A Nobody's Somebody

Chapter One

He pulled his hood up, masking his features. He felt the blades as they appeared in his hands, just having them there made him feel better. He was "Number Thirteen"; the last one. They were hiding something from him; leaving some information out of his story. He'd been given a name: Roxas. He couldn't remember what his 'true name' was. The white, barren room seemed to make his every move echo. He exhaled quickly; twirling both the Oathkeeper and Oblivion in his black, gloved hands. The fourteen-year-old slashed the weapons through the air relentlessly, even though there was nothing to destroy in the empty room.

Footsteps could be heard...light, careful footsteps. The boy spun around just in time to see the retreat of blonde hair and a small hand. As quietly as he could, he walked over to the doorway, seeing no one. Peering around into the hallway he still saw no one, but faintly heard the footsteps from before. They echoed in his mind, beckoning him to follow. The keyblades were dismissed as he followed the sound, running down the numerous hallways. Every so often, he'd catch a glimpse of hair, or a reflection of a shadow on the mirror-like floor. Turning down one last hallway, there was nowhere else to go. A dead end. But wait...

There was a door, one solitary door at the end of the hallway. In an attempt to close it, it met the doorway then quickly bounced back open maybe an inch. That was when he knew. Smirking, he walked toward the door, which, unbeknownst to him, would lead to answers. He peeked through the inch of open space for a moment, seeing that someone was indeed inside. He opened the door the rest of the way, making the figure inside jump. The figure that belonged to a small, blonde haired girl. The notebook in her hands dropped. The sound was left echoing through the room. The white room; like that should be a surprise. There was a table and a chair in the room, both being white. The Superior must have had an odd obsession with a black and white contrast. Everything in this castle was white except for occasional black-cloaked figures, Roxas being one of them... one of the thirteen. The rest of the room was empty, except for some blank papers scattered on the floor, and it even seemed more cold and lonely then the rest of the castle did. He didn't know why, but it did.

Roxas wasn't quite sure what to say, so he leaned against the doorway, watching; waiting. She picked up the notebook and placed it on table with the utmost care. She had tried to ignore him at first, arranging different colored pencils in some sort of order next to the notebook. Her eyes glanced up at him a few times while doing so, warily, nervously.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other; the action apparently scared her a little. She finally glanced up at him a few more times before those light blue eyes locked on to his and asked, "Can I help you?" in a slightly unnerved tone.

He walked into the room, standing two feet away from the table. After a long pause he asked, "Why were you watching me?" The question came about in a sort of threatening tone; he wished it could've sounded gentler.

She turned away, picking up some of the papers on the floor. "I was just walking somewhere, then came back here."

A Lie. Even Roxas could tell. He bit his lip lightly, thinking about how to sound less foreboding with the next question. "Why did you run?" His voice was quiet, as if he were talking to a small child. Like he knew how. He was told day in and day out, "You don't have a heart, so don't act like you do."

Regardless of this, the question came out sounding like he was talking to someone he cared about.

She paused at the tone of his voice, but continued busying herself with her papers. She finally stopped and turned around, purposefully on the other side of the table. He could tell that she didn't completely trust him, that he scared her. And why not? He had just been slashing through the air in an aggressive attempt to destroy something; anything.

Her voice broke through his thoughts when she replied, "I'm not supposed to leave this room..."

It was the truth, he could tell from the way she said it.

In one, abrupt instant, the silence was shattered by a haunting presence. Footsteps were approaching the room, quickly.

The girl stood up adding, "...and you shouldn't be here. You have to leave." Her eyes were in panic as he took one last glance.

Footsteps grew louder; closer.

He opened a swirling portal and walked inside. He walked through to the other end, back where he had started. In the room where he'd been before this had all happened. Where his every move echoed. Where he was alone.

Chapter Two

She watched him leave and the loneliness returned. Then right on cue, she saw him enter. The figure stepped through the open doorway, eyeing her suspiciously. She avoided his gaze. She'd rather be alone than have him breathing down her neck. He was number eleven in the Organization, otherwise known as Marluxia. There was something in his eyes, a mischievous, scheming glow to them. She was a fool for even thinking that he could help her. That had been before, this was now. They say hindsight is twenty-twenty. Whoever they were, she didn't know or care, but they were absolutely right.

She gasped as his hand fell on her shoulder, "Did you finish, Naminé?"

