HEY EVERYONE. xD

sorry for the delay on this chapter, I had somewhat of a writers block, :P but I rushed it for you guys, because I wanted to put it up before I went out for my birthday dinner. SO HERE YOU ALL GO.

anyway, this chapter is totally dedicated to the awesome Shyuu, roxasXnamine-ftw, Misfortune XIII and Typewrite. YOU ALL ROCK.

disclaimer: I didn't get Kingdom Hearts for my birthday, so I still don't own it. I also don't own Alice in Wonderland. D:

The counter was on the receiving end of her glares that should've been sent to Riku. Namine had promised herself that she would not go anywhere near her best friend until she didn't feel the undeniable urge to hit him. At the moment, the feeling was definitely present as she sat with her forehead on the counter of the Shack, listening to Kairi and her boss while they discussed juice names. She had dropped out of that conversation a while ago and it didn't look like they really cared; she hadn't been contributing any ideas anyway.

Ever since what happened with Riku and Roxas at the hospital, she hadn't been in the mood to do anything. At least before then she had somewhat of a chance with the blonde bassist, but Riku had gone and screwed it all up by proclaiming his undying love to her in poor Roxas' face, then announcing their relationship to him, something that had been a surprise both the blonde and herself.

Once Roxas had left, potentially crushed, she had wanted to tear Riku's pretty silver hair out off the top of his pretty little head and ceremoniously burn it outside his bedroom door. She hadn't gone that far of course, but she had certainly felt like swearing and calling him every insulting and rude word in the dictionary.

Demyx looked solemn when she had entered the room, rubbing her sore hand idly. "Everything gets worse before it gets better; believe me, it does actually get better." He had said to her calmly. She desperately wanted to believe him, but the only way anything was going to get better was if Riku gave up and Roxas forgave her; which would obviously never happen...ever. So she had settled on walking over to her brother, sinking into the chair next to him and falling asleep.

She wanted to go home. She wanted everything to go back to the way that it had been before all the drama started. She wanted her brother back; the loving, clueless, forgetful Demyx that wasn't injured or broken in anyway. She wanted her best friend to go back to being exactly what the name meant, not some guy who was obsessively in love with her. And most of all she wanted Roxas back. She promised herself that she was going to try her hardest to speak with him at least, and hopefully they could be friends, because she was pretty sure that he wouldn't want to be with her after everything that had happened.

Her house was too frightening at the moment, because the attacker might return or the Jenova boys could be at her door step anytime, so she spent the next few days at Kairi's. Her best friend had been more than happy to let her stay and when Namine had actually arrived, courtesy of Kairi's elder sister Aqua, her best friend had gone so far as to set up a mountain of pillows and blankets on a mattress in front of the massive television downstairs. That first night she remembered eating about two tubs of chocobo road ice cream between the two of them while she told Kairi everything. Her best friend looked completely irritated and totally upset for her simultaneously and had left Riku a very strongly worded voice message on his phone.

But it didn't matter how many tubs they emptied or how many messages were left because she had zero chance of ever possibly being with a certain blonde boy. And as much as she tried to keep occupied with other things or focus on other people, Roxas continued to plague her thoughts and he just wouldn't leave.

Every little thing reminded her of the boy. ; The stage area, the Banapple Twist, the deep blue ocean, her phone. -Especially her phone, because every time she opened it, Roxas smiled back at her. As much as it hurt, she couldn't bring herself to change the background.

The spot she was sitting at was particularly memorable. Roxas had stood here and taken that photo. She had been aiming for the sunset and had ended up with something better.

Namine sighed and dropped her head down onto the bench surface with a thud. She honestly couldn't care less at the moment. Behind her, Kairi and Marluxia suddenly stopped talking and she could feel them looking at her. She heard footsteps and someone put their hand on her back gently.

Beside her, Kairi bent down to look her in the face. She looked concerned. , "How are you feeling, Nam?" She asked, rubbing soothing circles on her friend's back.

"Peachy, Just peachy," Namine answered somewhat sarcastically. She felt like crap, but anyone could see that by just looking at her. She heard someone gasp suddenly and watched as Kairi turned to look at Marluxia.

