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. Pairings: 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.

Twenty-Three

By the time they had packed up all of the cabin's supplies, night had fallen. Zell made the executive decision to stay there one more night and then leave for the refugee camps in the morning. Sora decided his group would also stay - partly for protection in case Ienzo or anyone else returned - and then head on toward the fortress the next day. With all the decisions made, Zell sent word through the cabin, and piles of blankets and bedding appeared from nowhere to be strewn all over the floor. The girls offered to put all the children down to sleep, so the boys retreated to the porch.

Outside, Riku sat on the steps leading down to the grass with his arms resting on one drawn-up knee. His ears registered the conversation going on behind him among Sora, Zell, and Reno, but he did not pay attention to their words any more than he attempted to understand the language of the insects that buzzed and chattered all around. His mind was otherwise occupied.

Yuko had withdrawn again. She hid behind a non-committal smile this time rather than a cold stare or an angry frown, but she was hiding all the same. He had no idea what Ienzo had said or done to her, but from his own experiences with The Cloaked Schemer, he could guess. Zexion's illusions had been so real, so terrible, that Riku had very nearly succumbed to them; only Naminé's intervention had saved him. He had no doubt Ienzo's powers were just as damaging. Riku knew that without Naminé the title of savior had passed on to him, but he lacked the gentle Nobody's talents and insights. He was just an ordinary kid.

An ordinary kid who had once lived with a green-skinned witch and commanded Heartless and who now wielded a magic sword and worked for a mouse. Yeah, real ordinary.

The cabin door opened, and Kairi and Cera joined them on the porch. The younger girl looked around and asked, "Where's Yuko?"

Riku turned around in surprise as Sora answered, "She was with you, wasn't she?"

"She left right after you guys did," Kairi explained. She smiled. "I don't think she has much mothering instinct in her. The kids ticked her off." Riku smiled slightly; that sounded like his Yuko. Kairi continued, "She went out the back door, saying she was going for a walk. She hasn't come back yet?"

"No." Sora shook his head.

"Well," she said quickly with a glance at Riku, "I'm sure she'll be back soon. She didn't look super upset or anything." She smiled kindly at him. He nodded back at her in thanks.

Reno stood up and stretched lazily. "A walk sounds pretty good right now. You interested, Cera?"

She smiled and her eyes twinkled. "Sure."

"Just go far enough away that I don't hafta listen to you," Zell ordered without moving from his spot on the porch's wooden planks. Cera blushed slightly at his insinuation, but Reno just grinned. He claimed Cera's hand, and the couple wandered off down the steps and into the darkness of the forest.

Kairi sidled up to Sora shyly. "Um, Sora, you wanna go for a walk, too?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, okay, if you want to." Standing up, he added, "I don't think there's much around here to see, but if you wanna talk about something, I'll be happy to go with you."

Riku had to physically stop himself from going over to Sora and slapping him upside the head. Kairi just sighed, took the eternally-innocent boy's hand, and led him away.

"Great," Zell muttered as they disappeared. "Another set of rabbits."

Riku laughed lightly. "No, don't worry. I don't think either of them even know what you're referring to, although Kairi seems to be learning."

Zell smiled and nodded before leaning his head back against the porch railings. His eyes gazed out at the stars that showed through the gaps in the trees overhead. After several minutes of silence, he asked, "Which one is yours?"

"What?"

"The stars. Which one is yours?"

Riku looked up at the sky along with him. He shrugged. "I really have no idea."

"You going back there when you're done here?"

"Probably."

"What about Yuko?"

Riku snapped his head around to the other boy to find him looking at him intently but with a fair amount of kindness. "What about her?" he asked, unsure of where this conversation was headed.

"You've got the hots for her, dontcha?"

The sheer openness of the question made Riku laugh. "Well, that's one way to put it," he answered. He sobered and continued, "But yeah, I'm kinda hopelessly in love with her."

Zell nodded approvingly. "As well you should be. She's an awesome girl. Although," he added, "she used to be prettier before all this darkness stuff happened to her." He shrugged those thoughts away and fixed his eyes on Riku's again. "Y'see, here's the thing. She means a lot to me. A whole lot. I want to see her with someone really special, someone who'll give her the happiness she deserves."

His blue eyes narrowed, but Riku could see the glint of mischief in them. "So, what?" he asked, playing along. "Am I gonna have to fight you for her?" He narrowed his eyes as well and pulled his lips up in a sneer.

Zell abandoned the charade and laughed. "Nah. You'll do just fine. But, Riku …" He suddenly became serious again and stared carefully into Riku's eyes. "… I'm kinda worried about the fact that you're from another world. When it's all over, what are you two going to do? She won't go with you, you know. Not with everything that has to be rebuilt here."

