Chapter One: Girl In The Big City

Namine leaned her head against the window and watched the skyscrapers and tall structures blur away. She and her older brother, Cloud, were moving into the metropolis known as Twilight Town, where the skies were always painted in lemony yellows and fiery oranges. The reason why the two were moving out of their home in Hollow Bastion was because Cloud's friends offered the them a place to live in after their place burnt down. Namine didn't mind living with them, they were nice people who she thought of as older siblings.

After her parents died in a car crash, Cloud took responsibility of her. It was almost a year ago since the car crash and because Cloud just turned eighteen he was able to keep custody of her. Namine was thankful for that, she couldn't imagine being separated from her brother. He wasn't just her older brother, he was her best friend too.

"Are we almost there?" Namine asked. She had been sitting in the car for five hours now and her leg was falling asleep.

"Yeah, in fact here we are." He made a sharp right turn, causing other cars to honk at him, and stopped in front of a beige colored apartment building. "And it only took us seven hours to get here." He grinned.

Namine rolled her eyes, "It would have taken us just four hours if we traveled by plane."

Cloud responded by saying, "It's called saving money." He stepped out of the car and headed towards the back to remove the luggage. He pulled out his cell and tossed it to her, "Call Aerith and tell her were here."

Namine nearly dropped it and frowned. He knew that she had horrible catching skills, that's why no one in her old school wanted her on their team when they played touch football or softball. She thumbed through Cloud's contacts, noticing that he hadn't deleted their mom and dad's number. She lingered on the numbers for a moment and then went back to searching for Aerith's.

She was about to press 'call' when she heard a shriek. "Guys! They're here!" Namine looked up to see a long haired brunette, known as Tifa, screaming out the window. A boy with silky brown hair with a scar running across his nose stepped in and shoved her out of the way. "You're going to get our neighbors angry again!" Leon hissed. He turned back to face the two and grinned, "It's room 200C. Glad too see you guys again. I thought you'd be stuck in Hollow Bastion forever!"

Namine waved politely and Cloud grinned like crazy. This was the first time in a long time that Cloud had smiled like that. He was truly happy, which made Namine happy as well.

The two stepped into the room and were greeted by Aerith, Leon and Tifa. "Namine you've grown!" Tifa exclaimed. "How old are you now?"

"Sixteen." Namine replied. She took a seat on the couch next to Aerith and Cloud, while Leon was ordering pizza.

Tifa grinned at Cloud, "You better look out for her. She's that age and she's pretty too. Guys'll come breaking down doors just to talk to her!"

"Namine doesn't like boys." Cloud said before Namine could say anything. "Until she's twenty three she's not getting a boyfriend!"

Namine's eyes widened. "Cloud! You're acting like..." She was about to say You're acting like dad! but she knew better than that and said " An old man!" Namine wasn't very good with boys, but that didn't mean that she was in that "boys are gross" stage still.

"He's just looking out for you." Aerith smiled. "He's being a good brother."

"Pshh...he's being a hypocrite. Why can she date at twenty three and you got to date at fifteen?" Tifa questioned.

Cloud's face turned beet red and he ignored the question, "I'm going to help Leon get the Pizza's." He muttered. The three girls giggled after him, knowing that Tifa had proven a point.

As soon as the two boys left the building, Tifa snapped her attention back to Namine. "How would you like to meet a cute boy?" She wiggled her brows.

Aerith looked at her friend disapprovingly, "Cloud would not like that!"

"She'll be the 40 year old virgin if she doesn't learn how get guys!" Tifa exclaimed. She turned back to Namine, who was blushing. "So how bout it? Feel like meeting him?"

She did want to see if he was cute or not, but what if he was cute? She would end up making a fool out of herself if she tried talking to him! "I-I shouldn't." She replied.

By now she should have known that Tifa Lockhart did not take no for an answer. Within the next few seconds, Namine found herself being dragged out of the apartment loft and out the door by the surprisingly strong Tifa. Aerith trailed behind her trying to pry her grip from Namine's slender wrist. She mouthed a "sorry" realizing that they had already reached their destination.

Tifa knocked on the door two times before a boy with silver hair that stopped a little past his throat. He had sea green eyes and was munching on a donut. The boy finished chewing before he spoke, "Did you need something?"

"No, we just wanted you to show Namine around town! She's new here and she's the same age as you are!" Before Riku could say anything else, Tifa pushed Namine forward and disappeared down the hall with Aerith. Namine blushed and looked away from his eyes before she found herself getting lost in them.

The boy smiled and closed the door behind him, "Hey Namine, I'm Riku. Since were the same age does that mean that you'll be going to Twilight High?"

Namine nodded shyly. He chuckled, "You don't have to be shy around me. Besides, It'll be fun with you around and we'll probably see a lot of each other since we live in the same apartment and we go to the same school. Besides,." He had a point, she might as well just get used to being around him. She tried to ease herself a little but found it impossible when he took her by the hand. "Here, I'll show you my favorite places!"

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Namine stepped into a building known as Pop's Shop. It was run by a man named Cid Highwind, who had a daughter that attended Twilight High. Cid was really friendly and even asked if Namine and Riku wanted to come to his house for dinner. "My mom's cooking Steak, I don't want to miss that." Riku replied.

Namine thought of some excuse besides the fact that she was still new to the place, "Umm...I'm having Pizza." Cid raised a brow at her and laughed heartily. "We don't order pizza regularly." Namine lied.

Cid nodded, "Okay then. Stop anytime you need anything repaired!" He called after them.

