Kingdom Hearts: Reflection
Summary: What if Naminé, Axel, and Roxas were on the Destiny Islands instead of Sora, Riku, and Kairi?
Disclaimer: Wouldn't it be cool if I could own it? Maybe… Ya know, it might actually be better to just, like, rent it for the day, or something.
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Xiana: Here's the first real chapter. I hope that you guys like it…
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Within Destiny's Grasp (Part 1)
"Hey, wake up! You aren't going to sleep all day, are you, Mina?"
I rolled forward, dangling my feet in the water. "I wasn't asleep, Roxas!" I yawned, and turned to look Roxas over. He was using a blue shirt that was the very color of the sky, but these hues paled in comparison to his sapphire eyes, huge crystal orbs that reflected the light of the bright island sun. He ran a hand absently through his dirty-blond hair, patting down some of the spikes, which sprang right back up. "I was just thinking about this dream I had last night. It was pretty weird."
He smiled at me, flashing straight white teeth. "I've had some strange dreams lately too." He flopped down beside me in the sand. "So, we going to work on our raft today, Min?"
"I hope I'm included in that!" came a cheerful voice. Axel was the tallest of us all, standing at over 5'5". Today he was wearing a yellow shirt with baggy brown pants. "So why don't we get some materials for our ship together, and then meet back here? Last one to the arena gets the logs!"
We all sprinted forward together. I barely passed Axel at the last moment, and Roxas got there last. "Tough luck, Rox!" we smiled, each placing an arm around his shoulders.
Roxas scowled, thin yellow brows pressing down hard on narrowed cobalt eyes. "Well, fine! That's what I wanted to do anyway!"
"Now that's the manly Roxas we know and love," Axel teased, resting his head on Roxas' shoulder.
"…Grr…" Roxas' expression changed to one even more filled with rage, if such a thing was possible. He swung a tightly clenched fist at Axel's shoulder, but Axel knew what was coming and had quickly sidestepped the blow.
"Oh, so you want to fight now, Roxas?" Axel wondered. Roxas snarled something and lunged at Axel. I grabbed Roxas' fist and hauled him backwards.
"Hey, Roxas, shouldn't you be saving some of that energy for our big duel against those three tomorrow? You've been looking forward to it all moon, right?" I reminded him once he had been safely restrained. He turned his piercing glare on me before averting his gaze and nodding slowly.
"Hey, Naminé, should you really be criticizing Roxas since you can't even beat Selphie on your own?" I turned to stare into Axel's mocking eyes.
Roxas interrupted before I could say anything rash. "Well, if you're so confident in your fighting abilities, Axel, then why don't you go get all of the raft materials while Mina and I train?"
"Yeah, that's right, Axel, we wouldn't want to let you down…"
Axel blinked at us, unable to make one of his usual witty comments.
"Well, I guess that's decided, then. We need two logs, a cloth for a sail, and some rope." Roxas patted Axel on the shoulder. "Have fun!"
"Are you sure you trust me to get it all on my own? I'm not exactly the most responsible, y'know…"
"Well…" Roxas and I turned away to consult with each other on the situation. "What do you think?"
"Well, I'm not sure… He should be able to get everything on his own… but he is distracted easily at times… like when that bird flew over while we were sparring and I accidentally knocked him out…"
"And he is right about me needing to train, but I really want to get this raft done, especially since we've been planning to leave day after tomorrow…"
"I think that you should let Roxas go with Axel, so that Naminé can get some good training done," whispered a third voice. Roxas and I both looked up to see Axel looking at us very seriously. I pushed him away playfully, but he grabbed my hand and spun me into a tight embrace. "Well, what do you think, Nami?" As if on second thought, he grabbed Roxas into a hug as well. "And you, Rox? Well?"
Roxas glanced at me. "It's Mina's choice…"
"…Oh, go ahead. I'll just be here, waiting, all alone…"
"All right, Nam, we'll be back soon with all that stuff!" I watched them lope away, laughing and feinting at each other with the wooden practice swords the three of us carried around everywhere. I looked down at my own sword and sighed. It's true that I was considered the weakest of the six of us kids that played on this island during the summer, but I was improving quite rapidly ever since Roxas had started tutoring me in the ways of the (fake) sword. He was patient and gentle, and he was nearly always available to help. Sometimes Axel came to join in on our practice sessions, but on these occasions, our practice quickly degenerated into a game of "Let's watch Axel beat the crap out of Roxas while Naminé sits quietly off to the side." Although it wasn't like Roxas minded being smacked around by Axel, because he also seemed to be improving a bit with each round. But only a little bit.
