Block Party of the Summer

by Crimsonwings92

A new girl comes to town and throws the party of the century! And, she even captures the heart of our favorite blonde! One-shot with RoxasxOC! You'll like it, trust me!

Jamaican Sunshower: Hey ya'll, what's up! I'm back, but this time with a one-shot! I had this idea for a like, two months before I finally posted it up! So read it and tell me what you think! Here it is! Block Party of the Summer!

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Block Party of the Summer

The sun was bright and warm on that clear summer day, illuminating everything in its familiar, cheerful glow. The buildings stood tall and erect throughout the town, giving off the sense of majestic exploration if one were new. We see a red town tranny pass by a set of houses, one of which we focus on for this story. It's a modest, two story house painted a burning red, the same color as the sky as the sunsets behind the horizon. And coming out of the front door is a young girl of 16. Her dark, chocolate skin shines silky smooth from the rays of the sun, her ink black hair falling to just above mid-back catching the light and appearing glossy. Royal purple eyes looked about her surroundings, taking in the details of her new environment. This is Faizah (Fay-Shah), a newly acquired resident of Twilight Town. Due to some tragic event that will not be revealed at this time, Faizah was forced to leave LA, the home of her birth, and take refuge with her new guardians and friends of her family, Squall, he prefers to be called Leon, and Cloud Strife

"Bye Cloud! Bye Leon! I'll be back before dinner!" Faizah called into the house to the men that were now responsible for her life.

A second later, a tall man with sun blond, spiky hair, electric blue eyes, a lean, muscled figure and a warm smile came onto the porch with Faizah. This man is known as Cloud Strife, Faizah's guardian and Leon's husband of four years. Cloud leaned down to eye level of his daughter by adoption, smile still in place.

"Alright, Faizah. Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" the man asked her.

Faizah shook her head, "I'm sure, you've spent enough time with me for the past two weeks just getting my room redone and helping me settle in. You and Leon haven't had enough together time. So now's your day, okay?"

The young girl had moved to Twilight Town two weeks ago, right after the end of her sophomore year. She didn't want to skip school two weeks before it ended, so she decided to stick it out until the summer to make the final arrangements. Now, she was three weeks into summer vacation and had yet had the chance to explore the city of Twilight Town, being as how she had been extremely busy redecoration her room and buying the furniture she wanted to complete the décor.

"You weren't a bother to us, you know that, right Fai?" Cloud asked, his eyes shinning with concern.

"Hehehe, I know, but you guys still need your time," Faizah answered.

"Well, okay, but you be careful and call if you need anything. You have your phone right?"

Faizah reached into her short's pocket and pulled out her new iPhone, a welcome gift given to her by Cloud and Leon, "Yup! Got it right here! And yes, your number is on speed dial!"

Cloud chuckled slightly as he pulled her jacket tighter around her body and zipped it up, "Okay, everyone in Twilight Town is pretty friendly, but that doesn't mean you can just talk to any stranger. Stay away from the tracks in town and stay away from all boys."

"You're getting into the fatherly role pretty well, ya know that?" Faizah joked, laughing at Cloud's mention for her to stay away from boys period at this point.

Cloud smiled sadly, "But no one can replace YOUR father, Faizah."

Faizah's smile faltered and then fell at the thought of her father. Her eyes began to water and she fought to keep the tears from falling. Cloud gathered her into his arms, holding her smaller body against his strong, bigger one. Faizah clutched Cloud's white shirt lightly, taking deep breaths to calm her sadness.

"It'll be alright, Fai, I promise you. Leon and I will never leave you," Cloud whispered.

Faizah laughed before pulling away, a small smile on her lips, "You know what's funny? Dad said the same thing."

With that, she pulled away from Cloud and made her way down the stairs of the porch, turning once to wave good bye before walking off in some random direction. Cloud watched as she strode away, his eyes glowing from sadness. The poor girl has suffered much in her short 16-year life span, experiencing pain that no child should have to experience. Just then, a pair of strong arms encircled Cloud's waist as he was pulled into a fit, warm body. The blonde sighed and leaned into the source of warmth as lips gently kissed his neck.

"Do you remember when she was a child, Leon? When you first introduced me to her?" he asked the brunette behind him.

"I do," Leon answered.

"She was so happy, her smile was so bright and cheerful. It made me laugh just to look at her. She was the happiest little girl in the world, despite all the misery around her, but now," Cloud stopped, sadness overcoming him, "Now, all that misery is catching up with her. Do you think we can bring her happiness back?"

Leon was silent for a moment, watching Faizah round a corner and disappear, a light bounce in her step. He remembered meeting her when she was barely 5 years old and he was 15. It was just herself and her father at the time, her mother having passed the year before. Leon could remember walking into that house in LA, his face expressionless and his mood dreary. Then, here comes little Faizah, a smiling little ball of childish wonder. The minute he had walked in the door, she was bouncing, skipping, and dancing around him in ecstatic energy. Leon couldn't help but laughing at the human ball of pure joy, running after her in a game of tag and hide-and-seek. He soon fell in love with the little child as she cuddled into his lap after a day of fun, vowing to always protect her no matter what. It was the same promise Cloud made when Leon introduced him to Faizah on her ninth birthday. She greeted the blonde with the same energy as on the day she met Leon. Cloud, without a second thought, had fallen in love with the child, wanting to actually kidnap her so he could have her as his own.

Even when the two went off to college, they still kept in contact with Faizah and her father, sending birthday cards every year and making trips to visit for holidays or breaks. Faizah was even the flower girl at their wedding, being the one to congratulate them a hundred times over for their happiness. She was their main source of joy, the person they called when they wanted someone to tell them that everything was going to be all right when things were going wrong, even if she was too young to fully understand the gravity of an adult situation. She was always there for them, a smile and a laugh ready when they needed it. Now, she needed them more than ever. She needed someone to tell HER that everything was going to be okay when her life was so wrong.

"I think that it will take Faizah a while to get used to her new life and even take her longer to become fully happy again," Leon answered his husband.

Cloud's brow furrowed in displeasure at the words, not exactly wanting to hear them like that, "So, we can't make her happy? We're letting her down before we even start?"

"No, that's not what we're doing. We can make her happy, but I doubt it will be the usual happiness she used to have as a child. She's been through hell and back before she came to us and now, all we can do is be there for her," Leon stated.

Cloud turned to face his husband, taking in the sight of his long, brown hair and stormy blue eyes, his own electric ones doubtful, "Will that be enough?"

Leon stroked his cheek, giving it a light kiss, "It will be for now."

Cloud sighed before a smile grazed his features, "Alright, that's what I wanted to hear."

Leon chuckled before leaning down to kiss Cloud on the lips gently, "Now then, I believe Faizah will be gone for the rest of the day and has given us her permission to spend time together. Why don't we make efficient use of that time, huh?"

Cloud blushed at the discreet suggestion, nonetheless following his handsome husband back into the house to spend some "quality time" together as Faizah had suggested. Let's consider the young girl lucky that she had left the house.

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Faizah looked curiously around her surroundings, taking in the new sights as she passed by. Twilight Town was buzzing with activity, natives and vacationers mingling amongst each other. She soon found herself in what looked to be the town Plaza. It was just littered with small stores, accessory shops, and vendors. A small, red train moved through the town, taking people from place to place since the Plaza did seem quite large. Finding the Plaza a little too crowded for explorations at the moment, Faizah took a detour down an open alley and walked down the sloping hill on the other side. When she made it to the bottom of the slope, she passed a sign that read "The Sandlot." She stared at the sign before looking about her at the new location, finding it strange that they would name this sandless place "The Sandlot." It was just a moderately sized area with what looked to be an arena in the middle of it. Other buildings surrounded the arena and, kids her age and younger were scattered everywhere, the most crowding around the arena.

They kept shouting out, "Struggle! Struggle! Struggle!"

'Struggle?' Faizah thought to herself, trying to get a better glimpse of what was going on, 'That doesn't sound very fun. Interesting, yes. Fun? Not so much.'

She saw what looked like blue bats being swung around from within the arena, the sight peaking her curiosity. She crept closer, really wanting to see what was happening and just barely missing getting knocked down by some kid. The kid turned around to apologize, his ocean blue eyes curious once he caught sight of her. His hair seemed to catch the very essence of the sun, glowing blonde as it spiked up towards the sky. His skin was slightly pale, telling a story of maybe some time spent in the sun yet not enough to really darken his skin.

"Uh, sorry about that," the guy said, his blue gaze never leaving her.

Faizah shrugged, "It's cool, no harm done."

With that, she turned and walked away from the crowd of teens, giving up on trying to see what a "Struggle" was. The blue eyed boy watched as she left, curiosity riddling his mind.

Faizah walked back up the slope towards a small section of where smaller shops were located. There, she was surprised to find a red-haired man with glowing green eyes performing in the very middle of the area. He was shirtless, this fact making Faizah's face hot, and he had a red Hawaiian like cloth around his waist. He was twirling two sticks between his fingers with great expertise, impressing the crowd with his agility. She moved to the front of the crowd, wanting to see the whole show with no interruptions. The green-eyed man juggled the fire sticks, swiftly doubling them together to form one large stick of flame. He leaned down and picked up a green bottle of liquid. Taking a swig of the liquid, he smirked at the crowd before spluttering it into the flame, making a huge gust of heat leave the stick. The people gasped, watching in wonder as the man moved about the circle, performing the same trick over and over again. With no warning, he turned his piercing green eyes to Faizah before sliding close to her and sending a gust of fire over her head. She gasped before clapping joyously at the performance, throwing 20 munny into the small, red and black box the man had set out for donations. The redhead smiled gratefully at her before taking up her hand and giving the back of it a soft kiss. Faizah blushed at the show of gratitude before nodding her head and moving on from the small area and up another slope.

She found herself just moving up the slope to another landing, finding nothing but more pathways to other alleys and even some underground waterways. Just when she was about to go down one of these dark places, she turned to her right and spotted a peculiar sight. It looked to be some form of gate with a torn, red sheet covering half of the opening. Curiosity getting the better of her, she moved towards the gate and peaked inside. It was a room or maybe a secret clubhouse for teens. She stepped inside and looked around in awe, taking in the new scenery. There was a couch and a love seat adjacent to each other and then some sort of grayish, motor right next to the love seat. Off on the opposite wall was a table, just idly sitting there yet adding nicely to the room the color of off-white. There were posters and billboards hung about the place and just above where the huge motor sat was an opening into the room.

"Wow," Faizah breathed, moving over to analyze the poster on wall following the entranceway. It was a poster of Twilight Town itself, the clock tower standing majestically above the city. She pushed a piece of her ink black hair behind her ear, some of her bangs falling back into her purple eyes.

"Hey, who the heck are you?"

Faizah whirled around in surprise at the harsh, abrupt voice to see four teens standing in the gate. She recognized one of them to be the blond boy who almost knocked her over at the Sandlot.

"Um…I'm sorry?" Faizah asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest, a move she made when nervous or trying to protect herself.

"I said who the heck are you? This is our hangout and no one is allowed here!" a tall, muscular dirty blond said harshly, his honey-colored eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Oh, uh, sorry, I didn't know. I was just…walking around and saw this pla-,"

"Well, you came, you saw, and now why don't you do us a favor and scram?" the dirty blond interrupted her, making Faizah's eyes twitch in annoyance.

"Hayner! Don't be such a jerk! Can't you see she's new?!" a pretty brunette with her hair curling around her shoulders and dazzling, green eyes scolded the rude blonde.

"New or not, this is our hang out and we can't have just any lost cat wander in here and think they can make themselves at home!" the one named Hayner retorted to the brunette.

Hayner and the girl were interrupted by a low laugh and turned to see Faizah looking at them with an amused smile on her face.

"Hehehe, so…you're one of those guys?" she voiced almost to herself while looking up at the ceiling.

