A/N: Ugh, you see the similarity between this and the Twilight saga too? Sigh, I'm trying to stray away from that, but it's not working. I used to love the series, but the overhypeness (not a word, I know) of it eventually got me hating it. It makes me regret even reading the books in the first place. Don't worry, I'm not plot-stealing! It's just coincidence that the story's going in a similar direction.

C'mon imagination, work for me just this one time…

I promise you it'll only be Twilight-esque for this and perhaps another chapter...or so. If you hate Twilight as much as I do, you'll be patient and see how the story unfolds XD

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Picking Up The Pieces.

Now that he was gone Naminé could only see everything in black and white. There was no colour or emphasis on anything anymore because there was no reason to search for them. She only saw life as something to endure instead of something to appreciate; her reason to appreciate had driven away in a dark grey BMW.

He hardly came to school now; he would only be present once or twice a week, and whenever he was there he made sure to avoid her as much as he possibly could. In class he sat all the way at the back, and when the bell rang he was always the first to leave. During lunchtime she often caught him wandering towards the soccer field and she always contemplated on whether she should follow him, but she knew that it was not a smart idea to do so.

Her friends, bless them, had tried to bring her out of her depressing daze but it was no use. The only person who could truly empathize with her was Sora, since he too had been suffering from his brother's sudden withdrawal from the world. According to the brunet he was seldom home, and when he was he would hole himself up in either his room or the studio, refusing to talk to anybody.

Naminé was no different; after what happened she preferred as less company as possible. Talking to people was a hardship because she always had to wrack her brains for something to say; if she did not say anything everyone would assume that she was still thinking about him - which, of course, was always the case.

The only good thing that came out of this downward spiral was that it had given her new inspiration; she spent most of her time in her studio nowadays, taking out her frustration and pain on the canvas. Her sketchbooks were filled with numerous drawings; if one were to look closely at them they would be able to catch a glimpse of spiky hair and a pair of alluring eyes.

The weather had gotten considerably colder by November; Naminé popped the collar of her grey peacoat as she left the Maybach one chilly Thursday morning.

"I hate wintertime," Kairi grumbled from beside her; her voice was muffled behind her striped scarf, "The cold is so irritating, and then there's the snow and ice and slush...ugh, such a bother."

"I know what you mean," The blonde sighed, ducking her face behind her coat collar, "I was never a fan of winter either."

"Hey guys," Sora was sitting by the steps to the student centre, wearing a black ski jacket with yellow, blue and red patterns on it, "Enjoying the weather? I can't wait 'till the snow comes!"

"That's where we're different." Kairi muttered, and Naminé giggled. The redhead departed to head for homeroom, leaving the blonde and the brunet to head to theirs. Sora usually used their brief time together updating her on his brother's whereabouts.

"Same old, same old," He sighed as he placed his hands behind his spiky head, "He's closed up tight, Naminé - he won't say a single thing to me."

The blonde twirled her curl of hair around her index finger. "I see...thanks, anyway."

She sat patiently in History, her eyes locked on the doorway. She always hoped she would see him rushing through with his tie undone and his sleeves pushed up like always but he never came. She wondered if he was planning to go to school at all this week, since it was nearly over. She doodled idly as the lecture dragged on, frowning when she realized she was drawing misshapen guitars and pianos. When Math came around she was just as distracted as she was during homeroom.

"Algebra, I will slay you." Kairi muttered despicably as she ran through her paper with an eraser; she turned towards her cousin, who was staring into space and balancing a pencil in between her fingers. "Nami, are you alright?"

"Mm?" The blonde turned her head and nodded, though the expression on her face told her cousin otherwise. "Yeah. Don't worry about me."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "You've never been the greatest liar, you know." She dropped her eraser and rested her chin in her palm. "You need to stop thinking about it."

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't you think I've been trying to do that? Stop trying to lecture me, Kairi - it's getting tiring." When she eyed the shocked expression on her cousin's face she sighed and shook her head. "Look, I'm sorry, I...I'm just so frustrated. I'm mad at myself for not getting over it; I'm pathetic, I know."

