With You

by Paopu Fruits and Sea-salt Bars

Getting to know a person is always hard. Falling in love with someone that you're not supposed to, is worse. What's stronger, the calling of the heart or the logic of the mind? AU Namixas, Sokai, Rion, Tequa and more.

10. The Premiere Part Two

I finally got a chance to post this. I have a new job and it's really screwing with my time, especially this story. I'm afraid that future updates will be made whenever time allows, but fear not, I will see this story to the very end! This chapter is by far the longest one I've done thus far, which is why it had to be split into two pieces.

Anyways, a few warnings: there's violence in here, although the M rating should be warning enough, really. And some slight OOC, but it's not too far fetched, regardless, you'll be the judge.

As before, if I haven't replied to your messages I'm sorry, I swear I'm not ignoring you! I'll be catching up on everything tomo-err, later today. Hope you guys like this chapter, I'm really nervous about the outcome.

I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney.

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The Premiere Part Two

Friday, May 22

There were so many flashing lights all around them that Roxas was sure he'd be blind by the night's end. The four singers were seated with Xemnas and Terra in the center of the room; a long rectangle table before them, a microphone and a water bottle before each of them. But the sight before them that was the most daunting to all four was the mammoth-sized sea of press members. There had to be over 1000-plus-something recording cameras, an equal or so amount of flash photography cameras and by god, there had to be over 3000 people seated before them. Roxas had to keep his facial expressions to a minimum, there were two very large sized flat-screen TVs on the walls so that ALL members of the press could see them. Roxas hoped with all of his heart that he didn't have anything in his teeth as the TVs were incredibly high quality. He also noticed several speakers placed throughout the room, most likely so that the back rows could hear.

The large room was incredibly well lit, there was a great crystal chandelier hanging from the center of the cathedral-looking ceiling. There were also many smaller lights that adorned the walls, and all of them looked like candle holders, but with electrical candles rather than the actual candles. The room itself looked like a grand hall where feasts and lavish banquets only fit for kings and royalty would be held in. If it weren't for the current event taking place, Roxas could easily see a ball taking place in this room.

After the four members had descended down the stairs for their grand entrance, they had been directed to their seats as flashing camera lights went off like a lightning storm. Xemnas sat at the helm, Terra sat to his left as second, Riku was in the third seat next to Terra, Sora sat fourth, Roxas in the fifth seat, and Naminé took the sixth seat at the other end. The small blonde fidgeted around with her hands under the table nervously. Roxas couldn't blame her.

Xemnas stood from his seat as the crowd began to settle down. The company president held his arms opened and Roxas knew that a long speech was imminent.

Please, please, skip the long, hammy speech.Roxas was tempted to bury his head in his hands, but felt that that wouldn't help him build his image.

"I am Xemnas St Peter, thank you all for attending this momentous occasion." Xemnas smiled, as a whole new onslaught of camera flashes went off.

Why is he smiling like that? He looks possessed!

"I am sure that you are all eager to ask your questions." Xemnas paused for a few seconds. "I assure you that these talented young men will answer you without prevarication."

He sat down and nodded to Terra, who then stood from his seat. "Hello everyone, I am Terra Dohring, manager of the Keyblade Wielders." This was met with more irksome camera flashes. "We will start with the questions now."

Several hands shot up in the air and Roxas was reminded f his elementary school days. All of the reporters looked like eager children trying to raise their hands as high as they could in order to get noticed by the teacher.

"We'll start with you first." Terra pointed to young woman with sand-colored hair and striking blue eyes. "What's your name, Miss?"

"I am Nala Sarafina," the young woman replied. "I'm representing The Pride Lands Reporter and my question is: who is the group's leader?"

Roxas could feel Sora and Naminé's eyes on him. He hated this question; he may have started the band, but he never considered himself the leader, regardless of what Riku thought. When none of the four singers answered the question, the crowd began to murmur. Roxas wanted to roll his eyes, but instead turned to look at Terra. Roxas was not entirely surprised to find Xemnas and Terra looking right back at him expectantly.

Roxas cleared his throat and leaned closer to his microphone. "I am."

The room exploded with more flashing lights as hands shot up in the air again. Roxas looked down at the table and fixed his eyes on it.

"What is your name and your question?" Xemnas said. Roxas didn't even bother looking up, he had a feeling he knew what the next question was.

"My name is Sally Skellignton, I work for The Spectral Pumpkin." said a gentle female voice. "And I'd like to ask the leader, what was the inspiration for the band's formation?"

If I thought one or two people looking at me was bad, this is a hundred times worse.

Roxas looked upwards and sat up straight in his seat. "Um, the thing is, I'm a huge fan of the Organization. When their second album was released, I had this I don't know…vision, if you will, about starting my own band. It wasn't so much to become as famous as the Organization, but to become as great as them."

Sally smiled. "The Organization was your main inspiration?"

"Mostly, yes." Roxas replied. "Another band that I liked is Final Fantasy. My dad is a huge fan from his college days and he got me into them. So, I guess it's about half-and-half."

"Thank you." Sally said politely before she sat back down in her seat and more hands shot up again.

Xemnas pointed to a man seated near the front. "Your question?"

A balding man with a long beak-looking nose and a disgustingly red jacket stood up from his seat while holding a pen and notepad.

"My name's Iago Petbird, I'm from Agrabah News." The man spoke in highly irritating raspy voice.

I take back what I said about Naminé's raspy voice. She sounds more masculine than this guy.

"My question is for the group's leader." Oh great."Were you born with that expression?"

Roxas blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"You look like you're angry." Iago sneered. "Is that your natural expression or did something happen backstage?"

The crowd began to talk loudly as a new wave of flashing lights assaulted their eyes. Roxas looked over at Terra for guidance; it was clear that Iago was trying to get Roxas to snap and cause a scene. Terra looked far from amused and pulled his microphone forward.

"I would prefer if you only asked sensible questions." Terra said in a polite manner, but his facial expression indicated otherwise.

Iago looked unfazed and narrowed his thick black eyebrows raised in interest. "So that indicates that something did happen!"

The voices in the room increased in volume as cameras continued to flash every millisecond.

"What?" Roxas looked at the balding man incredulously. "Nothing happened! I wasn't even aware I looked angry!"

"But you are now!" Iago jotted something down on his notepad. "The leader is the one with a temper…"

"That is enough, Mr. Petbird." Xemnas said in a low and rather threatening voice.

"Next question please." Terra said in annoyance, pointing to a man in one of the middle rows.

Roxas's eyes widened when he saw a familiar man standing up from his seat. The man was rather chubby, his black hair, which was normally held in place with a headband, stood up from the roots and he had a warm smile on his face. His suit was black and had a dark red tie with a skeletal dog and three bones.

"My name is Pence Marquette, I'm from Twilight Town Star Magazine." Even before Pence had introduced himself, Roxas already knew who he was. "My question is for the four of them: how are you guys feeling?"

"Awesome!" Sora boomed. The crowd rippled with laughter as he grinned sheepishly.

"Feeling pretty excellent." Riku replied. Roxas noticed that nearly every female in the crowd swooned and sighed amorously. Not to mention the sudden hailstorm of flashing lights from the female photographers. Roxas was really tempted to roll his eyes.

Sora frowned at Riku. "Why do you always have to look and sound cool?"

"Just born that way, I guess." Riku shrugged. All of the females in attendance, young and old alike feasted their eyes on the silveret.

Show off.

"And what about you Roxas?" Pence smiled at him. "Are you as equally excited?"

"Yeah." Roxas grinned. "Excited, nervous, anxious…you can get the idea. With all these emotions in me, I fell like I'll be come bipolar or something."

The crowd rippled with scattered laughter before Pence turned to face Naminé. The girl turned a delicate shade of green as it became clear that she would have to speak.

"How are you feeling Snow?" Pence asked politely.

Naminé gulped and leaned closer to her microphone. Roxas felt his stomach churning as she inhaled deeply before replying, "I'm excited too."

Roxas's eyes widened; he couldn't believe his ears, this small framed girl had just croaked up something fierce. Her voice was thicker and her rasp sounded rather baritone, as if she had chain smoking since she was ten years old!

The crowd stared at her incredulously; they certainly wouldn't have expected such a grave voice coming out of such a small framed body. Only a few camera flashes went off when she spoke.

Terra cleared his throat, gathering attention away from Naminé. "I'm afraid that Snow's voice gave out on our last recording session. Please understand that he'll not be able to answer any further questions in order for a speedy recovery."

The crowd's murmurs echoed all around the grand room as Pence slowly sat back down, still in shock. Roxas noticed that Xemnas looked mildly surprised.

Then again, Xemnas doesn't know that Naminé is a girl. The more she speaks, the higher the risk is for her to expose her natural feminine mannerisms.

"Next question." Xemnas spoke to the audience.

A man with straight hair that reached his mid-back, stood up from his seat in the second row. He had slanted green eyes that held a sort of malice that made Roxas feel incredibly uncomfortable. He wore a white medical cloak over his dress suit and Roxas was strangely reminded of a mad scientist.

"Greetings Keyblade Wielders," the man spoke in a snake-like voice. "I am Vexen Even Prince, famously known as The Chilly Academic. I personally would like to thank you for granting me the exclusivity of your very firstinterview."

Um okay…? Was it really necessary to add so much emphasis on that phrase?

The other reporters either rolled their eyes or glared at the man or simply shook their heads.

I think this is the guy that Axel and Xion mentioned. No wonder they don't like him, not even the other reporters like him either.

"I look forward to sitting down with you all this coming Monday, yes." Vexen smiled devilishly. He sat back down and kept his devilish smile plastered on his long face.

"Next question please." Terra huffed. Roxas could tell that Terra's patience was draining. Either it was that or Terra disliked Vexen as much as Axel and Xion did.

A round, kind-faced woman with grey hair tightly wrapped into a bun stood up. She was right in the front seat and Roxas was shocked to see how short she was; she would probably reach to his waist. She was wearing a floor length, long sleeved, forest green colored dress and a matching pointy hat. She was holding a pencil in one hand a notebook in another. "Hello dears, my name is Fauna Spring and I work for the Enchanted Dominion Inquirer." Smiled the plump woman. "I'd like to know where you guys are from."