"Oh my goodness... Just Peachy... It's PERFECT!" He sounded excited. "I have just gained inspiration for my latest juice!" She heard him skip over to her. "I thank you once again my de-" She saw Kairi shoot the man a look. "...ah...I mean...are you sure that you're okay to be working? Or just okay in general...poor you Nam..."

She sighed and pushed herself up from the bench. Was she okay? No, she wasn't. But she desperately wanted to be. Her friends were looking at her worryingly so she tried her best to give them a smile. It didn't look like they believed it, but they turned back and started working nonetheless, Marluxia going to the fridge and pulling out the tub of peaches.

"You didn't smile with your eyes."

Namine jumped and spun around on her stool. Sora stood on the other side of the counter, shirtless, board in hand. Instead of his attention being totally fixed on Kairi like usual, he was actually talking to her.

"Pardon?"

"When you smiled just then. They didn't believe you because your eyes weren't smiling."

"Oh," She looked down at the bench. Sora was practically the king of smiles, so of course he would be the one lecturing her about them. "I'm sorry, but I don't really have any reason to smile at the moment..."

She heard him sighed and tap the bench with his knuckle, asking for her attention. Looking up, she saw that he was smiling softly at her. "Let's go for a walk."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "What about Kairi? And your juice?"

"Believe it or not, Kai and I can go more than ten minutes without seeing each other." His smiled widened. "And I'll just get the juice later; right now you're more important."

She just looked at him. He continued to smile at her but then his grin somehow widened as he looked behind her. Already knowing what the distraction was, she just dropped her head back onto the counter and groaned in frustration.

Kairi was now standing beside her, leaning over the counter, having a hushed conversation with her boyfriend. She couldn't hear what they were saying but she could tell that it involved her. Suddenly her best friend straightened and turned to her. Namine shifted her head to look at Kairi.

Her best friend was smiling at her. "I think you should go with Sora." Namine looked at her questioningly. "What? He's got some stuff to say and I think that you might want to hear it."

Sighing slightly, she pulled herself up from the bench top and got off the stool. She turned to look at her best friend. , "What are we gonna do about Marluxia?"

"...What do you mean?"

"I'm kind of meant to be working." Not that she could say that she had been anyway. Kairi had dragged her back to work because she said that it would be good for her. So far she hadn't had any customers and had just sat with her head on the bench for about an hour or so. Yeah, as if this was good for her.

At the moment it was 5pm and the beach was somewhat empty, which probably explained the lack of customers. Marluxia never minded the down time though, because it gave him ample opportunity to experiment and create new juices.

The sweet smell of peach and vanilla filled the air as she looked over to her boss. The man was adding pieces of peach and strawberry into the blender, before mixing them together. He flipped off the appliance, pulled a teaspoon from his pocket and scooped up some of the mixture. He made a thoughtful face as he tested the juice before suddenly yanking open the fridge and pulling out the honey. This was his usual method when creating juices and it was an ongoing cycle that she saw regularly.

Kairi smiled at her. "I'll cover for you, although I don't think he'd mind very much." Namine had to agree. One of the good things about working at the Shack was that Marluxia was very easy going, and often let them leave early or stay on their breaks for longer than usual.

Sora and Kairi were both looking at her expectantly. She huffed in defeat, "Fine, I'll go..." They both broke into smiles and high fived each other as she reached down to grab her bag from under the counter. Talking to Sora had to be better than working...right?

The brunette moved aside as she jumped over the counter and landed on the path in front of him. He grinned at her.

"Awesome," He said to her before turning back to Kairi. His girlfriend handed him his phone and his shirt. Although she had seen it before, Namine had to look away when Sora kissed her best friend quickly. It reminded her too much of everything that had happened.

Sora pulled away and slipped his shirt over his head. She was thankful. When the brunette was shirtless, he looked a whole lot more like his cousin. Leaving his board leaning on the counter, he started walking along the path. She watched him until he was about five metres in front of her before she followed along.

