Author's Comments: Oh. My. Gosh. I finished it. I finished the last chapter of this story. AHHHHHH!

No, this chapter isn't the last. After this chapter you can expect five more chapters. Would you prefer I upload them all at once or would you like them uploaded throughout the next few weeks? I'll go either way as long as you leave behind reviews.

Thanks for waiting and for all your lovely comments and words of support. Here we go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, any Final Fantasy VII characters mentioned, any lyrics to Paramore's "Emergency", Bowling 4 Soup's "Punk Rock 101", or the concept of a Battle of the Bands competition. I own Imani.

I always try. I really do. I feel like I only succeed one out of five times, though.

"Nam, you've got the tickets, right?"

I focused on fishing through my wallet for the dark slip of paper. "I've only got mine."

"Huh." Roxas reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his own wallet. "I can't find mine…"

"Maybe it's in your room?"

"Maybe. Lemme check."

He leapt off the couch and darted down the hall. Once I heard the clacking of his opened door, I breathed a sigh of relief…temporary relief, anyway, until he returned. His light pinstriped collared shirt would be a little rumpled from his fervent search, but I imagined he'd breathlessly drag his feet back into the living room, his ticket pinched between two fingers and a charming smile on his face. I knew for a fact that I'd feel the breath in my lungs catch and my heart speed up a couple hundred miles a minute.

I try not to stare whenever he's around, regardless of the state of his clothes. I try to avoid having to look at him without seeming like I'm bothered by something he might have done and without having to explain that nothing was wrong. Being in love with one's best friend with whom she spends the majority of the day really made the tasks more complicated.

"Found it!" he declared, waving his ticket like a victory flag before filing it away carefully in his wallet. "It almost went into the wash with some other jeans."

Before I could laugh or respond (or stare or try to breathe normally), Reno's camaro rumbled into the driveway, the bass of his stereo pumping the evening air. "We're going!" Roxas called to his parents somewhere in the house.

"Be safe!" his mother called. "No drinking! Don't accept anything from strangers! Tell the bar staff if anyone is harassing you!"

"Bye, Mom!" Roxas groaned and yelled at the same time as he held the door open for me.

Shielding my eyes from the harsh glint of the setting sun bouncing off the shiny camaro's body, I walked as best I could in the one-inch heels I strapped my feet into. Soon I heard Roxas following close behind, his hand positioned near the small of my back in case I fell. "I'm fine," I told him, though slightly (fine—more than slightly) flattered at the gesture.

"Just being careful," he murmured back without removing his hand.

I smiled softly and agreed that yes, we could do without a repeat performance of the middle school high-heel relay race.

Roxas shuddered silently and I corrected myself: The middle school all-male high-heel relay race.

"Aw, you two look like an old couple, yo."

I was glad the sun was setting and that my back was turned to Roxas when I felt the blush creep onto my face. "Hi, Reno. Hi, Axel."

"Hey." Reno cheerily waved through the rolled-down passenger window while Axel grunted in reply. "Ready to see those wannabe bands get owned?"

"Hell yeah!" Roxas laughed as he slid into the car after me. "Melodious Nocturne for the win!"

Reno howled, revving up the car and gunning to the main road. "I am gonna kick Cloud's ass if they don't win, yo!"

"You and me both! He's no longer my cousin if he screws up on stage!"

"Hn."

I giggled at Axel's less-than-ecstatic input. "You okay, Axel?"

He gave a halfhearted shrug and I turned to look at Reno through the rearview mirror. "He's just sour 'cuz his girl ain't gonna be there tonight, yo," the older redhead answered. "Something about getting a really good deal at that fancy restaurant at Hotel Agrabah and going to dinner with her family."

"Ah." I nodded in understanding, reaching across Roxas to pat Axel's bony bare shoulder. "You look nice, though. She would've been tripping over her feet if she saw you."

"Yeah," Roxas chimed in, "and Seifer's gonna freak when he sees your face."

