Prepare yourself for the longest chapter ever. XD

I got a lot of positive feedback about the flashback from the beginning of the last chapter, which is lucky, because it's actually a three part flashback! :D the second part being at the beginning of this chapter, and the third part will be at the end of the next chapter. I had some doubts about positive reaction to this chapter; I suppose you'll see what I mean as you read. XD Make sure to send me some feedback after you're finished reading!

"So you knew who I was all along?" Naminé asked the boy called Roxas incredulously. Somehow, after Naminé apologized for jumping him, they ended up strolling down the path toward Westcastle, chatting amicably.

He smirked, and glanced sideways at her. "You don't have a face anyone would forget," he explained. "Sora and Riku showed me your picture, just so that I wouldn't attack you or confuse you with a blonde foe."

"Ah," Naminé murmured in understanding. "How are they? I haven't spoken with either of them in ages!" True, she loved them both to death, but spent most of her time chained to Westcastle. Her parents and her town needed her.

Roxas raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You haven't heard from them yet?"

Naminé shook her head, wary of his tone. There couldn't be something wrong, could there?

"Their town was overrun while they were away," Roxas informed her, downcast. "I thought they'd come here to ensure your safety before doing anything else… which, of course, is why you found me wandering down the path."

"That's terrible news!" Naminé sighed sadly. "I'll be glad to see them, of course, but…"

"Terrible circumstances," Roxas supplied for her solemnly.

As they walked, Naminé grew to like Roxas more and more with every moment that passed. There was no doubt that he was attractive, certainly, but he was articulate and intelligent, as well, not to mention hilarious. She could have kicked herself for letting a cute boy distract her from her task, but she'd cast the spell just as soon as they returned to town.

When Westcastle was at last within sight, Naminé expected to find her bustling town nestled snugly and quietly next to the wood, as always. At first, everything appeared normal, but her first clue that something was off came in the form of several large flares of magic. Roxas seemed to sense it as well, and they quickened their step to a run when they were near enough to hear screaming.

Three black haired, female Adherence members, cackling gleefully, blew up houses as they marched down a heavily populated residential street. It was easy enough to find them—they were noisy, and citizens were fleeing wildly. As Naminé and Roxas wove through the crowd toward the enemies, she couldn't help noticing the looks of hope and gratefulness on everyone's faces when they saw her. She couldn't believe it; the people of Westcastle really did feel safe with her watching over them!

Letting her town down was not what she had intended at all by leaving to sweep the area. When the girls were in sight, she channeled all her anger into her magic. She would not rest until all three fell at her hand.

"Nice magic," she commented sarcastically, cheeks already pink with fury. "Too bad you're using it to abuse innocent, defenseless bystanders!"

Just from the coldness of their facial expressions, Naminé deduced that they had been warned of her presence. "Out of the way, girl," one snapped at her viciously. "This is not your concern."

"You blew up houses in my town," Naminé said frigidly. Roxas hated to admit it, but somehow, Naminé, so sweet and beautiful, had managed a frightening look in her eye. "You blew them up, and you expect me to just stay out of it?" A spell ripped from her palms and shot through the air, hitting one before they could deflect it. She crumpled backward, and her legs tumbled over her head as she landed in a heap, bleeding and buried beneath her long sheet of hair.

"Seems we underestimated you," one of the two remaining girls muttered.

"Seems you did," Roxas agreed, swiftly drawing his keyblade from nowhere.

They froze. "Keyblade," both Adherence members whispered, shocked.

"There's two more where that came from!"

Naminé whirled around at the familiar voice. Behind her and Roxas, Sora and Riku were resting their keyblades on their shoulders, smirking at Naminé's surprise. "Hey, guys!" she greeted them happily.

"Great to see you," Sora smiled, but it didn't touch his eyes—she knew he was torn up over the loss of his village, but she appreciated the effort all the same. "I see you've met our good buddy Roxas!"

"You might have told me there were more of you," she said good-naturedly, offering a cheeky grin.

"Wait, they're getting away!" Riku immediately launched a spell toward where the Adherence members were quickly teleporting away, but it was in vain. They were gone before the spell reached them.

They approached the body of the girl Naminé hit, and Riku quipped, "Well, at least you got one of them."

