Disclaimer: Enlightened Life does NOT own Kingdom Hearts.

I know... I know. "Omg, a new story, what about the rest?!" well... I'm having a bit of a block on them so I thought I'd introduce myself to first person writing.

So. Much. Easier.

Also, this entire story (If I ever finish something -.-) will be dedicated to White Simplicity, for whom I have a personal and long lasting friendship for.

W.S, You better enjoy this Roxiri or I am going to scream my lungs out at you. XD

Everyone else, enjoy. I have been working on MHIY but it's a slow progress. Very slow. So... enjoy the Roxiri. :O

Empathy and Apathy

Chapter 1

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((( KAIRI POV )))

Ocean air. It flowed down my small chest and entered my lungs; filling them with it's fragrance. My feet felt cool against the soft sand as it wasn't too hot, or too cold. The beach seemed endless. Looking all around me, I could make out a selection of shadowed frames moving swiftly around the edges of the small rocks and cliffs. At this point, I'd only just noticed it was night time as the moon was hovering elegantly over the wide brine ahead of me. The radiated streams of light seemed to shimmy over the water in a strange but dazzling dance, casting the islands in a beautiful shade of blue which seemed to ripple with the reflection. It seemed to draw me in so kneeling down softly at the tide, I pulled my head down and stared at myself in the flowing liquid. Yep. It was me. Same shiny red hair, azure eyes, petite face and features. It was me, Kairi. I sighed inwardly and pulled myself away from the water.

Despite knowing that it is most definitely me, I had no idea where I was. Everything seemed so clear in the crystal-like light. As far as I could see, there were no other islands, at least not on this side. I felt myself tense slightly for a second, which was soon followed by a sound behind me. It sounded like someone (or something) was shifting the sand. I tightened my body in place even more, feeling terror creep over me as the sand continued to be moved by whatever lingered behind my back.

When it finally spoke, my fears were completely confirmed.

"Why are you here?" It was definitely a he, but his voice was very arcane. It was deep, but held a tint of anger somewhere inside it which at the same time sounded somewhat civil. I cursed in my mind as I subconsciously began to turn towards him, feeling the fear burn away with each step.

"Uh... well..." I stopped talking abruptly upon laying eyes on him. What the-? He was shrouded in a long black cloak which ran right to his feet; barely touching the sand. I stared absorbingly at him, forgetting all my worries about being on a strange island with a complete stranger (talk about ironic!).

"Why. Are You. Here?" He asked impatiently, and hit a nerve. Asking again was one thing, but spacing out the words to try and imply something was on a whole other level. I glared at him fiercely before turning my back to him quickly.

"I don't know. You tell me." I said smugly, feeling his eyes boring holes through my head.

"I would, but you brought me here. This isn't my dream." He said, irritably.

My mind scanned over his response for a second, making my eyes suddenly grow wide. "Excuse me? Did you say... dream?"

"Yes, dream. Like hell I'd dream about being stuck on a tropical island with some random girl," he whipped his words out egotistically, quietly adding, "especially one this crazy."

I raised an eyebrow but pretended not to hear his insult. "So, why can't I wake up?"

"Well, I'm obviously here for a reason. Like I said, you brought me here." He said the words slowly while pointing a finger at me. I couldn't see it, but I could hear the leather of his coat moving and twisting with itself (God, I hate leather...) and when I turned around, he was in fact doing just that.

"I didn't bring you here. Get out of my dream." I clenched my fists. This was turning into more of a nightmare.

He didn't reply, and somehow I imagined him grinning wildly under his hood. The thought irritated me. Suddenly a shock split through me as I noticed... an outline on him. It was a deep red color, almost like blood. I was mesmerized by it, feeling drawn to him. I quickly shook the thought off. This stranger was not about to enter my dream and mess with my head. Then I felt it. I lived my arm and examined it, hearing an amused grunt as I gasped. Why? My arm, and the rest of my body was surrounded by a faint blue line which glittered slightly when I moved. I looked at the boy in disbelieve. I wanted to see his face. It didn't feel fair for him to be hidden through this entire event. My purpose seemed to wash over me as I started striding towards at him.

"What are you doing? You can't-" He stammered, pushing one leg backwards as I gained in on his location.

"I'm sorry, but I have to know." I sounded more scared then I actually felt.

