Chapter 228: (over 300 if you include the other fics)

Here he was. He'd finally made it. Riku'd found the hallway where Namine was—L was guarding one of the doors, and she didn't look happy to see him.

"37? Sweetie?" she called, leaning her head against the door. "How much longer?"

"Not long!" 37 called back. "It says 70 seconds—90. Mm."

Riku's eyes went wide. That wasn't a lot of time. They were nearly done Rewriting her, and he hadn't been quick enough.

No, he told himself. There's still SOME time…

"Best move now!" he told L, raising his blade. "I don't have time."

L waved her hand, dismissing his statement. "Yeah, yeah, but—"

Riku didn't waste any time with more talking. There was no point. Even telling them Xemnas was dead and they didn't really need to Rewrite Namine was pointless. He had to get in the room and hit 'cancel' on that computer, and he had roughly 60 seconds to do it.

He swung at L. She jumped out of the way, but that was no problem. Now he could reach the door. He jiggled the doorknob—locked. He pounded on, then threw his weight against the door.

"Don't bother," L sneered. "You weren't quick enough!"

Riku gritted his teeth, throwing himself at the door again. He just needed to break it down. Who cared how much it hurt his shoulder? Who cared if he was probably going to have a bruise tomorrow? So long as it worked and Namine was safe it didn't matter.

"Hang on!" the words tore themselves from his lips. He threw himself at the door again—he could feel it creaking and bending under his weight so why hadn't it broken yet? "Namine hang on! I'm right—"

L grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from the door.

"She can't hear you!"

Riku snarled and yanked his arm away. He wasn't going to break the door down with L here.

"Who's going to protect you now?" he taunted, raising his blade. "37's not here."

L smiled. "I think I can manage for another 30 seconds."

Riku said nothing, just ran at L. He made to swing at her, but pulled back last second so he could shoot a Dark Firaga instead. It caught her mid-jump, sending her back. Before she could recover, Riku launched at her and drove his blade through her heart.

"Ha!" she chuckled. "You still weren't quick enough, you little—"

The words cut off as her body faded.

Riku let out a small sigh of relief—he'd honestly anticipated 37 to show up out of nowhere and keep him from killing L. Again.

But she was finally dead.

Right, Riku shook his head. That means I can get to—

The thought blurred as a bolt of lightning struck him in the back. He cried out in pain, his vision blurred along with his thoughts. Then he was on the ground.

Since when was there another Larxene? he thought, wearily, pushing himself over to see who'd hit him. Or is L not really…

That thought halted, too, along with his heart, when he saw the face of his attacker.

It was Namine.

She looked the same as always, which Riku hadn't entirely expected. Well, he hadn't much considered the possibility of being too late, but he'd assumed if she was Rewritten she'd look different. Like she had in her nightmare.

But she was the same.

The curve of her body, the shape of her face, the way her hair fell across her shoulders—nothing was different. Well, nothing besides the fact that all kindness had left her eyes, and her mouth was contorted in a foul smirk.

In her right hand she held a mimic of Riku's blade, in paler colors.

Electricity sparked at the fingertips of her left hand.

"Oh? Did I shock you?" She giggled. "My bad." The tone of her voice reminded Riku so much like Larxene that he thought he might puke.

As it was, all he could do was stare in horror. It was hard to get air into his lungs. His heart wasn't beating right. He could hardly see through his tears—he tried to hold those back, but it was no use.

He'd been too late.

"N- Namine?"

He hardly registered the word leaving his lips.

And then she was walking towards him, that sick—sick—smile on her face. He was lucky his reflexes kicked in, overrode his horror. He rolled out of the way before she could pin him there, stumbled to his feet.

He couldn't bring himself to raise his blade against her. Couldn't bring himself to even face her.

He ran.

"What? Too afraid to fight me?" Namine called after him, still giggling. A laugh so beautiful turned so cruel—

He ran from her. He ran and he ran and he ran until it was all a blur. A blur of panic and tears and his heart pounding and her giggle ringing in his ears. A blur of his feet stumbling beneath him and then the sound of her footsteps. The sting of lightning. He was on his knees.

