protect him no matter what; so he'd always be right by me and I could get to him whenever trouble was coming but... little did I know, that Sora could do all of that on his own. I was jealous. And since then, he's only gotten stronger. He's not the little boy I remember back on the islands. Dare I say it, he's grown up.

After a short moment, Sora opens his eyes in disbelief and looks right at me, effectively enrapturing me in blue depths. I'm speechless and almost thoughtless as the scene unfolds. "Riku!" How long has it been since he's said me name? Not in passing, but to me? Is it okay that it sounds so good coming from his lips? I feel my hand grasped by his other and he's dropped to his knees. Oh god, Sora. Don't do that. As I turn to face him, I mentally praise this body for having such dark skin. Otherwise, I'd probably be mistaken for wearing Kairi's make up again... make up. Period. Okay, I was ten! What did I know?

"It's Riku. Riku's here." Again with the name... Now I never really cared for my name. Land? Please. But surprisingly whenever Sora says it... It makes me feel like that name is the only one that matters at that time. It might just be wishful thinking, but it's just something I've noticed that's different about when he says 'Kairi' and when he says 'Riku.' He bowed his head. Why has he bowed his head? Oh Sora, you're not... My thoughts are confirmed when he tried to speak again. "I looked for you." Sora, don't cry! You're too beautiful to cry. I didn't even know exactly why he was crying. Happiness? Sadness?

"Come on Sora, you've got to pull it together." Even though I told him this, deep down inside, I knew I was crying just as much. We're together again, after all these years. After all that shit we'd gone through with Ansem and that stupid Castle Oblivion. Oh right... you don't remember that, do you? That's alright. I'll remember for the both of us. That reminds me, I still have to chew you out like I told Namine I would.

If hearing and knowing that Sora is crying was uneasy, then when he looked up at me with that tearful face, I felt my heart breaking at the sight. "I looked everywhere for you!" You did didn't you? I smiled. Whatever you were doing, especially after you woke up, you'd always stop to think if I was okay. Sora, thank you.

"I didn't want you to find me." The second I said that, I saw how 'betrayed' his reaction looked. I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. But before I could explain, I was pulled out of thinking we were the only two people in that room.

"But it was him, helpin' us all along, wasn't it?"

"Huh?"

"Those clues we kept findin'. That musta been Riku."

Haha. "I was starting to think you guys wouldn't catch on." As I say this, Sora lets go of my hand, unfortunately, then gets up. But even as I still address Goofy, he keeps his blue eyes on me the whole time. It's a little unnerving, and a little not. "Sora never did pick the brightest friends."

"Whadaya mean by that?" I mean, I'm not so bright as to be his friend all these years. I'm not so bright as to have fallen in love with my best friend after all this time. I think… I can truly say that now. After we left the islands, whenever I thought about us, something would always be in the way or be happening at that time, and I'd push the subject further down, deep inside the most shadowy places in my heart. (That was the part of my heart where I was a little pessimistic about Sora and all the time he would spend with Kairi.) But now, being together after all this, I think I can finally admit it to myself, and maybe one day... to him too.

"Why didn't you let me know you were okay?" Ah yes, my chance to explain.

"I told you, I didn't want be found." I look away. "Not like this ... I couldn't." I raised my hands in hopes he understood where I was coming from. "I fought with Ansem, with... Xehanort's heartless-- when it invaded my heart and I won." Sometimes I still feel silly for ever letting it into my heart in the first place. Even as I said this to Sora, I couldn't help but feel ashamed. I also felt a little jealous because not only was I was running from the darkness, but he never gave in either. We had always been rivals, but in this battle, Sora won with flying colours. And all he had to do was follow his heart. So did that mean that my heart was not as strong before? "But to use the power of darkness, I had to become Ansem myself."

"Does that mean you can't change back?" I sure as hell hope not! I've almost forgotten what it's like not to be six feet tall. Hopefully when I'm back to my normal proportions, I can get used to my own body again.

"This battle isn't over. And until it is, I still need the power of darkness." That's weird for me to say. Sora doesn't need what strength he didn't already have. I remember what Ansem said to me in Castle Oblivion. 'I still couldn't beat him and I had darkness on my side.' Even when I fought Roxas, (He was different from Sora, but they had the same heart) the only reason I defeated him, was because of this other power –Power that didn't come from inside me, like Sora's.

"Then... let's finish it. You're still Riku, no matter what." You'll always be able to see that better than anyone else, won't you, Sora? I smiled (or at least on the inside). "So how 'bout it? Think we can handle one last rumble together? The King's waiting!"

I smiled. That's the Sora I know and love.