"You are not pathetic," Kairi leaned over to rub her cousin's shoulder, "And I'm sorry for bothering you about it all the time; I just want you to be happy. It makes me miserable when you're miserable, and the fact that Sora's practically in the same boat as you doesn't make things any better."

"I know I've been distant to you and the others lately," Naminé frowned; she reached upwards to clasp hands with her cousin, "It's very selfish of me. I'll try to cheer up more for your sake."

"I'll keep your word on that," Kairi grinned, "And I'm going to make sure Sora gets the message too!"

Naminé tried her best to look cheerful during lunch; she engaged in casual conversation with her friends as they ate, and she made sure to actually eat this time instead of solemnly staring at it like it was the most pathetic thing she had ever seen. Kairi forced Sora into talking and joking around like his usual self and it kind of worked; by the time English had come he was somewhat smiling.

"I guess we both have to try and be happy," Sora sighed as they sat down, "For Kairi's sake, at least. I feel bad for making her worry."

"Kairi's sake? You mean ours," Naminé smirked as she pulled her books out of her bag, "She'll go berserk if we keep on like this for another week or so."

"And what am I, chopped liver?" Both of them turned around; Hayner was chuckling and shaking his head. "Olette's been pestering me about you guys for weeks now; give me a break and cheer up already, would you?"

Both Sora and Naminé flushed. "We'll try, Hayner, we'll try." The brunet held his hands up in defeat, and the two blondes laughed.

In Gym they had moved onto a new sport: basketball. Naminé was barely capable of playing badminton, so basketball was an impossibility for her. She flinched whenever Sora passed her the ball, and she did not even think of trying to shoot it, since it probably would not even reach the net anyway.

"Woo," Sora huffed, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, "I'm actually breaking a sweat. Sure beats badminton, doesn't it?"

The blonde ducked and narrowly avoided an incoming basketball. She rolled her eyes. "Of course it does."

Gym ended soon afterwards, thankfully, and Naminé rushed towards the change room to change back into her uniform. Sora was making fun of her lack of coordination all the way back to her locker.

"You can draw and paint like a pro, but you can't dribble a basketball to save your life," The brunet chuckled, "That's insane!"

"Nami was showing off in Gym again?" Kairi was leaning against her cousin's locker, smirking. "You really gotta stop doing that - it's rude!"

The blonde sighed and pushed her cousin away so she could open her locker. "I hate you guys."

"I was talking to Olette earlier," The redhead piped up, "She wants to hang out tomorrow after school - y'know, to help you guys get your mind off of stuff. Maybe we'll go see a movie or something, and get dinner."

"That sounds like fun," Sora agreed, slipping his hand down to hers, "Are you in, Naminé?"

She shrugged as she closed her locker. "Maybe...I dunno."

"No," Kairi scowled as the three walked out of the SS Wing, "I don't care what kind of excuse you've got for me this time - you're coming whether you like it or not." The Maybach was waiting for them patiently by the curb and she stood on her toes to peck Sora on the lips. "See you."

"Bye guys." He waved once as the girls climbed into the car.

"I don't want a depressed hermit for a cousin," Kairi narrowed her eyes at the blonde, who was distractedly staring out the window, "You've been refusing to hang out with us since it happened; this is unhealthy!"

Naminé groaned and pressed her cheek against the tinted glass. "I'm just not feeling it, Kairi-"

"You've been inhaling way too much of those paint fumes - you haven't been feeling it for two months now! Even Sora's growing back some backbone by hanging out with us every once in awhile." The redhead leaned forward and brushed her fingers against her cousin's shoulder, "I thought you said you'd try and cheer up."

Kairi's eyes were sad, and it made the blonde feel guilty. She sighed and leaned into her, wrapping her arms around her small frame and resting her head against her shoulder. "I'm trying my best, really," She mumbled into the redhead's coat, "I didn't think it would be this hard."

"You've got to try harder," She felt Kairi's fingers run through her hair, "I know you're better than this, Nami."

She sighed. "Boys are stupid."

Her cousin giggled. "Agreed."

