A/N

Edited and reposted. R and R pretty please ::does puppy dog eyes::

Warning: I apologize for any OOC' ness!

Disclaimer: There's no way I own Kingdom Hearts. I do not make any profit from this. I'm simply using them for my own sick and twisted purposes.

Wave

By: Youkai Hime90

The sound of an approaching wave fills his ears, washing out every sound easily with its melancholy serenity.

He knows it's not really a wave. Riku is not deaf nor is he dumb; he has lived in the golden sandy banks and tropical paradise that is Destiny Islands ever since he could remember. The ocean is far more harsh and unrelenting beneath the moonlight, stormy waves nearly washing out the crabs and sea shells to sea. The nearest source of freshwater thunders too gently, cascading droplets of aspheric crystal far too tranquil to create that murmur in his ears.

Namine is crying.

Nearly indecipherable, but still there. Undoubtedly she thinks no one is awake now, no one can see her weakness in the dark. Yet he can still hear her, each slight hitch of indrawn breath and quiet moan. Her room is all the way on the other side of the house from where he is sleeping and yet to his advanced senses she might as well be in the same room.

Namine is crying.

Riku knows why. Four days ago she came home, silent tears ghosting her pale features as she pushed her way past him bolting headlong for her room without uttering a single word. To say that he had been shocked by the normally reserved blonde's antics would have been a major understatement. Aqua eyes filled with unencumbered shock, Riku had looked on silently as Sora had pressed his ear against his sister's door and demanded that she tell him what was going on right now. No such luck. A day later a solemn Olette had arrived on their doorstep to explain how the spiky-haired teen known as Roxas had blatantly (yet politely the brunette was also quick to point out hurriedly) rejected Namine's feelings. He was going steady with Kairi now, which caused Sora to trail off into a shocked stupor as well.

It's been four nights since Roxas' harsh and cruel words wrapped around Namine's pulsing heart like a serpent and squeezed it until it snapped like brittle, pink glass. And, every night since then, she has cried herself to sleep.

She doesn't sound like Kairi. Kairi was loud, when she cried it was fiery and passionate like her roseate colored hair, and stormy and unpredictable like her ocean colored eyes.

He does not know how to comfort Namine. The strength of the mask she shows the world and the care which she has taken to hide her sorrow make him feel unwelcome. Should he get up and go to her room he is sure he would be turned away, either with angry words or simple silence. What was so easy with Kairi seems so inappropriate with Namine.

"Why? Why can't it be me? Why can't he love me?"

The scent of salt further alerts him, nearly lost to his senses. Nearly but not; Riku clenches his eyes shut, willing the scent to just go away. The silver-haired boy tosses and turns, bed-sheets in anxious coils tightly twisting around his damp thighs. He cannot sleep; with a soft, detached sigh he kicks back the covers and gets up, sudden compulsions leading to break a cardinal rule: Riku is gracious, but never familiar (Riku is princely, but never the prince. Riku is heroic but never the hero. Riku is carrying a rulebook in his head).

Namine is crying.

It unnerves Riku to no end.

He creeps silently, careful to avoid the groans and creaks of old wooden stairs beneath his feet. It is an old house after all. Riku reaches out, feeling his way up the banister until his fingers brush a cold, brass colored knob. Without a moment's hesitation, he turns it.

Namine lays sprawled on her lavender colored sheets, crying. Her shoulders heave with each quite sob she emits, the sight almost pathetic in the dim light. She is facing away from him, but the unmistakable smell of salt pricks at his senses, making him scrunch his nose.

Namine is crying.

Like a ghost, Riku slips under her bed covers gently, silently embracing her. Brushing wet, blonde hair away from her forehead he feels a shudder chase through her lithe, petit form. She turns and looks away but he lifts her face to see how her tears shine in the moonlight like salty diamonds, captivated by her icy aquamarine orbs.

Slowly but surely, Riku carefully kisses away each and every luminescent teardrop not once looking away from her piercing gaze.

The sound of a wave crashing and dying soothes him, silently washing over Riku's senses.

Namine isn't crying anymore.