Thank you, Enamis09 and FadedPhantom for your reviews!

TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER –

Domestic violence

This is one of my favorites of the oneshots I've written so far. Maybe it's just because I'm a sucker for whump, but I think it's mainly because it's fun to finally actually see things from Riku's point of view. That's the reason I decided to write this one – just to explore his side of the experience. I discovered that it's a bit challenging writing from the perspective of someone who can't see!

Chapter 19/20 Remix

(Runs parallel to chapters 19 and 20)

Riku's Perspective

"Let's not get food from this place again, wherever it was."

I nodded, stirring the contents of my takeout box without enthusiasm. "Yeah, it's...not the greatest. That's what I get for trying somewhere new."

Meli laughed. "If I had any more of my money, I'd portal back home and get us something from there on occasion."

I smirked, thinking of the bag full of tacos she had brought us last time and the tickle war that had ensued. "If I had a working kitchen, I'd just make us dinner."

"Wait, you can cook?" She sounded surprised, and impressed.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah. I'm not a gourmet chef or anything, but I can make a pretty decent meal."

"I can make a killer pb and j. Oh, and boxed mac and cheese is my specialty." I couldn't help but laugh, and Meli joined in. "I never really had anybody to teach me anything about cooking growing up," she continued. "Ms. Young wouldn't even let us anywhere near her kitchen."

If I remembered correctly, Ms. Young was the leader of her foster home, someone whom Meli had not been overly fond of. "I pretty much taught myself just by experimenting." I hesitated, my mind wandering back to those lonely nights at home. "It was either that, or don't eat some nights."

"Really?"

I could hear the concern in her voice, and berated myself inwardly for bringing it up. "Eh, you know. Mom wasn't around much, working all the time. Most nights it was just me for dinner, unless I was at Sora or Kairi's."

"What about your dad?" Meli pressed.

Clenching my teeth slightly, I tried to think of a way to avoid the question. At the same time, though, a little voice in my head was chiding me for not wanting to open up. She was showing interest in my life, shouldn't I be happy about that? "Left when I was just a kid," I finally answered.

"I'm sorry," she responded quietly.

I offered a small smile. "Don't be. We certainly weren't." It had been one of the best things that could have happened to Mom and me, despite it leaving her as a single working mother. Meli didn't answer, and I realized that I must have made her uncomfortable. Guess there was such a thing as opening up a little too much. "So, what's your hidden talent, then? Besides Keyblade wielding and magic, of course."

"Oh, um...I'm a pretty good hairstylist." Meli's tone had lightened up considerably. "I mean, if I do say so myself." I felt a rush of air come towards me, but was still taken completely off guard when her small, warm hand touched my forehead and pushed my hair back off of my face. "I could cut yours if you wanted," she offered. "It's getting pretty long, you know!"

My heart had suddenly started skipping beats, but I found my voice again and laughed. "Yeah, I know. Maybe someday, when all of this is over with."

Meli removed her hand, and my hair fell back in place. My skin felt strangely tingly in the absence of her touch. "Why, because you like it this way, or because you don't trust my hair cutting skills?" she asked. "I cut my own hair, and it looks pretty good, in my opinion."

I tried to remember what her hair had looked like when I had seen it for that one, brief moment. The color was the main thing that had stuck out to me, though I did recall it being pretty short. I opened my mouth to answer her, but sensed movement again and paused to try to determine what she was doing. There was a faint sound of skin stroking skin, like she might be rubbing her hands together, and she muttered something that included the word "Aiden".

Immediately I was on the alert. "What was that about Aiden?" I had not liked that guy from the very first time she had mentioned him.

"Nothing," Meli replied quickly. "He just...liked my hair longer, that's all."

"But why did you start messing with your hand when you said that?" There was no way that was coincidental.

"How did you...?" I felt her quickly change positions. "It's nothing. There's no reason."

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?" I peeled off my right glove and threw it down onto the bed, then reached across and felt for her hand. Meli's left arm was still in front of her, so I grabbed the right arm that she was attempting to hide behind her back and pulled the hand towards me. She struggled against me, but I gripped her wrist tightly and ran my finger over the raised spot on her palm. "That's a scar, isn't it?" I could feel my anger growing by the second. "What did he do to you?"

