Title: Castaways of Heart
Fandom: KH2
Summary: Riku sends Kairi to Twilight Town.


Kairi!

Riku ran to the beach, cursing that he'd come to Destiny Islands too far away from Kairi to tackle Axel immediately—Destiny Islands was his home, he knew when Dark Portals were opened there, a warm and too-hot and burning and tickling and biting sensation that smelled like sun and waves and languor and heartache.

As he'd done right after taking Pluto away from the World That Never Was, arriving only to find Axel accosting Kairi, damn that redhead, Riku had known Axel wanted to see Roxas again but he didn't realize the traitor would go as far as Kairi—

Though he should've have known. He really should have. Stupid, to trust in Axel's heart, when the traitor didn't have one….

A jolt, sharp and metallic, the feel of metal against bare skin, cloth through the fingers, rough zipper against skin that was not—

And then he was surrounded by Dusks.

Soul Eater whirled through white leather and malicious intent, tearing and ripping and slicing through them, Riku not breaking his stride, making for the figures on the beach at a dead run; one his precious, precious friend, whose shadow could make his heart ache and burn; and the other a traitor, both to his organization in the name of love, who had taken Naminé away, away from DiZ who would destroy her but went after Kairi

And the earth trembled under Riku's feet, and Riku jumped forward just in time to avoid the small explosion that sounded in his ears like melancholy and against his legs like mourning. He stumbled, but doggedly kept going, looking past the emerging Assassins in his path to the Dusks that surrounded Kairi.

If he hurt her...if he hurt her—

In desperation, Riku whistled, short clear notes in the pattern the King had taught him, and grasped at the air, willing it there

And a Dark Portal formed behind them, and Pluto, trusting, bounded into it.

Please, willed Riku, please, Kairi go, run—

And she did, running into the portal after the dog.

Relieved, Riku opened another Dark Portal and followed, just as Axel whirled around, just as an Assassin came whipping past his head—

Safely in the Betwixt and Between. Spotted Kairi, and with a brief manipulation of magic, a portal to Twilight Town appeared, shining brightly, radiating its own light. This one would take her right into the Usual Spot, where the kids Roxas thought he'd befriended would be kind, wouldn't mind letting her stay—

And Kairi turned and looked right at him.

And Riku, because Kairi was safely in the portal now, and couldn't jump out of it, not now when it was holding her so firmly, didn't quail from her gaze, looking into eyes as bright as glittering ocean, as she reached up, as if to beckon to him—

And she was gone.

Riku released the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, and whirled around, Soul Eater coming up just as a brightly decorated chakram smashed into it.

Green eyes pierced his own under the hood, green eyes that should be reflection of his own but were not, because his eyes weren't green anymore. But Axel didn't seem angry, even with the attack, and Riku found that confusing and utterly terrifying at the same time.

"You," Axel said, softly, close to his ear, "have not won this."

And then dislodged their weapons by banishing his, and jumped backward as Soul Eater whirled past, scant inches from his coat, and whirled away before Riku could keep up, before the child whose eyes were now orange and raging in fury could grab his hair and extinguish his flame for good.

There was no triumph in the victory, in the game that was not, where the one who could reach his heart first was the winner.