Hi! I'm so sorry for the late update. But here is the next chapter.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed as well as Thirteenth Struggle for favoriting me. Thanks uber much. And of course thanks to my editor, whom without I would have been mispelling Kairi's name in more than just one chapter.

I'm so excited. My friends and I are going to an anime convention (we are nerds!!) and we're cosplaying for the first time as the Twilight Town gang!!!

Enjoy the chapter!!!

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Laughter. Where is it coming from?

Children's laughter. I can hear them. Where are they?

A boy's and girl's. Could it be?

I walked toward the sound.

"Wait," someone whispered from behind, grabbing my hand.

I didn't even need to look to see who it was. I'd know his voice anywhere.

Still, I turned toward him. He stood there smiling encouragingly, yet his eyes were sorrowful.

"I'll come with you," he stated.

Together we strolled through the trees. He didn't speak. I wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words. All was silent except for the innocent laughter that escalated into a crescendo.

Suddenly he stopped and let go off my hand.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He didn't answer.

"Roxas?"

After a few minutes of silence, he responded. "Why don't you remember?"

I stood there, gazing at his electric eyes, unable to come up with a reply.

"This is how it should be. Me and you. Together," he said.

"Why isn't it that way?"

He laughed without humor. The harsh noise sounded strange coming from him. A shadow flickered across his face and for a brief second, he looked menacing.

I stepped back, tripping over a root. He reached out and caught me, pulling me to him.

"The darkness. I can't control it," he whimpered, his eyes afraid. No longer did he look frightening. He looked so vulnerable, so terrified.

"Olette, you are the only one who can help."

"How? I barely know you," I replied.

"That's not true. You know something isn't right. You feel like you've known me all these years. I feel right to you. My absence is wrong. Something is missing from the picture. Someone should be there. Try and remember. Please," he pleaded.

"I want to, but something won't let me."

"Can you still hear the laughter?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Good. That means you're fighting this."

"What is it that I'm fighting?" I questioned.

"The barrier that's keeping you from me," he answered, letting go of me. After a moment of just staring into my eyes he finally said, "Let's keep going."

He moved a low tree branch that was in the way, in order to allow me to walk forward.

I followed the laughter, feeling Roxas's presence behind me.

"Where are we?" I asked a few minutes later. The place felt so familiar, but I couldn't figure out why.

He didn't answer. I turned around, shocked when I saw he had disappeared.

"Roxas?" I could feel myself starting to panic.

"Roxas!" I yelled.

Nothing. Silence.

Even the laughter had died.

xXx

Olette opened her eyes. Sunlight peeked through the blinds. She glanced over at her alarm clock, surprised that it read ten o'clock. Thank goodness it's Saturday, she thought relieved. The last few days of the school week had seemed endless. Spanish class had been especially agonizing. It was almost as if Riku had become a different person. When he wasn't sneering at her, he ignored her completely. Olette knew that whatever friendship they had was over, but it still surprised her that someone could be so cold. She was over him completely. His true colors had shown, allowing her to move on to greener pastures.

The whole Riku fiasco wasn't the only weird thing that had occurred in the past two days. Olette had noticed that both Hayner and Pence were behaving oddly. They seemed all cheerfully on the surface, but she couldn't shake the feeling that they were hiding something from her. It didn't help that they would exchange worried glances when they thought she wasn't looking. Probably just paranoid, she had reassured herself numerous times.

After staring at the ceiling for five minutes, she decided it was time to get up. Grabbing her favorite pair of jeans off the floor as well as a plain yellow long sleeved shirt from her closet, she headed into the conjoined bathroom. She showered quickly. For some reason the water turned ice cold after ten minutes. Jumping out of the shower as fast as possible, she turned off the water and grabbed her towel to dry off.

"Damn!" she muttered to herself, hurrying to put her nice warm clothes on.

She pulled her soaking wet hair back into a ponytail, too lazy to properly blow-dry it.

"Oh good. You're awake," her mother said, as Olette walked into her room.

