Disclaimer – I don't own Kingdom Hearts :Looks at moths flying out of wallet.:
"Riku, long time no see." Cloud slowly put down his sword, his blond hair sticking up everywhere, as usual.
Amarantha put her key blade back inside her coat and leaned against the wall beside the door, one foot on the wall. Kairi and Sora were just standing in the door, not knowing what to do.
Cloud turned his back to Riku and walked to a small desk that stood in the center of the room; he sat down and put his booted feet on top of the desk.
"I'm surprised the Organization let you out to see me, they never really liked my… outside perspective." Cloud said, looking closely at Riku.
"I'm no longer with the organization." Riku said bluntly.
Cloud raised an eyebrow, and then smirked. "I rather saw it coming; you were never one to take orders well, were you?"
Riku didn't answer, he was walking around the room, his boots making a hollow clunk every time he stepped. He was observing the room, if not by sight then by sensing, smelling, hearing. He stopped when he came to the fire in the fireplace, he stood in front of it, imagining what the flames would look like, eating away at the logs, just like it did to his house…
"They're not happy, are they?" Cloud asked after a moment of silence.
"That would be an understatement." Riku turned away from the fire and faced Cloud once again. "They burned down my house…"
"And they won't stop there, I don't even know the mind of the Organization that well and I can tell you that." Cloud lowered his feet back to the ground and looked intently at Riku. "What can I do? I'm no longer a fighter, you know that."
Riku sighed. "I don't want another war…"
"No, but that's what you're getting." Cloud said, interrupting him.
"They only have a fight with us two." Riku gestured to Amarantha. "No one else will be harmed because of our decision."
"If I help you they'll come after me, you know that. I helped Roxas, and I nearly lost my life because of it. I swore then I'd have nothing else to do with the Organization." Cloud stood up and started to pace the room, his hands behind his back. "I'm no longer a fighter." He said quietly, more to himself then to Riku.
"All I need is a place to stay while I gather information Cloud! That's all I ask of you!" Riku's face was set in a firm, angered stare. "You owe me that much."
Cloud stopped his pacing and stared at a picture he had hanging on the wall, it was him and the gang, all together, all happy. It would never be like that again, most of them were dead, courtesy of the war. He ran a hand over the picture and sighed heavily.
"You're right, I owe you that much." Cloud turned from the picture and sat back down at his desk, his face grave. "There are spare bedrooms down the left of the hallway, make yourselves at home."
Riku nodded in thanks and headed toward the door, Sora and Kairi already in the hallway. Amarantha took her foot off of the wall and stood up straight, getting ready to follow Riku out.
"Riku."
Riku stopped and glanced back at Cloud.
"I didn't do this because I wanted to, you know that, right?"
Riku nodded once.
"I'll have nothing else to do with you after this."
Once again Riku nodded, once, he then left the room, Amarantha following and closing the door with a soft bang.
Riku ignored Kairi and Sora who were looking in on all the rooms, searching for the largest one to share. Amarantha walked behind him, she had made herself his bodyguard. When Kairi and Sora finally found a room they liked they started to slam the door, but Riku put his foot in out to stop it from closing all the way.
"I want it to be quiet down here." Riku said. "The more noise you make the higher the chances of us being found. Riku paused. "And I will not let Cloud suffer because of us." He added darkly, he then closed the door all the way.
Riku walked to the last bedroom on the hall and entered, he turned to see that Amarantha was entering the room beside his. "Amarantha." He called out, just loud enough for her to hear. "I want to see you a moment."
Amarantha closed the door behind her as Riku asked. She was standing in a medium sized room; the floor was dark red wood with a shaggy red rug under the four poster bed. The walls were painted black and the ceiling was stone, they were probably under a store of some sort. There was a fire place behind a small wooden chair that sat beside a red wood end table. A wall length book case held an assortment of dusty old books, the tittles unreadable because of time and mice.
Riku sat down on the wooden chair and untied his head band; he folded it delicately and set it on the table. He then looked intently at Amarantha; she stood in the center of the room, her leather coat creaking a bit as she shifted her weight from one leg to another. He just looked at her for a moment, noticing how she was tense, she was no longer seeing him as a lover, but as a leader, and she wasn't as comfortable in his presence as she had been the night before. Riku sighed and rubbed his forehead. How things change so quickly.
"You can relax." Riku said after a moment, he was still massaging his head.
When Amarantha didn't move Riku stood up and walked over to her. He held up his hands and pushed her hood back from her head, he watched as her black hair tumbled down her back, like a waterfall. He looked into her eyes sadly, seeing they were back to the way they had been, full of pain, confusion, hate… yet there was also a severe amount of sadness in them, sadness for what had been lost. Riku placed a hand on her cheek and moved his head forward so that his forehead was resting on hers. When he spoke it was in a sad, regretful voice.
"If only things didn't have to be like this." He muttered, closing his eyes. "I'd do anything within my power to see you happy." He sighed again and pulled away from her, softly kissing her on the forehead as he did so.
Amarantha turned around and left the room, closing the door softly behind her. She didn't want him to see the impact his words had had on her. When she was in her room she slid the lock in place and, after taking off her boots and coat, laid down on her bed, letting her tears fall on the pillows and not on Riku's shoulder, as she would have liked them to.
