Check.Mate

The Blearing Phoenix

a-u (alternate-universe)

naminé / axel

Summary: Don't talk to strangers. Set in New York, present time, and yeah . . . I did this out of dwindling inspiration. Enjoy . . .

a /n0 (author's notations0) Hey all, so this story is an experimentation total crack!pairing fic. It focuses primarily on Namine x (insertmysteriouscooltalkingcharacterhere). Let's see it's written from Namine's point of view for the entire fic and this chapter's just an intro to the whole big story and yes, yes it is a Final Fantasy X-Over. Don't worry, do not groan fair reviewers and readers, this will hopefully not suck too much . . . hopefully . . .

Oh and before you ask, all of the chapter titles will NOT be capitalized because these are sort of like third-person-perspective journal entries and my version of Namine doesn't like to capitalize the title of her 'entries'.

Oh and before I forget. Formatting:

bold symbolizes someone's signature for a letter or other legal document. there will be a fair amount of that so watch out for it.

italics symbolizes a character's thoughts. when there's a line break and a title in a particular portion of the chapter that reads as, 'flashback' then that symbolizes someone's recollection of a very important memory. there will be a fair amount of those too so watch for them as well.

underlining symbolizes a character's handwriting for a particular letter or other legal document. this particular type of effect for a font will also be used to note a chapter title. there will be a fair amount of letters so watch out for this effect as well.

CAPITAL LETTERS symbolizes a character's emphasis on certain words. they may emphasize certain words to display how angry, surprised, happy, or excited they are with another person. there will be a fair amount of this as well so note this down as well.

Anyway, let's get on with it then, shall we?

caution: may bite (intro chapter)

Namine never did heed Kairi's warnings: "No don't talk to him. He's done nothing with his life and besides he's already taken."

Oh no, Namine never listened. Everything just slipped from her mind like water and now, oh now she just wanted to know everything about him.

Little strips of light washed the black and white checkered tiles with a wan yellow glow. Namine stepped towards the mysterious bad man. Slowly she inhaled, sharp air tickled her teeth, and then she settled in front of his large black boots. The shafted light caught the gleam of his numerous chain linked belts. Five minutes passed, Kairi gritted her teeth and called out to Namine. The elder sister's flame-red hair swooshed as she turned her head in her younger sibling's direction.

Namine never listened.

"Hello," her voice came out like curling smoke, small and insignificant. Flexing her toes, she felt her milky skin stretch over her thin bones. The flaxen-haired girl let out another slow uneven breath—sharp and ticklish. She gazed into his bottle-green eyes, the shade of elm leaves, mint, and lime, and everything that was so green.

"Yo . . .," he sounded deep and rough as if his windpipe were made out of granules of sand. His brilliant green eyes caught her cerulean ones and they roamed over her form, analyzing every tiny detail about her. He took in her tattered cream woolen sweater that fell off of her small shoulders and the mole that was on the left side of her small nose. She was decidedly cute and possibly too young for him as well. Wait, what was he thinking, he already had a girl.

"So uh, what's your name?" Namine inquired innocently, her cheeks flushed carnation and she inwardly winced. She was still so palpably shy—still so awkward like a sputtering baby bird or a stork that was still trying to walk on its ungainly feet. The scarlet-haired stranger shifted, lit a cigarette and Namine watched as the vermilion spark flickered, flared, and died away in a curling wisp of gray smoke.

"Your sister wants you Namine; think she's tryin' to tell ya not to hang out with lone wolves like me, darlin'. You'd do well to listen because I can . . . bite." And he bit out the last word in a hiss as if he were a slithering serpent trying to warn her. Namine saw the darkness pool together in his eyes in an array of bright greens and orange flecks before she pivoted and darted toward Kairi. The red-haired man (serpent, really) watched her with an amused smirk.

Check mate, he thought, as a white pawn fell with a silenced clutter in his head. Sometime later he realized that he'd never quite answered her question before sending her away.

"WHAT were you thinking!? Wait; don't answer that because it was obvious that you weren't thinking! Ugh, when I tell you not to talk to people like that just don't do it, okay?" Kairi spit out venomously, invisible acid on her tongue. Her fists clenched and the blood loosened from her fingers. Her knuckles were white and Namine blanched powder-white.

"Would it help if I said, I'm sorry? I mean, I didn't know that he was so dangerous." Namine stuttered out, slipping over her words like wet rocks. Kairi glanced at her and sniffed in disgust. Her younger sibling was saying stupid things again; she'd have to fix that.

