Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Riku and all his sexiness...slightly depressing but true. I DO own Nyx and the plot but yeah, that's all...so I'm broke...damnit.

A/N: My first Kingdom Hearts fic! yes, Sora's with Kairi, but this is after KH2, dealing Riku and all HIS issues! YAY EMO RIKU! So there you go!

My Kingdom for a Heart...

The darkness was closing in around him. Clawing, kicking, he tried to get away…but it was relentless. How he wanted to just stop fighting…he was so tired of trying…the darkness wouldn't even be that bad if he weren't so alone…so heartless…. Just as it completely enveloped him, he felt his body being shaken, a voice yelling his name…

"Riku! Wake up!" Sora shouted in his ear. Riku sat up abruptly, clutching his neck. His breathing was ragged, his bare chest covered in cold sweat, sheets tangled around his legs.

"Riku, are you okay?" Sora asked uncertainly. He merely nodded without meeting his best friend's eyes. "Well come on and get up, we're meeting Kairi at Destiny Island today, remember?"

Running his fingers through his silver hair, he sighed. "Why don't you go without me, Sor; I'm sure you two would have plenty of fun without me."

"Awh, Riku! Come on, you haven't come to Destiny Island with us in forever! We hardly see you anymore! Please Riku!" Sora pleaded, his blue eyes getting bigger (if possible) as he pouted. All it took was one glance before he caved.

"Fine! Just let me clean up," Riku replied, smiling slightly when Sora whooped with joy.

"Good, otherwise I would've had to drag you along!" Sora crowed as they walked out of Riku's bedroom and into the bathroom where Sora leaned against the doorway, turning away as Riku changed into his swimming trunks. "Kairi's bringing someone along she wants you to meet."

Riku groaned. "I really wish you two would stop trying to set me up with every female you know; I'm perfectly fine."

Ever since Sora and Riku had returned to Destiny Island after defeating Xemnas, Riku had become more withdrawn. He rarely went out with Sora and Kairi, the new couple, simply to avoid the awkwardness of being the third wheel. He found himself eating sparingly, never leaving his apartment; everything he used to enjoy just faded from his interest. Even seeing Sora and Kairi together made him feel…lonely.

But still, that didn't mean that they had to bring every girl in the city along with them, hoping Riku would come out of his shell. Each time they found one more "out there" than the last. The last was some friend of Yuffie's…enough said.

"Riku," Sora said in an overly exasperated tone as he turned back around, "we just want you to be happy."

"I'm happy now! What else could I possibly want?" Riku retorted with more anger in his voice than he intended. Sora just gave him a stern look, something that was truly praiseworthy of someone who couldn't be serious for more than five minutes.

"Okay, how about this:" the blue-eyed Keyblader compromised, "you meet this girl and hang out with us all day. If you don't like her, that's it, we won't try to get you a girl anymore. That work?" He stuck his hand out resolutely.

Riku eyed him suspiciously. All he had to do is not like this one girl and they would drop it…"Okay, deal." And he took the outstretched hand and shook, whilst simultaneously brushing his teeth. Just as he was spitting, a loud metallic crash resounded from the kitchen.

"What the hell was that?!" he said as he threw is toothbrush down, storming out of the bathroom towards the source of the crash. "Kairi, are you wrecking my kitchen again?!"

"Only a little," the red-head replied with a giggle. "Hey Riku!"

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," another voice greeted lightly, laced with sarcasm. Riku stiffened, and then saw the girl standing in front of the open fridge, apparently looking for something. Her dark hair streamed down her back, ending about a hand span from the waist of her low-riding floor-length white skirt. Otherwise, she was dressed in only a bikini (as was Kairi), white with red detailing, leaving her pale shoulders bare.

Riku moved to stand right behind her, merely a breath away. "Insinuating something?" he inquired softly. He could actually see the shiver run down her spine as his voice washed over her, though she didn't turn.

"Always," she replied, Riku could hear her smile as she spoke. Suddenly she slammed her hands down. "Don't you have any eggs?!" she exclaimed as she whipped around. As things usually worked out, she fell into Riku, who caught her with ease, and found herself staring into a pair of sharp ice-blue eyes.

"Sorry, no, I don't," he breathed, his gaze dominated by the dark eyes before him.

"Fine," she retorted after a moment, "no breakfast for you." With that she spun out of his arms in a swirl of dark hair and pale skin. Riku just stared at her for a moment as she whisked around the kitchen, putting things away she had evidently gotten out to fix breakfast with, almost dancing from one place to another in what seemed to be one fluid motion. And although some would have let their discussion drop at that, there was something about her made Riku want to bite back.

"Well, I wouldn't eat it anyway, seeing as how I'm not even hungry," Riku snapped back, with only the tiniest glint in his eyes to show he was enjoying their banter.

