A/N: I don't own anything from KH, only this one-shot idea. At first I thought it should be a Namixas, but I changed my mind. Sorry. This is my first VenxNaminé fic and my first present-tense fic, so don't eat me out of frustration (or because you're hungry), or something. SPOILER WARNING: this one-shot may have some spoilers about the end of BBS and about Terra and Ven. If you haven't spoilered yourself yet, then I'm afraid you can't read this story. Sorry. :( The title from this one-shot is from a theme from Chrono Trigger. I have that song stuck in my head for 2 days now, but that's my own fault. Anyways, enjoy reading! :)
~ "She even dares to swear that all the endless corridors change deliberately in order to confuse her, almost as if the castle's hiding something here." ~
Long, endless, empty and white corridors greet Naminé as she leaves her white chamber for the first time since she's stayed here. White, again. It's always white that she's seeing. Why doesn't it surprise her? This castle's like an empty shell of something, just like Naminé herself.
She sighs lightly, closing the - also - white door behind her. The only thing that doesn't match with the (white, obviously) background now, are her cerulean eyes and perhaps a bit of her light, almost white-blonde hair that drapes over her shoulders in an elegant way. Her skin is also pale. Too pale, almost transparent white.
She's wearing white sandals and a white dress that blows gently back and forth with each step she takes. All camouflage. She feels like she's incognito. She can easily blend into the background and then never being found again. She's not so important and it will certainly make things easier. Everything actually.
Suddenly she stops, as though she gets an electric shock and looks around slowly. Hasn't she been here...before? She doesn't know for sure, but her surroundings seem to be so familiar. On the other hand, that makes sense. A bit too much, because all the passages where she's been so far have looked the same.
She's never encountered any exception so far. She even dares to swear that all the endless corridors change deliberately in order to confuse her, almost as if the castle's hiding something here. Something valuable that a certain unknown someone wants that nobody can ever find, so it won't come into wrong hands that easily.
It's rather easy to believe that, because it wouldn't be the first time that something strange happens here in Castle Oblivion. What could that valuable thing be? Maybe the corridors aren't changing for her. Perhaps they're changing for the evil Organization. For Xemnas, so he won't find that precious thing, whatever it may be.
Wait a minute, she's really been here before...oh no, she's lost! Not that too? Fear begins to overpower her as she wonders what will happen next. She'll certainly be punished by Marluxia, because she'll come too late. Her non-existing heart starts beating faster and her breathing becomes uneven.
Why wasn't she more careful? After all, this is the first time she leaves the room. She can hit herself for her head for her stupid action. One would've thought that she would write some directions and such down to make it a bit easier for herself.
But no, of course she didn't think of it. She decided that she also couldn't stand still like that and wait here on this spot until one of the Organization members eventually will find her...somehow and bring her back. She should at least try to find her own room by herself. It shouldn't be that hard.
Slowly and quite hesitantly, she starts to move forward, and she walks away, looking around anxiously. When she turns around the corner, she nearly walks into someone.
"Oh, I'm so sor-'
She stops mid-sentence as she realizes that she's never seen this boy. Her cerulean eyes are as wide as saucers and she audibly gasps for breath. The boy, or ghost, or spirit, or whatever he may be, smiles friendly, though his eyes are closed. The boy's almost as pale as she is. It kinda scares her.
"Hey, it's okay. It wasn't your fault after all."
He seems to be...sleeping - or rather sleepwalking - and he hasn't opened his mouth when he spoke to her. It's more like she's felt what he said, which is quite remarkable to say the least. The boy has short, blond spikes, - darker than her shade or hair color - all combed to the right side of his head.
He wears a jacket with white on the right side and black on the left side. The collar of the jacket is red and pleated. Underneath this, he wears what appears to be a grey vest with a single button and several white, angular patterns on it. He wears a third layer under this, in the form of a plain, high-necked, black shirt.
He also has a chunk of dull green and grey armor on his midsection that appears to be under his vest, and another piece of armor on his left shoulder. His pants balloon outward slightly before closing up about halfway down his rather pale legs, similar to caprice pants. These pants are colored in shades of grey, black, and white.
