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.
Thirty
Her wild, primal scream shook something deep within Riku's heart. "Yuko …" he whispered as she threw herself at the last remaining apprentice. When they met, her blade rang out against Even's sword, sounding ominously like a death knell. But whose death had just been announced?
"C'mon!" Sora cried to both Riku and Kairi, urging them forward to help. But before they could take two steps, four enormous serpents rose from the floor, surrounding them. They hissed and spat, glaring at the three with hungry, beady eyes. Their blue scales glinted like mirrors, and a light fog lifted from their bodies.
Great, ice again, Riku thought even before the nearest one opened its giant mouth and shot its frozen breath at him. He dodged and quickly looked over to Yuko as she battled Even. In the midst of a parry and counterattack, the apprentice caught Riku's eye and smirked. Riku immediately understood. Even had called the snakes to keep the others away. He wanted Yuko all to himself.
Kairi's scream brought him back to their current problem. Two snakes had gone for her, and Sora was too busy with the other two to help her. Riku ran to her rescue, slicing at the closest snake and giving it a great gash along its neck. It pulled back with a loud hiss. He turned to deal with the other one but found that Kairi, once it was one-on-one again, had collected her wits and released a fire spell that had all but burned the snake's head off. It lay on the ground, flipping and jerking around madly. Riku carefully approached it and beheaded it.
"Riku!" Kairi warned but too late. Riku turned just in time to see the snake he had previously injured sink its teeth into his arm. He cried out as piercing cold traveled up his arm and into his chest. Hissing gently, the serpent withdrew a bit and flicked its tongue out a few times as if to taste his pain. Way to the Dawn had fallen to the ground, Riku's numb fingers unable to hold the blade, so when the beast approached for another attack, Riku could only watch it in horror. It reared up before him, gazing down at him and obviously relishing the impending kill.
An arrow through the throat stopped the snake's descent, and its eyes widened in shock and pain as a second pierced its snout. Riku watched in relief and admiration as Kairi drove the serpent back with an endless rain of arrows and finally finished it with a well-placed fire spell down its throat. Then, she turned to him, and he felt the tingling warmth of her Cure and tasted the spell's soft honey flavor on his tongue.
"Are you okay?" she asked, kneeling down beside him.
Riku flexed his fingers and found them to be stiff but movable. "I will be," he answered and, his self-inspection finished, looked around for Sora. The younger boy had killed one of the two snakes that had attacked him, but the second one loomed over him and Riku could see his best friend was hurting. "Go help Sora," Riku told Kairi. She nodded and left him to work the life back into his arm and hand.
The crash of metal on metal drew Riku's attention to the battle raging between Yuko and Even. He noted with surprise that she now held a shield in her other hand. A shield of darkness. A smile spread over Riku's face. She wields it even better than I did. Amazing.
He reached down to pick up his Keyblade and rose to his feet, preparing to run in and help her, but then he stopped. His eyes had caught a fierce and powerful expression on her face. Carefully, he watched them fight for a few minutes. Yuko clearly didn't need help. She practically had the apprentice dancing for her as she whirled about him. Slowly, Riku lowered Way to the Dawn and leaned back on his heels so that he could watch more comfortably. If something unexpected happened and she suddenly needed him, he would go to her, but for now he would stay out of it.
It was her fight now.
Riku's mind wandered back to that first day he had met her, their fight in the courtyard. She had improved so much. And so many other things had changed as well. Such wonderful things that, before they had begun this adventure, he had only dreamed of. He felt a stupid grin trying to work its way into his face and banished it quickly, concentrating instead on Yuko's attacks. Wait. Isn't that one of Sora's signature moves? The grin came back, and this time he let it. Little thief.
"Um, Riku?" Sora and Kairi had come up beside him, weapons at the ready. "Aren't you going to help her?"
Riku turned his head slightly to look at his two friends. "Does she look like she needs it?" he asked innocently.
At that moment, Even's ice shield bounced across the floor.
Sora grinned slightly. "Uh, no."
Riku nodded and turned his attention back to the combatants. "Then I'm not going to help. If she can do it herself, she should," he explained. "For her friends, for her worlds, and for herself."
"Gotcha," Sora answered, resting a hand against his hip. He grinned. "Then I guess we wait." Kairi wrapped her hands around his arm and lowered her head to his shoulder. Sora shifted the Keyblade to his other hand and leaned into her, letting his chin nestle into her hair.