A corner of Axel's mouth curved at upwards at the thought. He turned in his seat and I finally got a good look at the tattoos he had on his cheeks—dark upside-down triangles that almost resembled teardrops. "Redemption," he purred, his lips curling back into a feral grin.

I blinked and my stomach flipped. If Imani didn't melt after hearing that tone of voice he used and seeing that grin (along with his whole appearance in general), I'd have to conclude she was inhuman. Or blind…which I highly, highly doubted, considering she always seems to spot my twiddling fingers when I try to lie to her, no matter how tightly I squeezed my fingers together.

As Axel faced the road again and Reno sped through the city to Seventh Heaven, Roxas leaned in and whispered, "She's wearing the contacts today, right?"

"And the wig," I assured him with a nod. "And the bad-girl attitude."

He breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled and my heart fluttered as I felt his breath rest on my skin. "Good."

"Hey! No funny business in the back of my car, yo."

Roxas pulled away just as Reno pulled into a parking stall on the side of the road about a block from the bar. We all got out and made our way over to the line extending from the front entrance, searching for a bubbly girl who was probably bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation.

"Nam!" said girl—my cousin—called, waving her hand. "Over here!"

We parted ways with Reno then ("Gonna go find Rude and Vince," he said with a wave) and agreed to meet up at his car after the competition before joining Kairi in line. "How long have you been here?" I asked, hugging her and noticing how close to the entrance we stood.

"Since four," she shrugged, shifting on her heels and straightening her snug band t-shirt. "Sora wanted to come early to set up…" She trailed off, her eyes frozen on Axel's face. "Oh my…"

The redhead adjusted the collar of his sleeveless, slightly wrinkled button-down shirt. "What?"

"You sure you don't want Imani to know about those?" She pointed a finger to his tattoos. "I think you could pull off a badass Prince Charming kind of stunt."

"I think so, too," I said, scanning the crowd in front of and behind us. "You're making heads turn, Axel."

He shrugged with one shoulder, arching an eyebrow at me and Kairi. "You sure you're not the ones making heads turn?"

I blinked, looking down at my jeans and light hoodie. "I probably look like a twelve-year-old," I muttered.

"Oh please." Roxas rolled his eyes, bringing an arm to rest across my shoulders. "You're only saying that because Ax looks older than he really is with those tats."

The comfortable warm weight of his arm made me lean into the rest of his body. I ducked my head to hide my flushed face. "I suppose…"

The four of us stood in line for the next half an hour, chatting about random topics—movies, exams, Melodious Nocturne's song set, shampoo brands…To my hidden surprise, Roxas never removed his arm. Kairi seemed to notice, too, from the way she glanced at his hand hanging over the front of my left shoulder.

When we finally got into the bar, Roxas' arm slithered away as he and Axel made their way to the stage to say hi to Melodious Nocturne. Kairi's arm linked with mine and she dragged me to the counter behind which stood Tifa, Imani's busty cousin.

"Hey girls!" She smiled while shaking up a drink. "Can I get you two anything?"

"Nah, we just came to say hi," Kairi said, releasing me and hopping onto a stool. "How's business?"

"It's been picking up," she poured the drink into a glass and placed it before a girl sitting a few stools away from us, "and I'm positive we'll get more customers after tonight thanks to you, Namine."

I slid onto a stool next to Kairi, placing my hands in my lap. "I'm glad I could help," I smiled.

"By the way," Tifa's smile grew playful, "I didn't know Roxas had a possessive streak."

"Wh-What?" I sputtered, my cheeks flushing for the tenth time today. "What makes you say that?"

"Oh, don't play innocent. I saw the way he had his arm around you," the bartender laughed. "His eyes were darting around shooting daggers at a few seedy-looking customers."

"You should've seen him outside!" Kairi giggled. "He looked about ready to deck someone!"

Before I could protest, a loud "What the hell?" cut through the low buzz. The three of us turned to the voice. In the dim lighting I could see a beanie-clad head and a dark mop of hair reeling back from the tall guy they were looking at.

