“Come on Riku! Get out!” Luna yelled as she tried to push Riku out the door.
“No! I have to stay with her,” he argued.
“You cant stay in the room while we change and bandage her,” Luna countered.
“Can I at least stay in the living room and you close the door while you do that?” He questioned.
“No, I don’t trust you enough to do that!”
“But what if she wakes up and I’m not right next to her?”
“If that happens I’m sure she'll live.”
Riku opened his mouth to make another comment against that, but Luna spoke before he could “And you know, the sooner you leave, the sooner we can start fixing her up, and the sooner she'll feel better.”
That comment got to Riku, and Luna was finally able to push him out the door and into the hallway. She shut the door behind him and he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and closing his arms, the only bit of rest he had gotten since yesterday. It was already the next morning, and time had flown between making camp near Nahai and rescuing Leanne.
“I really blew it this time. I wanted to be right next to her when she woke up, that way I can apologize immediately for my mistake. I understand now that I’m the one completely responsible for what happened, and I accept all the blame. I just hope Leanne will forgive me..” Riku thought to himself. He stood there, leaned against the wall, eyes closed in peace for a few minutes. He listened to the soothing silence of the hallway, of the entire quarter. He listened to his steady breathing, and enjoyed the quiet, the solitude and peace of mind. Then Luna came int
o the hallway and snuck up behind him.
“All clear!” Luna yelled right in his ears as loud as she could. Riku jumped about five feet in the air at the surprise.
“Ow! I think I just went deaf,” Riku said, placing a hand on his ear. “Did you have to do that?”
“It was too tempting not to,” Luna replied with a smirk. They both walked back into the room and into the bedroom where Leanne slept. She looked peaceful, all tucked in cozily, cleansed and bandaged. Riku walked over to her and sat down on the bed. Leanne's eyes flickered open slowly.
“Oh, R-riku..” she said as she tried to sit up at the sight of him. Riku put a hand on her shoulder, making her lay back down.
“You have to rest. You've been through a lot,” he said sincerely to her. She blinked at him in response. “And I just want to tell you that-”
“Im sorry,” Leanne said, cutting him off with a reply that was unexpected. Riku looked at her in surprise.
“Wait, you're sorry? You're the one whose hurt. I was going to apologize to you.”
“I’ve worried you all too much. You went through all this trouble to rescue me, and yet I didn’t even get the information I was sent out to get. I’m a terrible spy...”
“No,” Riku declined, shaking his head. “If it weren’t for me, then we wouldn’t have gone through all of this, and you wouldn’t be in this state. So its my fault, I’m the one who should be blamed. I’m sorry,” He said, looking deeply into Leanne's eyes. “I promise you Lee, that you will never get hurt on my account ever again.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” he said with a nod. Leanne turned her head, looking away from Riku.
“How do I know you'll keep that promise? I mean..we gotta shake on it or something, right?” She said with a bit of a pouting face. Riku put his hand on her cheek and she turned to look at him again.
“I have a better idea than just a simple handshake.” He moved closer to her so that their faces were close, and their lips met in a long-awaited kiss. They stayed like that for a few seconds, but to them what felt like forever until Riku pulled away and looked back into her eyes. “I love you, Leanne. I always have, and I always will. I promise on my life that I will always protect you.”