"What's in the boxes?" Olette asked, pointing to the two boxes her mother had placed on the bed.

"I found them in the garage. They have your name on them. I figured you must have forgotten to unpack them after moving."

"Thanks. I'll go through them right now."

Her mother gave her a hug before leaving the room. Olette opened up the first box, laughing out loud when she saw the contents. This wasn't just some box she had forgotten to unpack. She had boxed this stuff up years ago, placed it in a storage room, and forgotten all about it.

The box was full of her old stuffed animals. They were tattered and obviously had been played with numerous times. She knew she should have thrown them away ages ago, but some nostalgic part of her refused to do so. After closing the box up, she walked over to her walk-in-closet and placed it on one of the shelves in the back.

Moving on the next box, she noticed the items inside it had also been forgotten, yet they were from a more recent time. She opened the multicolored scrap book lying on top. Judging by the photos she guessed she had been in her early teens. She cringed at the many pictures of her with frizzy hair. There were several photos with her and Leon as well as her friends from where she used to live. I should call them soon,she mused, smiling at the memories.

For some reason she felt drawn to the back of the book. She flipped to the last ten pages. They were empty except for the corners used to hold the pictures. There also appeared to be several splotches of whiteout. Almost as if the pages had once held memories, but they had all been erased.

"'Something is missing from the picture,'" she recited out loud to herself, remembering her dream. Shaking her head she put the book on her bedside table and rummaged through the rest of the box. It was mostly filled with tokens from various times, such as a CD her first boyfriend had made her back in freshman year. Even though the relationship hadn't lasted long, she had kept it because the she and the boy had remained friends.

She took everything out of the box and placed it on her bed. The last item she picked up was a beautiful jewelry box. It was made out of a near transparent blue glass. Why it had been placed under everything and not properly packed, she had no idea. Opening it she saw everything in it still had the price tag on it.

Olette was never one for wearing jewelry, but her distant relatives figured that because she was a girl, she must love pink, shiny necklaces and bracelets. She was about to close the lid, when she saw something turquoise sparkle at the bottom of the box. Digging through the cheap plastic jewelry, she pulled the turquoise thing out. It was a teardrop charm attached to a black, plastic cord with a broken clasp.

"Huh?" Olette stared at the stunning pendant. She had no recollection of ever seeing it before, but felt like she had found a missing part of her.

Slipping the turquoise off the cord, she walked over to her dresser. She searched through a ceramic cup she had made in second grade, which held small trinkets, until she found a plain silver chain. After untangling the chain, she added the charm.

Where did this come from?

"Olette, please come down stairs," yelled her mother.

"Coming!" she replied, putting on the necklace.

Olette bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Hi, Olette," Leon greeted from the kitchen table. He took a huge bite of the greasy bacon sandwich he was eating.

"You're here?" Olette asked after the surprise had worn off.

"Nope. I'm just an illusion." Leon smiled.

"Ha. Ha. Should have known you were here. There's no hot water left," she responded with mock anger.

"Guilty," he replied, with food in his mouth.

"Thanks for that."

"No problem," he laughed. "What's that?" he asked pointing at her neck.

"I don't know. I found it. Do you remember who gave it to me?"

Leon thought for a minute before shaking his head.

"Did you finish unpacking those boxes?" her mother asked, walking into the room.

"Yup."

"Good. Can you help me put the towels away?"

"Sure," Olette answered.

"You're such a great kid." Her mother kissed her on the forehead. She stepped back, noticing the turquoise necklace. "That's pretty. Where did you get it?"

"I found it in one of the boxes, but can't remember where I got it from," Olette replied.

Her mother furrowed her eyebrows before saying, "I think your father and I gave it to you for your birthday a while back."

"Oh." Olette knew that wasn't correct. She didn't know how, but the answer felt wrong. It didn't even make sense. Her parents knew she didn't like jewelry, so they wouldn't have bought her a necklace.

"Everything okay?" her mother asked. Olette realized she must have been frowning.