I was within hugging distance of him. Not knowing why the idea of 'hugging him' came into my mind, I sighed hard again. My dreams were always so strange. He didn't move. I was so close I could feel his heart beating fast as my body pushed against his softly. I leaned my arms up to remove his hood. His heart got faster. My small arms reached the tip of the leather. I heard him breathing very hard as I pushed back the hood and-

"KAIRI!"

My body shot up instantly with a loud thud as my head made hard contact with the back wall through the gap in my. My hands instantly retreated to the hurt spot and I moaned in pain; not even my eyes were open yet. I gasped as something hard fall onto my lap and didn't even need to look to know what it was. Instead, I double-glared at the small blonde girl stood at the end of my bed. Her soft green eyes were fixated on me in an attempt to glare back. I mumbled something under my breathe and she opened her mouth to speak. This would be fun.

"Kairi-" She began in a soft voice. Like always.

"Karine."

"What are-"

"Attempting to sleep."

She moaned loudly.

"Why-"

"Because I'm not allowed to leave the castle much. Meaning, I'll get fat whether or not I bother to move." I grinned mischievously.

"Thats not-" She stopped herself this time, looking over her thoughts.

I chimed in quickly, "If it's not true, then lets go!" I was feeling ten times more awake then I did a few moments earlier. She blinked at me a few times, hoping that I didn't mean what she thought I did.

"You mean... to breakfast?"

I smiled. "Of course," Her grassy eyes met my azure ones, "Then to the exit of the castle and wherever from there!" Now grinning, I jumped from the bed and looked back at Karine. She was frowning quite vividly. "Smile."

"Kairi, my mother wouldn't-"

"Aunt Agatha can wait. It's not like she'd notice anyway." I put extra enthusiasm on the word 'aunt' seeing as Karine was my cousin and her mother was the wretched guardian who acted more like a captor and decided it would be better if I remained a hermit crab my entire life, or at least for the remainder of hers.

I twirled to look at her. She was staring at me as if the world was ending; a great look of fear in her eyes but then she smiled at the gaze broke. She placed a small white clip in her hair as her smile continued to brighten the room. Her hair was nice, I mean, I loved my auburn hair but hers was mid-neck, platinum blonde, and the messy bangs made it look stylish. Mine was just nicely colored. In that moment I came to a resolution and smiled just as widely at her. "If you don't go then that's fine as long as you don't tell."

I saw the deadly gaze return and pouted a little while I tried to pick out a dress. I was housebound because of my aunt, but being who I was and all, an endless supply of dresses and fancy clothing still filled my usual routine. Not that I liked my routine, but there were some better props apart from that.

"Okay."

In complete shock, I looked at her questioningly as if urging her to continue.

She sighed. "I'll... cover for you, but on one condition."

My eyes lit up. "You name it!"

Now it was her turn to smirk. "I want you to show me the hall when you get back."

I shunned out any previous thoughts to make room for her words. The shock multiplied as what she was actually asking slowly sunk in. "I... I can't." I stuttered the words, sounding suddenly afraid. But why? It never scared me before.

"What? Kairi, why?" I looked at her face. It was suddenly full of concern and I felt guilty.

"We could both get in a lot of trouble..." I said slowly, not for her, but for me instead.

"I know, but I really want to see it." Feeling suddenly skeptical of her idea, my eyes mentally stared at her.

"That's not like you. Getting in trouble is the last thing on the planet that you'd ever want to do."

She smiled sheepishly. "I know, and you know me all too well too, but," she turned her gaze to the floor, refusing to meet mine, "Sometimes coming. Somethings going to happen soon, I can feel it. Can't you?"

Pondering for a moment, I rewound my mind back to the dream. My eyes shot wide but she didn't notice. I did feel it. It might as well have been shaking the ground but I decided to push her mind as ease. Even if only a little bit. "I don't feel anything, Karine. I think you should try not to think about it and see how that goes." She still didn't look up and I instantly felt dismal. She was being depressive, and that was very unusual.

"Okay!" I almost fell backwards when she finally shot back into her happy zone. Blinking a few times, I noticed she'd already left the room by the time I fully caught myself and she was shouting down the hall, "I'll see you at breakfast, and remember, be ready for action!"

I smiled at the now empty door before retreating back to my mountainside of clothings. I felt my mouth grew even wider when I came across a dark brown shawl with a hood.

"Perfect."

-----------------------------------------ExL----------------------------------------

"So, Kairi, how are your studies going?" My Aunt asked, keeping her beady eyes glued to my face.

"It's going... great." I couldn't think of a word to describe the studies, I'd have to research later for more words to define 'Completely boring me to death' and that is quite literal, in a sense.