"What are you talking about?" Hayner asked, getting defensive.

"I'm talking about you," she responded, unfolding her arms, "You're one of those guys that when he feels that his life or his way of life is threatened, you lash out, without really thinking about it."

Everyone stared at her, their eyes widened with surprise and speechless. Hayner's face flushed red, from anger or embarrassment it was hard to tell. He began to splutter all over himself as he tried to get a coherent sentence out.

"I-I…what are you- I mean…what…"

"It's okay, though, I didn't say it was bad! I just think that…the more you act that way, the less chance you have of making more friends," she reiterated.

"I don't need any more friends than the ones I have now! Who the heck do you think you are anyway?!" Hayner shouted angrily.

Faizah shrugged, "Nobody, I guess," then she smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I guess I've over stayed my welcome. I'll just…get out of your way."

With that, she made to walk out of the secret hang out, making quick eye contact from the blue-eyed blonde from before.

"Hey, you were the one I saw at the struggle match weren't you?"

Faizah stopped at the new voice and turned to see that it was the blonde boy that had spoken to her. He was looking at her curiously, his deep ocean blue eyes wide and shinning.

"Um…yeah, I-I guess. Is that what it's called?" Faizah replied, narrowing her eyes in concentration.

The blonde nodded, "Yeah, it is. What did you think of it so far?"

"I can't say. I didn't really get to see it," Faizah crossed her arms again and pushed her hair behind her ear again.

The blonde caught a clearer sight of her Royal Purple eyes and how they seemed to catch the light of the sun. They were interesting to look at, being an unnatural color for anyone to have. However, they weren't ugly on her, they fit her style and appearance very nicely.

"Well, maybe I can take you to go and see an official one. Front row seats are the best," he suggested as a friendly gesture.

Faizah smiled but shook her head, "That sounds really sweet of you, but I don't think your friend there will approve."

Hayner gasped in surprise as she addressed him. The pretty brunette shoved his arm and he huffed while crossing his arms moodily. The other blonde boy gave a small chuckle and turned back to Faizah.

"My name's Roxas," he introduced, raising his hand for her to shake.

Faizah smiled at him and took his hand firmly, "Faizah. It's nice to meet you."

Roxas nodded and released her hand, allowing his fingers to slip across her palm, "And these are my friends. The girl is Olette, the other brunette is Pence, and the angry blonde is Hayner."

Olette gave Faizah a friendly smile and waved. Pence nodded with a smile of his own and Hayner simply sniffed and looked away.

"It's nice to meet all of you," Faizah greeted, "Well, I guess I better get going. The sun's setting and I don't want to worry my folks too much."

"Do you want us to walk you home?" Roxas asked good-naturedly.

Faizah shook her head, "No, I'll be okay. Besides, it looks like Hayner's having a hard enough time with me just standing here. I don't want to make him uncomfortable any longer than he has to be."

Hayner got a pink tinge to his cheeks, causing Faizah and Olette to giggle.

"Will we see you around?" Olette asked.

"Maybe, can't really say," Faizah answered before waving good-bye and making her way down the slope she came up on.

Roxas and all his friends watched as she reached the landing then made a left turn and disappeared from sight. Once she was gone, Olette turned to Hayner and gave him a harsh punch to the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?!" the blond whined, holding his aching head.

"That's for being rude to the new girl! What did she do to you to deserve that attitude, huh?!" Olette retorted, her eyes flashing angrily.

"She shouldn't have been here in the first place! That's trespassing you know?!" Hayner yelled back.

"She was exploring! Innocently looking around like any newbie would!"

"Well she doesn't have to do it here!"

"You're such a jerk sometimes!"

"How am I a jerk?! I was simply setting some rules!"

Both Olette and Hayner stopped their shouting when they heard Roxas and Pence laughing hysterically. The two that were arguing turned curious honey and emerald eyes to their friends, watching them in confusion while they practically fell in laughter.

"What's so funny?" Olette asked.

"You guys are! You fight like an old married couple!" Roxas replied, holding his stomach.

"What did you say, Utaka? Say it again, I dare you!" Hayner said, grabbing the sun-blonde into a headlock.

"Anyway, Hayner, Olette's right to a certain extent. You really didn't need to be rude like that to Faizah," Pence voiced, always the wise one of the group.

Hayner released Roxas and let out a grunt of disapproval. Nonetheless, he kept quiet in that moody way of his and went to go seat in his usual place, atop the motor-like object. Roxas stood straight up and rubbed the area around his neck where Hayner had squeezed him the hardest.

"Pence is right. She's new, we should've made her feel welcome instead of unwanted," he said thoughtfully.

"She didn't seem to care too much, she just went straight on laughing at me," Hayner retorted.

"Well, not everything is as it seems on the outside. For all we know, we could've really hurt her feelings," Pence replied back.

Hayner looked ready to respond to that, but decided to bite his tongue and remain silent.

"I hope we get to see her again. It would've been nice to have another girl to talk to," Olette voiced out. The guys all looked at her curiously but said nothing.

Roxas took a seat on the couch and leaned his head back, giving off a small sigh. He didn't know much at all about Faizah, but he did know that her purple eyes would be haunting him for awhile until he saw her again.

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Faizah pulled her jacket tighter around her body, trying to keep herself warm as she walked around the less crowded streets of Twilight Town. The sun was nearly gone, the sky turning a dark violet from it's dying rays. She had been trying to the right route back to her house but had been unsuccessful so far. She was contemplating on whether or not to call Cloud so he could come and pick her up, but she didn't want to worry them already.

"If I stay out here any longer, they'll be worried out of their minds," she muttered to herself, turning to her right and going down an alleyway only to find her in the small shopping area she had been in earlier that day.

"Ugh! Darn! I'm just going around in circles!" she exclaimed before sighing and sitting on the curb of another slope that went up.

A low, deep chuckle resonated through the area, causing Faizah to whip her head around in surprise. She soon found herself staring into a pair of electrifying green eyes. It was the flame thrower from earlier, only now instead of being shirtless, he had on a pair of jeans and a dark gray shirt with a black jacket over it. The man grinned at her, his eyes shinning with mirth.

"Hey, it's my generous little munny giver!" he remarked, grin widening.

"Um…I guess," Faizah replied, scooting away from him a little.

"Hey, no need to get scared. I'm not going to rape you or anything, I'm not that kind of guy," he responded, putting a hand to his chest in a humble way.

Faizah said nothing, but smiled at him and nodded. Just then, a small wind blew through the area, causing her to shiver slightly and pull her jacket tighter around her body. Too bad it was a short sleeved jacket and a thin one at that. The man, catching the action, took off his coat and draped it around her shoulders. Faizah looked at him curiously.

"You seem cold. Just think of it as a gesture of kindness from a friend," Faizah smiled thankfully, "The name's Axel Mirashi. Got it memorized?"

He tapped her forehead playfully, causing her to giggle humorously, "I'm Faizah Kingston, Axel. It's nice to meet you!"

She stuck out her hand for Axel to shake and the redhead took it, "Faizah, huh? Let me guess, an African name?"

Faizah looked genuinely surprised, "Yes…how did you know?"

"I lived in Africa for about two years and got familiar with their names. I can't remember what yours means though," he responded thoughtfully.

"It means victorious," she answered for him, causing him to smile at her.

"Victorious. Yup, it seems to fit you perfectly!"

Faizah looked confused as Axel bent down to pick up his case of performing props and his box of money.

"Now then, Faizah, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you're lost."

Faizah looked down at the ground in embarrassment, her face feeling hot. Axel laughed lightly at this action before taking her hand in his.

"It's okay, don't be ashamed! You're new here and even though Twilight Town is smaller than most cities, you can still easily get lost if you're not careful," the tall redhead reassured, walking up the slope Faizah was sitting on.

"Now, which way am I heading?"

"Well, my house is on Ocean Street," Faizah replied, following after him.

"Oh, that's not far from here! Lucky you, you've got the best tour guide Twilight Town has to offer!" Axel prided himself, holding his head up high.

Faizah laughed whole-heartedly, "I guess I am lucky! Thanks Axel!"

"No problem," he replied, turning a corner which led right into the Plaza, "Now, Faizah, why don't you tell me about yourself, since we're friends and all that?"

"Um…what do you want to know?" she asked him.

"Where did you move from and why did you move here?" he answered.

Faizah's heart throbbed painfully but she kept a smile on her face, "I came here from LA."

"All the way from LA, huh? Interesting. What for?" Axel asked.

"Family issues," she answered easily.

"Oh, those suck."

"They sure do."

"How old are you?" he continued.

"16. How about you?" she countered.

"19, but you don't have to worry, I'm not going to do anything to you!"

Faizah giggled, "I wasn't thinking like that, but thanks anyway. So, do you perform like that for a living or is that just a side job?"

"Oh, I just do performances like that for fun! Me and my friends do it every now and then to promote Heartless Inc.!" Axel responded, his grin stretching across his face.

"Heartless Inc.?"

"Yeah! My friends and I work for an entertainment company called Heartless Incorporations! Check it out!"

The redhead reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, handing it to the girl. Faizah looked it over to see the title "Heartless Inc." on the top with a dark heart in the right corner. It had Axel's name on it and his number.

"What the company does is basically rent out entertainment equipment for parties, concerts and the like. We even have connections to hot shot celebrities if you need them!" he exclaimed, smiling in pride.

"Hey! Where were you guys when we needed you!?" Faizah exclaimed, her brow furrowing.

"What do you mean?" Axel asked.

"Well, back in LA, a bunch of my friends and I would put on our own performances with music we composed ourselves and dances we choreographed. I was actually known better under the name of Lady Party because I would set up a lot of parties for a lot of people and they were always the best ones in the neighborhood," she explained.

Axel whistled, "Impressive!"

"And difficult! Getting all the equipment for the party was killer and gave me headaches that lasted weeks! Not to mention that I had to fight tooth, nail, and hair extensions just to get one guest performance! Knowing about you guys would've saved me a heck of a lot of time and pain," she joked, laughing loudly and gripping her hair protectively.

"Well, now you have my number, so if you ever need anything done or any favors, just look me up!" he remarked, ruffling her hair a little bit.

"Thanks Axel. Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked out of curiosity.

"I guess I just have a soft spot for you," he joked, grinning widely.

The two new friends laughed loudly as they turned down Faizah's street and made their way towards her house. When said abode came into view, Faizah caught sight of someone sitting on the stairs of the porch, their face contorted into one of worry.

"Faizah, you're home!" the person exclaimed, jumping up from the porch and running towards her. It was Cloud; Leon, at hearing his husband's cry came out onto the porch as well.

"Hey, Cloud!" Faizah greeted before Cloud tore her away from Axel and held her in a tight embrace.

"I was so worried! I thought something had happened to you!" the blonde exclaimed.

"Sorry, I got lost, but it's all good cuz my new friend Axel helped me out!" Faizah explained, pointing at the 19-year-old.

Cloud turned his electric blue eyes to the older teen, "Thank you, Axel for helping Faizah get home."

The redhead smiled, "No problem! It was my pleasure! Oh, hey Leon!"

Cloud and Faizah turned to see said brunette walking towards them. "You two know each other?" they asked simultaneously.

Leon nodded, a small smile grazing his lips, "That's right because I knew his parents. Thank you for helping our daughter, Axel. I don't think she could've been in better hands."

Axel smiled in pride before turning his eyes back to Faizah, "Well, no wonder why I had that soft spot for you, you're Leon's kid!" then his eyes grew soft and sad, "Is she the one who?"

Leon nodded his head at the unfinished question, "Yes, she is."

Axel shook his head, his eyes still sad yet they held a glint of admiration as he looked back to Faizah, "Wow and to think it was only a month ago that you lost your dad right in front of your eyes, Faizah. The way you were smiling the whole way here could've fooled anyone."

