A/N: Heeeere's chapter three. This ones a bit boring -_- and there is a lot of time skipping in it, I didn't want to bore you guys more with all of Nami's saddness :( plus, I've never been to a funeral before, so I didn't really know how to write about that. This one was a bit rushed too, so just let me know if there's any mistakes so I can fix them :3 I'll try and get chapter four out as fast as possible, although it might take a couple days :| and I promise it'll be more interesting!

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Chapter 3

The car ride back to Naminé's house was deathly quiet. The only sounds that were heard were Naminé's continuous sobs and the sound of the wind against the car. Riku decided to drive Naminé's car with Kairi and Naminé in the backseat, while Sora drove his own car behind them.

Every once in a while she would stop crying. Mostly because she cried herself to the point of having what must have been the WORST migraine she'd ever experienced. After the slight relief she'd feel from breathing normally again, she began to think of her parents. She would think back to the time they spent together, and how lucky she was to have parents as great as they were. Unfortunately, that just lead her back to thinking about how she'd never see them again, and in an instant she was back to crying hysterically.

"Hey Nami, I know this is hard for you, but you gotta get some sleep." Kairi whispered. Sora and Riku were out sleeping in the living room while Kairi and Naminé were lying awake in Naminé's bedroom.

"I know Kai…I know. I'm just so scared. What's going to happen to me now?" Naminé trembled. It was 4 in the morning and Naminé had finally managed to get herself together…or at least enough to be able to speak.

"I don't know. But whatever happens, I know you'll be ok. I'm sure you won't end up living with a foster family. In fact, I know you won't. You'll be going to college in less than a year, so until then you can just stay with your grandparents, or maybe an aunt or uncle…or even with me if that's possible." Naminé smiled faintly at how comforting Kairi was. She even smiled a bit.

"Thanks Kairi. And I'm sorry you have to deal with me like this. I know it must be difficult for you, too."

"Don't apologize! You have no reason to. And I promise you that it's no trouble at all for me. And I know this is going to be a long and painful process, but I promise you I'll be by your side the whole time."

"Thank you…" Naminé suddenly felt her eyes feel heavy.

"No problem. Now get some rest, ok?"

"I'll try."

It had been three days since that night. Naminé stayed in her bed the whole time, only getting up to shower and eat when Kairi would force her to. Her friends (mostly Kairi) would drop by after school to check in on her, but they scarcely talked. Naminé was turning into a recluse. Every day she drifted farther and farther away from her friends, and they had no idea of how to fix her. A few times she would wake up and stare at her doorway, just waiting for her mother to come prancing in like she used to. But she never did. It was just her and her house.
A silent, empty house.

But this morning was different. Instead of waking up to a vacant house, she woke up to a large manly figure gently shaking her.

"Nami? Nami it's me, Zack." said the gentle giant. Naminé sprung up from her bed and stared at him with her eyes wide open. He reached out and hugged her gently.

"Zack? You're….ZACK?" she grabbed on to his massive biceps, "YOU GOT HUGE!" Zack chuckled at how amused she was just squeezing his arm.

"Yeah, well, that's what the army does to you," he said, flexing a bit. "I can't believe how much you've grown. I feel guilty for not being here to watch you grow up…"

"Don't feel guilty. At least you're here now." Naminé smiled. The feeling of happiness was so foreign to her now; smiling felt so unnatural.

"Well, not for long…" he said looking down at the ground, "I'm only here for the funeral, which is tomorrow…" Naminé's heart instantly sank.

"WHAT?"

"I know, it's not fair. But my unit is leaving on Thursday for a special operation. It's classified, so I can't talk about. But the point is, I have to be back Wednesday night."

"You mean tomorrow night?"

"Yes…" Zack patted his sister on the head, "But listen, you're a tough girl. You always have been. I know for a fact that whatever life throws at you, you can handle it. Mom and Dad wouldn't want to see you like this…so how about we make a promise, ok?"

"What kind of promise?"

"I promise that I'll make it to your graduation, and bring ALL my army friends, and when they call out your name to get your diploma, we'll all SCREAM and cheer as loud as we possibly can. You'll be the most popular girl there. And then we'll throw you a giant party."

