Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Disney and Square Enix.
Kioku no Kusari
Chapter 7: A Little Time
Kairi knocked on the doorframe to the room Naminé was resting and then stuck her head in with a smile on her face. "Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked upon seeing the blonde sitting on the futon staring out the window.
Naminé blinked and looked over at her. "I've been better," she said softly. "What about you?"
Kairi shrugged. "A little disoriented, but I'll be fine."
Naminé nodded. "That's normal. You did used up a lot of energy."
Kairi walked into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. Nibbling on her lower lip, she tried to think of something to say.
"This is pretty," Naminé remarked, tugging gently on the hood to Kairi's dress. "There's a ton of magic in it, too. Where'd you get it?"
"Huh?" Kairi asked before glancing down at her dress. "Oh, this? There were these three fairies that we met who wanted to help us out. And this old wizard guy…"
A scowl marred Naminé's pretty face. "Yen Sid," She practically spat before uttering a remark that would have anyone looking at her in shock. "I'm guessing he still thinks he's all-knowing just because he trained the King in magic, huh?" She sighed. "It's a good thing I wasn't with you guys. I would have ended up magicking him straight out of that tower of his."
"On purpose?" Kairi asked in shock.
Naminé shook her head. "That's the problem. It wouldn't be on purpose and then he'd spend the rest of the time making sneaky remarks on how Merlin's an inept Master who can't teach his student to control her magic," she huffed angrily. Then she crossed her arms over her chest and said, "and he thinks he can do better? He's the only one who gets my magic to react so negatively."
"Wait, wait, he wants you to be his student or…?"
Naminé nodded. "I'm one of the few powerful White Witches left. To him, it would have been a great honor to train me. Unfortunately for him, I already knew Merlin and chose him way before it came time for my training."
"How long have you known Merlin?" Kairi asked curiously.
"For as long as I can remember," Naminé said. "My earliest memory of him is when he went to the castle to test the princess for magic and I bumped into him."
Kairi shifted, a confused look spreading across her face. "Castle? I didn't know you lived in a castle."
"My dad was an advisor of the king of my world," Naminé reminisced. "My mom died when I was a baby, so it was just me and him. It's weird… I can't really picture him anymore. It's been so long…."
"Knock, knock," chimed Aerith's sweet voice from the doorway. "How are we feeling?" She asked, stepping into the room.
"A little better," Naminé said. "I'd love to get outside soon, though. Today's nice and sunny," she hinted.
Aerith giggled. "Alright, I can take a hint. I'll talk to Leon and Yuffie about it when they get back from patrol. They'll need to secure the area. In the meantime, how about some food?"
"That would be wonderful," Naminé said. "I haven't had any good food in… well, a long time," she chuckled dryly. "It's almost a shame that Number Eight betrayed us. He was the best chef we had."
Kairi and Aerith exchanged surprised looks.
"Who?" Kairi asked.
Naminé shook her head. "Nobody. It doesn't matter anymore. Do you think I could have a little time to myself before I eat? I need to… collect my thoughts."
Aerith nodded. "Of course. Kairi, would you give me a hand in the kitchen?"
Kairi nodded and left with the older woman, leaving Naminé alone to think.
With a heavy sigh, the blonde girl let herself fall backwards to lay on the futon. "What a mess," she mumbled. "What am I going to do? Roxas… Zexion… I wish you guys were here…" She lay there for a moment longer and then sat up with a gasp. "That's it! I just need to get in contact with them!" She held her hand up to rest over her heart as if that would prevent it pulsing rapidly from even the slight movement she made. 'It'll be a few days before I can try safely. That shouldn't be too bad.'
Days passed with Naminé's strength growing every day. She was soon able to get out of the bed and move around the small house without any problems. When she learned that Naminé was feeling better, Aerith assigned her a few simple chores to do that she hoped would help her keep getting better.
For the first week or so, Naminé didn't mind too much. She knew Aerith was only trying to help, and to be honest, she didn't mind helping out around the house. The only thing that really bothered her was needing an escort in order to go outside. By the time the second week arrived, Naminé was sick of Aerith's mothering.
"I really think you should wait for one of the others to get back," Aerith worriedly said.