Sora opened his mouth to reply but Riku answered first. "Sora and I were born and raised in Destiny Islands."

Fauna smiled again as she wrote down the reply in her notebook before she turned to face the two blonds sitting next to each other.

Roxas cleared his throat. "I was born in Twilight Town, but I moved to Destiny Islands when I was two."

All eyes fell on Naminé and she nervously turned to look up at Roxas. He remembered that Terra had mentioned that her older brother (and logically Naminé herself) were from a place called Serenity Meadows. Roxas nodded at Naminé and turned to face the large crowd.

"Snow is from Serenity Meadows, it's a few hours away from Traverse Town."

Roxas turned to face Riku; the silveret had a small smile on his face.

Fauna thanked him and sat back down on her seat. Xemnas continued to ask for question from the press, but Roxas was completely uninterested…and angry. Riku was trying to upstage him, that was easy to tell. The only thing was that this was certainly not the time much less the place to try to win Naminé's affection. Not that it seemed to work anyway; the petite blonde was much too preoccupied with the event taking place before her to notice much of anything else.

A few more question were asked, along with the ever classic usual ones such as 'what's your favorite color', 'your favorite sport', 'your favorite food' and the like. To which Naminé herself answered, that is, she would whisper in Roxas's ear the answers so that he could say them out loud for her. It was still her answers so it counted as valid. With other questions like 'have you ever been to Radiant Garden before' or other questions of that variation, Naminé would either nod, shake her head or give the 'I-don't-know' shrug.

Roxas was quite happy to know that her all time favorite food, Shrimp Alfredo, was one of his own top five favorites. And he couldn't help but grin proudly when she was asked if she had not only tried sea salt ice cream but if she liked it, to which Naminé nodded enthusiastically. For bonus points, she added one of her sweet smiles with a pink tint spreading on her cheeks.

Even though Roxas knew he shouldn't have felt this way, he was absolutely thrilled that he was the one that was now upstaging Riku. Roxas was the only one that was close to Naminé, but even then Roxas felt that Naminé would have chosen Roxas to give out her answers. At least he hoped she would pick him instead of Riku.

But the most amusing moment, and hilarious, was when Naminé was asked if she had ever had a girlfriend. Roxas nearly burst out in laughter when her cheeks looked like Kairi's hair color, and shook her head vigorously. Watching a girl that was pretending to be a guy answer that type of question added to the hilarity and irony for Roxas. Mostly because he was sure she had never dated, period.

Maybe I can change that…

He looked at her and saw that she was fiddling around with her water bottle nervously. He patted her back when everyone else laughed at her response.

The questioner then turned the same question at the other three members, to varying degrees of replies. As expected, Sora's replies were by farthest the most enthusiastic, he was always grinning through the majority of the questions thrown in his direction.

Until he too, was asked if he had ever dated. Roxas craned his neck to look at his cousin's face.

Sora was expressionless and his voice was uncharacteristically robotic and monotone. "Sadly no."

The reporters laughed; they probably assumed that he was merely joking considering Sora's behavior up until this point. But Sora was completely serious…unfortunately for him.

Riku answered the same question in his usual cool tone. "I've dated quite a few girls back home."

It took all of his inner strength for Roxas to not roll his eyes. While it was true that Riku had dated more girls than Sora and Roxas put together, the actual number was smaller than Riku made it seem: three. Riku's first girlfriend had been in his seventh grade, the second one was a girl that had been in Riku's 9th grade biology class, and the last girl Riku dated was during his senior year. The very girl that Riku had lost his virginity to, something which the silveret boasted about for some time.

The question was then directed to Roxas and the blond answered honestly. "I've only dated once so far."

Naminé looked up at him and Roxas couldn't decipher the look on the blonde's heart-shaped face.

The minutes rolled on and the questions were starting to become less generic and some were even directed at Xemnas or Terra themselves. Someone asked Xemnas about the release of their first single, to which Xemnas replied that it would released within the approximating week. Another person then asked about the full length album, which Terra answered by saying that it would be out in the coming month. Roxas was taken back when another person asked if all of the songs were done by professional lyricists, but Terra replied by saying that half of the songs would be written by the band themselves.

Wait wait wait, I don't think I have that much material! Shit, I better look through my notebook tonight.

The question that made the four become homesick was asked by a man with black hair that reached a little past his shoulders, he had very vivid green eyes that held nothing but excitement in them. He was dressed in a mint green button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and wore a pair of khakis.

"Hi guys, my name is Laguna Loire, I'm from Radiant Maniacs Magazine and my question is this: have your parents always supported you through the years?" He asked in a kind tone.

Roxas shifted in his seat and looked at Naminé. He knew that she didn't have any parents, but that she considered the orphanage's matron as a mother figure. The only thing was that Roxas didn't know if Snow felt the same way towards the elderly woman.

Roxas turned to look at Sora and the two cousins smiled at each other. "Our parents have always been our biggest fans."

"Even when they didn't always necessarily believe in our dream," Roxas said serenely. "They were always there for us when we needed them the most."

"That's great to hear." Laguna smiled warmly and Roxas was strangely reminded of Noctis's famous 'Proud Papa Smile'. "What about your parents, Riku?"

"My folks are cool with it." He shrugged amiably. "My dad used to think it was a waste of time, but now he doesn't mind."

Laguna turned to face Naminé with a gentle smile. "And your parents, Snow?"

Roxas looked at her knowing very well that her brother was her only known living relative. Naminé nodded and gave one of her sweet smiles.

After several minutes of questions passed, one woman asked regarding the music video for Disguise, to which Xemnas replied its release would be within the month's end, at the same time as the full-length album. Roxas wondered what the direction for the video would be; when he had written the song a few months ago, he had never really imagined anything specifically. But then again, he hadn't imagined that he'd be signed to Kingdom Hearst Records either.

Roxas was brought out of his reverie when Xemnas loudly announced, "I'm afraid that the time has come to bid farewell, my friends."

Terra rose from his seat. "We thank you all for being here tonight." He looked over at the singers and with his hand motioned them to stand up. The four of the stood up as the flashing camera lights assaulted their eyes. All of them waved at the crowd and stood there posing while the cameras continued to go for another round. Roxas heard a strangely familiar sound coming out of the speakers and looked over at his band members. With a flip from his heart, he realized that the sound was none other than their song Disguise blasting out of the speakers. Roxas felt a surge of excitement he hadn't felt since he and his family had gone to Disney Town when he was a kid. Sora was grinning from ear to ear, Naminé smiled radiantly and even Riku couldn't keep himself from smiling like a kid on a sugar high.

After a few moments several security guards surrounded all six of them and escorted them out of the grand hall and back up the stairs that Roxas and Naminé had walked out hours ago previously. As they entered the empty and dimly lit room, the last security guard closed the door behind them after Naminé entered.

A few seconds passed before Sora broke the silence with a loud exhale. "Thank god that's over!"

Terra chuckled. "I'm so proud of you guys! You did excellently!"

"That wasn't too bad now, was it?" Xemnas said.

"No, I guess not." Roxas sighed. "I feel like I got worked up for nothing."

"Same here." Riku added. "To be honest, I thought the questions weren't half-bad."

"Speak for yourself." Sora frowned. "Now the whole country knows that I've never dated."

"You could have lied about that, you know." Roxas told him. "Just try to avoid answering questions like that so honestly. It's not like people really need to know."

"Sora," Terra smiled culpably. "I hate to tell you this, but this conference wasn't nationwide. It was worldwide."

"WHAT?" Sora looked appalled. "Oh god, why me?"

"Hey now, don't feel so bad!" Terra said, clearly holding back his laughter. "At least you're not the only one who has never dated!" He pointed over at Naminé causing her cheeks to turn pink. "Snow's the same as you, dateless."

"You're not helping." Sora grumbled. "Oh man, I hope Kairi didn't see that…"

"Did you not notice her sitting among the crowd?" Xemnas asked.

Roxas felt rather creeped out, Xemnas's orange colored eyes seemed to glow malevolently in the darkened room since his skin color was dark. His black suit didn't help one bit either.

"Wait, Kairi was out there?" Sora looked horrified; he sank to his knees and covered both of his ears. "Now she's gonna think that I have no experience with girls!"
"She wouldn't be wrong in thinking that." Riku smirked. Sora scowled at his best friend and punched Riku's shin. The silveret hissed in pain and tried to aim a kick at Sora, who quickly rolled out of the way.

Xemnas chuckled lowly. "You are all quite amusing, I can see I will never be bored with all of you around. I will see you all at Oblivion."

He bowed his head and walked to the far end of the room and opened the door and closed it on his way out. When the door slam's echo filled the room the four singers turned to look at Terra.

"What's Oblivion?" Roxas asked.

"It's quite a famous night club here in Radiant Garden." Terra replied.

"Whoa, who would have guessed that Xemnas liked to go clubbing?" Sora laughed. At this, Roxas had a sudden mental picture of Xemnas dancing to trance music and waving around two large red colored glow sticks.

Terra snorted and shook his head. "Xemnas is going to Oblivion because that's where we're also going."

"We're going to a night club?" Riku raised an eyebrow. "But Sora, Roxas and Snow aren't twenty one yet."

"Killjoy." Sora coughed. Riku glared at him.

"The legal age here in Radiant Garden is eighteen." Terra's response was met with loud cheers from Sora, who was still sitting on the floor. "We're going to the club for the after party."

"After party? Sweet!" Roxas grinned.

"So that means that we're legally adults." Naminé mused.

"Hell yeah we are!" Sora beamed as he held out his hand. Naminé smiled and walked over to him and the two high-fived each other.

"Correction, only Snow and Roxas are the adults here." Riku laughed.

Sora glared at Riku. "Have I mentioned that you're an ass? AND a killjoy?"

"Once or twice, I think." Riku said off-handedly.

The door opened with a loud creak as two familiar looking sisters entered the room and approached them. Sora immediately shot up from the floor and began to dust himself off.

"You guys did great out there!" Kairi beamed as she launched herself right into Sora's waiting arms.

"Were you two in the audience?" Sora chuckled nervously.

Xion nodded. "Of course, we wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"Where were you guys sitting?" Roxas asked Xion. "I never saw you two."

"Oh we were in the back rows." Kairi replied as she let go of Sora. "We got there a little after you guys made your grand entrance."