He also wears an ornate, dull green and grey piece of armor on his upper-left arm, along with a black and white checkered wristband, but with white edges. Two criss-crossing straps are on his chest, on which he wears a silver badge with some emblem on it.
He looks friendly enough and is probably fifteen years old, not much older than Naminé herself. She swallows and decides to break the silence.
"Who are you? Roxas?"
The boy scratches the back of his head and his smile widens a bit, so she can now see his sparkling, white teeth.
"No, I'm actually Ventus, but you can call me Ven. Everybody does."
He hasn't moved his mouth when he said that. She starts to wonder how it's even possible that she can hear him when he doesn't talk at all. She's not making it all up, does she?
"Nice to meet you, Ven. My name is Naminé. You're not with the Organization, are you?"
He frowns lightly, as if to think deeply.
"Guess not, for I've no idea what Organization you mean."
He starts to laugh. It's cheerful and beautiful, like some enchanting music on a piano. Naminé chuckles. At least she's finally with someone who's not mean all the time. Yet it remains quite odd that he reminds her of Sora so much. Maybe it's just his personality that causes that.
"So what are you doing here all alone, Naminé?"
Naminé shuffles her feet and looks at her sandals, as if they're the most interesting subject she has ever seen, while a blush slowly creeps on her face when she remembers what she's doing here in the first place.
"I'm lost. I can't find my room anymore."
She can almost hear how he laughs cheerfully, but at least he doesn't laugh at her. That's definitely a first for her.
"I can help you find your room, that is, if you want to of course. I know my way around here a bit."
Naminé's face brightens immediately after hearing his suggestion.
"I'd love to!"
"Great. I believe we should be a few floors higher."
He starts to walk and she decides to walk beside him. She wonders whether the members of the Organization has ever seen him here. Probably not for he claims he doesn't know what Organization she was talking about earlier.
She finds it quite remarkable that he knows the way, while his eyes are closed. How would he do this? By intuition? Probably. She doesn't know what else it should be. He's already reached the staircase.
"How long have you been here? In this castle I mean," she asks him.
"Oh, almost eleven years now."
He says it in a casual way. Naminé actually wants to ask him if he always walks with his eyes closed, but she decides that it could sound kinda rude.
"That sure is a long time."
"Yeah, tell me about it. What about you?"
She's glad that he doesn't mind it at all to talk with her. She really needs someone to talk to, for it's so lonely being all by yourself every single day.
"I don't know. Maybe a few days, maybe some weeks? I'm not entirely sure."
"Oh... Naminé?"
"Yes?"
She gives him a side-long glance. He seems to be pondering about something. Something important, probably. He starts to scratch the back of his head which causes that his spikes get even more messed.
"May I ask you something?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"Well, I was just wondering...have you ever met people who are called Aqua or Terra? They are both older and taller than me. Aqua has blue hair and blue eyes. Terra has brown hair longer than mine and cobalt-colored eyes."
They now enter a new, white corridor, but they don't stop walking or slow down, so Naminé figures that they aren't there yet.
"No, but..." she doubts whether she should tell him what she's discovered lately and decides to tell the half of the truth, saying, "I know a man named Xemnas, who perhaps might look a bit like the Terra you've just mentioned. He's the leader of the Organization. Only he has long, silver-white hair, not brown. And the color of his eyes are orange, golden even."
Ven bows his head slowly.
"Oh. Then it can't be Terra."
He sounds so terribly sad. If Naminé has had a heart, then it should've been broken by now. They turn around the corner, but there's nothing remarkable to see here.
"I'm sorry. I wish I could help you," she apologizes.
He waves it off, a new smile appearing on his young face.
"No, no, it's fine. Really. You can't do anything about it."
Naminé notices that the whole castle seems to be abandoned, empty, which is, to put it mildly, rather strange. Where are the other inhabitants of Castle Oblivion? Would it not be a coincidence at all that she's just met Ven, exactly at this time?
Perhaps he's been waiting all this time for this moment to come, so he can finally walk through the halls without someone discovering him. He stops all of a sudden and dwells on a door. Naminé follows his example.
"I think we're there."
"Really?" she asks incredulously.
