On a roll with the story... hopefully I can keep it rolling. From now on, I've decided to at least update every Sunday. Hopefully I can carry on with this and not miss a week.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts

Ch 3: The Powers and Darkness Within

" Please, Uncle, I only wanted to go out for some fresh air," Namine cried, wringing her shirt with her hands. Ansem sighed heavily from across the desk.

" Namine, you must understand, it's very dangerous and worrying if you go outside without my permission. What if some stranger attempted to kidnap you? I would have absolutely no idea how to track you down, and you would be gone forever."

Namine huffed in annoyance. " Really, Uncle, I'm not a child anymore! Why are you always protecting me? Do you think I can't take care of myself?"

" It's your gift, Namine, don't you understand?" Ansem snapped back, his voice rising.

She pulled back in shock. " My... my gift?" she whispered.

Ansem rubbed his forehead hard. " Namine, I'm so sorry, please, forgive me," he mumbled. He cleared his throat and looked straight at her. " Perhaps I should explain. You understand what I mean by 'gift', right?"

Namine thought for a moment. " You mean... my drawings? Or the... the... strange dreams and visions I sometimes have?"

Ansem nodded. " Namine... I worry for your safety all the time. There are people out there who would like to exploit your powers of prophecy. Also, I'm sure you know of the other powers you have." He raised an eyebrow at her.

" Um... I can sense things... certain things that others can't feel. And sometimes I can do... things." Namine began to feel uncomfortable. She didn't often talk to her uncle about her powers anymore. She used to as a child because she didn't know what was wrong with her, and that scared her. But now... she was sure it would be fine to keep it a secret. Would it?

" I promise I'll be more careful, Uncle," Namine told him sincerely. She stood when her uncle nodded.

" Namine, one more thing..."

" Yes?"

He sighed deeply, and Namine realized how old and weary he suddenly seemed to be. He did indeed seem more like a grandpa than an uncle, but he insisted she call him that. " Namine, I do hope you aren't meeting anybody."

" ... Eh? P-pardon?"

Ansem gazed at her levelly until she finally stuttered an answer. " U-Uncle! Of course I'm not meeting with any boy or anything, that's ridiculous!"

He smiled. " I just wanted to make sure, my dear." He stood and embraced her, and Namine hugged back.

" Sorry for making you worry, Uncle," she whispered sadly. Ansem looked down at her and shook his head, smiling.

" Don't blame yourself, Namine. I worry because I care." With that, he and Namine walked out of the study, and Namine went upstairs to her room to draw.

Namine's room was a rather large one, for she was allowed to have the tower room in the mansion. It was quite spacious, with not much furniture – it only contained a soft bed, a rug, a few chairs, a sofa and a desk with a shelf full of her art supplies. The walls and most of the furniture were pure white, with a few designs on some of the chairs and paopu fruits designing her blanket and pillows. Stuck to the walls was an assortment of her art as a child, as well as some more recent ones that were more detailed. She did not, however, post up any prophesised drawings on the wall at all. It's not that she didn't enjoy seeing them, but they made her uncomfortable. They reminded her of how different she really was from normal people.

As she walked across her room, her vision suddenly became hazy. It felt like she was walking through some misty stupor. In a dreamlike daze, she sat at her desk, opened up her sketchbook, took out the pencil crayons and began drawing.

In her mind's eye, she saw two familiar people: Sora and Roxas. They stood back to back, their eyes half closed as though sleepy. An aura of light surrounded Sora. An aura of darkness surrounded Roxas. Then they changed – two other people took their place, two people that looked strikingly similar, but they were older, and the one who had replaced Sora had darker hair. This time the Sora look-alike had the dark aura, the Roxas look-alike had the light aura. They faded almost immediately.

More images flashed through her mind, and her hand subconsciously kept drawing. A boy with long silver hair faded in and out of her mind, leaving behind a trail of both darkness and light. A girl with red hair appeared, and beside her was one with short, black hair. They both had facial features similar to Namine's, and their eyes were the same shade of blue. The scene changed again – three young adults, a woman with blue hair, a buff man with deep brown, a skinny man who was older than the other two with spiky red hair, stood back to back, but at some distance, from each other.

A key-shaped object formed in her mind. Find the Keyblade, a voice whispered in her head. Find the Keyblade, and give it to the sky.

The sound of waves rung gently in her room, and she was abruptly pulled out of her subconscious state. She was back in her own room, in front of her own desk and sketchbook. Namine gaped at her sketchbook in shock. Drawn simply but recognizably were the people she had just seen. And in the center sat a Keyblade.

