Chapter one- Off to a Rocky Start

"No. and that is my final answer," huffed a young girl, slamming the door in a man's face.

"How dare she!" fumed the rejected man, storming over to anxious stalker-like friend.

"Well, how'd it go, she couldn't resist could she!" his friend grinned.

The man's death glare answered the other's question, "Aw, its okay Riku! There are plenty of other girls out there!"

"Yes, but I promised myself her! After all, she is the fairest in the entire village," seethed Riku, his silver hair falling into his green eyes.

The furious man stalked off causing his shadow of a friend to race after to console him. The young belle of the village, merely closed the curtain she'd been watching from and blew a blonde lock out of her face in frustration.

"Namine? Namine who was that?" called out a voice from the basement.

"Oh, papa! It was Riku…he asked me to marry him!" the girl exclaimed with a slight laugh.

"Well, he is quite a handsome man," her father commented.

"Papa please! He is a monster!" the young blonde exclaimed, helping him carrying a box across the room.

The old father merely nodded, focusing back on his contraption and the girl climbed nimbly around, "is it working?"

"No. the con-founded thing never worked and never will!" cursed the inventor, scratching his head.

The girl smiled and helped him finish it up and to both of their surprise it worked! After a long train of series of events the contraption managed to slice a log so old men no longer had to! The girl hugged her father, giving him a kiss on the cheek saying how happy she was for him.

Then the old inventor started coughing and it shook his entire frame. The girl told him to lay down and that she would accompany him to the inventor's convention. At first he rejected the idea violently saying she should stay at home where it would be safest for such a young girl, but once he began to get drowsy he eventually agreed.

Namine placed a cold, refreshing wash cloth on his forehead in an attempt to keep his fever at bay and made him as comfortable as possible before she crept silently down the creaky ancient steps and curled up with her favorite book by the fire.

Winter was just beginning, so the small family of two almost always kept a fire burning to keep the house warm and the girl wrapped a soft, cozy lavender blanket around her small frame and daintily opened the book to her favorite part where she has read at least seventy times.

In the book it was the scene where the dazzling prince raced in and saved the fair princess from the evil dragon. Every time her eyes scanned the pages it was like reading it for the first time. Somewhere between the actual slaying of the dragon and the young couple's journey home Namine dozed off.

For when she awoke the sun was seeping through the curtains. The sleepy girl leaped up, tangling her legs up in the blanket causing her to let out a small cry before tumbling helplessly into the wooden floor.

"Ugh…" the girl, groaned, freeing her arm to rub her forehead.

Once the world stopped spinning, she wriggled free, like a caterpillar out of a cocoon, and put the blanket away and went to wake her father. When she arrived in her room she noticed the man was already awake- his blonde hair washed, his forest green eyes bright and attentive, and he wore a crisp white shirt and nice dress pants and shoes. The girl smiled to herself and told him she would only take a little bit.

Rushing, the girl easily slipped into her favorite blue and white dress and threw a deep green cloak around her shoulders in an effort to keep her from hypothermia's grasps. The girl threw her gorgeous blonde hair into a casual ponytail where just a bit of her bangs slipped out and she was rushing out the door.

"Papa wait!" the girl exclaimed, laughing.

Her father was all packed up and had the horse all ready and the two were both anxious. Namine picked up the hems of her dress and ran over to him and the horse, Philippe. The man hoisted her up and they were off. The girl realized that it was impossible to take five steps before the infamous Riku appeared.

"Vexen! Where are you and your lovely daughter off to?" he asked with his usual superiority.

"To the inventor's convention….and no, you must certainly cannot come," the girl answered for her father and told Vexen to keep moving.

Riku watched them leave, the bewitching blonde never once sparing a glance for him which only infuriated Riku even more which is why he sulked off to the bar. Namine soon calmed herself once the handsome maniac was out of her sight.

"I don't see why you are so put off by him, Namine,"her father lectured.

"Father, he only cares about looks. Sure, he is the strongest man in our town, but he is self-centered, and I doubt he would allow me to read… I would be his trophy," the daughter scoffed.

Her father nodded, listening to his young daughter's annoyances. The two traveled well into night fall which was when the climate dropped drastically and the girl questioned if they were lost.

Vexen reassured his troubled daughter saying they just took a detour, but then the wolves descended upon them. Namine let out a shriek and the house kicked them off, the machine the two had worked on for what seemed like forever was smashed, but that was no longer her concern.