Naminé smiled and nodded her head.

"Ok, ok. That sounds fun. Now what do I have to promise YOU?"

"Well that's an easy one," He placed a hand on her shoulder, "You have to promise me, that after the funeral tomorrow you'll stop mourning for Mom and Dad. Never cry about them again."

Naminé stared at him as if he had two heads.

"That's IMPOSSIBLE!"

"No it's not! I mean, maybe you can cry just ONE more time after tomorrow, but just once. After that you're done." He observed the blonde thinking about it before he continued, "Come on, Nami. It's like I just said, I KNOW there's nothing in this world you can't handle. And I also know that Mom and Dad don't want you to be upset."

Naminé looked into his sapphire eyes that matched her own. She knew he was right.

"Fine. I'll do it." she announced.

"Great! I know you can do it," he assured, "Now listen, there are two people out in the kitchen that would like to talk to you. One of them is Aunt Rose, remember her? The rich aunt that never seemed to get along with any of her siblings except for Mom? Yeah, well she's out there, and so is a social worker for the adoption agency. She'll be the one to explain what's going on."

Outside in the kitchen stood two women; one with short blue hair and the other with medium length brown hair tied back in a bun. The brown haired one she recognized to be her Aunt Rose.

"Good morning, Naminé. My name is Aqua, and I'm part of the foster care system based in Radiant Garden." The blue haired lady said. Naminé immediately felt worried.

"Oh…hi…" was all the blonde could mutter out.

"Hello Naminé, darling. I know it's been a while, but it's me, your Aunt Rose. I haven't seen you since you were 10! My, have you gotten so beautiful!" said the brown-haired relative as she approached and embraced the blonde.

"Hi, Aunt Rose. It's good to, uh, see you." Naminé stammered. She had to admit, she was completely puzzled as to why her Aunt Rose, of ALL people, was standing in her kitchen right now.

"So, Naminé," Aqua began, "the reason I'm here is so that I can explain what's happening to you now. We contacted the rest of your family, and many of them said that they would take you in if you needed a place to stay. But your aunt Rose here has agreed to take you in as well, and currently she is the best suited financially to become your legal guardian…This should be exciting news for you, since now you'll be able to stay close to all your friends here in Destiny Islands!"

"Well, that's great…" Naminé replied, trying to absorb all that was happening, "And where exactly do you live Aunt Rose?"

"In Twilight Town, and I promise you'll feel right at home with me. Unfortunately, you won't be able to continue going to school here in Destiny Islands, you'll have to go to Twilight High School." Her aunt replied, "But I'm sure you'll love it there. It's truly a great school. One thing I must warn you about must warn you about is the fact that I go on a lot of business trips. Sometimes for weeks at a time, but rarely over a month. So with that said, you can feel free to have your friends over as much as you'd like while I'm gone so you're not too lonely. I don't have any kids, so you'll have the house pretty much to yourself, well, except for the chef and housekeepers. Oh, and don't worry about not feeling safe. My house has a high tech security system. I even have a monitor room with a few security guards."

"Wow…that sounds, great! Thank you so much Aunt Rose, I'm so thankful that you're willing to take me in. I promise I won't be any trouble at all."

"Living with my rich Aunt who's barely ever home? This couldn't be more perfect…" she thought. She had to admit, her worst fear was ending up living with an overly protective family. She was so used to being able to go where ever she wants, when she wants, since her parents trusted her so much.

"And going to Twilight High won't be so bad…at least I already have one friend…" she thought, thinking back to the spiky haired dirty-blonde she admired so much.

It was now the day after the funeral, which Naminé had already started erasing from her memory. She only remembered seeing at LEAST 30 to 40 people crying and telling stories about her mom and dad. The rest of the event was just a blur. The present was all that mattered to her, and that very moment she was staring at a colossal, white mansion with a cobblestone round-about, a glistening fountain, and the most gorgeous garden she'd ever seen. It looked like it was straight out of a "lifestyles of the rich and famous" magazine.

