listen closely, listen, a kingdom hearts fanfic

l i s t e n closely, listen
so tell me you love me, tell me that pretty lie

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oh no! we never mention her,
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Naminé had hoped that he didn't miss her too much; it had grown tiresome trying to cover up, being the princess she knew she never was to begin with. He thought she was the princess so she really couldn't complain at this point. It made her feel special, wanted, even though most of the time it felt like she was sinning. (She sinned because she believed.)

And so she sighed and placed her head in the crook of his neck just like a good little princess would do, closed her pretty (empty) blue eyes that looked exactly like the real princess's, letting him toy with her gold locks, twirl them between his fingers, all the while staring into the space with his (blank) azure eyes.

They sat there everyday, he occasionally murmured something along the lines of 'I love you,' or 'don't leave me,' she could never remember what he would say to her because they weren't words meant for her. Oh well, can't really help that. What was she to do? It really didn't matter to her. Besides, they didn't feel so why should she care? (But she felt guilty, guilty, guilty afterwards.)

She couldn't really do anything, she finally realized after a while. Couldn't stop him from being hopelessly infatuated with her, couldn't stop him from bleating her name like a lost lamb (Naminé, Naminé. Naminé) and desperately seeking that lost princess in her he would never, ever find. (Kairi, Kairi, Kairi.)

Sometimes they would be sprawled on the floor, staring up at the white bleached ceiling, her ear against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. Sometimes she could catch him wanting to hear a heartbeat too, asking in his (broken) voice, "Can I, Naminé?" Of course, each time he asked she would shake her head, and look at him with her (void) blue eyes. The pitiful look on his face would always make her (nonexistent) heart break.

Riku Replica would be there whenever he decided he was allowed inside her prison, sitting and staring at Sora with that same (vacant) expression they all had on their faces. Stolen glances at her from the duplicate showed her that he yearned the same thing she did, that Sora had. A heart to feel with, yes, that was what they wanted, a heart.

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her name is never heard;
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Kairi, Kairi, Kairi, just what made that girl so precious to him? Naminé was well aware she was just as pretty as that girl ever would be, because Sora often said that. She never told him to say that. Or were they just memories left over and words he had yearned to say to the princess? She would never find out, but that didn't really matter.

Naminé knew he was missing something that made him, well, him, Sora. He had ceased laughing, those soft, half-hearted smirks/smiles (she could never tell anymore) and quiet whispers she had forced herself not to listen to (they're not for you). "Why don't you smile anymore?" He would ask her, and she would merely shrug, and conjure up a (faux) smile to her face. After that, she would like to retort, 'Why don't you laugh anymore?' But she never does.

Sora would pay attention when she wanted to draw, always looking over her shoulder and breathing on her neck. She didn't mind, just as long as she kept him out of trouble like Marluxia specifically ordered to keep him busy. A traitor, he was, as Axel used to tell her, before he disappeared of course. Who knows where Axel went? But what did she care?

He always held her tight (even if it was breaking her), whispered sweet phrases (though she knew he lied), once, just once, he even dared to put his face close up to her, the way his lips curled up ever-so-slightly looked like a cross between a smirk and a smile (but if he did kiss her, she would die, she knew it). Days would fly past, though they could never tell time in the castle. The time going past felt like days, years even.

And during those days, maybe years, something inside her snapped.

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my lips are now forbid to speak
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She snapped, and screamed. She couldn't stop screaming, shook him, and demanded him to wake up from this fake reality. This wasn't right, why did she care? She wasn't supposed to care. "But Naminé…" His voice was fainter than it had ever been, faded away. The sound of a smack echoed through the large, ghastly white room.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" If she could cry, she knew tears would be streaming down her face. Even as one side of his face started to burn bright red, he bore into her with those eyes. "She's waiting for you, you know? That girl, Kairi. She misses you, she's wondering where and who you are. Wake up!"

She broke down, falling to her knees. She had been horrible, doing this just, just because it made her feel like she belonged. She never belonged to begin with so why try? "What are you talking about? Who's Kairi?" He questioned, a confused look coming onto his face.

And so the not-princess stayed kneeled on the floor, almost crying over the sin she had committed.

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that once familiar word
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Somewhere, she doesn't exactly know where, the princess was waiting for her hero to come home.

footnotes: v-day fic! first shot at namiora. late because of this stupid persuasive essay i had to write. it draws inspiration for an upcoming fic me and mahou are going to write, fairytales of yesterday, but not entirely. alas, i'm tired and this ended crappy-ly. whatever.