She was never really his.
He had always known that, of course. Even when she moved to Destiny Islands when she was ten and he eleven. He knew someone as bubbly and imaginative as her wouldn't waste their time with someone like him. And, he was right. Well, partly.
She DID waste her time with him. Not because of him (although part of him liked to delude himself into thinking so), but because of his best friend, Sora. Riku could tell that something had started with them even before they could. He guessed it had to do with being a year older or something like that. He could see that Sora and Kairi were going to be something special.
That didn't stop him, however, from loving her just as much as Sora did – if not more. He liked to see her laugh or smile or hear about her wanting to adventure to other worlds. It was all things that he had in common with her – something Sora didn't. Sora was content to stay on their island forever. But Riku and Kairi wanted -needed- more. Riku was thankful Sora couldn't see why. It was the only thing he had over Sora when it came to her.
That was not to say that Riku and Kairi didn't have their own friendship – they did. There would be times when they'd sit on the dock when Sora was eating dinner and talk about leaving the island somehow. Sometimes they'd even have sea-salt ice cream. It was those times that Riku liked seeing Kairi the best. She wasn't putting up walls for anyone – and neither was he. That was another thing she liked about her. She saw through all his crap. And still wanted to hang out with him for it.
It was during one of those conversations on the dock that the idea for the raft was made.
"You know, I do really like this island. I think it was better than the place I used to live." She said, licking her sea-salt ice cream. Riku nodded in agreement.
"Destiny Islands is great. It's home. But it's all I've ever known. Sometimes I wish I could -I don't know- sail away." He replied, looking out at the vast ocean ahead of them.
Kairi's face lit up and she turned to him excitedly. "Riku! That's a great idea! We can sail away. Just you, me and Sora. We could go to other worlds." She was really excited and Riku thought it was kind of adorable, but he had to remember what they were talking about. They couldn't just leave – no matter how much he wanted to.
"How would we do that, Kairi?" He asked, an amused look on his face. He didn't know why he was bothering to entertain the girl's idea, but he always did it. Whenever she was around, it was like his brain orbited around her. He couldn't help it.
"A raft." She said after a moment of thinking. "We could build a raft and sail away." She replied, looking at Riku with bright eyes. "You'd come, right? You'd come with Sora and I?"
Riku wanted to tell her that he wasn't the one she needed to convince. It was Sora that liked Destiny Islands more than the both of them. He finally sighed and nodded. "It would take awhile to get everything ready, but sure."
Kairi smiled hugely and hugged him. He was surprised, but hugged her back as well. He wanted to savor this. He wanted to have something to hold onto when Sora came and her attention was on him.
The raft took a little over a year to build. Riku was fifteen when they were getting ready to sail. He could see how excited Kairi was, and it made him even more excited for their adventure. Sora was excited as well, and the energy between the three was almost palpable. They were really going to do it. They were really going to get off the island. Everything was falling into place.
And then it wasn't.
The Darkness hit. Riku didn't know how. He knew that he needed the Keyblade to defeat it. But he wasn't afraid. He was always the leader of the three. The oldest. The darkness didn't scare him. He couldn't let it. He didn't get the Key, though, Sora did. Riku wasn't too surprised, but angry. It should've been him. He was just as good as Sora. He knew how dangerous it was. He didn't want Sora -or Kairi- to get hurt.
After the storm and darkness cleared, he ended up in Traverse Town. His only concern was that Sora and Kairi got off the island okay. When he ran into Sora, he had a duck and a dog with him. There was no Kairi. Riku wanted to come along to help look for her, but the Duck wouldn't let him. He was angry. Why wasn't Sora standing up for him? Why was he letting the dog and duck boss him around? Couldn't he see that he wanted to find Kairi just as much as Sora did, if not more?
When Maleficent found him, he was hesitant to go with her. But she convinced him. Besides, Sora didn't care about him anymore. He had his new friends. Riku wanted to concentrate on finding Kairi. That was his main goal. Maleficent helped. She got Kairi's body to him. He should've been overjoyed. But he wasn't.
Because Kairi wasn't Kairi. Her heart was gone. It hurt him to see her zombied out like she was. He had to help her. He had to get her back because he kind of loved her. He always knew he felt something more for her, but didn't know the strength of those feelings until he saw her lying there. He had to get her back.
And, yeah, he went about it the completely wrong way. But who could blame him? He was desperate to get her back to the old Kairi – even if she just went back to Sora. He had to get the life back in her. So, yeah, using the Darkness and Maleficent's help (and refusing to let Sora do anything), wasn't the right way to go about it. But he couldn't help it. He wanted results. He wanted to be her hero. Just once. He wanted to be the first person she saw when she came back. She wanted her to know that he saved her. So, he tried to do it the wrong way. Best intentions, and all that.
He knew Sora saved her. And part of him was glad. He was glad that Kairi still got to live. Even if he wasn't the one who did it. He was just glad that the girl who smiled at someone like they were the most special thing in the world and talked of adventure and was fiercely loyal got to live. Got to fulfill her destiny. Even if it was with Sora.
It hurt to think about that. Hurt to know that Sora had won. Of course, he had kind of known all along. It had always been Sora & Kairi, and their friend, Riku. Kairi had never been his. She never would be either, she was destined to be with Sora. And it sucked to know that. It sucked to know that he loved her so much and he could never have her. Not the way Sora could, at least.
When he was in Kingdom Hearts, ready to fight the Heartless of with the King, he looked at Sora, his best friend since they were little. He could see that Sora didn't want to let him go. Riku understood. But he had to. He had screwed up a lot, and he wanted Sora (and Kairi) to know that he could do something right. And he couldn't just leave the King to do it himself.
He looked at Sora and said the only thing he really wanted to say to him. He had to make sure Sora heard it, so he could know why Riku did all the wrong things to get Kairi back. He had to let Sora know that he felt the same thing for Kairi that Sora did. He looked the boy in the eye and said, "Take care of her."
He could tell Sora understood, by the widening of his eyes before he nodded, determined. Riku nodded back. He meant that. He wanted Sora to treat Kairi the way she should be treated. Protect her the way she should be. Kairi deserved all of it. If Riku could, he would do it himself. He would hold her and love her and just be with her. They would talk about adventures and eat sea-salt ice cream on the dock, like they used to. Only this time, they'd hold hands or have their arms around each other. He would take care of Kairi the way he wanted Sora to, but he couldn't.
She wasn't his. She never would be.
Fin.
So... I'm really sorry this is so jumpy and OOC and stuff. I really like Riku/Kairi. I think Riku loved her every bit as much as Sora did. And he did go about trying to save her the wrong way, but I think he just wanted her back really badly. I understand that this sucks, but I really tried. I want to write more Kingdom Hearts fanfiction (like Hayner/Olette or Roxas/Namine), but it depends on how well this one is received. I hope you guys enjoy it.
Once again, I'm sorry for the OOC and jumpiness of it. I just had to get this out. I had this in my brain for a few days, and finally I got it out. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix and Disney.