The Night Within My Eyes

Description: A sequel to Kingdom Hearts II. When a Gummi Ship crashes into Disney Castle, King Mickey calls on Sora and Riku to help a previously unknown world rid itself of some very familiar Heartless. Eventual pairing: RikuxOC, plus some SoraxKairi because they're cute. Rated T because I can't see myself ever writing K.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and its characters are the property of Square-Enix. But you knew that already.

A/N: This chapter is a split POV, half Riku, half Yuko. Hope you enjoy it.

Eighteen

"Riku?"

He looked up and saw Yuko walking towards him, carrying some clothing in her arms. She dumped it all on the floor, close to where he sat doing an inventory of their supplies, and looked around. "Where's Sora?"

Internally, Riku groaned. The real answer to that was "Gone off so the two of us can be alooooone, although he's probably spying on us from somewhere." Instead of telling her that though, he replied, "He was hungry so he went to raid the kitchen." He glanced down at the pile of fabric. "What did you find?"

She crouched down next to him and rested her elbows on her knees. "Just a few extra uniforms. I went through all the other stuff I had, but I decided I didn't need to take it with me. It'll be nice to have the uniforms though. Clean clothing and all that."

He cocked his head at her. "You know, you don't have to wear your SeeD uniform all the time." But when she snapped her head up and glared at him, he threw up his hands in defense and retracted his statement. "Nevermind, I take it back. I didn't say anything."

The happier mood returned as she laughed at him. "Good."

He shook his head lightly and went back to counting Elixirs. Somehow they had nearly run out of the wonderful and extremely rare items. He made a mental note to berate Sora for squandering them. He'd probably gone and shared them with Donald and Goofy again. Riku had told Sora that you couldn't trust them to know when an item was necessary. Those two had the tendency to use one just because they had it.

"Um, Riku?" Yuko's voice drew him from his counting.

"Yeah?"

She had her head tilted to one side and seemed deep in thought. "You know when you guys fought Dilan? You had this one move where light came out of your palm. How did you do that?"

He shrugged. "Oh, that's a leftover move from when I used to wield the darkness. It's not that powerful anymore, but it's still good for shock value. I used to have a whole arsenal of attacks that could take down just about anyone. But," he added with a small smile and shake of his head, "I'm not at all sorry that I lost them. I'd much rather be back in the light … oh … uh, I mean …" He trailed off, suddenly realizing how his words might have hurt Yuko. He risked a glance at her, his apology written in his face.

She, however, had not seemed to notice. She still wore the contemplative expression, brow slightly furrowed, eyes out of focus. "I see," she said vaguely. Then, her gaze snapped to his and she asked, "Is it something that you can teach me?"

Riku leaned back on his hands and looked at her in open surprise. That was something he had never thought of. Teach her how to use the darkness the way he once did. "Yeah, I think so," he replied and practically jumped to his feet. She rose also, eagerness shining in her face. Then, a thought struck him, and his enthusiasm waned. "It can be dangerous though," he warned her. "You have to keep a strong hold on your heart and not give in to the darkness inside you."

She smiled at him with more than a trace of condescension. "Riku," she sighed. She flicked out her hand, and Moonlight Arrow appeared.

He laughed. "Guess I forgot who I was talking to. Okay then, let's give it a try."

For the next twenty minutes, he described to her all he could remember about accessing the darkness within his heart and manipulating it to obey his wishes. He described how to find it, how to shape it, how to move it throughout the body so that it would pool in the hands, how to force it out as an energy attack. Yuko listened attentively, asking questions when needed, and testing out his descriptions with her own heart and body. She quickly got the hang of shaping the darkness within her, but she had trouble getting it to follow her orders to move down her arms to her hands.

"Here," Riku said as an idea formed in his head. "Let's try this." He moved behind her and reached his right arm around over her shoulder. He placed his hand on her chest, directly above the sternum. "Concentrate on my hand," he told her, his lips hovering just slightly above her right ear. "Attach the darkness to it. Then, when I move my hand, picture the darkness moving with it. I'll guide it down to your hand for you. Let me know when you're ready for me to move."

