Author's Note: You guys are so awesome! 320 hits, 10 reviews and counting! My hit/chapter percentage has grown from 50% to 70%, and my reviews (if only marginally) have exceeded my number of chapters! I love you all (even you, ghost readers) so much! And I'd especially like to thank my loyal reviewers. You guys have kept me going thus far. But enough of my sentimental blathering, on with he next chapter!

And for all you Organization fans out there, don't fret; they'll be getting a lot more screen time from here on end.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts obviously. If I did, it would be for the Gamecube (being I didn't own a PS2 until recently; don't tell nobody though). However, I do own Vanessa and all her wise-cracking, tell-it-like-it-is badassery.

Chaper 10: Looking Out From Within

"Hey Axel, you're late." said Roxas as his best friend joined him atop the clock tower's ledge.

"Sorry about that, I was getting chewed out by Saïx." Axel explained. He accepted the ice cream bar Roxas handed to him and took a bite. "Who would've thought that a girl who can barely hold her own in a fight would be so hard to catch?" Roxas looked off into the horizon.

"Axel?" he said.

"Yeah?" Axel replied.

"Why do you think she has the Keyblade?" Roxas asked. Axel shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats me." he said. "Maybe for the same reason you do." Roxas turned to face his friend.

"Why's that?" he asked curiously. Axel smirked.

"Beats me." he teased. Roxas frowned and looked away.

"Not funny…" he mumbled. He took a bite of his salty-sweet treat. "Is she a Nobody?"

"Nope, she has a heart."

"Oh…"

"Why?"

"Y'know, just wondering."

"You look like you have a lot on your mind."

"Huh? I do?"

"Y'know, if you keep thinking so hard, your brain'll explode."

"Yeah right…" Axel laughed.

"You're so uptight Roxas!" he joked. "Lighten up a little! Hey, maybe if you're lucky, this girl could be the answer to all your questions."

"You really think so?" asked Roxas. Axel shrugged.

"Who knows? Maybe." he said. "I mean, it can't be mere coincidence that you both have Keyblades." Roxas smiled.

"Right." he said. "Hey Axel?"

"Yeah?" the red-headed pyro replied.

"Don't screw it up this time!" Roxas teased. Axel smirked.

"You're on." he countered.

Vanessa sighed as she stared out the window in Naminé's drawing room. It has been days since she last left the house, and in those days, she had never been so bored in her life. Naminé was always busy with Sora, and Riku was never in the mansion during the day. Also, she was strictly forbidden from going into the basement area without special permission. She knew that she had to stay put to avoid enemy detection, but the lack of freedom was making her antsy. She trained to hone in on her swordplay, but that was not enough to fill the void of the day. She sighed as she pulled her gaze away from the window; there was nothing interesting outside for her to see. She walked around the room, contenting herself with inspecting Naminé's drawings. Almost all of them featured Sora, with the exception of a few that depicted Roxas. A couple even showed the two together.

"Is this all she draws?" Vanessa wondered. She stopped on a particular drawing of Sora and two others. They stood side by side, hand in hand. She recognized one to be Kairi, the girl from her dreams. The other she did not recognize right away, but assumed it to be Riku.

"So all three of them were friends?" Vanessa mused. "I wonder what happened." She moved on to another, this time featuring Roxas. He was holding the Keyblade in a pensive sort of way.

"He's confused." she concluded. On the opposite wall near the door, she noticed a particular drawing all by its lonesome. In it was a rough drawing of a brown girl.

"Hey!" exclaimed Vanessa. "That's me!" She examined the picture more closely. Indeed it was her. In the picture, she was standing in between the page. The background to her rightwas left blank white, while the left half was colored black. Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"What does this mean?" she wondered. She reached out and touched the drawing. Suddenly, a sharp pain attacked her head. Her hand flew to her forehead. The pain was staggering. The room began to spin. She leaned against the wall in an attempt to maintain her balance. A dim light flashed, followed by black.

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

"I asked first! What are you doing in my head?"

"I'm in your head?"

"Yeah, so who are you?"

"I…I'm Vanessa."

"You're that girl!"

"I am?"

"The one with the Keyblade!"

"R-Roxas?"

