Author's Note: Incredible. We've finally reached the chapter that starts screwing over this story. I admit, I don't know what drove me to write this scene because it's nothing like what I imagined. This, I believe, was the result of a type of story I couldn't find. Enjoy the confusion.

Disclaimer: The characters, settings, and back story are copyrighted by Square-Enix and Disney. The storyline and original characters are mine.

A Walk In Andante

12 – Intertwine Desire

"Kairi?"

She remained perfectly still.

"Kairi, it's me. Remember me?"

The voice was yearning, pleading, begging. How could one not resist the voice? The voice she had been hearing, faintly, for so many months?

"Kairi, please, turn around?"

Why won't she turn around? Kairi bit her lip, tried to turn, but something was holding her back. Someone was holding her back.

She looked deep into Roxas's eyes as he stood several feet before her. There was no emotion in his face, no life in his eyes. He just stood there. Kairi blinked, wondered if she was being deceived or she was just imagining things. He looked shadowed, like there was a shadow on him.

"Kairi, look at me, please? I've waited for so long…"

Kairi reached out, tried to touch Roxas's arm. The first time she tried, she missed. The second time. The third time. Kairi grew more puzzled. He wasn't that far away, was he? Kairi took a step towards him, then reached out with her hand again.

Her hand went through his arm. Kairi gasped and backed away quickly. He looked at her, then at his arm. He then looked up and his lips moved. But it wasn't his voice.

It was Sora's.

"Kairi, turn around. Look at me."

"No…no, I don't want to," she heard herself whisper. Kairi gasped.

Right before Roxas materialized a girl. A blonde girl with a plain white dress and sandals. The girl from that one dream she had a while back.

It was her voice projecting through Kairi's mouth.

Oh my god, what's happening to me? What's going on? Kairi thought. She swallowed, then was more shocked when she realized that girl was doing the same thing. When she blinked, she was sure the other girl blinked. And Roxas, Roxas was behind her. Then…Sora was…

"Kairi. Look at me. I haven't seen you for so long. Please. Please…"

The voice behind her kept pleading with her. But nothing was more horrifying than watching that same voice project out of Roxas's mouth. It was like Sora was speaking through Roxas.

"I don't want to," Kairi whispered but it wasn't her voice. It was that girl's. But she was the one choosing the words. That blonde girl was copying her every move.

"Kairi-"

"Sora? Sora, what's happening?" Kairi asked, her voice – the girl's voice – shaking. "Sora…"

As she watched, Roxas placed his hand on the girl's shoulder. At the same time, she felt a pressure on her shoulder, the exact same one. She jerked away and whirled around.

Nothing. Nobody was there.

Kairi stared. She was sure Sora was there. She heard his voice, felt his presence, his hand on her shoulder. Where did he go?

Kairi turned back. Roxas was watching her. Kairi swallowed nervously, fearfully. The shadow over him had grown darker. She couldn't see the blue in his eyes anymore.

"Kairi!"

Sora, again! She whirled around, looked for him, wanted to get as far away from Roxas as possible. She didn't want to stay with this stranger any longer.

"Sora!" she called out and ran towards the voice, ran through the murky shadowy land. The clouded blurry mist swirled around her legs as she ran towards the voice. "Sora, where are you?"

"Kairi!" Behind her! Kairi turned her head. Roxas was calling her! "Kairi!"

She hesitated. Then someone else called her name.

Sora!

"Kairi!"

Kairi turned her head back to Sora.

"Kairi!"

To Roxas.

"Kairi!"

She fell to her knees.

"Kairi!"

"I don't know," she said. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know-"

"Kairi!"

"Kairi!"

"KAIRI!"

The mist was pulling back. And suddenly she realized it was sand. Cold, soft sand. She blinked as silver-blue moonlight shone upon the surface. Tiny quartz pieces glimmered on the surface.

The sea. She could smell the sea. And there was a slight whistle in the wind. A breeze in the trees.

Destiny Islands.

She stared at her wrist, saw the black and yellow bracelets. She quickly looked at her other wrist and saw the large yellow sweatband. She stared down at herself and realized that this was what she was wearing the night the Heartless came one year ago. She slowly raised a hand to her hair, found it short, and somehow, she found herself remembering sunny days on the beach and the laughter of children along the shore. She remembered how, after she came home without Sora and Riku, she let her hair grow out and try to escape that painful separation. Change her appearance, she thought, and she'll no longer remember that innocent childhood.