"Well…here it is!" announced Aunt Rose as they finally arrived at the top of a lengthy driveway. Naminé simply stared at the house in disbelief.

"THIS, is your HOUSE?" Naminé blurted. She knew her aunt had to be loaded considering she got picked up by her aunt's personal driver. But THIS was outrageous.

"Yep. Home sweet home!" she sang. The driver opened up the door and helped them out of the car. Naminé was still gaping at the sight of this huge place where SHE, a small town girl whose room was probably the size of your average backyard shed, was going to be living.

"This is…this is…INSANE! This place is HUGE!" she said, her voice echoing as they entered a large foyer with two staircases that lead to the top floor. To her left was a large formal dining room decorated with vintage furniture, and to her right was another large room that she guessed was a living room.

"Come, I'll show you where you'll be staying." Said Aunt Rose. She followed her Aunt as she walked straight between the two stair cases and down a long and spacious hall. As they walked, Naminé noticed they passed a few archways. One, she took note of, lead to an oversize kitchen and another lead to an enormous library. Eventually they reached an elevator, where they both got in and went down to the bottom floor.

"There is staircase, in case you were wondering. But I figured you'd like the elevator." Rose smirked.

"You got that right." Naminé replied. The elevator doors opened to yet another marble foyer. Immediately when they stepped out, there were glass doors that lead to an outdoor pool with a waterfall, and a nice patio area.

"Here we are," Rose said, opening a large white door, "This is your room. I mean, if you don't like it you can always switch to one of the bedrooms upstairs, but this one you can get to faster by just walking around the back of the house and going through the glass doors, so if you stay out late you don't have to use the front door. Plus it has its own spa and master bathroom." Naminé stepped in to what she thought was heaven. The room had a living area with a plasma screen TV and a comfy sectional couch, a nice wooden desk with a brand new laptop, a breakfast table with some chairs and a mini-fridge, a massive bathroom with a jetted tub and steam room, and a giant king sized bed with fluffy white blankets and pillows. The sight was a teenager's dream come true.

"NO…WAY. THIS IS CRAZY! IT'S LIKE MY OWN APARTMENT! It's AMAZING." she shrieked.

"You really think so?" asked Rose with a concerned expression. Naminé ran over and gave her the biggest bear hug she'd ever given.

"OF COURSE!"

"First day of school, first day of school, whaaaat should I weeeear!" Naminé sang as she searched threw her newly packed dresser drawers. She pulled out her favorite pair of skinny jeans and a form fitting, long sleeved indigo sweater. It hugged her in all the right places and showed off a bit of her collar bones. "Peeeerfect!" she chimed as she changed into her outfit.

The blonde walked over to a full-body mirror and examined her appearance, adjusting a few strands of her golden blonde hair.

"Alright, Naminé, you look fine. Just remember, be yourself! Have fun! And be confident!" she told herself. She knew Zack would have been so proud of her; it's been four days since the funeral and she didn't cry once. This is mainly because she's been distracted with the whole moving process. She had lived in the same house her whole life, so she wasn't exactly familiar with the 'packing and unpacking everything you own' procedure. As she looked around for any school supplies she might have forgotten to back, she noticed her phone laying on the top of a pile of unsorted things.

"I haven't checked that thing in a while…" she thought as she walked towards the object. She wondered if it even had any charge left. She clicked a button and realized it did, not very much, but it still functioned. Just as she suspected, she had quite a few of missed calls and texts. She got a few texts from Kairi, Riku, and Sora, all saying that they missed her and wanted to see her as soon as she was ready, and then a few others from an unfamiliar number.

Text one: Hey Naminé, it's Roxas :)

Text two: What's up?

Text three: You there? :(

Text four: Hey I was wondering if you wanted to go get some ice cream with me sometime. It's on me :) (this one was a few days after the first three)

Text five: If you didn't want to talk to me, you should have just said so. I feel like an idiot wasting my time…I guess I won't bother anymore. Bye. (Two days after text four)

Naminé could have died right then and there. She felt absolutely horrible for making him feel like she was ignoring him, ESPECIALLY when she actually wanted to talk to him again. And now, she might just end up seeing him in the hallway, or maybe even have classes with him. And he was going to look at her like she was your typical teenage bitch.