"You know," he said to her, slowing down slightly to let her catch up. "Both Roxas and Riku are my best friends," Ah crap. Namine immediately felt like Sora was going to say something to her about how she ruined both of their lives. She felt like sprinting back to the Shack but she swallowed and pushed the feeling down. Sora continued, "So when they both told me that they liked you, I didn't know what the hell to do."

"I'd known how Riku felt for about three years before he confessed to you. Rox actually came as surprise because he didn't tell me directly. I kind of figured it out because he kept mentioning you and asking about you." Sora laughed, "When it comes to these things, he isn't very subtle at all." He scratched the back of his head and detoured off the path and onto the sand. Namine paused at the edge before following him begrudgingly, the sand seeping into her sandals.

"So after all of these obvious hints, I confronted him. At the time, he honestly didn't know how he felt, but he knew that there was something that was making him want to see you again. It took quite a bit of hassling too, because, you see, Rox generally doesn't talk about this kinda stuff as easily as his brother does."

Namine's eyes widened. "Roxas has a brother?"

Sora turned to look at her with a confused look. "Uh, yeah...He actually has two brothers and a sister in fact. It's madness at his house." Wow. She never would have guessed that he had that many siblings, but she had never exactly thought about it before. "There's Alice, that's his sister. She's a year younger than us and kind of mad, but she's really nice. Then there's his older brother, Cloud, who is like nineteen or twenty. He tends to keep to himself, but he's always looking out for them." Namine was surprised. She had lived on the Destiny Islands all her life and had never heard about Roxas' family before.

"What about his other brother?" She asked, recalling that Sora had mentioned him having two brothers.

The brunette smiled. "Ah yeah, I bet you didn't know that Rox had a twin did you?" She didn't. It caught her totally off guard and when Sora turned to look at her, he laughed. "You look so surprised. Did you really think that Rox was an only child?"

She didn't know. She hadn't really thought about his family, just more about Roxas himself.

"Anyways, he's got a twin, Ventus, but everyone generally just calls him Ven. They're identical and it's not easy to tell them apart. They're always sharing clothes too. The only way that you can tell them apart is that Ven is left-handed, and Roxas frowns more."

Namine noted that Sora had strayed from his original conversation topic. The brunette stopped walking when they got to the usual spot and he jumped up onto the bent over palm. She stood awkwardly behind it, just watching. After noticing that she hadn't followed his actions, he looked over his shoulder before grinning and patting the spot next to him. Namine hoisted herself onto the trunk before moving into a sitting position and laying her bag on her lap.

"Anyway..." Sora paused then turned to look at her sheepishly. "..What was I talking about?"

Namine sighed. This was the usual case with Sora. He often lost track of what he was saying after he got distracted by something else. Kairi thought it was cute. Of course, her best friend had never personally told her this but Namine could see it in her face whenever it happened. Her lips would pout and she would look at her boyfriend like he was the fluffiest, smallest, most adorable puppy she had ever seen. The blonde had seen her best friend pull that face on countless occasions and always rolled her eyes, each and every time.

"Roxas," the name made her heart throb. She took a deep breath and swallowed. "...you were telling me about Riku and Roxas."

"Oh yeah, that's right!" His face lit up quickly before dying down and becoming serious. He looked her in the eyes and Namine couldn't remember ever seeing the brunette this serious before.

"Namine, as much as I want both of them to be happy," Sora sighed. Looking up at the sky, he ran a hand through his gravity defying hair. He glanced down at her, "I think that... Roxas needs you more than what Riku does."

"W-what...?" She didn't know what she had been expecting when she decided to come on this walk with Sora, but it certainly hadn't been this. The brunette was looking at her with a totally stern expression; his happiness had faded into importance.

He continued to hold her gaze. "I'm no match maker and I admit that I am slightly dim-witted, but I can tell you, truthfully, that you and Riku are not right together. After what happened at Riku's house between the three of you, Roxas hasn't been the same. You guys had only known each other for not even a week and it was like the sunshine had just gone out of him." Namine felt like she could relate with how Roxas was feeling. That's kind of how she felt as well. Sora continued, "I had fully convinced him to talk to you at the hospital the other day, but then Riku ruined it. Now at their house, it's like a giant black hole has just eaten the joy. It's even easier to tell the twins apart now, simply because Roxas is a freaking grumble bum."