"Yeah." She picked up a few of the towels on the table and began folding them. The phone rang from the living room and her mother left to answer it.

Olette hummed as she folded towels. She glanced up, seeing that Leon was watching her with a concerned expression.

"What?" she asked.

"You're not telling us something," he replied. When she ignored him he continued, "What's wrong? Mom's worried. She says you've been yelling in your sleep."

Olette turned away from him and hung the towel she was holding on the refrigerator door handle.

"Olette, I'm your big brother. You can tell me anything. I'm here to protect you."

Olette walked back over to where he was sitting and hugged him.

"Now I definitely know something is wrong," he laughed.

"I'm fine. Just some really stupid nightmares. Nothing serious," she said.

Leon gave her a disbelieving look, but didn't press the issue any farther.

Olette continued folding towels. Suddenly the image of the clearing from her dreams flickered in her mind.

"Come on, Olette," said the boy sitting next to me. His hair was sticking up all over the place and his cheeks were flushed.

"No, Roxas. It's my birthday and I don't want to go home yet. Please, let's stay later," I replied.

"It's starting to get dark," he argued.

"Please."

"Ugh," he groaned. "You know I can't say no to you. You'll just be more annoying."

"Yup."

I smelled the sweet summer air. The sun was beginning to set, but I didn't care. I wanted to stay with Roxas as long as possible.

"Olette?"

"Yes?"

He looked off into the distance as he began to talk. "Have you ever felt like you're losing control?"

The seriousness of his voice made me hesitant to answer. Finally I said, "I'm not sure what you mean. Is everything okay?"

He stopped looking at the empty air and turned his head back to face me. The smile that I had grown accustomed to returned to his face. Only this time it didn't reach his brilliant blue eyes.

"Never mind. Just being an angsty teen. Now you're part of the club, too. Happy thirteenth birthday, Olette," he said, hugging me.

Olette shook her head, clearing the images. She glanced around at Leon, who seemed oblivious to of anything just happening. It seemed as if what felt like minutes to her had been perhaps only seconds. Almost like a dream that felt like it's been going on forever, but in actuality only occurring for ten seconds.

What was that? That never happened, she thought, confused. She tried to think back to her thirteenth birthday. The details were all fuzzy, but she was sure Roxas had never been there. Or the woods. She remembered there being woods near her house, but all of her friends had been too scared to go in them. It had always seemed silly to Olette that the trees would be terrifying, but she had followed her friends anyway and not played there.

"That was Helen," her mom said, entering the kitchen. Olette snapped out of her daze and looked at her mom.

"Her son's not feeling well, so she needs to stay home, meaning I have to go into work today. Can you get a ride from one of your friends to where you need to go?" her mom asked.

"I can take her," Leon answered.

"Thanks. I need to get going. Love you both."

"Love you," Leon and Olette said in unison.

Olette finished folding the last towel as Leon took the last bite of his sandwich.

"What time do you need to be there?" he asked.

"Around noon."

"And what are you doing?"

"Working on a project," she replied.

"Who's going to be there?" he said in a mock parental like voice.

"Just some guys. The kids with the keg are coming later," she joked.

Leon laughed. "I have taught you well. Any of the boys cute?"

Olette could feel her cheeks warming up, but shook her head.

Leon smirked. "We're leaving in an hour," he stated, leaving the kitchen.

xXx

Olette sat on the sofa at the HEART mansion, tapping her pencil against her chin. She and Demyx had yet to come up with a subject for their project. This was the third time she had come over and so far the only thing they had done was watch movies and joke around.

"I need pizza," Demyx exclaimed, jumping off the couch.

"Make sure you get cheese," Axel said, from his chair. He wasn't helping them with the project, but he was hanging out with them. Another boy with long bluish hair was sitting in a chair, reading a book and occasionally glaring at them. Roxas wasn't with them.

"I know. What do you want Olette?" Demyx asked.

"Pepperoni is fine."

"Okay. I'll be right back."

"'What do you want, Zexion?' 'Oh, thanks so much for asking. I'll have sausage'," the kid with the blue hair murmured.

