she was ethereal.

roxas first saw naminé on a sunny day. it was a thursday around 11am. the seasons were just beginning to transition from an exciting, busy summer to a cool, calm fall. he had to go pick something up on the way to work, so he took the train. axel was with him - he was also sent on the task to buy something, too. the train might have a delay, causing the passengers to grumble around. or maybe the train got so crowded that other people had to step off and wait for the next one. roxas wasn't too sure of all these minor details. he was too busy staring at the girl sitting across from him.

she was pale. everything about her was just pale. her skin itself was pale, her blonde hair was a much paler shade than roxas's, even her striking blue eyes were a pale, ethereal shade. she was sitting directly across from him, looking at a silver watch perched on her delicate wrist. the clothes she was wearing didn't suit her appearance - a black, lacy and low cut v-neck that showed her midriff, a puffy black vest over it, ripped jean shorts and black strappy heels. it seemed like she was trying to show off as much skin as possible.

the girl didn't seem to appreciate it as much as the men around her did, squirming in her seat and constantly pulling at her clothes.

roxas, to be simple, was awed. despite wearing such racy clothes, she seemed to radiate an innocent, pure vibe around her. luckily, axel was sitting next to him, shaking him out of his reverie when the train arrived at their stop. as they got up, roxas noticed the girl mirror his movements, also getting up and walking out the train doors. she was taking deep breaths and had a sad expression on before a man came up to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. he didn't look very young and neither was he good-looking, which bothered roxas a little. the moment she spotted the man, the mysterious girl slipped on a bright smile, though roxas could still see hints of sadness behind it.

axel pulled on his arm, clearly annoyed. roxas turned away from the scene and continued on to his plans made that day.

that was four weeks ago.

from that day on, the girl always got off that stop. every single day, there was a man there to pick her up. the man changed every couple days, sometimes a different man picking her up consecutively. she looked more tired with each passing day, and some bruises had started to line up her hips and neck (he felt that she should really stop wearing those clothes, they did not suit her appearance and it revealed too much to the world). roxas felt that he was becoming a bit of a stalker, but he stopped and denied it to himself, saying he was just wondering what the reason behind the girl's sadness was.

then came that one day.

there are lots of days in a week, but it just happened to be a thursday when he found her lying next to a dumpster. it was four weeks since the first time he saw her. she had disappeared for the past two days. roxas was heading home and considering not going to the train tomorrow because he probably would not see her (yes, that was the only reason why he took the train to work. axel thinks roxas is whipped. which is ridiculous, really. he doesn't even know the girl.) when he nearly tripped over her hand on the ground. it was raining that day.

roxas would not have noticed her if she had not stood out so much with her paleness against the darkness of the alleyway the dumpster was in. she was lying down in a hazardous position - her arms were stretched above her, hair covering her face, legs slightly bent. it was not raining that hard, thankfully, but her clothes were soaked and she had bruises all over her body.

roxas did not bring his umbrella with him, opting instead for a raincoat on the walk to the train station from his apartment. he took one look and immediately recognized the motionless girl on the ground; without a second thought, he took his raincoat off and placed it over her. he picked her up bridal style and jogged back to his apartment with the stranger in his arms.


naminé woke up on a warm and soft bed for the first time in four weeks. she was incredibly tired and sore all over. although she would have loved to dive back into the pristine white sheets, she immediately realized that the bed she was in was not familiar to her. panicking, she sat up quickly and was immediately hit by a wave of pain. a groan slipped out of her mouth as she winced and sank back down in the cotton sheets.

"i see you're awake now." a gentle voice rang out in the room.

naminé looked up, ignoring the throbbing in her head and soreness all over, eyes wide, and spotted the owner of the voice. it was a man - and a very handsome one, too. he had blonde, spiky hair, tan skin, and cerulean eyes. she looked down at herself. she still had her own clothes on, even if it did not do much justice in covering her up. after ensuring that, she wrapped herself up in the blanket she was snuggled in and backed away from the man as much as she could.

the man caught on to what she was thinking and quickly added, "don't worry, i didn't do anything. i would never take advantage of a helpless woman like you. i just found you on the street, practically dying out there in the cold." naminé hesitated to trust him. you can never be too cautious. the man saw that there was no point in trying to convince her that he wasn't a dirty pervert, so he changed the topic. "are you alright? do you want anything to eat?"

naminé shook her head furiously. as soon as she denied his offer, her stomach was heard growling for food. she blushed, angry at herself for looking weak in front of the stranger. she heard a chuckle and looked up.

he was smiling and trying to hold back laughter as he turned away from her. she stared at his back, appalled at his reaction.