Her hands shook violently when she saw what she did. That girl marked the first human Naminé ever killed, as well as the first time Naminé felt remorse for killing. 

Monsters and fiends were entirely different subjects, as most of them were deplorable creatures which deserved to die. But this girl—what had she done, really? For all Naminé knew, she may have even been forced into the Adherence against her will. She fought off the grief that was attempting to overcome her immediately when she remembered that her parents were home today, and they needed to be checked on.

"Guys, my parents!" Naminé squeaked worriedly, taking off down the street. Hurried footsteps behind her indicated that Sora, Riku and Roxas were hot on her heels. She remained completely focused as she made a quick right several blocks down the road, disconcerted by the carnage so close to her home. Her street was just two more down…

She made another right, and stopped short, collapsing onto her knees in the middle of the road. All that remained of her house was its blackened, crumbling foundation. In fact, her entire street had been decimated—not one single wall was left standing. Now, her guilt stretched beyond her failure to cast the protective spell in time. She was responsible for the deaths of innocent citizens, as well as the deaths of her own parents. It was obvious neither of them had survived the blast, and it was useless to hope they had decided to leave the house on a whim. They were cleaning out the attic that day, trying to live life normally despite the invasion, and Naminé doubted anything could have lured her mother out of the house when she really set her mind to getting something done.

Bitter, stinging tears welled up in her eyes, blurring the horrific scene, and as Sora put a comforting hand on her shoulder, she swore she would never again be distracted from what needed to be done.

Yuri was stunned into silence.

My feelings for Hana are purely platonic, and for you to suggest otherwise is honestly a bit painful for me, Riku continued. Sure, Yuri had expected a pretty severe reaction from Riku, but nothing that severe. And if I ever felt something for her, it could obviously never compare to what I felt for you. I risked everything to be near you, Yuri… if Zexion wasn't dead, you can be sure that I would have been banished after he found us in that compromising position. If your advisors ever believed we had an inappropriate relationship, I could still be reprimanded. Don't you see?

That was something she was not aware of. It made sense, of course… the Queen was not allowed much freedom outside of wedlock, and she knew that. She didn't realize that every time she was around Riku, or any guy, for that matter, she was probably being closely monitored. It was then that she remembered Riku was waiting patiently for her reply. I apologize, she choked out, overcome by her own immaturity. I was obviously ignorant to the fact that I couldn't… that you couldn't…

Well, not like I would have said anything, he said sheepishly. You would have copped some noble excuse to stop being around me 'for my own good', or something. I think I've proven I don't care nearly as much for my own good as I do for yours.

That idiot! Yuri smacked her palm to her forehead, barely believing what Riku was saying. That is so foolish—

Could you finish your talk in person, please? Naminé requested sharply. I'm about to break into this place and steal a sphere, and being able to concentrate would be nice.

Neither Yuri nor Riku spoke another word.

While he was internally speaking with Yuri, Hana was crawling around in the alcove they came upon at the top of the cavern. Brown, jagged rocks wallpapered the circular area, and a small hole in the ground on the north side of the circle was the only way in or out. Riku assumed that the long climb they had endured was a vertical wall, sidled up next to the alcove but never delved into the rock beneath where the alcove was located. Ideally, it was a perfect place to hide something valuable. The climb wasn't easy, and falling would certainly have been fatal. One false move and your last memory would be falling, and falling, and falling…

"How are we coming?" Riku asked expectantly, taking a moment away from his conversation with Yuri to check on Hana.

She muttered something under her breath as she glared at him. "Sorry, I just have to be careful to dig in the right place. If we break it, then Ran will know we're gathering the spheres."

He sighed exasperatedly. "She can feel it if we break it, too?"

Hana raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Yes, she can. Honestly, Riku, don't underestimate her."

"Well, we really don't know all the specifics of these things yet," Riku reminded her through gritted teeth. Keeping his composure was key—he really didn't want to fight with Hana anymore, but she certainly was making it difficult.

"You break it, and you ruin everything," she informed him darkly. "How's that for an explanation?"

"Got it."