Faizah gasped in surprise, turning sharply to Leon, "You told him?"

Leon looked at her apologetically, "Yes, but you don't have to worry. Axel's a great kid, he's not going to think any less of you."

"But…I just sat there and watched. I couldn't do anything to help him," she whispered sadly.

"Hey, Faizah!" she turned her head towards Axel, "You did all you could. Stop beating yourself up over something you had no control over. I doubt your dad risked his life just to see you depressed over it."

Faizah stared at the redhead as Axel smiled back at her, leaning down to give the top of her head a light kiss.

"Anyway, Miss Victorious, I got you home safe. Let's try not to get lost again, okay? Because I might not be there to help you next time."

Faizah nodded, smiling at the older teen, "Thanks for helping me, Axel! I'll call you sometime!"

The redhead winked at her before waving goodbye to the family and turning to walk away. Once he was out of sight, Cloud took Faizah by the shoulders.

"Please call next time you get lost, Faizah! You had us worried sick!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry," she responded, looking down in shame.

Leon put a hand on Cloud's shoulder, causing the blonde to stand straight, "The important thing is that she's safe now and home."

Faizah smiled up at her father before a growl left her stomach and a yawn escaped her lips. Leon chuckled before picking her up and carrying her into the house.

"I guess a full day of exploring left you hungry and tired huh? Cloud made spaghetti, so let's get you fed and off to bed," he said.

"Okay…did you guys enjoy your alone time?" Faizah asked as an after-thought.

Leon smirked, "Oh yes, very much so. I'm sure it's a day Cloud will never forget."

"Leon, don't hint at anything!" Cloud exclaimed, his face turning red from embarrassment.

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Two Days Later

"Morning!" a certain, cheery African-American girl exclaimed as she came bounding down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Cloud, who was at the stove making breakfast, turned around to greet his new daughter with a bright smile of his own, "Good morning, Faizah! How did you sleep?"

"Probably pretty well since she slept in the whole day yesterday," Leon remarked, smirking as he took a sip of his coffee while reading the morning paper.

This was true; upon returning home and going to bed, Faizah then proceeded to sleep until late in the afternoon of the next day. The previous two weeks of constant working on her room had finally caught up to her and made her crash for almost the whole day. Now, it was another day and Faizah was feeling well rested and ready to go out on the town.

Faizah narrowed her eyes at Leon, "Well, when you have two slave drivers as you guardians, then it's to be expected."

She then proceeded to bound on over to Cloud, giving the blonde man a kiss on the cheek then whipped over to Leon to do the same before taking a seat at the table.

"So, what are your plans for today?" Cloud asked as he set down a plate of pancakes, eggs, and sausages in front of Faizah and Leon.

"I'm going to go into town again! The other day, I didn't get to really see the Plaza because it was super crowded, but since it's early and stuff, I just might be able to look around without getting crushed. There's also this thing called a Struggle, I heard about it the other day too, but I didn't get to see what it was all about, so I might check that out too!"

Faizah looked up at the two males of the home to see them looking at her with wary expressions before looking at each other. Faizah rolled her eyes and lowered her fork.

"I will not get lost this time, you guys! I know how to get home from the Plaza and I know how to get to the Plaza from the Sandlot. You guys worry too much, seriously," she reassured them, taking a forkful of pancakes and shoving them into her mouth. She savored the taste of blueberry pancakes covered in thick syrup; Cloud knew all of her favorite foods.

"Well, okay Faizah, but this time, if you're not home by 7, then you call and let me know what's going on," Cloud stated firmly.

Faizah nodded her head in understanding and smiled up at Cloud, a smile that reminded the older man of when she was a child without a care in the world. It had all the happiness and innocence of when he first met her at nine years old, before life came down on her hard and tried to smother her happiness.

The small family of three sat down to a nice, cheerful breakfast, conversing amongst each other about everything that came to mind. Faizah was practically glowing with excitement at going exploring again, seeing as how she now had an idea of where everything was and her perkiness made both Leon and Cloud chuckle in amusement.

"Okay, I'm out of here! You guys be safe at work okay!?" Faizah exclaimed as she came back downstairs from brushing her teeth and getting her shoes on.

Both of the males worked during the day, Cloud being a registered nurse who was working to get his degree as a doctor and Leon as a police officer.

"We'll see you later, Faizah. Please be safe and don't get into any trouble!" Cloud said as she walked up to him and gave him a hug of farewell.

"I won't, promise! Bye Leon!" she answered, turning around to the brunette and giving him a hug as well.

"Alright, Faizah, we'll see you at dinner."

"Yup! Bye!"

With that, the pretty purple-eyed girl walked out of the door and made her way down the street. 10 minutes later found her in the semi-busy area of the Plaza, with it's colorful stores, friendly clerks, and seemingly delicious food. The streets weren't as crowded as they were two ago and this Faizah was fairly thankful for. She looked around in the shopping center, taking in all the sounds, sights, and smells. She turned to her right and saw a small smoothie joint named "Sea Salt Ice Cream and Smoothies." There was a vibrant, young woman working the counter with hay-blonde hair and warm, brown eyes. Faizah watched as the woman conversed with her customers, greeting each of them with a smile and friendly words.

"Hi there!" the woman suddenly said, turning her lively eyes to the black girl.

Faizah blinked in surprise, confusion written on her face. She hadn't realized that she had been standing there and staring at the woman, it was just an unconscious action that she did from time to time.

"Can I help you Miss?" the woman asked, looking at Faizah in confusion.

Faizah gasped, "Oh! Um…no, thank you! I was just curious!"

"That's fine! Would you like to order some Sea Salt Ice Cream?" she asked, beaming her friendly smile.

"I'm sorry…what is Sea Salt Ice Cream?" Faizah asked.

"Oh my! You must be new!" the woman commented, "Sea Salt Ice Cream is a town favorite, everyone knows about it!"

Faizah laughed slightly at her comment, "You're right, I am new! My name is Faizah!"

"Debbie Macentire! Nice to meet you Faizah!" Debbie greeted, shaking the black, outstretched hand.

Debbie smiled at Faizah before looking behind her, "Hey Roxas! What's up today?!"

Faizah perked at the name before swiveling around to see the blonde boy in question. Roxas stood behind her, a warm, friendly smile on his face and a skateboard under his arm.

"Hi Debbie! Nothing much!" then he turned his Ocean blue eyes to Faizah, "Hey, we meet again."

"Hehehe! So we do!" Faizah replied, giggling.

"You two have met already?" Debbie asked curiously.

"Two days ago, by accident," Faizah replied, grinning playfully.

Roxas let out a laugh, "Yeah, she kind of just wandered into our hang out and it freaked Hayner a little bit."

"Hahaha! That boy is so territorial!" Debbie remarked, her face lightened with a smile.

Faizah smiled at the woman before stepping off to the side, "Well, I see I'm holding you up. It was nice meeting you, Debbie and it was nice seeing you again Roxas."

With that, the purple-eyed girl turned on her heel and walked away towards another store. Roxas watched her go before he got an idea.

"Hey, she hasn't had Sea Salt Ice Cream yet, has she?" he asked Debbie.

The woman shook her head, "Nope, but let me guess, she's about to get one anyway, right?"

"That's right," Roxas answered, reaching into his back pocket, "Get me two bars of Sea Salt Ice Cream please."

Faizah had wandered a little ways away, towards a pet store, and was currently looking in through the front window. She curiously peered at the strange little creatures that inhabited one of the cubicles. It looked like some sort of white koala bear with a red nose and a red ball on top of its head.

"Hey, Faizah!"

Said girl jumped slightly when Roxas came gliding down the sidewalk on his skateboard, stopping near her as he kicked up the board. He grinned at her, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hey, glad I caught up to you! You know, you move pretty fast for someone who's just on foot," he joked.

Faizah let out a small laugh, "Well, back in LA, I walked everywhere I went, so I guess the speed increased over the years."

Roxas laughed along with her, his sunny disposition making the young girl feel comfortable.

"Sooo…what's up? Why did you…board all the way over here?" she asked, indicating to his skateboard in his hand.

Roxas's eyes seemed to light up with realization and he stuck out his hand, "I almost forgot! I bought you a Sea Salt Bar! You've never had one before right, so it'll be your first Sea Salt Ice Cream experience!"

Faizah looked at the ice cream bar wrapped in white paper, her eyes curious and surprised. It was such a nice thing for Roxas to do, buying her a sweet treat when he hardly knew her.

"Thanks, but I couldn't accept it. I mean, we're still strangers and I wouldn't feel right taking it," she stated, looking up at the blonde.

"Well, don't think of it as a gift from a stranger then. Think of it as a treat to a friend from a friend," he replied.

Faizah just stared at it, "Come on, Faizah. Just take it, as a Welcome to Twilight Town gift."

Faizah smiled up at Roxas in thanks before taking the ice cream bar, "Thank you. That's really sweet of you."

Roxas blushed lightly from her words, returning the smile that she was giving to him. He found the girl to be pleasantly nice with a smile that could warm the heart. He watched as Faizah unwrapped the bar and looked curiously at the light blue ice cube of sweetness. She looked at Roxas warily, looking for a sign that it was safe to eat.

"Go ahead! Look, I'll eat mine first to show you that it's okay!" Roxas said, unwrapping his ice cream as well and taking several licks.

Faizah, deeming it safe and edible, took a tentative lick, "Oh my god! This is amazing! It's so sweet, yet, you can taste just a hint of salt! This is really good!"

Roxas smiled, a sense of pride washing over him that she liked the sweet treat that was native to his town.

"I'm glad you like it! My friends and I order it all the time."

Faizah nodded before turning back to the pet store window, staring once again at the odd little creature that was sleeping in it's cubicle.

"What are you looking at?" Roxas asked, peering inside as well.

"That…animal, I think," she answered, unsure and pointing at the creature, "What is it?"

"Oh, that's a Moogle!" Roxas exclaimed, smiling at the Koala like animal.

"Moogle? What exactly is a Moogle?" Faizah asked, her face contorted into confusion and surprise.

Roxas laughed at her expression, "No one knows exactly, but they've always been in Twilight Town and make great pets!"

Faizah blinked before turning back to the Moogle that appeared to be sleeping. She tapped on the windowpane lightly.

"Well, it's kind of cute, but I'm more of a puppy girl myself," she commented before letting out a small cry when the Moogle all of a sudden levitated in the air and stared at her with closed eyes.

She scooted away from the window as it tapped the pane with its paw, seeming to be calling for her to adopt it. Roxas laughed at her action, causing the girl to narrow her eyes and walk away.

"Hey, hey, wait! I'm sorry, Faizah, I didn't mean to laugh like that," Roxas apologized, a big smile still on his face as he followed after her.

"Uh huh, I'll believe that when you're done laughing," she responded, a playful smile on her lips despite her stern words.

Roxas eventually calmed down and settled into a steady pace beside the new girl, "Really, I'm sorry for laughing like that, you weren't expecting that. And while I'm at it, sorry for Hayner's behavior the other day too."

"Why are you apologizing for him? He was the one who went off, not you, so he should be saying sorry. But whatever, I'm over it," Faizah stated, sucking on her ice cream bar.

"I'm apologizing because Hayner's behavior represents us as a group and I don't want you to think that we're all no-good jerks," Roxas responded, chuckling slightly.

Faizah joined him, "Don't worry, I know it's just him, but like I said, I'm over it. It's not like he hurt my feelings or anything."

"I just wanted to make it clear that the rest of us are pretty nice and you don't have to avoid us because Hayner has a problem."