"Oh? So you can tell me more about the Keyblade?" She asked slyly. I felt myself tense up. I didn't know much about Keyblades because there wasn't much to learn. Not in text and pictures anyway. I guess to truly understand them, you had to wield one and of course, there hadn't been a wielder for almost 200 years. I sighed in defeat.

"No, Aunt Agatha. I can not tell you anything more about the Keyblade." I almost muttered the entire sentence but she seemed to catch what I said because her fake motherly smile turned upside down in a very frightening way.

"Well then, I suppose we'll have to confine you to the library all day until we," She spat her words at me like snakes out of a barrel, not to mention how much the word 'we' made me gag, "discover something new about that amazing weapon."

I was about to speak up with Karine cut me off, "Mother, what use do you have for the research, if I may ask?" Karine asked her sweetly, but didn't need to. Aunt Agatha was my Aunt, and her Mother, and the line between them is apparently very thick.

"Karine, dear, the research is for the good of the people. I wish to maintain the knowledge of how one chooses its wielder, and since there are no wielders in the world, there is no-one for me to experiment on." She smiled wide at the thought of locking some poor person up in the castle and prodding them with her dark magic until they crack. Sometimes I wonder if it really is the case of no Keyblades choosing, or all the wielders running away from her. I chuckled lightly causing the table suddenly silence.

"Mind sharing what's so hysterical, Kairi?" Aunt Agatha asked from my right, a glint in her eye told me that I had spread out of my boundaries. She always made me want to cry.

"No... no there isn't." I said slowly and stared at my untouched food. It was always too awkward to eat breakfast since it was the only meal she joined Karine and I for.

"Good. Then get going, you have a lot of overlooked Keyblade information to collect." She said while taking another sip of her sign.

I'd like to throw that all over your nasty face!

My thoughts nearly brought out a chuckle, but I settled quickly and hurried from the oversized table. The entire way out, I could feel her drilling holes in the back of my head so a headache soon took over.

"She's acting... strange." Aunt Agatha mused as I rounded the corner. I decided to ignore the comment a trek to my room faster.

As I entered my room, the first thing I saw was the picture on my bedside. It seemed to greet me like always as I headed towards it, wishing more and more that I could just jump into the picture rather then staying in the life I have. Running my fingers across the clear glass, happiness seemed to overwhelm me as the eyes of my parents and younger self stared directly into mine. We were all outside in the pictures. In the town, to be more exact. I hadn't been far from the castle much since my Fathers sister took over it and sadly, me. I smiled at the picture encased. What a fond memory...

"Dad, what... what should I do?" I asked the ceiling, feeling utterly stupid but hopeful at the same time. No answer came of course so I looked back at the picture.

"You seem to really love that picture..." I jumped as Karine came up behind me, smiling warmly.

"Well, it's all that I've got left from the good times." I spoke darkly, but she didn't seem to care.

"That's not true, don't you have that charm thing?" She looked like she was thinking very hard-- WAIT!

"Oh! How could I... forget..." I turned around and pulled out a small trinket from under the pillow. I grasped it tightly in my hand before having the face on the front look up at me.

How could I have forgotten this?

"I still can't believe you own a real Keychain, and it's not like you said the others were-" She stopped and looked at the door. I looked too and noticed the problem, "Shes really gone too far... guards at your door." Karine whispered hoarsely.

"Yeah..." I murmured, feeling suddenly not so confident in my plans for the day.

Karine then looked straight at me and leaned down so we were both hidden behind the bed. "Don't worry, I'll distract them." Sometimes, I think she can read my mind. My grasp on the charm tightened. "Wait, you're not- you're not taking it with you, are you?" She suddenly looked concerned and her hand was messing with her hair in a nervous manner.

I started to sheepishly explain. "Yes, I am. My Father would have wanted me to-"

"No!" She yelled, almost making the guards storm into the room. She waved a hand to them and they closed the door fully. "If you get caught with that, Princess or not, they will arrest you as a Key Bearer. Then my Mother will have even more pleasure testing you out and putting spells on you and... and... AND-"

"Karine!" I snapped the blonde out of her ramble. She blinked a few times before looking at the Keychain. "I'll be fine... and back before you know it."

"Mother doesn't even know you own this. I don't know how you kept it secret all these years."

"I'm good at hiding stuff, not hiding stuff." I said, gesturing to the big pile of clothes a metre or so away, "But... I did find this!"