"Nothing is going to happen," Naminé said told her. "And even if something does happen I won't be so far from the house that I can't make it back inside to safety. And the claymore's are working perfectly fine."
Aerith didn't look very convinced. "Alright. But be careful!"
Naminé smiled and replied with a quick, "I always am!" before hurrying out the door before Aerith could change her mind.
Once she got out the door she breathed a sigh of relief. For a brief moment she slumped against the door, amazed by how stubborn Aerith could be. Then she took a deep breath and walked a ways away so she would be hidden from view. She quickly cast a simple level 1 Scan spell and was relieved to find that there was no one nearby.
Just to be safe, she took a sip from an Ether she smuggled out of the house without Aerith's knowledge. With the burst of fresh energy washing through her, she held out her hand and concentrating on calling up one of the very familiar dark portals. The dark energy sparked around her hands before flooding out to form a roving sphere of energy. When it hit the ground and threw up tendrils of energy, Naminé knew that it had worked.
"Perfect," she breathed tiredly. "I just hope it takes me where I wanted. Here goes everything," she whispered before walking into the portal.
A few minutes later, Naminé finally stepped through the other side of the portal and promptly fell three feet to crash on the floor of a room. Groaning, she sat up and looked around. "Damn," she cursed. "Someone will have heard that." She looked around to get her bearings and then stood up.
'Okay, this is Zexion's room. I guess I should be glad that he wasn't in here when I fell in. And I should be even more thankful that I didn't fall one room over into Saix's room.' She shudders at the very thought of what would happen in that situation. 'Okay, first thing is first…'
She quietly crept over to the door and slowly opened it before peering around the hallway. Knowing that casting any magic would only get her caught more quickly, she didn't bother using Scan again.
Seeing no one coming, Naminé slipped out into the hall and then lightly dashed down it to her old room. Just as she was shutting the door, Zexion walked out of his room with a frown marring his face.
Back at Hollow Bastion, Axel returned early from his patrol after nearly setting fire to some of the new construction efforts. The first place he went was back to Naminé's room in hopes that he could get a chance to talk to her without the others hovering around. To his surprise, she wasn't there. So he backtracked through the rest of the house in search of her.
"Hey, Aerith? Have you seen Naminé?" He asked as he walked into the kitchen.
"She went outside for a breath of fresh air," Aerith said. "Can you go check on her? I'm a bit worried that she might run into trouble."
Axel shrugged. "Yeah, sure," he said, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. He chose not to remark how Naminé was a big girl and could take care of herself. He had too much respect for Aerith and knew that she couldn't help but worry about those she cared about.
He left the house after snagging a freshly made cookie and continued his search for his little blonde friend.
Naminé ran her hands over the skirt of her new dress as she studied herself in the mirror. "Good, it still fits the same," she murmurs as she adjusts her right sleeve over her shoulder. "I was worried there for a moment."
She froze when she heard the door click shut and a voice say, "I would say that is the least of your worries right now."
"Zexion," she said in a hushed tone. "How did you find me so soon?"
"I was in my room when you crashed in," he said calmly. "You should really pay more attention to what you are doing."
Naminé let her hands fall to her sides. "So, now what? Will you turn me in to the Superior?"
"No."
Naminé turned around, her eyes wide in surprise. "You won't? Really?" She asked hopefully.
"Why give him another way to destroy us?" Zexion asked. "Besides, I am now absolutely sure that he knew what would happen if he sent you out there. Either that or he was hoping for your death."
"If you mean Mnexina's death--"
"I mean both of you," Zexion interrupted. "Because either way, you are a wildcard. You know too much about his goals. You know too much about what has been going on since the heartless were able to invade the worlds again."
"Because of you," Naminé said.
Zexion dipped his head in acknowledgement. "True. I was part of the team who researched the heartless. And I do believe that it is because of us that Hollow Bastion was submerged in darkness. It is not something I am proud of." He paused for a moment to look over Naminé in her new dress. "I must say, it looks significantly better on you now that your hair is a pale blonde."
"Don't change the subject," Naminé snapped, her eyes flashing icy blue. "And that's not what I meant! You weren't the only one who was curious."
"True, but I still contributed," Zexion said.