"So...would he actually want to see me at all?"

The brunette sighed, "No, probably not." Her heart sank. She knew she had used up both her chances with the blonde, but she still had the slightest glimmer of hope left before Sora had said that. Now it had just flown away. "But I want you to go and see him. He's liked a few different girls throughout his whole life and none of them have ever made him act this way. As much as he doesn't want to see you at the moment, you need to see him. Not just for his sake or for everyone else's, but for your own." He sighed and looked over at her. No offense Nam, but ever since that night, you've been crumbling. You're snapping at people, angry and sad at the same time and you don't want to do anything." She had to admit that she was doing all those things that Sora had mentioned.

Suddenly she felt bad. Namine lowered her head to look at her hands. They were resting in her lap idly "I'm sorry Sora..." She took a deep breath and glanced back up at the brunette. His eyes had widened in surprise. She had caught him off guard with her apology. Then he smiled at her; his seriousness had spontaneously evaporated.

"No worries Nam. You had every right to be all grumble-ish." He reached into his pocket and dug out a folded piece of paper. Handing it to her, he watched as she unfolded it. It was a map of their suburb. The beach was clearly shown at one side of the picture. Her house was circled in a blue marker. She could see Kairi's house hastily circled in purple and Sora's just around the corner in orange. There was another green circle surrounding another house that she didn't recognise. It sat near Axel's house.

"What's this for?"

Sora smiled, "It's a map to your destiny."

"...pardon?"

"This is the key to your destiny." He reached over and tapped the house circled in green. "You need this and more importantly, you need him. And he needs you, more than what anyone else does."

She sat looking at the green house for a few seconds. From where they were sitting, it was probably only just a few minutes away. Namine got off the trunk and sighed. As much as she didn't want to, she knew that her heart had already made up its mind. Looking down at the piece of paper in her hands, she decided that this was the only way. Turning to look at Sora, she found that the boy was right next to her and she jumped, startled. In response, he broke into a grin and laughed at her. Happy Sora was officially back.

Namine was caught off guard when the brunette wrapped his arms around her in a friendly hug. "Good luck Nam."

She smiled, "Thank you...for taking me on this walk." He laughed and pulled away. As soon as he let go, she practically took off running. She was maybe halfway down the road when she realised that she sucked at directions.

Stopping abruptly, Namine looked at the map in front of her, before crossing the street. She was suddenly getting nervous again. Last time she had seen Roxas was at the hospital, and Sora said that afterwards he was crushed. It was probably about 5 o'clock, but she was only guessing by the distinct orange colour in the sky. The beach had been fairly empty today and for that she was thankful. If it had been busy there was no guarantee that her boss would've let her go.

She had just passed Axel's house when she stopped walking. What if this wasn't a good idea? What if Roxas shut the door in her face and never wanted to see her again? What if he didn't even come out and let her talk to him? She sighed. It didn't matter how many unnerving outcomes there were. She was going to see Roxas no matter how upset he was at her.

She turned the corner onto Key Street and glanced down at the map. 'The key to your destiny' he had said... Sora's pun made her roll her eyes. He was always doing this with as many things as he could. He was always a giant ball of happiness and sometimes found the most monotone, average things hilarious.

The third house along the street on the map was circled in the green marker. Looking down the road in front of her, she couldn't define the house from one another. Namine walked along the footpath slowly, folding and flipping the map nervously in her hands. All of the houses around the beach area were each two storeys high with clean, neat paint and green gardens. Roxas' house was nothing less. The butterflies in her stomach flipped and twisted in circles as she stopped at the beginning of the path, looking at the dark wooden front doors. The grass and the garden looked to be in perfect condition and her butterflies went into little crazy fits when she saw the blooming white rose bushes lining sides of the house. These were the roses that he gave her...

She walked up the path, trying to stay calm. Roxas was just behind that door. The little sculptures on the grass and in the garden appeared to watch her as she walked past. The white rabbit in the vest and the strange, transparent, grinning cat were freaking her out. Stopping on the doorstep, she took a deep breath and knocked quickly before she could chicken out.