This was where he'd fought Xemnas. Roxas was gone, at least, and it was open for battle.

But Riku didn't want a battle.

He didn't want to fight Namine.

His fingers curled into fists against the ground. He could see the tears fall from his eyes and land on the floor below him, leaving dark drops against the grey floor—and he wished the world would freeze there. At that image. Then he wouldn't have to get up. Then he wouldn't have to fight.

He didn't want to fight her.

He couldn't fight her.

He didn't… have to fight her…

He didn't have to move. He didn't have to get up. He could stay here. He could just let her…

Those were her feet, next to him. That was her blade, pressed against the back of his neck. He didn't have to move.

"Too easy," Namine scoffed. "You're weak."

He squeezed his eyes shut.

xxx

He brought the girl to Destiny Islands, her home, just like his master had asked. The girl kicked and screamed under him, and the wolf just growled back—his paws on her chest, pinning her down.

"TAKE ME BACK TAKE ME BACK!" she screamed, pounding against the wolf.

The wolf just snarled at her, but was kind enough to get off. He should get out of here, but—

"I can't just let your master—is he your master? Well, whatever. I can't let him drag Sora into darkness!"

The wolf stared at the girl for a moment. If only she knew.

'He wouldn't do that to Sora,' he said, with a shake of his head. Of course, she couldn't understand him. It wasn't like he spoke a language she knew.

The girl cocked her head at him, studying him.

"You can't take me back, can you?" she asked, the anger slowly fading from her voice. "Your master won't let you, huh?"

The wolf didn't reply. He should really get out of here. He shouldn't be talking to her. He had orders from his master, and she was pure light and being around her made him hurt. He really didn't like her, anyway…

"Wait a sec…" the girl said, slowly, catching his attention. "Did you mean to say… he's… not dragging Sora into darkness?"

The wolf looked up in surprise. She was sharper than she looked—had she understood him? Or was she just a good guesser? Either way…

He shook his head. No, his master didn't intend on doing that.

But… he really should leave now. His master had forbidden him from interfering, and this certainly felt like interfering…

"What is he doing, then?" the girl asked, lunging towards him a little in her excitement.

She was concerned, obviously for Sora, but the wolf understood. He was concerned for his master. He respected his master's choice, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

And if this girl could…. help…

She may have been pure light, and he may have orders, but…

But what was he supposed to do without his master? What was he supposed to do when his master was gone? The thought seemed unbearable. It was more than unbearable. He'd have the boy, Sora, but that wasn't the same. It would never be the same—he didn't care how similar they looked.

He didn't want his master to go. And what was to say that, once his master was gone, he wouldn't revert to his original form? He could get killed in that form. Mistaken for a common Heartless. No one would even know.

It terrified him.

He had to do something, orders or no. And if the girl did his work for him, then his master would never need to know, right? Right?

The wolf shook his head again, then whined—like a common mutt—and hoped he got his point across.

"Whatever he's doing, you don't like it, huh?" the girl asked him. She really was perceptive. And smart, too, considering she'd thought twice about petting him. "Take me back, then! I can help!"

He couldn't take her back. As much as he wanted to—as much as he wanted to let her stop his master, or better yet, stop him himself…

He couldn't.

A growl rose in his throat, out of habit. The girl backed away a little, but didn't seem deterred. Good.

"Okay," she said. "You can't take me back to Sora. I got that. But…" She thought for a moment, then grinned. "Can you take me back to the castle? I've- I've got other friends there, and they could use my help."

His ears perked up. There was the loophole he'd needed.

Of course, there was no telling if she really had other friends or was just saying that to make him take her back—and he so hoped it was the latter. But he could do that.

So he nodded, and once she'd gotten to her feet (and discarded her bag—he wasn't sure why), he grabbed her hand in his mouth, and pulled her through back to the Nobody's world.

He hoped she would go to Sora—go stop his master. He hoped, but he didn't stay to find out. Staying was too painful. Staying meant he had to resist the urge to go help his master himself.