Slowly and steadily, the ambience of the combinations of beeping instruments and sliding trolleys began to crescendo into her eardrums. She could feel it; the bed's soft sheet. Even though her eyes remained close, unable to obey her commands, Naminé has fairly guessed that she was in a hospital. The echoes of running people, nurses and doctors perhaps, have assured her more. As she eventually managed to control her eyes, they calmly flung open and bits of the sun's bright rays greeted her. It blinded her for a few seconds before she could adjust the brightness. Although her vision was still blurry, she could make out a figure was sitting near the bed. It was clearly a 'he'; judging by his sitting posture.

"You're finally up?" the lad's gentle voice spoke.

She recognized the voice, though there was a slight disappointment after knowing the voice's owner. "Yea," she answered weakly. The blonde forced herself to sit up, but a sudden headache prevented her from doing so. She rubbed her head several times, though the pain wouldn't ease off. She felt another hand was touching her head, it was the lad.

"Still painful?" he asked.

Naminé tilted her head facing the lad's feature. Her guess was right. The lad was Zachary Fair, even though she was hoping for it to be Roxas. She was sure that Roxas was going to be angry and probably…probably…where was Roxas? She was confused.

"What happened?"

As Zack slumped back on the chair, he started tapping his chin. "Did you lose your memories?" he curiously asked. Naminé wasn't even sure of herself. Did she? All she could remember was hearing a familiar voice of apologizing her before she fell of the stairs. But how? How did she fall of the stairs at Darson's? Naminé searched for her memories, but it was no use. Every time she recalled them, there was only a blank black screen and a dreadful headache.

Zack blandly turned her head to his direction with his alluring eyes filled in desires. "Do you still remember me?" he anxiously asked. There was no direct answer from her; only a nod. Then she halted. Something has rung the bell.

"Who are you?"

"Hey, that was supposed to be my question," a young girl in braided blonde exclaimed.

"Stop being childish," a young boy bluntly said. He sighed deeply. He was lean and taller than the young girl. His hair was jet black and slightly oiled. The young girl could tell that he has come from a rich family, especially since he has shown his arrogant trait, a typical and must-have trait for a rich child.

"I'm Zachary. There, are you happy?" he rolled his eyes.

The young girl widened her eyes in surprise. "Ah! You must be my brother's friend! He has talked a lot about you!"

The boy turned around, "Your brother?" he curiously asked.

The girl nodded in excitement. She beamed, ah such a sweet girl she is. How old is she? Probably 14 or 13, though she still has those gentle and innocent baby face in which people always mistaken her for an 11-year-old school girl. But of course, she wasn't a little girl anymore. Her own school uniform has proven so; grey checked skirt, black blazer, and white ribbon. That was the official colour of the school uniform of Twilight Town High School.

"Yea that's right! My brother! He's…wait…what's his name again?" she halted.

Zack smacked his face. He thought it was a mistake to even start a conversation with a dumb girl who forgets her own brother's name. Although he was still puzzled as he could count how many students that recognized his name. After all, he was just a loser and nobody at school, unlike those three famous seniors of his. Their names were the talk of the students.

'Anaxagoras Pavlos.'

'Anna Yuna Sakagawa.'

'Tidus Raymond Shins.'

He waited for the girl. To his surprise, she flung her hands into her school bag and took out a notebook. She rapidly flipped through the pages before halting on what seemed to be a peculiar looking page. She said out loud, "Anaxagoras Pavlos!"

"Naminé?" Zack called out.

"Huh yea?" she blinked her eyes. What was that? It's like a missing piece of memory.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I…I think so," she paused. "Zack, have we….met before? I mean, did we have a short conversation years ago before I met you at the college?" she nervously bit her bottom lip. She thought Zack would think that she's crazy. Well maybe she is.

The lad reclined back to the chair, "No, we haven't."

The answer caught her unguarded. No? "Oh, well I thought so. It's just my imagination then," she tried to smile. Despite that, she couldn't help but to think that the scene had occurred before. Then again perhaps it was just a surrealistic hallucination.

As her eyes began to scan around the room, for only then did she notice the room was actually moderately decorated with white paintings and white curtains. Each painting has different patterns and abstracts. In fact, there was even a similar initial signature imprinted below the paintings. She could make out the letters that say, 'Signed by Professor Johannes Atkinson of Darson University of Arts'. She suddenly remembered meeting up with Yuna's professor at Darson's and his peculiar reaction to her pendant. Her hands reached for the pendant; it was still there. She sighed in relief.

