hey everyone! this is a small gift for my dear friend. she loves this ship, so I thought it would be nice to introduce the couple and see what everyone thought of them. I might do some more, and if anyone is interested in seeing more, please feel free to leave it in the reviews.

To say that he had been through a crazy last couple of months was an understatement.

After closing the door to darkness, Riku had lost track of Mickey and ended up in a sleeping world that was wholly fractured. The giant castle and accompanying rose garden were likely lovely in their heyday, but were heaps of rubble at the moment. Everything was empty, not a sound to be heard- except that of soft crying. He heard it all throughout as he searched every room.

"That's strange." Riku murmured. "I shouldn't be able to hear that everywhere I go."

The sound was indeed getting louder as he turned the corner. It was almost as if someone were begging him to follow after. It sounded painfully similar to some of the tears he had shed. Tears of loneliness. Tears of regret. Whoever was producing them had to have needed a friend. That was really more Sora's department, but if he was going to learn to be anything like his friend, he was going to have to take a risk.

When he found the room where the crying was coming from, he softly knocked on the door. The crying hadn't stopped, so he tried again, louder this time. There was a pause to the noise. The crying overall had stopped, but he could hear a soft sniffle as a pair of feet lightly padded towards the door.

"Who is it? Are you here to tell me I'm useless, too? Because I already know that."

The voice was that of a girl, Riku guessed she was around his age. Her voice was dripping with bitterness and self loathing. He recognized it immediately. Still, behind all of that, he wondered if she was just as lonely and scared as he was. Sure, he had a keyblade, but he had lost his best friends, never to be found again. His only companion had managed to get taken by a tower of heartless and left him all alone.

Maybe that's all he was ever supposed to be. He seemed to be good at it.

"Are you still there?" The voice called again, softer this time.

"Yeah. My name is Riku. Who are you...and how are you here?"

"My name is Gwendolyn and I wish I could tell you, but I don't even know where here is."

"You're in the realm of darkness."

"Darkness? But you don't belong here. You aren't bad." Gwendolyn spoke through the door. The voice was coming from a lower spot. She must be sitting down.

"What makes you think that? You don't even know me."

She hesitated before answering. It was nearly impossible to describe, but deep down she knew he was good.There was a lot of darkness surrounding his heart. But a light shone through it to balance both out. He seemed different than any of the other men she had ever known. Even his voice was different. The only other man who had used a soft voice with her was Cornelius. But who knew where he was now. All she knew of the outside world's fate was that her father Odin had trapped her in the tower and then everything went dark. When she woke up, she was all alone. Perhaps it was a spell cast by Odin. If it were an enchantment, then she wouldn't mind staying here, speaking to the voice on the other side of the door.

"I...feel a kind of magic coming from you. It's mostly darkness, but there's a strong light under the surface. Like the darkness is keeping the light from being blinding." She tried to explain how he felt to her.

"You didn't answer my question, though." Riku sat down on the opposite side of the door. Their backs were to one another as they talked.

"I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean."

"How did you get here?"

"My father. He left me to die in this tower."

Now it was Riku's turn to hesitate. He hadn't met anyone whose father could do something so cruel. Sure there had been a few parents on the islands who didn't treat their kids well, and as far as he knew, they had ended up in prison. But it was baffling to think that a parent could simply leave their child to their own fate. It was then that he knew he could never forgive this man. He didn't know this girl or owe her anything. But if he was going to atone for everything he did to Sora and Kairi, he was going to have to start somewhere.

"Then come on. Let's find a way out of here together." Riku looked toward the door.

"Leave? But what would be the point? The darkness goes on forever out there."

"My friend taught me there's a light that can shine through any darkness as long as you believe. You yourself said you could sense a light in me." Riku replied. "I may not deserve forgiveness for what I did, but you don't have to live that life. I'll keep you safe, okay?"

"I'm not sure about that." Gwendolyn pulled her legs up to her torso.