Once they arrived home the girls scrambled up to their respective rooms to change and finish their homework. Luckily for Naminé the load was not very heavy today, which gave her a lot of extra time to work on her art. She turned on her computer's music player and strolled into her studio; nearly every inch of the four walls were covered in her work, and all of them had to do something with a certain blond-haired boy.

She felt like sketching today; she sat in front of her drafting table and reached underneath to grab a sketchbook that was not completely filled up yet. She flipped it open to a fresh page and reached for a few pencils sticking out of the holder at the top corner of her desk. Sighing and resting her chin in her palm, she began to flick upwards against the paper, creating some sort of jagged, spiky pattern. She continued doodling, waiting for some kind of inspiration to come hit her full force, but after fifteen minutes she realized that she was not going to get anything done today. She blew upwards in frustration, moving her bangs out of her eyes, and turned around in her chair to leave the studio. So much for that.

She should be happy; this was actually the first time she had artist's block since the incident two months ago. Maybe this was some kind of sign; was she finally starting to get over him? Was it possible that she had finally painted and drawn him enough times to finally eradicate the ache she had for him?

Naminé sighed and collapsed face-first on her bed, exhaling slowly into the down pillows. She still felt heavy inside but not as much as before; it was almost like a few pounds had been lifted off her shoulders, but not the entire weight. It was a relieving feeling, to say the least. She rolled over on her back and stared upwards at her overhang, watching the white sheets rifle gracefully. Now she was bored.

She briefly debated on whether she should barge into Kairi's room and bother her, but usually the redhead was the one that did all the bothering in the house; she was probably still doing her homework. Even after being friends with her for two months she still felt a little iffy on calling Olette, and Sora was out of the question since he too reminded her of him. Hayner and Pence lived in the city, so they lived too far to hang out with for just a few hours…

That only left one person.

Naminé crawled over to the foot of her bed and leaned over the edge to unzip the pocket of her bag that held her phone. She hastily scrolled down her contact list and paused on Riku's name. For some reason she felt nervous calling him, and her hand unconsciously moved to her hair as she held the small white phone to her ear.

Riku picked up on the second ring. "Naminé?" Wherever he was, it was very noisy; she heard various voices and other things going on in the background.

"Er, hey Riku," The blonde stammered, "Where...where are you right now?"

"Oh, I'm just about to leave school," He replied casually; he paused for a moment, and in the distance she heard him yell something to another person, but it was too distorted to make out properly. "Why, what's up?"

"Uh, nothing," She pulled on her curl of hair and flopped back against her bed. She was trying to think up of something smart to say but she failed miserably, and she ended up stuttering and hesitating like an idiot. "Erm…"

When she heard his laughter on the other end her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "Lemme guess," She could hear the grin in his voice, "You're bored but Kairi's too busy to pay attention to you, and you want someone to fill in as her substitute."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah, that's exactly it."

Riku laughed again, and her blush worsened. "Well, I guess I can fill in for a few hours, but I've got a few things to do. If you don't mind, you can tag along if you want."

She shrugged even though she knew that he would not be able to see. "I don't mind - I've got nothing better to do."

"Cool," There was a slight rustling noise, like he was putting a jacket on, "Uh, I'll probably be at your place in around twenty minutes or so. Is that alright?"

"I can wait."

"Alright, I'll see you in a bit, then."

"Okay, bye." She cancelled the call and stared at the screen for a few minutes before tossing it beside her on the mattress. She could not help but feel a little excited; it had been over two months since she actually went out for recreational reasons, and the last time she hung out with Riku was the day before the incident, so it would be refreshing to see him again.

Now, how will she kill twenty minutes?

Naminé sat up and looked around the room, trying to find something to dawdle on; she hopped off her bed and wandered her room, tugging on her curl of hair. She perused the books on the shelves, realizing that she had never read any of them before, and made a mental note to actually start sometime in the near future. She then moved onto her desk and skimmed through her music player, analyzing the songs Kairi had downloaded for her. Somehow twenty minutes managed to fly by, and before she knew it her phone was vibrating.

"I'm outside," Riku said, and she grinned.