Well she forgot, alright. She forgot Sora's name.

To her ear came the distinct sound of sand crystals grating against each other. Someone was coming. Kairi didn't know whether to look up or not. Should she? Should she not?

Boots in her face. Dark gray and light gray, with red straps crossing over the top. She blinked. Ends of a long black coat swayed in her face. She looked up.

It was someone in a black trench coat. Under the hood she saw nothing. It was as though a ghost inhabited the clothes, a spectral being adorning the clothes of reality. Then the hooded head changed position and moonlight hit upon strands of hair sticking out from under the hood. The head shifted again and she found herself staring into a face, the upper half shrouded by a mess of light bangs.

"W-who are you?" she whispered. She couldn't see the eyes. Should she fear this person? But how did this person even come here in the first place? There was nobody else here, not even Sora.

The person didn't answer, simply knelt down in front of her. She leaned back, felt a rapid beating in her heart as unexplainable cold washed through her. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead as she stared at the shadows under the head. She could see the lips, the unsmiling line. The person was unwelcome and both of them knew it.

Fear. She was feeling fear.

Then she was being yanked brutally to her feet, her arm held in a vice grip. She yelped and tried to pull away but the person was too strong. The person – he, it must be a he, pulled her to him, and she collided painfully against his chest and the strange string of beads at the neck of the trench coat. She cried out as they pressed against her collarbone and struggled in vain. He had his other arm around her waist now, and she didn't welcome the presence at all.

She glared at the face, wanted to spit at him and hope the flying spit became burning venom. She felt his unseen gaze on her, on the anger in her face.

"Who are you?" she demanded, then tried to push away. "Let go of me!"

The person leaned forward and she leaned back.

"No," he whispered.

She closed her eyes tight, then felt something on her lips. His mouth. He roved around her lips, sliding over them, then she felt his tongue push between them. She pressed her lips into a thin line but resistance was futile; he slid into her mouth and she shuddered as she felt him explore it, every inch of it, sliding over her teeth and rubbing her tongue. Kairi didn't know whether to retch or wait for him to leave her mouth before she kneed him in the nads. She didn't plan on being kissed in this fashion – her mind had been brainwashed by Selphie's romantic notions – and, to be honest, she had wanted her first kiss to be with Sora, but it was a…a curious experience. Curious and strange, so very strange.

He pulled his tongue back, hovered at the very opening of her mouth, and she tentatively reached out with her tongue and touched the tip of his. All at once something raced through her blood, the shock and-and something else. Something she wasn't expecting. It made her relax and at the same time it made her want more. More of what?

She pressed her mouth hard against the stranger's, wanted to see what it was like to kiss him back. He didn't resist, let her in, and she explored his mouth just as he had explored hers. The experience left her shivering with boundless energy.

Kairi didn't know what had come over her, but she loved every bit of it.

She pulled away and they disconnected. She looked at the shadows, the light bangs, and felt a faint smile form on her lips. She didn't know why but this utter stranger made her feel…happy. She felt happy.

And just moments before she was running through the mist looking for Sora-Sora!

She suddenly pulled away and sat down hard on the sand. The person looked at her in surprise.

"Oh my god, Sora…" She touched her lip, then turned around and pushed herself up onto her feet.

There, all the way down at the shores, was said teenager, watching the moon across the sea.

"Sora!" she shouted and stumbled towards him. But then she stopped and turned around. The other person was still there, the stranger in the trench coat. He was watching her, she knew, and there was a nostalgic smile playing on his lips. Kairi hesitated for a second, then looked at Sora again.

"Sora!" she shouted but he didn't turn. He was staring across the sea at the moon. "Sora!"

The stranger was approaching. She could hear him. Kairi turned to him, ran back to him, and threw her arms around his neck. He kissed her hungrily, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight.

"Please, I have to go to him," she murmured between kisses; with each kiss a heat was rising from deep inside her and it was melting away her resistance. If he didn't stop, she feared she'll never reach Sora, will lose him forever. "You understand, don't you?"

He captured her lips for one last kiss, one she returned with passion, then pulled away.

"Yes…"

She slipped out of his arms and ran towards Sora.

"…and no."

Kairi swallowed hard but she had to go to Sora now. She ran across the sand, her feet sinking into the soft white surface, as she drew nearer. The teenager still had his back towards her, was watching the sea. Kairi stopped several feet from him, paused to catch her breath, swallowed, then looked back to the stranger.