Faizah giggled, the sound making Roxas's heart flutter simply because she was female and he was a teenage boy with raging hormones. Roxas smiled warmly at her as they continued down the street, stopping at random stores to look at the different artifacts. The blonde boy somehow ended up being Faizah's tour guide for the remainder of the day, following her wherever she went and explaining the new things she happened to encounter. Faizah was so curious about everything in Twilight Town, stopping to look at every little thing that caught her attention. Roxas didn't mind, though, he thought it was cute how she wanted to learn everything, her eyes, the same ones that plagued his mind before today, bright with happiness and curiosity. Just when they were about done with touring the Plaza and other small places, Roxas suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, Faizah," said girl turned to look at him, "I have one more thing to show you."

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"Struggle! Struggle! Struggle! Struggle!"

Royal Purple eyes stared in surprise at the crowd that surrounded the arena once again. Roxas had brought Faizah back to the Sandlot, where another struggle battle was well under way. He had remembered that he had promised the girl that he would take her to see a Struggle match, front row seating and today was that day.

"Reminds me of the day I met you really. Or, more or less, the day you almost knocked me over," Faizah remarked, turning her head to look at the blonde.

Roxas let out a chuckle when another female voice caught their attention, "Roxas! Over here!"

The two teens turned towards the crowed to see Olette waving them over with an excited smile.

"You found Faizah! It's so good to see you again!"

Faizah smiled at the brunette girl's words, "Thank you, Olette! It's very nice to see you again too!"

Olette ran over and threw her arms around her, the black girl stunned into paralysis at the action. She eventually wrapped her arms around Olette's waist in a friendly hug, although it was somewhat awkward.

"I'm so glad you're here! Come on, Hayner and Pence are holding our places at the front of the crowd!" Olette grabbed Faizah's wrist and all but dragged her towards the arena, Roxas following close behind.

With a little pushing and shoving, Olette had the three of them at the front of the arena where Hayner and Pence were waiting.

"There you are! Took you long enough to get here!" Hayner joked, bumping fists with Roxas. Then he caught sight of Faizah and tensed up.

"Um…hi," he greeted, looking at the ground.

Faizah giggled, "It's nice to see you again, Hayner. Even if you were being a jerk the first time."

"Yeah, sorry about that. That was totally out of line and you didn't deserve the third degree," Hayner apologized, his cheeks getting a light dusting a pink.

"It's okay, I already forgave you!" Faizah answered, smiling brightly at the honey-eyed boy.

Hayner smiled gratefully when one of the Struggle participants fell right in front of them. Faizah let out a cry at the sudden action, watching as the guy got up to face his opponent again, a blonde haired guy with a scar running down his forehead. Faizah watched the battle go back and forth, wondering if this sort of sport was even legal or if she was watching some form of underground fight. Eventually, the battle came to an end with the boy with the scar as the victor. Faizah was about to cheer in congratulations when she heard Hayner groan in disapproval. She turned her head to see the four teens looking disappointed and even a little disgusted. Then, she heard a low, taunting chuckle and she turned back around to see the blonde victor with the scar. He had a mocking smirk on his face as he practically glared at Roxas and his friends. Behind the boy was a short girl with dark, silver hair that covered one of her blood red eyes and a tanned, muscular guy with dark brown hair spiked up.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Twilight Town Loser Squad. Did you lames enjoy the show?" the victor asked with that same mocking grin.

"Not if you're the winner, Seifer. That match had to rigged or something! There's no way you'd win fair and square!" Hayner retorted, glaring at the one named Seifer.

"You're just jealous of him, ya know? Because Seifer's the best Struggle Fighter in Town, ya know?" the guy with the large muscles commented, grinning as well.

"Sore losers," the girl said with no emotions on her face.

"My words exactly Fuu," Seifer commented, laughing cruelly when he finally caught sight of Faizah who was watching the argument quietly.

"And what's this? A newcomer? What are you doing hanging out with these losers?" Seifer said, getting closer to her face, "You're a real cutie, you know that?"

"Thank you for the comment," Faizah replied, her eyes narrowing, "But I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't invade my personal space."

"Feisty," was all Seifer said as he pulled back from her. Roxas immediately moved in front of her protectively, glaring silently at the older blonde.

Seifer ignored this and turned to Olette, "Well, aren't you looking pretty today? Heh, those loser guys you two hang out with are too lame for such beautiful girls like yourselves."

Seifer reached out and touched a piece of Olette's brown hair, causing Hayner's anger to rise to great heights. He pulled on Olette's wrist and tugged her behind him as he got in Seifer's face.

"Don't you dare touch her, you scumbag! Hitting on our new friend is one thing, but when you go after Olette-."

"Aww! Is someone upset that I called his girlfriend pretty?" Seifer cut Hayner off, a smirk on his face.

Hayner's own face, along with Olette's, turned a bright pink as he began to stumble over his words, "N-No. Sh-She's not my girlfriend! She's just…just a really good friend! That's it, yeah, a good friend!"

"Yeah, sure. Man, you guys really are losers!" Seifer stated, standing straight and glaring at them before turning back to Faizah, "Listen, new girl, when you're ready to hang out with a better crowd, you look us up."

With that, the rude blonde and his little posse turned to walk away, leaving behind a furious Hayner, an angry Roxas, a wary Pence, a disgusted Olette, and a curious Faizah. She blinked before something dawned on her and she turned sharply to face Hayner.

"What?" the honey-eyed boy asked.

"…You defended me and called me your friend," Faizah answered.

Hayner looked confused for a moment before a blush crept to his cheeks, "Oh, well, yeah. You kind of are now, once you make friends with Roxas, you're kind of a friend to all of us after that."

Faizah smiled gently at the blushing boy before moving in to give him a hug, "Thank you, Hayner. You made me happy today."

Hayner blushed tenfold as Faizah hugged him, causing the two girls and the two guys to laugh in good humor.

"Come on Faizah, let's go hang out!" Olette exclaimed, linking their arms together.

Faizah smiled and nodded as the group of friends, with their new member, made their way to the Usual Spot. The rest of the day went by fairly peacefully, the four original friends getting to know Faizah a little bit better. They found out that she came from LA, but they didn't get her to tell them why she would move to Twilight Town all the way from over there. It seemed to be a sensitive topic for her, for she got a far away look in her eyes and they seemed to water when they asked her for a reason. Other than that, the day was pretty good and Faizah finally felt like she was welcome in Twilight Town. When 6:30 rolled around, Faizah announced that she had better be heading home or else her guardian would be out with the SWAT team looking for her.

"Thanks so much for inviting me to hang out today, you guys! I had lots of fun!" Faizah exclaimed, giving Olette, Pence, and Hayner a hug. She didn't give Roxas a hug because he was walking her home, so she would wait until then.

"No problem, Faizah! You're a pretty cool girl, I can't believe I thought you were a brat!" Hayner commented a big grin on her face.

Faizah laughed out loud, "Well, that means a lot coming from you Hayner!"

"We'll see you tomorrow, right?" Pence asked her, his warm brown eyes gleaming.

"Of course! I mean, if you guys don't mind me coming back," she said, looking shyly at the four friends.

"Of course we want you back! It feels so good to have another girl to talk to around here!" Olette exclaimed, her face bright with a smile.

"Then it's a definite yes!" Faizah answered before Roxas tapped her shoulder.

"You have 15 minutes to get home. We should start walking now," she said, pointing with his thumb the way to the Plaza.

"Oh, right! See you guys tomorrow?"

The three of them nodded as they said their good byes. Faizah and Roxas then started for her home, said girl turning once to wave at her new friends. Things were suddenly looking up for her in Twilight Town and she was loving every minute of it.

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Two Weeks Later(Alright, okay, I don't dance, no way/ I just take my Louis rag out and wave it round in the air/ Take my Gucci rag out and wave it round in the air)

A groan could be heard as a black hand reached out from underneath deep purple covers to grab the iPhone that was currently going off. A head full of black popped out from under covers to reveal the face of Faizah. Her groggy eyes blinked sleepily as she answered her phone.

"Hello?" she whispered hoarsely, leaning on her elbow.

She was soon met with the perky voice of Olette, "Wakey, wakey sleepyhead!"

"Olette," Faizah groaned as her head hit the pillow, "Why are you calling me so early in the morning?"

"Early in the morning?! Fai, it's almost noon! And we're all wondering where you are!" Olette answered, using Faizah's nickname that was given to her.

Faizah, waking up a little bit more, turned her purple eyes to her digital, crystal ball clock and sure enough the numbers read 11:30. She widened her eyes in surprise as she sat up straight, hearing Roxas's voice over the phone.

"It's time to get up, Sleeping Beauty! I don't want to have to come over there and drag you out of your house," the blonde joked.

"Try it and I'll have Leon arrest you for breaking and entering," Faizah remarked as she got out of bed and ran a hand through her messy hair.

Over the past two weeks, Faizah had gotten to know Roxas, Olette, Hayner, Pence a heck of lot more. She even invited all of them over for dinner so they could meet Cloud and Leon. Of course Leon gave all the guys the third degree, while Olette stayed in the kitchen with Cloud and Faizah, making cookies. Faizah was getting settled in nicely in Twilight Town, having met new friends and having a brother whom checked in every now and then. That's right, Axel had visited three times in the past two weeks, just wanting to make sure that Faizah was doing okay so far. Said girl certainly felt loved and cared for in Twilight Town, her new friends and family helping her to cope with the loss of her father.

Roxas laughed over the phone, "You know what's funny? I wouldn't put it past you to do just that! Anyway, hurry up and get dressed! We'll see you in a bit!"

With that, Roxas hung up the phone and left Faizah to get dressed. Said girl made faces at her iPhone, but nonetheless went about her usual morning routine of getting ready for the day; taking a shower, getting dressed, and heading down for breakfast. When she emerged from upstairs, she walked into the kitchen to find a note from Cloud.

Dear Faizha,

Leon and I have left for work already. We didn't want to wake you, figuring your friends would do it eventually. I left you some breakfast in the microwave. Be safe and have a good day.

Love,

Cloud

Faizah found herself smiling at the note, especially since Cloud went all cheesy on her and added a smiling heart at the bottom. She giggled and shook her head before getting the plate of food out of the microwave. 10 minutes later found our young, black woman walking the now familiar streets of Twilight Town, turning down familiar alleyways and walking through the familiar gate to the Usual Spot. There, she was greeted with the smiling faces of her new friends Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Roxas. The only other girl in the group bounded up from her seat and wrapped Faizah in a warm hug.

"It's about time you got up, Fai!" she joked, punching her lightly in the shoulder.

"Yeah, how much sleep does a girl need in order for it to be considered real Beauty Sleep?" Hayner asked from his spot on the motor seat.

"Hey, being beautiful for you demanding males of the 21st Century is a lot of work for a girl, okay? So just be grateful," Faizah replied, holding her head up high.

Faizah heard a chuckle before her vision was blackened by a hand over her eyes, "I doubt you and Olette even have to try very hard, Faizah."

Faizah giggled and removed Roxas's hand, "Fine, you caught me. I was just being lazy."

Everyone laughed at her remark, getting up to walk out the their hang out. They walked down the slope leading to the Sandlot, deciding to take the long way to the Plaza.

"So, what are doing today anyway?" Faizah asked, peering at Olette curiously.

Said brunette shrugged and grinned, "Anything we want I guess. I'm actually craving a Sea Salt Smoothie right now!"

Faizah's eyes gleamed brightly, "I want to try the Paopu one! Debbie keeps telling me that it's really good."

"Alright, guys, the lovely ladies of our little group want smoothies, so it's off to 'Sea Salt Ice Cream and Smoothies'," Hayner announced, grinning at the two females when he suddenly ran into someone.

"Hey, watch it you lame!" the person shouted.

The group looked to see that Hayner had ran into the bully, Seifer. Hayner bounced right back onto his feet and glared at Seifer.

"What did you call me?!" he yelled.

"Only what you are, a lame!" Seifer retorted, grinning smugly.

