A/N: Well, remember when I said that the line "If you stare too long into the abyss, the abyss stares back" comes from the TV show Andromeda? Well, completely by accident, I found the original quote, by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." There's your history lesson for the day!
OH! And you can blame i AM the Random Idiot: I didn't even consider the fact that the one hint can be read as perverted. It was not originally intended to be, but there you have it; I had to use it as such. You have my sincerest apologies. :throws rotten Paopu fruit at iAtRI:
Thanks to everyone who reviewed/PM'd to say that they were confused! And thanks to cheeky doggie especially for continuing to guess as to who 'he' is.
Disclaimer: Umm... yeah. Do you all know just how expensive the Kingdom Hearts soundtracks are? Because I've been downloading the songs off Limewire until I could find the CDs myself, and I was on AmazonDOTcom and it's $45 for the two-disc KHII OST. FORTY-FIVE AMERICAN DOLLARS!! Now, if I owned Kingdom Hearts, this would not be a problem; obviously, this is not the case.
Chapter IV
"If two halves desire to be separate unto themselves, they must become one," Naminé said, ticking it off on her finger. "And then the one he just said, what was it?"
Roxas paused, thinking. "Something about a key and a lock, and something I'd been searching for." He shrugged helplessly.
"If you are the Key, then there must be a corresponding lock. What you had dedicated your life to searching for will point the way."
He looked at her with surprise. "You can remember all that just from hearing it once?"
"I have a perfect memory, Roxas," she shrugged. "It comes with my powers, I guess."
"Sheesh, and all I get is a Keyblade," he made a face at her.
Naminé laughed and focused back on the riddle. "I think that last one counts as two hints."
"The second one is a riddle all to itself," he muttered unhappily. "I hate riddles. Like did I ever tell you about the time I was plummeting to my death and Sora was playing riddle games with Kairi? "Starts with an 's'," he says-"
She cleared her throat and tapped his forehead. "Roxas. The task at hand?"
"Oh, right," he grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."
"And the last hint is "covet her"." She looked at her fingers, not seeing the flush creeping over his cheeks. "So we've got one big riddle, one hint disguised as a riddle, and two regular hints."
"We're screwed," Roxas noted, crossing his arms over his chest. "And that's me being optimistic."
"Let's figure out the smaller riddle first. What you had dedicated your life to searching for will point the way." Naminé looked up at him. "What did you dedicate your life to searching for?"
"Umm..." Roxas thought hard and shrugged. "Sora?"
"No. Somehow I doubt Sora can point us to the answer." She pursed her lips and rested her chin on steepled fingers. "Could it be the Organization?"
He shook his head. "I may have dedicated my life to them, but I never searched for them. They found me."
"When you were part of Sora, you did."
"But the Organization is dead, so they can't point out any answers."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
They sat in silence, thinking. "You said you dedicated your life to Organization XIII," Naminé said finally.
"Yeah. The whole reason the Organization existed was to "unlock the secrets of the heart"..." He paused, a flicker of comprehension crossing his face. "What you had dedicated your life to searching for will point the way."
"Your heart," Naminé finished.
Roxas looked at her incredulously. "My heart will point the way? How does that have anything to do with the first riddle?"
She shrugged. "It probably won't make sense until we connect it to the other two hints. If you are the Key, then there must be a corresponding lock." Naminé looked to see Roxas grinning like an idiot. "What?"
He started guiltily. "Eh... nothing." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"What is it, Roxas?" Her eyes narrowed.
"Eh-heh..." He looked everywhere but at her. "Nothing."
"Roxas..." she said warningly. "Tell me."
"I'm a guy, Naminé! We're programmed to think like this!" he protested defensively.
"Like what?"
"You really don't get it?"
She shook her head.
He sighed and crawled over to her, whispering one word in her ear. Naminé gasped and smacked him, hard. "Roxas, you pervert!"
"Ow! It's not my fault!" He sat back on his heels and rubbed his head, silently mouthing ow. "I mean, hanging out with Hayner every day corrupts your mind, you know? I don't know how Olette put up with us." Roxas grinned, then paused. "Not that any of that was real," he muttered softly, looking down at the ground.
Naminé laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "At least you had something. I didn't have anything," she added quietly, forgiving him for the comment.
He put his hand on top of hers. "You've got me." He gently wrapped his fingers around hers in a firm grip. "Well, at least until Sora wakes up," he added, almost as an afterthought. "Then our problem with Zexion becomes his problem."
She drew in a breath. "I forgot. We only have until morning to figure this out."
"I don't know about you, but I want to do this ourselves, without any interference from the Keyblade Master or the Princess of Heart." He suddenly realized that he was holding her hand and hastily let go.
Naminé nodded quickly. "Let's get back to work."
Roxas put his mind to trying to find a different meaning behind the second hint, but his attention kept wandering back to her. "Hey, Naminé?" he asked abruptly.
"Hm?" She looked up.
"What's your earliest memory as a Nobody?"