"He didn't do anything. I just burned myself, that's all." Meli yanked back once again, but I still didn't let go. That was definitely another lie.

"You mean he burned you." Who was this guy, that he thought he could treat another human being like this? "What was it, a cigarette?"

Meli growled in frustration, but finally blurted out the truth. "It was a lighter, okay? He burned my hand with a lighter because I cut my hair off."

I released my hold on her hand, stunned. Somehow that seemed even worse to me than the thought of the cigarette had. I found myself imagining this overgrown bully holding a squirming, pleading Meli's hand over a lighter, and my stomach twisted into a knot.

"It was my fault, though," Meli mumbled. "I cut it without asking him about it. I should have just asked."

That was more than I could take. I groaned, throwing my hands up in the air. "No, Meli, that is not your fault! It's your hair, on your body. You should be able to do what you want with it without asking anybody, and without being afraid of being punished for it. You can't blame yourself for everything that your good-for-nothing boyfriend does to you!"

"Don't you talk about him like that," she warned through her teeth.

"I'm sorry, but somebody's gotta say it. The guy's a loser, Meli. Why do you stay with him when he keeps hurting you?"

"You don't know anything!" Meli shifted suddenly, leaving the bed and moving away.

I swung my legs around so that I could stand, too. "I know that it's not right. Surely you know it, too. You're a smart girl. I don't understand why you can't see it."

"Why do you care so much, anyway?"

"Because..." I could tell that I had made her quite angry, which had not been my intention. But I just couldn't stand to see her being treated like this. She deserved so much better. The only way that she could possibly think that this was okay was if she just didn't know anything better, which made my heart ache. This is not what love is supposed to look like, I wanted to say. You need someone to show you what love really means. Instead, I swallowed and tried to speak in a kinder tone than before. "Because you're my friend. I just want what's best for you."

There was complete silence for a long moment, other than the sound of her heavy breathing. When she did speak again, her voice was terse, and I could tell that she was facing away from me. "I think you should go now."

Drawing in a regretful breath, I reached over to grab my food off of the bed. "Yeah. I'll do that."

I left the room quietly, retreating back to my own bedroom and flopping down into the armchair with a giant sigh. Well, I guess I had screwed up royally. Here I was, wanting to deepen my relationship with Meli, and instead I had made her so mad that she didn't even want to speak to me. I really had felt like all those things needed saying, but now I wished I had just kept my mouth shut. Kairi had always given me a hard time about my tendency to blurt out exactly what I was thinking when I got riled up.

"I always try so hard to get you to tell me what you're feeling," she would say, hands on her hips. "But I guess all I really need to do is make you mad, and you'll just let me have it!"

I smirked a little at the memory, but my mind quickly went back to Meli. What was done was done, so I guess now I just had to hope that something I said would actually click with her. She had to get rid of this Aiden guy, before he ended up doing something much worse. I didn't have many memories of how my dad had treated my mom, but I remembered enough to know that Aiden couldn't be much different. Of course, my mom hadn't left him, either. It was him that ended up leaving us first. I sighed again. Maybe I had been a bit too harsh with Meli, expecting her to be able to make that choice. I had let my concern for her and my own past experiences get the best of me, but I really couldn't actually place myself in her shoes.

I should probably go and apologize to her. Hopefully she had cooled off enough by now that she would actually listen. Pushing myself up out of the chair, I made my way back to her door and knocked lightly. "Meli?" I leaned my ear in close, but didn't hear anything. "Hey, I know you probably don't want to talk to me right now, but...I just wanted to say I was sorry." I listened again. There was no sign of life behind that door whatsoever. Either she was doing a really good job of being quiet and still, or she had left the room without me hearing.

I frowned, wondering where she might have gone, hoping that she wouldn't wander off too far on her own. She may have greatly improved in her fighting skills, but she wasn't used to tackling the Heartless alone. Part of me wanted to try to find her, but I didn't want to seem like a stalker, so I went back to my room to finish my now-cold food.

