A/N: This scene broke my heart at how unjust it was in-game. I don't think it should've happened like this. Let me know what you think, or if you feel the same way!
Invisible
He sees her hand reach out towards Sora. That hand has always been so much smaller than his own, so much more fragile. Once upon a time, he wanted to hold that hand within his, but those days of misattributed feelings have long since passed, and all he can do is watch blankly as that very hand is swallowed up by the unrelenting sea of Shadows which swarm before them.
His eyes wander towards Sora. The brunet wears terror and shock upon his face, the expression sitting on his skin uncomfortably, as if it is the first time it is gracing his features. The thought nearly brings a bark of a laugh out of the elder- of course Sora doesn't know what fear truly is.
Shame rises within his throat. Riku tries to ignore the fact that what he feels is, undeniably, hatred; the emotion wells up inside of him uncontrollably as he watches Sora reach out towards Kairi just as desperately as she longs to grab hold of him.
In the blink of an eye, her horrified eyes are washed into the tornado of Heartless swirling before them, leaving the battlefield around their feet barren of all the comrades that had stood by them just moments before.
Bile rises up in his throat and he gags, hands clammy around the guard of Braveheart. He watches Sora drop to his knees before Riku can catch him.
The younger's own Keyblade disappears in a kaleidoscope of colour and light as the most heartbreaking scream, guttural and raw and broken rips through Sora's throat. He grips his face, throws his head back, and lets it tear through his entire body, the boy eventually collapsing onto his hands and knees, fists beating the ground in despair. His entire body shudders. He doesn't get up.
Fear floods Riku from head to toe. His feet carry him over to the younger before he even knows it. "Sora?" he gasps, stilling by his side. His voice wavers, and he curses the fact that he cannot maintain his composure.
The brunet doesn't raise his eyes, doesn't show Riku his sweet, innocent, happy, loving face. Riku feels the coming of the storm brewing within his gut. His ears hone in on Sora's words, drowning out the screaming Shadows and Neoshadows raging in the turbulent storm in front of them.
Sora finally gasps, and his voice is hoarse and jagged, a thousand knives stabbing into Riku with every word. "They're gone," he breathes, voice hitching painfully. Riku can practically hear the tears welling up within the younger's eyes. Sora has never been good at dealing with sadness.
The brunet continues, "Kairi, Donald… Goofy, the King… Gone forever." Sora shifts back, lifting his face, and Riku almost collapses.
The silver-haired boy has to bite back a sob, bite back the urge to throw his arms around the younger, to hold him to his chest and soothe him, when he sees Sora's wide blue eyes glassy with tears and heartbreak.
"What do we do?" Sora finally gasps, tears running foreign trails down his tanned cheeks.
Riku's eyes take in the image slowly, his own calm mask shifting into one of sorrow. He takes a knee by Sora's side, leaning in to listen to the boy's quavering voice. He's never seen Sora like this.
Sora hiccups, more tears dripping down his chin and onto the sandy desert beneath his balled-up fists. "Without them… I…"
The elder's face morphs into a frown, eyes tracing the line of tears falling steadily to the ground below them. Tears of frustration bubble into his own teal eyes, but he cannot blink them away, cannot tear his gaze away from Sora's trembling lips. A sinking feeling begins to grow within his chest, a dark premonition begging for Sora to just stop talking, to just let the elder comfort him instead of voicing what Riku fears the most.
Sora lets his head hang limply and sobs, "All my strength came from them. They gave me all of it." He shudders, gasps. "Alone, I'm worthless. We've lost. It's over."
Alone.
Alone.
Alone.
The word echoes in Riku's suddenly numbed, empty mind, all other sounds drowned out into a dim ringing in his ears. Unbidden, his hand reaches out towards Sora, the most base part of him still longing to comfort the boy.
Alone. He's alone.
But Riku was still there, right?
…It doesn't matter whether I'm here or not. He's alone.
The realization makes him gag, bringing acid up into his mouth. His head spins, vertigo striking him swiftly, and it takes all of his strength to not fall over onto his own knees. It doesn't matter to Sora whether Riku is still there or not- without the others, Sora feels as if he is alone.
In his mind's eye, Riku is instantaneously brought back to the Mysterious Tower, watching over Sora as the boy slept, lost within his dreams during their Mark of Mastery exam. He thinks of Castle Oblivion, of looking at Sora's peaceful face as the younger slept in the cocoon built by Naminé. He thinks of the brunet's shocked expression as Riku locked himself within the Dark World in order to protect the worlds from the Heartless, just so that Sora wouldn't have to sacrifice himself.
There are countless moments which flash through his mind. Riku has always been by Sora's side, he knows it. And yet… in this moment, curled up on his hands and knees upon the dusty ground of the Keyblade Graveyard, Sora somehow feels more alone than he has ever been.
Riku has never mattered.
The silver-haired boy retracts his hand, clenches his fist tight. He stands up, keeping his gaze locked upon the younger's trembling form. A part of him wants to turn away, wants to leave that world, wants to put the entire battle behind him. Without Sora by his side, there is no reason for Riku to keep fighting, after all. Despite this understanding, however, Riku knows he can't let Sora continue like this.
Strength to protect what matters.
His heart belongs to Sora. It always has.
"Sora, you don't believe that. I know you don't," he murmurs lowly. There is more conviction in his voice that he believes is possible. After all, he doesn't know if Sora really believes that- if Sora believes that he is alone.
If he does, then where does that leave Riku?
Blinking away the tears that beg to escape his eyes, Riku turns primly on his heel and faces off against the surging Tower of Darkness. His heart is hollowed out, skin cold, limbs numb. He knows what he must do- so, he walks forward, each step assured and equally heavy-hearted. As the Shadows spin towards him, coming closer and closer with each rotation, he steadies his stance, raising Braveheart against his foes. It's an ironic title, he thinks bitterly to himself. He doesn't feel brave. With his heart echoing sullenly within his chest, his cries and fears suffocate him inside.
He doesn't have time to cry. The Heartless come towards him, and he plunges his Keyblade into the fray. He knows that, from where he stands, he is protecting Sora from their assault. At the end of the day, that's all that has ever mattered to him.
Strength to protect what matters. Sora is all that has ever truly mattered to him.
The force of the Tower of Darkness- which has long since evolved into a veritable maelstrom, its might unyielding and scathing- bites into Riku's flesh, and he can feel himself falling apart. Yet, he doesn't drop his weapon, doesn't let himself be carried away. Sora is still crying behind him, and if Riku can protect the younger's heart from darkness, he'll stand strong as long as it takes, whether the brunet recognizes Riku's love for him or not.
His agony wrenches free from his lips in a strangled cry.
Strength to protect what matters.
He is a Keyblade Master. He has attained all the strength he could ever hope to have. But as he listens to Sora cry weakly behind him in fear, in shock, and in sorrow, he knows that his strength may never have been enough.