Prologue: Hayner- Growing Up (The Hard Way)

AN- Hey guys! As you can probably see if you glanced at my profile, this is my first story here on FF. You don't have to go easy on me because of that but…well, do you think you could a little?

Heh heh…

So, if you read the description, you'll see this is a Seifer/Hayner fic. If you have a problem with that, well then, why the hell did you click on this story on the first place? If you mis-clicked (that even a word?), there should be a handy little back arrow somewhere on your computer screen.

There's also an adorable little button at the bottom of this page. It likes to be tickled. Click on it, and it will love you forever and ever and ever and ever…

I digress.

Oh yes, there is also going to be general bad language, bad situations, bad dreams, and bad hairdos. If any or all of the previous cause you dizziness, vomiting, or nose bleeds, watch out!

Disclaimer- Notice how Demyx died? And Axel died? And Roxas became part of Sora? And fricking Xigbar died?

Yeah. I don't own.

…

He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind that the first one wasn't his fault.

He had totally forgotten about leaving one of his model cars at the top of the stairs. He did it often enough that his mind no longer processed it as dangerous. He barely used them anymore anyway. And he had only slowly begun picking up the signs of his parents' fights; the raised voices in the middle of the night when they thought he and his younger sister, Naminé, were asleep, his father's long absences, the messiness of their bedroom when he went in there to steal back his IPod.

So, really, he knew it wasn't completely his fault when his mother stormed out of their room, slamming the door, turned sharply on her heel, stepping on the toy car, and falling down the stairs. The loud thud sent him running out of his room, screaming when he saw the broken body below him. Naminé emerged from her own room as soon as the first yell left his mouth. She was calmer than him, but her already pale face drained of any color at all when she saw the sight at the bottom of the stair, grabbing the phone out of his pocket and dialing 911.

His mother died that day.

It wasn't really his fault, but guilt pounded on him in waves, as Larxene's barely controlled voice reached his ear over the phone, and Naminé sobbed quietly to herself. He was so guilty and angry and when his father's neutral, not caring voice reached his ears, he found he hated him.

The first one might not have been his fault, but the second one and the third one sure were.

It was three months later, and they were driving to Nam's choir recital, and they were screaming at each other because of all that hate and his father's eyes were off the road, and Naminé was shrieking at them to stop it, stop it.

They didn't see the man crossing the street until it was too late. His father was speeding down the road, and he caught the figure out of the corner of his eye. He strangled out a curse (SHIT!) and swerved into oncoming traffic. There was a sickening crunch as the back side of the car hit the man anyway.

There was nothing but their breath for a split second. Then, the car hit them.

Besides all the screeching metal (Naminé?) all he could process was the pain and the twisted body beside him, and oh god was that blood (NAMINÉ!) on his sister's white dress? And he was fine, except for the spinning of his head, and the slowly growing hate that was already mounting in his head and (Mother of Jesus…) the guilt.

He didn't notice he was screaming until hasty hands pulled him out of his seat.

Later at the hospital, he scrunched himself into a ball, burrowing himself into the very corner of the couch in the waiting room, trying to get rid of the aching cold feeling in his heart as he anxiously awaited the doctor's return.

"What do you fucking mean I can't see her right now? And what do you fucking mean you don't know where Hayner is?"

"Larxene?" he whispered, lifting his head the tiniest bit. Sure enough, he could see her tiny ponytail bouncing as she leaned over the counter and hissed in the terrified nurse's face.

"Listen, you piece of shit, my whole family has just been in a fucking car accident, my father is dead, I'm missing an important lecture for college, and you're telling me I cannot see my fucking siblings?"

"Larxene," he called a bit louder. Her face froze mid-snarl, and she slowly pivoted on one foot, her eyes landing on his scrunched up form. Abandoning the ready to faint nurse, she marched closer to him, and he buried himself deeper in the couch, expecting harsh words and maybe a slap across the face for being so stupid.

He did not expect to be wrenched out of his seat and pulled into a bone crushing embrace. Her face pressed into his neck, whispering furious and relieved words. He noticed she smelled like the sky after a storm, with the faintest whiff on cinnamon.

Eventually, his arms found his way around her waist, hugging her back as he fought the urge to cry. It was his fault his usually brash and brutish sister was acting so odd. It was his fault his father and that man was dead. It was his fault Nam was in the hospital.

And he wasn't even fucking hurt.

There was a soft clearing of the throat from behind him, and Larxene hastily pulled away, wiping at her unusually wet eyes. She was crying… Larxene was crying.

"So, how's Naminé, Doc?" she ground out, barely keeping the vulnerability out of her voice. "What's the verdict?"

"Physically, she's fine," the doctor started, and Hayner let out the breath that he'd been holding. "Nothing but a few cuts and bruises."

"What's the catch?" Larxene demanded, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes as the doctor's face became uncomfortable.

"Sometimes when people are in terrible and traumatic situations, it can…cause a physical reaction. Some people become paranoid, or develop insomnia, or even completely withdraw from society," the doctor started nervously.

"Get to the point, you son of a bitch!"

The doctor flinched at Larxene's sharp voice, rubbing his eyes. "Naminé…seems to have lost her voice. She's mute."

Utter silence.

"I'm told that she was a beautiful singer," the doctor stated hesitantly, eyes darting between their shocked faces in concern. "I'm sorry. You can go in and see her now."

He left them there.

Immediately, Larxene took off down the hallway, Hayner right at her heels. They sprinted through the twists and turns of the hospital until they reached Naminé's door, and Larxene kicked the door open.

Nam looked up from her clasped hands, her eyes lighting up when she saw who it was. Her mouth opened and…

Nothing came out.

Hayner stared at her blankly as Larxene kneeled at her side, pulling her into her arms just as fiercely as she had Hayner. All he could think was that this was his fault too, the fourth life he'd ruined.

He ignored the tiny voice in his head that said that it wasn't really his fault. All he knew was that it was his own self-absorbed feelings that had ruined these four lives and he'd be damned if there was a fifth.

So, he swore that he would never let anyone get close to him ever again. That way he'd never get close enough to hurt them. He knew he probably wasn't thinking clearly, but it was the first thing that made sense to him since his mother died.

So, he offered a false, reassuring smile at Naminé's silently concerned look, and knelt next to her bed, drawing both his sisters into his arms.

…

AN- Just FYI for anyone curious: the dashes in the middle are meant to signify time passing, while the dots show the ending and beginning of the chapter.

Yes, I know that somebody out there is probably thinking WTF? Naminé and Hayner and Larxene are RELATED? And YES they are. I was gonna do Demyx, but I already have another place for him in the story, and I didn't want Cloud to be the older sibling, and Larxene just kinda worked well… And I needed Naminé to be the younger sister for obvious reasons… So, we ended up with that fantastic family arrangement.

I'm gonna have so much fun with this.

Reviews make the author work faster! You know…if you care…

This is tLrIuEtSh signing off!