"Hey, talking like that isn't going to help anything. Especially not here." Riku tried to respond.

The words felt odd in his mouth. This wasn't who he was. He was the confident snarky boy from the island. He was a realist. And yet somehow, he knew that what he was saying was right. Maybe she needed to hear these words. They came from the heart. Was this what it felt like to follow his heart? His pulse had quickened.

"I guess so. But where will we go?"

"Don't know, don't care. My friends are back home in the realm of light. As long as they're safe, I don't care what happens to me."

"Your friends? Can you tell me about them?"

"Sure, I guess."

It was an odd request, but he obliged anyway, telling her all about Sora, Kairi, Tidus, Wakka and Selphie. He left out the part where he betrayed them all and left his planet to be destroyed. she could hear about that trauma later.

As he spoke, she closed her eyes and imagined a tropical paradise where the sun shone down on her face. It was different than the world she knew. Perhaps he would be willing to take her there one day.

"I should like to see this island of yours, one day." Gwendolyn sighed.

"Really?"

"Anything would be better than this tower."

Riku chortled. "I suppose you're right about that."

They stood up together. Gwendolyn drew a breath before placing a hand on the doorknob. She had spent her whole life being commanded by men and her beauty drew them on. She could only hope and pray that Riku was different. As she opened the door, she saw a well-built boy around her age with mid length silver hair and red-rimmed teal eyes. He saw a girl with long hair the color of his own with big beautiful eyes and a fancy ball gown on.

The thing that surprised Riku the most were the feathers that sat on the sides of her head where her ears should be. He couldn't help but stare, which caused Gwendolyn to blush. She immediately hurried into an explanation.

"I am a valkyrie. A warrior that was born of a proud heritage. They do not make me look too bad, do they?"

"No, they're just...new to me." Riku looked away before responding "but I think you're pretty, so...no wait, I wasn't supposed to say that. Sorry."

A small chuckle left Gwendolyn. So he wasn't as smooth as his appearance would tell. He smirked at her laughter and began walking back toward the entry of the castle. She lunged forth and caught his hand as he walked. He looked back to see her holding onto him, and, although he was slightly confused and embarrassed, he said nothing about it. So she continued to hold it, occasionally squeezing it when she had to leap over rubble.

Riku asked her about herself as they walked, hoping to keep the conversation light to get her mind off the darkness. When enemies did arise, he was pleasantly surprised by the way she handled them. Her spear and ice magic quickly took out large numbers of them at a time.

After the battle, they sat down to rest, and spoke more freely to each other. Somehow being in the dark realm had caused him to say things he wouldn't have ordinarily said. But that was alright. Gwendolyn didn't know about his past. He could be whoever he wanted in front of her. He realized that past her beauty, she was brave, smart and funny. Everything he wanted in a friend, and maybe something more.

But only time could tell if that would happen. They had to get out of the realm of darkness, first.

Riku was drawn out of his thoughts however, as he looked down to see Gwendolyn resting on his shoulder, soft chirping noises coming from her as she slept. His face was red, and he tried his best to remain as still as possible. The battles and dark aura of the world seemed to have drained her quite a bit. Though if he were honest, he was feeling a little sleepy himself. Cautiously, he closed his eyes. He was a light sleeper anyway. If trouble came, he would be able to react.

She was comfortable and warm. And if Riku were being honest, she was fairly attractive too, although he wasn't about to admit that anytime soon. It was strange. Even as they sat together in the dark realm, he didn't feel scared or lonely or angry anymore. Mickey hadn't been able to free him from these emotions, and yet this strange but wonderful girl somehow had. He sighed, content; the future was just as open as the road ahead.

and that was it! I tend to write slow burns, but I wanted to sort of introduce the characters since this is a major rare pair. also, I haven't actually played the Odin Sphere games, so forgive me if Gwen is a little out of character. hope you enjoyed it!