This girl, Naminé, moved some papers to the side, opening her notebook. She flipped through the pages as fast as she could, just to get him and his hand away; far away. The girl stopped, reaching a page that showed a half drawn sketch of a castle. Eventually it would be a fully drawn, tall, dark, jagged castle. You'd have to be crazy to think that you could find safety inside of this thing.

"Castle Oblivion," she heard him say, more to himself, admiring the work of art as if it were his own. "Finish it," he commanded quickly as he stepped back a little. His grasp was released, and she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Nevertheless, Naminé kept her gaze down, closing her eyes tightly. What had possessed her to think that she could trust him?

"Once she is finally done..." He was talking about that plan again. He wasn't talking to her of course, but to another. Larxene, the tall confident blonde who loved nothing more than to make others suffer. She caught a few words in his long period of rambling. Words such as, keyblade wielder, forget, no more memories, take over. Words like that. Naminé didn't pay attention to the details of this horrid plan, just did what she was told. All she'd been told to draw so far was that castle. What harm could that do? Implanting the image of some creepy castle into someone's memories couldn't hurt much, could it?

Marluxia walked toward the doorway with the hooded Larxene. She knew they were leaving.

He turned, stating these final words, "Do not leave this room." He said it differently then he usually did. It was said with more of an implication that she had snuck out. Which she did, but was obviously not going to admit it...ever.

She didn't look at him; her face felt hot. She'd left, and had almost been caught. Had he heard the voices?

He walked over toward her and cocked his head to the side. "I notice you've been wearing your hair over your right shoulder recently." He tossed it away, revealing a small, yet noticeable scar consisting of a long line near her collarbone. He turned her head to face the haunting mark and added, "Do not leave this room."

With that he left... thank goodness.

She turned away from the memory, staring at her lap, focusing on the little cross-stitched flowers on the ruffles of her white dress as she pulled her hair back to cover her scar.

Sighing, the fourteen-year-old rested her head on the table all the while thinking, "There has to be something more than this." Her thoughts roamed back to her visitor from before. The black cloak and hood meant one thing. It meant that he was one of them...one of the Organization. Could he be trusted? Truth be told, she felt like she had known him from long before. His voice was... familiar. He made her feel like she was...

"Impossible..." she thought aloud. "Black cloak, remember the black cloaks mean evil."

And yet...

Maybe they'd meet again. Just maybe she wouldn't have to be so alone.

Chapter Three

Deep blue eyes held fast in a vacant stare toward the ceiling. The no longer hooded Roxas then sat up, realizing he hadn't gotten the girls name. This was bothering him. He felt like he needed to know; he felt like he couldn't stop thinking about her. But that was ridiculous, right? He shouldn't be feeling this way about someone he barely knew... In fact, he shouldn't be feeling anything at all, should he?

He stood, walking out into the hallway. Twenty minutes had passed since he'd left her; twenty long minutes. Why did he even care?

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice calling his name, "Hey! Roxas!" And could that voice belong to no one other than Axel?

Roxas nodded a hello. He was normally pretty quiet around fellow Organization members anyway.

Axel was never one to beat around the bush, "So why weren't you at the meeting?" he questioned.

Roxas shrugged a reply and managed, "I- had better things to do." With this he leaned against the wall to his right, staring at the floor for a second before his friend asked, "Like what? I mean, seriously, there's never anything to do around here."

The fourteen year-old thought a second about how to respond to that. He settled with, "You'd be surprised."

Axel shook his head and laughed a little, "I'll take your word for it."

As two more members of this infamous Organization, specifically Marluxia and Larxene, walked by, Axel joined Roxas against the wall.

"They weren't at the meeting either," the red haired male stated matter-of-factly. An awkward silence passed between the two of them as Roxas was lost in his thoughts. Could that have been-?

"You want to go into town?" Axel asked making a portal.

The distracted Roxas shook his head, making his thoughts go away. His blonde hair swayed out of his eyes as he looked up and walked over to the portal, "Sure."

Axel gestured for him to go first and Roxas stepped through.

While Roxas was making his way to the other world, Axel followed after Marluxia and Larxene.

Chapter Four

Twilight Town. The sun was almost setting now. This was the only way Roxas could tell what time of day it was. The sun never shone on 'The World That Never Was'. If that wasn't appropriately named enough, he didn't know what was.