He stood at the top of the surface, where the dry sand was. His pale hair was shimmering in the moonlight. Kairi made to go back to him but Sora's presence was calling her. Kairi closed her eyes, then turned to Sora. She cried out at the blazing sunset and the bloody sun, threw her arms up to shield her eyes, then spotted Sora again. She quickly looked up, at the three blazing shooting stars in the sky, and then to the top of the beach.

She screamed.

"KAIRI!"

She sat up, for a moment was unable to breathe, then choked and gasped as air rushed into her lungs. She stared at herself, at the clothes she borrowed from Olette whenever night came, and saw how they stuck to her body. She was soaking wet with sweat; the whole bed was damp. She pushed her limp, wet hair out of her eyes and shook her head to clear it. Her breathing was starting to slow down.

"Are you alright?" Olette asked.

"What happened?" she whispered, then rubbed at her arms. The sweat was evaporating and she felt cold.

"You, uh…" Olette struggled with her words. "Um…you got sick three days ago and you didn't wake up until now-"

"I did?" Kairi didn't recall getting sick. When did that happen?

"Remember we went to dinner at that one place down near the Tram Plaza?" Olette said. "After practice?"

Dance or fighting? She didn't bother to ask; it didn't matter.

Kairi nodded slowly. The memories were fuzzy but still there. Pence, she recalled, had gone and done an imitation of a rubber-legged drunk, or so Hayner called it. Roxas wasn't there; he had called in to say he was busy trying to cool down the landlord back at his place so he wasn't able to make it.

That made practice definitely a dance practice.

"Afterwards, Pence and I wanted to take you to the Salsa Bar, being a dance club and all, but you said you were starting to feel sick. And right after that, you just fainted in the middle of the street. Hayner thinks its food poisoning."

Food poisoning? "What's that?"

"Food poisoning?" Olette sounded surprised. "It's…it's when food hasn't been properly cooked so there's some nasty stuff still in there. It can kill you. You're really lucky, Kairi."

"It can kill me?" she asked weakly, wiping at a droplet of sweat sliding down her forehead. She rubbed her arm again, shivered.

"Olette, she's cold. Give her a dry blanket or something, or she'll catch hypothermia or something."

Kairi froze. Her heart was starting to pound again. The full force of the dream came rushing back to her.

"Why don't you go fetch the towels, Roxas, since you suggested it?" Olette retorted crossly. "Let me explain to her what's been going on while she was out for the past three days-"

"No."

Olette sighed. "He hasn't left this room since he heard you got sick. Hayner's thinking of suing the restaurant. He thinks we can get good money out of this. And Pence…all he's thinking about is how many sea salt ice cream bars he can buy with that money. Me? I don't care as long as you're fine. And you look fine to me."

Kairi felt a cool hand press against her forehead. It felt…refreshing.

"Still a little heat…I think you'll be fine in no time," Olette said cheerfully. "I'll bring some towels and some dry clothes."

Kairi heard the brunette leave the bedroom and then looked up to see Roxas sitting on a stool next to the bed's foot. He looked tired but he was smiling.

He's smiling just like that stranger in my dream, she thought with surprise. And then she remembered what had happened when she screamed.

Both she and Sora had been fourteen. But when she closed her eyes and opened again to find the sunset burning her eyes, time seemed to have fast-forwarded to the present, one year later. He was wearing the black clothes. She had noticed briefly that she was wearing her pink dress with the black hood and the white undershirt. And when she looked to where the hooded stranger was, she found…Roxas.

Was the stranger I kissed in the dream Roxas?

Kairi shook her head, touched her lip. She shivered again but not from the cold. The dream was so vivid, so explosive, so real. She ran her tongue around her lips, remembered the pressure on them when the stranger kissed her without her consent.

And when he slid his tongue into her mouth…she shivered again as she remembered how it felt, the gentle caresses as she allowed him to deepen the kiss, until she knew she thought she was going insane. And after that, he allowed her to enter his mouth, see what it was like. He was so giving, she thought, so willing to let her see for herself. Who was he?

"…I wish I knew…" she sighed.

"Knew what?" Roxas asked curiously. She looked up and gave him a faint smile.

"Nothing, really…" she said. "Have I…have I really been out for that long?"