Hayner's fist began to tremble as anger began to build rapidly inside him. Olette took notice and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, Hayner, just ignore him," she said gently, as they all turned to walk away.

"Heh, look at him, running away like the scared little boy that he is," Seifer exclaimed loudly.

Hayner, having enough, turned sharply and stomped right up into Seifer's face, "Alright, big shot, let's settle this right here, right now!"

Seifer glared at him for a moment before smirking, "All right then, little boy, let's settle this. I can't wait to put you in your place."

Both boys grabbed the blue bats that were used for Struggle matches and jumped into the arena.

"You can so take him Seifer, ya know?" Radaj shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

"Defeat," Fuu said in her emotionless voice.

However, on Hayner's side, his friends were trying to keep him from fighting at all.

"Come on, Hayner! This is just a waste of our time!" Pence cried out.

"Yeah, he's right! Don't fight Hayner, let's go get some ice cream!" Olette begged, her eyes filled with worry.

"Come on, Hayner, don't fall down to Seifer's level," Roxas put in, grabbing his sleeve.

Hayner ignored all of his friend's pleas, but stopped to listen to one voice, the voice of Faizah.

"Hayner, go ahead and have your fight," she said, causing her new friends to look at her in surprise, "But no matter what happens, win or lose, you take it like the champion that you claim to be. Be better than Seifer."

Hayner looked at her, a little surprised, but smiled nonetheless and nodded his head. He then turned to Seifer with a deadly glare and they both prepared for battle.

Fuu raised her hand, "Struggle."

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No longer than 15 minutes later found the spectators of the Struggle match with a victor; it was Seifer. Hayner had basically been beaten to his knees and he was on his back as Seifer pressed his foot against his chest in victory.

"Umm…can we look now?" Faizah asked, placing a hand on top of Roxas's.

The fight had gotten so gruesome and heartbreaking that Roxas and Pence took to covering the girls' eyes to shield them from watching Hayner fall. The two boys removed their hands and the girls gasped in surprise to find Hayner on the ground with Seifer stepping all over him.

"Get off of him!" Olette screamed, jumping into the arena and forcibly pushing Seifer off the defeated blonde.

"Victory," was all Fuu said as Radaj did a victory dance.

"Heh! Like I keep saying, you losers will never be anything but losers! Why don't you just give up?!" Seifer mocked, grinning smugly.

"Cuz then we would really be admitting to being losers," Faizah voiced out, standing straight and looking at Seifer with a steady gaze, "You seem to like challenges, Seifer, but how about this time, we make it a bet, but it'll be on my turf?"

The older blonde looked intrigued, "Hmmm, keep talking."

"I bet WE," she spread her arms out to indicate to her friends as well, "Can throw the best block party Twilight Town has ever seen by the end of this month."

Seifer immediately burst out into boisterous laughter, doubling over in his fit, "Hahahaha! Those losers!? Throw a party?! Not going to happen!"

Faizah shrugged, "If you have nothing to lose, then why not take the bet?"

Seifer calmed down a little and smirked at the girl, "Okay and what happens if you guys win?"

"You have to admit to everyone at the party that Hayner, Roxas, Olette, and Pence are not losers, lames, or dorks in any way, shape or form."

Seifer digested this, "And if I win?"

Faizah hesitated for a moment, "If you win…then I'll do anything you say for an entire week."

"What!?"

"No way!"

"Don't do it, Faizah!"

"Back out now!!"

"Deal," Seifer replied, shaking Faizah's hand firmly, "I hope you're ready to lose."

Faizah smiled sweetly at him, "Just get your admittance letter ready."

Seifer smirked at her before commanding for his posse to leave. The trio walked away, leaving Faizah and her stunned friends in the Sandlot.

"What the heck did you do that for?! There's no way that we can throw the best block party in Twilight Town by the end of this month! That only gives us two weeks to plan!" Hayner exclaimed, clambering to is feet.

"Are you guys giving up already?" Faizah asked, genuinely surprised.

"Hayner's right, Faizah," Pence put in, his eyes filled with worry, "That's a lot of planning to be done and a lot of money needed in order to make it work."

"That wasn't a very smart move," Olette scolded, looking at her new friend with concern; she simply hated the idea of Faizah having to be at Seifer's every beck and call for an entire week.

Faizah didn't say anything, but turned to Roxas, "Roxas, do you have anything to say?"

Said blonde remained silent, his bangs covering his eyes as he stared at the ground. Everyone stared at him, Faizah biting her lip as she waited for an answer.

"Let's go get some ice cream," was Roxas's reply as he made his way towards the Plaza.

His friends watched him go, looking at each other in a knowing matter.

"Man, he's really upset about this," Hayner voiced, scratching the back of is head, "But who wouldn't be? Faizah, no one ever bets that kind of servitude to a scum like Seifer. This is the dumbest thing you've done so far."

Hayner then moved to follow behind the distressed, sun blonde, Pence and Olette following closely after. Faizah let out a breath through her nose and rolled her eyes; she had just made the bet and they were already doubting their ability. After standing there for a few moments, she too made her way towards the ice cream shop with her friends, already thinking of some numbers to call and some people to hook back up with.

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"Ugh! This is so frustrating!"

Hayner angrily punched a wall before he began pacing the room in a hopeless manner. Olette, Pence, and Roxas all looked away from each other, Hayner's mood mirrored on their faces. The only one who didn't look upset was Faizah; she was more or less concentrated than upset as she held her iPhone to her ear. It's been three days since Faizah had made the bet with Seifer and her and the crew had been trying desperately to get some form of a start to the party planning. But things hadn't been going so well since they started; they had been in town all day asking for help or donations, but no one was willing to help them out in getting things started. They didn't even have any plans for the refreshment let alone decorations or entertainment. This discouraging factor resulted in everyone retreating back to the Usual Spot and wallowing in sorrow.

"It's already been three days and we don't have anything done. We have to have things planned out by next Saturday or we lose the bet," Olette voiced, her eyes clouded over.

"If Faizah hadn't opened her mouth in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Hayner hissed, glaring at the black girl as she hung up her iPhone; the person she had been waiting to talk to on the other line refused to answer the phone.

Faizah looked up at Hayner for a moment before going back to her phone, "Will you stop worrying so much? Things will be fine."

"How can you be sure Faizah? I mean, I want to believe you, but with the way things are going, I doubt we even have a sliver of a chance of accomplishing our mission," Pence stated, looking at the girl.

She rolled her eyes, "You guys worry too much."

"And you're not worried enough," Roxas suddenly voiced from his spot besides Olette on the couch.

Faizah looked up at him, but said nothing and went back to scrolling through her iPhone. Roxas felt irritated, angry even and he stood up to face Faizah.

"We have to plan the greatest block party Twilight Town has ever seen in less than a two weeks. We don't have any money, there's no entertainment; God, we don't even have refreshments!" he ranted, "So tell me, Faizah, what's there to not be worried about? How do you plan on making this work?"

Faizah, again, remained silent as she dialed a number and put her phone to her ear. Roxas's patience suddenly ran out and he stalked over to where the girl sat at the white table. He punched the wall just above her head, making her jump in surprise and drop her phone. Roxas glared down at her, his body trembling.

"Answer me, Faizah! How do you plan on making this work!? Or let me guess, you don't know how to make this work, do you?!" he punched the wall again, "DO YOU?!"

The black girl recovered from her shock and lowered her head so she was looking at the table instead of at Roxas and his angry blue eyes. They were like a raging sea during a storm. Roxas cursed angrily, pushing away from the wall and laughing darkly.

"You can't even answer me!" he yelled at her, "You made a bet that you have no chance of winning and now, Seifer won't only win, but he'll have you as his own personal slave for an entire week!"

Faizah remained silent and looked at everything but him, grabbing the sides of her head as if she had a headache. All of their friends watched in surprise as Roxas unloaded on her, never really seeing the usually quiet and happy blonde so upset.

"I didn't think it was possible for anyone to be that stupid, but I guess I should expect anything from you," he hissed, this last statement seeming to cause some form of reaction from the girl.

Faizah abruptly stood up, gathered her papers and things and stalked out of the Usual Spot, everyone staring after her.

"Fai, hold on!" Olette cried after her, but the black girl was already gone.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette turned to the angry blonde known as Roxas as he stood staring at the spot where Faizah sat. There was a scornful look on his face before he, too, stormed out of the hang out. The others were left staring at each other, confusion, surprise, and worry written all over their faces. What were they to do then?

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Roxas stomped angrily down the street, his glare and scowl dark enough to scare innocent children. Yes he was mad, he had a right to be; one of his friends was going to be a servant to the Town Jerk and Faizah didn't seem to care. She may be a new friend that no one knew too much about, but Roxas felt that it was his job to protect her very life and being with his life. Call it crazy if you want, but that's just how he felt. Besides, who knows what kind of things Seifer would make her do within that week.

'Being the jerk that he is, he'll probably make her spar with him for Struggle matches. Or maybe buy him lunch and dinner with her own money! Or…or…or…"

Suddenly, the image of Seifer, sweaty and panting above a naked and crying Faizah came to mind. Roxas became infuriated by the thought and kicked a can, just barely missing Debbie's head as she cleaned the counter of her ice cream shop.

"Woah! Hey, Roxas, what's the problem!? Why are you so mad?!" she exclaimed, standing up from her ducking her position.

Roxas seemed to snap out of the angry trance he was in and looked about his surroundings; somehow he had ended up in front of The Sea Salt Ice Cream and Smoothies. He relaxed somewhat and took a deep breath before he answered the concerned woman.

"Sorry Debbie. I wasn't aiming for you, I swear," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"It's okay, but why don't you tell me what's wrong? I've never seen you this upset before," Debbie suggested, her brown eyes filled with worry.

Roxas hesitated for a moment before he just sighed and relayed the entire situation to the attentive blonde. Debbie remained quiet as Roxas told her of his situation, nodding in understanding throughout the entire conversation. When Roxas finished, she smiled gently at him.

"Well, Roxas, it's normal for a friend to be concerned for another friend in a situation like this, but you have to understand, Faizah made this bet herself. And made it so that if you guys did lose, she would be the one receiving the punishment," Debbie stated, leaning on her elbows.

"I know that, but…ugh! It's just so horrible to think about!" Roxas exclaimed, gripping his blonde locks.

Debbie smiled knowingly, "You know what else I think? I think you're this upset because you don't see Faizah as just a friend. You see her as something else entirely and the thought of her being around Seifer and away from you is driving you crazy."

Roxas blinked at the announcement, his pale cheeks turning a slight pink. He took the time to think about it and soon came to the conclusion that Debbie was right. He didn't find Faizah to just be a friend, not to him anyway. She was what he thought about everyday ever since he met her and who he looked forward to meeting in the morning. He didn't realize at the time that secret feelings were growing, but he was sure it wasn't love. However, it felt close enough.

"Sigh…I guess you're right Debbie, you girls seem to always get things right on the first try," Roxas said, chuckling slightly before a frown grazed his features, "But what do I do now? I shouted at her so much; she didn't deserved that."

"Now, you heartbreaker, you have to apologize to her. That's all there is to it," Debbie said, shrugging her shoulders.

Roxas smiled at her and nodded his head, "You're right, again. I just hope she'll forgive me for what I said to her."

Debbie laughed in good nature as she handed Roxas a cup filled with blue smoothie, "Trust me Roxas, I'm sure she'll forgive you if you just apologize! Now, here, have a Sea Salt Smoothie on the house!"

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Faizah laid upon her bed, staring up at the ceiling in thought. The fight she had with Roxas earlier that day was still in her mind, but only a little bit. She had more important things to think about, like winning that bet against Seifer.

"We run into a few road blocks and all of them are ready to give up. What ever happened to having faith in a friend?" she said to herself.