I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter when I saw how Axel's grin gleamed and Roxas' smirk widened.

The crowd roared with applause and shouts of "These guys rock" and "They're so hot" and the like. Since their opening number (a cover of Bowling 4 Soup's "Punk Rock 101"), Melodious Nocturne was making a huge impression for being the rookie band debuting tonight. Kairi screamed her head off while I clapped and laughed in delight for the band.

"Thank you!" Demyx cried into the microphone as the other band members took quick sips of water. "Wow, you guys are awesome…"

"You want something to drink?" a waitress with goldenrod eyes and short strawberry blonde hair asked us, a platter of empty and half-empty glasses resting on her hand.

"A nonalcoholic rum and coke," Kairi told her with a grin.

"Very funny. One coke and…" she trailed off, her eyes darting to me expectantly.

"A Shirley Temple?" I offered.

"Are you asking me? It's your drink," she said plainly.

My cousin and I exchanged an amused look and burst out laughing. "You're really getting into character, Maxiin," Kairi jeered lightheartedly.

"Yeah, yeah. It's the hair." She winked and strode off. "Be right back, kids."

"Our next song is a cover of one of our favorite bands and uh…heh…" I caught Demyx glancing at his other band mates before returning his attention to the crowd. "It's got a bit of a special meaning tonight. We'd like to dedicate this to a couple of good friends of ours…so yeah! Hope you enjoy!"

"A special meaning?" I wondered aloud. "What's that about?"

I barely noticed Kairi's lack of response before Riku began tabbing the first quiet notes. Cloud's guitar broke the calm soon after and Xaldin's drumming picked up the excitement in the room. Leon continued to stand off to one side, plucking his bass with more stoicism than the other members.

Demyx glued his lips to the mic and began, "I think we have an emergency, I think we have an emergency…"

"If you thought I'd leave, then you were wrong 'cause I won't stop holding on!" Sora echoed.

My eyes lit up and a grin spread on my face. Paramore!

"So are you listening?" Demyx locked his eyes with mine. "So are you watching me?"

"If you thought I'd leave, then you were wrong 'cause I won't stop holding on!"

Slowly, my grin sank into a frown and my forehead creased in confusion. Kairi and I sat on a pair of barstools at least twenty feet away from the stage—we hadn't moved since coming into the bar—but if I squinted…

"This is an emergency, so are you listening?"

I thought I saw Demyx's sea green eyes darken ominously. He no longer smiled charismatically at the fan girls pushing up against the front of the stage. He just glared…at me.

"And I can't pretend that I don't see this…"

Sora didn't take his eyes off me, either. He usually looked for Kairi whenever the band rehearsed in Demyx's basement. Perhaps it was the dim lighting and he couldn't differentiate between us?

I was about to point this out to Kairi, but when I turned to look at her, I found she was already watching me, her blue eyes dimmed with what appeared to be concern. She jumped and whipped her head away the moment she realized I was looking straight at her.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"It's really not your fault no one cares to talk about it, to talk about it…"

Reddish-purple hair flew around her head as she shook it in denial. "N-Nope. Nothing."

"'Cause I've seen love die way too many times—"

The moment all the instruments ceased playing, a sticky dread began to seep throughout my chest and into my stomach. Demyx's voice reverberated off the walls of the dark bar, his eyes boring into mine.

"—when it deserved to be alive…"

I tore my eyes away and locked onto the waitress's yellow, catlike orbs as she stepped closer and placed our drinks on the counter for us. She held a blank stare—a fake one. Of course she knew something I didn't…something everyone else seemed to understand.

"I've see you cry way too many times—"

My eyes flicked back to the stage. Riku's gaze made my heart drop to my sticky stomach.

"—when you deserve to be alive…"

He maintained my stare for a second before glancing to some point to his left, off the stage.

"So you give up every chance you get just to feel new again!"

I followed him and my lungs tightened. Arms crossed and smirking approvingly next to Axel stood the boy who'd haunted my thoughts for so long. It finally hit me when I saw Demyx and Sora's eyes flit to the same spot—right where Roxas stood.

