Two.A Mysterious Encounter

I wiped the tears from my eyes; it felt as though I'd cried all night without getting any sleep. I decided I must have just had a bad dream and opened the window for some fresh air. I felt all claustrophobic – being inside at the time and decided I needed to go for a walk. I tied up my hair and walked around town for a while before heading to me and my friends' usual meeting place.

They were all there, sitting on boxes and eating blue Popsicles together.

Roxas waved to me. "Hey!"

I waved back and sat down with them. "Do I get one?"

"NO." Kaya and Chiharu replied at once, bursting into laughter.

I managed to suppress a smile.

"Just kidding. Here ya go, fatty." Chiharu said, throwing a Popsicle at my head.

I fumbled to catch it, but failed and it hit the ground.

"Nice catch." Kaya commented.

I groaned and crossed my arms. "That's ok, I only like the red ones anyway."

Kaya laughed. "Know what? We should go to the beach before vacation is over. Let's go to the train station."

"WOO! Beach party!" Chiharu high-fived Kaya and they raced each other there.

Roxas and I walked.

"This town is getting weirder every day." I commented.

"Yeah…" He agreed.

"It's like you never know what's gonna happen ne—"

I stopped. He stopped. We were suddenly face to face with a black hole that had appeared out of nowhere.

"What…?" I stammered, taking a step back. My gut urged me to just run away, but somehow I couldn't. I felt my breath catch as someone stepped out of the void.

I took a few more steps backward; the man was wearing a long black cloak with a hood that concealed his face.… I shivered and rubbed my arms – the air had suddenly grown cold. And then he approached Roxas.

The mysterious man reached a gloved hand toward Roxas and rested it on his cheek. I was in shock. I wanted to do something, but I just couldn't bring myself to. So I watched.

"Who are you??" Roxas yelled. The man lowered his hand slowly.

"You… really don't remember? It's me." He lowered his hood, revealing red hair and startling green eyes. My heart skipped a beat. He was gorgeous.

"No… I don't. Have we met?" Roxas said hesitantly.

The man looked disappointed and shook his head. "Forget about it.."

I stared at him in wonder as he walked away.

"Axel…"

Roxas ran after him and I followed, but he was already gone.

Restoration 28

"Namine, hurry.."

"Did you see that man…?" Roxas asked me softly.

"Of course I did, Roxas. Did you know him…?" I gazed into his eyes, as though I was searching for an answer.

He shook his head. "I… I'm not sure."

I decided to let it go. "Well, guess we should get going then."

He nodded, and we entered the train station in silence. Chiharu and Kaya were waiting there for us.

I hoisted my bag onto my shoulder and followed them to the counter where the ticket guy was standing, looking rather bored. He barely glanced at us as we approached.

"What do you need?" He asked, his voice dripping with indifference.

"Well, considering that we're at a ticket booth in a train station, obviously we're here to buy a couch. Geez." Kaya snapped and we all laughed.

His expression remained the same. "Funny. Do you have money?" he yawned.

"Yes. Do you have a sense of humor?" Chiharu teased.

I smiled and shook my head. "We'd like four tickets to the beach."

"That will cost you 1200 munny." He stuck out his hand stiffly.

"One second." I held up a finger.

We dug up all of our munny and pooled it all together. Counting it out, I concluded that we were 273 short.

"Don't think he'll spot us the rest of it." I concluded.

"Great…" Chiharu grumbled.

Mr. Rude Ticket Man smirked.

"If you kids are done playing, you should probably get out of line."

We looked around. There was nobody else in the entire freaking station.

"There IS no line!" Kaya exclaimed, frustrated.

He shrugged and ignored us. "Oh, come on guys. Let's just go." I said, walking away.

Restoration 48

"..Is it really that hard to make a beach?"

"We'd be… giving the enemy another entry point."

((YAY!!! The second chapter! I'm so excited!! Also, I would love to hear from you, so please let me know if you love it, hate it, etc. ;) Thanks again!! ))

Emiko