"You say something Zexy?" Axel asked.

The boy narrowed his eyes at him and returned to reading.

"Don't mind Zexy. He's the Boo Radley of the group," Axel said to Olette.

Olette giggled, but stopped as Naminé walked into the room. She was clutching a sketchbook to her chest.

"Hey, Naminé," Axel greeted.

"Hi."

"This is Olette," Axel said.

"I know. Hi Olette."

"Hi."

"Vexen wants to talk to you Zexion," Naminé said to the blue haired boy.

Zexion closed his book and strode out of the room. Naminé took his chair and began drawing in her sketchbook.

"Have you seen Roxas?" Axel asked Naminé.

She looked up from her sketchbook. Her eyes flickered over to Olette before focusing on Axel. "He's helping Saix with something."

Axel looked startled, but quickly collected himself. "Are you sure it's Saix?"

"Yes," Naminé answered timidly.

Axel opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it after glancing at Olette. He smiled at her, but she noticed that his eyes looked almost fearful.

"Pizza is on its way!" Demyx cheered, walking into the room. "Hi Naminé," he said, noticing her.

"Hello."

"So, any ideas yet?" Demyx asked Olette.

"What's your favorite band?"

"Don't ask him that. He listens to so much stuff that he'll spend hours just debating which one the best is. Eventually his head will explode from thinking too hard," Axel laughed.

"Shut up," Demyx retorted.

"Nice comeback," Larxene stated, walking into the room.

"Great Larxene's here. Now it's a party," Axel said sarcastically.

"You know you love me, Axel," she purred. "Have you seen Zexion?"

"He's with Vexen," answered Naminé, quietly.

"That's too bad. I'm bored," Larxene responded. "What are you doing down here anyway, Naminé?"

"Waiting to be picked up," Naminé answered.

"By who?" Axel questioned.

"Um, Riku," Naminé stammered. Olette grimaced slightly at the name, which didn't go unnoticed by Axel.

Larxene smirked. "How adorable."

"Leave her alone," Demyx said authoritatively.

"Fine." Larxene turned to leave. She paused and looked over her shoulder. "I'll be in my room, Axel."

Axel just rolled his eyes. The doorbell rang and both Demyx and Naminé stood up.

"You planning to go on a date with Riku, Demyx?" Axel smirked.

"It could be the pizza guy, idiot."

Both Demyx and Naminé walked out of the room. Olette heard the door open, and then Riku's voice. She flinched slightly, remembering how he had acted in the library. Seconds later Demyx walked in looking disappointed.

"He didn't want you to come with them? You're not pretty enough for him? " Axel teased.

"Shut up. I'm hungry," Demyx replied, plopping down in a chair.

"You guys are just too hilarious," Olette laughed.

"Thanks," Demyx replied merrily.

Olette looked over at Axel, who was staring past her, into the hallway. His eyes were wide as he slowly shook his head. Olette whipped around to see what he was looking at, but there was nothing there. She turned back, confused. Axel just stared at her with an innocent expression.

"I'm gonna get a soda. I'll be right back," he said, dashing out of the room.

"Um, is it me, or was that weird?" Olette asked Demyx.

"Just Axel being Axel," he answered smoothly. Olette had a slight suspicion that he was hiding something, but didn't say anything else.

"Do you like Thousand Foot Krutch?" Demyx asked.

"Yeah! I love their music," she replied.

"Do you want to do our project on them?"

"Sure. That'd be awesome."

"I'll be right back. I'm gonna get my laptop." He ran out of the room.

Olette got up and walked over to the photos on the wall. There was one of Demyx, Axel, and Roxas sticking their tongues out at the camera. It must have been taken a couple years ago. They looked so happy. As Olette studied the photo she noticed that Roxas's eyes didn't match his smile. They were too angry.