She gasped loudly. "Great Mother of Light! Where- why do you even own that?" She placed her hands over her gasping mouth in shock and gapped at the cloak I held up.

"Like I said, I'm good at hiding stuff." I smirked and wrapped it around my body before pulling the hood over my head. I heard Karine giggle and looked down at her. "Does it look... bad?"

"You're wearing guy shoes?!" She choked the words out, almost doubling over in laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. It's better if I don't get seen as a girl because you know... people rape girls so I'm trying to look a little bit like a guy and they can't see my hair, face, or body so..." I looked at her as she scanned my body with a little bit of understanding though it was easy to tell that she was trying not to laugh, "... Shoes."

"At least I'm getting something worth while out of helping you be 'bad'." She smiled normally again. "A good laugh which will last a long time."

I couldn't help but snort. "Don't bet on it."

I started towards the window but could feel Karine's staring embedding my skull. Without turning, I addressed her thoughts. "What is it, Karine? You thought I'd be using the front door?"

"No... but I never really thought of how you would be getting out. Try not to fall... Kairi."

I laughed mentally before turning to face her. She still hadn't moved any closer. "Can you help me hold the gardeners ladder in place?"

She flushed a little before scuttling over to me. I gestured to the ladder that was placed securely at the side of the balcony. Although it wouldn't be very secure once I got onto it. Slowly, I made my way down the series of wooden stairs, having the occasional shape now and then because of Karine's nerves. My room was about 3 stories up. Inside the castle, there was a large grand staircase but there was no way I could use that to leave. When I reached the bottom, Karine ran out through the main entrance to meet me around the back. She was allowed to leave to it was easier. We moved the ladder behind a collect of large bushes.

"Be safe, Kairi." Karine said sweetly. She was like the best friend I ever had, even if we were family.

"You too, Karine. If I get caught from inside the castle, I won't be mad. Thank you for helping me." I said from the top of the wall. She looked sad to see me go but lightened up a little at my comment.

"You're welcome, but I don't want to do it again," She grinned, "Now hurry up before somebody notices the 'scary cloaked figure on the wall'."

I nodded and jumped off the wall to head into the town. It felt amazing.

-----------------------------------------ExL----------------------------------------

The towns. Oh, how I longed to breathe that rotting stench in the air once again. I felt like an adrenaline rushed had just kicked into double drive as I scurried through the crowds of people, admiring the many sights and stalls along the way. I couldn't exactly remember what most of the people looked like from my younger days so it was a slightly unpleasant surprised to notice nearly all of them were in rags, or actual clothes which looked very unclean. I sighed a little. There were many sick people clinging to the sides of the streets. Majority of them looked very near death, and a few appeared to already arrived there. It wasn't an utterly pleasant sight but bearable none the less.

A few metres away from me, two men appeared to be assaulting a women. One of them was rather tall and thin with not many muscle was noticeable on him, his hair was quite short and brunette. The other was very fat. He appeared to be bald and his muscles had may have been more noticeable but I couldn't tell for sure. Both men wore dark brown linen shirts and they appeared to wear insignias. The women they were assailing drew my attention away from them with her screams of terror and pleads for help. I looked away in shame.

Why do they live like this?

Clutching my charm again, I glanced back around and shock instantly took over. Even though I was wearing a cloak and hiding my identity, the women was laying on unconsciously on the floor, almost completely naked, and both men were staring at me with an almost excited look. I felt like my feet were tied to the ground. I couldn't move. They started towards me. I was terrified. They wanted to rape me. Did they not care about if I was a boy or girl? Could they tell?! They continued in my direction and the slim man licked his lips eagerly. Oh my god! My mind was screaming for help but no words came out. It all seemed pointless after seeing every person on the street turn a blind eye to their last victim, including me (not that I could have done much to help). As my mind was yelping loudly, someone bashed my hard in the side as they ran past. My feet moved and I gasped. Without any further a due, I sped around the corner as fast as I could, wishing thanks to whoever knocked me out of my trance.

((( ????? POV )))

"Crap, crap, crap." I couldn't stop murmuring to myself as I dashed through the crowds full of people. Again. Only this time, I was getting chased. Again. Just my luck toward. I noticed my every-so-trusty partner in the clearing and glared.

"Axel! Where have you been?" I asked, obviously annoyed but he simply smirked at the people behind me.

"You never can do this right," He looked straight at me, "Roxas."

"Shut up Axel! I'll grab something awesome one of these days!" I reveled on the thought. Oh, how I would love to see Axel's face.