"Nice, isn't he?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, is everyone in town nice?" Namine replied.

Riku shrugged his shoulders. "Most of them. It's like anywhere else, you've got the good and the bad. After all, you can't expect all rainbows and butterflies." He had a point, Namine thought.

"It's getting late, you wanna go home?" He asked, looking at his wrist watch.

Namine didn't want to go, she wanted to see more of the city but he was right, it was dark out already. Besides, Cloud was probably wondering where she was. Either that, or too busy lecturing Tifa and Aerith. Tifa for introducing his little sister to a boy and Aerith for not trying hard enough to stop it. "Yeah, I guess." She shrugged her shoulders.

She wondered what Cloud was going to say to her when she got back home. She hoped that he would over react and ask her questions like "Did you have sex with him?" or "Did he try to touch you?" Namine knew he meant well but he worried too much for her. She wasn't a kid anymore, after all.

"I was gonna show you to some of my friends but they're probably eating dinner or something." He said, as they neared the corner. "But Roxas, a friend of mine, lives in this building too. I'll introduce you to him." Riku smiled. "He's a good guy, you'll like him."

"You sure about that?" Namine smiled.

"Positive. He's kinda like me. You like me right?" Riku grinned.

Namine blushed and nodded. She liked him, maybe a little more than she should.

Riku opened the door and began jogging up the stairs. Namine had to stop and take a breath at the end of the second staircase. Riku was halfway up the third floor, he stopped to look at the blond girl and grinned, "You look like you're dying!"

Namine half-smiled. She felt like her legs felt wobbly from not getting enough exercise, "What do you do, run all day?"

Riku ran back to meet her, "Sort of. I play Soccer. Me and Roxas have been practicing all Summer to get on the team." Namine nodded in reply and began walking up the stairs. "Do you play any sport?"

"You think I could play a sport? Look at me, I can barely run up the staircases and I'll look awkward playing a sport." She replied. "Besides, I'm a total clutz."

"Really? You should see Demyx. Now he's a clutz!" He laughed. It was a nice laugh, it wasn't too hard that it sounded like a hyena's laugh but it wasn't too soft either that it sounded like a girl's laugh. In fact, he looked nice all together. Namine found herself blushing, luckily he just thought that it was from running up the stairs. "And I don't think you look awkward. You look nice." She blushed even harder and had to turn away from him.

"Your friends seem really colorful." Namine said, when he told her about all the schemes his friends pulled last year. They had finally reached the top of the stairs and were now making their way to Roxas' room. "There's never a dull day for you, I'm guessing?" She grinned.

"Nope. Just stick with us and you'll never be bored." Riku smiled. "Here's his place." He announced. "Roxas! Roxas! It's Riku, open up!" There was no response so he rang the buzzer. There was still no answer and Riku sighed, "He's not here. Well there's tomorrow right? You can meet him at school."

Namine gulped. That was right, school started tomorrow for her and Riku. Riku noticed how nervous she suddenly became and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Easy there, Don't get a heart attack!" He joked. "It'll be fine. Tomorrow's my first day too. Besides, you'll be fine I'll show you to my friends."

She stared at his hand and nodded. She felt her heart beat slightly faster when he smiled back at her. "Um..I..I gotta go eat dinner now. My brother's probably worried about me."

"Brother? What about your parents?" Riku asked while stepping into the elevator. Why did't we use this in the first place? Namine wondered.

"They died in a car accident." Namine replied, looking away slightly.

Riku bit his lower lip, "I'm sorry."

"You didn't know." Namine shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, At least I've got my brother and his friends. You know, Aerith, Tifa, and Leon."

Riku nodded. The door slid open and the two padded down the hall, side by side. It was silent, making Namine nervous. say something. say something. say something! "Do you have a girlfriend?" Namine realized what she had just said and blushed. Why did she say that!?

Riku was silent at first and then smiled. "Nope. What about you?"

Namine was relieved by his answer and replied with a shake of her head. She stopped in front of her room and looked back at Riku, "Nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you too. I'll walk you to school?" He said, getting ready to leave.

Namine smiled and nodded. Before her fist could make contact with the wooden entrance the door swung open, revealing an angry Cloud. He yanked her inside and slammed the door shut behind him. "Where were you!?" He demanded.

"With a friend." Namine replied carefully.

"What gender?" Cloud asked.

"Male."

"How old?"

"Same age."

"What room?"

Namine raised a brow at him, "Why do you want to know that?"

"So I can kill him if he lays a hand on you!" Cloud exclaimed. Just in time, Leon stepped into the room to intervene.

"Knock it off, Cloud. She's not gonna do anything stupid. Namine's an angel, right Namine?" He grinned. Namine nodded her head and mentally thanked Leon for getting Cloud off of her back.

The spiky haired blond let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Sorry. I over reacted again, didn't I?"

"Yup." Namine replied. "You need to stop worrying. You'll get worry lines by the time you reach twenty years old." She smiled.

Tifa stepped into the room saying, "Worry lines..eww!" She had with her a bottle of soda. "So now that our little Namine is back, let's eat! I'm starving!"

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That night, Namine couldn't get herself to close her eyes for more than five seconds. For some reason, she couldn't get Riku's smile out of her head and the sound of his laughter ringing in her ears. Namine sighed, she couldn't wait to see him tomorrow again. It was true that she had only known him for two hours but in those two hours, he had stolen her heart.

chapter one is done! i hope you guys liked it, don't worry she'll meet roxas in the next chapter! anyway review if you want!