"I think we have an emergency, I think we have an emergency…"

I moaned and grabbed Kairi's shoulder with both hands, shaking her back and forth. "What possessed you to come up with this?"

"This wasn't my idea!"

"That doesn't matter! Are you guys crazy?"

"We all thought this might spark curiosity!" she insisted, holding her manicured hands up defensively. "This might start the talk!"

"And you do your best to show real love, but you don't know what love is!"

"This is why Roxas wasn't allowed to listen in to their rehearsal last week?"

"Heh, you remember that?"

"Why couldn't you let me initiate the talk on my own?" I nearly whined.

"When were you planning to do that?" she demanded, jerking out of my grasp and setting her hands on her hips. "Tell me when exactly you were going to come around and bring up the subject."

"So are you listening? So are you watching me?"

"The subject was already brought up!"

"But you didn't get to completely discuss it. You know that, so tell me when you were going to mention it again."

My eyes roved all around the room—the stage, Roxas, Tifa behind the counter, Roxas, Axel, Roxas—as I tried to come up with a good answer. "I…I-I…well…"

A fine eyebrow arched. "That's what I thought."

"Well I can't pretend that I don't see this…"

The breath in my lungs rushed out in an exhale of defeat. I glanced at the stage again to find the band members watching me knowingly.

"It's really not your fault no one cares to talk about it, to talk about it…"

"Look, if you feel too uncomfortable when he brings the subject up, play dumb," Kairi advised matter-of-factly. "We didn't mean to put the spotlight on you two. We just wanted to try and give you a push in the right direction."

"'Cause I've seen love die way too many times—"

Before I could reply, we spotted Maxiin jogging towards us as quickly as she could in the pair of one-size-too-big combat boots she borrowed from her cousin, her eyes wide and her brow furrowed. Her gruff, snappish tone was gone without a trace when she squeaked, "When the heck did Axel get tattoos on his face?"

"You noticed?" Kairi quickly turned to her and smiled brightly. "Sexy, huh?"

I deflated on my stool, my shoulders sagging and the dread in my chest sinking into my bones. What was I supposed to do when Roxas brought this up?

"Axel never once mentioned getting any tattoos!"

"Oh? Imagine that."

Maxiin wilted, the tray under her arm almost falling from her grip. "Nam, did you know…Hey, Namine?"

I snapped to attention. "Y-Yes?"

"Are you…" she began to ask, her eyes searching me. Suddenly, she gave a sidelong glare to my cousin. "Kairi."

"I know!" she automatically cried, guilt etched in every feature. One arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry, Nam," she cooed. "I didn't mean to make you feel pressured."

"I know," I mumbled reluctantly, leaning into the embrace. I tuned out the rest of her apology and allowed my eyes to magnetically roam to where Roxas stood…and lock with his steady gaze.

Heat splashed my face and my palms began to sweat. He neither smiled happily nor frowned in confusion. He just stared, a strange shadow in his eyes.

But then, his mouth curved into a smile; a beautiful, innocent, oblivious smile, the shadow long gone. I forced myself to smile innocently, painfully obliviously, as Demyx's voice lulled the room against the drum beat and the blending sounds.

"Scars, they will not fade away…"

Author's Afterthought: It's very rare that music inspires me to write something (which, I think, is weird). When I heard this song play on my iPod a few months ago, I instantly thought of Roxas and Namine in this story and thought, "What if Melodious Nocturne performed this?" Thus, the Melodious-Nocturne-playing-at-Battle-of-the-Bands concept was born. What'd you think?

I don't mean for Kairi to be really, really annoying. Sometimes she just turns out a bit...strong-willed? If you've read Memoirs of the Emotionally Stupid, would you say she's less stubborn in this fanfic? I intended for her to be more likeable...

And...it was easy to understand that Maxiin is Imani, right?

So let me know how you would like me to upload the final chapters. Leave a review, please! Thanks for reading!