She had returned home around 5:30, a half-hour before Cloud and Leon got back from work. The two men came in to see their young ward lying in her bed with an emotionless face. They were somewhat worried since the only other time they had seen that look was when she heard that her friend was in the hospital and the worry was eating away at her. Cloud had asked her if she was okay, but Faizah simply smiled and told him that everything was just fine and that she wanted to be left alone until she was ready to come out. That was 4 hours ago; it was now 9 o'clock and she had yet to come down for dinner. Cloud knocked on her door before opening it and walking in cautiously.

"Fai, are you sure okay? You've been up here all night, sweetie," the blonde man asked, stepping towards the bed with a plate of pizza for her.

Faizah sat up and crossed her legs, smiling at her guardian, "Yeah, Cloud, I'm fine, just thinking."

Cloud sat down on her mattress, "Oh? About what?"

"Just stuff," she answered, shrugging her shoulders.

"Faizah," Cloud started gently, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I know I'm not your father, but you can still tell me about anything that's bothering you."

Faizah looked into Cloud's electric blue eyes, finding nothing but sincerity in their depths. A soft smile played across her lips as she nodded her head.

"Okay, well, I made this bet with this guy that me and my new friends could throw the best block party Twilight Town had ever seen."

"You were really good at throwing parties," Cloud interjected, chuckling slightly.

"Thank you! Anyway, it's been three days and so far, we've got nothing productive done and the guys are already set to give up. It was a little discouraging for me to be around that kind of negative vibe, I couldn't think straight with all that negativity. Back in LA, the crew and I would always hit a road bump but we would pull through as a team, I'm not getting that support here," she confided, playing with the pepperoni on her pizza.

"Oh, so that's why you were home so early? To think straighter?" Cloud asked, smiling at her.

Faizah nodded, "Yeah, but I guess the bad vibes followed me home because I still don't have any ideas on how to get this party started. I lost all my old connections from LA and I don't really have any here."

Cloud chuckled before he stood up, "Well, Faizah, you've overcome many obstacles in your life and you are your father's daughter. So, I'm sure you'll overcome this one as well."

With that, he leaned down and kissed Faizah's hair. Said girl giggled and hugged the blonde, giving her thanks as he walked out of the room. She sighed and sat back again, picking up her pizza and taking a small bite out of it. She really did feel hopeless at the moment, like she seriously couldn't overcome this obstacle.

"Okay, dad, remember how you always said you would be there for me if I ever needed you?" she said out loud, looking up at the ceiling, "Well, I need you now. Please, just send me some kind of sign that everything will be all right. Send me some help!"

Just then, a strong breeze blew through her room, knocking some papers off of her desk. One particular little piece of paper, heavier than the other loose leafs, floated over to her bed and landed on her plate. She looked at it curiously, the words "Heartless Inc." staring back up at her. She let out a shriek as a wide grin spread across her face.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed to the sky as she dove for her iPhone.

She picked it up with excitement and dialed the number with trembling fingers. She put the phone to her ear and waited in anticipation, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. A moment later, a voice was heard on the line.

"Hello, you've called a direct Heartless Inc. employee line. This is Axel speaking!"

"Axel! It's Faizah!" she exclaimed, her smile getting bigger when she heard the voice of her favorite redhead.

"Hey, Faizah! What's up!? How is everything?!" the voice on the other end greeted, sounding happy and spirited.

"Everything's fine, but listen! I was calling to see if I could get a favor," she explained, biting her lip and smiling brightly.

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"Do you think they'll show up?" a pretty brunette with green eyes asked the two other occupants of their hang out.

Hayner, who was sitting on the motor, looked up at the green eyed female, "I don't know, Olette, but I hope they do. We really should concentrate on that party. If we don't, then it really IS over for Faizah."

Olette looked down at her hands, "I hope Faizah will forgive Roxas. He really shouldn't have shouted at her like that. If you think about it, Faizah is doing all of this for us, seeing as how Seifer is always picking on us and she's just trying to make it stop."

Pence nodded his head in agreement, "She's right. The bet was a little too…over the top, but she did it with good intentions. As her first friends in Twilight Town, we shouldn't let her down."

Hayner sighed and smiled, "Yeah, we shouldn't. That girl is real cool and I don't want to let her down either."

"Hey, hey, hey! This is a pretty cool hang out!"

The three previous occupants of the Usual Spot turned sharply to see 3 new intruders entering their hangout. One was a pale redhead with electric green eyes and a smirk on his face. The other was a dirty blonde with light blue eyes and his hair up in a mullet fashion. And the last guy had stormy blue hair that slated over his left eye, leaving one visible blue eye. All three of the newcomers were wearing identical outfits; dark blue jeans with a black shirt that read "Heartless Inc." on it in white.

"Hey, who do you guys think you are just barging in here!?" Hayner shouted, picking up his Struggle bat, "Get out of here before I beat you guys out!"

"Woah! That's kind of harsh man! Just chill out!" the redhead exclaimed, putting his hands up in a defensive way.

"Get out!!" Hayner yelled, rushing the redhead.

Just before he could even touch him, though, a flash of black intercepted them and Faizah was seen standing in front of Axel.

"STOP!!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise and her arms spread in a protective manner.

Hayner paused immediately, looking at Faizah in confusion. Once she had his attention, the purple-eyed girl slowly brought her arms into her body.

"Hayner, Pence, Olette, I would like you guys to meet my big brother, Axel," she indicated to the redhead behind her, "and his friends Demyx and Zexion. They're all employees of a big entertainment company called Heartless Inc. They are here to help us organize the block party."

"Really!?" Olette shrieked, jumping up from her seat on the couch, "You guys are from Heartless Inc.? That's the biggest entertainment company in the state! I can't believe you have connections like that, Faizah!"

"Truth be told, I forgot I did!" said black girl joked, looking back at Axel, "But I do feel kinda bad for asking this as a favor so suddenly."

Axel laughed and ruffled her hair, "Hey, don't worry, our boss is totally cool with it! He did a background check on you-."

"He did!?" Faizah exclaimed, shock all over her face.

"Don't worry, you check out and he likes you, he thinks you got the spark the company needs, so he's doing all of this for you free of charge!"

The four younger teens in the room let out a cry of victory, feeling a major weight lift off their chest. Axel paused the excitement for a moment.

"However," he continued, stopping their celebration, "There is one thing he wants you to do for us in return."

Faizah smiled brightly, "Yeah, I remember! You told me this morning! Don't worry, everyone will participate and be happy to help!"

"What will we have to do?" Hayner asked, a little skeptical of this whole business.

"You'll find out soon enough! Now, what size shirts do you three wear?" Demyx asked, pulling out a clipboard as Zexion pulled out a cardboard box.

Faizah laughed heartily when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching behind her. She turned around to see Roxas walking in through the gate with his skateboard under his arm. He looked at their new guests in surprise before looking a Faizah. They both made eye contact with each other, Roxas having to avert his eyes as a blush made its way across his face and guilt washed over him all at the same time.

"…Morning Faizah," he said softly.

Faizah giggled, "Good morning, Roxas! Did you have a good sleep? I'm usually not here before you, so it must have been a good dream you were having!"

Roxas looked up at her, feeling that now was the time, "Look, Faizah, about yesterday. I just wanted to say…that I'm really sorry! I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, you really didn't deserve it! I'm nothing but a jerk and I'm really sorry!"

Faizah's smile softened as she raised his head with her fingers, "It's all cool, Roxas, don't worry about it. I knew you were just upset about how things weren't going anywhere. I totally understand."

"So…so you forgive me?" he asked, his eyes shinning with surprise.

"Boy, I forgave you forever ago!" she laughed, bringing him in for a hug.

Roxas smiled happily as he hugged her back, burying his face in her sweet smelling hair. Their moment was interrupted by a certain redhead as Axel tapped Faizah's shoulder.

"Hi, yes, if you want to get this thing started, you better get suited up," he said.

"Suited…up?" Roxas asked slowly, looking down at Faizah for an answer. Said girl just smiled up at him playfully.

"Just tell him your shirt size.'

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The Plaza was alive and buzzing with activity as everyone crowded to get a glance at what was happening in the dead center of the shopping area. A moderately sized stage had been set up with a DJ and lights and everything. There was music playing with Demyx manning the scratch board. There were banners hanging up around the Plaza that either read Heartless Inc. or Twilight Town Block Party. Royal Purple eyes looked at their surroundings in amazement before they settled on the grinning face of Axel.

"Wow, you guys don't play around!" Faizah exclaimed.

"We're a fast moving company!" Axel simply stated, "But anyway, are you guys ready to hold up your end of the deal."

Faizah looked at all her friends and nodded in confirmation. Hayner, Roxas, and Pence were all wearing matching, black Heartless Inc. shirts with the company logo on the front. Faizah and Olette were a little more decked out than the guys were seeing as how they wore the baby tee version of the shirt with the logo on the back. They also wore black and white short-shorts and knee-high, whit and black socks. They finished off the look with black shoes with white laces, their hair up in identical ponytails and the Heartless Inc. logo painted on their cheeks. Faizah's end to the bargain, since the company was sponsoring the party for free, was to help advertise the company by wearing their merchandise and spreading the word.

"Alright, then! Let's get this started!" Axel exclaimed, going up on the stage.

"Hello Twilight Town! How is everyone doing this fine day?" Axel spoke into the mike, drawing a larger crowd, "My name is Axel Mirashi and I am an employee for Heartless Inc."

There was a murmur of excitement that ran throughout the crowd, giving Axel the sign to move forward, "I see you all are familiar with us! Anyway, we have an announcement to make, but I'm not going to be the one to tell you! My good friend Faizah and her little friend, Olette are going to do the honors!"

He then gave the mike to Faizah and an extra one to Olette as the two girls came on stage and he stepped off of it. Faizah smiled at the crowd, hearing a couple of cat-calls come from somewhere in the throng as the guys caught sight of her and Olette in their shorts.

"Hey, everyone! As you now know, my name is Faizah and this is my best friend, Olette!" she announced, indicating to the smiling brunette.

"Hi, everyone!" Olette exclaimed.

"We're here today to tell you about the awesome block party that we're having next Saturday! It's going to be the best block party Twilight Town has ever seen! Straight off the hook!" Faizah exclaimed.

Olette then took over, "Right now, our other friends Hayner, Roxas, and Pence should be handing out flyers explaining the details of the dance! You'll recognize them as the boys wearing the Heartless Inc. shirts!"

"But there's no reason for ya'll not to come! It's free and it's going to be fun! Not to mention the items you get to purchase from Heartless Inc. since they are the ones who are sponsoring the whole party! Shirts, CDs from your favorite music artist, posters, and tons more! And, to top it all off, there's going to be a special guest performance, right?"

Olette and Faizah turned to look at Axel, who in turned, looked at Zexion for an answer. After a moment, the redhead gave them a thumbs up, causing both girls to giggle and jump up in excitement.

"So you all better be there unless you want to miss out on the party of the century!" Olette exclaimed, her cheeks bright with a happy blush.

"Oh, and just in case you didn't get a flyer!" Faizah remarked as she and Olette turned to look at the two poles on each side of the stage.

Just then, the poles let out a popping noise and flyers of various colors came raining down on the crowd. The two girls laughed happily and hugged each other, running down to where Axel was to give him a hug as well.

"Thank you so much Axel! You have no idea how much I appreciate this!" Faizah exclaimed to the redhead.

"Hey, anything for family!" the man answered, hugging her back, "Anything for family."

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Two Weeks Later: The Night before the Party

"Man, I'm so excited! I can't believe the party is tomorrow!" Faizah exclaimed as she came into her room. She had just taken a shower and was drying out her hair, which shinned a glossy black from the water still trickling from it.

"Yeah, it came so fast! This is going to be so much fun!" Olette exclaimed from her spot on Faizah's bed.