Roxas shook his head some. "It was horrible. You wouldn't lie still, kept moving everywhere…like you were in pain. Pence suggested we strap you to the bed but Hayner shut him up. Sometimes, though…in the middle of the night, you'd cry out something. Some words, sometimes a name, sometimes a sentence…You sounded so delusional."

Kairi nodded. She did think she was going crazy in that dream.

"Roxas?"

"Yeah?"

"Um…"

What was I going to ask him again? No, definitely not if he ever kissed someone before. What was that other question on my mind?

"Kairi?"

She looked up to her left. Roxas had left his seat, was now standing next to her. He pulled up a chair and sat down in it. Then he took her left hand and held it, caressed it, while his eyes never left hers. She swallowed but held steady.

"I was…wondering…about dreams."

"Dreams?"

"Yeah, dreams."

"What about them?"

"Do they…do they ever mean anything to you? Or-or do they symbolize something?"

"Like tell the future?"

"Yes-"

"Or the past?"

Kairi blinked. "What?"

His hands tightened around hers and a look of pain crossed his face. "Dreams…they make you relive the past…or give an allusion to it. That's been my experience with dreams. I…I see the past…"

"What about your past?" This could be it. Maybe I can get him to start talking about his past.

"It's…it's not interesting. It's nothing, really."

"But I want to know-"

"No, you don't," he said automatically. "You don't want to hear about it."

"How do you know?" Irritation. She could feel it swell. She tried to push it down because she knew it could give way to anger. "How do you know I don't want to hear about it?"

"Trust me, Kairi. You don't."

"I-"

"Hey, you two." Olette stuck her head in. "Mom doesn't want you two in the same room alone together and anyways, Roxas, you really got to go. She's getting pissed. And Hayner's outside. He wants to see you. Or rather, he said you wanted to see him. Did I get this right?"

He stood up and her hand slipped out of his. She looked at him, felt resentment that he didn't trust her enough to tell her about himself. Yes, that was it. Trust. He didn't have enough trust in her. Why? After all they did together…

"I'll see you two in a while, then?" Roxas asked. Kairi looked away. She heard him sigh, then receding footsteps.

"So, can I ask what that was all about?" Olette asked curiously, coming in and closing the door behind her.

Kairi sighed and shook her head. "I don't know…"

And then it came to her. Maybe she could talk to Olette about this. About her…'dilemma'. After all, she had told Olette a lot about her past, including her relationship with Sora. Maybe Olette had some sound advice to give.

"Olette-"

"You should know, Kairi, that Roxas normally isn't like this around people," the brunette said abruptly, shutting the redhead off. "He…this is so weird, coming from me about him but…he cares about you. A lot. I've never seen a guy so focused on just one person but now…I've seen it all."

Kairi looked at Olette, saw her shake her head. "But that's where the problem is. Have you told Roxas about Sora?"

She had gone and brought up the topic Kairi herself was going to bring up. Kairi hesitated, remembered the night they first met. "He…he seemed tense, when he asked me about Sora. I mentioned his name a few times, I think, and he…he seemed mad or something. They've never met before, have they?"

Olette sat there in the seat previously occupied by Roxas, thinking. At one point her forehead wrinkled as she apparently tried to recall a chance meeting between the two but she finally shook her head. "No…but they do look similar."

"Olette?" Now or never.

"What?"

"What do I do?"

"What are you-"

"What do I do about…about him? You know about the stuff between Sora and me, about our…our relationship. That's all I've been thinking about, until that one day when the Heartless attacked and Roxas saved me-us. Ever since then…things have been…going out of control." Kairi stopped, took a deep breath. "I think…I think I like him. I think I like Roxas."

"Go figure," Olette remarked. Somehow that comment really rode up on Kairi and she whirled on the other teenager.

"You don't understand!" she practically hissed. "This isn't supposed to happen! Sora and I are supposed to be together! Nothing should change that! Not even-"

"Supposed to?" Olette, a bit taken back by Kairi's sudden anger, interrupted. "What do you mean by 'supposed to'? That's not what I heard when it comes to life, you know. Nothing's…supposed to be this way or that. We just wish it was."

Olette then rested her elbows on her thighs and set her chin on her hands. She studied the other girl and Kairi had to look away again. Now she felt embarrassed. Olette wasn't wrong at all.

"But I…I told Sora…I told him to never change. I told him to never change because…because I didn't want the world to change. I didn't want that moment when I told him…to go away and never come back."

"Sora's changed. And, as I've heard from him, you've changed, too. So I don't know what you're talking about, Kairi. What are you talking about?"