"Coming." She raced out of her room and immediately knocked on Kairi's door. It opened, revealing a sleepy looking redhead with half-open blue eyes; she was taking a nap all this time?

"I thought you were busy with homework." Naminé raised an eyebrow. Kairi yawned and shrugged her shoulders.

"I was tired."

The blonde shook her head amusedly. "Well, I was just gonna tell you that I'm hanging out with Riku for a little bit - he's outside right now. Want to come with?"

"Nah," Kairi yawned again, stretching her arms, "I think I'm gonna sleep some more. It's good that you're returning to the real world, Nami. You two have fun."

After her cousin closed the door the blonde made her way down the hallway and the marble steps; she hastily buttoned up her coat before opening the double doors. Riku was leaning against his motorcycle, still dressed in his uniform: black dress shoes, grey pants, white dress shirt, navy tie and forest green blazer - and his head was bent over his cell phone, allowing a few wisps of silvery hair to fall over his sharp turquoise eyes. He heard her approaching footsteps and he looked up to smirk at her.

"Hey, Naminé." He greeted cheerily, waving once and pocketing his phone. She raised an eyebrow as she eyed his attire.

"Uh, aren't you cold?"

He chuckled as he tossed her a spare helmet. He swung one leg over the motorcycle and reached for his helmet. "I'll be fine."

"So," She pulled the helmet on and hopped in behind him, "What are these things that you have to do?"

"Well," His voice was slightly muffled behind his helmet; he turned around to see if she put hers on right, and then returned to facing the front, "First I have to swing by the shop to get some parts for this-" He patted the motorcycle, "-then I'll have to install them, and afterwards we can do whatever you want. Shouldn't take super long. Is that alright with you?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

Riku kicked off on the motorcycle and zoomed out of the roundabout in mere seconds. The frigid air stung Naminé's fingers and she could not feel her hands; luckily the face guard on her helmet prevented the wind from hitting her face. They drove for a pretty long time; around half an hour later Riku finally pulled the bike into a regular-looking auto shop. The smaller, rundown houses vaguely reminded her of the day she ate ramen with - no, she had to stop thinking about him. Today was the day she started over; she needed to pick up the pieces and pull herself back together.

"Sorry if the ride was a little long," Riku said sheepishly as he pulled off his helmet, "Motorcycles tend to get a little uncomfortable on long trips when you're not used to it."

Naminé smiled shyly as she unstrapped hers. "I'm alright." She followed him towards the entrance of the shop. "Uh, so what are we getting here?"

"You probably won't know what it is if I told you." He chuckled; he opened the door for her and placed his hand on the small of her back, gently pushing her inside. She turned around to roll her eyes at him, and he chuckled again. He approached the shop owner and immediately dived into an elaborate conversation about motorcycles, engines, suspension, something about fork tubes...it was too complicated for her to keep up, so she just stood awkwardly beside him, bouncing on her heels.

"Naminé," She felt Riku's calloused fingers around her thin wrist, and she looked up to see him smirking at her; in his other hand he was pulling a small wagon behind him, "C'mon."

"Where are we going?" She asked as he tugged her towards a door at the back of the shop.

"Getting the parts I need." He replied simply, and she 'ah-ed' in understanding. They were now standing outside in the cold once again, in the middle of numerous piles of what looked like spare automobile pieces. She watched her friend wander in between piles, searching for the things he needed; it did not take him very long, and before she knew it he was standing before her with his wagon full of...whatever it was that he needed.

"Are you finished with your shopping spree?" She leaned over to eye the various things sitting in his wagon.

"Yep," He grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry if you're bored."

"No, no," She shook her head, "I don't mind. It's nice to get some fresh air, at least."

He managed to strap the pieces to the motorcycle and they drove back to their lavish neighbourhood. Naminé could not help but feel a little excited, mostly because she had never been to Riku's house yet. Once they passed the gates she was able to see a large white house with French windows and black shingles; it looked around as big as the Hinomoto manor. Riku swerved to the left, driving down the paved pathway towards a garage that was bigger than her house in Twilight Town. The interior was littered with all kinds of expensive looking cars and bikes; it made Naminé feel like she was in an auto show instead of a friend's personal garage.