"Why?" Naminé rasped.

Kairi and Xion smiled at Terra before the three of them turned to face the four singers.

"I asked the girls to call your families and inform them of tonight's big event." Terra replied.

"None of them could make it here," Xion said apologetically. "But we gave them TV listings of the channels that would broadcast today's conference."

"That way, they'd see you guys." Kairi smiled. "Even if they weren't here physically, they're still watching you as your dreams become reality."

Roxas was thankful that the room had poor lighting; that way, they couldn't see the few stray tears falling down his face.

Mom, Dad, I promise I won't let you down. All four of you.

He wiped his tears away and breathed evenly. "Thank you guys."

"You don't have to thank us," Terra said gently. "We know how much this means to you."

Roxas heard Naminé sniffling beside him; he turned around and took her in his arms. He didn't care that this would probably look odd to the rest, but he understood her. All she had left was her brother, like him and Xion, they had all lost their parents. But as Xion had said, they had managed to grow up in loving homes. Roxas knew that her brother would have given everything he could to have lived the very moment that had just taken place, but Roxas was also sure that Snow was feeling immensely proud of his little sister.

I know I would. I feel proud of Naminé for being so brave and coming this far.

"How come you girls were sitting so far back?" Riku asked. Roxas had the sneaking suspicion that Riku was trying to get Roxas's attention and to let Naminé go.

"Members of the press are seated first," Terra explained. "Celebrities are seated next, and any other guests are seated last."

"We're in the 'other guests' category." Kairi smiled.

"Oh by the way," Xion grinned. "Your limo is here."

"We have a limo?" Naminé asked as she and Roxas broke apart.

"Of course," Terra smiled. "You're official celebrities now. I'm gonna head out, Aqua's waiting for me."

He waved and walked away, heading towards the door. He stopped as he held the door open. "Oh, your new head of security will escort you out of the castle."

With that Terra left the room leaving the six of them by themselves.

"What time do we have to be at Oblivion?" Riku asked the sisters.

"We're supposed to be there in forty minutes." Xion replied.

"But first," Kairi clapped her hands and grinned mischievously. "You guys have to change clothes!"

"Why?" Sora asked.

Kairi giggled. "Do you really want to go clubbing in a suit?"

"No, I really don't." Sora grinned sheepishly.

Kairi grabbed his and smiled flirtatiously. "Follow me."

The two walked out of the room, as if all the other occupants were non-existent. Xion shook her head and let out a defeated sigh. "And Kairi says that she's not being obvious."

"Pfft, she's as obvious as Sora." Roxas said.

"I wonder how long it'll take for those two to get together." Riku said thoughtfully.

"I hope it's soon." Naminé said delightedly. "Those two make such an adorable couple."

And that is the reason why Naminé should never speak in public. She's way to girly, it's a miracle that she can fool a man like Xemnas. Or anyone else for that matter.

Myself included…another voice inside him chimed in.

"I agree wholeheartedly." Xion simpered. "Anyways, let's go get you changed."

Riku, Roxas and Naminé followed Xion out of the room and across the main hall, heading back to Hall B. Xion opened the door and Naminé instantly recognized the antique dining table where their black cloaks were still neatly folded in a stack, right next to a glossy paper bag. Sora and Kairi were already inside the room; the redhead was handing Sora a new pair of neatly clothes from the glossy paper bag. Kairi smiled at the four entering the room and walked over to them with the paper bag in her hand, grinning cheekily.

"Here," she said as she handed Riku his new clothes. "These are for you." She walked right in front of Roxas and handed him his new clothes. "There's a room in the back you guys can use." She smiled at Naminé as she handed the blonde her new garments.

Roxas looked at Kairi questioningly. "Where?" he looked past her but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The walls were a mint green color with hand-painted white and pink roses that certainly matched the sand colored furniture.

"The room is by the left hand corner over there." Kairi pointed at an area behind her. Roxas looked in the direction of the dining table and realized that there was indeed a door.

No wonder I never noticed it, it looks like its part of the wall!

The borders barely stood out, if it weren't for Sora, who had walked in the direction in question and actually opened said door, Roxas would have never thought that the wall was in fact a door.

"Preeeetty sneeeaakyyy." Sora said amusedly. He entered the room and closed the door behind him, making it once again, blend with the rest of the wall.

Naminé walked forward and made her way to the antique dining table and sat down in one of the lavishly decorated chairs. Roxas decided to move quickly before Riku did. The blond went and sat down on the seat next to her, she smiled warmly at him as he took the seat next to her. He looked up as he heard approaching footsteps and smiled at Xion. He offered the other seat next to him and she took it, noticing a small glossy paper bag with silver letters in the middle.

Maybe it's from a jewelry store or something.

Roxas smiled at Xion before he heard Naminé shift in her seat; he looked over at the blonde and saw that she looked rather uneasy.

"Relax Snow." Roxas said warmly. "You don't have anything to be nervous about."

Naminé's eyelashes fluttered and she gave him a weak smile. "I know, but I can still feel my stomach churning."

"Maybe it's not nerves." Roxas grinned crookedly. "Maybe you're hungry."

"Maybe." Naminé smiled.

The back door opened and Sora walked out wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, a hoodie vest over the shirt, dark colored jeans, and black and yellow Vans. "How do I look?" Sora asked as he placed his suit inside the large glossy paper bag.

"Very handsome." Kairi said approvingly. She walked over to Xion who stood up from her seat and pulled out four large velvet jewelry boxes and placed them on the table. Kairi took one and took a peek inside it before snapping it close. She walked over to Sora with a tender smile on her face.

"To commemorate your official debut, Xion and I bought you guys something special." She opened the box in her hands and pulled out a necklace. The chain was a fine glowing silver, it held a three-point crown in the center. She opened the small clasp and then placed the necklace gently on Sora's neck, before clasping it close. She looked down and fixed Sora's new necklace, a soft smile on her vivid pink lips. The two stared at each other momentarily before Kairi turned around and walked back to the table. Xion had opened the other boxes while Kairi was presenting Sora his gift and said to Kairi, "The left one is Riku's, the middle one is Snow's and the right one is Roxas's."

Kairi smiled at her sister and then looked over at Naminé. "Go ahead and get changed."

Naminé nodded and walked to the back door, opened it, walked inside it, and closed the door behind her. There was nothing but silence in the room as Xion sat back down next to Roxas and grabbed the box in the middle. Sora was still admiring his newly acquired gift; he held up the three point crown at the level of his eyes and smiled. Kairi was leaning against the table; her mind seemed to be elsewhere as she fixed her eyes on the ceiling.

Sora walked up to Kairi and took her left hand, which clearly startled her as she blinked rapidly. Sora brought her hand to his lips and placed a tender kiss on her hand, causing both of them to blush a bright scarlet. The back room door opened and the other five turned to face Naminé as she walked out of the room, closing the door shut behind her. She was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with a button-up black vest over it, dark skinny jeans and low-rise Converse.

She walked up to the table and was about to take a seat when Xion stood up from her seat and Kairi walked over to the blonde. Xion opened the large velvet box in her hands and smiled tenderly at Naminé. "This is for you, Snow."

Naminé stared curiously at Xion; her cerulean orbs widened in awe when Xion pulled out a long silver chain with a round silver star in the center. Xion placed the velvet box under her arm as she held out the necklace with both hands so that Naminé could see it in all its glory. The brunette walked over to the blonde and placed the gift on Naminé's neck delicately, causing the blonde's eyes to sparkle in tears.

"Xion picked that out for you." Kairi smiled.

"A little blue bird told me you liked stars." Xion giggled.

Naminé hugged the raven haired girl before her. "Thank you." She said softly. Naminé held her arm out to Kairi and the three girls huddled together.

Roxas was happy to see that the three of them got along so well; even if Naminé wasn't related to Kairi and Xion, they still acted like sisters to one another. The three girls broke apart as Kairi turned to face Roxas. "Go get changed Roxas."

Roxas nodded and walked to the back of the room and opened the very well camouflaged door. The hidden room was actually a bedroom; there was a large bed in the center of the room that was covered by a four-poster canopy. The drapes hanging from the canopy where a rich red wine color that certainly contrasted the rest of the room's antique-styled furniture. Roxas placed his new clothes on the bed and began to undress. After he had removed his formal wear, he put on a form-fitting grey long-sleeved shirt that said NOBODY right in his chest. He put on dark-colored slim straight jeans, a pair of black Nikes before he grabbed his suit and dress shirt. He walked out of the hidden bedroom and placed his suit inside the large glossy paper bag.

Roxas smiled when he saw that Xion was waiting for him with a velvet box in her hands. She opened it and held out a silver chain with a silver four point star in the center. Xion handed it to Roxas and he quickly put it on, admiring the feel of smooth silver. He looked over at Xion and gave the raven haired brunette a firm hug. "Thank you."

Xion giggled. "You're welcome."

As he held Xion in his arms, he came to the realization that Xion was like a little sister to him. He knew her past and the similarities they shared, and that in turn helped their friendship blossom. Roxas let go of Xion and then looked down at his necklace when he heard a door slam. He looked up and saw that Riku was walking out of the back room dressed in a black blazer with horizontal white stripes, underneath was a teal shirt, loose-fitting jeans and then a pair of grey shore leave loafers.

Kairi opened the last box and held out a long silver chain with a strange shaped object in the center. At first Roxas thought it was a deformed fleur de lis, but that was only true for the bottom as the top was heart shaped. Unlike the other necklaces, Riku's was black in the center with dark red on the outer border. Riku took the necklace and put it on and smiled at Kairi.

"Thanks Kairi." Riku said.

"No biggie. And it was Xion who picked it out." Kairi replied. Roxas noticed how Xion suddenly became very interested in the floor.

Riku walked over to the dark haired girl and bend over slightly so that he was looking at her bowed head directly. "Thank you very much Xion."

"You're very welcome." Xion muttered shyly. Riku chuckled and much to everyone's surprise, he took Xion in his arms. To say that Riku was taller than Xion was putting it lightly; he towered over her.

Riku better not start winding up Xion. I swear I'll kick his ass if he hurts Xion's feelings.

The two broke apart and the main door opened; Terra and Aqua walked in with their arms linked together.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Aqua asked.