"What I meant was that I know most of what I know because of you," Naminé said.
Zexion frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Naminé looked at him in surprise. "You mean, you don't remember? As Ienzo, you lived in the castle in Hollow Bastion. Or else you were there so often that it seemed like you lived there."
Zexion turned away from her, hiding his face behind a curtain of hair. "Unfortunately, I have no memories of that time. I may have during the early years I spent as a nobody, but over time they faded, leaving me with only traces of what may be regret."
"That's horrible," Naminé whispered. "I had no idea…"
"It's not something we talk about," Zexion said. "Sensitive subject, you see. It may cause Saïx to go ballistic and kill us all."
Naminé giggled and then immediately apologized. "I'm sorry, it's not really all that funny. I don't know why I laughed."
"Perhaps you're feeling overwhelmed by your feelings after not having them for so long," Zexion remarked. "You should be increasingly careful until you can properly handle them again."
Naminé sighed. "Now, Zexion, how many times must I tell you? We may not have physical hearts, but we that does not mean we do not have feelings."
Zexion was silent for a moment before he turned his head to look at her with his good eye. "It's rather remarkable how similar the two of you are," he said. Then he looked back to the door and left without another word.
"Sheesh, cryptic as always," Naminé muttered. "I do wonder… what did he mean by that?"
Axel cursed as one of the claymore's knocked away the Shadow heartless he was fighting. 'Mental note: complain to Leon about how damn annoying these things are,' he thought as he threw his chakram up at the heartless. It sliced effortlessly through the creature and returned to Axel's hand.
"Damn it, Naminé! Where the hell are you?" He cursed, looking around for any sign of her. "This isn't the time to play hide-and-seek!"
Crash
Axel spun on his heel, one chakram held high in a throwing pose. His jaw dropped when he saw that it was Naminé, stumbling her way over a garbage can lid in a dress he didn't recognize. He quickly took in the one-sleeved white shirt and the black tank top underneath of it, as well as the matching skirt with the very familiar scalloped edging.
"Wow," he murmured. "Where'd you find that? It doesn't seem very Aerith-ish."
For the past two weeks, Naminé had been wearing Aerith and Yuffie's old clothes until she could get out and pick her own. To see her in something which fit her and her personality so well was a bit of a shock.
Naminé looked up at him in surprise and almost fell over when she saw who it was. "O-oh, Axel! Hello, I didn't see you there."
Axel frowned. "Are you feeling alright? Why were you over in that corner anyway?"
Naminé bit her lower lip and looked around for an escape. "Oh, I, um, that is…"
"Naminé?" Axel said, his voice growing harder. "Where were you?"
Naminé hesitated for a moment and then sighed. "I went to visit a friend," she said softly. "That's where I got this. It's mine. R-- A friend," she quickly corrected. "My friend gave it to me. He thought it suited me -- or rather Mnexina -- perfectly."
"So, is this friend of yours trustworthy or should I be worried?" Axel asked suspiciously.
"If you knew who it was I went to visit, you wouldn't be worried," Naminé said, avoiding the real question. Then she smiled brightly and looped her arms around her back. "So, should we head on back to Merlin's? I bet everyone else is back from patrol by now." Without waiting for a reply, she walked away from him in a cheerful manner. As she brushed past him, he noticed the star on the white sleeve as well as on the skirt and her white boots.
Bewildered, Axel quickly followed after her. 'What the hell is going on? Did I miss something important?'
"Demyx!"
"Nami-- whoa! Nice dress!"
"Thanks."
"What is wrong with my friends?" Axel muttered to himself. "Either they're completely oblivious or they are so obscure about random as hell shit."
"Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity," Kairi mentioned as she walked up behind him.
"No, but being born into my family is," Axel replied. "You've met them. You can't live with them and still be sane."
Kairi chuckled. "I don't know about that. It seemed like you turned out pretty decent."
"Wow, what a compliment," Axel said sarcastically.
"Isn't it?" Kairi asked sweetly. "Come on, lets get over there and see what Demyx is all excited about."
"Yeah…"
A week later, after Aerith deemed Naminé fit for travel, the group of 5 found themselves in the world of the Pride Lands and in a rather unusual predicament. Throughout all of their trips to the different world, with the exception of Atlantica, the only thing that had changed was their clothing. In the Pride Lands, they completely changed form.
