Chapter 2:

Innocence

Roxas' eyes flickered open as he came out of his daze. He rubbed his temples annoyed. He took a deep breath, to his surprise, he breathed in crisp air. Rapidly, he sat up and examined the area around him. He was surrounded by beautiful forestry. Green was every where but it was highlighted with bright colours such as orange and yellow. Roxas gazed at the beautiful sight around him in awe. The aura the garden gave off was just so calming that he didn't even bother thinking about how angry he was that he was away from Namine.

"Okay. This time, I just got to get it right!"

Roxas stood quickly and crept to an opening to the small garden. He stepped on the grass as softly as he could while he walked to the opening. He stood behind a tree and poked his head out to see what was going on.

To his surprise, the area he gazed upon was even more beautiful then the area he had awoken in. Like the other region, there were trees and flowers but these plants were surrounding a large body of water that flowed around a beautifully rafted fountain. Roxas peered closer to the fountain while immediately falling in love with it's every detail.

Suddenly, he heard splashing. She looked up from the bowl of the fountain and at the tap where the water gently spilled down. Inside the fountain was a young girl jumping in a circular motion, her eyes shut, and her arms to her sides.

"Tsumetai kusa no ue ni taorekomi

Hoteru karada wo kakushitai

Mayfuyu no seizatachi ga watashi no koibito,

Zutto matteita no

Ay-ye-ye-ye…."

All of a sudden, her arms shot up in the air and the water around the fountain rose to an all time high. Roxas even took a small step back in shock.

"Kyou no kibun wa saikou desu."

She spun around continuously, still her voice sounding as pure and golden as if had before. The water rushed into the air above her, spinning wildly but barely any of it sprayed around.

"Zetsubou mo kibou mo nai

Sora no youni sukitootteitai."

The water stilled quickly and then amazingly, splattered into millions of droplets.

Roxas winced, covering his head with his arms as the water fell.

"Who's there?"

Roxas hesitated while the water came to a halt. The girl had probably heard his motion.

"Come out here!" She shouted angrily. "Come out right now!"

Reluctantly, Roxas stepped out from behind the tree. He looked down, disappointed that he had blown his cover and clutched his wrists in anger. Slowly, his rage was coming back to him.

"You…!"

Roxas looked up at the female. Instantaneously, she blew him away. Her hair was light blond complimented by auburn almost red streaks. Her creamy light skin, with the exception of her light pink cheeks, brought much attention to her pale blue grey eyes; they shown like bright stars of an empty night sky. Her lithe body shaped was embellished by a short periwinkle blue strapless dress and a short Maya blue jacket. Her oval head tilted to the left a bit, her hair swished to the side, brushing her shoulder.

Roxas couldn't stop staring even though he knew he had to. It was written all over his face that he had a newly found obsession with the girl. He was fascinated with her strangely. He had the urge to hold her the way he did Namine. But she wasn't Namine. She was simply a beautiful girl with a pissed off expression on her face.

"How dare you come to the Garden of Roses!?" She questioned him, eyeing him down.

Roxas felt as if she was stripping him down with her eyes, staring right into his soul.

"I didn't mean to!" Roxas argued. "Honest!"

"Liar!" She shouted. She pulled off the short jacket revealing her bare shoulders. She then held it above her. "I'll show you what we do to liars in Twilight Kingdom." Abruptly, the jacket stretched. As it did, it went into an eye-striking silver. Its shape then changed. The cloth formed into long chains.

Roxas stepped back in fear. Not only did he have no idea what was going on, but he would have to fight a girl. It didn't bother him that she was female; it was her resemblance to Namine. It would feel like hitting the girl he fell for.

Unenthusiastically, Roxas lashed out his keyblades and went to a battle stance.

"Those weapons..." The girl mumbled. "They're not welcome here; and neither are you!" With that, she spun, smashing her chains against Roxas He flew back in pain, but landed on his feet. Keeping a tight hold on his blades, he ran towards the girl. As he got closer, the anger in the girl rose. When he was close enough, she threw back her weapons into the tall bushes behind her. With her arms held over her head, Roxas struck at her many times. It seemed as if any sympathy he had had for the girl disappeared while he continued cutting up her stomach.

Through blood and tears, the girl continued standing. A jolt came to her body, alerting her that it was her turn to strike back. Flipping backwards, she kicked both of Roxas' keyblades out of his palms and disappeared in the bushes.

Roxas ran back, catching his weapons and took slow deep breaths. He stood crouched down, coughing up a bit of blood but remaining on his guard. He scrutinized the whole area before standing straight. It was hard to remain standing for he was in serious pain. His arms and legs had been cut up and a large scar had been made on the side of his neck.

His keyblades disappeared from his hands while he searched for a way out of this garden.

"What was she talking about?" He wondered curiously. "What did I ever do to this place?"

"Die traitor!"

Roxas turned just in time to be slashed up in the front of his body by the girl. As her feet came to the ground, Roxas' back also came to the grass.

Sora dashed though out a large Courtyard in shock.