"I…" Kairi wondered at the question. "I don't know. I guess…"

She looked up at the ceiling of Olette's room, saw her vision blur as tears started welling up in her eyes. She wiped at them, then took a deep breath.

"I guess…the last time I saw Sora…and the drawing he did in the Secret Place…made me want to forget everything that happened. I wanted to forget because I felt so much pain. So I changed my appearance, hoping that I won't be reminded whenever I look in the mirror. Then one day I forgot Sora's name. Eventually I forgot his voice. All I knew was that someone was out there, someone I knew long ago, someone who promised to come back to me. So I decided not to go back to the Secret Place until that somebody came back, that someone who made a promise to me."

"Promise? He promised to come back to you? That's pretty big of him."

Kairi smiled. "Yes…yes, it is. But he promised anyways. And promises are unbreakable. Especially those between the two of us. That's how close we are, Olette. That's why we're supposed to be together. That's why…"

A tear rolled down the side of her face.

"That's why I don't know what to do now. What do I do, Olette? What do I do?"

''

Hayner stared at Roxas and wished he had some sort of mind reader or something. The problem with Roxas was that he thought too deeply and when he thought too deeply, most of it never makes it out of his mouth.

"Yeah, and what did you want to talk to me about again?" Hayner asked grumpily under his breath.

"I don't know…I just needed someone to talk to."

"Well, we're not making any conversation here. Care to start?"

Roxas looked at him. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, nothing much," Hayner muttered. "Just that the other day Seifer beat the crap out of me in the prelims for the Struggle Tournament coming up in a few weeks. Said to send his regards to Kairi or something-"

"Really?" Roxas interrupted, looking at Hayner. His blue eyes were blazing with sudden interest. "Why would Seifer say that? He hasn't forgotten how she's beaten him up that other time, did he?"

"You know Seifer," Hayner answered matter-of-factly. "Hell, I know Seifer."

"Who doesn't?" Roxas muttered under his breath. Then the teenager sighed and sat down on the steps out in front of Olette's house. Hayner looked down at the top of his friend's head. "Listen…it's just that…I just wanted to talk to you because…I obviously can't talk to Pence about any of this. Any of what I'm going to tell you."

Hayner jumped at the mere mention of their very mutual friend. "This is about Kairi, isn't it?"

Roxas was ever so reluctant to answer. "Well…kind of…but…it's just that, I had a weird dream last night. It was really…disturbing."

"How disturbing?" Hayner asked rather delicately. He had a feeling this was not pretty.

"Did you…" and here Hayner noticed Roxas was starting to turn a dark shade of…red? Most likely. "Did you ever…kiss someone in a dream?"

That was the very last thing on Hayner's mind. He'd even take streaking before that. The blond teenager stared at Roxas for a few minutes - more like a few samples of eternity – and then yelled, "WHAT!"

"Shut up! You'll have this neighborhood up in no time!" Roxas snapped uncharacteristically. He was still a dark shade of…red. "I don't want to advertise this, okay?"

Hayner scratched his head. "Say what?"

Roxas sighed, put his elbows on his knees, and bowed his head. He looked…pathetic. Depressed and pathetic.

"I…I dreamed I was on a beach. A tropical beach. It was night…the full moon was really low in the sky. The sky was so clear. It was nothing like this twilit stuff. It was pure dark blue and there were stars. Real stars.

"I don't know why I was there but here I was, in the middle of a beach. I looked at myself and realized that I had somehow gone back in time. I was wearing exactly the same stuff I was wearing a year ago. I even checked my hair. You know, the one with the really long bangs?"

Hayner nodded slowly. Roxas methodically pressed onward.

"I saw someone, someone kneeling down in the sand. I headed towards that person and that person looked up. She…she was the most beautiful person I ever saw. So beautiful…and so sad. She looked like she was trying to cry but she couldn't. She looked so miserable."

"Who was she?"

"I don't know. That's the funny thing, because I felt like I've met her before. Somehow…she looked familiar. But I couldn't remember her. There was something blocking my memories. But I felt I knew her. So I went to her. And I…I don't know what came over me. I knelt down in front of her and she backed away. She was scared and I got…angry. I pulled her to her feet with me and I…kissed her."

"Wow. That's some drama going on there," Hayner remarked, quite blown away by the details Roxas was spewing out.

