Spring break is finally here & I've been in the writing mood so whoo! This chapters a bit...shorter considering that I definately like writing from Sora's POV better. Sorry Kairi xD. Again, it's close to midnight so please point out any errors there may be.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Or the movie Hunchback of Notre Dame.

WALTZ OF THE DAMNED: Chapter Two

Home was not exactly the best. Compared to Sora, though, I really shouldn't complain at all. Instead of parents that could care less like he had, I had parents that cared too much. If I hadn't been sneaking away from home since I was little, I would certainly be caught by the many guards surrounding the castle. Especially now that I had my own body guard. But seeing as Riku feels he has much better things to do than follow me around, it's pretty easy to wander off and have him "not notice". Of course, I would take the blame if he was caught not watching me; which it really was my fault any way despite the fact that he was making it easier to do.

"Ick." I gave a distasteful look to the mud on the ground, realizing that I would have to crawl in it. Since I couldn't simply stroll past the guards at the entrances to the castle like I did with Riku, I had to find a loose part of the wall in the courtyard and remove bricks so that I could fit through. Repeating, "Ew," over and over again as I kneeled into the mud, I slowly began to remove the bricks. My eye couldn't help but twitch as I felt the mud squish beneath me and into my clothes as I crawled through the entrance. Thankfully the other side was a bit drier because it was shielded by shrubs.

Putting the bricks back into place first, I crawled slowly and quietly out from the shrubs as to not disturb the guards. The courtyard clear, I quickly made my way to the entrance. Walking into the hall and hearing the click of the door behind me, I gave a relieved sigh and smiled at the warmth coming off the torches lining the hallway.

"So you're back." A deep, but non-authoritative voice stated.

Turning my head to Riku and removing the hood of my cloak, I nodded, "Yes."

With a shake of his silver haired head, he continued, "You know, you're probably going to get caught one day. The King is already very disbelieving when it comes to you and your apologies for slipping away from my watch; he just doesn't want to admit that his daughter is sneaking around behind his back."

Frowning a bit, I answered this as I walked past him, "As long as you don't rat us out, we'll be fine. There is no need to worry." He did not bother to argue or catch up to me; which I was glad for.

Turning down another hall, I came to a tapestry that hide a hallway to my chamber. Again, I restate the fact that my parents cared too much. They believed that if the castle was ever invaded I would have a more decent chance of surviving. Really, you only needed to barely press into the tapestry to realize that there is not a solid wall behind it so I didn't see the point at all.

Walking into my chamber to find a servant putting away clean dresses, I gave a small squeak from the surprise of her being there. With a laugh and a friendly smile, she apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Taking one look at my wet and dirtied clothes, she exclaimed, "Dear God, child! I'll get a warm bath started for you right now."

"Thank you," I answered her as she rushed out of the room. Knowing I could not sit on my bed because I would get it dirty, my only choice was to lean against the stone wall. Feeling every texture of the wall through the wet fabric of my clothes, I shuddered. 'I can't believe that man tried to do that to me…' I thought, my leg muscles tightening in discomfort and wrapping my arms around myself, 'But I do hope he's okay. Sora hit him really hard with that log…'

As much as I hoped he was okay, in the back of my mind I knew he deserved it.

'If father found out…' I shuddered again from that thought. If my father found out, Sora's hard hit with the log would be getting off much too easily. Father would probably resort to all kinds of unnecessary torture and would probably decide on beheading him afterward. I suppose it's nice to know that he cares for me that much, but in my opinion he really over reacts to everything. You would think that he would become less protective of me as I got older, but it was quite the opposite. It often seemed like I had a lot more freedom as a child than I did at this age. I would probably appreciate him a lot more if I switched parents with Sora, but for now he was just intolerable.

"M-Miss Kairi, your b-bath is ready…" A young servant girl, about the age of eight I presumed, stuttered as she entered the room. It was obvious that she was frightened by my presence, her emerald eyes looked as if tears would pour down at any second. I almost wanted to laugh because I certainly did not pose a threat of any kind, but I knew it would only scare her more if I did.

"Thank you," I answered in a soft tone, slightly bending down to look her in the eyes, "And please don't call me 'Miss'. I despise being treated as if I'm better than everyone else."

"O-okay M--…I mean…Kairi." She again stuttered in reply, giving a small bow before she scurried out of the room. I smiled in amusement before walking down the hall to the bath area. The hot water was so relaxing; I would have given anything to be able to stay there for an hour more. Unfortunately, dinner time interrupted that chance.

Being stuck at a table for no less than an hour, whether I was finished eating or not, with my parents was not exactly my favorite activity. Especially now with marriage planning in almost every conversation, even though I've yet to approve of any of their suitors. I'm sure they both have a voice in the back of their minds telling them that I won't accept anyone but Sora; however they simply choose to ignore it.

My father chewing on his food with a blank stare upon his face, my Mother finally started a conversation, "We have a new suitor for you. He will be arriving here tomorrow."

"…Alright." I answered, not knowing hot to really respond. 'Great. It's going to be even harder to get away after tomorrow with him following my every step.' I sighed inwardly.

Blinking at my response as if she expected something more, she continued, "His name is Axel, prince of Notre Dame. He's a few years older than you are, but very handsome. Brilliant eyes like emeralds, and hair that almost seems like fire!" She gushed.

I nodded and merely continued to pick at my food. 'Why don't you marry him then, if he's so wonderful?' I mentally rolled my eyes. He could be the most beautiful person to ever exist on this Earth and it still would not matter to me. So what was the point in trying to encourage me?

A low growling noise came from across the table before I heard an exclamation of, "Kairi!" Raising my head up, I gave her a questioning look. Only infuriating her more, she continued, "Why is you can't get over that boy!? You haven't even seen him in years!" Inwardly I smirked, 'Little does she know.'

