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. 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 dedicated to my husband. Thank you, my love, for waiting.

Nineteen

The entire walk back to Devalin's camp, Riku had to deal with Sora's grins and sideways glances. He had indeed been spying on them again and had been so upset that Riku and Yuko had not kissed that as soon as Yuko left, the younger boy had practically tackled the older and demanded an explanation. "Why did you hesitate? You let her get away! And what are you so happy about? You messed it up!"

Riku had been on such a high that he hadn't even threatened Sora with bodily harm. He had only laughed and wondered aloud what Kairi would think about Sora's budding voyeurism. That comment had made his friend turn a previously untested shade of purple which had caused him to laugh harder. He didn't even try to explain to Sora why he was so happy. Kairi had been attracted to him first, after all; he had never had to suffer through the worry of "Does she?" and had never experienced the joy of "She does!"

And as for the missed kiss, well, it didn't matter. Yuko clearly wasn't ready for it, and Riku wasn't about to drive her away by pressing her. He would wait, and now that he knew he wouldn't be waiting in vain, it would be much easier.

He caught Sora grinning at him again and rolled his eyes at him, more out of habit than annoyance.

"Almost there!" Yuko said excitedly. She had chosen to walk on the other side of Sora rather than next to him, but Riku didn't worry. Her obvious awkwardness around him was understandable after what had passed between them, but he had faith it would be temporary.

"You're right!" Sora replied to her statement. He threw Riku an impish grin before scooping Yuko's hand up in his own. "Let's go!" He took off at a run, initially pulling her along after him but soon struggling to keep up with her once she had recovered from the surprise. Riku watched them go with a shake of his head, choosing to keep his own walking pace.

He reached the camp to find them surrounded by a swarm of SeeDs. He noted with amusement how they bombarded Yuko with so many questions that she could barely get a word out before another flew at her and how Sora could hardly stand from all the back-thumping that they were giving him. A few of the SeeDs on the edge of the group noticed him and seemed to be considering congratulating him as well, but a well-timed glare stopped all that nonsense before it started.

"Sora!" Kairi came flying out of a tent, closely followed by Donald and Goofy.

"Kai - whoa!" She barreled into him, knocking him off-balance with a huge hug. Then, she lifted her head, grabbed his face in her hands, and planted a firm kiss on his mouth. His wide eyes grew to saucer proportions, and when she finally let him go, he promptly fell over onto his rear end. He had barely landed before Donald and Goofy tackled him.

Riku thought he would hurt himself from laughing. But then he found himself nearly being knocked over by the small warm weight that was Kairi.

"Do I get a kiss, too?" he teased, ruffling her hair.

She looked up and laughed. "Why? Do you want to fall over?" When he laughed and shook his head, she continued, "I'm just so happy you two are back. Yuko, too … oh, where did she go?" Kairi looked around for the other girl.

"There," Riku told her, motioning with his head to the tent Kairi had exited. Devalin had appeared, and Yuko had gone to him. Riku watched her salute the President and found himself wondering why she had never done that before. He looked back down at Kairi, still hugging him, and noticed the bow strapped to her back. "What's this?" he asked, wiggling it slightly with his hand so she would know what he meant.

She grinned at him. "It's a bow, stupid."

"I know that, stupid," he answered easily. "But why do you have it?"

"Because," she replied, stepping back from him, "I wanted to fight with something other than magic. Devalin got this for me from the best weapons' manufacturer on Midgar. It shoots energy bolts instead of arrows so as long as I have magic power, I won't run out!" Her cheerfulness transformed into a stern determination. Crossing her arms, she stated firmly, "I'm coming with you guys to Balamb."

Riku quirked an eyebrow at her and glanced over at Sora, still trapped underneath two affectionate animals. "You are, huh? You think Sora will let you?"

She pouted prettily. "He has no say in it. I'm going."

"Okay then," he conceded, resolving to be nowhere near that argument when it erupted. "Let's see if we can extract Sora so we can all go report to the President. And no kissing him again," he added with a playful smirk. "I need him to be coherent."

For the next couple of hours, Riku sat in his chair in the tent and listened to others talk. Yuko explained all that had happened to them in her brisk soldier-voice while Sora jumped in now and then to embellish a point he thought she had not sufficiently described. Once they had finished, Kairi and Devalin took turns talking about the status of the front and how, when the Heartless attacks had suddenly stopped, they knew that the other three had succeeded. Sora, Yuko, and Devalin then launched into plans for the next step, the retaking of Balamb, and Riku breathed a silent sigh of relief when he realized Kairi did not intend to make her decision known to Sora until later.

By the time the meeting broke up, night had fallen. Stepping out of the tent, Riku saw Kairi dragging Sora away in the direction of the playground, her looking devious, him looking confused. He chuckled to himself for a moment, and then looked around, wondering just what the heck he was supposed to do with himself now. He took a few steps towards the fountain in the middle of the square and remembered the first night they had come here and the horrible look of pain on Yuko's face as she yelled at him to leave her alone. Those feelings he had harbored, that desperate desire to make her happy again, they made so much more sense now that he knew how much he loved her.

"Hey."

He lifted his chin and turned his head to the voice. She was walking up to him, smiling shyly.

"Hi," he replied.

She tilted her head and looked at him in a way that made his heart flutter. "You gonna just wander around all night again?"

He laughed lightly. "Maybe. Haven't decided."

She watched him with distracted eyes, debating something within herself. Patiently, he waited for her to come to a conclusion and used the time to try to catch his heart and calm it down. After a long but still comfortable silence, she nodded and said, "Follow me."