Axel should've been here by now.

Roxas shrugged the thought off and walked over to a fence that was built on the edge of the cliff that overlooked the whole town. He tugged on the neck of his cloak and groaned. These things were so annoying; they weighed his thin body down.

Just as he was thinking about how much he hated these things, Axel appeared next to him, leaning back on the fence. He had a half-eaten popsicle in his hand. He noticed Roxas' observation of this and then asked, "Oh. Did you want any?"

"No thanks," he still struggled with the outfits neck, "I think I've had enough of those in this past week to last me a lifetime."

Axel shrugged and continued to eat his.

Roxas decided to express his disdain for these uniforms, "It's like you can barely move in these...let alone fight in them."

"Or maybe you just can't fight," Axel laughed and tossed his left over Popsicle stick into the far off river below.

The agitation showed in his voice as he defended himself, "I can too."

His friend game him a playful shove, "You'll get used to them."

Roxas finally gave up on getting the neck to loosen and unzipped the burden, hanging it loosely on the fence. He could now be seen wearing baggy black pants covering black sneakers, making over half of his figure a silhouette in the sunset backdrop. The Organization uniform did not include a black undershirt; this fact left his chest bare, much to his discomfort. Oh how he missed his old clothes! He had them stashed somewhere in his room.

For about a half hour the two talked about seeing different worlds, becoming whole, how they couldn't stand when Demyx played his stupid sitar saying, "Dance water dance!" over and over again late at night when everyone wanted some sleep, and plenty of other things that they could find to talk about. Finally the sun fell and only the painted streaks and hues it had left behind remained, if only for a minute.

"We'd better get back," Axel commented as he made a portal.

Roxas nodded, putting the cloak back on reluctantly. He almost didn't want to go back to the dark world. It was so beautifully peaceful here...he wished he could live in this world. There were more colors than black and white, and it never seemed to rain.

Nonetheless, they traveled back to the castle. The empty white halls reminded Roxas of the lonely girl and a thought came to mind. She seemed to respect Marluxia and Larxene enough... if they truly were the members keeping her there. Maybe if he was going to get answers, he'd have to act like them. As much as he didn't like the idea, he knew that the others had ways of manipulating people so they could get what they wanted. He'd try it.

Axel said his good byes and Roxas stretched, yawning.

Tomorrow.

Chapter Five

Sleep never came easy for her. She stood up for a moment, pacing even though her legs felt like Jell-O. She opened her notebook; stopping on one of the pages she liked best. It was a picture of a sunset. Oranges, soft pinks, purples, blues, and golden hues spread across the page. She shook her head, pushing the notebook to the other end of the table. Her small body shook slightly. Whether it be from the cold or from the days events, she shivered. Sitting back down in her chair Naminé looked toward the door one more time, then felt her scar. Was it worth it?

"No," she mouthed. She'd grown accustomed to talking to herself. "I wouldn't make it through the halls, they'd hear me... and I'd take too long."

The chair slid rather nicely across the floor when she pulled herself closer to the table. She held her head up and closed her eyes. Eventually her head was rested on its hard surface, and she was asleep. But her sleep was not an easy one in the least. Nightmares haunted her, and when she jolted forward from the dreams, she had no one to cry to about them. All she could do was go back to sleep and await her next visit, the very thing she was dreading most.

Eventually, morning seemed to come. The time on her mental clock seemed right, and she got up to get her notebook. Walking over to the more empty part of her 'designated room', she flipped through the pages; one stray paper fell to the floor. Out of utter frustration and lack of a good nights sleep, she threw her notebook to the ground. Her papers always seemed to end up there, why not just leave them there? Then the footsteps came. She hurried to gather them up, all the while scrambling about. She scraped her notebook off of the floor and quickly set it on the table. The footsteps continued, almost getting faster in her mind. They stopped at the door. She didn't look in that direction, but continued to pick up her papers. Something felt off; still she did not turn around. The same footsteps walked toward her, they were loud and confident. She swallowed and reached for her drawing of a field. A hand reached down next to hers, successfully picking the rest of her drawings up; they were not Marluxia's hands. Thank goodness. With this she turned abruptly, only inches from the stranger's hooded face. It was him again. She saw strands of blonde hair in his shaded eyes. He was smiling.