"Yeah!" Sora and Kairi exclaimed simultaneously.

The couple chuckled and Terra smiled. "Let's head out then."

Sora looked at Kairi and offered his right arm. "Shall we, milady?"

Kairi's cheeks matched her hair as she looped her arm around Sora's arm. "We shall."

The two walked out of the room like they had just been crowned king and queen of the royal ball.

"Are those two dating?" Aqua asked the other occupants in the room.

"No," Riku answered with a small smile. "But they might as well be."

"It'll be a matter of time, you'll see." Terra said wisely, giving his fiancé a meaningful look.

"Let's get going!" Roxas said enthusiastically. This was met with strange looks from everyone but Roxas didn't care. He walked forward with Xion on his arm, but stopped when he had reached the door. He turned around and his eyes fell on a sad looking blonde. "Come on Snow!"

Naminé blinked in surprise but then gave him one of her beautiful, radiant smiles and Roxas felt his heart soar.

When the elevator doors opened Terra, Aqua, Sora, Kairi, Roxas, Naminé, Xion and Riku were greeted with a maelstrom of camera flashes. As soon as the eight of them stepped out of the elevator they were immediately surrounded by several security guards. The men kept the oncoming photographers at bay, Roxas put his hands in front of Naminé and Xion, as the two girls were right behind him.

Terra hugged Aqua closer to him as two guards led them away safely. Sora gripped Kairi's hand as they too, were escorted outside by two guards. Two more guards stood in front of Roxas; one was the guard they had met earlier, Irvine. The other guard had long dark hair with gray streaks that was tied behind his neck, he had some stubble on his chin, and there was a large car over the right half of the man's face and over his eye. He had a pair of round sun glasses on the tip of his nose, which allowed Roxas to briefly see that the man's right eye was shut. He looked like he was in his late thirties to early forties, and Roxas made a quick mental note to never piss this man off.

Roxas had barely taken a step forward when three photographers ran in Roxas's direction. The blond was pushed back slightly by Irvine, causing Roxas to push against Naminé and Xion.

"Get back!" the older man growled at the photographers.

The paparazzi began to crowd around the elevator so much that Irvine called for reinforcements on his walkie. He then turned around to face Roxas. "When I tell you to go, you run for it, got it!"

Roxas nodded. The stern guard moved forward creating a clearing among the paparazzi.

"NOW!" yelled Irvine.

Roxas reached behind him and grabbed one of the girls' hands; without knowing whose hand it was, Roxas held on firmly to the slim hand as he followed Irvine through the crowd. The tall brunet guided them out of the castle as waves of flashing lights and name calling continued to assault their senses. Roxas saw a long limo parked before them a few feet away. The three of them walked down several steps which were lined with a red carpet. A few reporters held out their microphones close to Roxas's face and shout incomprehensible questions at him.

When they finally made it to the limo, Irvine ushered them inside the vehicle. Roxas got in first and immediately sat down on the seat right next to the door; Irvine slammed the door shut when Roxas and the girl were safely inside. Their seat was right in front of the mini bar and diagonal window seat before him. He then saw that that hand he had held onto this whole time was none other than Naminé's. She was sitting down next to him breathing rapidly, her cheeks were tinted red.

"We made it." Roxas sighed. She nodded at him and closed her eyes, letting out a relieved sigh.

Roxas looked over at the diagonal seat before him and realized that he and Naminé were the only ones inside the limo.

"Didn't Sora and Kairi leave right before us?" he asked her.

Naminé opened her eyes and looked around. "I'm pretty sure they did; I saw them leaving behind Terra and Aqua. "

The crowd outside roared in delight and it wasn't long before Roxas found out why. The door opened and Riku got inside with Xion clutching onto his blazer. The two were panting heavily, as if they had run a marathon.

The two sat in the diagonal seat in front of the two blonds; Roxas noticed that Riku was gripping Xion's hand tightly and both of their faces were flushed.

Naminé suddenly gasped. "Xion what happened to your arm?"

Roxas looked over at Xion; his eyes widened when he noticed a dark red mark on her right upper arm. It looked like someone had scratched her furiously.

"Someone tried to her while we made our way here." Riku answered.

"Who was it?" Roxas hissed.

"I don't know." Xion said honestly. "It all happened so fast; we started walking forward after the security guard told us to go."

"Xion was in front of me when I saw someone's hand reaching out to grab her." Riku said. "I'm assuming it was a paparazzo, but I yanked back and held her close to me."

At this, Xion's cheeks flared up. "Thank you."

Riku smiled at her. Neither seemed to be aware that they were still holding hands. The limo ignition started making the four jump in their seats. The limo pulled away slowly, Roxas could still hear the reporters yelling questions and there were millions of camera flashes coming in through the windows.

The majority of the ride was spent in silence as the reality of it all sank. Everything that had just taken place in the last two and a half hours was completely real; not eve in his wildest dreams could Roxas have imagined something of this magnitude. He had seen a few televised red carpet events before, as well as seeing documentaries on how celebrities were constantly being harassed by the press. Some paparazzos were downright violent towards the celebrities; they would take pictures right in their faces and then call them highly rude insults.

Roxas looked over at Xion's arm and felt that it was his fault somehow.

I should have held on to both of their hands. What kind of guy am I that I can't protect my little sisters?
Are you sure Naminé is a little sister?
Don't start again. She HAS to be. She's either a friend or a sister; nothing more, nothing less.
Keep telling yourself that, you might just believe it someday.
Shut up.

There he was again, having a mental argument like a lunatic. Roxas pushed his thoughts out of his head and focused back on Xion's injured arm. This time the red mark had become more noticeable; he could see three scratches.

Roxas felt a light squeeze on his hand; his eyes widened slightly when he realized that he was still holding onto Naminé's hand.

Uh oh, I better let go before the other two notice.
It's not like they don't know.
Yeah, but I'm not supposed to know!

He wondered what would be the best way to pull his hand out of her grip without drawing attention to himself. From his peripheral vision he looked at Naminé; she was looking out her window, she seemed to not notice that she was still holding hands with Roxas.

How should I do this?

It was as if a light bulb had turned on above his head; he opened his mouth and let out a fake yawn, but he did it quietly so that Riku or Xion wouldn't notice. Roxas separated his left hand from Naminé's right hand, the limo's air conditioning created a sharp contrast with her warmth. He covered his mouth with his newly freed hand as his fake yawn subsided.

As he lowered his left hand he felt Naminé's eyes on him. He placed his hand in the space between them, his hand barely an inch away from hers. Roxas really didn't want to let go of her hand, but since neither Riku nor Xion knew that Roxas was aware of Naminé's true gender, Roxas felt it was best he kept up the oblivious act.

The limo came to a stop and the four occupants looked at each other. Their door was opened and a familiar face peeked in.

"Hello folks!" Vayne smiled. "Hope you're all enjoying the ride."

Naminé smiled. "It's like heaven compared to all of the insanity back there."

Vayne chuckled nervously. "I'm afraid that you're not out of the woods just yet."

"What do you mean?" Roxas asked.

Vayne scratched the back of his neck and Roxas was reminded of Sora. "The press somehow found out that the after party will be held in Oblivion."

"What?" Xion's brow furrowed. "The location is only known to staff, the singers and the VIP guests."

Vayne looked at her apologetically. "I know that Miss, but I just got a call from Terra telling me that the paparazzi is already camping out at Oblivion's entrance."

Xion huffed and began digging through her beaded purse; it was then that Riku seemed to become aware that he had been holding Xion's hand this entire time. Roxas dug in his jeans pocket for his cell, but to his shock, his phone wasn't there. Naminé looked up at him and then dug her hands inside her pockets but came up empty.

"Did we lose our phones?" Naminé rasped. She looked over at Riku and asked, "Do you have yours?"

Riku shook his head. "I think I left mine in my dress suit."

"I think I did too." Roxas said. "At least I hope I did."

"Vayne, where are we right now?" Riku asked the redhead.

"At a gas station about a block away from Oblivion." Vayne answered. "The limo was a bit low on gas. If you guys want to step out and stretch, feel free to do so."

Vayne walked away and left the door slightly open for them. Xion made a 'tch' noise and the other three looked at her.

"No wonder I didn't hear my phone." She said in annoyance as she looked at her cell.

"Is your phone dead?" Riku asked her.

Xion shook her head. "It's on silence. I guess at some point my phone kept hitting the volume button with something inside my purse amid all the commotion in Cornelia Castle."

She put her phone back inside her purse and looked over at the open door momentarily before she got out of her seat and walked outside. Naminé followed right after Xion and Roxas stood up right at the same time as Riku. The two looked at each other for a few seconds before Roxas moved forward.

He jumped off the limo and stretched as much as he could. He looked around and saw that Naminé was by herself, leaning against the limo with her hands clasped in front of her.

"Where'd Xion go?" Roxas asked her.

"The bathroom." Naminé replied. Roxas noticed that she still looked uneasy for some reason. He walked over to her and looked right into her eyes. Roxas couldn't help but notice a luminescent blush appearing in her cheeks, which caused her to look away. Roxas smiled and ruffled her hair.

Do you still think of her as a little sister?
Shut up!

Roxas moved next to her and leaned against the limo; he looked over as Riku closed the limousine door behind him. Riku looked over at Roxas, a scowl was apparent on the silveret's face. Xion came walking out of the gas station's minimart with a plastic bag on her right arm. Her injured arm of all things.

Riku walked over to Xion and grabbed the plastic bag from her. "You shouldn't be putting pressure on your arm until you clean the wounds."

"It's just a little scratch, it's no big deal." Xion smiled lopsidedly.

"I don't want to hurt yourself regardless." Riku said. He smiled at Xion and made her bush.

"Oh, I got a text from Kairi." She said looking over at Roxas and Naminé. "She says that they made it to Oblivion."

"Who's they?" Naminé asked.

"Terra, Aqua, Sora and Kairi." Xion replied. "Kairi says that the paparazzi haven't turned into a big crowd yet, so we should hurry and get there before they do."

At that Vayne came from the other side of the limo with a panicked expression. "Getingetingetingetin…"

"What's going?" Riku asked.

The answer presented itself when an SUV with a large CHANNEL 9 logo passed by the gas station and drove around the corner. It didn't take long for the pieces to fall into place.