He did. She took him to a large building about a block away. Pulling open one of the glass double doors, she motioned for him to go in. He obeyed and tried to look around the lobby in the dim evening lights. When her hand slipped into his, he almost jumped, not expecting the touch. She pulled him across the room, obviously familiar with the area, to an elevator that opened quickly when she pushed the button. Inside, she selected the highest floor, and the elevator shot skyward. Riku swayed a little as it lifted; he felt as if they had left his stomach on the ground floor. She smiled and moved her hand from his to his arm to steady him.

When the elevator opened, she led him a short distance away to another glass door, this one much smaller. The night air hit him in the face as she opened it, and they both stepped out onto a wide terrace. Benches were scattered here and there for visitors to use, but Yuko took his hand again and dragged him directly up to the chest-high wall that outlined the area.

"You don't have to wander," she told him with a smile and a wave of her free hand. "You can see all of Midgar from here."

He looked out onto a sea of lights; it stretched as far as he could see in every direction. There was the Garden, straight ahead in the distance, and further beyond, more brightly-lit buildings. Many of the lights flickered in a steady and hypnotizing way, several of them blinking with changing pictures or spelling out words. Riku leaned his arms against the wall and stared.

"Wow," he breathed. Next to him, Yuko smiled as she too leaned up against the wall.

"I like coming here when I feel too stressed," she told him in a calm, quiet voice. "Reminds me of what I'm fighting for. Puts everything back into perspective." The corners of her mouth twitched upwards in a small grin. "And even if I'm not stressed, it's a great view."

Out of nowhere, a wave of homesickness enveloped Riku. It took him completely off guard. He had spent so much time and energy trying to get away from that little world, and now he missed it? But Yuko's description of this place - her sanctuary, her place of peace - reminded him of a certain bowed palm tree and all the time he had spent there alone. Because even if Sora and Kairi had been sitting next to him, he had still been alone.

He swallowed a few times to make sure his voice wouldn't crack before he replied, "I have a place like this back home. A spot on the beach where I like to look at the water and watch the sun set. It's peaceful and soothing and helps me sort through whatever problems I'm dealing with at the time."

She smiled sideways at him. "Sounds nice."

"Yeah," he agreed. "It is. I'd …" He turned his head and caught her eyes with his own. "I'd like to show it to you someday." I want to share it with you. Make it ours instead of just mine.

"I'd like that," she had answered, but her smile had saddened and she turned her head away, back towards the beckoning lights. He looked back to them as well, wondering what had affected her mood but afraid to push too hard. After several minutes of silence, she explained it for him by asking, "Riku, do you really believe we'll be able to get rid of all the apprentices?"

"Sure," he answered confidently. But when she did not respond, he asked back, "Why? Don't you?"

She stood there for a moment; then she took a step back and lifted her hands to her jacket. As the zipper came down, Riku blinked in confusion, wondering just what she was doing. He knew what his hormones hoped she was doing, but he was pretty sure that wasn't it. Although when she draped the jacket over the wall and started pulling her shirt out of the waistband of her pants, he felt his face start to burn from a variety of mixed emotions.

"Look at this," she ordered, pulling up the left side of her shirt to show him her midriff. His flustered eyes fell upon a huge scar that traveled across her stomach and around the side to her back. All embarrassment fell away as he understood.

"Wow," he murmured, taking her shoulder and turning her gently so he could follow its progress with his eyes. It rose sharply on her back, crossed her backbone, and disappeared under her shirt, heading towards her right shoulderblade.

"Elaeus gave me that," she explained. She dropped her shirt and hiked up her left sleeve. Another scar zigzagged up her arm. "And this. And a couple on my legs which I'm not showing you." She smiled playfully into his eyes, and he chuckled. "And all from fifty feet away." She picked her jacket up and started putting it back on. "He's terrifying," she whispered. She folded her arms on the wall and rested her chin on them. "I know I'm a lot stronger than I was when I ran away from the machine, and I know that this time I have allies who are much stronger than I am. But when I think of him, of what he's capable of with barely any effort, I get scared, and I start to doubt that I'll ever see Luca again much less travel to new worlds."

"You will," he assured her. "I know you will."

She turned her head so her right ear rested on her arms, and she looked up at him with a gentle smile. She found his eyes with her own and held them strongly. "You have such amazing faith," she said quietly. "I envy you. I really do."

Something in the way she looked at him, something in her calm eyes, in her heartening smile, something took away all his worries and completely unfettered his tongue. "I have to believe," he told her. "I can't imagine my future in any other way. I love you, Yuko."

A quiet sigh passed through her lips. Her eyes lowered slightly. "I know," she replied sadly. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" he echoed with a bit of a laugh in his voice. The fact that she had not totally flipped out at his admission encouraged him greatly. "That makes it sound like you seduced me on purpose, like on a bet or just for the fun of it." She jerked her head up with horrified shock in her eyes, but he quickly smiled it away. "It's okay. I know you didn't. Just don't apologize, all right?"

"But I …" Her voice trailed away, and her eyes slipped sideways and refused to meet his. Very quietly, she said, "I don't love you."

Liar. But he knew better than to say it out loud. Instead, he picked up her right hand in his and lifted it to his lips. Gently, he kissed the backs of her fingers like a nobleman would do to some great lady. In spite of the chasteness of the act, a visible shiver ran through her. He smiled inwardly and pretended not to have noticed it.

"I don't mind," he said. "I'll wait."

"Wait?"

"Wait."

She watched him carefully for several heartbeats, her eyes searching for answers to the questions she held inside her. Then she smiled and brought her other hand up to cup his in both of hers.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Riku nodded in response, and when they had turned back to the twinkling sea, he laid his arm about her waist and she rested her head in the curve formed by his shoulder and neck. They stood there together for a long time, words no longer necessary.