"So," Riku pushed his bike into an open space; by the far wall various tools were hanging from hooks, and there was a work bench covered with more tools. He shrugged out of his blazer and tossed it onto the hood of a nearby car, "It's been awhile since we last hung out. What have you been doing the last couple of months?"

A dull throbbing made itself present in the centre of Naminé's chest, and she clutched at it unconsciously. "Nothing," She mumbled pathetically, "Nothing worth mentioning, at least."

"You're a bad liar," He chuckled as he rolled up his sleeves, and she narrowed her eyes at him as she moved to rest against the hood of one of the cars; he approached her and leaned beside her, his eyes apologetic. "Something happened between you and him." It was more of a statement than a question, and it hurt when she nodded to confirm his suspicions. He frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "Do you want to talk about it?"

At first she felt a little uncomfortable, but it quickly melted away when she turned to look at him. She stared at him for a few seconds, blushing when she realized she had not said anything yet. "Er," Her hand automatically moved to her hair, "He told me that he wasn't good enough for me."

"He's got that right," Riku scoffed, and she rolled her eyes when she was sure he was not looking, "But out of curiosity, why did he tell you that?"

For some reason she did not mind telling him what happened; she stared at her shoes as she continued on with her explanation, her curl of hair twisted around her finger. "I think he just feared for my safety," She murmured, her thoughts reeling back to the day she found his BMW waiting for her by the curb after school, "Basically he told me that because he was in a gang, my safety was at risk." She frowned and exhaled shakily. "He also mentioned something about not wanting a relationship that'll most likely end up like his last one...the one with Olette."

"Well, it's his fault," Riku muttered as he lifted himself off the hood of the car; he moved towards the tool bench and gathered the things he needed, and then he knelt over by his motorcycle and began to tinker with it. "If he wasn't in The XIII he wouldn't have to worry about keeping you safe, and his relationship with Olette wouldn't have ended - at least not in the way that it did." He grimaced as he wrenched out a particularly stubborn screw, "If you've been sulking for the past two months about it then all I have to say to you is that you've been wasting your time. None of it was your fault, so you shouldn't feel bad about it. It's his fault that he left you, and his fault that he made the wrong decisions that led to him leaving you."

She blinked at him wordlessly, drinking his words in. After a couple of minutes of not replying he glanced over his shoulder and chuckled at her.

"Was that too direct?"

Flushing, she shook her head, her platinum blonde tendrils swaying wildly. "N-no, it's just-" She paused for a minute, thinking of what to say, "-it's just that...that was probably the best advice I've been given in the past two months."

Riku chuckled again as he wrung his hands with a dirty rag. "Not even Kairi came up with something more enlightening?"

Naminé smiled shyly. "Nope."

"I'm actually quite shocked," He grinned as he reached for a smaller wrench, "Kairi's usually the voice of reason."

"Yeah, well, your voice is more reasonable than hers - for now." She grinned back.

The afternoon passed easily with Riku; she mostly watched him fix up his motorcycle. For a brief time she acted as his assistant, handing him the tools he was asking for, but after handing him the wrong tools for the fifth time she decided it was better if she just spectated. They talked about happier things, much to her relief, and it helped her take her mind off of him for at least a little while.

"When are you planning to take your road test?" Riku asked her a few hours later; he was now running through his motorcycle with a rag and some polish.

"I dunno," Naminé replied uncertainly, pulling on her hair, "I haven't really taken classes yet, nor have I actually stepped into the driver's seat-"

His booming laugh cut her off, and she flushed and stared at the floor. "You haven't even tried to drive yet? When did you get your learner's permit?"

"...Last year." Her voice was so low he had to lean in to hear her properly.

"That means you're eligible for your road test! Why don't you start taking classes?"

"Well, I dunno - I was thinking of waiting until the summertime so I can take classes at home, and then I can take my road test there since I'm more familiar with the area," She hesitated and tugged a little harder on her hair, "But that's kinda far from now."

"Way too far." He agreed. He stood up and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Why don't I teach you how to drive? You won't be spending money, and with my expert teaching skills you'll be driving by next month!"

