The moment that she'd heard about the Invasion of Hollow Bastion, she had to be there.
Squaring her shoulders, hands drawn into fists, she had demanded that she got to visit the once-great city as well.
Her fate had already been sealed – it was her final wish.
Expecting resistance, she was taken off guard as her companion shrugged, summoning a portal with a wave of their hand. Raising an eyebrow, she nodded in thanks, warily stepping towards the awaiting darkness.
Disorientated, she stumbled out of the darkness, her destination stretching out before her.
"It can't be . . ."
Out of breath, she glanced at the scene around her.
The Bailey had been reduced to a pile of rubble, the invasion already over.
"I'm too late . . ."
Shaking her head, she ran a hand through her blonde hair, frustrated.
How long had it been since the Invasion took place?
The remains of the Bailey were hidden beneath a layer of ice and snow, icicles hanging from the rooftop. Her breath visible, she glanced at the grey clouds overhead, another storm on the horizon.
"I just wanted to . . ."
She just wanted to see him one more time; whether he remembered her or not didn't matter.
She wanted to make sure her work was complete, that nothing had gone wrong in those final moments when the mansion was compromised.
She let out a sigh, her breath visible in the cold, a fine snow drifting through the air.
Her footsteps were the only sound, echoing through the Bailey, her boots breaking through the packed surface of the snow. Her thoughts were miles away from the war-torn remains of Hollow Bastion as she ascended the remains of the staircase, her fingers trailing through the built up snow on the ledges.
Despite the fact the destruction around her – she found it beautiful. The way the snow had fallen, the way the mountains surrounding the ravine glistened in sheets of ice, and the icicles hanging from the brickwork catching the odd ray of sun.
"If only I'd brought my sketchbook," she mumbled, the sketchbook forgotten in her haste to leave. She frowned – it felt weird without her sketchbook nearby – she glanced back at her surroundings, stepping closer to the viewing platform, Villain's Vale visible in the distance. "I suppose I can remember it and recreate it later," she continued, her fingers itching for a pencil.
Leaning against the ledge of the viewing platform, Namine couldn't help but grin slightly. How long had it been since she'd gotten to do something she liked? In the past twelve months she'd been captured by Organization XIII, slowly torn down and replaced Sora's memories and spent the past two months trying to outrun Xemnas and DiZ – finally, she had a moment to herself.
The silence stretched out around her, the only sound coming from the wind getting caught in the remains of the Bailey. Propping her chin in her palm, her cerulean-coloured eyes took in her surroundings, trying to commit every last detail to memory. Idly, she trailed her fingers through the ledges' snow, tracing the vista before her.
Lost in her thoughts, the horizon before her traced in the snow, Namine jumped as she heard the sound of boots crunching on packed snow.
Oh no, she thought, the sound making her jump.
Narrowing her eyes as she heard the sound again – inwardly, she hoped it had been a sound carried on the wind, but luck was rarely on her side. She glanced over at the stairs leading to the city's lower quarter; surely she could vanish in the Market Square? Nodding to herself, she wiped her hand across the lines drawn in the snow, erasing any trace that she'd been there.
Almost at the stairs, her hand outstretched for the railing – "And what do you think you're doing?"
Namine froze, inwardly cursing herself, as she forced a smile on her lips, turning on her heel. "So Axel told –" she paused, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, um, just taking in the change of scenery," Namine said, her rigid posture relaxing slightly. "That battle really changed the skyline, it's my new inspiration," she added, shrugging. "It's just what I've been looking for."
The dark-clad man raised an eyebrow at her expression. "Inspiration, huh?" He muttered, glancing at the destruction left behind from the Heartless Invasion, Villain's Vale visible in the distance.
Namine nodded, taking in his rigid posture and the sword hanging loosely at his hip. "I'm an artist," she clarified, the wind whistling as it rushed through the remains of the Bailey. "The way the sunset's hitting the snow, the ravine glistening with all that ice . . ." she trailed off, her eyes drawn again to the vista stretching out before her.
"You need to go home, kid," he interrupted, glancing momentarily in her direction. "The Heartless may have disappeared after the Invasion, but . . ." he shook his head. "Hallow Bastion is rarely peaceful."