He paused and shut his eyes, hoping she would need a little time to accomplish the first step. This idea hadn't been such a good one after all. Being this close to her was sending little pings of excitement through his stomach. He realized his left hand had somehow settled onto her hip although for the life of him he couldn't remember putting it there.

"Okay," she said, and her voice jolted his eyes open. He forced himself to focus on the current task. He was teaching her how to use the darkness. He was absolutely not putting moves on her. Because if he tried it, she'd beat him senseless.

"Okay," he echoed, trying to keep his breathing steady. "Now have it follow me down." He slowly moved his hand across her upper chest, making extremely sure he didn't touch her breast, over her shoulder, and down her arm. When his hand reached hers, he had to stop himself from weaving their fingers together. "Do you feel it there?" he asked, mentally clamping down on all the nuances and innuendos that one little phrase could contain.

"Yes," she replied with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Then let it go." Another totally loaded sentence.

A second later, a small ball of dark energy leapt from her hand and traveled a few feet. It was very weak and evaporated almost instantly, but it had appeared.

She cried out in joy. "I did it!"

He laughed, willingly giving in to her infectious happiness. "You sure d-" He turned his head to her and suddenly stopped. She had twisted in his arms to look up at him, and the movement had brought their faces so close that their noses almost touched. His lungs pulled in a breath and refused to let it go. She had such an odd expression on her face as her eyes darted nervously back and forth between his. Her fingers twitched, and, without even willing them to, his fingers slipped between them.

If I lean just a little bit in, I can kiss her. But will she let me? Look at her face! Her beautiful midnight eyes. She wants me to kiss her. Heh, willing to bet your future children's lives on that? Not really. For crying out loud, say something at least. Finish your stupid sentence!

He swallowed, raking a dry tongue over the roof of his mouth. "You sure did."

Yuko stared up into Riku's mesmerizing green eyes, half-hidden behind his long silver bangs. She couldn't move; she could barely breathe. And the most frightening thing about it was that he seemed to be having the same reaction. Which meant that everything had just gotten much more complicated.

He's going to kiss me. I just know it. Unless I stop it right now. Come on, turn your head away. Hellooo? Midgar to Yuko. Time to stop swimming in that gorgeous blue-green sea and get on dry land before you do something you regret.

He had gently wrapped his arms around her waist, but his right hand still held hers, so she was partially hugging herself. It felt so warm and comforting; she wanted to stay there forever. And their faces were so close together that when he exhaled, his breath puffed gently over her cheek, sending little darting shivers into her neck.

I … I want to kiss him. I want to be with him always. What? What am I thinking? He's no different than any of the other cute boys you've kissed. Except he is. This is more than just a physical attraction. This is … No. I … I can't handle this right now. I just …

I just can't!

She violently pulled her face away, ripping it from the warmth of his breath and the soft promise of his lips. Eyes tightly shut, she sucked in air through her teeth in an effort to calm herself down. With a shaky sigh, Riku buried his face in her hair, and she let him. She owed him that for the destruction of the moment, an occurrence that had not been his fault in the slightest.

The butterflies in her stomach erupted into sadness. It coursed throughout her, taking control of her chest and her limbs. If she had tears to shed, she would have released them in waves.

Everyone I love leaves me.

Zell, Sydney … Vincent.

"I'll come back. I promise."

I'm sorry, but I can't believe that right now.

The arms around her tightened slightly in a hug and then let her go. She looked up at Riku in surprise. He was smiling down at her as if nothing had happened. As if she hadn't just rejected him.

"That was a pretty good job," he said lightly, referring to the blast of darkness. "Let's see if you can do it again."

She blinked at him, not believing he could let go of what had happened between them so easily. "Riku …"

He pressed a finger against her lips to stop her, and she watched his smile transform into one more gentle and, yes, loving. "It's okay," he told her in a soft voice. "Don't worry about it."

She looked up into his face and understood. He hadn't let it go; he'd never let it go. But he had what she didn't. He had faith.

Riku. Will you stay with me? Will you stay long enough for me to fall in love with you?

She gazed into his beautiful eyes and smiled.