She stood awkwardly on the porch for a few seconds before the door swung open and her heart stopped. Roxas stood in the doorway looking surprised. His blue eyes were wide and he looked better than what he had a couple of days ago.

"Um...N-Namine...right...?" He asked, slightly confused.

"...Roxas." She breathed. He was so adorable and she suddenly felt terribly guilty for everything.

On the doorstep, Roxas hesitated. "...Actually, I-"

"N-no, wait...I need to say something...it's really kind of important..." She took a deep breath and looked down. "I...I'm sorry. I'm so terribly sorry for everything that's happened...you didn't deserve any of it. A-and what you saw happen at Riku's house, I never wanted it to happen or for you to even see it... You didn't deserve to see that and to think that I went behind your back and betrayed you...because I didn't...well...I did...but I really, really didn't want to...I like you Roxas...a lot...and after what happened, I was crushed. I felt as though I ruined your life and at the same time, I ruined mine." She sighed and looked up at him. He was watching her closely, looking sad but still slightly confused. "After you saw...Riku kissing me...it...the look on your face and in your eyes..." She paused, suddenly remembering the blank yet heartbroken look in his eyes. She felt her own eyes tear up slightly, "...It broke my heart...a-and then...I...I broke Riku's..."

Roxas looked stunned. She didn't blame him. Riku's actions at the hospital had made it seem as though she and the silver haired boy were a couple, and that he didn't stand a chance. "...Namine, I-"

Ignoring him, she continued. He had to hear this. "...and I thought I did break it..." She took a deep breath, "A-at the hospital...he came in and brought me flowers..." She smiled softly, thinking about how they were no match to Roxas' beautiful white roses. "...he asked me to give him a chance...b-but I told him, that I couldn't...because I-I liked someone else...he...he got upset and left. Demyx had heard the whole conversation...and I told him everything...then...then I realised...that..." She bit her lip and made eye contact with the blonde in front of her. "I realised that I don't want to belong to anyone...anyone except you..."

Roxas' eyes widened dramatically. He looked surprised and sad and confused all at once. When he didn't say anything, she kept going, "B-because of Demyx, I was ready to call you and talk to you; to apologise and to tell you everything...So I rang...but you were outside and Riku was there..." She looked down and clenched her fists suddenly. "He had no right to do what he did. I am not going out with him; we are not in a relationship. What he did was wrong and because of what he did, I haven't spoken to him since...but, what I did was worse. I just stood there and let it happen...I let him do that, because you surprised me and I was in shock... and for that...I'm sorry, Roxas... I really, truly am..."

She was suddenly wrapped in a hug. She felt warm and safe, but it wasn't the same. Something had changed. "Namine..." His voice was soft and consoling, and he pulled away quickly. He looked her in the eyes and by his stance she could tell that he felt awkward. "Before you start up again... I-I have to tell you that you do talk an awful lot when you want to say something. What you said was really touching, but next time before you go spilling out everything, I think you should make sure that you know who you're talking to."

Namine paused and looked at him in shock, "W-what?"

The boy smiled apologetically. "I'm Ventus."

To say that she felt foolish was an understatement. Her nerves had gotten the best of her, and she had just blurted out everything to Roxas' twin. His twin! She recalled Sora's words and felt stupid.

"...They're identical and it's not easy to tell them apart..."

Namine was stunned. She didn't know what to say and she couldn't even form a coherent sentence. She stuttered slightly. Ventus is Roxas' twin...he looks like Roxas...they're IDENTICAL. She took a deep breath and couldn't stop herself from taking just the one. On the doorstep, Ventus looked concerned. He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her to look at him. His blue eyes were wide with worry. She couldn't even tell them apart...she told everything to Ventus...not Roxas...Ventus wasn't Roxas...

"Namine...Namine!" He said, shaking her shoulders lightly. She didn't look at him. Her hands were at her mouth. Her mind was formulating words and sentences but her lips were failing to say them. Ventus shook her harder, "Namine! Snap out it! You're going into shock...it's not that bad!"

