A/N: Annnnnd chapter 2 is here! Anyway, again, I did take ideas from the manga here-especially in this chapter. Also, to avoid confusion here, a conversation with a friend turned up an interesting theory about Namine that she might have been almost a personification of Aqua's spell on Kairi, which is also implented this chapter, giving her both a bit of Aqua's memories as well as Kairi's memories... Anyway thanks goes to Chibi for betaing for me, now on to the fic!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts in any other way than the fact I bought copies of the games and manga, but I do own the idea for this story and (mostly) the theory about Nami and Aqua (as far as I know) the rest of the credit goes to Char for that theory.


Chapter 2-Imperfections

Sometimes, she thought she remembered things, though she knew they weren't her memories. Not the old woman's story, not the blue things that weren't Heartless or the flower-filled town they chased "her" through, not the blue haired woman, nor the sleeping boy who was located someplace in the Castle that she had never physically seen, or the tall, brown haired man. She wasn't the one who made the star-shaped charms (though she borrowed the idea in "giving" him her own charm), she couldn't cast spells, but she was a witch in her own right with her ability to change his memory. She had no friends though the memories contained quite a few. She had never left the white-walled Castle her "life" had begun in, yet she remembered other worlds beyond this that were full of color and people that were kind…

She was even more imperfect than she originally thought. It was something that immensely bothered her, as it gave her more to fix. As if she didn't already have enough to fix! She would try, though.

And so time went on, stuck in the white room drawing her existence away and listening to various rants from the others while she silently wished she could be free of them and be perfect when she did. Axel came by often to give her updates on him and how her work seemed to be progressing. He remembered her now, he said, and that gave her hope. It was wrong, she knew, to wipe out another's existence and replace it with her own to make herself his light, but she could become perfect no other way, they said. That was where the perfectionist side of her kicked in again, and she forced herself to keep working. She hoped that maybe he would save her from them; they wanted him wrapped around her little finger so they could use her to control him, but the perfectionist had other plans. She didn't want to be used any more, and he didn't deserve to be hurt any more. Her doubts fueled this feeling of rebellion, but she wasn't quite sure how to carry it out.

Then the replica was rather unceremoniously thrown across her table, scattering papers everywhere. "Give him memories, the same ones you gave the other." That's what the mean blonde told her, and then left. The replica with blue-green eyes and silver hair stared at her, still frozen from being thrown, while she was still frozen in surprise, red crayon still in hand, though both hands were snatched away from the table. From the jumble of memories she contained, all of them cried out the same name she spoke out of sheer curiosity.

"…Riku?"

"Fake. Not the real thing, it's a replica of the mad scientist's." She blinked, her head swiveling around to find Axel standing in the doorway. "You better do what Sparky McZapZap says and give him those memories, Nami." With a smirk and a turn, he was gone, leaving the perfectionist with more work and a bit of annoyance she couldn't really feel at his reverting back to that irritating nickname.

"It's Namine." She repeated, glaring after him.

"Namine?" Her head snapped back to look at the replica, still lying across her table.

"Yes," she sighed, standing to pick up the scattered papers that had fallen across the floor. "Namine's my name." The replica pushed itself up and joined her, picking up pictures as well.

"What are all of these? Did you draw every one of these pictures?" it inquired, she nodded.

"I drew every single one of them, and I have lots more to go. They're the memories of another, but they'll be your memories soon, too. Because that's what they told me to do, and I have to do everything they tell me if I want to become perfect. They say I have to be perfect if I want to have friends." She told it matter-of-factly, looking down at the one on the top of her stack—her "friend-to-be" and herself standing on a beach, watching a meteor shower.

"You're never going to be perfect. No matter what they say, it'll never happen—everyone has flaws. It's impossible to be perfect." it responded emotionlessly.

The papers hit the floor with a crackling thud and sprayed across the floor. She stood frozen once more, it was like he had slapped her. If she couldn't be perfect, why was she doing any of this? What was the point? Why was she hurting him if she could never be perfect and be with him?

"Namine? Namine…?" The replica asked her, sounding somewhere between worry and curiosity.

"…I think you should sit down and be quiet now." She replied absently. About a million thoughts were buzzing through her head, all being systematically shot down. She could never escape the imperfections? What was she doing any of this for, then?


A/N: That's it for this chapter, hopefully everyone liked it! With chapter 3, chapters will get longer, not to mention a bit more interesting (well, in my opinion). Until then, enjoy, and please review if you liked this chapter or have any comments/questions in general-I love hearing feedback!