She crawled up onto her feet and hurried over to her fallen father. The young girl helped support him and the two raced off desperately searching for safety. The wolves were at their heels when they stumbled upon black iron gates and they forced them open, closing them just in time for the wolves' mouths to meet the rusting bars. The frightened duo looked at one another before proceeding to the castle.

It was Namine who flung open the large wooden doors and the two were greeted by darkness. The sick old man coughed and called out for anyone who was there. the two heard whispering, so Vexen left his daughter's side and grasped a candelabra in an attempt to see the residents of this place.

"Please! He is sick!" Namine pleaded with the strange voices.

"Alright, we will help," stated a male's voice.

"No! Master will be furious!" yelled another male's voice.

The girl's head snapped over to the candelabra for the first voice and her father poked at it causing it to giggle. Namine's jaw dropped while a clock lumbered into view, claiming the second voice.

"Ingenious! I wonder how these machines work!" her father mused.

The girl's musical laugh filled the halls, "now now papa, we need to get you better!"

"Come this way, please," the candelabra grinned, hopping off.

The two humans were able to easily keep up and the candelabra, named Axel, led them to a room with a fireplace where the young woman quickly lit it and sat her father down on the plush red chair facing it and fetched a silky blanket to cover him. The father and daughter's jaws both dropped where a small foot rest leaped underneath Vexen's feet.

"This is bad, bad, bad- master will be furious!" the clock moaned.

"Oh hush, Demyx!" Axel snapped, threatening to burn him.

The girl quickly covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a giggle and watched as a cart rolled in with a talking tea cup and cup with a small chip in it. The tea pot poured some refreshing looking tea and Vexen sipped out of the chipped cup and it started laughing, startling the poor man so badly he nearly dropped him.

"Momma, who are they?" the little cup asked in a squeaky little boy's voice.

"I'm Namine and this here is my papa- Vexen," the blonde beamed down at him.

"Ah, pleasure mademoiselle!" Axel greeted, kissing her hand causing the girl to stifle another giggle.

"I am, of course, Axel, that whiny clock is Demyx, the tea cup is sweet Mrs. Kairi, and that little cup right there is her son- Sora," Axel told the girl.

"I am honored to meet you all," the girl smiled, curtsying to them.

The girl was enjoying her stay, that is, until he burst in. it started with an angry yell and the doors flew open and the next thing I knew the scariest creature I had ever seen before was sizzling at the door. Instinctively, Namine flew herself in front of her father and the creature approached them.

"What is this?" he yelled, making the girl want to tremble but she stayed brave.

"M-m-m-master! I-I-I- I told them not to! That they would leave on their own!" whimpered Demyx.

I glared him down, "my father is sick and is in need of warmth, so I brought him here because we were being chased by wolves."

"Leave!" he snarled and went to leave but Axel stopped him, whispering something to him and the beast turned back.

"The old man may leave, but you must stay," he stated, pointing a clawed finger at the frail girl.

"M-me?" she sputtered, terrified.

"Unless you would prefer your father to rot in my dungeons for trespassing," the beast sighed, seeming bored.

"No! Let him go, I'll stay…I…I promise," the girl ended with a whisper, looking away to blink away the tears.

"Namine no! I am old but you, you have so much to live for!" Vexen pleaded as the Beast dragged him out and threw him out.

The young girl stayed strong until the beast returned and led her upstairs. Once he left and she believed she was alone she sank to her bony knees in defeat and heartbreak and sobbed and sobbed until her entire frame shook viciously and the silent bystander could no longer stand to watch the poor girl suffer.

"It'll get better deary," cooed a female's voice.

The girl, caught off guard, whipped her head up and feeling very self-conscious asked, "w-who's there?"

"Just me, here sweetie," the wardrobe said, hobbling out from the darkness, handing her a piece of a shredded shirt.

The young belle whipped her tears away and asked the wardrobe, "Who are you?"

"My name is Olette, I believe your name is Namine, correct?" the wardrobe, Olette, replied with another question.

"Yeah, that's my name," Namine nodded.

There was a knock on the door and the girl heard the beast's voice, "you will- grr…will you please accompany me to dinner tonight?"

The girl needed no time to respond, "I'm not hungry."

"Just come dine with me!" the beast retorted, angered.

"No!" the girl yelled back through the door.

"Fine! Then you will not eat at all!" growled the beast's voice and she could hear his furious footsteps leave.

The girl threw herself unto the bed in another fit of tears certain she was going to die…or lose her mind.

Author's Note: Well there's the first chapter! I'm not sure how much I like it, but I felt like I needed to write again, since I've been dealing with writer's block big time...anyway, hope it wasn't too awful! BYE!