His shouting snapped her out of it. She could feel her mouth responding, before she even knew what she was saying, "...not that bad...not that bad?" She pulled away from the twin and nearly slipped off the step. She was tearing up again and she took several deep breaths. "...it's horrible! I'm stupid! I ruined everything with Roxas twice! Twice! That's terrible...And the two times I tried to make it up to him, I ruin it! I blow it completely!" She sighed and swallowed. "I...I really, really like him, and I ruined it! For me and for him...and I don't know how to fix it! And whatever I do...everything I do I just screw up...I want to be with him, I like him and I'm sorry and I really want another chance, with no interruptions..."

Ventus looked sorry for her as he stepped towards her, left hand reaching out. Ventus is left handed... "Namine..."

"I wish none of this had ever happened...I wish Riku hadn't kissed me, I wish Roxas hadn't seen...I wish Riku didn't even love me! I don't love him, and I didn't want to ever break his heart! I never thought that I'd ever have to break my own best friend's heart!" She could feel a few tears sliding down her cheeks. Now that the tears had started, it didn't look like they were going to stop.

"It's okay Namine...it's going to be fine..." The blonde said, touching her lightly on the shoulder. "I can go and get him for you if you'd like..."

"No...No...I-I've screwed up everything...I-I don't...I wouldn't know what to say to him...I..." She took a deep breath and looked at Ventus. "...I have to go..." Shrugging off his hand, she spun on her heel and practically sprinted down the path. The strange figurines watched her blankly as she ran past them. She tried her hardest not to look at the obvious white roses when she turned onto the street and kept running. She could hear Ventus calling out behind her, but it soon faded and stopped altogether.

Namine stopped running at the corner. Bent over panting, she could still see the tears falling and hitting the pavement silently. She was stupid and foolish and couldn't believe that she had just done that...Everything was ruined, and now Roxas probably thought she was just clingy and desperate...She sighed. It was getting darker, and she should head back to the shack soon. She didn't want to though. She didn't feel like doing anything at all. The sea breeze was in and she could see the sun slowly setting over the horizon.

Shivering, she sighed and stood up straight. Kairi's probably waiting. She could do this, she would get there and everything will be fine. Everything will turn out fine...someday... Namine could see Axel's house further on down the street and the shack was just in the distance. Taking a deep breath, she began walking. She could hear the sound of drums echoing from the redhead's house. It was a steady fast paced beat, and it sounded like Axel was warming up. Tuesday night was always band practice, and she felt slightly sad when she realised that this would be the first time Demyx would miss playing. Her brother had been released from the hospital, looking better but still bruised and bandaged, on Monday morning. He had been staying with Axel since then, because the house was lonely without Namine, who refused to return, and because the living room scared him.

It smelt like bleach and the area of the attack had been taped off. When she had returned to pick up some of her stuff, as soon as she entered the house, she had wanted to go sprinting out of it. It was scary for everyone, including their mother, who had been offered a place to stay at the Jenova house. Namine had also been invited to stay there, but she had adamantly rejected the offer. She didn't want to see Riku for as long as she could. She sighed. It was like a vicious circle. Riku wanted to see her and she wanted to see Roxas. But they were both unlucky when it came to this kind of thing.

She debated about dropping in to see Demyx as she began walking. It would be nice to see her brother, but it was always chaotic during band practice and she wasn't really feeling up to anything. She just wanted to go home...

"Oh, look." The cocky voice made her freeze. Her blood ran cold and she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She had stopped breathing altogether out of fear. She could hear the smirk in his voice. "It's the little doll again...and I'm in the mood for a little playtime." The malicious, playful tone struck fear into her heart. The voice was right behind her, breathing on her neck. He grabbed her wrist and she felt all her muscles tighten.

The man leant forward and she could feel his head next to hers as he whispered in her ear spitefully, "Let's play."

TADA. Don't hit me...please. :)

Next chapter should be up soon, and then, then this story is NEARLY OVER! I think I'm aiming for around 16 chapters.

review or not, whatever, xD

ANYWAYS, STAY SEXY 'YO!

ps, VENTUS IS AWESOME. I'm just saying.