It was several minutes later when I heard a strange noise come from the hallway. Was that Meli, returning to her room? It hadn't sounded like a door closing, though. I couldn't quite place what it was. Then another noise came, and this time it was a voice, though it was hard to say whether it was a call or a groan. It filled me with a sense of unease, and I jumped to my feet, crossing quickly to the door. Leaning out into the hallway slightly, I turned my head back and forth, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. "Meli? Did you call me?"

"I'm here." I wasn't sure which was more alarming, the fact that she sounded like she could barely speak, or that her voice definitely came from the direction of the floor. Without even thinking twice about it, I snatched up one side of my blindfold so that I could see what was happening. The sudden influx of light made me grimace, and I blinked rapidly to clear my vision. When I finally could see her, my heart dropped into my stomach, and an involuntary curse slipped out of my mouth.

Potions. I had to get potions. Dropping the blindfold back into place, I stepped over to my desk and grabbed two glass vials, holding them tightly in my fist as I hurried over to Meli's side. She was lying on her stomach, so I gently eased her over onto her side so that I could slide my hands underneath her head and knees and lift her onto my lap. She let out a quiet moan as I did so, and I tightened my jaw. The back of her head was wet with blood. There had been so much blood on her head and face, in fact, that I hadn't even been able to tell where it was all coming from. Removing my right arm from under her legs, I felt frantically for the first vial of potion and popped the cork out with my thumb, listening with pain in my own chest as she struggled to draw each breath.

"Here, drink this." I held the potion up to her lips, trying to keep my hand steady despite the fear and anger that were coursing through me. Who or what had done this to her? Heartless? Somehow it hadn't looked like a Heartless attack. It was hard to tell for sure, but it had seemed more like a beating than the normal scratches and bites from a Heartless or Dusk.

I felt Meli relax in my arms as the potion did its work. Her breathing slowed and quieted, and she stopped trembling. I gave her a moment before speaking again. "Do you still hurt anywhere?"

"I told you before I'm pretty pathetic when it comes to pain, but I think I'll be okay," Meli answered. She tried to push herself up off of my lap, but let out a tell-tale hissing sound as she did so. She was obviously still in pain.

"You don't have to be tough about this. Being beaten to within an inch of your life gives you plenty of excuse to be a little pitiful." I reached for the other vial, noticing that she didn't correct me about the beating. "Besides, if you're still hurting you can take another."

Meli took the potion from my hand and drank it, sighing deeply. "Thanks," she murmured. "I...probably wouldn't have made it if you hadn't heard me out here."

The knot in my stomach that had been slowly dissipating tightened again. What if I hadn't heard her? What if I had lost her? Even though we had only known each other a short time, the thought of her no longer being in my life was more than I could bear.

"What happened?" I asked her. When she didn't answer, my suspicions were confirmed. "You went back there, didn't you? To see him."

I couldn't see her response, of course, but I heard her shift positions and suck in a rattling breath. Placing a hand gently on her back, I felt her shaking with sobs, and couldn't help but wrap my arms around her and draw her back in close. She turned her face into my chest, and my heart skipped a couple of beats. Now's not the time to be enjoying her closeness, Riku. I honestly couldn't believe that she was allowing me to hold her like that, as eager as she had seemed to get off of me a minute ago. But I wasn't going to question it. I just squeezed her tightly and let her cry.

"I loved him," she hiccuped. "I thought he loved me, too."

I sighed heavily, wishing I knew what to say to ease the ache in her heart. Physical wounds I could heal, but it was too bad there wasn't some kind of potion that dealt with emotions. I would have stocked up on them for myself long ago if there was. Right now I needed one to take away the fury that was smoldering in my chest, before I ended up doing something stupid. Like, ask Meli to make another portal back to her universe so that I could go find Aiden and show him what it felt like to be beaten to a pulp. As much as I wanted to, I knew now wasn't the time for that, either. Meli needed me here. I would just have to hope that he would get his comeuppance sometime in the future.

Please let me know what you thought in a review, and if you have any special requests, shoot them my way! Ideas for scenes can be as vague or specific as you want. I'll try my best to do whatever I receive!