Okay okay, don't kill me. I know I dragged this out, but that's because I couldn't just write it in a day or two like I used to, it just wouldn't come to me. A little warning: this was written over many days with stops in between, sometimes for weeks at a time. The style it's written in might change a few times through because of all the stops and goes.

Finally...enjoy!

When I awoke it was still dark. Probably only an hour had passed, I guessed, because the stars were in the same position that they were in before I passed out after the fight.

My arms and legs were numb from the pressure and pain that had been administered to them during the fight and my chest ached where Axel had kicked me. On my shirt was a dirty footprint of his boot. My fingers had little cuts and bruises on them from the strain I put on them to hold the wooden sword; they hurt with every little bend. And speaking of the wooden sword…it wasn't in good condition. The sword was cracked and had long fractures running up and down the blade. If Axel hadn't stopped the fight when he had, I knew I wouldn't have held my own against him much longer. I couldn't have, not when my weapon could've shattered at any moment.

Black blood stained both my shirt and my face. I could feel the crusty, dry substance cake the area around my mouth and nose. My shirt was heavy and awkward to move in because of the blood coated on it.

For the rest of that night, all I did was stare up at the stars and wonder about the connection between Namine and Axel. I knew next to nothing about Axel and even less about Namine. I figured that I would start investigating the next day. Who knows? I thought. I could get lucky….

~!~

When the sun rose again in the morning, I walked back to town. It took a few hours, but I went straight to my home through a back exit. I didn't feel like getting harassed on my way to take a nice shower and perhaps even a nap. No, I didn't want to see anyone but my parents.

I entered the house and immediately went up to my room. It was a simple little place, the only furniture being my bed, a desk, and a wooden chair. The walls were bare and white and the floor was wood. My bed spread was black and my pillow a contrasting white.

I threw off my backpack and emptied its contents: empty food wrappers, an empty canteen, a change of clothes (that I had already worn) and the sketchpad; Namine's sketchpad.

After throwing my blood-stained and dirt covered clothing to the floor, I wrapped a towel around me and walked to the bathroom. Once inside, I took off the towel and set up a warm – but not too warm (it was hot outside, after all) – shower.

20 minutes later I finished dressing in my room and I pushed everything off of my bed. Once I plopped down on it, I fell into a deep sleep.

~!~

"Roxas, honey, wake up." My mom's voice rang clear in the darkness of my nap.

"Ngh…"

"Come on, Roxas. It's time for lunch."

"Fine…."

I sat up in bed and looked around; nothing in my room had changed during my short slumber. My mother was watching over me, leaning on the door way and smiling. She was always smiling. I took my bag with me, packed in the sketch pad, and walked out of the room.

As I followed her down the stairs, she started asking me questions.

"So how's scouting?"

"It's boring. It does give me time to think, though."

She laughed. "What do you think about? Hopefully nothing too serious; you're too young to be worrying over things!"

Oh, I'm just thinking about a mysterious girl and a man that was sent by her to "test" me. "Just…stuff. Nothing too serious though." I faked a laugh. She seemed to believe it, though, and she laughed along with me.

When we were heading to the dining room, I spotted our family heirlooms; 2 key-shaped weapons hanging on our wall. I had inquired about them, but my father never told me much, only that they've been handed down for a long time.

~!~

After lunch, during which I had a light conversation with my parents, I restocked the food and clothes in my backpack and left through the same hidden path that I had this morning.

The walk back to my usual scouting post took shorter than it did this morning, probably because I had rested. Though there wasn't much to scenery, I tried focusing on my surroundings more as I traveled. I wanted to catch the beauty. I wanted to catch something normal, because the strongest feeling came over me at that moment that things were going to change. And fast.

Sometime, a few hours after I arrived at my post, I decided to head to the tree where I had first encountered Namine. It was around 3 in the afternoon, judging by the position of the sun in the sky.

When I reached the tree's hill, I had an idea. I would place the sketchbook on the spot where Namine had been the first time I saw her. After that I hid behind the tree and a bit closer to the bottom of the small hill and waited. I had the distinct feeling that Namine would visit today; just the fact that Axel had attacked me because of her gave me hope that I'd see the girl again.

I ended up falling asleep for maybe 20 minutes after I waited for her; I guess getting my ass beat makes me exhausted. But when I awoke, I heard a soft, beautiful humming sound coming from somewhere close to me. Slowly I crawled up a little closer to get a better look and, to my great pleasure, Namine was sitting against the tree, humming and sketching.

I situated myself behind the tre she was leaning on and watched as she drew. The scene in her sketchpad was of the land all around us and the little almost-oasis we were currently sitting on. The picture could've been complete as it was and it would've been beautiful, but, to my confusion, she kept on drawing. Behind the tree, which was in the bottom left corner of the picture, she began to draw blonde spikes.

With a silent gasp to myself, I realized that she was drawing me. She knew that I was there watching her.

I realized that there was no point in my staying hidden any longer, and so I moved out from behind the tree and sat next to Namine. Her head was pointed straight ahead and down at her sketchpad, and I had to turn to see her. I only caught a profile of her face.