"Way to go, Naminé…way to go." She thought as she slapped her cheek, "Whatever. I'll just have to make things right next time I see him. He'd understand if I told him what happened."

"Naminé?" Rose whispered while peeking through the door way, "Are you sure you want to take the school bus? I can drive you!" Naminé sprayed some perfume on and grabbed her backpack.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I think its better that I take the bus, that way I can check out the school parking lot when I get there and see if it's not too hectic. If it's not that bad I'll just drive there. Plus, I might be able to make some friends that can show me around." She shrugged.

"Alright, if you say so. I must say, Naminé, you're one brave girl. You won't have any trouble making friends." Rose assured. Naminé really took her compliment to heart. It wasn't going to be easy moving to a new school for the first time, so any sort of comfort was appreciated.

"Thanks! Well, I better get going now," she said, throwing on her white knitted coat, "I'll see you later."

Her Aunt waved goodbye to her as she walked out onto the back patio and headed through her backyard towards the bus-stop. She was always the type of person to take short-cuts if she could.

"Alright…according to my aunt, the bus stop should be around here." she thought as she looked around the residential neighborhood of Sunset Terrace. She then spotted a group of what looked like fellow high school students waiting on the side of the road. Two or three looked like they were talking to each other, and about 4 more stood and listened to their iPods.

"Well, that was easy enough." She thought as she arrived at the spot. A brown haired girl who was talking to two boys looked at the blonde curiously. Naminé stood a bit behind the trio within the small cluster of students and attempted to get a peek at everyone who was there. She then made eye contact with the curious brunette and smiled.

"Hi! Are you a new student?" The brunette asked cheerfully.

"Yes, I am." Naminé replied.

"Oh wow! Well I'm Ollette, and this here is Hayner, and that's Pence." She said, pointing to the lanky blonde and chubby brunette boys she was previously talking to.

"I'm Naminé, nice to meet you guys." said Naminé as she shook both their hands. In her peripheral vision she saw a large yellow mass pull up and stop. She turned her head, and sure enough, it was the bus. She walked up the stairs and into the student filled vehicle. Just as she suspected, almost EVERYONE who was talking had stopped and stared at her. Thankfully, she found an open seat, where she sat down and immediately busied herself with a sketch she'd been working on.

"Morning Roxas." Said Demyx as he arrived at their bus stop.

"Sup man."

"Did you ever hear back from that girl at your party last week?"

Roxas turned to him, obviously agitated.

"No, Demyx. I probably texted her 5 times, and even called her once, but she never answered."

"I told you she was too hot for you!"

Roxas sighed deeply before speaking, "The annoying part is, I almost broke up with Xion for her. I thought she might like me, but obviously she wasn't going to date me if I was taken. But when she didn't even answer my casual texts, that's when I realized she was probably not even interested. Heck, I even asked her to get ice cream with me. But nope. She didn't answer." He kicked up some dirt from the ground and put his hands in his pockets. The thought of her beautiful face just made him hate her more.

"Wow, that's a bummer…you think I'd have a chance with her?" asked Demyx, who simply stared at him with hope. Instead of responding to his oblivious friend, he just entered the newly arrived bus. He didn't want to talk about her anymore. She was just a tease, and for all he cared, she could just stay out of his life forever. But, as he headed back to his usually seat, he saw what could have been the most shocking sight he could have imagined. It was Naminé. There was no doubt in his mind. She just sat there drawing, not even looking up once.

"Holy shit…no way…NO WAY…she looks gorgeous. Wait! NO! STOP THINKING THAT! You don't like her, remember?" he thought, hoping she wouldn't notice him. He couldn't help but feel a little happy to see her sitting there all by herself. He wasn't exactly pleased with her at the moment. In fact, he actually hated her. She was the only girl who made him feel like a complete idiot, and he despised her for that. He walked passed her, unseen, and sat a few seats behind her. One thing was certain; he wasn't going to let her walk around and act like SHE won.

"I don't know why she's here all the sudden, but at least I'll be able to give her a piece of my mind." He smirked.