Chapter 162: The Goodbye

"I like that one!" Riku said, tapping the paper with his finger.

Namine just laughed.

"Riku, you've said that about all of them."

He shrugged, just grinning. "Well… I like them all!"

She chuckled. "Yeah…"

Riku turned to look at her, worried. She sounded… distracted.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Oh?" She turned to him, then smiled. "Of course. Yes."

He frowned, still worried, but she'd turned away from him, clearly not wanting to talk about it. He swallowed. Was this about their fight? She wasn't… still mad at him, was she? She'd told him not to worry about it. That she wasn't mad at him.

Namine quickly swapped to the next picture. Riku swallowed, but smiled and went along with it. She didn't have to talk about it if she didn't want to. And she'd told him not to worry… so… he shouldn't worry.

"Oh, hey," he said. "Is that the picture of Roxas you mentioned?"

"No…" she said, slowly. "This is my old sketchbook…."

Riku raised his eyebrows. "That's certainly a picture of Roxas, though."

"Weird…"

"Can I see?" Toby plopped down on the couch next to Namine. He didn't sit right next to her, though; there were still quite a few inches between them.

"Oh, uh, sure!" Namine turned her sketchbook so he could see the picture. He examined it, looking only partially thrilled about this.

"What are you doing here, Toby?" Riku asked, skeptical.

"Just… sitting…" he replied, swinging his legs idly. His eyes were focused toward the ground. Either he was up to something, or he was just that shy.

"Oh… kay…" Riku said, not sure what to think.

"I found you Toby!" Joseph called, rushing over. "Haha, yeah, now you have to find me! By the way, that is the worst hiding place ever."

Toby just shrugged.

"Playing hide and seek?" Namine asked.

Joseph nodded, enthusiastically, and plopped down right in between Toby and Namine. Namine scooted closer to Riku to compensate. Riku shifted, but, seeing as he was sitting on the edge of the couch, he could only shift so far. As a result, Namine ended up nearly in his lap. He wasn't sure if he minded, or…

"Watchyou doing, huh?" Joseph asked, grinning.

"Going through my pictures…" Namine sounded a bit annoyed.

"Yeah." Riku nodded, agreeing with her out of habit, for the most part. "Can't you leave us alone?"

Joseph sighed, dramatically. "Oh, alright." He got to his feet, tapped Toby on the shoulder—"You're turn to count! I'm gonna go hide!"—and ran off.

Toby sighed, but covered his eyes and started counting.

"One… two…"

Riku groaned and rubbed his head. His head... hurt. And though he often found comfort in numbers and counting, Toby counting was really putting him on edge for some reason. Plus, he and Namine were really close, and his heart was pounding, even though it was stupid and illogical and stupid. Why should sitting this close to Namine now make him feel any different than any other time?

"Nine… ten… eleven-" Toby continued.

"Aren't you supposed to stop at ten?" Riku snapped.

Toby shrugged.

"Oh, he's probably hidden enough!" Riku said, exasperated.

Toby made a face, but headed off anyway.

"Were they really bugging you that much?" Namine asked.

Riku shrugged, now. "I don't know," he said. He was on edge for some reason, though now that it was just him and Namine, he was starting to relax. She hadn't moved, regardless of the fact that Joseph and Toby were now gone.

But why was his heart still racing?

"I just…" He swallowed. "I wanted to be… alone…"

She laughed. "We're in the middle of the Main Room—"

"I know," he said. "But it's different when no one's bugging you. It still feels… private."

She laughed again, sounding faintly amused but very much like she was trying to cover it up. "Did you want to sit in my room?" she asked. "Or yours?"

Riku shook his head. "No, no, this is fine. This is…" He wrapped an arm around her. "I don't mind sitting here," he whispered.

Again, Namine laughed, though this time it was in surprise. She sounded happy. And maybe a bit breathless. Riku just smiled, feeding on her excitement.

He started to move his hand down to her waist, and hold her close, but hesitated. There were so many confusing things about his relationship with Namine, especially lately. And he'd never really held her quite so… intimately before. At least, not while she was conscious. When she was out during a meltdown was another story. He wasn't sure how she'd respond. Was it even a good idea?

He… wanted to. Which he didn't entirely understand, because he hadn't felt like this before. But then he remembered that'd he'd have to leave soon. Leave her. That only made him want to do it more. They could only spend so much more time together. Then he'd have to go. It was only for a week, but, a week was a long time…

After a second more of hesitation, he did it anyway, pulling her close, holding her tight. She melted into his grasp and let out a small sigh. She pulled her legs up, cuddling into him. Her sketchbook lay to the side, forgotten, as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

She felt so small, so tiny, so vulnerable. He held her even tighter, trying to steady her, burying his face in her hair. Her fingers tightened around his shirt. His arms tightened around her body.

He didn't want to leave her. Not for a week. Definitely not for forever. In fact, if he could, he'd be perfectly content spending forever right here.

He could feel tears leaking from his eyes.

