"Hey uh…can I get your like, uh…advice on something?"
Those words sounded so out of place coming from the normally mischiefs "Great Ninja" Yuffie. To be perfectly honest, Riku was somewhat concerned at how serious her tone was. There were very few things in the world that Yuffie would need advice from him about; if she couldn't learn it from Aerith, or Leon, she could probably steal it from Merlin.
"What's up ninja girl?"
His concern grew when he saw the dark haired ninja shift around in her seat nervously. Chewing slightly on a finger nail, Yuffie refused to look straight at him, instead looking off into the distance.
"Are they…a couple?"
Slightly puzzled at first, Riku followed her gaze across the plaza; and it suddenly hit him what she was talking about. On the other side of the plaza stood his best friends, buying some Sea-Salt Ice Cream from a vendor. Stifling the sigh that instinctively wanted to come out, Riku turned his gaze back to the brunet girl.
"Yeah they uh…made it official last month, when we were still planning the trip here."
He had never seen her so…downfallen. She looked crushed; not close to tears, but depressed all the same. Still chewing on her finger nail, the ninja shifted around more, her gaze fixated on some spec on the ground that was invisible to him.
"I…guess I knew they'd probably end up together, but I couldn't help but…"
The words trailed off, her gaze still focused on the ground. This was one of the few times in his life Riku was legitimately lost for words; so he was almost relieved when she spoke up again.
"I mean, I know it must sound cliché but…how was I not supposed to fall for him a little? I mean…someone close to my own age being a chosen hero? Kind of hard to not get…swept away by fantasies a little."
She let out a slight chuckle, though for a second he thought it might have been closer to her choking back a sob instead.
"I guess the hero has to end up with the princess in the end, huh? So my odds of ending up with him were about as bad as-"
"-As me ending up with the princess."
He regretted the words as soon as they had left his mouth. When he saw her eyes widen in shock slightly, it was suddenly his turn to find an invisible spec on the ground that was amazingly interesting.
"Wait you mean…you too? "
He didn't even bother trying to suppress the sigh this time.
"Yeah, me too."
It took her a few minutes to say anything after that, which in itself was a bit surprising. But apparently there were some topics that even a Keyblade Master and a ninja would be unable to talk about normally.
"Does…it stop hurting so much after a while?"
"I wish it did Yuffie, I really do."
