Title: No Regrets
Author: souslalune
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts II
Characters/Pairings: Riku/Olette
Rating: T
Summary: Part of him hated her for doing what she did. He was supposed to be her hero.
Warnings: Angst, Riku being OOC, Character Death
Notes: Personally I usually don't like seeing Olette as just the side character, I totally like to believe she'd get her hands dirty just as Kairi had done in the game, even without a keyblade. Olette = natural helper in my opinion. And you all saw that scene where she, Pence, and Hayner got attacked by Nobodies!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts II, it belongs to Square-Enix. I'm just borrowing them to write and jumpstart my muses. LIVE DAMN YOU, LIIIIVE.
Riku kept telling himself he should have been paying more attention. He kept telling himself that he had to get up because no matter how close he was to dying, he was going to make sure they left this place alive.
He heard Goofy's tell tale cry of "Riku, look out!" and before he could react to defend himself with Way to the Dawn, he saw a familiar blur of brown hair and an orange shirt rush in front of him just a few feet away. It had only taken seconds before the ball of energy had engulfed Olette and two seconds for him to realize he couldn't see her anymore. It took only one second for him to scream her name at the top of his lungs.
"OLETTE!"
When the blinding light had died down, Olette's body was thrown back violently and Goofy immediately rushed forward to take care of the Nobody, leaving it to fade away into nothingness while Riku ran over to the girl's bruised, scratched and bloody form. Goofy ran to finish the other remaining nobodies, and the fighting had come to a halt, the eerie quiet broken by Riku's voice echoing off the hallways.
"Olette, open your eyes! Open your eyes!"
Panic had settled in first, it was the only thing Riku was willing to register as he shook her gently, trying to get her to open her eyes.
"Look at me...please open your eyes...open them...."
Olette's eyes opened very slowly, and they weren't their usual jubilant, expressive jade colored eyes. They were dull and blank, life steadily leaving them. "...Y...you're okay..."
"Why did you do that?! Oh God..." Riku couldn't find the right words because now it had been anger settling in. He was angry at her for doing what she did. Had she no idea of how much she hurt him just now? No idea of how he wanted to protect her? Keep her safe? She had to have known, otherwise she would have stayed back. "Damnit Goofy, find me a potion! Something!" he demanded, looking at Goofy who could only look away. The knight's inventory was shot, completely empty otherwise he'd be healing the girl without hesitating.
"...I...I wanted to protect you..." Olette said this time, her voice soft and almost inaudible as she smiled at him. "You're always...protecting me...I wanted to...return the—"
"I don't need you to protect me!" Riku protested, aquamarine colored eyes narrowing. They softened when she realized she wasn't giving him her usual 'don't start' look. She was still smiling at him and he wanted her to look at him the way she used to so he would know that this was all just some horrible dream.
"...You're going to...be fine..." the girl said, taking a deep breath, trying to focus on the one holding her and breathing and it was only a matter of time until she'd have to choose one or the other. Anyone who knew her would know what her focus would be.
"Alright! I lied! I...I...I'm not going to be okay! You...you can't go..."
"Riku..."
"No! I'm going to heal you! I'm going to find something and you're going to be okay and I'm going to take you home where things are safe! You're not going to die here!"
"....Hey...will you hug me...one more time?" Olette asked.
"Olette..." Riku began, wanting to shake his head and tell her no because he did not want to feel or know that she had died in his arms.
"......Please...?"
He couldn't, not with the way she had been looking at him. She raised her arms up (and hell did that still hurt) and she slipped them around his neck.
"...No. No, you have to hold on okay? Sora's on his way and he'll heal you and we'll fix this..." Riku mumbled, his fingers threading into her hair. When he pulled back a little to kiss her forehead, her hold on him loosened considerably and his lips were touching a cool forehead.
Riku paled when he didn't feel a pulse, and he didn't even see Goofy turn around completely. It hurt even more just because they never got the chance—well, he never got the chance—to say 'I love you' just one more time.
When Sora finally arrived with Donald and Kairi in tow, he found Riku sitting there, cradling Olette in his arms and pleading for her to come back.
End Notes: Oh boy did I depress myself briefly when I wrote this a while back. This has been updated to add in some more minor things and make changes.
