Author's Note: recently I've been like in love with the rikukairi pairing for some unknown reason. sorakairi too. I might write one soon. and a zexionselphie but anyways blah. hope you like this. please r&r.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.

Warnings: emo!riku.

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To Sora, Kairi was a lover but to Riku, she was almost like a mother.

The three were back on the island and Riku was still afraid. Afraid of the dark, people's reactions, afraid of Sora and Kairi and if their relationship would grow even stronger and that once more he'd be left alone to fight off a nightmare by himself.

Sora tried to comfort him, spending as much time as he could with him, being the best friend as he could and always offering a genuine smile. But that wasn't all that Riku needed. Yes he needed a friend, yes he needed comfort but he needed himself a mother. That's what Kairi was because that's all she could be to him.

--

Riku was afraid of the Secret Place now because that was where it all started really. That door frightened him and he almost expected shadows to crawl out and tear at him, leaving him for dead and strewn across the floor. He wondered if Sora and Kairi would cry.

Sora tried to take him in their on first day back to the islands together. Riku refused with a wary look in his eyes as he stared at the entrance and Sora went in by himself. He came back around 10 minutes later with a huge smile on his face.

"Is that door still there?" Riku questioned and Sora knew he was afraid of it so he nodded.

"Yah it is. Come on; let's go to the paopu tree." He shoved Riku forward, biting his lip to keep from grinning as the picture of him and Kairi sharing the paopu fruit recalled itself in his mind's eye.

He couldn't let Riku see that. It might just hurt him more than he already was.

--

"Hey Riku." Kairi smiled, taking a seat next to Riku on the dock and resting her hand on his knee. He doesn't get exited by the action, it was simple one of friendliness and he looked at her, grinning as much as he could, which wasn't a lot.

"Hey." He murmured and Kairi swung her legs back and forth as she sat, admiring the setting sun and the glares it cast on the ocean. Riku directed his eyes away from the bright sun and focused on the sun, sighing when he saw the reflection.

"Cheer up Riku. We're all back together. You should be happy." Kairi told him as she laid her head on his shoulder. She felt him tense slightly but she doesn't pull away because she knew the more contact he received the more used to it he'd get.

Riku glanced over at her, drawing his eyebrows together and concentrating on her words. How could he be happy when they were all back here but Sora and Kairi were the only ones together? He was just bitter, he shouldn't have been but so much time in the darkness did that to you.

"Hmmm ... I think I might know what'll cheer you up." She said, standing up and grabbing his hand, pulling him reluctantly up to his feet.

She led him over towards the Secret Place and his eyes widened slightly. He couldn't go there, even with Kairi. But he didn't want to seem weak in her eyes, not even able to step inside the Secret Place.

He'd been through so much worse, the cave wasn't so bad, he thought to himself, taking in a breath and bracing himself as the darkness covered their forms.

Riku had to hunch over as they headed in and through the tunnel, Kairi being shorter and able to walk through without any problems.

Once inside the cave Riku straightened, eyes immediately moving to rest on the area the door occupied and he blinked. It was still there. He almost backed out but one look at Kairi smiling reminded him that he had to be brave. He was probably already weak in her eyes, he couldn't make it worse.

"Look." Kairi gently commanded and Riku glanced over to where she was pointing, brows furrowing when he saw a picture. One he didn't know about it.

A drawing of Sora and Kairi facing each other, hands out and holding paopu fruits to each other. He glanced up at Kairi and blinked. She wanted to show him this? Why? Did he want to hurt him even more?

He opened his mouth to say something along the lines of "Why are you showing me this" or "I'm leaving" but she pressed a finger to his lips and smiled that smile he had kept him going all those years in the darkness.

"I'm going to add you, so that we're all sharing the paopu fruit, so that we all have our destines intertwined." She kneeled down, the sand feeling gritty against her bare knees, and grabbed a stone, beginning to carve into the stone.

Sora knew about this and he had willingly agreed but he hadn't been able to come. His mother had barely let him leave the house after he had finally returned. She didn't want to lose her "baby" again she said. Kairi giggled and Riku let out a small sort of laugh.

Riku watched with wide-eyes as she sketched his face into the stone and in the first time in a few years he felt happy. Not even when he had reunited with Sora and Kairi had he been so happy. The weight of defeating Xemnas had still been on his shoulders and his form had made things tough. But now, things were different. He was care-free, finally.

She finished after 20 minutes or so and she pulled away, showing Riku her drawing. Sora, Kairi, and Riku's faces together, hands outstretched and holding paopu fruits to each other. She drew him next to Sora and he sort of wished she had drawn him next to herself. But that didn't matter, the drawing did and it was so ... he couldn't describe it.

She smiled and stood up, dusting off her knees and dusting off her hands. "Like it?" She asked and Riku tore his eyes from the drawing to her, giving that same small sort of smile and nodding.

"Yah, I do." He said and she giggled, smiling widely.

"I'm glad. We should all do that for real sometime. So that whenever one of leaves the other will always follow." She smiled and he nodded his head, eyes moving back towards the drawing.

"Yah."

"Come on, let's go and get Sora." She walked out of the cave and Riku followed after a minute, eyes still locked on the drawing. He might've still been a bit afraid of the cave but nothing was going to stop him from coming back and looking at that.

He stopped at the entrance, the bright orange light falling down onto his body and he quickly brought up a hand to shield his eyes.

Kairi smiled softly, reaching up and taking his strong hand in hers, shaking her head. "You have to look into the light sometime."

He nodded though instead of looking into the sun he looked into her eyes, brighter than the sun could ever be.

She held his hand tightly; almost as if reassuring him she wouldn't go anywhere and led him out into the light while he tentatively followed.

Kairi was like a mother to him, all she could ever be, and he was alright with that. She already had her lover and he was just a friend (a best friend because after all, a son's best friend is his mom).

He was fine with that because he needed someone to guide him from the darkness and into the light. Kairi was that one now and had been for all those years they'd been apart.

Yah, things would never change.

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Author's Note: oh yah! I wrote a rikukairi. fudge yah! I actually didn't think I'd write this for a while but I did so yayyayyay! Ummm yess please R&R.