"Yeah, yeah," He shot a grin my way again and held up a thick piece of wood, "not if they catch you you won't." I smiled. A distraction was just what I needed to get the hell out of here.

"Thanks, Axel."

"Don't sweat about it, just make sure you get dinner for tonight. I'm in the mood for something spicy! Got it memorized?!" Axel's personal quote or.. question at the end always made whatever he said sound like an absolute order. It scared me, but I knew Axel was someone to be scared of.

Pyromaniac.

I jolted away down the street, still being able to hear Axel's middle-of-the-street pyro performance from where I was. I'm not sure what I could hear more of, the fiery explosions and burning, or the screaming fans. He got a new bunch each time since we moved around the town so much. Of course, my pursuers probably didn't stay to enjoy the show. They were probably trapped in the middle of a possible riot. Poor them. I couldn't tell if they were chasing me or not because I just kept running.

Coming into the centre of town was always the hardest to bear. I frowned at my thoughts and how true they were. These parts of the town were like the tree of bad news. Things happened here. Way worse things then a simple pick-pocket here and there, and whats worse is, people just ignore it. I found myself peering towards the castle and cussing at all the people who lived there. They had an easy live, everything they ever wanted, and so, so much more. Us peasants, have nothing close to that.

I wonder if it's really my destiny to just pick pocket for the rest of my life... My frown still remained and I inwardly scowled at the amount of negative thoughts I was getting today. Turning the corner, I began my stretch towards the stairs... so... close... so... OW!

My back bashed to the floor and I winced in pain. I'd.. run into someone? That can't be it, I never make physical contact with the street people. Ever. It's how I pick-pocket without getting noticed so how the heck did I wind up on the-

"What the hell!" I heard a female voice yell out and I opened my eyes. A cloaked figure was lying a few feet away and I instantly felt guilty. I knocked a girl over... damn, Axel better not here about this.

"What are you staring at?" The mystery girl asked, still hidden under her hood.

"Uh... nothing." I stuttered. Damn, why was she so familiar?

"Mhmm, well I have to get going..." she was now fully on her feet and ready to charge away. I watched her closely, feeling slightly sad that she was leaving me... What? Why am I thinking or feeling that?!

I shook my head. This was already turning into a really bad day. The girl didn't seem to be in any rush because when I looked back at her, she was still in the same place except... something was wrong.

"I thought you were leaving." I said smugly while getting up. She turned towards me but I, frustratingly enough, could not see her face.

"I will be, as soon as I find what's mine." She said quickly, as if fear was all around her. A sound suddenly drew my eyes away from her. Peering around the tight corner I growled. Guards. I couldn't hear much of what they were saying. A few words: 'missing,' 'worried,' 'heir,' 'help,' and the last one seemed to ring around my head like stars did when I fell unconscious. "Kairi."

I noticed the girl behind me tense for a second before returning to her search. I studied her closely, and decided to take a chance. "Kairi?" She stopped and turned to me. I could feel my cheeks warm up. Dammit! Why is she so familiar?!

She looked at me quizzically for a few moments. It wasn't very hot out today but I was boiling. When she finally spoke, I felt the world stop.

"You never saw me here. Understand?" She asked kindly. Maybe I was wrong to curse... NO. They do this, they make us live like this...

Nonetheless, I nodded and she returned to looking for something. I turned around to give her space when I noticed a small star shaped object at the other side of the street. Figuring Kairi wouldn't care if I crossed over, I did. I scooped up the object in my time. It was something like a child's toy, Five points and a face in the center. It strangely enough even had a chain attached. I looked back at Kairi.

This is probably hers... I shouldn't take... it... I should give it back as an... apology? Yeah, that'll work, an apology for knocking her over.

"Kairi-"

"ROXAS!"

I stopped dead in my tracks and stared around. Kairi suddenly seemed panicked as Axel raced around the corner. She was still looking in that direction when Axel made his way over to me so it must be something else. I felt her eyes pour on me, and then on my hand. The hand holding the charm.

"Thats... thats MINE!" She ran at me. Pretty damn fast too, but not fast enough. Axel charged in between me and her. He locked his arm around my wrist. I was being pulled down the street and began shouting apologies to Kairi because I still had her item. I look at her and it for a long hard time as we ran. Guards began surrounding her and grabbing her hand as she tried to run away from them. Our eyes locked from a wide distance, and I knew this wasn't the last time I'd see her.

Ooookay. Drop reviews if you like.