"Miss me?" his voice asked...differently from the first time they'd met.

She turned back around and snatched the papers from his grasp, "No." She found the answer appropriate enough. She had never truly 'missed him' per say. She commenced arranging the papers to face the same way again. Out of the corner of her eye she could see him flipping through her notebook.

"Did you draw all of these?" he asked.

She set her papers in the center of the table and replied, "Yes," reaching for the notebook.

His hooded head shook and pulled it from her reach. She imagined he was enjoying this.

"You're good," he commented getting to the sunset page, "Ever been here?"

She shook her head immediately.

He put the notebook gently on the table, an action she was expecting the least.

Normally her notebook was tossed around recklessly, but he put it down carefully.

His hand stretched out and a portal appeared, "Do you want to be there?" he asked, sounding more like his personality from yesterday.

She glanced warily at the portal, then back at him.

"You don't?" he asked with fake surprise, probably picked up from Larxene, "Well if so, I'll just get rid of it and let you stay here to wait for Marluxia."

He knew. Her face expressed her shock that he'd figured it out.

"I'm not stupid," he said, clearly reading her expression.

She looked down, contemplating her options. She could go through the portal and run away, or wait here. With that, she bolted for the portal that would supposedly lead to her freedom. She had some small hope that he wasn't like the others, despite the cocky attitude he now displayed.

The sun was rising here, wherever here was exactly. She couldn't help but stop and stare. Whatever she had drawn back in that room was nothing compared to this beautiful wonder. It was...breathtaking. Then she remembered her goal. She was going to run; run far far away. She took off down the hill. The colors of the surroundings around her blended and blurred. She finally rushed herself into a common area. There were people here. Lots and lots of people. She didn't even bother to act casual, but ran past them all.

Naminé found herself in a forest near some...abandoned mansion of sorts. She slowed down some, catching her breath, when she felt a tug on her arm. Gentle.

"What are we running from?" the hooded boy asked her. She could almost see his smirk through the tone in his voice. This was the boy from yesterday. She liked this side of him.

He made no efforts to terrify her into submission, so she took the freedom she got.

She tugged her arm away and tried to slow her breathing.

"This is the first place I remember..." she heard him say, almost as if to himself. He turned back toward her and asked, "What's the first thing you remember?"

She paused. She knew good and well what she remembered, she just hated thinking about it. He was lucky to have spawned in such a serene environment.

She looked down and asked, "Why did you bring me here?"

A pause.

"You brought yourself here," he replied making yet another portal, "I just wanted to show you the sunrise."

She sighed, feeling a twinge of guilt. After a few moments of silence she went to walk through, but he stopped her.

"Wait," he instructed quietly, then his voice was a little louder, "I want your name."

"Not until I get yours," she replied calmly.

"Number Thirteen."

"That's an unlucky number, you know," she turned to face him. There was the smallest glimpse of a smile on her face.

She heard his sigh before he, to her surprise, willingly replied, "I'm Roxas."

"My name is Naminé."

At this he let her go through the portal which led back to her room.

He came through after her, stating, "I have a meeting to get to," he strolled toward the door, "and something tells me that you'll be paid another visit today from your two favorite people in the whole wide world."

She slumped into her chair and nodded, reaching for her notebook.

"I'll come back for you-"

She looked up.

"-Naminé."

Next thing she knew, he was gone.

Roxas...was gone.

Chapter Six

He'd gotten her name. What a beautiful name it was.

"Naminé."

Of course he'd given up his own, but what did it matter? He had hers.

He made his way down the hallway as quickly as possible. As quietly as possible. When he was finally in the clear, he stood still for a moment. He pulled his hood down and felt like he could breath again. He wasn't quite sure why he kept his hood up around her. He walked again, faster. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Maybe it was because it left a piece of mysteriousness about him, since he'd just given up his identity. Maybe it was because he didn't know what she'd think of him if she saw his face. Maybe it was-

Marluxia and Larxene passed by, and his face turned from a thinking expression to a soft glare. He quickly turned his gaze to the floor before they could catch it and remembered the meeting. He created a portal and the next place he saw was the circular arrangement of pillar-like chairs that made even the mightiest member of the Organization look insignificant. Thirteen chairs. He was in his; it was the lowest. He was the last member after all. All thirteen members were there...except for Marluxia, number eleven, and Larxene, number twelve. Among the missing members were numbers four through six, and...Number eight? Axel wasn't showing up? He was the one who'd been bugging Roxas to come to them all along.