"Your name is Namine, right? I saw your name on your sketchpad." I asked.

She said nothing and there was no change in her expression.

"I'm Roxas. It's nice to meet you."

She still didn't answer. I sighed and just watched her draw.

We stayed that way for maybe 30 minutes, when, without warning, she closed her sketchpad and placed her pencil in the book's binding. She began talking, and yet she still didn't face to me.

"I sent Axel yesterday."

"I know. He told me after we stopped fighting. Why, though, did you send him?"

"I'm going to need you soon. And trust me; you're going to need me too."

I couldn't answer her. I was absolutely confused as to what the hell she was talking about.

Slowly she turned her head towards me and smiled what was probably the sweetest smile I had ever seen.

"But don't worry about that now. How about we just rest a little?"

Now that I could look at her closely, I could see just how beautiful she really was; hair of gold rested on her right shoulder while skin as pale as moonlight covered her. She had these mesmerizing blue eyes that were lighter around the edges and darker closer to the pupil. All in all, she was stunning.

Namine moved over and patted the grass next to her. Without a word I nodded and sat where she told me to.

For the rest of the afternoon we talked about random things. Really it was nothing in particular, but it was fun. You can't understand just how great it was to be talking to someone my age and someone who wasn't from Twilight Town. It was a dream come true.

"Why do you like to draw?" I asked her at one point during our conversation.

At first she didn't answer me. Normally, I'd be a bit annoyed at a pause as long as hers was, but long silences just seemed to be her thing.

"I don't know." She answered truthfully. "I suppose that it just helps me with my powers."

Her powers? "Wait, what?"

"Huh?" she tilted her head in a cute manner.

"You just said something about powers." I prodded

"No I didn't."

"Come on, Namine."

"I…I…." She seemed to be struggling with herself, arguing in her own mind. Abruptly, she stood up. She only took a step, though, before I grabbed her wrist. My grip wasn't that confining (I didn't want to hurt the girl), but it was enough to keep her in place.

"Please, just…just stay. I won't ask about whatever the hell it was you were talking about, but I need you to stay." I begged.

I wasn't kidding either. Just talking to her for a few hours showed me how much I was missing by living the way I was. I needed someone like me, someone different than the others, someone I could open up to. It was at that moment when I begged and pleaded for her to stay that I was convinced that that person was Namine.

The artist must have been persuaded by something in my eyes, because, slowly, she sat back down. I released my grip on her wrist and noticed I left a red mark on her arm.

"I'm sorry about that…." I apologized "I really didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's…it's fine." She wasn't looking at me.

"No, it's not. I shouldn't have grabbed you like that. I had no right to stop you from leaving."

She turned to me, tears streaming out of her eyes. "I guess I shouldn't be so stubborn and secretive next time; it's my fault. I'm sorry."

What the hell was she talking about now?

"What? No, it's not your fault at all. It's mine. You don't have to apologize for anything."

"But…I…." she stuttered.

I sat in front of her and lightly gripped her shoulders (I made sure this time that I didn't hurt her). She looked at me with fear almost seeping out of her eyes and tears ready to fall.

"It's. Not. Your. Fault. I was the one who accidentally hurt you, and I was the one who just wouldn't let the topic go when you asked me to. I'm Sorry."

Namine was speechless; she opened her eye even wider for a second before almost closing them completely as she smiled wide. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but they seemed to be tears of joy. She slipped her arms under my own and wrapped them around my back, giving me the biggest hug I'd ever received. I hugged her back and squeezed a bit too hard. She giggled in response and embraced me tighter. I felt her tiny laugh on my chest, where her head was resting.

After we separated, a good 10 minutes later, Namine was done crying. I was done crying as well, though I didn't even know about the tears until Namine had told me of the streak lines down my face. I think that hug was necessary; we both needed someone at that very moment. Namine needed some to finally show her some love and respect, while I needed someone like me, someone to talk to.

~!~

"Come here the same time tomorrow. I'll bring someone to meet you." She said with a smile.

"Will do." I responded

We were standing still, facing each other on the little hill. Namine was rubbing her right arm with her left, smiling at me in a nervous way. I kept swinging my arms back and forth and I couldn't look her straight in the eye. To think that, only an hour earlier, our long hug was nearly unbreakable! But there was something thick in the air, something stopping us from opening ourselves up again, at least today.

I walked over and gave her a quick hug. "Bye." I said.

"Bye." She walked away and I watched her until she disappeared from sight into the horizon.

Back near my scouting position, I sat down cross-legged and looked out into the endless night. Something was changing, something that was come as fast and hard as a train (or at least the way my parents described how a train moved). I could feel it in the air and during the afternoon I spent with Namine.

But was I ready for that change? That was a whole 'nother question.

Note 1: When Nami was humming, it was "Dearly Beloved" from the KH2 menu.

Note 2: I'll admit that it got a little purple prose-y when I was describing Namine.

So how was it? I hope it was worth the wait! And I'm *most likely* going to release a one-shot soon as well (I'm working on it now), but don't take my word for it because, knowing me, it'll never get finished.