I held my sword with my right arm fully extended. Slowly, I bent my knees in a stretch that Roxas said would increase my endurance and focused on holding my sword straight, parallel with the ground. When I had remained in this position for about thirty seconds, I shifted my weight to the balls of my feet and straightened my legs so that I was in a ready fighting stance.
Suddenly, I struck! I leapt through the air to deliver a downward blow, followed by a slash to the side. I dodged nimbly to the right, and used my momentum to lunge into the position behind me with a quick spin and jab. From here, I kicked out with a left side kick and then a left roundhouse. I faltered slightly when I heard the sound of someone clapping, but attempted to complete this sword form with the same single-minded determination I had started with. With a horizontal block and one last thrust to the chest of my invisible opponent, I finished and looked up to the platform connecting the small off-shore island with our larger one.
"See, Nam, I told you that you'd do better without this kid messing you up." Axel gestured to Roxas, who was awkwardly carrying both logs and the cloth for the sail. Somehow, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen next. "Hey, Rox, catch!"
And I was not disappointed. Roxas leapt forward willingly in an attempt to catch the coil of rope that Axel had thrown over his shoulder. He never had a chance. The rope had landed sideways on the top log, which had caused the cloth to slip off the top of the stack. Roxas had attempted to catch it, but had lost his balance and toppled over, with all our supplies coming to rest on top of him in one form or another. Axel bent down to sift through the rubble in search of Roxas' fallen form.
When he finally unearthed Roxas, he began weeping. "Oh, Roxas, my poor Roxas, why did you have to die? Oh, Roxas, I tried to tell Naminé that this raft was a bad idea, I tried to tell you that you couldn't take all that stuff on your own! I would have helped you, would have supported you through all of the hard times… Why, Naminé? Why must the good die young?"
I raced around and leapt up onto the roof of the nearby shack, pulling myself up quickly before any stray splinters embedded themselves in my hand. "Oh, Axel, I don't know. There, there, it'll be all right… I'm sure that, in time, you'll learn to love again…"
Roxas glared at Axel before slapping his face, hard. "Owieeee, whadja do that for, Roxas!"
"Because I'm not dead, and you were the one who came up for the raft in the first place! And you shoved all this stuff on me, despite the fact that you knew I couldn't carry it all!"
"Awww… but, Roxy, I was just giving you a chance to prove your manly courage and strength…" Axel pouted, shoving his face into Roxas' shirt.
"Ugh! Get off! You're getting me all wet!" Roxas struggled to push Axel away, but Axel clung tenaciously to Roxas. I giggled at their juvenile antics, unable to restrain myself.
"Roxy, I'm not letting go until you 'pologize for making me an' Nam worry about you."
"Fine, whatever, I'm sorry. Although it was all your fault."
"And… you also gotta 'pologize for hitting me, ya big meanie!" Axel whimpered.
"And how do you propose I do that?"
"Well, whenever I get a boo-boo, Mommy always kisses it and it feels better…" Axel had shifted to a very childish tone of voice.
Roxas flushed a very nice shade of red, somewhere between scarlet and carmine. "Well… if it will get you to shut up…" And with that, he leaned over and kissed Axel on the cheek.
There was a short pause. "Ah, Rox, you gotta kiss darling Nami as well. You don't want her to get lonely, or jealous, right?" And as Roxas crawled over to place his soft lips lightly on my cheek, it was my turn to blush.
"Well, are you happy now, Axel? Or would you like me to jump down and smoochify Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka as well?"
"Oh, of course not. They don't love you as much as we do, right, Nam?"
"Oh, certainly not. Because no one could love you, Roxas, more than me and Axel do."
"Oh, right. Thanks, guys, you're the best. It doesn't matter that I've been grievously injured by these horrible materials, because you're my bestest friends in the whole wide world, right?"