Suddenly her constant movement stopped and she turned slowly, almost precociously, to look at him. Her eyes flashed silver then violet for a moment, so fast Riku sincerely believed he'd imagined it. When they returned to their dark hue, her eyes raked over his body; down his torso, glancing over his face, before settling on a spot over his right shoulder. Perplexed, Riku shot a glance over his shoulder, only to see nothing there except a picture of Sora, Kairi and Riku hanging on the wall. When he looked back at her, he found himself staring into her dark eyes, void of emotion.

"I see," she said finally, before turning away to put the plates in her hands back in the cupboard. Riku just stood there, wondering what in the world she had been looking for. It was Sora who broke the silence, chucking a teddy bear at Riku's head.

"Nyx! Meet Mr. Fluffles! Riku's favorite stuffed animal!" Sora called, laughing his ass off. The dark-eyed girl, who Riku assumed was Nyx, attempted to suppress a grin; Kairi giggled insatiably; and Riku glared at Sora with a fury that rivaled Tifa's.

Breaking out of his glare, he turned to look at the two girls. Slightly smirking, he said, "It's nice to meet you, Nyx. Now if you could wait just a moment, I have to kill my best friend."

With that he took a running leap at Sora, bringing him to the floor. They wrestled for a few minutes before Riku pinned him to the ground, sitting on top of him comfortably, smirking like mad.

"Yeah, Sor, just wait until Kairi meets Sir Plushy," Riku retorted, extracting a yelp from the brunet beneath him. Nyx laughed but Kairi just looked down at her boyfriend inquisitively.

"Okay, boys, let's go already!" Nyx laughed, her dark eyes shining with amusement. "I wanna see this island of yours." Grudgingly, Riku got up off Sora who immediately bounded to Kairi's side.

"Your Majesty, Princess of Destiny Island," Sora said to her with a dramatic bow, "Please accompany me to your kingdom." Kairi smiled and took his hand, picking up a beach bag each as they exited Riku's apartment as if they were leaving for a grand ball. It was only after they'd cleared the door that they burst out laughing. Nyx shot Riku a mildly confused look.

"Don't ask; Sora just likes to mock me," Riku replied with a small smile before yelling, "Hey Sora!"

Sure enough, Sora and Kairi poked their heads around the doorway. "What?"

"You were all wrong," he said, smiling at them. "It'd be more like this." He then turned his gaze to Nyx and extended his hand towards her.

Then in a low voice he commanded, "Come with me if you want to live." His face was emotionless, eyes the only expression visible flecked with amusement. Keeping her face just as masked, Nyx took his hand. But as their fingers touched, Riku felt a sharp shooting pain from a spot on his neck, just at the nape, covered by his silver hair; his tattoo.

When Riku gave into the darkness, he was emotionally scarred. But when he joined Organization XIII, they were tattooed; branded in a way. Every member got the Nobody insignia tattooed on them. Riku chose his neck because he knew it would be the easiest to hide…surprising that even then, surrounded by the consequences of his actions, he still had a glimmer of hope that he would return home. And even as the mark remained, permanent, he felt the pain...his first true feeling in a long time. It was during his revelation that he missed the identical pain reciprocated in a pair of eyes as dark as the new moon.

Gingerly, he led her out the door as the pain faded as quickly as it had come. As they stepped out, Sora and Kairi started laughing at their antics, but neither of them could manage more than an amused smile, hands still linked. Nyx noticed, smiled at him coyly, before letting go of his hand, her fingers lingering on his palm and fingers, callused from the weapons he'd wielded. But as she let go, he felt a sting on his palm where her fingers had rested not moments ago. Looking down, he saw four crescent-shaped cuts, dripping blood.

"Riku," Sora said, looking back at him after realizing he'd stopped, but then he saw the blood. "Holy hell, Riku! What happened to your hand?" Nyx, who had been walking with Kairi, turned back and a look of alarm flashed across her face.

"It's nothing," he replied nonchalantly, and after a moment both Sora and Kairi walked on, looking back at him warily. But Nyx lingered behind, staring from her hand to his.

"Does it hurt?" she inquired finally, in a low voice, void of emotion as she took his hand into hers, gently fingering the small cuts.

Riku looked straight into her eyes; aquamarine clashing with her midnight black. "Yes."

"Lucky you," she replied. As she was walking away, Riku noticed four identical cuts on her hand and the blood under his nails from grasping her hand as tightly as she'd grasped his.

"Hey!" he called after her, "are you okay?" He jogged to catch up with her.

"I'm fine," she retorted sadly. "I feel nothing."

A/N: lmk what you think! yeah Riku is a lil tweaked but I take pride in the randomness :-P please review!

btw: Nyx means night in Greek; and that whole lil touchy flash of pain nail marks is because of the whole Nobody/Darkness thing Riku's got going for him. yeah, you'll learn more about that later...tee hee hee