She opens the closed door of the room and, indeed, she's back in her own room. How did he do that? And that with his eyes closed all the time. How long has he been here in this castle that he knows his way, even without looking where he's walking? Could he also be a prisoner who's locked in this huge castle against his will? If he is, then the question is, by whom? Not by the Organization, that's for sure.
"Thank you!" she says, smiling shyly.
"You're welcome. I'm glad I could help."
She turns to face him again.
"Do you want to come in?"
It remains silent for a short moment as he stands there, thinking about her question, but then he replies, "Sure."
He lets her go first like a real gentleman and then walks into the room after her, softly closing the door behind him. Naminé walks over to her chair and sits on it. She motions for him to sit on the only other chair that's left for him. He does as she wants.
"I can feel that there's something different here from the rest of the castle. Is that right?" he asks.
"Yes, that's right. All my drawings are in the room. Maybe that makes the difference?"
"I guess. What have you drawn and why?"
Naminé suddenly feels like something inside her pangs. She should've seen that coming, but she hasn't.
"I draw almost everything I see around me, because I have to practise and improve my style. But my most recent drawings are about...a boy."
"What boy?"
Actually, she doesn't want to talk any further, but it feels like she owes an explanation to Ven. Or maybe she needs to tell it to someone, for her poor non-existent heart's sake.
"His name is Sora. I need to practice drawing him, because I have to replace the memories he has by false memories I'll be creating for him. It's an order of Organization XIII...he's the Keyblade's chosen one."
Death silence follows after these words. The tension starts building up between them, before Ven decides to break it.
"What? Why are you doing something he doesn't deserve?"
He doesn't scream to her, nor does he raise his voice, but for Naminé it almost feels like he does. She shrinks, ashamed of what she's going to do. She knows it's mean and bad, but...
"I have no choice. Can't you see? I have to," she whispers.
"You should help him in every possible way. He's also the one who can help me."
She cocks her head to the side. This fact actually surprises her. She's got a feeling that he's somehow connected to Sora, but she just can't lay her finger on how it exactly should be.
"Why is that?"
"My heart has been in his body for eleven years already. So if you do something to him...then you do that to me too. I'm sure it'll affect me somehow."
He turns and walks to the door, without saying another word to her.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"Someone's coming. I'm going to my room before they see me. The people with whom you work, they are always bad news. I can feel it. You don't belong here with them. You have to fight back, Naminé, for your freedom, for Sora...for me. You're the only one who can stop this. Our destiny is in your hands now. Literally."
After these words he opens the door and disappears from sight. Naminé remains petrified in her chair. She knows that he's right, she really does, but she just can't do what he asks from her. It's too hard. She's too cowardly to fight back and she knows that full well. And by the looks of it, he probably does, too.
The moment after he disappears, a black portal appears in the room. It's Marluxia, who pays her a visit again to check if she really is there. He reveals his face and stretches his hand. Naminé knows what he wants and gives him her sketchbook. He opens it and quickly flips through the many occupied pages, his blue eyes scanning every inch of the papers.
"It seems that you've gotten better at drawing him. Good. Guess what?"
His striking blue eyes are shimmering. It almost looks like his eyes briefly get a small glint of hope, so it has to be something bad he's going to tell her now. That's why Naminé doesn't play along, so he continues, shamelessly. A smirk starts tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"I have good news. Sora will be here in ten minutes or so, so now you can start doing the real work. Isn't that just great?"
He doesn't await her answer and gives her the sketch book back.
"Well, I won't take you from your important work. You know what to do, right? Good luck. I'll be sure to come now and then and check how far you are. If you'll excuse me, then I'll be going and get our new guests."
With that, he disappears again in the pure darkness and leaves Naminé all alone. Again. Sighing, she grabs her sketch book and opens a new blank page. She'll first start with his eyes, she decides. She grasps a blue crayon from the table and starts drawing.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it. ^-^ How did it go for my first one-shot about this pairing? In the end of BBS you can see how Ventus moves his arm, even if he's not awake. So I figured that it may be possible that he's left the Chamber of Awakening in the past 10 years, all by himself but still asleep, right? I admit I had some difficulties with writing this. I kept changing how they met. At first he was transparent, then transparent, but asleep, then he didn't talk, etc. Please review! It makes me happy. :)