Or maybe...

"Maybe Axel never came either, but wanted to play on prank on me or something..."

He sunk back in his place and prepared himself for a boring waste of his time.

"Thanks a lot buddy."

Chapter Seven

Number Thirteen, Roxas, was right. They came.

Unfortunately for her, they wanted to see how far along she was with her sketch. She hadn't done any more work on it then the last time.

So they stayed. About half an hour at most... but they stayed none the less. Why did they stay? They wanted to make sure she got her work done.

So for the past half an hour or so, Naminé has had the two people she dislikes the most in life, or what life she'd experienced, breathing down her neck. She should've just given them drawing lessons. That would've been a riot.

Once she'd almost finished, they left her. As far as what she'd heard, tomorrow would be the day in which this keyblade wielder would enter Castle Oblivion. Something about this whole set up gave Naminé an upset stomach, but she let the feeling pass… or tried to anyway. The thing was, she wasn't quite sure why her role in all of this was so important. From what she'd seen of this Organization, their intentions were not so good. So for this very reason, she left a corner of Castle Oblivions dark stucco blank. If Roxas really was the one they were after… she didn't know anymore.

As unimportant as this may seem, it was a very vital move on her part. Because little did the young nobody know, tonight was the night of the meteor shower… and it wasn't Roxas' memories she'd be affecting.

Hours went by.

Roxas would come for her any minute.

Chapter Eight

In the middle of the infamous meeting, Roxas had an idea come to him. Maybe Naminé would trust him more if she did see his face. Or maybe if he didn't wear the regular Organization garb, he would be more approachable. He still had his old clothes…

As soon as the meeting got out, he made a portal to his room and looked under his bed. They were there all right. He pulled them out from under his mattress and locked his door all in one move. He then undressed and changed as fast as he could. Something inside was telling him he didn't have much time.

He forgot the preliminaries of tiptoeing quietly down to the forgotten hallway with the lone door. Instead he ran. He didn't try to make his steps quiet. He just ran.

By the time he got to her room, he was out of breath. He took a moment to recover his breath and then knocked on her door.

No answer.

He knocked again, "It's me."

She opened it.

Chapter Nine

His voice did not match up with the boy before her.

Had he not spoken a word, she wouldn't have believed it really was him.

"Roxas?" she asked, opening the door all the way.

"None other," was his reply.

She was shocked. He looked so…so… innocent; so young and pure. If it hadn't been that slightly pallid look of the Organization in his eyes, he could easily be mistaken as just some kid. Some kid who was stupid enough to waltz right into the Organization's headquarters. But that would be an impossible feat.

He made his way in himself while what manners she knew escaped her as she stared.

She finally blinked a few times then asked in her usual, quiet voice, "You came back?"

"I said I would, didn't I?" he replied. "Besides, you never saw a sunset in Twilight Town before."

Naminé made a slight smile as she walked toward her notebook, making the harsh drawing of Castle Oblivion go away.

She wished it could stay away forever.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Roxas ask, "Naminé?"

"Yes?"

The portal was ready and waiting.

She knew what to do.

Walking through to the other side, Roxas only a few steps behind her, she noticed that a sunset in Twilight Town wasn't all that different from a sunrise.

"It's noon," he explained, "but in Twilight Town, the sky is always like this."

"Oh," was her reply.

"Besides," he added, "we've got time to kill."

She frowned, "Maybe you do."

They looked around, noticing that they blended in well without the black cloak.

"So what are we supposed to do," she asked as she looked around the Tram Common area.

"Whatever you want to do," he replied, "I guess."

"I don't want to get caught, that's what I want."

"You're fine."

"How do you know?"

"Just trust me, okay?"

She followed his lead as they walked toward where the train station was.

Chapter Ten

They walked inside the windowed doors and he led her toward the window to pay for tickets.

He fished around in his pocket, finding that he had enough munny to get to the other side of Twilight Town. Normally, he'd just portal his way there, but he wanted some time to talk.

The man inside waited for him to ask the question he knew the two teenagers on the outside would ask. Talk about a boring lifestyle.

Roxas had seen tons of other kids pay for tickets, so he followed the example they'd set.