"Vanessa!" someone shouted. Vanessa's eyes flew opened. With a gasp, she swiftly sat upright. Her vision was blurry at first, but after a few seconds, she could see Riku, Naminé, and even DiZ standing over her.

"What…?" she muttered groggily. "What happened?"

"We could ask you the same." said DiZ. "Naminé found you unconscious on the floor." Naminé nodded.

"You wouldn't wake up." she agreed, corroborating the story. "Are you alright?" Vanessa looked down and noticed that she was in bed.

"How long have I been out?" she asked.

"Not sure." said Riku. "We found you several minutes ago, but for all we know, you've been out for hours."

"Really?" said Vanessa. "I feel like I've only been out for a second."

"What happened?" asked DiZ. Vanessa shook her head.

"I can't really say." she said. "It's all a blur." She looked up at Naminé. "The last thing I remember is touching one of your pictures."

"My pictures?" she asked.

"And you don't remember anything else?" asked Riku. Vanessa thought for a moment.

"Well…" she said. "…I think I remember hearing voices."

"What did the voices say?" asked DiZ.

"No…wait…" said Vanessa, changing her mind. "…it was one voice. The other voice was mine." She felt a headache coming on. "Ugh, my head hurts."

"You should rest." suggested DiZ. "Perhaps you'll remember more later on." Vanessa nodded.

"Yeah." she agreed. DiZ promptly left the room.

"Naminé." he called from the hallway. "We must talk." Obediently, Naminé followed DiZ, closing the door behind her. Only Riku and Vanessa were left in the room.

"Are you ok?" asked Riku.

"Yeah sure." she said. "Why?"

"Well, you fainted out of no where." said Riku. "I just want to make sure you're ok." Vanessa smiled.

"Aww, ain't that sweet?" she teased. Riku smirked.

"I can be a sweet guy sometimes." he bragged. Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"There you go, thinking you're such a big shot…" she complained. Riku laughed.

"I can't help it if I'm good!" he joked. "But seriously Vanessa, are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Don't worry about me…" she assured him. "…I'll be fine."

"Ok." said Riku. He turned to leave.

"Wait!" called Vanessa, just as Riku was about to walk out the door. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." said Riku. "What is it?"

"Kairi…" said Vanessa. "…what was she like?" Riku smiled.

"Like you." he said. Vanessa furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Like me?" she repeated. "Why do you say that?" Riku shrugged.

"I don't know." he said. "You just remind me of her." Vanessa shrugged her shoulders as well.

"Whatever you say." she said. "Riku?"

"Yeah?" hereplied. Vanessa fiddled with her fingers nervously.

"Could you…" she began. "…could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?" Riku asked. Vanessa sighed.

"May I…see your eyes?" she asked, her voice trailing away towards the end of the question. Riku stood there in silence, staring into the blackness of his blindfold. Vanessa turned apprehensive.

"Oh crap!" she thought. "I hope he doesn't take that the wrong way!"

"Why?" Riku finally asked.

"I dunno…" said Vanessa. "…I guess it's just weird not knowing what you look like. I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to show me, I just…" She trailed off and sighed. "Forget it; that sounded really dumb, I know…" She looked away. "Just do me a favor and not make anything out of it…"

"Vanessa." said Riku. When she looked up, she saw that Riku was next to her bed. His hand gently lifted the blindfold from over his eyes. Vanessa's heart skipped a beat at what she saw. Riku's eyes were narrow and pale aqua, the color of a saddened tropical ocean reflecting a cloudy sky, which to Vanessa, was beautiful in an odd way. She smiled.

"Hot damn." she could not help but to say. Riku smiled as well.

"It's been a while since I last saw you." he said. "I almost forgot what you looked like."

"Why do you hide your eyes Riku?" Vanessa asked. "You can take this however you want but, they're beautiful." Riku's smile slowly melted from his face.

"Because…" he said as he hid his eyes from the world once again. "…they can't lie." Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"What?" she asked. "Can't lie about what?"

"Your eyes are beautiful too." said Riku, ignoring the question. "The color compliments your skin." With that, he melted away into the Darkness. Vanessa blinked, utterly confused. She just sighed and shook it off. She smiled and lay back in her bed as she daydreamed about his eyes, his beautiful aqua eyes.