Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing from Kingdom Hearts, or any of your other games or from Final Fantasy.

Riku had always liked to keep secrets from his friends. He never wanted everyone to know everything about him, that's why so many people found him dark and strange. This quality about him normally scared people off. He wasn't sure why Sora and Kiari had stayed around. It is true that he had fallen for Kiari, but that was past now. He had never kept a secret like this before.

He first met her in Traverse town. He thought she was a heartless and went straight towards her, but once he got close enough he noticed that it wasn't a heartless, but a black haired, green eyed, dark clad girl. But his guess of a heartless wasn't too far off. To both of their surprise, they wouldn't leave each other alone out of pure stubbornness. But eventually they became friends.

Her name was Xoe. She was the same age as Riku and acted a lot like him. That's why Riku was so attracted to her… but he knew she held a secret from him. Something deep and dark. He had to know what it was. He let her follow him wherever she went. He kept her secret from everyone he knew, and she didn't complain about all of the evil deeds he had done… she just kept quiet, and now she is still with him in the darkness.

"Xoe," he started to say.

"Yes?"

"I… I have a question to ask you…"

"hm?" she turned her head towards him with questioning eyes. "What is it?"

"You're keeping something from me. I have felt it all along, and still you haven't told me. And now that Ansem is defeated, you seem to be less social everyday."

That hit the spot. Xoe looked down at her toes silently. Riku just sighed, figuring that she wouldn't tell him. But to his surprise, she spoke.

"You do deserve to know… but on the other hand, I don't want you to leave me like the others did…" she said sadly.

"I promise I would never leave you," he said, then continued jokingly. "Plus, we're stuck here anyway." But she didn't laugh.

"I have kept a huge secret from you ever since I met you. I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I couldn't. I couldn't let you find out. That's why I let you hide me from everyone else. Riku…" she looked up suddenly with tears in her eyes. "Ansem was my father. I wanted him to be defeated, but I still loved him like a daughter should… but now he's gone… and I don't know how to feel."

Tears started to fall down her face. Riku was shocked, but did something he's never done before. He held her in his strong arms and rocked her back and forth.

"Xoe, it's okay… I don't mind at all, I feel odd having worked for him against my friends! You shouldn't feel bad about this." He held her by her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "I promise I'll get you out of here and we can start a new life on destiny island. You'll love it there."

The tears stopped. "Really? It sounds so beautiful there, almost like a dream."

"The thing is, I don't really remember it all too well. I haven't been there in forever."

At that they both started laughing, but secretly in both of there minds, escape plans started to form.

(Like it? I think it's kind of odd, but whatever! R&R)