Sora took the form of a brown lion cub, with the makings of a darker brown mane. Axel, much to Sora's chagrin, took the form of a reddish-brown adult lion with a very spiky bright red mane.
The others, however, were quite a bit different. Kairi was a long-legged, red, African gazelle. Naminé was a small, white mouse, but was noticeably bigger than common mice. And Demyx took on the form of a leggy cheetah with a ruffled mess of fur on top of his head, just like his human hairstyle.
And even better, the five of them have gotten split up during their search for a lion named Simba, who everyone says is the true King of Pride Rock. And of course it was Sora who led them to believe he was still alive, after telling one of the female lions (Nala) that he had fought alongside of him not very long ago.
It was for that reason that Naminé found herself scurrying along a rocky cliffside in search of the elusive lion king.
"Sora seriously needs to start talking to us before agreeing to search for someone," she muttered to herself. "We only have a set amount of time before everything starts to fall apart. We can't keep stopping for every little --" she let out a terrified squeak as something big and heavy fall down on her. Then she felt herself being lifted into the air and came face to face with a pair of familiar royal blue eyes. "Roxas!" she cried in relief.
The blue eyes widened and the golden lion dropped her to the ground and took a step back in surprise. "How do you know my name?" he growled.
"Roxas, it's me," Naminé said. "It's Naminé."
"Na-mi-né?" he tested out the name. "It sounds familiar…"
Naminé sighed. "Mnexina," she filled in.
"You're her Somebody?" Roxas gasped. "But how? That's not possible!"
"I'm not entirely sure how it happened," Naminé said. "What I do know is that my heart was kept by Kairi, the princess of Hollow Bastion, and that when she and Mnexina came in contact with one another, my heart was exchanged and… well, here I am."
Roxas regarded her with curiosity for a moment. "So… are you Mnexina? Or are you Naminé?"
"I… I don't know," Naminé responded truthfully. "How are things back at the castle?" she asked, changing the subject.
Roxas sighed and sat back on his haunches. "Increasingly weirder. And Zexion's been spending most of his time locked away in his room. With that and all of the missions Xemnas has been sending me on, I don't get to see him very often anymore."
"Oh…" Naminé fell silent for a moment. "Roxas, I don't think it would be a good idea for you to stay there anymore. Why don't you come travel with--"
"No," Roxas interrupted, standing up. "There are things I need to know, and the only way I will find out is if I stay at the castle. Besides, someone needs to make sure Zexion takes care of himself. And I'll be able to warn you of Xemnas's plans."
"Okay," Naminé reluctantly said. "At least come visit me in Twilight Town. Once we leave here, we're going back to Hollow Bastion and then we're going there. Sora thinks he has a clue that points to there, which is probably true if the clue is from who I think it is."
Roxas scowled. "If it's that white-haired bas--"
"Be nice," Naminé chastised, interrupting him. "He was only doing what he thought he needed to do in order for Sora to awaken. It's not his fault that Diz gets everything wrong."
"I still don't like him," Roxas told her. "And if he calls me 'Sora' one more time, I'm going to kick his ass even worse than I did the first time out by Memory Skyscraper." He got to his feet when he spotted a golden-blond blur dashing across the desert-like plains. "Someone's coming."
"Riku shouldn't," Naminé said, getting to her feet. She figured that it had to be one of her friends. "Remember, come find me in Twilight Town!" she reminded him as she clambered over the rocks.
Roxas nodded. "Right. Twilight Town," he sighed. "Easier said than done," he muttered as he turned around and left.
End Chapter
I really feel like I could have spent a bit more time on this chapter, but at the same time I really wanted to get it finished because it's been forever since I last updated. The only thing I'm not very happy with is the end scene with Roxas and Namine, but only because it needs more description in there.
And Zexion tried to ruin things by going "forget Roxas, I'm going to talk to Namine" when I sent her off to The World That Never Was. Too bad for him I figured out how to work around it.
So, yay the chapter's done! On to Chapter 8! (Which should be infinitly more fun)
Next Chapter- Chapter 8: Falling Apart
