Rikucent

Rikucent is the friend ship between Riku and Maleficent from the Kingdom Hearts fandom.

Canon
After Riku's desire to see other worlds got him to embrace the darkness, that ends up swallowing his home world and sends him to Hollow Bastion, he is found by Maleficent. Who senses the Riku slowly growing within Riku and take it upon herself to nurture it, by showing Riku kindness as she take him under her wing while promising to help Riku find his friends. However, Maleficent had no intention of having Riku leave her side, since Riku's friend Sora posses a threat to their plans and makes Riku believe that Sora had replaced him and Kairi with Donald and Goofy. Riku believed her lie and continued to serve her for the promise of power to find Kairi's missing heart, and to become stronger than Sora. When Riku began to question why Maleficent had him bring her young medians and was showing signs of slipping away from her grasps, Maleficent tells him that she sees Riku as a son and cares about his happiness. Riku didn't feel the same about her, but he stayed by her side for his own agender of saving Kairi and obtaining the Keyblade from Sora. Once Riku realised that Maleficent and those like her had been playing him this whole time, so he would summit himself deeper into the darkness, it was too late. A Heartless named Ansem knew that Maleficent would unknowingly help him to groom Riku into his perfect vessel, and because Maleficent herself wasn't aware of this when she saw the possessed Riku in his dark form, she was shocked when Dark Riku stabbed her in the heart, forming Maleficent to become her dragon form. Having no more use for her, Ansem uses Riku's body to stomp on her cloak after she was defeated. After Riku brock free from Ansem, he wanted nothing to do with darkness or the likes of Maleficent again. Hating the person she and Ansem had him turn himself into.

When Riku found himself in the basement of Castle Oblivion Hollow Bastian was the first memory world he visits, as the first step to confronting his past and the darkness he has become fearful of. There he comes across the room Maleficent had given him and had found it to be the way he remembers it, like the mysterious voice had said it would. As Riku continues to wonder around his memory of Hollow Bastian, he encounters Maleficent and was shocked that she was alive, until the Maleficent before him revels that she is actually a figment of his memory. Of all the people Riku could have run into he didn't want it to be her, but the darkness steeping in his heart was the reason for their "reunion" and will only be able to see those who exist in that same darkness. Riku refused to expect that and even though he admits that were was a time when he did want her around, while surrendering his heart to the darkness, but now he wants nothing to do with her or what the darkness has to offer. Riku was done losing himself, emptying him, so if he is stuck with people like her in the castle, he will strike them all down one by one. Maleficent replays by telling Riku that he mustn't forget to add himself to that list, as like she he is one with the dark. Riku was fine with that, from how he once turned to the darkness to strengthen his weak heart and had hated that weakness like it was his own enemy; while seeing those who embrace the darkness like she does makes it worse. Those words have Maleficent offering to end Riku's suffering with the wonderful power of darkness he has come to hate, as she turns herself into a dragon. Riku mangas to defeat her and then goes after the other Disney villains he remembers to be Maleficent's allies. Riku states to Ansem that he had meant every word he had said to Maleficent.

Although Maleficent was able to revive herself and continued to cause trouble to other worlds, she and Riku didn't cross paths that much. Part from in The World That Never Was, but the two didn't interact or spoke to each other as she and Pete took it upon themselves to battle the Heartless so Riku's party can stop Xemnas. Even though Riku hasn't seen Maleficent since then, she has had run ins with DATA-Riku and his younger dark self from the past.

Quotes
"Silly Boy. You're like a son to me. I only want you to be happy."

- Maleficent to Riku; Kingdom Hearts

Fanon
The large age gap between Riku and Maleficent is the main reason people would rather ship them as friends than lovers. Maleficent telling Riku that saw him as a son in order to keep him loyal to her, however, had inspired another group to ship them as mother and son.

On AO3, the ship only has 10 gen fanfics.

Fandom

 * FANFICTION