No, he thought, trying to steel himself. I can't. I can't spend forever with her, not if I'm causing her meltdowns. I don't care how much I love being with her. I don't care how much I hate spending time away from her. I don't care how much I love holding her like this… It doesn't matter.

If I am causing her meltdowns, then we can't. I can't.

I need to leave her. So she'll be safe.

So she won't hurt.

His tears fell harder, now, and he held Namine closer, pressing her head into his chest, fingers curled in her hair.

"I'm going to miss you," he whispered.

"It'll only be a week," she reminded him, gently. Her voice was shaking, though.

"I'm still gonna miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you, too." Her voice was small. Weak. Fragile. She was trembling, and she held him tighter, like she never planned on letting go. He couldn't help but do the same.

They sat like that for a while, clinging to each other. Neither of them said anything more. Sitting here was enough.

"I'll protect her!"

Riku glanced up, and found… 6 standing there, nodding enthusiastically. Riku blinked a few times and suppressed a groan. Namine shifted so she could see what was going on, too. Given how they were sitting, he couldn't see her face, though.

"Ahm, 6…" Riku said, starting to get up. He didn't get far, because Namine was still practically sitting on him. He glanced down at her, and she flushed red before shifting so he could get up. He could feel his cheeks get hot, but tried to ignore it. "That's- uh," he laughed, nervously, looking over at Namine again. She was laughing, too, but doing her best to hide it. She was covering her mouth with her hand, turning away, her hair falling to cover her face.

The smile on Riku's face widened, and his cheeks grew hotter. He just… she was… What was he thinking? He shook his head and turned his attention back to 6, who was still nodding enthusiastically.

"That's not… not really necessary," Riku said.

"I can do it though!" 6 protested. He continued to nod, but he looked a bit offended. Maybe.

Riku grimaced. "Well, yeah, but-"

"I can!"

"That's very kind of you," Namine said, politely. She was on her feet now, positioning herself next to Riku. "Thank you, 6."

Riku shot her a look. "Are you crazy?" he hissed

"Of course not!" She said, smiling at him. "The more people protecting me, the better, right? That way, I'll be absolutely safe." She nodded, giving another encouraging smile in 6's direction.

Riku rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. What-" he swallowed. "What she said."

6 grinned, clapped his hands together, and then skipped off.

Riku sighed. "Well, I now have zero confidence that you'll be safe," he said.

"Oh, come on," Namine nudged him, playfully. "At worst, he'll just be in the way. But, being him, he'll be in everyone's way, including whoever might be here to harm me, so, yeah." She nodded, satisfied. "I'll be fine."

"Don't worry, I'll keep her safe, too!" Joseph exclaimed, popping out from behind the couch.

"Yup. Zero confidence."

"Riku," Namine nudged him again, harder this time.

"Aw, don't be too hard on him," Joseph told her, smiling. "He just wants a reason to stay here, that's all."

Namine looked at him, eyebrows raised. "Is that true, Riku?" she asked.

"No," he said.

Yes, he thought.

"Weren't you playing hide and seek?" he asked Joseph, before the conversation could continue any farther.

"Toby found me already." Joseph crossed his arms and pouted. "He was supposed to count to twenty!"

"Sorry," Toby said, apologetically. He'd been hiding behind the couch with Joseph, apparently.

"Nah, it's alright," Joseph told him, breaking out into a grin. "I'm just kidding." He turned to Riku. "Shouldn't you be leaving?"

"Oh, right." Riku made a face, stealing a glance in Namine's direction. "Yeah. Probably."

He really, really didn't want to leave her.

"Don't worry about her!" Joseph said, misreading Riku's glance over at Namine. "I'll protect her, I promise! I won't even let anybody touch her!"

Toby got a mischievous look. "Oh, so, I can't do this?" He laughed, reaching out to poke Namine in the ribs. Before he even got close, Joseph tackled him to the ground. Riku and Namine watched as they started wrestling. Riku with exasperation and Namine with amusement.

"Well," Riku said. He slowly took Namine by the shoulders, drawing her attention back to him. He held her tight. He wanted her safe. More than anything. That's why he was leaving—the only reason. "Promise me that, if anything happens, if you're scared or hurt or someone comes after you- just come get me. Please."

"Of course," Namine said, giggling slightly.

Riku grinned. He felt better. Sort of.

He let go of her, and then formed a dark corridor.

"Oh." Wait… there was something else he needed to do first. "Joseph! Let Toby up and go tell Alpha I'm leaving, will you? He wanted to know."

"Sure thing!" Joseph saluted, got off Toby, and ran to go find Alpha.

Toby pushed himself to his feet, rubbing his shoulder. "Ow…" he moaned.

"See, I'm sure Joseph can protect me just fine," Namine said. She ruffled Toby's hair. "You okay?"

He nodded.

Riku rolled his eyes.

"See you in a week," he said.

Namine smiled at him.

"Yeah," she said.

He smiled back, then stepped through the dark corridor.