Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts

Chapter One: Summer with the Cousins

For Angel-Chan

"Do you remember anything?"

The skinny girl's violet eyes continued staring down at the floor. She thought it would be best to not look at him. If she avoided eye contact with him for long enough they would give up for the day. It you even glanced at them for a moment it was enough for them to look into your soul. They could read people within the blinking of an eye and then they would try and find a way to twist the reason for why she was here. They eventually gave up on people and just acted as a holding pen for the lost hopes. They still stopped them from killing themselves but...When she did think about it everything was white at first. It was like she wanted to have a new, fresh start. A clean slate from what had happened over the past few weeks. She wished she could wake up and pretend that none of this had ever happened and that she was still back at the house and that Xion was still alive and that all of this was just a nightmare. But she was never going to be able to wake up was she? The walls, her clothes, his clothes, the lights, the bed clothes, the floor tiles. Everything was white, a blank state. The words echoed in the halls of her mind. Bouncing off its walls uselessly, letting them faded away with each passing moment. Words meant nothing to her. Even if they were constructed into a logical and reasonable sentence or inquiry, they made now sense to her. Therefore were pointless. Did she remember anything?

She had never thought about it that much. She tried to drive away those sunlit memories far away for the past few weeks. They would always remind her of what followed and then what brought her here. It was better if she didn't think about it for understandable reasons. It made her think of her. Just thinking about Xion brought back all the bad things as well as the good. It made her want to gag and cry all at the same time. The bad mostly consisted of their last seconds together. She could still remember the smell of her blood polluting the air. She could still sense the lingering smell of gunfire long after her murder had disappeared into the darkness. She does remember. She thinks she did. There are still some parts of it which felt broken. Misplaced. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to put them back together and she wasn't sure whether she really wanted to either. Who would want to go back and try to remember how they lost the person they loved? Perhaps her own mind was trying to protect her. But then again she would always remember wouldn't she? Then again she doesn't. Maybe she wants to forget. Just as long as she keeps them hidden away. So she did remember...No she did. You don't remember anything. She said to herself. You don't want to remember anything...

~ (***) ~

Theo struggled to even breathe on the way there. She pulled at her seatbelt as it felt like it was pressing down on her chest. She opened the window and even that didn't help much. Perhaps she was just nervous. Or the car was too hot. Or was it that Theo was nervous? She hadn't spoken to many people since she graduated to the point that her parents were fearing that she had become agoraphobic. She didn't know what to expect from this place and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know either. She didn't want to build her hopes up but at the same time she didn't want to completely dismiss it either. Her parents in the front seat were saying things to her which she continually said yes, no and maybe to. She wasn't feeling so talkative at the moment. She didn't feel so talkative for the past few months actually considering what had happened as a result of talking too much about her real feelings upon things. She didn't really want to answer the questions about the place. Thank goodness it wasn't a don't-worry-you-homophobic-or-religious-fanatics-there-is-a-cure-for-your-homosexual-teenage-children. It was more of a place where they would punch the former in the face and tell them to get a life.

From what she had heard her cousins lived rather liberally. If that was the case this summer wasn't exactly going to be difficult for her to get through. It would be like everyday life as it was at home. She didn't mean to stereotype that much but having an artist mother and writer father really did result in a less conventional home life. Of course without the additional lovers or affairs which many those in the post-war era seemed to be littered with. Good for them as far as she was concerned. There weren't enough people living like that in the world anymore. It was more fashionable to live like those plastic dolls on MTV rather like the bohemians in Paris in the early twentieth century. Now that was a real living. How come people didn't want to live like that anymore? Free and without caring what the outside world of the safe, little one you created, thought about it. When Theo came out to her parents she was so worried, she wondered whether they would reject her, throw her out of the house and never speak to her again. Her parents just looked at her and hugged her and told her that they loved her. They didn't care. They just loved her for who not what she was. It took that one act of bravery to figure that one out. Just as long as she was happy with who she was that didn't matter. Then again her father was a writer and her mother was an artist, people in those professions were unlikely to have conventional views. Most of the time.

It wasn't the same at school though. Sometimes she actually wished that it was the other way round but then from all the forums (which was at her father's suggestion to join where she only read them but didn't sign up for a single one) she knew she had the better deal. She had seen from those who been in her situation and those who got the opposite of that had it harder for the first few years after coming out when their parents didn't accept them for who they were. She came out to her friends and they soon began to avoid her. One friend in fact turned round and said she didn't want a friend she had to worry about checking out her ass or anything. That was what hurt her the most. The fact that her friends not only couldn't accept her for who she was but were also afraid of her for totally irrational reasons. Rumours spread and she became a social reject. At least it was only for the last few weeks of high school. One girl, who was the school lesbian walked up to her and gave her a playful punch on her arm and said, 'Good for you man.' They didn't become friends though. They were just people who exchanged smiles and called 'hey' when passing in the corridor. Talked to if the other just happened to waiting for a class when passing by. That kind of thing. She could tell that these people were the 'gay' community which stayed under the radar or in the closet.