"Where the hell am I!?" He shouted into the sky. He stopped and crossed his arms. Still looking up at the amazing mid day sky mixed with blues and yellows he said to himself, "I've been here for more then twenty minutes and I still haven't found anyone!"

"Do you always talk to yourself?"

Sora whirled around to the direction of the harsh voice to see an attractive girl crossing her arms at him. Her hair flowed with the colors of Auburn, almost red and blond streaks. Her deep sea blue eyes pierced at his skin. With her soft light skin and pinkish cheeks, there was no doubt that she was noticed by all when she stepped into a room. Her short scarlet red skirt flapped against her thighs while the wind blew. The gust carried along the sleeves of her burgundy sweater and her long hair. Her empowering stance not only let others know not to annoy her but also made her nimble body appear to be more attractive then ever.

Sora stared at the female, not moving at all. The longer he looked, the more he could see it. He could see her resemblance to Kairi. In fact, the resemblance was so strong; he figured it actually was his girl.

"Kairi?"

"Kairi? Who's that?"

"Um, she's my friend," Sora mumbled shaking his head. He turned his head to the side and focused on the ground. He had been so sure it was Kairi that now he wasn't sure if he'd find her in this place; what ever this place was.

Unexpectedly, he felt a strong force against his chest. Looking in front of him, he saw the girl leaning close to him, pressing her chest against his and staring up at him with a dazed face.

"Just a friend?" She said in a softer voice then the one she had used when she first met him. She bashed her eyelashes continuously which only made Sora feel oddly uncomfortable.

"Uh, well, yeah but—"

He was cut off. The girl had used all her force to push him to the ground so that he was lying on his back and she was on her hands and knees looking down at him.

"Good," she smirked. Too swiftly, she leaned down closer to him so that their foreheads touched.

"You have pretty eyes," she mumbled.

Before he knew it, the female's lips pushed onto his, still with force. Sora blinked multiple times. He could have pulled her off easily but found he couldn't move his body at all. The kiss was like poison, paralyzing him. All he could do was stare at the girl who looked exactly like Kairi. In a way, he didn't want to push her off; not only because she looked like Kairi, but he liked her feeling. He liked her scent, her hair, her body. He wanted to grab her shoulders and pull her to the ground and continue their passionate kiss.

That's when he realized that he had been kissing her back this whole time. He had continued their kiss and deepened it more then ever. It was him who was doing the work now. It was wrong but damn was it right. He loved the taste of her lips. It made him think of strawberries, maybe even Papou Fruit. It was hard to resist her, even when he had stood and talked to her, all he could think about were her kissable lips.

But he couldn't continue, it wasn't fair to Kairi, he had to stop before things got too far, not that already hadn't, he had to resist her and push her away.

He grabbed her shoulders and pulled himself off slowly, really slowly. Eventually the two were separated and breathing hard.

"That was," The girl said between breaths. "Amazing."

"Yeah," Sora agreed as he took another breath.

"Then why did you pull away?"

"Because," Sora's eyes lowered. "I don't even know you for one. It's not right. I haven't even kissed…"

"Haven't kissed who?"

"My friend," Sora mumbled. "I like her very much and me doing this… It was a mistake."

Immediately, the girl stood. She stared at Sora horrified. "A… Mistake!? How can you say such a thing?"

Sora noticed her eyes begin to water and stood up. "I'm sorry but…" He reached his hand out but she slapped it away.

"You don't deserve anybody!" She shouted, rubbing her eyes with the back of her arm. "I pray to the one above you die alone!" She then turned around and ran sounds of weeping following her.

Sora stared at the Kairi look-a-like run faster and faster out of the Courtyard.

Roxas' eyes fluttered open. They were alone half way open when he saw the girl that looked like Namine. She was kneeling beside him, her hands crossed at her chin with her eyes closed.

"Are you… Praying?"

One eye from the girl opened and looked directly at Roxas. Once again, her stare made a shiver run down his spine. She closed her eyes and then opened them while smile formed across her lips. She turned her body to Roxas while keeping her hands on her lap. "Are you all right?"

Roxas nodded gradually.

"Good," The female smiled. "I'm truly sorry for attempting to bring you great pain. I shouldn't have reacted so hast. I'll be more careful next time, I promise."

Roxas continued to nod. "May I ask why you tried to kill me? Don't tell me it's because I'm a Keyblade Wielder."

"Then I guess I shouldn't respond."

Roxas' head lowered as guilt washed over him. "Oh… Sorry. But, what do you have against people who wield the Keyblade?"

"I have nothing against them," The girl replied. "But here, In Twilight Kingdom, they're hated. A long time ago, Keyblade Wielders came from all over. People of the Kingdom ad heard about the Keyblades, we saw them as good. But that all changed when suddenly, they started killing innocent people. Much blood was shed and evil speared. Eventually, thanks to great Kings and Queens, peace was restored. But recently, rumors have been going around, saying that the Keyblades were back. So now everybody is on alert for them. That's why I attacked you."

"Oh no," Roxas mumbled. He placed his hand on his forehead and shook. "But if you tried to kill me, why would you try and save me?"

"Because," the girl blushed, her cheeks more red then before. "I like you."