The two girlfriends had decided to have a slumber party at Faizah's house so they could pick out clothes for the party and to just have some girl time without the guys hanging around all the time. Olette was so excited to finally have another girl around to have a sleep over with, she's never really been given that privilege until Faizah showed up. And for Faizah, it was a little bit of her old life entering the new. She used to always have her girls sleep over at her house simply because they wanted to spend more time with each other back in LA.

Faizah sat on the bed along with Olette and looked at the make up and nail polish that littered her bed, "Still trying to decide which color to wear?"

"Yeah! I mean, I really want to wear the orange because it's my favorite color, but the blue goes really good with tank top I'm wearing!" she exclaimed, picking up the two bottles of nail polish.

Olette was going to wear a matching, orange outfit with a ruffle skirt that stopped just above her knees and a short sleeved jacket. She was going to wear a light blue tank top with a silver heart in the middle and dark brown, Italian strap sandals. Faizah looked at the assortment of make up and nail polish across her bed before an idea popped into her head.

"I think I know how to solve your problem," she stated, "You can wear the orange nail polish with the silver glitter polish over it to match the heart on your tank top. Then, wear the light blue eye shadow to match the color of the tank top. That way, you're wearing all the colors that go good with the outfit."

Olette let out a squeal as she tackled Faizah in a hug, "Thank you so much! You're a flipping genius!"

"What can I say? I was born with it!" Faizah joked, breathing on her nails and rubbing them on her sleep shirt.

Both girls laughed joyously as Olette moved to put the selected color of nail polish and make up on the desk where her outfit for the next day was waiting.

"Okay, then! Now that I'm done, let's work on you! What nail polish and make up are you going to wear?" the pretty brunette asked.

Faizah was going to wear a dark purple, off-the-shoulder shirt with two straps that kept the shirt on. A pair of black, sway pants that stopped in the middle of her shin and enabled for her skin to breath, a black belt with purple heart in the middle, black, ankle boots, and a deep purple, fake flower in her hair. Faizah looked over her options before picking out her colors.

"I'm going to wear black nail polish and dark purple eye shadow to make my eyes pop!" she decided, grinning widely at her paler friend.

"That's going to look so cute!" Olette exclaimed as Faizah got up to go and put her colors with her clothes.

Just then, Olette's phone began to ring and the girl picked it up to see that it was Hayner who was calling.

"It's Hayner!" she said aloud for Faizah to hear before she pressed the talk button and put it on speaker phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey! How are our favorite girls doing!?" Hayner's voice asked on the other line.

Olette giggled, "We're fine, Hayner! What are you guys doing?"

"Pence and Roxas are both at my house. We're just chillin' out before the big party tonight," Hayner answered.

"Hi!" was soon chorused over the phone from Hayner's side as said boys gave their greeting.

"Aww! Did we make you guys feel left out so you went and had your own sleep over?" Faizah called over the phone, laughing slightly.

"No! We just decided that we wanted to have a guy's night in!" Hayner retorted.

Faizah rolled her eyes and went back to her clothes, making sure that none of them needed to be ironed. Olette giggled before talking again.

"Anyway, are you guys ready for the party tomorrow?" she asked.

"We sure are! It's going to be a blast! I still can't believe that we were able to get it all planned out and put into affect!" Roxas voiced out.

"Remember, we have Faizah to thank for that! If she didn't have connections to Heartless Inc. we would be dead in the water," Pence reasoned.

"Thank you, Pence!" Faizah called out, her face bright with a smile.

"Anyway, are you girls going to sleep now?" Hayner's voice came back on.

"Not yet, but we will be soon. We need to make sure we're well rested for the party tomorrow. Remember, we have to go two hours earlier to meet up with Axel and his friends to get the finishing touches in," Olette answered.

"Alright, then! Sweet dreams princess, good night!" Hayner exclaimed.

"Hayner! Don't call me that!" Olette yelled, her face turning bright pink.

"Hahaha! Night!" was Hayner's response before the line went dead.

Olette hung up the phone on her end, a pout on her lips, "Stupid Hayner. Calling me a princess like that."

Faizah looked at the girl for a moment, "He likes you Olette."

Olette's face reached a whole new level of red, "What!? N-No he doesn't! He-He's just trying to be stupid!" the brunette retorted.

"No he's not. He really does like you and you know what else? I think you like him too," Faizah countered, sitting back on the bed.

"No I don't! I don't like Hayner!" Olette exclaimed. Faizah simply stared at the girl, waiting for the truth.

"Oh, alright! I do like Hayner," Olette muttered, covering her eyes with her fingers, "But what can I do? I want to tell him so badly, but I don't know how!"

Faizah thought about it for a moment, "I think I know what I can do to help you."

"Really? How?" Olette asked curiously.

"You can sing, right?"

"I'm not bad at it. Why?"

Faizah smiled before she picked up her iPhone and made another call to ask for one more, small favor.

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Day of the Party

It was now two hours before party time and our favorite group of friends were helping Axel and the rest of the Heartless Inc. crew get the rest of the things set up. The party was being held in the area beneath the Twilight Town Clock Tower, giving anyone who went up to it's heights a perfect view of the city and the ocean in it's distance.

"I can't believe this is really happening! It's almost like a dream!" Olette exclaimed as she helped set up the refreshment table.

"I know! Man, it's been a while since I planned a party like this!" Faizah commented, stirring the punch in the punch bowl.

Both girls suddenly looked up when they heard a cry and then a crash as Hayner's knees gave out from under him from the heavy boxes he was carrying and he fell to the floor. Faizah and Olette couldn't help but start laughing as Roxas and Pence rushed over to try and help the struggling honey-eyed boy.

"Well, are you ready to show Hayner how much you like him?" Faizah asked, looking at the green-eyed girl.

Olette blushed a pretty pink, "Yeah, I think so. I just hope this isn't all for nothing."

"Trust me, it won't be."

"Faizah! Come here, please! I have someone I want you to meet!"

The black girl looked over to see Axel waving her over from the entrance to the Clock Tower where the DJ stand was located as well. Said girl jogged over to her redheaded brother and stopped as he threw an arm over her shoulders.

"The special guest performer, or performers, are here and I want you to meet them. But, surprisingly, they say they already know you," Axel voiced as they walked through the entrance into the Clock Tower.

"They do?" Faizah asked before looking to see who they were, "Oh my god! You guys came!"

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Party Time

The music was going and everyone was dancing out on the dance floor. There were glow sticks and night lights waving in the air as Demyx played the best music for the party. The place had been packed since 7 PM with over 350 people present, 3 hours ago when the party first began. Everyone was dressed to impress and ready to just let loose. Heartless Inc. wasn't doing too bad in selling products to finance their company and everyone was genuinely having a good time. Olette broke through the crowd and grabbed onto Faizah's arm.

"This party is so awesome!" she shouted over the music, her eyes bright with excitement.

"Yeah, it is! And we'll shove that in Seifer's face!" Faizah answered back, jumping in time to the beat.

"Hey, Faizah! Olette!" a voice rang out, causing both girls to turn around.

There, they found Hayner and Roxas approaching them, big smiles on their faces.

"This is the best block party of a lifetime!" Hayner cried out.

Olette giggled and twirled around.

"Way to go, Faizah! You did it!" Roxas commented, giving her a hug.

"Thanks you guys! You've been real supportive and now things are about to get better!" Faizah answered, hugging him back before pulling away and heading towards Pence who was standing near the refreshment table where multiple people were standing as well, seeming to be writing on some kind of paper.

"Hey Pence!" she greeted the male brunette, "Do you have the numbers yet?!"

Said brunette put his finger up for her to wait a moment while he waited for the last person to fill out the paper. Pence then tallied up the numbers before a big grin broke out across his faces.

"They're right here and I think you're going to like them!" he stated, handing the girl the papers.

Faizah looked at the paper in her hand, a smile brightening her features as she gave Pence a warm hug.

"This is awesome, Pence! Thanks!" she exclaimed, sprinting to the DJ box as quickly as she could in her ankle boots. Once she was there, she whispered something in Demyx's ear, causing the blonde-mullet boy to grin widely as he handed her a mike.

"Alright, alright, ya'll, let's cool it down for a moment! I got something to say!" Faizah announced into the mike, the crowd settling down to listen more carefully.

"Well, then, first I want to thank everyone for coming and making this party bangin'!" she exclaimed, making the crowd go crazy, "but, there's a catch to this. We planned this party out of a bet that was made in the spur of the moment. And now, that bet is about to come to an end because I have the results here!"

She waved the paper in the air, "Would Seifer please step forward!"

The crowd began to part as said blonde pushed his way through, a smirk on his face, "What is it?! Ready to admit defeat!?"

Faizah smiled sweetly at him, "Well, Seifer, the bet was that we had to plan the best block party Twilight Town had ever seen, right?!"

"That's what you told me."

"Well, I have the results of what the people think here!" she showed him the papers, "Out of the 375 people, 372 voted that this party was indeed the best block party in Twilight Town history!"

Seifer laughed out loud, "What happened to the other 3 votes? Who were the smart ones?"

"Well…you and your little posse," Faizah answered, shrugging her shoulders.

Seifer's smile faded and was replaced with a scowl. Faizah simply smiled and offered him the mike.

"I believe you have something to say, Seifer."

The older blonde glared at her but took the mike anyway. He looked around the crowd, hesitating to make his statement, but eventually swallowed down his pride.

"Roxas and his little group of …friends," he started, grudgingly, "are in no way, shape, or form losers, lames…or dorks!"

The crowd cheered loudly as Seifer all but threw the mike back at Faizah and stomped away, his friends following right behind him. Faizah laughed into the mike and smiled brightly.

"Alright, then, everyone! I have one more announcement to make!" the crowd grew quiet once again, "I have a friend who has a very special song to sing for a very special person in her life. Olette, now's the time."

The spotlight shined down on the now blushing green-eyed girl as she made her way to the stage. Hayner watched her curiously, the light from the spotlight making her appear to be glowing with that pretty pink blush across her cheeks.

"Hi, everyone! Well, this song I'm about to sing is for a very special person in my life whom I've grown…to love…as more than just a friend," she said into the mike, "and I hope he would return the same feelings. Hayner, this is for you!"

The music started and Olette tapped her foot to the beat, her beautiful voice ringing out over the crowd.

If the sun shuts down and decided not to shine no more
I would still have you, baby
If we see the last day and they say we gotta go to war
I'll be fighting with you, baby
Cause I know if I'm falling, you won't let me hit the ground
If the boat is sinking, I know you won't let me drown

No matter what anyone could say
This is the only place for me
And no one could ever take that away
Nothing could come between us

She looked at Hayner as she started to sing the chorus of the song.

If the sun shuts down and decided not to shine no more (No more)
I would still have you, you, you, you, you, you, you
If we see the last day and they say we gotta go to war (To War)
I'll be fighting with you, you, you, you, you
Because it's us against the world
The world, the world
You know it's us against the world
The world, the world, ohh

Now if I'm lost at sea 7 days I'm not alone
If I'm holding you, you, you, you, you
And if it all end's, everybody in the world is gone
I'll be standing with you, baby

She hugged herself tightly, pretending that it was Hayner's body that she was holding close to her.

And if it's the last breath I take
I'll leave my kiss my with you
If there's a wall between us, baby
I know I'll break through

No matter what anyone could say
This is the only place for me
And no one could ever take that away
Nothing could come between us

If the sun shuts down and decided not to shine no more (No more)
I would still have you, you, you, you, you, you, you
If we see the last day and they say we gotta go to war (To War)
I'll be fighting with you, you, you, you, you
Because it's us against the world

Nothing's stronger now than you and I
Cause your love is all I got
And this ain't never gon' stop
No, whoa
There's no distance here when we're apart
Come on in from the cold
Lay your head on my shoulder
Ride like a soldier
I'm a stay right here

She stomped her foot to the growing bass, her passion for the song clearly showing in her moves. You could clearly see the love she held for him at that moment.