"Well, I guess I should leave you to rest," said the lad as he stood up.

"Wait! Stay, please. I could use some company," she pleaded. The lad turned his head, and beamed. He obeyed her. He knew that she was still confused of the situation.

"What exactly happened?" she lowered her voice.

"Hmm…well, Tidus and I found you lying on pavement with a bloody head. So we rushed to the hospital. They took you in the emergency room, and well I don't know what they've done. The doctor told me that you're fine, just that you have slightly injured your head. Though he did mention that you might face a few memory problems," he explained.

She bit her lip, "Someone pushed me down the stairs."

He leaned forward, "Who?"

Though the only answer she could give was only a few shakes of her head. She didn't know who actually pushed her, but she fairly guessed it was Yuna. The last voice that she heard definitely belonged to Yuna. But what was the reason? Naminé thought of telling that to Zack, though she was afraid if that would count as betraying a friend. She kept it to herself.

"Who?" he softly persuaded her again.

"I-I don't know," she lied. She had to.

"I see…," he said in a flat tone, as if he has been expecting for that answer to come out.

"How long have I passed out?" she quickly changed the topic.

"Well, this is for the second day I haven't eating properly and rushed home a few times. I guess I'm going to get lovely tickets from Bobbies sooner or later," he beamed. His azure eyes locked on hers, "Two days to be exact," he finally said. He wondered if the impact has even damaged her mathematics skills. She nodded several times, and remained quiet.

"WAIT! Two days?" she abruptly exclaimed, Zack slightly jumped. "Oh my…oh no…no, no, no," she mumbled.

"What? What is it?"

"I remember Roxas told me not to leave the house, and I did. And now it has been two days. Oh my god, he's going to kill me Zack! He's going to murder me!" she wailed.

He burst out laughing from her childishness. Despite receiving her glares of deaths, he couldn't take it seriously. It just made her even cuter. "Nah, don't worry about that," he beamed.

"What do you mean?" she narrowed her eyes. She was certain that Roxas would search for her, even though he can be so busy with work most of the time.

"Roxas doesn't even know about this."

The manor was deathly silent except for the brushing skirts of the maids and heavy footsteps of the butlers were heard. They paced back and forth and nearly collided onto each other. Sometimes they passed by with their sombre faces and single nods before heading back to their duties. Other times they would quietly and anxiously whispered among themselves. 'What should we do?' 'The master hasn't left the room for days!' 'The master didn't eat the food we made.' The maids would frequently take several glances at the door of the manor's master bedroom and shook their heads in a baffled way. All of them have tried their best, but there was nothing that could cure him yet.

Nobody knew what has or could've happen in the room as not a single sound has been heard since two days ago. The master only barged in the manor, stormed to his bedroom, and locked the door. Maid Clara served him food outside the room, though it remained untouched and rotted instead. She served him breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. Nothing. He has taken nothing. Could he possibly be thinking of making his way towards the Maker now?

"What should we do?" she asked Butler Edward as she descended the stairs with a tray of spoiled meal.

The aged butler sighed deeply. He shook his head in dismay, and said, "I do not know, my dear."

"He hasn't taken anything since Miss Naminé went off with that lad. In fact, she hasn't returned to the manor yet, has she?"

He slowly nodded, and couldn't help but to feel slightly guilty. If he didn't inform him, perhaps things wouldn't turn out this way, and Naminé might've returned home like usual. "I could not help to think that something bad must've occurred to our Miss. She has changed recently, hasn't she? Do you think that lad has caused this?"

"Even though I find him peculiar as well, but we mustn't really jump into conclusions without any solid proofs," said the wise maid. "There could still be other factors that caused the changes. After all, our Miss has been attending lectures in college, she might be stressful now," she added. The old butler could not think of any other reasons to argue her, she was most probably right.

"Have you tried reaching her?" the butler asked anxiously.

Maid Clara nodded, "I did, several times, though I couldn't reach her."

"We've got to do something," Butler Edward sighed. "Perhaps we should-,"

He halted upon hearing the knocks on the main door of the manor. They exchanged quick nods before returning back to their duties; Maid Clara headed back towards the kitchen and the butler graciously went to the door to greet the guest. He turned the knob, bowed, and greeted, "Good afternoon, Sir. How may I help you?"

"Good afternoon, Edward. Is Roxas around?" a young lad's voice said in response. As the butler raised his head towards the speaker, he immediately ushered him inside upon seeing the familiar face. He leaded the guest to the stairs and halted in front of Roxas' room which still remained quiet as it was.