Riku smiled at the pair of them. "Yeah," he answered Sora. "We wait." He fixed his eyes on the girl who had claimed his heart and sent her as much silent support as he could. You can do it, Yuko. I believe in you.
The two swords crashed together and held, their owners pushing into each other with two-handed strength. They had abandoned their shields and fought with blades alone. Even was panting heavily, obviously more used to the laboratory than the field of combat; Yuko, on the other hand, was breathing almost normally, and that blazing determination had not left her eyes.
Even glared over the metal of his sword at her, his eyes narrowed into slits. "You," he hissed. "This all started with you. I had the universe at my disposal. All its secrets ready for me to discover. And then you had to come along and ruin all of it!" He pushed violently against her, and she slipped briefly. But when his sword came down to sever her head from her neck, she blocked it easily and pushed them into another locked stalemate.
With a fierce calmness, she answered him, "You aren't worthy of the universe's secrets. You have no regard for life, no sense of ethics or morality. You care for no one except yourself. Even if I hadn't come along, the universe would have found another way to deny you. Knowledge is a gift you have to earn, not just something you can rip from the still-breathing bodies of others."
Incensed, Even yanked his blade free and began slashing at her left and right. Yuko blocked them all, meeting each stroke with her Keyblade. Then, out of nowhere, instead of blocking she lifted up one hand and grabbed the tired apprentice's wrists, effectively halting his most recent arc, and with the other, plunged Moonlight Arrow up to the hilt into his chest.
Even blinked at her. The sword tumbled from his grip and fell to the ground, clattering loudly. For a frozen moment, the two of them just stood there. Then, Even stepped backwards several paces, the blade still within his chest. He lifted a hand and, disbelievingly, wrapped it around the hilt. With a cry, he yanked the Keyblade from his body, allowing the dark mist to pour from him and pool at his feet.
Cold blue eyes lifted to Yuko who had remained where she was, watching him. The mist had risen, and he had begun to fade, tendrils of blackness wrapping themselves around him. His voice shaking with approaching death, he snarled, "So be it, but you … you will come with me!"
A hand shot up, and blackness devoured Yuko. It swirled up beneath her and instantly covered her with its pulsing, living darkness. Half of a scream had escaped her mouth before she had disappeared.
"Yuko!" Riku cried. He ran forward without hesitation and jumped into the black portal just as it and Even vanished.
Sora stood and stared at the empty space in front of him. Small wisps of darkness still swirled about as if to taunt him. They were gone. Riku and Yuko were gone. Swallowed by the darkness.
"Sora," Kairi said, her voice timid and scared. "What do we do now?
Darkness.
Eternal darkness.
She was falling into it. Lost. Helpless. And tired. So very, very tired.
Deeper into the darkness. It whispered to her. Soft, comforting words. Give in. Accept. Allow the darkness. Accept death.
Yuko's eyes shot open, and her mind snapped into focus. "No!" she cried into the darkness. "I don't want to die anymore! I have a reason to live now!"
Somehow she managed to twist her body so that it faced upwards. The space above her was as dark as the space below, but she knew that somewhere up there was the light. She stretched her hand towards the place from which she had fallen and willed herself upwards.
Slowly, she felt herself begin to move.
Riku walked through the Realm of Darkness, searching for her. He had been here so many times before, but this time he knew he didn't belong. He had no power here anymore, even less than he did when he wandered it as only an abandoned heart, and, although he would never admit it to himself, his lack of control over the situation scared him.
"Yuko," he whispered to the shadows surrounding him. "Where are you?"
"Sora?"
He took Kairi's hands and pulled her to him. Gently, he leaned down and gave her a short kiss before drawing her closer into a tight hug. She nestled her head into his neck, and he rested his head on hers.
"Help me, Kairi. Help me find them."
Yuko repeatedly threw one hand over the other as if climbing. Although she knew she grasped nothing, it seemed to help her force herself upwards. She kept her mind firmly fixed on Riku and the future they would have together. She could feel her heart calling out to him, its strong voice drowning out the evil whispers of the darkness.
Riku, I see it now. You won't help me find my light. You are my light.
"Naminé," Riku said lowly to the emptiness. "DiZ. Mickey. What do I do?" He had begun to panic, and he could hear it in the tones of his voice. Taking a deep breath, he forced the desperation away and tried to concentrate. His friends couldn't help him. He would have to do this himself.
