Title: Revolutionary Girl Riku
Author: Auroura
Summary: Ever since she was little, Riku's dream has been to go to the outside world and become a prince. Now that she's venturing from the islands, she's determined to make her dream a reality.
A/N: In this AU, Riku was born as and identifies as female. Contains themes from Revolutionary Girl Utena.

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Prologue

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When Riku, Sora, and Kairi were younger, they would play pretend quite often. Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka would join in if they were nearby - and that was fun, too - but the most interesting things happened when it was just the three of them. Today, they were playing castles.

"This island will be the castle," Riku said, gesturing with her wooden sword, "that'll be the drawbridge, the water can be the moat, and the Paopu tree can be the tower."

"Is there anything in the moat?" Sora asked. Riku thought about it for a minute.

"Crocodiles," she decided. Sora and Kairi looked receptive to the idea, so Riku kept going. "But they're not just any crocodiles. These ones are twenty feet long! And bloody red! And... and they..."

"And they shoot magic out their mouths," Kairi suggested. Riku nodded; this was a good embellishment. "And if you get hit, you fall into the moat's bubbly doom, and then you turn into a crocodile, too."

"Scary..." Sora commented.

"I'm not afraid of crocodiles," Riku said, folding her arms.

"Even if they're twenty feet long and bloody red?" Sora challenged.

"So we've got the defenses," Kairi interjected smoothly, bringing their attention back to the matter at hand. Riku and Sora took her hint and dropped the potential argument. "Next step?"

"Well, if there are magic-shooting crocodiles in the moat," Sora said, "then that means they're trying to keep people from finding something in the castle. Whatever it is, though, it has to be hidden at the very top of the tower."

"What's in the castle?" Kairi asked. "Secret treasure? A unicorn that grants wishes?"

"We did secret treasure when we played pirates last time," Sora said.

"I really like unicorns," Kairi added. "They seem so pretty..."

"Do unicorns grant wishes?" Riku asked, thinking about it.

"Of course they do," Kairi responded. "They're magical."

"Hmm, I dunno," Sora said. "Maybe Riku's right. Wasn't it genies that granted wishes?" Kairi pouted. Riku figured it was because she wanted to get the role of magical unicorn.

"We can do magic animals next time," Riku said. Kairi seemed slightly pacified by that, but not completely.

"Then what's going to be in the tower?" Kairi asked.

"A princess," Riku grinned.

"...A princess?" Sora asked.

"Sure," Riku responded. "Castles have princesses in them all the time, right?" As she was talking, she bent down, picked a long blade of grass, and quickly tied the ends in a knot. "My lady," she said, handing the circle to Kairi, "your crown."

"Oh, it's lovely," Kairi smiled, taking the grass crown and placing it on her head. "I'll have to add some flowers, too." She started looking around for flowers to pick.

"So I guess that means you'll be the evil witch then, huh, Riku?" Sora said.

"What do you mean?" Riku asked, confused for a moment.

"Well, the crocodiles can shoot magic," Sora explained, "but they probably wouldn't keep a princess in a tower all by themselves. Someone has to be in charge of them, so that's why I figured you would be the witch."

"And why do I have to be the witch?" Riku demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"Because I'm going to be the prince," Sora said, smiling and hooking his hands behind his neck, as if it was obvious.

"But I want to be the prince," Riku frowned. She wanted to be a prince very, very badly, in fact, though it wasn't something she ever talked about much. Most of it she'd never told anyone, but the idea of a prince was something that had always appealed to her.

"…But you're a girl," Sora said.

"Being a prince has nothing to do with whether you're a boy or a girl!" Riku replied, feeling distinctly offended.

"What makes someone a prince, then?" Kairi asked, threading flowers around her grass crown. She must've wandered back when she saw another argument brewing.

"A prince," Riku said, jumping at the opportunity, "is someone really strong, and brave." She swung her wooden sword around, pretending to right enemies. "They go around to lots of different places, and they protect everyone and beat all the bad guys." With a flourish, she tucked her sword under one arm and bowed to Kairi. "And they always," she took Kairi's hand, still bowing, and kissed it lightly, "treat a lady nicely." Kairi giggled, and Riku grinned up at her.

"So gallant," Kairi said. "I think you make a very good prince, Riku." Riku let her hand go and straightened, beaming while Kairi placed her grass-and-flower crown back on her head.

"I don't want to be an evil witch," Sora sighed, looking disappointed. "Or wizard, I guess. I want to save Kairi, too."

"Hmm…" Kairi touched a hand to her lips in thought, "why don't you both be princes, then? Then you can both rescue me." She smiled, rocking on her heels.

"What would we fight against, then?" Sora asked.

"There are still the crocodiles," Kairi pointed out.

"Sounds good to me," Riku said, readying her wooden sword again. "What do you think, Sora?" She turned to him, then grinned again. He'd picked up his own sword by then, as well. "Think we can beat them by ourselves?"

"Of course!" Sora grinned back. The argument from before had clearly been resolved in the best of ways. "There's nothing you and me can't do!"