"Please Master Riku, we've tried everything we could. He wouldn't speak nor eat!" Butler Edward pleaded.

The young silver haired lad patted the old butler's shoulder, "I'll do my best." After feeling slightly relieved, the butler left him alone facing the door. Riku took several breaths before he started to knock softly on the door. As expected before, nothing came out of his room. "Hey Roxas, I got your call yesterday. I'm here to talk," he said. Nothing came out. "Roxas?" he called out again; nothing. An unpleasant feeling crept onto his skin. If Riku were to follow his instinct, he was quite sure it was telling him that Roxas is dead…or drunk. No, Roxas never drinks. He couldn't be dead, could he? Riku never thought Roxas would plan on committing suicide. He can't kill himself…can he?

A sudden glass breaking sound was emitted beyond the door.

"Roxas?" Riku anxiously called out. "Hey, what's going on in there? Roxas!" he furiously turned the knob, but it was no use. The door was dead locked. He tried punching the wooden door's frame, though only bits of woods were scraped. Riku didn't care what methods he'd be using to break the door. He even tried kicking it several times. The door was too hard.

"Master Riku, what's going on?" Butler Edward and several maids rushed to the scene. They were left mouth-opened after witnessing what Riku was attempting. "Master! You'll damage the door!" the butler exclaimed.

Riku furiously glared him, "We've got to bring it down, Edward! Something is going on in there! Call the other butlers!" The butler obeyed his command and hurriedly called their names. As the younger butlers arrived at the scene, they already knew what they were supposed to do. A butler even came with several hammers and axes. Riku grabbed an axe and together, they smashed their axes and hammers on the door with all their might.

The door was greatly damaged, and Riku delivered his final blow to bring it down. The debris of the wooden door scattered on the floor as the door crashed with a loud thump. They rushed inside, and only to be found their master lying still on his bed. Crystal clear water was dripping from his end table, and there it was, the source of the glass breaking. It was his valuable glass. Riku rushed to check his pulse.

He was still alive.

A sight of relief was escaped from his lips. He turned to them, and smiled widely, "He's still alive." The faces of the butlers and maids abruptly turned bright upon hearing it. Despite knowing their master was still alive, they were still worried of his health. Their master has turned skinny, his face was no longer glimmering as before, and they knew he was suffering from a slight malnutrition.

"We should get back to our posts. Let Master Riku handle this," said Butler Edward. They obeyed his command, as they too were aware that they had other important jobs in the manor (like cleaning the debris for instance).

Riku turned back to his friend. He slightly shook him, "Roxas, hey. Are you awake?"

Though the young lad could only manage several mutters. His eyes slowly flung open. Those blue eyes were no longer glimmering with enthusiast; instead, they were very sombre. Riku helped him up, "What happened man?" he knew it was obnoxious to ask the question, though he couldn't help it. As Roxas was about to speak, he collapsed on the mattress again. "Right, sorry, my bad. You should take some meals first," said Riku.

Riku was only a step from the room when he heard Roxas's weak voice spoke, "Where's…Naminé?"

'Damn…damn…damn! Damn it Naminé! Why won't you listen to me?' Roxas furiously stepped on the gas pedal. The Ferrari immediately accelerated to 120km, and it was still rising. He didn't care about receiving tickets from Bobbies or even getting sacked from work. Naminé was his priority. If only she had listened to him, Roxas wouldn't be facing this hard time.

'Focus Roxas, you're driving beyond your limit.' He told himself as the car's speed meter was nearly reaching 150 km. He overturned the other cars like a maniac, and even received exaggerating honks from the annoyed drivers. He didn't care. He has to reach to Darson…before…before what? Roxas didn't even have a clue what was happening to her. For now, he just needed to get her back home, safely. Yes, she'd hate him again, but he didn't care.

He made a sudden sharp turn as he nearly missed the exit to Hollow Bastion. Roxas was grateful as the traffic was not congested compared to Dawn City. He made several turns and recklessly beat the traffic lights. There it was; Darson's. Straight on ahead. He stepped on the gas pedal more and sped up towards the university.

Upon parking the car, he noticed that Zack's Mercedes was located several slots away from him. Roxas was even more assured that he has come to the right place. Though there was one tiny problem; how was he supposed to find Naminé in the HUGE buildings and LARGE compounds?

"Damn it," he spat.

Not long after that, he spotted several students were wandering at the main building. He ran up to them, "Uh hi there." The students turned around, and Roxas was quite sure the two of them started turning red. 'Oh come on, this is not the time.'