"Absolutely." Axel and I spoke in unison before looking to each other and high-fiving. The door to the upper level of the shack slammed open, and Tidus ran out to confront us excitedly.
"Wait, what was that? Did you say that you were horribly injured, Roxas? If that's the case, then you guys should just surrender now! Axel and Naminé can't beat the three of us on their own!"
"I was joking, Tid."
"Oh…" Tidus looked crestfallen, though he perked up a bit as Selphie and Wakka ran out to join us.
"Hey, hey, Naminé! What was that? A kiss I saw? Roxas loves Nami! Roxas loves Nami!" Selphie teased, smacking her lips together. "How romantic!"
"Not really, Selph. Roxas and I aren't really in love. And before you say anything, neither are Axel and I, and neither are Axel and Roxas. We all just love each other, as friends," I said firmly, looking Selphie square in the eye. "No romantic stuff here, sorry."
Selphie giggled. "Are you sure?"
Wakka turned away, looking disgusted. "Aww, man, get a room, ya?"
I turned to see Axel and Roxas snuggling up close, softly combing through hair and ruffling clothes. They broke apart with a smile. "Sorry, Mina, we couldn't resist."
"You wanna join us?" Axel offered, tapping the sandy ground in front of him. "Make it a threesome?"
"Of course! You can't leave me out!" I ran forward, tumbling into their waiting arms. "Sorry, Selphie… I lied!" We stayed in this intimate position until Wakka ran off and Selphie followed him, giggling maniacally.
"So, Tidu, you ready for tomorrow?"
"I dunno, Roxas, are you?"
"Oh, I'm expecting to make a full recovery by tomorrow with the help of my… friends…" Roxas smirked, tugging Axel and me closer.
"That's sick, man! I'm taking you guys down tomorrow! See ya!" Tidus jumped off the shack roof and ran to the pier, where Selphie and Wakka were paddling their boats away.
We watched him sail away into the distance before sitting up and separating ourselves. It was Roxas who first noticed. "The sun's setting, guys…"
"I'll put this stuff away and meet you guys by the tree," Axel offered with unwonted generosity. He loaded himself up and jumped gracefully down to place the materials by the door to the other side of the island.
We took our usual positions on the curving tree that grew the fruit known as paopu, with Roxas and I seated on the trunk and Axel leaning "cool-ly" against the root.
"Why are we here?" Noticing our looks of confusion, Axel continued, "You know, us three. We're all here on this island, right?"
"Last time I checked," Roxas muttered darkly.
"Oh, why don't you shut up, Roxas? You know what I mean. It's just, we could have been on completely different worlds. But we're here now. Why?"
"This is going to sound really lame, but maybe it's destiny."
"No, I like that theory. There's nothing wrong with it. But what exactly do you mean?"
"Like, maybe we're here, because we're meant to be here. Like something is going to happen. And we're the key to the whole thing."
Roxas groaned. "Don't get all existential on me, you two." We all laughed.
"D'you think we should get going We gotta get rested up for the big battle tomorrow!"
"Yeah." Roxas took off, running for the boats. Axel and I followed more slowly.
"Hey, Naminé!" Axel tossed a paopu fruit in my direction. I managed to catch it, fumbling only slightly.
"What's this for?"
"Oh, Nami, don't you know anything/ The paopu fruit is a fruit of love, and if two people share it, they'll be bound together forever…"
"I know that," I responded, annoyed. "I've lived here just as long as you have! I mean, why'd you give it to me?"
"Don't you wanna share it with somebody? Somebody special? Someone like… Roxas?"
I threw the slippery thing back in his face. "No, I most certainly don't." Axel shrugged and raced forward.
"Well, just so you know, I don't want to either. I ate one of those things by myself once, and it is not worth it, Roxas is not worth it, you are not worth me eating another one of these things."
"Does it… really taste that bad?"
"Nah, I just made that up. Still…" Axel jumped off the roof and ran to catch up with Roxas. I followed more slowly. As we steered away in the sun, I reflected on our paopu legend. I've known it forever and a day, but ever since Roxas showed up, it's begun to have more substance. The legend is no longer just a fairy tale, a story my mother used to tell me before tucking me into my hammock. Now the paopu fruit, that innocent star shape, symbolizes something deeper. And I'm not sure I'm happy about that.