"Get in get in get in!" Vayne continued to chant. "Get in before they come back!"

Roxas grabbed Naminé's hand and quickly opened the limo door, and pushed her inside first. He turned around to find Riku doing the same for Xion, giving the brunette a push before the silveret hopped in. Roxas got inside and slammed the door shut, and the limo turned on.

"Everyone all in?" Vayne's voice asked. Roxas looked around and saw that the redhead's voice was coming out of the round speakers on the limousine walls. Xion leaned over to the mini bar and pressed a button on a speaker box.

"We're all here!" she replied.

"Okay! Hang on to your seats, folks!" Vayne said.

The limo made a sharp turn to the right, causing Naminé to press against Roxas. He grabbed and held her tightly against him, as the vehicle continued its route towards Oblivion. The ride wasn't long and before the four passengers knew it, the limo had come to an abrupt stop.

Their door opened and the older man with round shades from Cornelia Castle looked in. "My name is Auron Guardian, I will be your personal security guard from now on." The man spoke in a deep, commanding voice. "You will all follow me as we make our way to the main building; rest assured that you'll all be kept safe."

He motioned them forward with his hand as he backed away from the door. Riku got out first, then Xion followed by Naminé and lastly Roxas. Auron slammed the door shut after Roxas and quickly ushered him forward. It was then that Roxas noticed that Riku had already made it to the building's entrance, holding onto both Naminé and Xion's hands. Roxas walked towards them, his inner fire igniting again.

Roxas knew that Riku was only trying to keep the girls safe, but something about the silveret holding Naminé's soft hand was making Roxas fume. He was so focused on keeping his eyes on Riku and Naminé; the small blonde looked over her shoulder and looked so relieved to see Roxas behind her that he barely even registered the few cameras flashes from the small paparazzi crowd. They entered the cool air conditioned building and Roxas could feel the bass from the music pulsating on the shiny, polished tile beneath him.

Oblivion was immense from both outside and inside; from the outside it looked very similar to Cornelia Castle, but the inside was much more modern. The club had a raised ceiling with several staircases leading to the various floors, which consisted of at least four. There were three doors on each floor that were well spaced out, Roxas assumed that these door s led to the actual dance floors.

Auron guided them forward to the center of the main floor; there was a reception desk where a woman with bright red hair tied into two ponytails speaking with an older man in a white suit. The older man turned around and Roxas recognized him instantly; it was Eraqus, the company's VP.

"Long time no see," Eraqus smiled. He moved towards them and began shaking hands with all of them; except for Xion, whom he hugged instead and Auron whom Eraqus patted them man's shoulder.

"I'll be outside the building keeping guard." Auron told Eraqus.

"Yes, thank you Auron." Eraqus replied.

Auron left and walked back outside where the voices of the press began to escalate. Eraqus shook his head. "If this is how things are now, imagine how things will be when you go on tour."

Roxas's jaw dropped. "T-tour…?"

"Certainly," Eraqus smiled. "After your first album makes over 500,000 sales, you'll most likely be going on tour around the world."

"How did filming go?" Xion asked Eraqus.

"Filming?" Naminé echoed.

"The company isn't just focused on music careers you know." Eraqus said in a matter-of-fact tone. "We have decided to branch out our artists so that they can have acting careers as well. So far, our two most successful cases are none other than Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart."

"They were members of Final Fantasy!" Roxas said. "That's where they've been since the band split?"

Eraqus nodded. "Yes, but they are filming separate projects; Squall is appearing in an action movie which will premiere next summer and Cloud is filming a TV drama, which will be out this coming spring."

"I never would have pictured Cloud to be in a TV drama," Roxas mused. "He seems so uninterested in everything."

Eraqus smiled. "It's just how he portrays himself, he's just a quiet, simple man." He turned around to face the receptionist and pulled out an envelope from his blazer and handed it to the ponytailed woman. She pulled out several ID cards from the envelope and then pointed a scanner at them.

She picked them up and handed the IDs back to Eraqus inside the envelope and smiled. "Thank you very much, please enjoy your stay."

"Thank you Vanille." Eraqus smiled back. He turned to look at the other four and motioned forward with a jerk of his head. "Follow me."

They walked up to the second floor and continued down a long walkway. Roxas noticed that Naminé began to walk slower, as if she was trying to make it seem like she was distracted. But he knew what she was doing; she was trying to walk next to him without looking too obvious. The only thing was that Riku was starting to notice seeing as he was still holding her hand.

"This floor has been specifically reserved for the after party." Eraqus told them.

"The entire floor?" Naminé asked. "But, what about the public?"

"Oh Oblivion has to different sides." Xion answered. "This side is only for high class events and the other side is open to the general public."

"Seems like a smart idea," Riku said. "That way people don't spike any of the celebrities' drinks."

"That and any other thing that a deranged fan can come up with." Eraqus said.

"Like what?" Naminé asked.

Eraqus and Xion turned around to face Naminé. "You don't want to know."

They walked down towards the end of the hallway and Roxas noticed that at the very end were the rest rooms, with blue neon letter that said VIP. Eraqus stopped in fron door and opened, letting out deafening music reach their ears.

They entered the room and Roxas had to aver his eyes slightly due to the colorful lights beaming all over the room. When he managed to adjust his eyes he stared in awe; the room was huge, it was bigger than their house in its entirety, including their pool. The room had its own private bar that was about the size of their kitchen and living room joined, the dance floor was easily the size of the Grand Hall in Cornelia Castle so people could dance as crazy as they wanted without bumping into someone. In the sitting area by the bar were over fifty small square tables that seated four people, it honestly looked more like a restaurant. There was a large stage behind the dance floor where the DJ was doing his work, and an antique juke box next to him. In the center back there was a drum set and several guitars, but Roxas couldn't see what type they were.

"Wow!" Naminé beamed. "This place is enormous!"

Even though the music was blasting loudly, Roxas clearly heard her normal voice. He wasn't sure if Riku heard it, not that it would matter, he could simply pretend to not to notice, but Roxas prayed that Eraqus hadn't heard her.

Xion however, gave Naminé a cautious look, which the blonde caught and bit her lip nervously. Xion looked over her shoulder at Roxas, but he quickly looked away, pretending he never heard anything and setting his eyes on the bar area. It was then that Roxas remembered that Riku was still holding Naminé's hand.

Okay, we're inside the VIP room! You can let go of her now Riku!

It was as if Riku had somehow heard Roxas's thoughts and gripped both girls' hands. Roxas's inner fire raged inside him, scorching every inch of his body. All thoughts were becoming distant, replaced by a strong urge to punch Riku was dominating his instincts.

Roxas's feet moved forward automatically; his right arm rose, ready to be put to action. He opened his mouth to announce his approach, his eyes set on the person in front of him.

"Let's go get something to drink Snow!" Roxas smiled, placing a hand on Naminé's shoulder.

Naminé looked up at him and smiled radiantly. "Sure!"

Roxas watched with immense satisfaction as Naminé pulled her hand away from Riku's grasp, and especially relished in watching Riku's expression.

Roxas turned to face Xion, who was still holding Riku's hand. "Do you want anything to drink Xion?"

Xion nodded. "A pomegranate margarita please!"

Roxas nodded as he and Naminé walked over to the bar area. The two bartenders were women; they were dressed in a white dress shirt with a black vest buttoned on top. Both women had rose colored hair, the one closest to Roxas and Naminé had her hair tied to her left side and it curled down to her chest. She had a gentle smile as she served drinks to other people that Roxas didn't recognize before she noticed the blonds.

"What do you want to drink?" Roxas asked Naminé.

She placed her index finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Anything as longs as it's not alcoholic."

"But that's the point of ordering at a bar." Roxas chuckled.

Naminé scrunched up her face. "I don't like alcohol."

"Okay okay." Roxas smiled. "Do you want to drink Island Punch?"

"What's that?" Naminé blinked.

"It's a blend of several fruits." Roxas replied. "It originated in Destiny Islands, hence the name."

The bartender approached them with a gentle smile on her face. "Hello, I'm Serah. How may I be of service?"

"Hi," Roxas replied. "Can we get one Pomegranate Starseeker, an Island Punch and a Sea salt Night?"

"Certainly," Serah smiled. "Heavy or light?"

"Hmm," Roxas pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Go light with the Starseeker and no alcohol on the Punch."

"Got it!" Serah said happily. "I'll be right back."

She walked away over to the back of the bar where several stores worth of alcohol was stored. Roxas looked down at Naminé who was admiring her star necklace.

"That looks like a Paopu fruit." Roxas said.

Naminé looked up at him and tilted her head. "What's a Paopu fruit?"

"It's a star shaped fruit that only grows back home." Said a familiar voice.

Roxas turned around and saw Sora and Kairi smiling at them. Kairi was holding a blue colored drink in her left hand and Sora was holding something that looked like Pepsi.

"Have you ever tasted a Paopu?" Kairi asked Sora.

She asked this as Sora was taking a sip of his soda and he spat it out, causing Roxas to laugh and Naminé to cover her mouth, shaking with laughter.

"I don't know." Sora looked embarrassed. "I've never tried it."

"Why not?" Naminé asked.

"Err…" Sora's face was a darker shade than Kairi's hair. He scratched the back of his neck nervously, and Roxas couldn't help but feel sorry for his cousin.

"See, there's this legend that goes with the fruit." Roxas said. "Supposedly, when two people share one their destinies will become intertwined and they'll remain a part of each other's life forever."

Both girls looked utterly mystified at this. "That's so romantic!" Kairi said breathlessly.

"Does it really work?" Naminé asked and Roxas couldn't help but notice how her eyes lit up.

Roxas shrugged. "I can't speak from personal experience, but there are people who swear by the fruit."

"Mom and Dad shared one, remember?" Sora told Roxas.

"Yeah, but mom says that they were made for each other, so I'm not too sure that it applies." Roxas said.

Kairi sighed dreamily. "I'd love to try a Paopu fruit."

Sora's eyes widened and choked on his drink, Kairi tapped his back as Sora coughed up a storm.

"Here you are."

Roxas turned around and saw that Serah had placed the drinks on the counter top. He handed Naminé her red colored drink and took his and Xion's drink.

Sora finally gained composure and turned to Roxas. "Oh, Terra wants everyone to gather by the stage in ten minutes."