"Two students," he said handing the munny to the man inside the booth, "Thanks." He held the tickets and turned. She was standing there, eyes wide, looking at everything all at once.

He smiled slightly then asked, "You coming?"

She turned toward him and replied, "I followed you this far, didn't I?"

The train car was empty when they got inside and sat down across the isle from each other.

Once it started, Roxas started to speak, "So what's the story?"

"Hmm?" she asked, combing her fingers through her hair.

"Why do they keep you all alone in your room? Why do you have to draw that castle? Why are you so afraid all the time? What's to fear?"

Her gaze fell to the floor.

The muted sound of the train running across the tracks was all that could be heard.

His face was that of a boy in frustration. No one would tell him anything around here! He looked out the window, watching the houses go by.

Her quiet tone of voice caught him off guard, "I'm not your equal."

He looked back at her, those wide sky blue eyes of hers held more sorrow than he knew.

"And I'm not an open book either."

"Why won't you just tell me? What's so bad about your life that I can't comprehend? We're both Nobodies. I'll understand."

She sighed and let her arms fall into her lap as she turned her gaze toward the window.

More silence.

He noticed, as her hair was off of her shoulder when she went to look out the window, the small scar. That was it. Even if he didn't have any feelings- for her or anything else- he had to know what was up.

"I should go back," she said more to herself, "before they find out."

"I'm not taking you back," was his stubborn reply, "unless you tell me why you need to get back."

He could tell by the look on her face that the closed book that she was, was about to open.

"What's the first thing you remember?" he asked, keeping the question simple.

She noticed her scar was visible and figured there was no use in trying to hide it. Her voice was monotone when she continued to stare out at the horizon. She began, "Rain."

Chapter Eleven

He asked her to elaborate; so she did, unwillingly.

Her voice was in a constant monotone, putting the Nobodies lack of emotion to good use.

She chose her words carefully, avoiding details when she didn't want to relive the memories.

"Rain was the first thing I saw when I first came into existence. It was hitting my legs until I pulled them under the extended piece of roof I was under. I remember not knowing where I was or what had happened. I knew that I wasn't who I thought I was. When I looked down at the puddles of rain, I saw that my feet had sandals on them when they should've had sneakers. My clothes that I'd thrown on that morning were gone, and instead I was wearing this dress. I turned around and looked into the store window to see if I could get some help, but no one was there. The streetlight was flickering, but I saw that I really wasn't who I thought I was. My hair was longer and blonde, but I still had the face I knew behind it.

My name was Kairi, I wondered if that was even the same anymore.

As I turned to look for a sign to tell me what city this was, someone was there, blending into the darkness with their hooded black cloak. He terrified me. But he was still a person, so I asked them if he knew where this was.

'Of course I do Naminé,' he replied. And instantly I knew that something was wrong. Instantly I felt that I had no heartbeat. I knew that I was only a fraction of the person I thought I was and now longed to be. I knew that I could draw, and that when I did something terrible would happen.

What I didn't know what that I shouldn't trust-

I shouldn't trust the people who wore the black cloaks."

He interrupted, "Why? What else happened?"

"He told me his name, Marluxia, and that I was in the world of the Organization, where everyone else like me belonged.

He said he could get me to somewhere safe and out of the rain. He said that someday everyone like me would become whole.

He made one of those portals, and since I was clueless as to anything now, I went through. Then he told me to wait, so I did. But I could hear every word he was saying. He was talking to the Superior about how he'd found me and didn't know what to do about the whole situation. The Superior suggested, more like commanded, that by using my memory manipulation to eventually control the keyblade wielder, they could get more hearts to become whole with."

"I'm the keyblade wielder."

"I know."

"So what happened after that?"

"Marluxia came and got me, and led me to my room, the one with the notebook and everything. Someone, I don't know which member it was, but someone was expecting me.

He told me that this would be where I could work to help their cause and become whole again. I looked at the notebook and tried to think of how I could get out of this, whatever this was.

Before I knew what was happening, he'd made another portal to that Castle I have drawn in my notebook. He told me I could start by drawing it. For the first time, I noticed the look in his eyes. It screamed evil.

I told him I wouldn't be a part of whatever they were planning, and went to run away- but there was nowhere to run away to.

He grabbed me by my shoulder and pulled me back. Basically saying I had to do what he told me to do or there'd be consequences.