"The thing was…I loved it. I loved kissing this unnamed girl. And after that…she kissed me back. And I let her. I let her have her way. It didn't matter to me. It was like a mutual agreement between us or something. It was like we didn't know each other but we understood each other perfectly."

"Lucky…" Hayner muttered under his breath. Roxas raised his head to give his friend a glare.

"But she suddenly pulled away. It was like something had just come to her attention. She turned and started to scream someone's name, started running towards the sea. I followed her, and I saw someone down at the edge of the sea, watching the moon. And I felt…sad. No anger, no hatred, no jealousy, just…sadness. She stopped running and looked at me. She was torn.

"And then she came back to me and I kissed her. I didn't want to let her go. But I had to. It was the only way. So I did. And I watched her go down to the sea, to the person at the shore. And all of a sudden, it wasn't night anymore. It was twilight. And I looked at myself and I was…I was myself. It was like someone fast-forwarded a year or something. And I looked down at the beach and I saw…Kairi. And…and some other…guy. Someone with wild brown hair and black clothes."

Hayner shifted uncomfortably on his feet at the mention of 'wild brown hair' and 'black clothes'. He kept his mouth shut, though.

"And suddenly I heard someone scream. And I woke up. It was…the weirdest dream, because it felt so real. I…I actually remember that girl…her lips…on mine. I…I never kissed anyone before. I never had the motive to kiss anyone…but I just saw her, and I just did. You think…you think that means anything, Hayner?"

"What, you kissing someone in you dream?" he asked. "That's just weird coming from you. Sorry, Roxas, but I really don't have any idea what to say about this. Do you think…uh…that the girl's real?"

Roxas shook his head slowly. His answer was a whisper. "I don't know."

Hayner hemmed and hawed for a few minutes, then sat down next to Roxas. He patted his friend on the back and Roxas looked at him with surprise. And apprehension.

"From what I can deduce, I think that girl you kissed was Kairi."

"Say what-"

"I mean if in your dream that girl got replaced by Kairi like how that guy down at the sea changed and you changed, don't you think that is Kairi?"

Roxas blinked, stared at him for a few minutes. His blue eyes were cloudy with confusion but slowly, ever so slowly, they cleared into a brighter, sharper blue. And then Hayner decided on something right there and then: He had never seen Roxas turn a darker shade of red before.

Presently the teenager looked away. He was silent. Hayner sighed, filling in the eerie quiet. "Look…um…can I…can I talk to you about something? Well…actually, it's more like a confession. Um…the thing is…the thing is…I like…"

Roxas watched the teenager curiously as he struggled with himself. Then Hayner emitted a low growl in his throat, a frustrated sound.

"I've got to say it! Damn it, I've got to say it! Look the thing is, Roxas, is that…I like…Olette." His voice went from a rising crescendo to a bare whisper. "And, uh…what the hell am I supposed to…do?"

"What can you do?" Roxas asked.

"Not much."

The other teenager shrugged and poked at his shoe. "You'll have to find a way, then, to tell her. I can't help you. You know I can't. I know next to nothing about this."

"And yet you got to kiss her in your dream-"

"Shut up, Hayner. I don't even think it's her. Maybe…maybe it was someone I knew a year ago…someone I eventually replaced with her. I mean, how could I have dreamed of such a thing?"

"Roxas, when you're in love, anything's-"

"I'm not in love. I'm not, Hayner," Roxas snapped, then his voice dropped to a bare whisper. "I can't be in love."

"And why the hell not?"

"It's…" Roxas sighed and pressed his hand against his forehead. How was he to say this to Hayner? "It's really complicated. I can't explain it to you. It's…it's nothing. I don't know. Do you…do you even know what it's like to be in love?"

Hayner shrugged, leaned back on the step behind them. He looked up at the sky thoughtfully and for once he looked…wise. Hayner, wise?

"I…I heard there were differences…between liking someone…and loving someone. There's something that separates the two. That's why there's the word 'like' and the word 'love.' At least…that's what I heard…and not from Pence."

Roxas studied Hayner while the teenager stumbled around with an even clearer explanation of what the hell he was talking about. Hayner sighed, looked to Roxas for help clarifying the facts, and found a blank face staring back at him.

"I…I think liking someone…you just think they're cute, or hot, or just attractive. You think they're funny, they're fun to hang out with, easy to talk to, that kind of stuff. Really lighthearted, really…bubbly." Hayner shuddered at the last word. "Ugh, I can't believe I said that."

Roxas just nodded.