"Oh hi," a young girl nervously greeted him back. "Are you new here?" she asked.

"Um no, actually I'm not a student here. I was wondering if any of you have seen a guy with spiky black hair walking around the compound with a blonde girl?" he finished his sentence in one breath.

The two girls looked at each other. "Well," the girl said, "there are many guys like that. Hmm…do you know how he looks like? What's the colour of his eyes? What does he like to bring along? Or perhaps do you know what course is he taking?"

Roxas sighed. She didn't expect him to explain his features now, did she? That would be so…wrong. He shook his head in disappointment. "Never mind. I'm sorry to bother you," he dipped his head. He turned around and hoped for more students that 'happen' to see him would walk pass by him.

"C'mon let's go Aerith. What a weirdo," the girl tugged her friend's gentle arms. Though the other girl named Aerith couldn't help but to pity Roxas.

"He seemed really troubled. Are you sure it's alright to leave him be?" she asked.

"Sshh! Aerith! Yuna told us not to tell anyone about Zack's arrival. I'm sure this guy probably would ruin everything if he finds out!"

"But, the two of them really resembled each other," Aerith whined.

"You mean that pathetic looking blonde? I think you need to wear glasses, Aerith." The girl stormed ahead, leaving the innocent Aerith behind.

The young girl spun around. Her soft jade green eyes were determined to uncover the truth to Roxas. She took the courage to walk up to him. "Hey," she softly spoke. Though he didn't turn around. "Hey!" she slightly raised her voice.

"Huh? Oh hey, sorry I didn't notice you were still there," said Roxas.

"I know where she is."

"She? Wait, you know Naminé?" he exclaimed.

"Oh so that's her name…lovely," she gazed into the space.

"Um…I'm still here, you know," Roxas awkwardly waved his hand.

" Oh right. Yes I saw her with Yuna heading towards the library. You can use that way, it's the shortcut," she pointed her fingers towards a narrow and lonely alley behind one of the buildings.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it!" said Roxas and he dashed off towards the alley. He knew he could've at least given her a proper and formal thanks but he was in a hurry. The alley seemed to be unoccupied by any students. Perhaps it was a secret shortcut? As he went deeper, a huge two storey building with a white dome caught his eyes. 'The library?' he asked himself.

It was a good thing Roxas was not clumsy as he nearly missed a step during descending the steep stairs. "Damn that's dangerous," he cursed. As Roxas concentrated more on the stairs, he noticed some of the stairs were smudged with red blood. He followed the trail which led him further down.

"N-Naminé?"

Right in front of him, lying completely immobilized on the ground with a pool of blood was…the blonde he was looking for. 'No…no…no!' his heart screamed out. He held her in his arms; blood was still trickling from her head. "Oh god no. Stop…please stop!" He panicked. Without even thinking of how he would regret it, Roxas torn a long piece of his shirt and exerted the right pressure on her head. 'Stop flowing…stop flowing.' "Don't leave me, Naminé!" He clutched her small hands. She didn't respond. "Please don't leave me."

He was not a fool, nor was he an idiot man. He couldn't help it. His heart couldn't help it. Tears were pouring out from his blue eyes. They dripped on her pale face like tiny droplets of the rain. "Naminé," he softly called out her name. He knew if he called her out again, she would not respond. As he removed his hand away from her head to reach his phone, it was already painted with deep red blood. She was losing blood. Her life was draining away slowly.

His trembling fingers quickly dialled the numbers, but he couldn't get it right every time. He was too shaky. "Damn it! Damn it!" he smacked the phone on the hard ground. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

'Don't leave me, Naminé. Please…'

He could feel the warmth on her hand was starting to turn cold. He embraced her, in the hope the warmth from his body would be transferred to her. "Stay with me," he pleaded. "Stay with me…," The tears of his remained trickling down from his eyes. "I'm sorry…forgive me, Naminé."

For once Roxas eventually felt helpless. He couldn't afford to lose her, and he just destroyed the device that could save her life; his phone. He couldn't bear to watch her die slowly in front of him. He wanted her to know how precious she is to him…she was more than just a –

"Very good Roxas. You should be nominated as the best actor!" a familiar voice spoke.

He tilted his head.

There, in front of him, stood Zack, Yuna, and Tidu, though only Zack was the one who had the wicked smile among the others. Yuna seemed to be troubled; she wrapped her arms around her body. "You told me you wouldn't go to this far!" Roxas yelled. "You told me you wouldn't murder people!"