Thankfully it was almost the end of the year and the end of school so it was time for a new start. Everyone always told her that college was great for when she wanted to reinvent herself. To be the person she really wanted to be since no one had no time to criticise you or bully you. They had their own lives to worry about. The four months were a killer though. She still felt proud of herself though. At least she didn't carry on living a lie any more. It killed you, consumed you until you couldn't breathe. She wasn't going to go as far as wearing a gay pride badge or something. Just the fact that she was still walking through the halls was enough to speak volumes. Still, even being in that town was much for her. She wouldn't even go out to the mall out of fear of walking into someone from school. It wasn't exactly a big town. For a change of scenery and to lift her spirits her parents arranged for her to stay at a summer house of her cousins Namine and Larxene. When they heard what happened they insisted she came. It was that or Larxene would come down and beat up her tormentors. She was wondering how Larx was doing in particular for a few years she had been having some drug, sex and rock an roll lifestyle. Then got sorted out and became a professional boxer. Then started dating the guy who helped and trained her. Apparently he was a wee bit older than her now, but since she was 26 now it didn't seem to matter any more.

She closed her eyes and slept for the rest of the journey. She instantly calmed down, finally being able to conclude it was merely nerves which was causing her to feel hot. She felt herself shake uncontrollably for a while until she was able to calmly tell herself that everything was going to be okay. Namine even emphasised the fact that there were going to be plenty of gay men and lesbians coming to stay with them. She was hoping though that she hadn't simply scoured through her phone-book for all the gay people she knew for her benefit. There was nothing worse than having it being thrust in her face. Thank God for her parents. They just told her that it was okay and that they loved her no matter who she brought home for dinner. That was enough of a coming out party for her. The same moment she opened her eyes again her parents turning into the driveway. When they pulled into the driveway Theo had never seen anything so beautiful. An old Victorian house, with ivy growing up its walls and little flowers blooming and dotting around the place. It was like something out of an Ian McEwan or Fitzgerald novel. Theo peered over at the garden hiding behind the mansion going on for miles and miles by the looks of it. Then again her cousins were rich. Orphans and since they had now inherited the money they used it to their leisure. But then again who wouldn't?

She saw two figures waiting for them. She blinked, not being able to see them clearly since the sunlight was blinding her and stopping her from being able to tell who they were. Even though she could suspect them to be her cousins, when she saw them, she wouldn't have been able to tell it was them anyway since they looked so different to last time she saw them. One had her arms folded and was wearing a striped black and grey t-shirt, waistcoat on top and a denim skirt. She was older girl of the two and had bright blonde, long hair, green eyes and had a slim, hourglass figure. The other was the same age as Theo, had a vintage sequinned vest, a cream-coloured sweater and torn denim shorts. Theo felt embarrassed wearing her denim short and plain white t-shirt. From their attire, she knew she was going to feel all the more like the 'poor relative'. When she braved the first step out of the car Namine was there in a flash wrapping her arms around her.

"It's so good to see you!" She cried.

"H-Hi. Are you okay?" Theo asked laughing.

"I'm great. How are you?" Namine asked, releasing for her hold.

"Er, yeah I-m-"

"Don't lie, we heard what happened at school.' Larxene interjected. 'Do you want me to beat them up?"

Theo laughed scratching her head and waving a hand. "No, no. It's fine. Honestly!"

Theo didn't look fussed but in fact in her head she was beginning to panic. She knew how psychopathic Larxene could be in the ring, she saw her on TV once. She didn't want to have to witness it in real life. Larxene didn't look convinced but let it slide.

"Honey!" Theo turned round to her parents.

"We have to go now, remember Daddy has a book tour!"

That was another reason Theo was being dumped at her cousins, she wouldn't have minded going with her parents but they insisted she needed to spend time with kids her own age. Kids her own age that understood her.

She kissed them goodbye and they all waved as they drove away into the distance. "Oh, just so you know we're having some friends over this summer. I hope you don't mind."

Frankly, Theo did mind. She didn't want to be around too many people. Then again, Namine and Larxene didn't exactly make friends with assholes so Theo betted she'd be okay. If not, Larxene could always beat them up. She shrugged her shoulders consenting that she was going to be okay.

"Yay! 'Cause there's a girl we want you to meet!"

Theo froze as she was about to walk into the house. "You-you-you..."

"You idiot!" Larxene hissed. "She's not going to want to be set up soon after all that trauma she went through."

"I thought that would cheer her up!" Namine protested.

"You really don't think do you?"

Theo turned round trying to break it up, even if she might lose a limb. Namine's eyes began to tear up anyway. When she was about to say something a voice came out of nowhere.

"Hey, what's taking you guys so long?"

Theo turned round and then everything her life, at that moment began to change.