Roxas nodded. "Okay, just let me give this to Xion and I'll be right back."

"Oh Roxas!" Kairi called as he started walking away. She dug inside her large leather purse and held out his cell phone. "I got this out of your suit."

Roxas placed his drink on the counter and took his phone from Kairi and quickly placed it in his jeans pocket. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She looked around and raised an eyebrow. "Where's Riku?"

"He was with Xion the last we saw him." Naminé replied. Kairi pulled out another cell phone from inside her purse and handed it to Naminé. The blonde immediately flipped it open and checked her phone, but she must have not gotten any calls or anything as Naminé looked relieved and put her phone inside her jeans pocket.

"I need to give this to him." Kairi said as she held out Riku's cell. "Lead the way Roxas."

Roxas nodded as he grabbed his drink from the counter and walked away with Kairi following him.

---

A few minutes had passed and neither Roxas nor Kairi had returned. Sora looked around anxiously and finished his drink in a hasty manner. He left the empty glass on the counter which was picked up by the oldest looking rose haired woman.

Sora pulled out his cell and looked at it briefly before he turned to face Naminé. "Let's head to the stage, it's almost time."

Naminé nodded and finished up her drink and left her glass in the counter before she followed Sora. The guests were starting to crowd around the stage; Naminé noticed a man with long blue hair, yellow eyes, with an x-shaped scar on his face staring at her intensely. Naminé felt a horribly sensation sweeping over her as his eyes remained locked onto her, so she looked away.

Her heart nearly came out of her chest when a large hand landed on her shoulder. She looked up and was quite puzzled to see Axel smiling at her.

"You're quite jumpy, aren't you kid?" Axel smirked and Naminé gulped. "Don't worry, I won't bite you."

Naminé gave him a weak smile. "I know."

"Have you seen Roxas around?" Axel asked as his eyes scanned the area.

"He and Kairi went to look for Xion and Riku." Sora answered.

"Ohh…" Axel hummed. "By the way Sora…tell me you were kidding when you said that you've never had a girlfriend."

Sora scowled and rolled his sky blue orbs. "I should have never answered that stupid question."

Axel chuckled. "Didn't I tell you guys to never answer any personal questions? You could have at least lied or something."

"I know I know!" Sora hissed defensively. "But I got nervous and my mind went blank and I just blurted that out!"

"And now that's gonna be all over the news." Axel smiled lopsidedly. "Worldwide news at that."

Sora groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Did Kairi hear that?"

Axel removed his hand from Naminé's shoulder and cupped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, let's see…Kairi was sitting next to Xion and Xion was sitting next to me so, yes Sora, Kairi heard every word."

"Dammit." Sora muttered.

Their attention was drawn to the stage as Xemnas stepped forward. There was a round of applause for him as more people crowded around the stage. Naminé clapped but her eyes were scanning the area around for Roxas. Unfortunately for her, she was barely 5'2", therefore making it nearly impossible for her to find him.

Xemnas held out his arms as the clapping and loud music faded. The tall blue haired man approached Xemnas and handed him a wireless microphone. "First of all, thank you everyone for being here today. Thanks to all whose sweat and hard work made all of this possible. Today we celebrate the birth of a very talented musical quartet that will surely be immensely successful."

There was a round of applause, several people let out shouts of enthusiasm.

"I'd like for everyone to enjoy the festivities until your hearts are content." Xemnas smiled rather sinisterly before he walked off the stage.

"All right then." Axel said. "That's my cue."

"For what?" Sora asked.

"You'll see." Axel smirked. "If little Roxy comes around, tell him to text me." He walked away from the two as the crowd started to disperse. Naminé continued to look around the area, but still no sign of Roxas. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone and flipped open, thinking of texting him.

He's probably somewhere with Xion.She felt her heart sink at the thought, but she tried to convince herself that if Roxas liked Xion, that she should feel happy for him.

Right?

"Kairi!" Sora called enthusiastically.

Naminé looked up to see the lovely redhead approaching them. To Naminé's dismay, Kairi was clearly unaccompanied.

"Did you guys find Xion?" Naminé asked.

"Yeah, she was sitting down with Riku at a table over there." Kairi pointed to the seating area behind her. "They're waiting for us over there."

"Awesome." Sora said bracingly. "Let's go!"

Kairi nodded and Sora walked next to her as Naminé followed the two. It was quite easy to tell that Sora wanted to hold Kairi's hand; they kept hitting their hands, but pretended like nothing was happening. Naminé felt some jealousy over Kairi; the red haired girl was able to be herself freely, she didn't have to pass herself off as her brother or any guy. Kairi didn't have to worry about how holding hands would Sora would be perceived by others.

They walked over to a square table with four high-rise chairs and Naminé was reminded of a restaurant. Naminé looked over at Roxas as he was busy texting. Next to him was Xion, and Naminé noticed that Xion was wearing the blazer that Riku had been wearing earlier. Naminé looked over at Riku and sure enough, he was just wearing his teal colored t-shirt.

Kairi looked over at Xion and shook her head disapprovingly. "That blazer won't do Xion."

"What do you mean?" Xion asked innocently.

Kairi rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna go find a first-aid kit, I'll be right back."

"Are you hurt?" Sora asked worriedly, his eyes looking around her for any sort of injury.

Naminé suddenly understood why Xion was acting so innocently about wearing Riku's blazer. "It's for Xion, right? For her arm." At this, Roxas finally looked up and smiled at Naminé, causing her to feel immensely joyous.

"What happened to Xion?" Sora asked as he looked at the raven haired brunette in question.

"Someone grabbed her arm on our way out of Cornelia Castle." Riku replied. "It left several scratches on her arm."

"Who was it?" Sora asked Xion.

Xion shrugged. "I have no clue, everything happened so fast."

"That's scary." Sora said. "I guess the paparazzi are as dangerous as they say on TV."

"It's not that bad really." Xion smiled. "You guys are making a storm out of a glass of water."

"Regardless," Kairi said, all playfulness leaving her voice. "We'd better get that wound cleaned and avoid an infection."

Xion sighed. "It's not like I'm going to die-"

"Xion." Kairi cut her off. "Please."

Xion hung her head in defeat; it seemed that when Kairi set her mind on something, there was no way to change her mind. Xion got out of her chair and smiled guiltily at Kairi before the redhead hugged her.

"Why are you always so stubborn?" Kairi said in a caring voice. "You should be nicer to your older sister."

"It must run in the family if I'm stubborn." Xion stuck her tongue out. "And besides, it's my job as a little sister to give you a hard time."

So they ARE sisters, that's why they look alike.

Kairi giggled and then turned to face Naminé. "Wanna come with us Snow?"

Naminé nodded. "Okay!"

"You guys want me to come along with you?" Sora asked Kairi hopefully.

"Hey Sora, I gotta ask you something." Roxas said from his seat.

Sora forced a smile. "Can't you ask me later?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Nope. I need you to answer me right now."

Sora looked rather incensed. "Sure thing cousin."

"We'll be right back!" Kairi smiled and blew a kiss at Sora, whose cheeks reddened.

Naminé looked over at Roxas and mouthed 'thank you'. Roxas nodded and smiled at her.

Sora walked over to the table and sat down next to Riku giving Roxas an unamused look. Naminé felt bad for Sora as the three girls began to walk away.

"Poor Sora," Xion said. "He wanted to spend more time with you Kairi."

"Oh Xion!" Kairi said playfully, her cheeks stained with pink.

"It's true," Xion smiled. "It's so painfully obvious, I don't know why you're acting as if it's not."

They reached the VIP room's entrance door which Naminé opened. The three of them walked out into the main second floor hallway and Naminé felt as if the there had been pressure on her ears was gone. She could feel her ears popping as the loud music diminished as the door closed behind her.

"So where would we find a first aid kit?" Naminé asked the two sisters.

They walked down the stairs to the first floor and stopped when they reached the main lobby. "Let's go ask the receptionist." Kairi replied.

Kairi walked forward and the other two girls followed closely behind her. As they neared the reception area, Naminé noticed how close they were to the main entrance. Naminé couldn't see the outside since the sun was setting and effectively creating incredibly bright reflections from the glass, nearly blinding her. Naminé only made out vague silhouettes of the security guards and some lingering reporters.

Naminé nearly bumped into Xion when the brunette stopped walking. Naminé realized that they were in front of the reception area and that Kairi was already speaking with Vanille.

"First aid kit?" Vanille said merrily. "Why of course!" She bent down and Naminé could hear shuffling noises and a small door being opened before it was closed. Vanille stood up straight holding a large white square box with a big red cross in the center. She handed the box to Kairi and smiled. "Please don't forget to bring it back!"

"I won't," Kairi smiled back. "Thank you!"

"Where to?" Xion asked her sister.

"Let's go to the VIP bathroom." Kairi said as she walked forward.

They walked across the lobby and Naminé couldn't help but glance at the entrance again; the sun's harsh light caused her to narrow her eyes protectively, but she could make out a figure walking up to what Naminé assumed was a security guard. The sun's glare was too much for Naminé's eyes to handle so she looked away. The three of them went up the stairs again, but this time they walked past the VIP room and walked all the way to the end of the second floor hallway. The women's room was to the left hand side and the men's was to the right. Naminé stopped in the center space between the two, unsure if she should enter the women's room.

Xion smiled and grabbed the blonde's arm and dragging Naminé inside the women's room.

"What if someone walks in?" Naminé asked in a panicked voice.

"It's the VIP bathroom, Nami." Kairi smiled as she set down the first aid kit on the sink countertop.

"Remember what Eraqus said about the entire floor being reserved specifically just for us?" Xion asked and Naminé nodded. "That included this bathroom."

"But what if it's an employee?" Naminé insisted. "Or a celebrity?"

"We'll just hide you in one of the stalls." Kairi replied offhandedly. "So stop worrying."

Naminé opened her mouth to reply but realized it would be pointless. She looked around the bathroom and was quite surprised to see how beautiful it was. The walls were a polished tile and the lights were crystal cups with an electric candle inside. These lights decorated the large vanity mirror by the sinks; the linoleum countertop's black color matched the fine wooden frames on the stalls and greatly contrasted the white walls. The floor was adorned with shiny tiles that created a fleur de lis patter between four. Naminé brought her attention away from her surroundings when she heard Xion hissing in pain.