"He didn't seem dangerous to you? How could he—sorry, go ahead," Kairi paused in her tirade to let a random passerby clad in a lime-green suede jacket pass by her. Namine's elbow scraped against a stone scalloped wall and she hissed quietly before averting her eyes to Kairi's azure ones. They were melding into a dark indigo color—a clear sign of her irritation which was definitely intimidating.

"I-I don't know he just seemed calm enough. He was practically begging to be talked to anyway, just standing there, all cool and collective. Why can't you just let it go, you're not mom," Namine snapped, unable to swallow back her words.

Her mind was a flurry of rushed angry thoughts: Why does Kairi care so much if I talk to the guy? He's not like a serial rapist or murderer . . . otherwise I would've stayed clear of him. Kairi's never wrong about people being terrible. But goodness, since when did Kairi begin to play overprotective mom?

The blistering sun caused Namine's skin to blister with splotches of pink and her cheeks reddened to a dark scarlet hue. Shrugging the thick sweater off her shoulders, Namine strode swiftly through the thrall of people. It was a huddled group of women, men, and children—businessmen, slackers, students, and just general people that were jogging, sprinting, or just walking briskly to their designated destinations.

The chorus of random animated chatter, ringing cell phones, honking horns, and rushing cars scrambled Namine's sporadic thoughts around. New York was extremely busy around 12:00 p.m. in the afternoon.

"I'm just telling you this for your own good: I know from . . . experience, Namine, that guy is BAD news. You hear me, hey listen!" Kairi's slim hand jingled as her colorful brick-red, golden, and sky-blue bracelets collided into each other. Shaking her spaced out sister from her muddled thoughts, Kairi called to Namine in her urgent motherly tone.

"S-Sorry, I was thinking again, I got distracted," Namine admitted, the image of the mysterious man's spiky gelled hair still fresh in her mind. The dizzying assortment of his blue-green-orange eyes also fascinated her—that was until Kairi's insistent voice shattered her calm flowing brooding moment.

"We're here." The taller red-head announced as she walked up the cement steps that was a washed-out bluish-gray color. Years of misuse and numerous repairs had drastically altered the appearance of the ancient stone. Faded red bricks made up the foundation of the apartment building and the house itself had an isolated feel to it—as if it were the only dwelling of its kind on the whole block.

"Ma, we're back!" Kairi called as she absentmindedly hung up her coal-black jacket on the wooden coat rack. Tossing her white and cream Keds off of her feet, the elder girl sashayed elegantly into the family room. Namine followed still mystified over her encounter with the enigmatic bad man.

Kairi's words echoed loudly in her ears like an overplayed song: 'I'm just telling you this for your own good: I know . . . from experience, Namine, that guy is BAD news. No don't talk to him. He's done nothing with his life and besides he's already taken.'

"Oh hey girls!" a middle-aged woman who stood at about 5 feet and 3 inches poked her head out of the kitchen. An assortment of cookbooks, novels, How To books, and documentary books was stacked on the bookshelves in the family room and a Persian rug was spread out on the swept maple wood flooring.

Namine's eyes were almost a reflected image of her mother's large cerulean ones. Yet the only differing physical attribute that was shared between them was her mother's thick wavy tousled nutmeg hair.

"Hey mom, I missed you all day today!" Kairi greeted their mother cheerfully, pecking her on the cheek, and settling unto the plush white chaise. Namine noted that Lucretia (this was their mother's name, you see) had speckles of champagne paint on her freckled nose (another differing trait between Namine and herself).

"You finished the kitchen mom?" Namine smirked cheekily as she glanced at the newly finished champagne painted walls of their kitchen. Strips of maple wood lined the bottom portion of each wall, giving it a homely feeling.

"Yup, glad you noticed. It took me forever to finish it but luckily Sora and Riku dropped by to help me finish it." Lucretia replied as she gathered a white wrinkled sheet that had been splayed out on the ground in her arms. Kairi didn't even inquire about her mother's need for assistance; she immediately set about helping her load the blanket into the washing machine.

"Hey ma, you know Namine finally met that boy I told you about all those years ago," Kairi said in a conversational tone, apparently she had regained her cheery demeanor as soon as she'd walked into their three-week old apartment.

"Did she now?" Lucretia asked looking thoughtfully at her younger daughter. She clucked as she averted her eyes back to the handful of legal documents that were stacked before her.

Lucretia had recently filed for divorce from her estranged ex-husband. Cid Highwind had been a faithful and yet very short-tempered and foulmouthed husband for the past 8 years to Lucretia. However their pleasant facade as the somewhat perfect couple, he was a private jet pilot and she had been a biochemist, was soon shattered after Shera's arrival.

Shera . . .