"come on, i cooked up some lunch." he said, turning his head to meet naminé's eyes. when he walked away, naminé considered whether or not she should follow him. her mind thought up of all sorts of possibilities of what could happen if she did - and all of them ended badly. however, she was curious and a very hungry girl. nothing would happen if she were to stay in this room. she slowly got up and staggered towards the door. her head was stuffy and she probably was not in her right mind at the moment.

naminé cautiously peeked out the door and took in her surroundings. outside her room (could she call it hers?) was a small and clean hall. the walls were pristine white and the floor was clean. no decorations were in sight, making it seem eerily empty. she stepped out of her hiding place and walked down the hall, still observing everything. her steps were soft and quiet against the hardwood floor and she stopped when she came to the end of the hall.

she had arrived at what seems to be a living room. after further observation, she saw the kitchen counter and a plate of food. her stomach rumbled louder if possible at the sight. a blonde head popped up from behind the counter. the man spotted naminé and grinned.

"i was wondering when you would come. nobody can resist my delicious cooking!" he exclaimed, waving around a spatula dangerously. naminé kept her face void of expression and quietly sat down at the counter in front him. seeing her lack of reaction, the man put down his spatula.

she looked at the plate. it was a stack of pancakes with maple syrup dribbled all over it. hesitating, naminé reached for the fork next to her plate and cut it with the side of the utensil in her shaky hands. she held it up to her face, examining it.

"you look like you're expecting it to be poisoned," the man's voice interrupted, startling naminé, "i don't look that suspicious, do i?"

naminé finally looked up and met the stranger's eyes for the first time. to her amazement, his eyes were a brilliant, vibrant shade of cerulean, a stark contrast to her pale blue, almost gray, drab color. he seemed caught off guard that she had met his eyes, but he smiled nonetheless.

"by the way, my name is roxas."

she nodded stiffly. looking down at the piece of pancake she had gotten, she brought it to her lips and nibbled on it a little. it tastes good, i want more, her stomach screamed at her. she took a bigger bite this time and continued to dig in her food until the plate was clean.

"i see you enjoyed the meal." roxas smiled proudly. naminé looked up and flushed. she did not mean to lose control and eat the whole plate. well, at least her stomach was filled. she instinctively looked down at her plate, which had disappeared, and looked back up to see roxas taking it. he turned his back towards her and placed the dish in the sink. "i never got your name, by the way."

she hesitated. was this a good idea? "…naminé."


roxas stilled. he heard her voice for the first time. he could not stop wondering about her the whole time she was sleeping on his bed.

her voice was beautiful. naminé suited the girl perfectly. unique, yet elegant. he could not imagine a better voice or name to her.

"…well, hello, naminé," he turned to face her and held out his hand. "nice to meet you."

naminé stared at his hand for several minutes, debating whether or not she should take it. roxas felt a bit slighted. he did not seem that creepy, did he? he was sure that he didn't give her the impression that he was a pervert. well, besides the fact that he took her home. it's not like he touched her or anything!

she slowly reached for his hand and shook it. "hello," she said, not meeting his eyes once again. roxas felt slightly relieved. at least she trusts him a tiny bit.

"now that we know a little bit about each other, do you mind if i ask you what you were doing out in the rain?" it was a bit straightforward, but roxas thought it might relate to why she always looked so sad.

he sensed her still. "...yes, i do mind." she answered stiffly.

"i see. that was rude of me to ask, i'm sorry." as disappointed as he was, roxas didn't blame her. it must be a personal issue that should not exactly be shared with complete strangers that take you to their home in the pouring rain.

speaking of the rain, roxas walked to his balcony windows and pulled aside a curtain to check out what the weather was like outside. it was still raining buckets. he turned away to look at the girl at his counter. she shifted uncomfortably and shivered a little in her damp, skimpy clothes. roxas noticed the small movement and mentally smacked himself for not noticing sooner.

"do you want to borrow my clothes? you look a little cold in that. sorry, my apartment doesn't have very good insulation." naminé, once again, hesitated before accepting his offer. he shuffled off to get some clothes for her.


an hour later, naminé was sitting at his kitchen counter in a white t-shirt and gray sweatpants, both several sizes too big for her. his t-shirt went down to the middle of her thighs and the sleeves was to her elbow. she had to roll his sweatpants up a few times in order to keep it from dragging on the floor. roxas personally thought that she looked better in his clothes rather than the small, revealing clothing she wore earlier. he had made a cup of coffee for himself and a glass of water when naminé politely declined his offer of tea or coffee. now, he was standing across from her, watching her as she shifted around, uncomfortable in her new surroundings.