Xion had removed Riku's blazer and Kairi was dabbing an alcohol swab over the scratches on Xion's arm.

"Those weren't like that earlier." Naminé gasped. When she had last seen Xion's arm, there had a giant pink mark, not three bright red claw marks.

Xion winced when Kairi blew her breath over the wound. "I hadn't even noticed them until Roxas pointed them out."

Naminé's heart began to speed up at the mention of Roxas.

"Riku took off his blazer and told me to wear it," Xion's cheeks turned pink when she said that. "Since we didn't have any Band-Aids, he told me to use his blazer to cover up my scratches."

"Lucky he thought of that, too." Kairi said as she walked to the wall and threw away the dirty swab in the trash.

"I don't think anyone would have noticed if Roxas hadn't said anything in the first place." Xion smiled.

"You know," Kairi said slyly as she walked back to Xion. "You've been spending an awful lot of time with Roxas lately. Am I sensing a crush?"

Naminé felt her heart sinking and her stomach churning. She looked over at Xion and was rather surprised to see Xion roll her eyes.

"Kairi, don't start again." Xion replied wearily. "Any crush you're 'sensing' must be your own on Sora."

Kairi's jaw dropped and she laughed. "This isn't about me, okay?"

"You know it's true." Xion grinned. "We can all tell you like Sora."

Naminé didn't think it was possible for Kairi's cheeks to get any more red, but they certainly did. Kairi grabbed a Band-Aid and ripped the paper wrapping, then carefully removed the plastic covering the adhesive. Kairi gently placed the Band-Aid over Xion's wound gently and then turned around to throw away the trash.

Xion still had the same cheeky grin on her face which was met with a frown from Kairi, despite her luminescent blush. Xion put on Riku's blazer again and then grabbed the first aid kit and left the bathroom. Kairi shook her head and then put her hands in the nearest sink and the faucet automatically began to gush out water. Kairi looked up and the large vanity mirror and blinked.

"What's wrong Nami?" Kairi asked concernedly.

Naminé hesitated momentarily. Maybe Kairi can explain to me what my feelings mean.

"Um…Kairi?" Naminé whispered. She wasn't sure why she was whispering, seeing as it was just the two of them alone in a bathroom. "How do you know when…you're in love?"

Kairi grabbed a paper towel from the automatic dispenser on the wall above the trash can. "I'm not sure…" Kairi mused as she dried her hands. "Do you like someone?"

Naminé blushed. "I…I'm not sure. I think so."

Kairi threw away the paper towel and looked at Naminé. "Well, when you think of him, how do you feel?"

The small blonde felt the heat in her cheeks intensify. "I feel…happy. I feel a warm sensation spreading through my entire body."

"Hmm…" Kairi hummed as she ushered Naminé outside of the bathroom. "You definitely like someone. As for being in love, if you're not already, then it sounds like you're starting to fall for this person."

An image of Roxas popped in Naminé's mind. She closed her eyes momentarily as the imaginary Roxas combed her imaginary self's hair with his fingers, before completely wrapping her in his embrace.

Naminé opened her eyes as the she followed Kairi down the stairs. "Do you really think so?"

Kairi nodded. "Definitely."

They reached the lobby as Naminé felt a gentle warmth spread through her. So it's love. This feeling that's growing for Roxas, its love?

But then Naminé remembered how close Xion was with Roxas, how much time the two spent together, and the possibility of the two of them having feeling for one another.

"Kairi, do you think Xion likes Roxas?" Naminé asked quietly.

"No." Kairi giggled. "I just love teasing her. If anything, Xion like Roxas like a brother."

It was as if the sun had come out of hiding after months of nothing but cloudy skies.

"Really?" Naminé asked, joy was evident in her voice.

Kairi raised an eyebrow curiously. "You sound quite relieved. Naminé, do you like Roxas?"

"Wh-what?" Naminé blushed.

"I think you like him." Kairi said pointedly. "I'd be willing to bet that the guy you're falling in love with is Roxas."

Naminé looked away, trying to hide her blush. "…am I that obvious?"

Kairi placed a hand on Naminé's shoulder. "Yes, but it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"It's just that…" Naminé sighed. "I don't know how Roxas feels about me."

"For starters, he thinks you're a guy." Kairi pursed her lips. "Chances are that he probably thinks of you a little brother at best."

Naminé smiled. "Kairi, Roxas knows."

Kairi blinked. "He knows your secret?" Naminé nodded. "Wha…bu-but how did he find out?"

Naminé sighed. "I got a call from my brother, and I forgot to lock my door that night. I was reading a book but at some point I fell asleep on my desk. Roxas walked in to tell me about my brother's call, since I apparently left my phone in the living room or something like that. Anyways, Roxas walked in and he tried to wake me up but I ended up falling from my seat and on top of him."

Kairi gasped. "Did he feel you up?"

"No!" Naminé blushed furiously. "He moved me and then he saw…my boobs."

"Oh Nami." Kairi sighed. "Did he get angry?"

"No." Naminé replied. "He was a bit upset, but mostly confused. I explained everything to him; I told him about my brother's injury and I asked him to keep my secret."

"He uh…didn't ask you for any bodily favors in exchange did he?" Kairi asked seriously.

"No!" Naminé replied exasperated. "He's not like that at all."

Kairi sighed. "Well, at least we have another person that knows. I just hope he doesn't rat you out."

"He won't." Naminé smiled sweetly. "I'm sure of it. I trust Roxas with my heart."

Kairi smiled back and hugged Naminé. "You are in love."

Naminé blushed and returned Kairi's hug.

"Aw, how cute!"

The two girls broke apart and turned to face the newcomer. Naminé's eyes widened; it was a tall man wearing a black blazer with a blood colored t-shirt underneath, black jeans that hugged his legs tightly and Vans.

His facial features sent shivers up Naminé's spine; his face was highly unsettling, he had yellow eyes, black hair that was spiked in every direction that looked way too familiar for comfort. But the creepiest aspect of the man was his devilish smile, which only became more noticeable as he neared them.

Roxas wasn't kidding when he said that Sora and his older brother looked identical.

"What are you doing here?" Kairi hissed. "Who let you in?"

"I have a name. And it's not 'you', it's Vanitas." The dark haired brunet smirked and pulled out and invitation from inside his blazer and handed it to Kairi. "Looks like sharing the same DNA as Sora has finally paid off."

Naminé looked over at the invitation and saw that it was authentic, it even had Xemnas's signature. Kairi scowled and ripped the invitation to pieces.

"Get out." Kairi said fiercely. "Leave right now, or I'll-"

"You'll what?" Vanitas said smugly. "You'll call security? Go right ahead."

Naminé stared incredulously at the man, her brain was having a hard time processing the cruel fact such as sweet woman as Stella had given birth to a man like him. Even more so that he really looked too much like Sora.

"Security!" Kairi yelled. "Security!"

Sora's brother laughed. "Keep screaming sweetcakes, they won't hear you."

"What did you do to them!" Kairi fumed.

"Nothing actually," he replied casually. "You're just too far away for them to hear you."

Kairi glared at him and started walking towards the main entrance, but the man was much faster than Kairi; in the blink of an eye, he managed to single-handedly grab Kairi by her waist. He pressed her against his chest, limiting her arm's movements.

"Let go!" she hissed.

"Oh you're going to be a fun one, aren't you?" He sneered.

Naminé ran over to him and pushed him. He staggered slightly but still managed to keep Kairi in the same place. His demonic yellow orbs fell on her and Naminé felt as if he could see into her soul. "Let her go!"

"You know, I had seen you from far way several days ago," Vanitas said. "And from a distance, you looked just like a girl."

Naminé felt her heart jump to her throat and Kairi's eyes widened in panic.

"But now that I have you here up close," he licked his lips. "I must admit, you're fucking adorable."

Naminé balled up her fists, anger slowly festering inside her. "I'm a guy."

The brunet let out a maniacal laugh. "If you're a guy, then I must be a fairy princess."

Naminé slapped him across the face. She had no idea what came over her, the anger inside was rising with each second. "I told you to let her go!"

In his brief moment of shock Kairi managed to pull away and shoved him to the floor. But Vanitas quickly recovered, the girls decided to make a run for the stairs but he managed to grab Kairi by her hair. Naminé turned around and saw that Kairi was struggling in his hold; Vanitas grabbed both of her arms and held them tightly with one hand.

"Leave her alone!" Naminé shrieked as she pounded Vanitas's shoulder.

He laughed again in that same maniacal laughter and kicked Naminé on the stomach, causing her to collapse on her knees. Vanitas grabbed Naminé by her hair and started pulling her upwards, bringing her face close to his.

"I always wanted to be in a threesome." He ran his tongue on her lips. "But I'm afraid that I need to make sure that you're a girl."

He walked over to the nearest wall, pulling Naminé by the front of her hair and Kairi pressed tightly against him with her hands held by his firm grip. Vanitas slammed Naminé against the wall and she felt disoriented, her vision becoming a bit blurry from the blow to her head.

"And underneath your shirt we have…" he said in delighted voice.

"STOP!" Kairi yelled. "Leave him alone!"

"Oh I just love it how you're trying so hard to fool me." Vanitas smirked at Kairi. "Just because we look alike, it doesn't mean that I'm as stupid as my brother."

"Shut your mouth!" Kairi snarled. She stomped on his foot which he retaliated by removing his hand from Naminé's chest and slapping Kairi.

Naminé saw her window of opportunity and took it; she punched him squarely in the mouth. Her fist hurt her like hell, but she didn't care. "LET GO!"

Vanitas glared at Naminé and slammed her against the wall again, this time he used his knee to press against Naminé's crotch. "You have quite the nerve." He hissed venomously. "I'mreallygoing to enjoy you."

"Leave them alone!"

The three looked over behind them as Xion threw Riku's blazer over Vanitas's face and pulled Kairi away as he used both hands to remove the blazer. Naminé saw and opening and aimed at his privates, but missed by an inch and kicked his upper thigh instead.

Vanitas growled like a wild animal as Naminé ran away towards the two sisters. "Now this is even better!" he grinned toothily. "Three girls and one guy, I'd say that pretty much covers every guy's fantasy."