Lucretia's jaw firmed and her normally bright eyes hardened and watered with fresh sloppy tears.

"Mom, are you okay?" Her daughters chorused in concern, their dark eyebrows furrowed with worriment.

"Hm, darlings . . .? Yes, yes I'm alright. It's just . . . ah, it must be the pollen. Yes, that must be it." She nodded her head in a clear gesture of an affirmation to her own poorly created lie before swiftly crossing the room to close a window.

"Mom, you don't have allergies in January. You don't get your sinus problems until July, so what's up?" Kairi asked, her eyes narrowing in a way suggesting that she was full of suspicion. Lucretia huffed softly, biting her lower lip before she took each of her daughter's hands, and then after five full minutes she spoke.

"I never wanted to burden you with this. I didn't want this to turn into a full out war between you two. You shouldn't be in the middle of this," Lucretia spoke to the floor, her eyes trained upon the diamond patterned black and white linoleum tiles.

"What do you mean, mom?" Kairi queried, scratching her hairline in total bewilderment. Namine shuffled her bare feet on the tiling before echoing her sister's earlier question.

What's those papers that mom has on the desk? Could mom be hinting at a custody battle? Oh God, if she is then that would be terrible. Neither of us wants to be dad's legal children, as much as we love him. Mom's mom and we'll stand by her forever, Namine's thoughts pooled together and she felt like her heart had been put through a paper shredder. She sincerely hoped that her fears weren't true, they couldn't be they simply couldn't.

"I'm sorry girls," their mother choked back a muffled sob, squeaked softly into her dainty hands, and then she sprinted up the creaky floorboards of their winding staircase.

Kairi glanced at the papers before furrowing her eyebrows at them in suspicion and partial dislike. Their father's oddly spaced handwriting which resembled a cursive hybrid was scrawled out on two of the topmost envelopes. Kairi picked one up and turned it over numerous times, scrutinizing it, before she fingered and gently pried it open.

Zip-0450

152nd St., Manhattan, NY

To: Lucretia Highwind Crescent

From: Cid Highwind

Dear Lucretia,

I have spoken with my attorney about the finalization of our legal separation. He said that as soon as we're able to settle this through our written signatures than this can be done and over with. I really am sorry for all of the torture that I put you through and I realize now that this is going to be a total bitch to write. I discussed this at length with my attorney and he said that it might be able to work out with your consent although the scheduling would have to fit around the girls' schooldays and whatnot.

Anyway let me get to the point, because I tend to run off like a god damned parakeet on speed. I know that this will be hard for you to stomach, I can't truly imagine what it would be like since I'm sorry to say that I 'm not a woman, but I can assume that it'll be hard. Anyway I'll just say it outright instead of building up your anticipation . . . I was wondering if you would be open to joint custody.

You know I own these girls just as much as you do. Shit, Lu, I even aided you in creating these beautiful girls and I deserve to see them grow up too. I deserve to walk them down their respective aisles when they get married, I deserve to beat their boyfriends away, and yeah just I need to be there. I know that you didn't really have a father figure in your life and I know that I fucked up badly by being tempted by some random chick who wore odd revealing clothes but . . . I love Kairi and Namine.

Anyway, my guy just told me a few days ago via e-mail that uh . . . this would be a total bitch to get through. It takes like a few weeks at least to get everything settled. They need to find out our locations, check for our background information, and they have to go through this general long ass process. Know this though, Lu, I love those damn kids and I don't care how bitter you are, they're my daughters and I'll do everything in my power to see 'em.

I attached the documents that are necessary to confirm the court hearing that my attorney and I private issued to this letter. Take a look at it, give me a call ASAP when you've reached your decision, and maybe we can get with our attorneys and discuss this more intimately sometime.

Take care of yourself babe,

Cid G. Highwind

Finis

a /n (author's notations) Yeah, basically this WHOLE story is going to feature some crazy plot lines and my mind's already rotating with ideas! The mysterious character will not have a name until Chapter Three. Cookies will be given to anyone who can figure out who the creepy mysterious guy is. Inspiration was actually drawn from a photo of my ex on My space. Ha, thanks for the inspiration, Rob!

Ahem, randomness aside, I will inform you that this story will be rated M for: crude language (you already got a hint of that in Cid's letter), sexual themes, implied sexual themes, strong violence, gore, drug abuse, rape, and death (dun, dun, dun!)

Kiddies turn away now because I promise you this story will be intense! So cookies will be given to reviewers, know that I truly thrive on reviews and feedback so bring 'em in. Flames will be ignored and laughed at. Criticism is encouraged.

Hope you enjoyed it and thanks so much for reading if you did!

X TBP