"Its fine," Namine shrugged, idly tracing the horizon's outline in the snow again. "I'm used to dealing with the forces of darkness."
He sighed, running a hand over his face; the blonde focused on the horizon, ignoring him. Idly, he realized she reminded him of Yuffie, the ninja consistently ignoring his warnings. "Listen, it's going to be dark soon, and the Heartless –"
"Aren't in Hallow Bastion right now," she shrugged, glancing over at him. "That is what you said, right?" she added, grinning.
Namine raised an eyebrow as he didn't respond, her grin fading.
Running a hand through the lines she'd drawn in the snow, she pushed herself away from the ledge of the Bailey, shaking her head. "It'd be better if I had my sketchbook anyway. I'll have to remember to bring it with me tomorrow." Clasping her hands behind her back, Namine sighed, turning on her heel. "My name's Namine, by the way. Who knows, maybe I'll see you here tomorrow, Mr. Silent?"
"It's Leon," he said reluctantly, a frown marring his features.
Namine nodded, reaching the small staircase that led to the housing district, trailing a hand along the bricked wall as she went. "Well then, if you're so worried about the Heartless . . . I'll be here again at this time tomorrow, Leon." Grinning to herself, Namine waved over her shoulder, heading down the stairs.
Once out of sight of the Bailey, Namine stretched her arms out in front of her, grinning. How long had it been since she'd had a decent conversation that didn't revolve around the Keyblade War, Sora's memories, or Organization XIII? Shaking her head, she broke into a run as she flew down the stairs leading away from the Bailey, her footsteps echoing against the cobbled streets.
She passed through the Market Square, various booths open for business, the odd light lit as the sunset started to light up the sky. She glanced curiously at some of the booths, an ornate sketchbook catching her eye, but shook her head, continuing on, disappearing down a side street that still showed signs of the original Heartless attack.
Slowing her pace, Namine sighed, leaning against the wall, claw marks from the Heartless raked into the brickwork. Her wish had almost come true – she had wanted to see the once-great city . . . although she had hoped that Sora might still be here. She wanted – no, maybe it was a need – to see if he knew her subconsciously.
"So, this is where you've been all day . . ."
Namine paused, her eyes widening slightly as the deep voice pierced the silence. "Hi Riku . . ." she mumbled, frowning when she caught sight of the dark-clad teen. "What are you doing here?" Hadn't Axel said he'd gone to Ancient China?
"I thought you weren't going to meddle anymore?" he said, ignoring her question. "You weren't supposed to contact –"
"I didn't contact Sora, he's not here!" Namine said, exasperated as she pushed away from the wall. "But, I suppose you already know that?" she said, smiling slightly. "You know you can't hide anything from me. All I wanted was one day – I already know how my story ends."
Sometimes, she hated being a memory witch.
She knew the end was coming. Sora would soon stumble upon the path to the World That Never Was.
"I just wanted one day. Axel didn't see the harm in it," Namine said, stopping beside him. "The sun's setting though . . . so it's over. I suppose, we should leave, huh?"
Riku said nothing, but nodded nonetheless. Namine sighed, casting a glance over her shoulder. She should have bought that sketchbook . . . she only had a couple pages left.
Perhaps the last page would be the landscape of Hollow Bastion – and the one moment she got to have a conversation with someone who didn't want anything in return.
"Looks like I won't be seeing him tomorrow after all . . ."
The door to the World that Never Was would open soon.
The final battle was no more than a week away.
At least someone out there might remember me, she thought idly, staring straight ahead as she walked into the waiting darkness, Riku's eyes on her.
# # #
A/N: Namine is one of my favourite characters in the series and decided to use some imagination as to what she did between the fall of the fake Twilight Town and the end of the game. Since she is the Memory Witch, I figured that she would want to see how Sora's memories came back together, that everything did indeed return to the way it should be. Mainly I got inspired by the few additional scenes added into the 2.5 Remix showing her talking to Axel, I believe. It's been a while since I've played the game, this has been sitting on my hard drive for ages.