Riku inhaled gently with realization. He had never thought of that before. His visions of the future had always included Yuko because they had to include her. But he had not thought about where they would be or who they would have to leave behind.

"I'm sure Yuko would love for you to stay here with her," Zell said, "but then what about your friends? They'll want to go home." He paused a minute and then asked, "You have family on your world?"

"Yeah."

"You think they'd understand?"

"I don't know."

"Well," Zell leaned his head back and gazed up at the stars again, "it's something you two need to think about. I like you, Riku. You're a good guy, and I think you're good for Yuko. I don't want to see either of you getting hurt."

Riku nodded. "Thanks, Zell."

"Hey, no problem." He grinned. "It's part of my duty as leader, you know? To stick my nose into everyone else's business." A rustling in the underbrush drew his attention. "Ah, there's our beautiful lady now."

Yuko appeared from the trees into the clearing and wandered up to the cabin's steps.

"'Sup, girl?" Zell called to her. "We were wondering where you had got to."

"I've just been around," she answered in a light tone that Riku could tell was forced. She sat down next to him on the steps, and though she turned her face to him, her eyes would not hold his for more than a few seconds. "Sora and Kairi don't have much experience with kissing, do they?"

"Almost none," Riku answered, smiling at her in an attempt to bring her back to him. "Why do you ask?"

"I came up on them accidentally when I was walking," she explained. "Cera must have been giving Kairi pointers or something because she tried to put her tongue in Sora's mouth. He literally jumped a foot in the air. Then he fell over backwards off the stump they had been sitting on."

Behind them, Zell started to laugh, and in spite of his worry, Riku could not stop the chuckles that rose from the image of Sora's surprised face. He would definitely have to bring this up the next time Sora gave him grief about going too slow with Yuko.

She smiled at the sound of his laughter - a real smile, the first he had seen that evening. Then, her eyes flicked to the cabin door. She said quietly, "I think I'll turn in soon, but I wanted to talk to you a bit before I did." The volume of her voice must have signaled to Zell that he was no longer part of the conversation for he stood up, jumped the porch railing, and wandered out into the clearing to get a better view of the sky.

"Okay," Riku replied, watching the blond go with gratitude. He returned his attention to Yuko who had swiveled a bit so that her face looked out into the night. "What about?" he prompted.

"About … about that conversation we had on the roof. I … I wasn't entirely truthful, you know, when I said I … I didn't love you." He reached out and took her hand, and she laced her fingers with his. Before he could say anything in reply, she continued, "I just didn't want to say anything until I was ready to accept the full meaning of my words. Because if I love you …" She turned to him and found his eyes. "… that would mean that I would want a relationship with you, wouldn't it? That I'd want there to be an 'us'. And I just don't …" Her gaze faltered, and she looked away again. "… I just don't think I can be anyone's girlfriend right now. There's too much going on, too much instability and danger."

"I understand," he assured her, lifting his other hand and smoothing a few stray strands of hair that had escaped from her ponytail. "That's why I said I'd wait. I'm not going to push you into any step you're not willing to take. Back at the Garden when we … you know …" She looked back at him with a smile and nodded. "At that moment, I knew, Yuko. I knew that you and I have a future together, and that all we need is time." He laughed. "And heck, neither of us is even two decades old. We have tons of time."

She smiled again, but this time Riku was surprised to see sadness in the small gesture. "You're amazing," she murmured. She lifted her free hand and ran her fingers along his cheek. Riku shivered, but whether from excitement or worry, he couldn't tell. Why was there so much sorrow in her face? "I'm so glad that I met you."

Red flags sprang up all around at her words, but before he could question her, she had leaned in and kissed him. She pressed her lips softly but confidently against his, and her hand slid over his face to the back of his neck where her fingers wove themselves into his hair. Though his mind was still confused, his body reacted on its own, eyes falling closed, hands moving to the small of her back to pull her slightly closer. She broke the contact several times, but only allowed a sliver of space between their lips before joining them again in a slightly different spot. In this way, she teased him with a dozen small kisses of varying lengths that fluttered against his lips and stole his breath away.

When she finally did pull away completely, she rested her forehead against his and took a slow, deliberate breath. Without raising her eyes to meet his, she whispered, "I love you, Riku. Good night." And then she had fled inside.

Riku sat on the steps, stunned. Even though his mind scoffed at him for the clichéd reaction, he raised a hand and brushed his fingers over his lips. His stomach still tumbled and his arms and legs still tingled from the wonderful feeling of kissing her. But he couldn't bring himself to be happy.

Why, why, why had that not felt like a kiss goodnight but rather a kiss … good-bye?