She moved on to another picture in which four young boys she didn't recognize were smiling, with the exception of the one with long silvery hair. He seemed to be snarling. The boy with pink hair had a daisy tucked behind his ear. The oldest-looking boy was wearing a fatigue jacket that he seemed to be drowning in. Olette had to squint in order to see what the blond was holding up in his hand. It appeared to be a playing card with the number ten on it.

"Second generation," explained Axel's voice from behind her.

Olette turned around. Axel smiled, but he looked tired.

"You okay?" she asked concerned.

"Yeah. I'm fine," he answered, but Olette didn't believe him.

Just then Demyx walked in, holding his laptop. He, too, looked worn out.

The doorbell rang. Demyx put his laptop on the coffee table and left the room. He came back with the pizzas.

"I'll get plates. Want anything to drink Olette?" Axel asked.

"Coke please."

Demyx placed the pizza boxes on a different coffee table from his laptop. He began opening them. Axel returned with the plates. He gave Olette her soda and placed two slices of pepperoni on a plate for her.

"Thanks," she said.

"No prob," Axel replied, grabbing a slice of cheese for himself.

The three of them started eating. Axel and Demyx began joking around again, but to Olette it felt forced.

xXx

An hour later, Olette and Demyx had finished most of their research and were taking a break. Axel had gone upstairs after finishing his pizza and had yet to reappear.

"So, Olette, tell me more about yourself," Demyx said.

"What do you want to know?"

"What do you do for fun?" he asked.

"I like to read," she answered.

"What genres?"

"Science fiction and mysteries," she replied.

"That's cool."

"What do you like to do? Besides play guitar of course," she questioned

"I love swimming and other water sports."

"That's awesome."

Suddenly, a tremendous crash came from upstairs. That sounded like thunder, Olette thought.

"Larxene, you idiot," Demyx growled under his breath.

"What the hell was that?!" yelled someone from upstairs.

"Oh good. That's just peachy," Demyx said sarcastically.

"What's going on?" Olette asked.

"No idea. Larxene gets pissed at a lot of things."

"How do you know Larxene caused that noise?"

Demyx glanced at Olette, as if he just realized she was the one he was talking to. "Um, I'm just guessing. She's the most likely to break something when she's angry."

"Should I leave?" Olette asked.

"Nah. Marluxia will calm her down."

"All I was doing was throwing the tennis ball at the wall," argued a voice from someone coming down the stairs.

Olette felt a shiver go up and down her spine. Roxas!

"I know, but you know it pisses her off," replied Axel as he and Roxas entered the living room. They both stopped when they saw Olette.

Olette gasped. Roxas's face looked as if someone had tried to carve it off. There was dry blood over his right eye as well on his lip, where a cut was.

"Um," Roxas stammered.

"Are you okay?" Olette gushed, jumping off her chair.

"Yeah I'm fine." Roxas replied.

"What happened?"

"Got into a fight. You should see the other guy," he joked.

Olette knew he was lying. Hasn't he been in the mansion the whole time I've been here? She was going to ask for the real reason, but something in Roxas's eyes made her stop. He must have a good reason for not telling me, she thought.

Roxas glanced down and noticed the necklace she was wearing. His eyes widened in shock, but snapped back to meet her own. He seemed confused, but smiled at her.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked.

"I don't remember. Just found it earlier today," she answered.

"Oh," he responded, looking disappointed.

"Why do you care, Roxas? Do you want to buy one?" Demyx laughed.

"Har. Har." Roxas sat down in one of the armchairs.

"Do you guys want to start a fire?" Axel asked, excited.

"Um?" Olette raised her eyebrows at him.

"He means in the fire pit in the backyard," Roxas explained. "Axel likes fire."

"Cause he's so flaming," Demyx teased.

Axel slapped the back of Demyx's head.

"Ow! Why does everyone do that?" Demyx complained.

"Cause you're an idiot," Roxas and Axel both said.

Demyx mumbled something unintelligible. Olette laughed, causing Roxas to grin at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. I just like your laugh," he answered, blushing.