"But loving someone…I think it goes way deeper. Deeper than…having fun with someone you like. It's…and this is only what I heard from other people…it's like you're connected to someone, connected to that other person. Like soul mates…only I don't believe in that shit. But that's what people say. You fight with each other but make up in the end. You cry in each others arms, and laugh through the tears. You help each other through the darkest days and guide each other when lost in the night. It's…why am I even saying this!"

Hayner scratched his head and looked at Roxas. The teenager was staring up at the sky thoughtfully. There was an unreadable but touching look on his face. Hayner deduced that he must be thinking about Kairi. Had to be.

"Uh…Roxas?"

The person in question didn't answer. Hayner sighed, considered leaving the guy there to think and stare at the sky, then remembered something that happened to him earlier that day.

"Hey Roxas."

Nothing.

"Did you ever…run into something suspicious or strange or anything lately?"

Silence.

"See, earlier in the day after Seifer beat the crap out of me, this guy came up to me. He was weird, wearing this weird bluish-black cloak and hood and all. And I asked him what the hell he wanted. He asked if you, if you, ran into anything strange lately. And I asked him what the hell he was talking about. And he asked if you ever saw a dog, a really strange dog around these parts."

"What?" Roxas seemed to be intrigued all of a sudden. "What dog?"

"Yeah, exactly!" Hayner exclaimed in agreement. "Like, 'what dog'? I told him that was the most absurd question I ever heard and I told him to go away and…he got creepy."

"What?" Either Roxas hadn't heard correctly or he was asking for Hayner to continue, which the blond teenager did with pleasure. "What do you mean by that?"

"He…he got all pissed and everything. He went up in my face and told me to go find you and demand that you say you ran into a dog. And I told him there were a shitload of mongrels out here on the streets so why don't he go find them all out for himself. And he got even madder and said that this was a matter of life or death and other stuff. He kept rambling so I just left. Guy didn't even notice. I think."

Roxas shook his head. He ran his hand through his hair several times, then rubbed at his face. "We've…been hearing about these really strange people…asking about either one of us. It's…bizarre. I don't know of anyone who'd go after us…besides Seifer. But he'd go after any of us so I really can't say much, can I?"

Hayner stared at him. "Who's this 'we' you're referring to? You're not referring to you and Kairi in the collective, are you? That's…weird."

Roxas stared at him for what seemed like a few long 'night' minutes, complete with chirping crickets. Then he covered his mouth and backed away as far from Hayner as possible. The other teenager sighed, shaking his head and hiding a knowing smile.

"That's-that's not it!" Roxas blurted from behind his hand. "I mean-that's not what I-stop twisting things!"

"I'm not twisting anything, Roxas. Why are you even overreacting to this? I mean, c'mon, it's so obvious-"

"Not it isn't."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it-I'm not playing that game. Look, deny it all you want, but you like Kairi. It's so obvious that listening to you say otherwise makes me sick."

Roxas blinked at him. "And when's that going to happen?"

"When pigs fly."

"…pigs don't fly."

Hayner sighed. Sometimes Roxas took too many things at face value too many times. "I hope they don't. I like my pork not flying away from me."

"You pig."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm-not again."

Roxas cracked a smile and threw a punch at Hayner's shoulder. "So…do you have anything else to say or can I go back to my apartment and finally get some sleep?"

"And a shower-"

"Hayner."

"Okay, okay, fine." Hayner really did enjoy that conversation a few minute ago but Roxas demanded it and therefore, he must say it.

"I…" Hayner suddenly stopped, as he realized what that other thing was, that one last thing he wanted to say. He looked at Roxas, then down the steps to the street. It suddenly came to Hayner that Roxas might not know who Sora is.

"Hayner?"

"I um…the thing is, you know that guy you described in your dream? The one with brown hair and black clothes?"

Roxas watched him carefully. He spoke slowly, dancing lightly around Hayner's question for confirmation. "Yeah…what about him?"

"I…I've met him before, Roxas. He's a real person," Hayner said just as slowly, perhaps even slower. And then it came to Hayner that Roxas had just dreamt of a guy he never even met. "And…I hate to say this, and don't get all freaked out by this, but…"

Roxas was starting to look pale, now. "But what?"

Hayner sighed, thought about the best way to break it to him.

"He looks just like you."

Author's Endnote: I said I was going to get back to Another Paradise. I lied. Enjoy. Questions? Comments? Review, please.