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.

A/N: I will be writing an Epilogue, but this is the final proper chapter of "The Night Within My Eyes". My thanks to everyone for sticking with me for this long.

Thirty-One

It was over. Villains crushed, peace restored, worlds saved. Time for celebrations and congratulations, explanations and descriptions, compliments and appreciation.

And good-byes.

Riku gently ran his thumb along the inside of Yuko's palm as they sat next to each other in Luca's blitzball stadium. Devalin had arranged a massive celebration for all of them, involving food, parties, and lots and lots of the aquatic sport. He had to admit it was a fascinating game, and at any other time he would have watched it eagerly, just as Sora and Kairi were currently doing. But right now he was a bit preoccupied. The conversation he had had with Zell on Balamb kept nagging at his mind. He had made his decision, but he hadn't told anyone yet.

"You okay?" Yuko asked softly, bringing him out of his thoughts. He smiled into her happy blue eyes and nodded. She smiled back and commented, "I can try to get some of the snacks away from Donald if you want me to try."

Riku looked over at the duck who was busy stuffing his bill with nachos. Who knew the mage liked cheese? "No thanks," Riku replied. "I rather like you with ten fingers."

She laughed lightly and turned back to the game, leaning closer to him so that their shoulders touched. He tried to let go of his concerns and enjoy the game with her, but he couldn't. His mind just wouldn't let him stop thinking about the conversations he still needed to have and all the ways they could turn ugly.

When the buzzer announced halftime, Riku decided he couldn't hold them off any longer. He shifted in his seat and caught his best friend's attention. "Hey, Sora? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure." Sora bounded out of his seat, full of excitement. Riku led him out to the hallway next to their box seats, and as they walked, Sora gushed, "We just have to tell Tidus and Wakka about this when we get back. They would love it! How the heck do they hold their breath that long anyway?"

"Um, Sora," Riku interrupted him, taking him lightly by the arm to get his attention, "that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What? Holding my breath?"

A short nervous laugh forced its way out of Riku's throat. "No. Not that. About …" he hesitated. "Well, about the islands."

"What about them?"

"I … I'm not going back with you and Kairi." He shrank back a bit, worried about Sora's response to this news.

But Sora only blinked for a moment before saying, "Oh. Okay."

Riku stared at him, not believing he had accepted it that fast. "You're not mad?"

The younger boy broke out into his trademark grin. "Me? Mad? Why would I be mad? You're staying because of Yuko, right? Why would I be upset about that?"

"Well, because you spent all that time trying to find me, and now I'm sending you home and staying behind."

Sora laughed, although Riku didn't understand what was funny. "I looked for you because I didn't know if you were okay or not. Now I do. I mean, yeah, I'm gonna miss you and Kairi will, too, but it's not like this is good-bye forever. You'll write. I'll write. Maybe we'll come visit or you'll come visit us. It's not this huge, life-shattering thing, Riku, so stop looking so freaked out."

Riku stood and stared at him for several moments. Then, before the other boy could protest, he grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. "You're the best, you know that?" Riku told him. "The absolute best."

"Heh, thanks. I think." Once Riku had let him go, Sora tilted his head to the side and peered at him. "You sick or something?" he asked playfully. "You're not usually this touchy-feely."

Riku smiled at his best friend. He had been so stupid to think that Sora would be anything other than completely supportive. Sora was never jealous or possessive, never mean-spirited or resentful. He had forgiven Riku for betraying him, had cut out his own heart for Kairi. How could Riku have thought that Sora would be upset that he wanted to stay and help the girl he loved?

Riku grinned at Sora. "Touchy-feely? I'll show you touchy-feely!" And he attacked the younger boy, tickling him mercilessly until the girls finally came out and saved him.

The night came far too fast for Yuko's liking. At least during the day, she could lose herself in the activities and forget tomorrow. But as night approached and the festivities died down, her mind forced her to remember.