"Good!" she said brightly. "Now, where's that sphere…"

Watching Hana work was like a blast from the past. Back then, they talked, always chattering warmly, like close friends. At that moment, Riku couldn't think of anything to say. There was so much, and yet… nothing. Their friendship was gone, and he wasn't sure that he wanted it back. Things with Yuri were just beginning to work out (though it certainly didn't seem like it, considering the direction his mental conversation 

with her was going), and before he was sent to Earth, Hana always seemed to ruin his chances with Yuri. She caused a lot of fights, including the one Riku and Yuri were currently having, and he didn't want things to just continue where they left off so many years ago.

Hana paused over a specific patch of ground, face scrunched in concentration as she groped around, carefully sensing for a magical aura. Her hand came to a dead stop. "Riku, I think I've got it!" she told him excitedly. "Really, come see!"

Just as Naminé cut off his conversation with Yuri, he grimaced at her reaction, and hoisted himself off the ground where he was seated, closing the space between himself and Hana with a few large strides. He crouched down next to her, fighting off his sadness at being called foolish, and reluctantly placed his hand over hers. "I'd have to agree, actually," he said immediately. "Wow… feel that! It's awful!"

"What's bothering you?"

Riku turned toward her, shocked to find her face only inches from his. Their hands had not moved, and the knowing look in her eyes made Riku glance away, defeated, before she said anything else. Her proximity made him uncomfortable the way it was, but when she could still sense things like that, just as she could seventeen years ago… it was a bit disarming. He somehow felt she would be offended if he removed himself from the situation, so he remained stiff in his position so near the girl he had disappointed so many times; so near the girl whose heart he had repeatedly and unintentionally broken.

"Honestly, Riku, there's no use hiding it. I can see it—you have that look on your face." He knew without looking that her eyes were hardened, knowing, and intense as they analyzed his expression.

"What look?" Riku hedged pathetically. It was no use; she smelled an easy victory whenever Riku attempted to play dumb.

"That look," she repeated, as if it would ascertain her meaning. "You know the one. The one that just screams something is wrong."

Riku rolled his eyes a bit too quickly to be plausible. "Nothing's wrong," he huffed unconvincingly, hoping that making her feel stupid would dissuade her from trying to wrestle anything out of him.

She eyed him critically, and feeling her gaze boring into him at such a close distance was disconcerting indeed. "You are the worst liar I have ever seen."

"I'm not lying," he insisted, desperately hoping she would not decide to pursue getting him to talk.

In an unexpected gesture of comfort, she placed her other hand over his reassuringly, and caught his gaze. "I'll bet it's Yuri and that little magic network in your head. Don't worry, Riku, just don't listen to her nagging. You're right, you know—she needs her rest."

Though that wasn't the main issue at the moment, Riku appreciated her words all the same. "Thank you…" his voice trailed off as unfamiliar friendly feelings toward Hana began to resurface.

"Don't mention it," she half-smiled. "Let's dig up this sphere, shall we?"

"Definitely," Riku agreed, unbelievably thankful that she had finally moved her hands. He scooted quickly around so that he was facing her as opposed to crouching next to her, and was immediately at ease. Being close to her freaked him out more than he ever would have guessed.

They pawed at the ground, carefully moving dirt and rocks out of the way. It was easy work, save for the fact that they had to dig annoyingly cautiously so as not to break the sphere. After twenty minutes or so, light was finally showing through the dirt, and Hana carefully brushed the last of it out of the way with her fingertips. She gingerly picked up the sphere and removed it from the hole, smiling widely.

"We did it, Riku, we got it!" she exclaimed happily, flashing it toward him.

"I know, I know, it's awesome!" he agreed jovially, truly proud of their work.

Swiftly, she set it on the ground, and before either of them knew it, they were hugging and jumping up and down, euphorically pleased with themselves. Just as he realized what he was doing, Riku immediately released her, and the jumping stopped, but her arms remained locked around him. She peered up at him sadly, and he understood immediately what she was thinking.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, trying to back away from her.

Her arms were like and impenetrable wall around his waist—she refused to move them. "It's okay," she sighed, still looking up at him. "I just… I want us to be friends again."

"Friends," Riku repeated hollowly. He knew getting close to Hana would be a mistake; he knew she was trouble…

"Friends," she affirmed quietly, unlocking her arms and reaching up to touch his face. She held both of his cheeks, fingers curling along his jaw line.

"I told Yuri that I loved her today," Riku blurted, so shocked that he couldn't bring himself to move.

