 | imitationheart-archive ; "Red String of Fate" |
#18. Our muses are destined to save each other.
No matter how she may desire to ignore the parts of her past that were messy, and tarnished, and dirty, and things that she did not want to carry with her yet still did, there were some things that she could not deny. Like that the past was the past, and there was no way to change the past and everything that she had done. Like that time could continue to keep moving and things would keep progressing and there was nothing that she could do to stop them, nothing she could do to slow the river of time. Like that she could not takes back the things she had done.
Guilt would not alleviate, and that was something she lived with. But there were other things that she could not deny, but there was especially one thing in particular—that while she had done bad things to Sora, while she had taken away a year of his life and took apart his memory, she had done just as bad, if not worse, things to the replica of Riku that Vexen created. While she had not taken his memory and altered it to the extent that it had to be fixed through a process, she had implanted false memories.
She had made him believe things, things that were not his to believe to begin with.
To him she had given false memories, a false charm.
Then she had taken it away, and she b r o k e him.
His heart.
And yet the replica of Riku created by Vexen and molded by Naminé’s awful, horrible abilities that turned him from a blank canvas into a mass of hatred and anger, despite everything being revealed to him, had saved her. Had come for her when she was sure that she had destroyed him and there was no saving him, had come to the floor where Marluxia had been waiting for her, had saved her from his grasp. Had stood in front of her willfully, ready to protect her.
”I will protect Naminé. Phantom promise or not, it’s my promise!”
Even though he should have have, he came to her aid and swore to protect her. And then he had vanished, disappeared from their sight, walking away with parting words to Sora, and the blonde knew that he ceased to exist not long after that. Not because she innately knew, but because she later saw the true Riku, and somehow her silent question was answered, even if the silver haired young man did not know it. In the year following she would not think of the replica of Riku very much, would not let herself linger on the thoughts that sometimes drifted through her mind of him, because that was dangerous.
But, afterwards, after everything was said and done and Sora was awakened once more and Riku had spared Naminé from her death she thought of the boy who she had woven false memories for, made believe that she was someone important to him. She wondered if, in the end, she had truly been someone precious to him, or if he was like Sora, acting on his memories, fueled by the feelings brought on by Kairi, strengthened because she was her shadow?
There was an undeniable chance it was true.
Quietly, silently, she walked through corridors of darkness, trying to reach the endgame that was bound to happen, and perhaps subconsciously she looked. She searched, reached, sought out and peered through the darkness, trying to find a trace, a sign, anything. Because she knew, somehow, that he was there somewhere, drifting in between. In between worlds, perhaps, or in the Realm of Darkness, or somewhere in the middle of all of those things. The replica of Riku who was willing to give his life for her was out there somewhere, and she searched.
Unable to find him she returned to Kairi because she had to, because that was what was meant to be, and the thoughts rested once more. Until she was once more released that is, again her own being and promised that she would continue to stay that way for as long as she existed, and on that day Naminé was not sure whether to cry or to laugh out of joy. And the thoughts returned.
And her search continued.
Walking through the shadows that curled around her ankles, caressed her arms and wrists, she paused in between one side of the portal and the next. Breaths came slowly and she looked around, blue eyes tracing the general area, before she started off in a random direction. Something called out to her, to her being, and she could not help but respond, gravitate towards it, keep moving until she found it.
Darkness could not truly harm a Nobody, after all.
Finally she stopped, deep inside of the darkness that surrounded her on all sides, so thick that she could not see, was not even entirely aware of her body and her being, yet still she reached out. A pale hand reached out into the darkness until she found what she was looking for, and her hand curled around his and pulled him up, up, up.
”I found you.”
Perhaps, just perhaps, one of those things that she could not ignore no matter how she may wish to, was that in the end, she was destined to save the replica of Riku and pull him into the light again. Just as he had saved her, all that time ago. It was just one of those things that were, undoubtedly, meant to be.
”Welcome back.”
