A/N: why is it always Namine? huh muse? Anyway, more Akuroku! Just hold out for it! Short chapters bring fast updates!

Chapter one: The way things are

"Do you really have everything you want?
You can't ever give somethin' you ain't got
You can't run away from yourself"

"Are you happy now" by Michelle Branch

Namine had listened quietly, her eyebrows creased. She had resisted the urge to nod solemnly, knowing that it wouldn't help the situation at hand. He was talking and yet telling her nothing. Then again nothing ever changed anyway.

Roxas had smiled then, trying to reassure her. It wasn't often that they got to meet like this, and he was putting on his best face.

Her eyes scanned the not-ocean disinterestedly. The dreamscape was more convoluted than usual. The edges were fraying like paper after working it under an eraser for rather too long, and the colors seemed indistinct. It took both of their minds in order to see anything at all, and even then it was not quite reality. They simply couldn't remember all the details of life. They hadn't ever really lived anyway, she supposed.

In the dreams, there had never been any warm or cold. She wondered whether the sensation was something she had ever felt herself, or if she was borrowing the memories from Kairi. Either way made sense. Still she longed to feel something, maybe harshness of sand or coolness of water. She couldn't have the warmth of his skin, because he didn't have any.

Namine glanced back at her fellow dreamer and asked what she had been wanting to, "Are you happy now, Roxas?"

His eyes blinked in surprise. "What do you mean? Of course!" She wondered if eventually he would blend into the background. She wondered if she had already; if he saw her at all.

"Are you really?" The sky disappeared. It might not have been there to start with. She couldn't remember.

Roxas smiled and it was the heart he didn't have. That smile was Sora, innocent and brave. "We saved the worlds and now everything can go back to how it was supposed to be." His smile was sick and she hated it.

"You're lying." Namine felt her own voice bleed into Kairi's, and she flinched. "Roxas," She called, a little louder then was necessary, needing to hear her voice, "you're memories are coming back, aren't they?"

His blue eyes widened. They had been blue. Ashamed, he turned his face away from her. "Just impressions," he admitted.

Namine leaned forward. The sound of the waves crashing rushed to reach her ears. It wasn't until then that she realized it had been silent. "Why didn't you tell me?" Her fingers itched to hold a pen. Everything was starting to look like a canvas.

"I… didn't think they would ever come back." The world blended becoming a watercolor painting that had water thrown on it.

"Roxas!" Kairi screamed with Namine's voice, as the contact broke. The dream splintered into shards and vanished. She sat up in bed soaked with sweat, and breathing heavily. "I'm sorry." Kairi said out loud to her other self. She glanced down at her trembling hands. It was getting harder to hold the connection, and taking more energy than it had at first.

When they had first tried to let their nobodies speak, it had been effortless. She shook her head languidly. 'I'm exhausted.' Muscles in her hands twitched when she tried to move them. 'I don't know if I can handle doing this too much more…'

She tried to reach inside herself, "Namine?" There wasn't any answer, but she supposed that her other self must be tired as well. She let her body ease down to the bed, eyes closing as she fell. "Goodnight."

In another house, Sora woke up, tears running unbidden down his face. He couldn't remember why.