" So that's what it's called," she breathed. " A Keyblade..."

She slammed her sketchbook shut and quickly stuffed it into her shoulder bag, along with some coloured pencils and her mini notepad. Her uncle was currently in his study now, where all of his rare books and information was kept, so she couldn't go there. For now, she would go to the library. She had to know more about this Keyblade.

Asking for permission seemed out of the question, seeing as her uncle had just spoken to her about it being dangerous for her to be out, but she had to try. After finally convincing her uncle that she was only going to the library in Twilight, Namine left as quickly as possible. Normally, school would be over at this time. She secretly hoped to see Roxas again, but she shook the thoughts away.

" No boys, Namine," she said to herself. " I need to concentrate on keeping myself safe."

Without realizing, she automatically ran her fingers over the lock on the front door of the mansion, seeing no reason to dig through her bag for her keys. At her will, the lock clicked shut.

I have to stop doing that! She realized what she had done, but there was no point in trying to cover up. She dashed off down the path and began to walk towards the library. Namine failed to notice the suspicious figure leaning against the wall of the shop across from her. The figure was dressed in a black coat.

Roxas rolled along the path, enjoying the feeling of the air whipping his face. He hadn't skateboarded for a long time, especially since his last skateboard broke. Occasionally, when he reached a curb that was high enough, Roxas would do a couple of tricks, just to see if he was still able to. They earned him a few claps, laughs and boos along the way, but he ignored them. They were just background noises to him as he sped along, taking a direction that ran along the Neverwas and Twilight border.

He was just about to pass the library when a sweet voice called out to him.

" Roxas!"

Startled, he braked to a stop, stumbling off of his skateboard as he did. He just managed to stop it in time before it rolled into the curb.

" Who -?"

Then he saw. She was running towards him.

" I'm so sorry!" Namine gasped. " I didn't mean to surprise you, I'm sorry –"

" No, no, it's fine," Roxas laughed. " I always fall off skateboards. It's part of the hobby. So..." He glanced at her shoulder bag. " What were you calling me for?"

At this, Namine blinked. " Well... I, uh..." She seemed bashful, and her cheeks began to turn a rosy pink, which made her look cute. Roxas mentally slapped himself. No! Don't think of that stuff. You just met her!

" You see, I came to the library to research about something," she finally told him. Then she lowered her voice. " I've never heard of it before, but I need to learn about the Keyblade."

Roxas' eyes widened. " That thing? You're going to research that?"

" Do you know a bit about it?" Namine asked eagerly.

" What? Yeah, I know that it's just a legend, a fairy tale," Roxas replied indifferently.

Namine frowned. " No, no, that can't be, otherwise why..." She became lost in thought and went silent. Roxas looked at her inquisitively and asked, " Do you want me to go with you into the library and show you some storybooks about Keyblades? I know some good books that – "

" Now, I would suggest that you not do that."

Roxas and Namine turned around in surprise. A tall man in a black coat stood before them, ominous and menacing. His hood was tightly drawn about his face, so they could see nothing but darkness.

" Who are you?" said Roxas in a hostile tone. He instinctively placed himself between the stranger and Namine, who was clutching her bag tightly.

The stranger laughed, his voice smooth and somewhat deadpan. " I am who I am, and I am who I am not."

" That doesn't make any sense!"

" Perhaps, perhaps not." The man held his hand out towards Roxas. " That girl behind you... has she become your... friend?"

Neither Roxas nor Namine answered, but Roxas was beginning to get tired of the strange man's attitude. " Look, I don't know who you are, but if you plan on hurting Namine, you better give it up," he spat.

The stranger cocked his head. " Hm." He snapped his fingers, and pink flower petals flew from them.

Suddenly, Roxas felt a sharp, icy force twist painfully in his chest. He cried out in pain and fell to his knees.

" Roxas?" Namine cried. She ran to his side and put a hand on his arm. " Roxas, are you-?"

" Fine," he managed to gasp out. " I-I don't know- ugh!" He clutched his chest and yelped in agony as the pain lanced through him again.

Feeling angered, Namine whirled on the stranger. " You're doing this to him!" she shouted. " Leave him alone!"

" I see... so you have acquainted with him..." The stranger chuckled sinisterly. " This may be easier than I thought. Roxas, you are not strong enough yet. But perhaps the darkness within you will show the way..." A black portal appeared around the man, strands of nothingness spread around him, and suddenly, he was gone.

Roxas struggled to his feet, relieved of the terrible pain within him. He tried to regain his breath, but he was so dizzy that he stumbled. Namine managed to brace him against her thin frame on time.