But how?
If only the King could sense his trouble and send a bit of his power. Like he had done in Castle Oblivion. Or just send him a bit of advice like he had done when Ansem had banished him.
Riku inhaled sharply. Of course. He could find Yuko just as he had found Sora. With his heart.
He shut his eyes and let his heart open to light and love. It filled him from head to toe, opening up paths within his mind that his heart followed. The fear and the panic faded away, leaving him feeling confident and calm. He would find her. Their bond was so strong, their hearts so closely interwoven. All he had to do was want to find her.
There!
She was reaching for him, determination on her face as she fought the darkness that held her.
Riku lifted his arm and took her hand.
"Open your heart to them with me. Lend me your strength. Help me open the door to light."
Yuko threw her right hand over her left as she continued to climb …
.. and felt another hand take hers and pull.
Her body jerked forward only to be caught and held by another. She didn't even need to look to know who it was who had pulled her out of the abyss onto solid ground. He had come for her. He had saved her.
She buried her face in the curve of his neck, relishing his warmth. Her breath came in short gasps as her emotions fought with each other over dominance, and her shoulders shook with the force of their battle. His arms held her tightly, one hand soothing her upper back, and he whispered her name lovingly in between light kisses to the top of her head.
"Riku," she murmured into his neck, "I love you so much." Taking advantage of her location, she softly kissed the skin along his collarbone and then traced her lips up to the hollow under his jaw. The sigh that her touch produced made her smile.
His fingers found her chin, and he pulled her face back so that she could look up at him. "And I love you, Yuko," he returned, smiling down at her. Yuko gazed up at him in awe. He was practically glowing; it took her breath away. The way his silver hair shone in the darkness. The way his cool green eyes sparkled. He looked like some sort of angel, come to rescue her from all the evils of the world and take her to never-ending happiness.
Yuko couldn't help herself.
Her hands flew to his face and pulled down as her body leaned up, and she pressed her lips to his with confidence and strength. Her fingers pushed on his jaw as she tried to deepen the kiss, and, surprised, he granted her access. His body stiffened at her boldness, but he quickly recovered, circling her waist with his arms and pulling her closer, forcing her deeper. As soon as she felt him respond, Yuko moved her hands to the back of his neck, draping her arms comfortably over his shoulders and pushing her fingers into his soft hair.
None of the boys she had kissed before had made her feel like this. They had eased her loneliness or set off her hormones, but none of them had ever given her this much warmth. This sense of belonging, of being home. It bubbled up from her heart and overflowed, trickling down her legs and across her arms and rising to the top of her head. Everything tingled and buzzed like she had been hit with a mild form of magic or filled with low-level electricity. She could feel his heart and the love it held for her, could feel his powerful light. It felt so wonderful. She leaned further into his body, trying to taste his light, and opened herself fully to him.
Riku had let her take the lead, but after a while he pulled away and started to kiss her neck as she had done to him. She sighed happily as his lips explored the skin along her jawline and down her throat. But then, he pulled back with a sharp intake of breath. Her eyes opened in confusion and saw him staring at her, a mixed expression of joy and disbelief on his face.
"What --?" she started, but he pivoted her body to the side and began to pull out the elastic in her hair. "Ow," she commented as his rough treatment yanked on a few knots. "What's going on? Riku? What's the --?"
Her voice died abruptly as he turned her back to him and brought a handful of her long hair into her line of sight.
It was golden.
She lifted her shocked gaze to him. "And my eyes … ?" she asked hopefully.
"… are blue," he finished, smiling more broadly than he ever had before.
Stunned, she laid her hands over his, fingering her own hair in astonishment. Her breath began to shudder and hitch as the sheer joy flowed over her and threatened to drown her. And then she felt them.
Tears.
Riku lifted his other hand to wipe them away, but she caught his wrist before he could. "No, don't," she said, laughing as they began to flow down her face. It had been so long, so terribly painfully long. She had endured so much, lost so much, but now it was over. It was over, and she had won. Yuko threw her arms about Riku's neck, laughing and crying in relief and happiness, and he laughed with her, holding her close and supporting her when her knees gave out from the release.
And when the large square of light appeared before them, beckoning them back to their world, Riku took her hand and confidently led her to it without a word. Yuko followed him eagerly. After all, beings of light did not belong in a world of darkness.