"Who said anything about him? It's simply the fact that I would like to make my own decisions about who I fall in love with. You know, you're not the one who's going to spend the rest of your life with them; it will be me." I stated in a furious tone, rising out of my chair. Knowing I was only going to make the situation worse by staying, I muttered, "Excuse me." and began towards my chamber.

'One of these days I'm going to accidentally give me and Sora's relationship away…' I thought, giving a relieved sigh that I managed to keep my mouth, for the most part, shut. Why did she even have to mention him, any way? It's not like every time I came home from my meetings with Sora and announced "I'm so in love with that boy!" to their faces. So why would she have brought him up?

Maybe I needed to act more accepting to the suitors and then create a huge 'fight' with them. That would seem real enough to my parents.

Entering my room and collapsing backwards onto the bed, I decided that was going to be my plan. Although it wasn't exactly fair to this 'Prince Axel' that I was going to break his heart, maybe it would help him find his own true love.

'Yes,' I reassured myself, 'It's better for us all…But I'm sorry, Axel, even though I don't know you.' I apologized and hoped that it would some how reach him before I slowly drifted into sleep.

XOXO

"Get up! Ooh, this is not a good first impression for you new suitor, Miss Kairi. You're already twenty minutes late!"

"I don't--" I began to yawn out, but froze immediately as I remembered my plan, "Ah! Help me get ready, please!"

She stared for a moment before asking, "What?"

"Um…I just feel like this one might actually be good. Just a feeling, really. It'll most likely be wrong and he'll be the same as all the others before him." I rolled my eyes in disgust, when inside I was really giggling over the brilliance of my plans.

With a relieved sigh, she laughed as she handed me my dress for the day and gently pushed me towards the door, "Alright. That sounds more like you. But hurry yourself up if you do want this one to be the good one!"

"Yes, yes," I answered in a dull tone, shoving past the tapestry and continuing towards my 'dressing room' where several maids would be waiting to knock the breath out of me with the death trap that they liked to call a corset.

Mindlessly chattering among themselves as they dressed me, I made no reply, comments, or squeaks of discomfort as they pulled the strings of the corset to the point where breathing was almost impossible so that I would not delay their progress. "Good luck," One older lady said to me, patting me on the back and motioning me to move forward.

Turning my head back slightly as I began to walk, I answered softly, "Thank you." With a simple nod in return, I began down the hallway. Creaking the wooden door open to the main entrance hall, I could feel the eyes of my mother and the Queen of Notre Dame upon me. Smiling sheepishly as I approached the two, I gave a small curtsy to welcome our guest.

While Mother still gave me a disapproving stare, the other Queen gave me a lightened smile, "Axel is waiting outside for you if wish to speak to him."

Curtsying again, I gave my thanks and made my way out the door. Only making it a few feet out into the courtyard, I then heard, "Well. Hello there, Princess."

Whirling around and immediately noticing the 'fire-hair', as my Mother had described it, I answered, "And you must be Prince Axel."

A small smirk on his lips, he took a step forward, "In the flesh."

Noting how close he was standing to the door, I commented, "…Well, aren't you an eavesdropper?"

He gave a look to the door and chuckled, "Bah. It's not like they really talk about anything worth hearing. I just do it for the fun."

Raising my eyebrows a bit in interest, I answered, "Ah. I see." Maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as I thought. So far he only seemed to talk to me as if I were a friend, which meant that the relationship would simply not work and I would not have to live through the guilt of breaking his heart.

"So what do you do for excitement around here?" Axel glanced around the courtyard; obviously nothing met his interest.

"There's not really much to do except for go into town for the shops. We could do that tomorrow, if you like." I suggested with a shrug. 'With as crowded as the town is, it will be a lot easer to get away too.' I mentally added.

"Sounds good." He answered with a broadened smirk. The front door then opened, causing us both to turn our heads.

"It's dinner time." My Mother announced, eyeing us both in obviously displeasure at the fact that we were standing at least eight feet away from each other. Nodding, Axel walked past her and into the castle. Following afterward and avoiding my Mother's eyes, I made my way to the dining hall.

Managing to live through the dull dinner which mostly consisted of both mothers asking their 'future child' questions about their lives. My parents watched with anxious stares when I replied while the other Queen just smiled the whole time; which didn't exactly make the questions any less awkward to answer.

Finally excused from the table about twenty minutes after our guests had already left, I quickly made my way to my chamber so that I could collapse onto my bed and sleep. Only a mere five feet from the tapestry that hid my room, Axel stood; leaning against the wall for support. "…And what are you doing here?" I asked with a bit of a nervous tone. I did not want him to know where my room was, even if he did just think of me as a friend.

Walking towards me, he answered, "I wanted to give you a little something,"

"What--" My reply was cut off as his lips covered mine. My eyes widened in surprise and he just strode away with a smirk upon his face. Feeling as if my lips were on fire, I wiped my hand against my mouth and hoped that it would somehow remove the taste; but it didn't.

Making sure that he was not still watching me from down the hall, I then dashed into my chamber. Immediately running to the window, I spit several times. I didn't care if it was 'unladylike'; I needed his taste to be gone. Finally coming to the conclusion that it was not going to go away, I collapsed backward onto my bed and pressed my fingers against my lips. 'At least I'm going to see Sora tomorrow,' I sighed, 'that will take my mind off these things.'

I had never been in this situation before because it was considered inappropriate to really make any kind of contact at all with the opposite sex unless you were married. However, evidentially Axel was like Sora and did not care. I didn't really care for that rule either, but I had no love for Axel and that in itself made it inappropriate.

Wrapping the blankets around me more so that they would be tighter, I whispered to myself, "Sora…I need to be with you so I don't have to live like this anymore…I'm so tired of lying…"