If the sun shuts down and decided not to shine no more (No more)
I would still have you, you, you, you, you, you, you
If we see the last day and they say we gotta go to war (To War)
I'll be fighting with you, you, you, you, you
Because it's us against the world
The world, the world
You know it's us against the world
The world, the world, ohh [Repeat]

Hayner looked up at the pretty brunette as she finished her song, his heart beating a million miles per minute. Olette came down from the stage and made her way slowly towards him. Faizah pulled on Roxas's arm and dragged him away, wanting to give Olette and Hayner their alone time. Olette stopped in front of her blonde love and looked at the ground, her cheeks burning up.

"Olette…how long have you?"

"I don't know when it started," Olette answered, too afraid to look him in the eye, "But I do know that once it started, it was hard to stop it. I love you Hayner and even if the world did turn against us, you wouldn't have to worry cuz I'll always be there with you."

Hayner stared at his shy friend, a smile grazing his features. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Olette gasped in surprise, her cheeks flushing a brighter pink as she looked up at Hayner.

"You have no idea…how long I've waited to hear you say that," he whispered before taking her chin between his fingers and giving her a sweet kiss upon her lips.

Olette felt like she was in a surreal dream, but nonetheless kissed him back, tears of happiness falling down her cheeks. Faizah watched from a distance the events that unfolded before her, a smile making its way across her lips.

"Well, I wasn't really expecting that," Roxas commented, also watching the new happy couple.

Faizah shrugged, "Eh, I guess you wouldn't if you're not a girl."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Roxas asked, a playful smirk on his lips.

Faizah giggled and refused to answer. Just then, Axel popped up next to her and tugged on her arm.

"It's time, Faizah!" he called, pulling her towards the stage.

"Faizah, where are you going?!" Roxas cried over the cheers of the crowd.

"Just watch the stage," the purple-eyed girl said, winking cutely.

"Okay, everyone, it's now the time you've all been waiting for!" Demyx announced into the mike, "I would now like for you to welcome our special guest performers Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lil' Wayne, and T.I.!"

The crowd erupted into applause as Faizah appeared on stage, sunglasses adorning her face, and began her part of the song.

[Faizah]

No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger like us.

No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger like us.

No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger like us.

No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger like us.

[Kanye West]
Mr. West is in the buildin'
Swagger on a hundred thousand TRILLION!
Ayo, I know I got there first
I'm Christopher Columbus, y'all just the pilgrims
Thanksgiving, do we even got a question?
Hermes Pastel, I passed the dressin'
My attitude is tattooed
That mean it's permanent, so I guess
we should address it, huh?
My swagger is Mick Jagger
Every time I breathe on the track, I asthma attack it
Why he so mad for? Why he gotta have it?
'Cause I slaved my whole life, now I'm the master
Naaaaa-na-naaaaa
How it feel to wake up and be the shit, and the urine?
Naaaaa-na-naaaaa
Tryna get that Kobe number, one over Jordan

[Faizah]
No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger like us.

[Jay-Z]
Got a bop like this
Can't wear skinny jeans cause my knots don't fit
No one on the corner got a pocket like this
So I rock Roc Jeans cause my knot's so thick
You can learn how to dress just by checkin' my fresh
checkin'-checkin' my fresh, checkin'-checkin' my fresh
Follow my steps, it's the road to success
Where the nigga's know you're thorough
and the girls say "yes"
Yes!
But I can't teach 'em my swag
You can pay for school but you can't buy class
School of hard knocks I'm a grad
And that all-blue Yankee is my graduation cap
It's Hooooo-vahhhhh
Dippin-dippin Rovers, whippin with the soda Hooooo-vahhhhh
Did you even have any doubt after doubt it was over?

[Faizah]

No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger like us.

[Lil' Wayne]
No one on the corner has swagger like Moi
Church? But I'm too clean for these choir
I require what I desire
I got stripes, A-di-das
Mami scream, "Papi no mas!"
Run up in your shit just me, no mas
Runnin' this shit like I got four thighs
No one has swagger like these four guys
But when it comes to styles, I got several
Sharper than a swagger dagger; all metal
And my jew-els, blue and yellow
The type of shit that make 'em call you Carmelo
Rules as follow: Stay true to the ghetto
Write your name on a bullet make you feel special
Ha! What the fuck you boys talkin 'bout?
I know it's us cause we the only thing we talkin' 'bout

[Faizah]
No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger- and I'm gone.
No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger like us- Bye!
No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger like us.
No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger like us...

[T.I.]
Ay, you know see Weezy for the wordplay,
Jeezy for the bird play
Kanyeezy for diversity
and me for controversy
I'm a verse that's picture perfect,
only spit to serve a purpose
If you ain't livin' what you kickin', then your worthless
Lookin' from the surface it may seem like I got reason to be nervous
Then observe my work and see that my adversity was worth it
Verse is autobiographical, absolutely classical
The last thing I'm worried 'bout is what another rapper do
Ain't nobody hot as me
Even if they rap they ass off, blast off and have outstandin' quality
Sell a lot of records, I respect and salute that.
But spit real life on hot beats, I'm the truth at
You can't get like me, no exaggeration necessary
Livin' revolutionary, nothin' less than legendary
Gangsta shit hereditary, got it from my dad
Flow colder than February with extraordinary swag

[Faizah]

No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger like us.

No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger like us.

[ Faizah [T.I. (over Chorus)]]
No one on the corner has swagger like us. (Okay, yeah, that's right)
Swagger like us (Okay, yeah, so you notice huh)
Swagger-Swagger like us. (Hah, yeah, okay, tell 'em for me shawty)
(Yeah, that's right, yeah)

No one on the corner has swagger like us.
Swagger like us
Swagger-Swagger like us, like us, like us.

The crowd erupted into cheers as Faizah and the big stars all took a bow together. Hayner, Pence, Roxas, and Olette all cheered for Faizah, none of them knowing that she had a talent like that.

"Hold on, you guys! We're not done here yet!" another female voice suddenly interrupted the cheering.

Faizah and the others turned to see a beautiful, light-skinned black woman approaching them, a smile on her face as she made her way towards Faizah.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Mariah Carey!" Demyx announced into the mike. The sound was deafening as they screamed uncontrollably.

"Hey, thanks you guys! This next song is dedicated to Faizah and her father," Mariah said, hugging the girl close as Faizah looked about ready to cry, "I'm sorry about your dad, Fai. Would you do me the honors of singing this song with me?"

Faizah looked up at the older woman, her eyes glistening. But nonetheless, she smiled and nodded her head. Both women took their places on stage as the music began to play.

[Both]

This is for my peoples who just lost somebody

Your best friend, your baby, your man, or your lady

Put your hand way up high

We will never say bye (no, no, no)

Mamas, daddies, sisters, brothers, friends and cousins

This is for my peoples who lost their grandmothers

Lift your head to the sky 'cause we will never say bye

[Mariah Carey]

As a child there were them times

I didn't get it but you kept me in line

I didn't know why you didn't show up sometimes

On Sunday mornings, and I missed you

But I'm glad we talked through

All them grown folk things

Separation brings

You never let me know it

You never let it show because

You loved me and obviously

There's so much more left to say

If you were with me today face to face

[Chorus: Both]

I never knew I could hurt like this

And everyday life goes on like

"I wish I could talk to you for awhile"

Miss you but I try not to cry

As time goes by

And it's true that you've reached a better place

Still I'd give the world to see your face

And I'm right here next to you

But it's like you're gone too soon

Now the hardest thing to do is say bye bye

(Bye Bye [3x])

Bye bye

[Faizah]

And you never got the chance to see how good I've done

And you never got to see me back at number one

I wish that you were here to celebrate together

I wish that we could spend the holidays together

I remember when you used to tuck me in at night

With the Teddy Bear you gave to me that I held so tight

I thought you were so strong

You'd make it through whatever

It's so hard to accept the fact you're gone forever

[Chorus: Both]

I never knew I could hurt like this

And everyday life goes on like

"I wish I could talk to you for awhile"

Miss you but I try not to cry

As time goes by

And it's true that you've reached a better place

Still I'd give the world to see your face

And I'm right here next to you

But it's like you're gone too soon

Now the hardest thing to do is say bye bye

(bye bye bye bye bye bye [3x])

Bye bye

[Mariah Carey]

This is for my peoples who just lost somebody

[Faizah]

Your best friend, your baby, your man, or your lady

[Mariah Carey]

Put your hand way up high

[Faizah]

We will never say bye (no, no, no)

[Mariah Carey]

Mamas, daddies, sisters, brothers, friends and cousins

[Faizah]

This is for my peoples who lost their grandmothers

[Mariah Carey]

Lift your head to the sky 'cause we will never say bye

[Chorus: Both]

I never knew I could hurt like this

And everyday life goes on like

"I wish I could talk to you for awhile"

Miss you but I try not to cry

As time goes by

And it's true that you've reached a better place

Still I'd give the world to see your face

And I'm right here next to you

But it's like you're gone too soon

Now the hardest thing to do is say bye bye

Everyone in the audience applauded, some with tears in their eyes. Mariah hugged Faizah close, kissing the top of her head lovingly and then taking a bow with the girl. Faizah quickly jumped off the stage and tried to get away to collect herself, but her way was blocked a certain blonde, blue-eyed boy. Roxas grabbed Faizah and gave her a warm hug before tugging her along behind him as he made his way towards the Twilight Town Clock Tower.

The two teens made their way up the stairs, stopping on the last flight to move onto the ledge. The stood next to each other silently, gazing at the night sky sprinkled with stars and admired the ocean water as it glinted with the light from the moon. Roxas was the one who broke the silence.

"Is that why you moved here? Because of your dad?" he asked quietly.

Faizah didn't look at him, "…We were attacked and I…couldn't do anything to save him. No one wanted to take me in, except for Leon and Cloud."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Roxas said, looking at her sadly.

"…I am too, but he wouldn't want to see me crying, he didn't save me just to see me cry."

Roxas looked at her for a minute before pulling her close and holding her to his body, "I don't want to see you cry either. Faizah, Olette's not the only one with a confession tonight."

Faizah looked up at the blonde, "What?"

Roxas wiped away a stray tear and smiled, "Faizah, I can't say that I've fallen in love with you, but I can say that I can't stand the thought of seeing you with anyone else but me. Maybe over time, it will grow into true love, but for now, I just want to give us a chance."

"Roxas…I…" Faizah started, unable to finish properly.

"You know? You're the only thing I think about when I'm not with you and whenever I am with you, all I want to do is hold you and try to find ways to make you laugh."

He raised her head with his fingers, "Faizah, you're the only one I'm ever going to say this to. I love you and I pray that you'll love me back."

Faizah looked into his Ocean blue eyes, seeing the moon reflect in it's depths. She smiled gently at the blonde before whispering for only him to hear.

"Your prayers have been answered, Roxas."

And with that, the two teens leaned close to each other and shared the sweetest kiss of the night. Roxas wrapped his arms around her slim waist and pulled her close as Faizah wrapped her arms around his neck. The moon shined down on them, the only witness to their secret confession.

Had someone told Faizah two months ago that she would lose her father, be moved states away from her home, make great friends, make a bet with the town bully, throw an awesome party with the help of her brother and the amazing company he worked for, win that bet and get the greatest boyfriend in the world, she would have laughed in their face and dropped kicked their teeth out! But I guess, in this crazy world, anything was possible. That's what Faizah though as she gazed at the ocean from within Roxas's arms. And it was a damn good block party to boot! Yeah!

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Jamaican Sunshower: Wow! What did you guys think!? I thought it was cool, but it's all up to you! Please read and review! It would much appreciated!