"Oh? She's not dead yet, so that means we're still holding on to our new Order."

"Who did it? WHO DID THIS?" Roxas demanded. Yuna took a step back. She started to cry. "You…was it you, Yuna?" A swarm of guiltiness veiled her face. She knew even by uttering words, he could tell that she was the culprit.

"No. It was I who planned it. She was just executing her part," a man's voice interrupted. Roxas turned his head towards his direction. His hair was blonde, and his eyes were cold jade green; the murderous eyes. "We meet again, Roxas."

'No…it can't be!'

"Surprised? Oh don't be. I am after all, the professor of this university. My existence here is acknowledged. Unlike her…who was not supposed to exist in the first place!" his skinny fingers pointed towards the dying Naminé.

"How could you do this? Why do you still seek revenge?" Roxas roared.

"Revenge? I do not seek revenge. I seek the gold; Reynolds' gold. It should've been mine long time ago! But I had no idea how Elwyn managed to escape the great fire. And now the gold is lost, but that's alright. I have found the key to it." He shoved his hand into the pocket and took out a dangling pendant; Naminé's pendant.

"Hand it over," said Roxas between his gritting teeth. "Hand it over or I'll swear I'll tear your limbs apart if I ever see you again!" The professor burst into laugh, followed by Zack and Tidus.

"Roxas, there's no way you would do that. You're way weaker than Yuna," teased Zack. Roxas shot him a warning deadly look. "Ooo someone's being serious," Zack added.

The professor tossed the pendant to him. "It won't be any use to me yet if I don't have the clues on the gold. Take that worthless pendant with you. But I warn you, I will take it back, no matter what it takes." Roxas' hands reached out for the pendant and tied it back around her small neck. "And I should also thank you trio for working hard to cooperate with me," he faced the three menacing trio.

'I knew it! Zack has been cooperating with him all along!'

"Hey, it was no problem. We wanted our revenge as well," said Zack.

"Well then…shall we leave those two alone now?" the professor suggested. He swung his coat around before taking his leave.

"I won't forgive you Atkinson! I won't let you touch Naminé again! You hear me? YOU WILL NEVER HAVE THE CHANCE TO EVEN SEE HER FACE EVER AGAIN!"

He halted, "Oh? What are you planning to do? Lock her away in the manor? That poor girl. She doesn't even know the real situation she's facing, yet you're putting all the pressure on her. What a poor brother you are, Roxas. Solrhea's and Ventus' deaths would be meaningless if you were to keep her away from the world."

"Don't you dare Atkinson!"

"One day Roxas…she will come back to me, like a bird returning back to its nest. You'll just wait and see."

"Then what?" asked Riku.

"And then…Yuna called the ambulance. She felt guilty after pushing her down the stairs. That bitch," Roxas shook his head.

"I see. So are you really planning to lock her in the manor, Roxas?" Riku warily asked.

Before Roxas answered that, he took another sip of hot tea, "I've already contacted her professor, and even the manager at the restaurant she's works at. They sounded disappointed but she can no longer involve outside the manor. It's far too dangerous, especially since Atkinson will take back that pendant of hers one day."

"You know, Roxas. I hate to say this, but she'll really hate you for that," Riku bit his lips.

"I know that. I don't have other choices. I might even stop working at The Times," he stared across the room. His DSLR remained untouched on the studying desk, waiting for him to use it.

"And what?"

He sighed, "And tell her the truth…somehow."

"Uh I don't think that's a good idea. Seeing on how you've already put how things are, you don't want to make it worse, Roxas."

"Then, how long do you think does she want to live in this fake life of hers? I can't put the act all the time! I'm sick of it! Especially since I…I…,"

"You love her?" Riku raised his brow.

Roxas didn't answer immediately. "This is too much for me to handle this alone."

"Hey pal, you're doing the best. I'm sure she'll understand it someday," Riku patted his shoulders.

"Yea but not in a way I would imagine. I don't want her to get hurt after knowing the truth, but I also don't want her to live in this plastic life. If only Zack and Atkinson didn't get along so well, I could've told her the truth," he let out a heavy sigh.

" But you couldn't."

"Of course I can't. It's too painful, even to me."

"…whatever it is…you can't go back and fix the past. You've already made those decisions yourself, and she's really going to be mad at you for it. Are these the things you would do for the sake of Nami Pavlos?"

Roxas remained silent. He nervously bit his lips.

"It is for the love of Nami Pavlos after all."