" Roxas, are you okay? Do you wanna go home?"she said worriedly.

He took a few deep breaths. " I should be fine... gotta get home..." He staggered to his skateboard and promptly fell over. Namine rushed to his side and helped him sit up.

" My house is closeby," she told him. " Closer than yours, I think. C'mon, you can rest up at my place!"

" But, your research –" Roxas protested weakly.

Namine put a finger on his lips. " That can wait!" she said reassuringly. She smiled. " Let's go. Just lean on me, it's not a far walk."

Despite her rather thin and fragile appearance, Namine was inventive. With a little bit of help from Roxas, she slung his skateboard across her back and tied a knot on the bag strap so it fit tightly about her, creating something like a skateboard sling. Then, with the weary Roxas leaning slightly on her shoulder, they walked slowly to her mansion.

Through his fatigue, Roxas saw the colossal mansion up ahead. So she lives in that... he thought in awe. It clearly had much space inside and many rooms, as well as a respectable garden in front, with a fountain as well. She led him through the gate and to the door, which she opened rather quickly without putting a key in or anything.

" Is your door unlocked all the time?" Roxas asked groggily. Namine said nothing, but instead changed the subject.

" We have a guest room down here, so you can relax there for now while I tell my uncle that you're here, so he won't be startled by a stranger in the house."

They entered the rather spacious room which was sparsely furnished. Roxas didn't look around though. He went straight to the bed, kicked off his shoes and sank into the covers. The energy drained from him, and he was asleep.

Roxas was dreaming. He was sitting at the edge of a lake, looking down into the dark, dark depths. The water was crystal clear, and it was beautiful. Deep below, he saw a light. The light was so comforting, so gentle. He wanted its comfort. Roxas slipped into the water and began to swim down.

It was clearly a dream because he could breathe under the water. The light was getting closer, and Roxas reached out to grab it. Suddenly, it was blotted out by black smoke. Roxas was choking, drowning in darkness.

" The darkness within you will show the way..." a voice hissed. Roxas tried to cough, but coughing while drowning meant the last of your air was being forced out. Darkness shrouded everything, and he was flailing in nothingness. He was becoming nothingness. He was nothingness.

" Nooooo!" Roxas sat up, sucking up air greedily. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he wiped them away with his sleeve. The pillow behind him was damp.

Just then, Namine entered the room. Her being seemed to glow with an angel-like quality after the dark, dark nightmare he just had. " Roxas? I heard you screaming. Is everything all right?"

Roxas sank back into the bed and nodded. " Yeah, it's just... just a nightmare."

She pushed a side-table closer to the bed. It had a phone on it. " I think you should call your brother," she said. " It's 5:30 right now."

Roxas' eyes widened. " Oh, crap. Sora doesn't know how to cook." He sat up quickly and groaned as his head began to ache. Namine frowned and sat on the bed beside him.

" Hey, take it easy," she said in concern. " Here." She handed him the phone and pushed him down. " Tell me the number and I'll dial it for you."

Roxas was embarrassed and slightly annoyed that he had to be dependant like this, but he figured that if Namine wanted to help, he should let her. Roxas recited his home phone number to her, and almost immediately after the first tone, Sora picked up.

" Hello?"

" Sora, it's Roxas."

" Roxas? Where the heck have you been? I was worried about you!"

Roxas did his best to relate the events that had just happened, then said, " I'll come home as quick as I can, because I know what a disaster you are at cooking. And I don't want our apartment burning down."

" You sure? I thought you didn't feel too good. Besides, Kairi is here," – there was a faint "Hi!" in the backround – "and Riku is too. They both know how to cook, and they're kinda teaching me."

Roxas sighed, half in relief, half in irritation that they got to teach Sora while Roxas was stuck at Namine's house – not to mention that he just met the girl.

" Okay then. Then I'll just come home when I feel well enough."

" 'Kay. Get better! Hope you don't have to sleep over there, 'cause it'd be weird being alone in the apartment."

Roxas almost muttered, " Well, Riku and Kairi can keep you company," but he thought better of it. " Good. See you later, Sora."

" Bye-ah."

He hung up, and Roxas did too. Namine was looking at him expectantly.

" I'm staying for a bit."

She appeared delighted, and then she quickly composed herself. " Okay. At least you can rest up. My uncle is fine with you staying, even though you're a boy," she added in a whisper.

Roxas nodded, his eyelids feeling heavy once more. He heard her say something about staying in the room to keep him company while she drew, and then the darkness of sleep took over.

Yes, Namine, I totally relate to you about having boys over _ ah parents... well, they do what they do. Please review, they make my day!