"Of course you two made friends. How could you two not be?" She grinned brightly. "He needs someone who can remind him he's a good person, and you can see that in him. And you need someone who can love you, and he can see all the thing in you worth loving!"

To her it wasn't because of her relationship with Riku, it was because of who Namine was. As herself. Brave, strong, resourceful, sweet. If she was part of Kairi, in many ways, she was the part of Kairi that was her hope for who she could eventually become. She was sure that Sora wouldn't have left Namine behind to wait for him, after all. She was strong and ready to help. It took Kairi to get to that point, if she had even reached it yet.

Having Namine here meant she had her sister, her friend, and a living example to live up to.