Her eyebrows furrowed. "That's very random, Roxas."
"Yeah, but I'd like to know. You have that perfect memory and all."
Put off by his grin, Naminé steepled her fingers and thought about it. "I'm not sure," she said finally. "I think... I was in... the World That Never Was. I just wandered around, lost and confused until Xemnas found me."
"They told me that Xemnas found me in Twilight Town, but I can't remember, myself." Roxas paused. "Do you ever think that there are other people out there... you know, like us?" He looked at her, his deep blue eyes reflecting the question.
"With all the worlds out there, I'd find it hard to believe that we're the only remaining Nobodies who remember."
"No, I mean like... us," he placed more emphasis on the word 'us', gesturing at himself.
She shook her head slowly. "I don't know what you mean."
"Like... alive and aware, but not really... here," Roxas looked down at his semi-transparent hands. "You know?"
"I don't think that there is anyone out there like us, then," she answered softly. "And to be honest, I don't want there to be anyone else like us."
He looked up quickly. "Huh?"
"This is a curse, Roxas." She edged closer to him. "With our lives, we have a glimpse of things we are so close to having for our own, but then..." she trailed off and looked at her own semi-transparent hands.
"Yeah, but we're alive at least." He picked up her hand and held it up. With both of their palms pressed together, they couldn't see through either of them. "There's nothing I would rather do."
"What? Run for our lives, play Twenty Questions with Riku, or solve stupid puzzles for someone who should be dead?" Naminé tilted her head, waiting for his answer.
"No." Roxas wrapped his fingers through hers. "Be with you."
Her mouth open slightly, Naminé couldn't think of any response.
Roxas quickly tried to extricate his fingers. "Or... something like that," he backtracked hastily.
She smiled softly and held his hand in hers. "Me, either."
A/N: You know you want to go "awww"! You know you do!
-xXx-
With Kairi over his shoulders, Riku balanced unsteadily on the windowsill. "Now would be a great time to wake up, Sora," he muttered frantically, windmilling his only free arm in an effort to keep his balance, clutching the frame at the last second. "She's your girlfriend, not mine."
" 's not," came a mumble from Sora.
"So you are awake!"
There was no response. The Keyblade Master hugged his stuffed turtle in closer and snored.
"...Or not." Riku sighed and slowly climbed in, careful not to make any unnecessary noise. This would be rather difficult to explain to Sora's mother. "I guess that was just reflexive denial, huh?" With a grunt, he levered Kairi to the ground. He felt a chill run down his back as he suddenly felt déjà vu rear its ugly head; when Kairi had lost her heart, he had carried her almost exactly like this. He looked around the room and grabbed one of Sora's metal star models off its shelf. Riku dropped it just beneath the sill, so that just in case any of the Black Dusks decided to make a break for the window, there'd be something sharp and pointy to deter them. He turned back and looked at Kairi.
"Oh shit," a curse suddenly came unbidden to his lips. Kairi was still soaking wet from the rain; her tee shirt was completely soaked through. Riku clenched his fists and grabbed a spare blanket from Sora's closet, wrapping her in it. He turned around to get another to find himself face to face with Larxene.
"You should get her out of those wet clothes, Sir Smirks-A-Lot," she noted.
"Heh-heh," Riku resisted the urge to give her a sarcastic smirk. "No." He turned back, only to find himself bumping against her again.
"You still haven't figured it out, have you?"
"Get out of my way." He summoned Way to the Dawn and walked around her, sitting down beside Kairi, laying his Keyblade across his lap. "That dematerializing is a nice trick. Why don't you use it and leave?"
She sighed and shook her head. "Riku, Riku, Riku. You don't understand. I'm trying to help you."
"And Maleficent gave to charity."
"Look, Riku, I'm being perfectly honest with you," Larxene crossed her arms and looked off to the side, out the window to where the Black Dusks stood silent watch. "Death does something to a person," she continued softly. "Don't you believe in redemption?"
Riku didn't respond.
"I'm not so different from you, actually. We both served the dark powers, and now I'm trying to stumble my way to the light, the way you did." She turned to him with a look of pure anguish. "Please. Help me be free."
A/N: GASPETH! What is Larxene doing now? I'm not going to tell you! And I forgot to put in a preview last chapter! My apologies! (again). Well, here's the preview of the final chapter (it was very difficult to just pick out one scene, believe you me!):
"So everything ended up the way I desired?"
He inclined his head, tucking his hands into opposite sleeves and keeping his gaze fixed firmly on the white ground. "Yes sir. Both Roxas and Naminé have awakened their hearts."
"Good," his master's deep, rumbling voice sounded pleased. "Very good. I can put the next stage of the plan in motion, then."
He swallowed hard. "May I inquire as to what the next stage is, sir?" He braced himself, fully prepared to be lashed out against for his query.
"You don't need to know that yet," his master responded. "You may go."
"Sir." He backed out of the room; the door hissing shut behind him. Zexion sighed and pulled his hood down, turning to see Larxene and the others standing there waiting.