"Go fuck yourself!" Xion spat.

Vanitas looked at her and grabbed her injured arm. "I'd rather fuck you, sweetie."He threw Xion against Kairi, knocking the sisters on the floor. He looked over at Naminé and grinned maliciously. "Where were we?"

Naminé tried to punch him again but missed as he moved out of the way. Vanitas grabbed her right wrist and squeezed it tightly, causing her to scream in pain.

"I LOVE IT WHEN GIRLS SCREAM FOR ME!" he laughed. He pressed her against him and used his free hand to rip her vest open. Kairi and Xion got up from the floor and smacked every inch of him they could; this seemed to fuel him as he absolutely reveled in the feeling as if it were what he intended all along.

Vanitas looked over at Xion and grabbed her injured arm again but she threw a punch and managed to hit his left eye. Vanitas threw Xion downward and threw Naminé against Kairi; the three girls panting heavily as they writhed painfully on the ground. Vanitas kneeled down to their level and looked at them lustfully. He grabbed Naminé by her hair with his left hand and managed to grab tufts of Kairi and Xion's hair with his right hand simultaneously.

"Did I ever tell you girls that you're all fucked?" he smirked.

"VANITAS!" roared a familiar voice.

The four looked up the stairs and saw Sora, Roxas and Riku running down the stairs. Sora jumped off the last six steps as Vanitas stood up, releasing the girls' hair. Sora yelled at the top of his lungs and threw a punch, which Vanitas dodged. But he wasn't expecting Sora to use his other hand and threw a second punch, this time the youngest brother punched the oldest right in the mouth.

"Didn't I tell you to never lay a finger on her!" Sora snarled.

Vanitas smirked at Sora and spat blood at his brother's face. "Don't you know by now that I don't give a shit!"

While Vanitas was distracted the three girls managed to get on their feet. Naminé felt someone pull her away and she nearly threw a punch, but she stopped when she saw Roxas's worried face. He leaned down and grabbed Xion's uninjured arm, she nearly fell on the ground again but Riku managed to catch her.

"Sora!" Kairi shrieked.

They turned to face the brothers to see Sora getting punched by Vanitas. Roxas let go of Naminé and ran over to his two cousins. Naminé's heart rate went to 100mph as she watched Roxas tackle Vanitas to the ground and punch his oldest cousin in the face.

Vanitas punched Roxas and threw Roxas off him and laughed. "Wow, I would have never guessed that you were so strong Roxas!"

"Shut up!" Roxas bellowed as he wiped blood off from his busted lip.

Sora was about to run up to Vanitas but Kairi hugged his waist. "Sora don't!"

"He hurt you!" Sora hissed. "He deserves it!"

"Please don't!" Kairi cried. "Please Sora, don't!"

He looked down at her and then at Vanitas. "Apologize to her. NOW."

Naminé had never heard Sora's voice be that low, it sounded too much like Vanitas's voice.

Vanitas laughed hysterically. "Like hell I will! You've always amused me with your stupidity Sora. Have you considered a career as a comedian instead? I mean, you won't even have to rehearse or write a script! You can just say the first thing that comes out of your fucking mouth and it'll be gloriously stupid!"

"Just fucking leave already!" Naminé yelled. She had never sworn in her life before, but this monster certainly merits being cussed at.

Riku moved her closer to him before he looked at Vanitas. "I never would have thought you were barbaric enough to do something like this. Leave now, or you'll regret it."

Vanitas rolled his eyes. "Save it Gallagher, your threats don't scare me."

Naminé felt Riku letting go of her and he moved forward.

"Riku no!" Xion pleaded.

Vanitas raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Looks like someone's ready to be a big boy now. About time you manned up."

Riku moved his arm back as if he was going to punch Vanitas; the raven haired brunet moved downward to dodge the punch but Riku kicked his face instead. Vanitas fell on his back flat on the floor. The silveret walked towards Xion when he noticed his discarded blazer on the floor. He picked it up and dusted it off before throwing it over Xion's shoulders.

"Is he dead?" Xion asked, her eyes on Riku.

"No, he's just out cold." Riku replied and then turned to face Naminé. "Are you okay Snow?"

"I'm fine." She mumbled. She sighed and before she knew it Roxas had taken her in his arms.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Naminé looked at him puzzled. "But you didn't do anything wrong."

Roxas looked at her forehead and his eyes darkened. He pressed her head on his shoulder as his other hand rubbed her back.

Naminé looked over at Kairi as Sora held her and stroked her hair; it was no longer tied up and the curls were completely undone.

They all jumped when Vanitas got up on his feet and smirked. "That was fun."

"Get the fuck out." Roxas growled.

Vanitas rolled his eyes and turned around, giving his back to them. "Not bad at all, congratulations. You three actually managed to punch me this time. But don't get cocky, this war is far from over."

He looked over his shoulder and looked directly at Naminé. "Oh and tell whomever is in charge of the costumes to give you a dress. You're way too cute to be wearing men's clothing, my dear."

Naminé's lips trembled in anger and Roxas held her tighter as Vanitas walked away. They let a few moments pass before Riku walked to the entrance door. When he came back, he confirmed that Vanitas had exited the building.

"Fucking asshole." Riku hissed. "The good thing is that he can't get back in since he doesn't have an invitation anymore."

"What were the guards doing this whole time?" Roxas asked angrily. "Where they fucking hell were they when this happened? Out on lunch?"

"They didn't hear anything from inside." Riku said irritably. "There's an entire crowd of paparazzis out there. The receptionist isn't at her post, I have no clue where she went."

"How did you guys know we were here?" Xion asked as Riku helped her sit on the first step.

"We didn't." Sora replied honestly. "We wondered why you guys were taking so long."

"We walked out of the VIP room when we heard Snow screaming." Roxas said as he looked down at Naminé. He had let go of her but he was standing close to her.

"Let's go get you all cleaned up." Riku said. He helped Xion get up. "Where's the first aid kit?"

"I dropped it on the floor when I heard Kairi and Snow screaming." She said apologetically.

---

Roxas had walked in the direction of the reception desk and came back with the large square box in his hands. The six of them then slowly trudged up the stairs and all of them walked inside the women's room, none of them caring if another person walked in. Roxas placed the first aid kit on the counter and opened it.

Roxas looked at his own reflection and sighed; his hair was completely disheveled and there was a large bruise on his forehead, it trailed blood on the side of his face, not to mentions the gash on his lip. When they all finished cleaning their wounds, they all looked at one another.

"I don't know about you guys," Roxas sighed. "But I'm all fun-ed out."

"Yeah, I'm not in a festive mood either." Xion said.

"Fucking Vanitas." Sora hissed. "He always ruins everything."

Kairi rested her head on Sora's shoulders. "What do we do now?"

"Let's head home." Riku said. "We can watch movies or play video games."

"Yeah, let's do that!" Sora beamed but quickly recoiled in pain as his lip began to bleed again.

"Oh careful, Sora." Kairi said sweetly as she gently caressed his cheek.

"But what will we tell Terra and the others?" Naminé rasped. Roxas could tell that her rasping wasn't fake.

"We can just tell him that we're leaving." Riku shrugged. "We don't really need to give him any real explanation."

There was silence for a moment when Roxas spoke. "Just tell him that we're tired, he'll understand."

"And we can say we're going with you guys." Kairi said. "We're not lying anyways."

"So do we tell him in person," Xion murmured. "Or do we text him?"

"I'll go tell him." Riku replied. "You guys all have injuries and that's gonna raise questions."

Riku walked out of the room as the other five remained behind. Xion leaned against the countertop with her head raised, her eyes on the ceiling. She had a bruise on her jaw and a cut on one of her eyebrows. Kairi had a gash on her chin and a dark bruise on both of her arms. Sora had a busted lip, a bruise on under his right eye and a cut on the side of his face.

"I'm gonna go head see if we can call up a cab or something." Xion said tiredly. She walked out of the room and it wasn't long before Kairi followed after her little sister with Sora right behind her.

Roxas looked over at Naminé who was playing with her necklace again. Her forehead was bright red and her face had a small bruise, her lip had a cut right by her cupid's bow. Her sleeves were rolled up slightly as she continued to play with her star; it was then he noticed dark red marks on her right wrist.

"Naminé," he said as he walked up to her. "Let me see your arms."

Naminé blinked but held out her arms. He gently grabbed her right wrist and noticed how not only did she wince, but she hissed in pain. Roxas rolled up her sleeve to her elbow and saw the prints of Vanitas's long fingers.

How could this have happened? I should have been there for her! I'm supposed to keep an eye out for her and I failed. I left her out of my sight for a moment and this happens.

"What's wrong Roxas?" Naminé asked tenderly.

His eyes met hers. I can't let something like this ever happen again.

"Roxas?" she looked genuinely worried now. "Please tell me what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Roxas's voice was laced in contempt. "I failed you, that's what's wrong."

"Roxas, you didn't kno-"

"But if I'd come along with you girls, none of this would have happened." Roxas hissed. He hated himself, for the first time in his entire life, he hated himself.

"Please don't blame yourself, Roxas." Naminé whispered. "None of this was your fault."

Roxas shook his head. "I won't let this happen again. Look at me in the eyes, Naminé."

When their eyes met, it seemed as if the world had stopped, as if they were the only inhabitants in the planet.

"I promise you, nothing or anyone will ever harm you again." Roxas said gravely. "I will stay by you at all times and keep you safe from harm."

He took her in his arms as his mind processed every emotion running through him.

I'm angry at myself for not being there for her, I fucking hate Vanitas, I wished I could have ripped his face off and…
What else? There is another emotion here you need to accept.
I…I'm scared…
Of what? What could you possibly be scared of?

Roxas felt Naminé's arms wrap around him, her head leaning against his chest. Roxas closed his eyes and rested his head against hers.

I…I'm scared of losing her. I've never been so scared in my life before.
And why is that? Isn't she like a 'sister' to you?
No, she's not.

Roxas opened his eyes and looked down at her; her cerulean blue orbs seemed to sparkle with tears. He was amazed that she hadn't cried after the beating she had been given. He admired her bravery; he admired that unlike any other girl, Naminé had not given into tears.

Roxas ran his fingers through her soft hair.

So what is she then?
The girl I'm in love with.