"All right, meet back here tomorrow, by half-sun! First we warm up, then we get some provisions gathered for that big trip, and finally, we take on those other guys and win!"
"Yeah!" Axel and I chimed in response to Roxas' instructions. Roxas muttered something else, and I rowed closer, curious.
"-ing soon. But then everything will change and I'll have to decide, and I hate choosing. I wish nothing like this would happen, I wish it was just me'n'Axel'n'Mina always the same…"
"Wouldn't that get awful boring?"
Roxas turned to face… Axel, who had also guided his boat along the side of Roxas'. "I…It's just that… I've…"
"…been having second thoughts about the trip?" Axel finished softly, placing a hand on Roxas' arm. "We don't have to go through with it if you don't want to, okay?"
"It's…I'm worried. What if we do find another world? What if it's… my world, and they threw me out of it for some reason? Or… what if we don't find anything, and we just get lost at sea?"
"Roxas, it's okay. If you don't want to go, we won't go. But don't worry about it. They would never throw a kid like you out of a world… unless it was for being too cute," Axel teased, dropping his oar into the boat so that he could reassure Roxas with a friendly embrace.
"Yeah… Hey, d'you… I don't want to impose, but, Axel… do you think that I could stay at your house tonight?"
"Sure, Roxas, of course." They corrected their courses at an angle such that I was left alone. I poled my way faster towards my home with a sigh.
"It doesn't look like I'm able to do anything right… I have the feeling that I'll be having some nightmares tonight…"
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Far away, a duck was walking. This was not just any duck; this was a famous magician-duck who was the great court wizard of a high kingdom. Also, this duck had been banned in Denmark for not wearing any pants. And indeed, as he strolled down the regal hallway, his only attire was a blue, zippered jacket and a crooked hat. Coughing impressively, he raised a fist (er, wing) to knock on the gargantuan door that led to His Majesty's throne room. A much smaller panel of the door swung out, and the duck walked through. Just as he did every day, he couldn't help but wonder why The King would have suck huge boors built if a smaller entrance was used for such important people as himself, but, as he did every day, he put it down to royal insanity and continued on.
"Good morning, Your Majesty! I hope you slept well," he quacked, in an outrageously thick accent. He chattered on he was within 4.73 feet of the throne, when, as protocol dictated, he bowed and raised his eyes to gaze upon… an empty throne! "Blabwawawa-WHACK!" He was hard to understand at the best of times, but at the worst of times, his speech was completely unintelligible. A dog stepped out from behind the vacant seat, carrying in his mouth a piece of paper. The duck chased the dog into a garden before snatching it triumphantly His expression quickly changed to one of shock, and then one of complete panic, as he read the message. He ran off to the other side of the garden, still quacking madly.
Eventually, he came upon a figure snoozing near the hedge shaped like a castle. "ZAP!" yelled the duck, and a bolt of lightning flew from the heavens, electrocuting the iron-clad knight and effectively waking him.
"Yah-hah-hah-HOOIE! Oh, uh… g'mornin', Donald!" the unfortunate target, who resembled a dog, greeted the duck, rubbing at his mail-topped head, which had felt the majority of the strike. "Uh, strange weather we've been havin' lately, huh?"
"Be quiet, Goofy! This is serious!" Donald squawked, flailing his arms and dropping his wizarding rod. "But it's top secret! You can't tell anyone!"
"Queen Minnie?" Goofy's eyes widened.
"Not even the Queen!" Donald declared, pushing his nose (er, bill) into the air haughtily.
Goofy paused for a second. "Daisy?"
"No! Nobody but us two can know!"
"G'mornin', ladies!" Goofy waved to someone in the background.
"W…Whaaa?" Donald slowly turned to find the ladies in question standing at the arch before the flower bed. Daisy, his longtime girlfriend, tapped her toe impatiently while the queen cleared her throat expevtantly.
"So, uh, what's so important, Donald?"
"Eheh-heh-heh…"
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Xiana: Chapter 1, hope you like, need to split chapter 2 into two parts and type it, then I'll post it, yeah…
(Throws Naminé plushies to reviewers) So yeah, I hope you liked that it was from Nami's point of view, and I hope you'll keep reading and reviewing. I love you all.