"I know you love her," she sighed again, but that didn't seem to stop her… her face was drawing nearer as she stood on her toes…

"Hana, no," Riku hissed. "I can't… please, don't…"

She smiled a little. "I have to know… just once."

He couldn't think of how to stop her. His arms hung, useless, at his sides, and his legs refused all orders to move. Paralyzed in terror, he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't think…

"Stop," he whispered. "Hana, stop…" Her face was inches from his again; she was beautiful without her Adherence features…

She pressed her lips lightly to his, and his mind screamed for him to push her away—she said she wanted to be friends—but, again, her proximity scared him half to death. He finally managed to lift his arms and place them on her shoulders, but a traitorous part of him—an extremely small part of him—was raising a mutiny, trying to get him to pull her closer instead of push her away.

It had already gone further than it should have. Yuri's face burst into his mind, and even though he doubted that she felt the way he did, the image was enough for him to gather the strength to gently push Hana away.

She backed up slowly, and bent down to retrieve the sphere. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I should have listened to you."

"Yes, you should have," Riku said, fighting back anger. "I don't want to keep hurting you, Hana, but you keep setting yourself up." Okay, so that came out a bit harsher than he meant…

Surprisingly, she smiled. "It's okay. I'm used to playing second fiddle to her, and I know you could never love me… but that doesn't change how I've always felt about you. I just wanted you to know."

"How do you suppose we go about this?" Roxas asked Naminé quietly as they both scanned the simple outer defenses of the bank.

"I think we should take it one step at a time," she replied slowly. "We'll handle one obstacle, and then move to the next. The first obstacle, of course, is breaking through these charms to get in."

Roxas studied the magic for a minute. "I haven't seen anything like it before… but it seems that we could teleport through it…

"I don't think we should. That's probably just a trap… they want us to teleport in, and then whatever is inside will get us," Naminé deduced.

She was right, and there was no question about it. "I wonder what else we could do…"

"Let's take a closer look," Naminé decided, guiding Roxas several feet closer to the building. "Other than the spell, I don't think they have any security out here."

"They don't," a girl's voice strongly said, albeit softly. "Leave right now, and nobody gets hurt."

One quick analysis of the girl's magic revealed to both Roxas and Naminé that she would probably be incapable of even scratching them, let alone hurting them, but she certainly had power enough to fight off any non-magic folk. "Who are you?" Roxas returned, stony-faced as he positioned himself between Naminé and where the voice came from protectively.

"I can see you, don't try anything."

Naminé closed her eyes, and she felt it—a night vision spell, affecting a girl just four feet away from where they were crouched. "Who are you?" Roxas repeated impatiently.

"You can't see me."

"Who you are isn't important. Why you are trying to distract us from entering this building, however, is of interest to us. What are you doing?" Naminé asked, voice jagged and harsh. People who pulled Naminé off-task intentionally typically received that sort of treatment.

The girl sighed. It definitely wasn't a good idea to ignore a demand like that. "I'm Lorena, and I protect Westcastle, which includes stopping people like you from trying to take whatever the Adherence is hiding in there."

"You think we're normal people," Roxas muffled his laughter against his arm. How refreshing being mistaken for normal once could be.

The tension in the air grew as the girl sunk into a defensive stance. "I know just your kind. People from around here, trying to make them leave by taking whatever they've hidden in there. Well, I can't allow you to do that."

Naminé rolled her eyes, floored by the girl's ignorance. "Listen, you have no idea what's in there, or what will happen if it's stolen, so just back away before I do something drastic."

"Oh, are you trying to say that you know all these things? Nobody knows," the girl snapped tartly.

"We both know," Roxas stepped in, silencing Naminé and her anger by placing a hand on her shoulder. "If it's taken, the Adherence could be stopped. Let us pass peacefully, please. We don't want to hurt you, kid."

"I can't! I'm guarding this for a reason."

"That reason being?" Naminé asked through gritted teeth.

"Who do you think they'll come after if it's gone? Who will they seek revenge on? Us. The people of Westcastle."

"We're just trying to help," Roxas assured her, staring blankly into the dark as his impatience began to get to him.

"You're just random people, how can I believe you're telling the truth?"