She laughed and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Oh, really now? Are you that good? If I recall you told me once that you were more of a biker than a car driver."

"Just because I prefer riding a motorcycle doesn't mean I'm horrible at driving a car." He smirked, and she flushed again. "Wanna try twice a week? You pick the days."

She tapped her chin with one finger. "Hm, how does Tuesday and Thursday sound?"

He shrugged and tossed the rag and polish aside. "Fine with me, He gestured towards his motorcycle. "Or maybe you'd like to try out for a biker's license?"

She giggled and shook her head. "Maybe some other time."

It was getting late, so Riku offered to take her home. He actually tried convincing her to stay over for dinner but she refused, insisting that she was not that hungry anyway, and did not want to be a burden.

"You're no burden to anybody, Naminé," Riku chuckled as the motorcycle stopped in front of the Hinomoto manor, "You need to think higher of yourself."

"Like I haven't heard that before." She muttered to herself as she stepped off; she handed him the helmet and smiled. "I guess I'll see you next Tue-oh!" Her eyes suddenly widened as if she just remembered something, and Riku raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Um, Kairi and Olette want to go to the movies and hang out tomorrow after school," The blonde was tugging on her hair again, "Er, you can come too if you'd like, or if you're not busy, or a-anything." She flushed and dropped her gaze to the floor; taking initiative was such a challenge for her for some reason.

She heard him chuckle, and she looked up to see him nodding his head. "Sure, I think I can come. I'll give you guys a call tomorrow." He pulled his helmet back on and waved, and she waved back as he zipped out of the roundabout.

"So how was hanging out with Riku?" Kairi asked; the two cousins were sitting on the bed of the redhead's room.

"It was fun," Naminé shrugged, "Nothing special - we just hung out in his garage, and I watched him tinker with his bike. Er," She bit her bottom lip and glanced at her cousin out of the corner of her eye, "He's gonna give me driving lessons."

"Driving lessons?" The redhead raised a suspicious eyebrow, and one corner of her mouth twitched upwards in a mischievous smirk. "Sounds...kinky."

"I knew you were going to interpret it as something else!" The blonde groaned and flopped backwards on the bed, covering her face with her pale hands, "We're friends, Kairi! He's just giving me driving lessons so I can take my road test sooner!" She glimpsed at her cousin through the spaces in between her fingers. "Why don't you ask him for help? You need to start driving too!"

Kairi laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Nah, maybe I'll just go for classes or something. I wanna give you two some alone time." She narrowly dodged an incoming pillow and laughed some more.

Her blonde cousin sighed and shook her head. "Riku's nice and everything, but...I dunno. I only see him as a friend and nothing more." She rolled over on her side and clutched a pillow to her chest, groaning. "It's too soon to start thinking about that kinda stuff anyway."

The redhead frowned. "I guess, or maybe you just need to spend more time with him. Your driving lessons-"She made mock quotation marks with her fingers, "-can help you out with that."

"Kairi…"

"Okay, okay, serious time begins...now." She lied down beside Naminé and threw her arms around her. "You need to get over that, Nami. First heartbreaks are always a killer, but look at it this way: you weren't really together together, so it kinda doesn't count, right?"

"I guess," The blonde shrugged, "But...it was just the way he made me feel. He made everything else go away whenever he was around, like...like it was just the two of us." The memory of playing piano together in the theatre flickered across her mind, and her chest contracted painfully. "It was something I know you don't get with a lot of people, you know? He...he was the only one who ever made me feel like that."

"Aw, Nami…" Kairi gently pushed her cousin's head into her shoulder, and she raked her fingers through her hair. "I know he was special to you, but there are just some things we have no control over. It's time to pick up the pieces and move on."

"Pick up the pieces…" Naminé murmured into Kairi's shoulder, "Yeah, I think...I think I'm ready to do that now." She pulled away from her cousin to smile at her, and the redhead smiled back.

"I hope you'll keep your word this time, 'cause starting tomorrow you are no longer sulking about this, you understand?"

The blonde nodded, and her smile broadened. "Yes ma'am."