She had overheard Sora talking to Donald and Goofy about visiting the King and Queen briefly before going back to their islands.

Of course she knew they were going to leave. They had other lives back on their worlds, families, friends. It just hadn't hit her quite so strongly until she had actually heard the planning.

So when night came and Devalin had bid them all a pleasant evening, Yuko visited Riku in the boys' hotel room and invited him out for a walk through the city square.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," she began once they had found a bench tucked away in a corner that gave a great view of the central fountain.

"Yeah," he answered, "me, too." His hand easily found hers and brought it to rest on his knee.

She swallowed, somehow knowing that they had the same topic in mind. Determined to get her say out first, she pressed forward, "I heard Sora talking. You guys will be leaving soon. I wanted to talk to you about that." His head turned to her, but she refused to look at him, choosing instead to watch the moonbeams shine in the running water. "You see, I'd love to come with you. To thank the King personally and to see your home, meet your friends, you know. But I can't right now. There's just too much that needs to be done here."

She sighed and let her eyes wander over the rest of the city. Luca had remained untouched, but Balamb was a mess, and even Midgar had problems that needed addressing. "It's funny," she continued, "I only ever wanted to be a soldier, and that's all my training prepared me for, but I know that, training or not, Dev is going to want me there through every step of the reconstruction. I'm still a symbol after all. One of victory and hope and a 'brighter tomorrow'." She shrugged lightly. "I guess I always will be. So I can't leave. Not now, and maybe not for a while."

Yuko finally turned her head to look at Riku and found no trace of surprise on his face. He had known exactly what she was going to say. For some reason, that hurt even more: the fact that he had anticipated their parting and had probably thought about it as much as she had.

She laid her other hand over the one that already held his. "I'm sorry to make you wait even longer. You've been so patient with me for so long that I really hate to do this to you again. But at least this time I can promise that someday I will come to you." She smiled gently. "I want to watch the sunset on the ocean with you and see this beach where so many of your memories were made. I want to look for seashells with Kairi and go fishing with Sora and sit on the sand with you at night and kiss you 'til you can't see straight." She grinned at the light flush that spread over his face, but the seriousness quickly returned and she asked, "So, will you wait for me just a bit more?"

She had meant the question to be mildly rhetorical -- Of course he would wait for her. He loved her. So when he shook his head no, she nearly choked from shock. "Sorry," he answered with just a hint of teasing in his voice. "I'm through waiting." Yuko couldn't believe it; was he dumping her? But then he continued, "I want to be with you now, no matter where you are or what duty you have to fulfill. And that's why, if it's okay with you, I'm planning on staying here."

Slowly, his words filtered through her initial panic. "Staying?" she echoed. "But what about your family?"

He shrugged. "Sora will explain it to them. That I found a fantastic girl and decided to help her rebuild her world. He and Kairi will probably praise you so much that by the time I do get you to visit, my parents will be ready to adopt you." He smiled at her and ran a hand along her cheek and to the back of her head, playing with her hair.

"Riku …" she whispered as he leaned closer.

"Shh," he replied. "Just kiss me already. My vision is way too clear right now."

Her heart bursting with happiness, Yuko wrapped her arms around his neck and did as she was told.

Sora noted with amusement that Kairi continued to wave long after the Gummi Ship had taken off and left all their new friends -- and one old one -- behind. He couldn't really blame her; already he missed Riku. But he wasn't about to admit it to anyone, least of all to his girlfriend.

Sora smiled. Girlfriend. Had a nice ring to it. He slipped an arm around her and pulled her a bit closer.

"Sora?" she said, finally dropping her hand to her side.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll ever completely win over the darkness?"

He blinked, surprised by the question. After giving it several minutes of deep thought, he turned her in his arms and cupped her chin in his hand so she would look at him. The lovely light in her eyes warmed his heart.

"I don't know, Kairi," he answered her. "But I do know one thing: it will never win over us."

The End