When he made another portal, making me go through first, I found myself back in the room with the notebook."

"What'd you do?"

"I ran. I ran out into the hallway to find Larxene in my way. When I tried to get away from her, she swept her arm across me, and that's where this came from.

It hurt like anything. Like lightning. They sat me down in my chair and told me many things.

One was that I could never leave my room.

The next day I heard of the keyblade wielder in the Organization's headquarters and wanted to warn him, but at the last minute I changed my mind."

"Why?"

"He was one of them…" she bit her lip slightly, "…he was you."

Chapter Twelve

The train stopped a few moments after silence engulfed the car.

"You know the rest," she finished.

He stood, "They want to control me?"

"I think so…" she paused, "I don't know of any other keybearers."

"That must be why they don't tell me anything…"

He led the way off the train and tried to get rid of the distraction that was keeping his mind away from Naminé, who was his original distraction from the information he tried to discover which was now the current distraction. In other words, his priorities were now completely messed up thanks to the girl standing next to him.

Perfect.

He interrupted his own thoughts by starting with, "Well, there's a lot of Twilight Town to see and so little time. Where do you want to go first?"

"You would know where to start better than I would," she started, enjoying the idea of seeing the world she may never see again. Then sensibility invaded her once more, "but that's not the point. I need to get back before they find out I'm gone."

She paused, then, "I know you're taking me back after this. You are, aren't you?"

"Yeah-"

She cut him off, "Which means if I don't get back now…"

It was his turn to interrupt, "We don't…have to go back…I mean…"

What was he saying?

He changed the subject, "Let's start off over there. There's this waterfall. It's pretty…I guess…well maybe you'll think it's pretty umm…"

He started to walk.

'You don't have emotions, so don't act like you do.'

He wasn't acting.

Chapter Thirteen

"I'll come back for you! I promise!"

They desperately held on to each other as long as the widening void would allow.

"I know you will!"

They're hands were torn apart.

Two young hearts had just been separated. But their separation would not be a permanent one. He'd come back for her…

He'd promised.

She believed him with every fiber in her heart.

And as the stars flashed across the night sky, she stood on the shoreline that formed around her.

All the worlds that the heartless had devoured were returning.

Everything would be right again.

She turned as the familiar palm trees shot up behind her.

He was not only her hero, but a hero to countless others as well.

She'd miss him, but he'd return. He was going to save their fallen friend.

He'd promised.

Chapter Fourteen

It was late.

He'd shown her all of Twilight Town in one day, and now came the best part.

"Sunset hill has the best view in Twilight Town," he told her.

"It's…"

She took it all in.

"… amazing."

She turned a second to look at him.

He was leaning forward on the fence, smiling. Not a smirk; not a half smile… he beamed.

In one second, they were both rushed with a flood of emotions they didn't know they had.

She found herself smiling back until out of the corner of her eye, she saw something flash across the twilight.

"What was-" she started.

All in one second, hundreds of shooting stars burst into view. Their pattern was random, but beautiful. And as soon as one of them was finished its journey, it would form a new star in the sky.

Then, something even stranger happened.

She felt a heartbeat. It was inside her.

The pulsing filled her ears and seemed to spread a new feeling through her. She looked at Roxas; it jumped. Little did she know, the same thing was happening to him.

"Breathtaking," she breathed as she found herself inching closer to the boy beside her.

The number of stars decreased.

They looked toward each other.

"Naminé," he finally started, "you're…different…from the others."

"So are you," she replied. Then she couldn't believe she had said it. He really was different.

"We can't fight our fate though," she added. "We're nobodies. Nobodies are doomed to fade into darkness." The truth was the truth, after all.

A pause.

"You're always somebody to me," he debated gently, throwing all logic to the wind.

She felt warm as his hand brushed her cheek, sweeping some hair away from her face.

They were not acting like themselves…

It was almost as if they could feel. Almost as if they were Somebodies.

But maybe they could feel.

She smiled up at him, then finally asked, "What are we doing?"

His eyes gleamed, replying for him. He leaned in slowly. She leaned the rest of the way.

And as their lips touched, the stars stopped their flittering across the sky. The pulsing of their hearts went away. Another pause. He pulled away, face flushed red. She did the same with a face just as embarrassed and confused.

They were not themselves… and yet…

They were.