"I love making you laugh, Olette. Seeing you smile melts my fear away." Roxas's voice echoed inside her head. Roxas hadn't opened his mouth, but she had heard his voice so clearly. It was almost like earlier in the morning when she had seen the scene from the woods. She was starting to feel like she was going insane. It wasn't normal to see or hear things that never happened. Or what if they did and I just can't remember? she asked herself, worrying about what was happening to her.

xXx

The four of them sat around the roaring fire. It really was incredible that Axel had built such a huge fire in so little time. Olette had gone to use the restroom and by the time she had gotten back, the fire was blazing.

"I'm a pyro," Axel had said, seeing her bewildered expression.

They were now roasting marshmallows, with the exception of Axel. Demyx was having trouble toasting his with out it setting on fire completely.

Olette shivered. Even though the fire was warm, the bitter cold air was winning the battle.

"You can use this," Roxas said, slipping off his coat and putting it around Olette's shoulders.

"Thanks."

The two of them were sitting together on a bench. Axel and Demyx had both sat in the chairs. It was almost as if they had planned it so Olette would be with Roxas. Probably did, Olette mused. But I'm not complaining.

Roxas also didn't seem to mind the seating arrangements. The smile on his face practically reached his ears.

"Having fun?" he whispered to her.

"Yup."

Demyx began making kissing noises, but Roxas stopped him with a glare.

Olette smelled Roxas's jacket when he wasn't looking. The scent was familiar and seemed to stir something from within her brain, but she couldn't get a grasp on it.

She glanced up, noticing that while Roxas hadn't seen her smell the jacket, Axel had. He smiled at her and mouthed 'I won't tell'.

"Hey, Demyx I want some hot chocolate. Can you help me make some for everyone?" Axel asked.

"Sure." The two of them went inside, leaving Roxas and Olette alone.

"That was subtle," he laughed.

"Those guys have no shame," Olette laughed.

Roxas chuckled. He stopped and reached out to move a piece of Olette's hair out of her eyes. She felt her cheeks warm. The two of them stared into each other's eyes, his a brilliant blue, hers a deep green. Roxas moved closer and Olette felt herself inch towards him. She closed her eyes, her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

"Roxas!" barked a harsh voice from behind them. The two of them sprang apart.

A man with long pink hair strode up to them. Roxas narrowed his eyes, clearly irritated at the intrusion. The man smirked at him, almost as if he timed this on purpose.

"I'm sorry," the man said, not sounding sorry at all, "but it's time for your friend to go."

"Okay Marluxia," Roxas snapped. He waited for the man to leave, but Marluxia just stood there. Olette got up slowly. Roxas sighed angrily, but stood up as well.

The three of them walked into the kitchen where Demyx and Axel were laughing. The two stopped when they saw Marluxia. Axel glanced at Roxas, sympathy dawning on his face as he saw Roxas's expression.

"Please take this young lady home Axel," Marluxia ordered, sounding pleased.

Axel reached into his pocket and tossed Roxas his keys. "You can take her Roxas."

"No. Xemnas wishes to speak to Roxas. You do it." Marluxia commanded. He left the room, smiling to himself.

"I have no clue what happened to the man that made him lose his soul," Demyx stated.

"I think he was born without one," Roxas replied flatly, giving Axel back his keys. "I guess I have to go talk to Xemnas." He turned to Olette and smiled. "How 'bout a rain check?"

"That'd be great," she answered.

He grinned one last time before saying goodbye and heading to the stairs.

"Let's go." Axel led Olette out of the mansion.

They got into his car. It wasn't until halfway to Olette's house that she remembered she was still wearing Roxas's coat.

"You can give it to him on Monday," Axel said, after Olette took it off and asked him to return it.

"Thanks, Axel."

"For what?"

"You know what," she replied.

He kept his eyes on the road, but Olette knew they were gleaming.

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Hoped you guys liked it. My longest chapter!!!!!

I hope the whole Roxas and Olette thing isn't going to slow. I wanted them to kiss, but the timing isn't right yet.

Please review. Means a lot to me.

Thanks for reading!!!!