"... could you please stop staring at me?" she muttered, staring at the shiny marble countertop.

roxas immediately snapped himself out of it. what was he thinking!? this wasn't like him - he had much better manners than this.

"sorry," he replied as he looked away. "i- well- you- i mean-" his failed attempts at explaining his staring eventually trailed off when naminé whispered it's okay and hid her face behind her hair. oh god, what did he do this time!? roxas wanted to smack himself.

he did.

naminé's head snapped up to at the resounding smack when roxas's hand made contact with his face. this time it was her turn to stare, watching roxas rub his reddening cheek and saying ow.

"of course it would hurt," she deadpanned, "why would you even hurt yourself like that?"

roxas's face reddened even more, but not because of the physical pain he caused himself.

"i don't know..." he honestly didn't know. maybe it was to make sure he wasn't dreaming, that the unhappy yet beautiful girl he sees on the train is actually here, right in front of him, in his own home. he took a sip of his coffee and ruffled his hair to hide some of his embarrassment.

the girl sighed and shook her head. "i thought you were a creepy guy at first for taking me to your place, but now i think you're just a creepy idiot."

well, at least his slap was a conversation starter.


she is incredibly stupid. why is she talking so comfortably with him? what happened to don't talk to strangers? ...not that the saying really applied to her anyway. she might as well try to find out about her situation so she can solve it.

"how did you find me?"

the man raised an eyebrow. "i already told you," he put his cup of coffee down, "i found you lying on the street."

"where?"

he thought about it for a minute before answering. his brow furrowed a little as he tried to recall. "next to a dumpster in an alleyway, i think. it's a good thing you stood out so much or else i wouldn't have found you. you were covered in bruises..." he stood up straighter as his hand twitched a little bit on the cool surface of the countertop. "i forgot! are you alright?"

naminé quickly replied with her standard reply; it's alright, i'm okay. she tried to recall the memories that occurred before she passed out. her head hurt when she tried. she tried to ease her headache by massaging her temples, igniting the worry from the blonde man in front of her.

"are you sure you're okay? do you want any medicine? i have some tylenol or some advil if you want-"

"no!" naminé shouted, almost jumping off the chair when she raised a hand to stop him from rushing to his bathroom. "i'm okay," she said quietly. "really," she added when she saw that he was not convinced, "i'm fine, uh..."

"it's roxas," he answered. right. his name is roxas. "and if you insist...you don't look alright, though." he slowly moved back to his previous position.

"right," she whispered, more to herself than to him, "roxas..."

there was a short silence until naminé asked for a glass of water, hoping to calm her headache down. as she sipped her water, a long silence ensued. the man - roxas, she quickly reminded herself, she should really start remembering people's names - continued to stare at her absentmindedly.

"where is your home?"


dammit. he told himself he wouldn't ask any intrusive questions until she was comfortable. she jumped at the sudden break in silence and quickly averted her eyes. she shrugged noncommittally.

"do you have a home?" god, he hoped he didn't sound like an inconsiderate jerk while asking her this. he ruffled his hair in frustration and stared at the table.

naminé looked at her empty glass of water. "...maybe. i don't know."

he smiled at her even though she wasn't looking. he didn't need her to see it. he knew she could feel it. "you can think of this place as home, if you want." she looked up and stared at him blankly. his smile slipped a little. "i mean, i know we just met, but i've seen you around the train station a lot, and you always look sad and lost, so i just figured you- i mean, you don't have to- oh god, i sound like an actual creep now, i am so sorry, i don't mean to-"

he almost missed her small smile as she softly said, "thank you."


hola my friends this is melahun here (and yes i did indeedy do change my penname)

so this is a rokunami fic!1! i hope you enjoy it so far! i'll try to update biweekly (i'm not trying to set a high goal for myself OTL) because i already have three chapters (including this one) written out already heh. you may also have noticed (right away) that the sentences aren't capitalized! i'm sorry, really, but this is the way i type and i was going to change it when i realized that if i changed it then i would have to change all 20+ pages of it on my google docs of this. so if it bothers you, i'm really sorry! there's not really anything i can do about it. maybe when i have free time i can go back and fix it, but for now please deal with it as best you can. (to be honest i usually post on livejournal and i believe that leaving the caps off leaves an artistic quality to it, but that really only looks good on livejournal. i'm sorry ; - ; )

also because i personally think that the reading format isn't really the best/isn't artistic or design-worthy enough for me, i will also be uploading this on my livejournal! i personally think it has a better reading format if you're on the computer, so be sure to check it out on my profile!

reviews are love and love is what i run on! so please give me lotsa reviews and critiques please!

thanks,

mel