With a sharp scowl, Naminé magicked her disguised head back to her normal head. "Can you see me?" she asked, restraining her annoyance as best she could.

The girl gasped. "It's you!"

Naminé smiled a little. "It is. Now, may we please break into the bank?"

"Of course, of course! You're a legend around here, and people have been whispering about your return for days!"

Naminé felt like a celebrity as she reverted back to her disguise. "Thank you, Lorena. Please, be careful while you're doing this job…"

"I will." The air around them kicked up a bit as she left.

"Strange," Roxas commented to Naminé. "She's the new you."

"Only with a fraction of the strength," Naminé mused sadly. "I worry she'll be hurt."

"We'll get the spheres and nobody will ever be hurt again, don't worry," Roxas said comfortingly.

"Thank you, Roxas… you always know what to say to me."

"I do, I do," he grinned. "Anyway, what's the best way in?" he asked, assuming she was anxious to get in and get out.

"I think we'll rip a hole in the spell, and then patch it to cover our tracks," Naminé explained softly. "I can do it with my daggers."

Roxas considered this for a moment, and agreed. "Go for it."

They sneaked closer, and Naminé pulled her daggers from their sheaths. "I haven't actually done this before," she admitted nervously. Luckily, the dark hid her face, which was pink with embarrassment.

"I'll help," Roxas offered, positioning himself behind her and closing his hand around one of hers. Leaning in toward her ear, he said softly, "I believe in you."

Unable to contain a smile, she gently pulled Roxas's hand toward where the magical shield was situated. "Ready?" she whispered, the huge smile still across her face almost audible.

"As always," he answered, tightening his grip of her hand protectively.

"Focus, and guide the dagger downward," she instructed quietly. Together, they roughly stabbed it through the spell. Roxas was expecting it to feel as though they were slicing through thin air, but vibrations crawled up his arm as though they had just struck a brick wall. They summoned all their strength, and ripped the dagger downward, exposing a gaping and visible hole in the spell. Naminé quickly tugged Roxas through the opening, whirled around, and shot the bit of the spell her dagger had absorbed at the gaping hole. Thankfully, it patched almost seamlessly.

"We did it," Naminé said in amazement. "We're in!"

"Wait. Don't move. Let's figure out what the next line of defenses is before we move anywhere," Roxas said, eyeing their surroundings cautiously.

Inside the bank, there was a service counter to their left, and four offices on the wall straight in front of them. It looked as though the bank had been abandoned for quite awhile—no ordinary person would even realize the protection spell was in place. Dust had settled on nearly every surface, and was so thick that Naminé and Roxas were likely to leave footprints.

Naminé and Roxas scanned the room thoroughly for magical booby traps and alarms. The normal alarm, located behind the service counter, was broken to pieces, but no guards were anywhere to be found, either.

"I can't find anything… what do they have guarding this place?" Naminé asked, frustrated. "There has to be something I'm missing…"

"Maybe all of the security is devoted to the vault," Roxas speculated. "I mean, it just reeks of magic, so the sphere has got to be in there. They probably figured nobody would even manage to get past the protective spell, and they don't know that we know about the spheres."

"You could be right," she said skeptically. "I just don't think it could be that simple! If their leader is so fearsome, you'd think she wouldn't grievously underestimate us."

Roxas shrugged. "Well, you never know what we'll find in the vault, I suppose."

"Good point," Naminé agreed. "There's only one way to find out."

The vault was huge, as they expected. With an enormous iron door several feet taller than them, the task of opening it was daunting to say the least. A quick survey of the door assured Naminé that no alarms would be tripped by opening it, but the use of a powerful spell would undoubtedly betray their position to any Adherence member in the area.

"Roxas, I…" she peered over at him, preparing to say that she had absolutely no idea how they could possibly open the vault, and she saw he was already a step ahead of her and was summoning his keyblade. "Do you really think that will work?" she asked dubiously.

"Of course it will," he grinned sheepishly. "Do you doubt me, Naminé?"

"No, not at all!" she stuck her tongue out at him. "Fine, give it a shot."

Roxas pointed the blade at the center of the combination lock, and a thin streak of white light shot forward. The welcome sound of a lock unlocking filled the room.

"Told you," Roxas teased, following Naminé toward the door.

"Yeah, yeah," she giggled, rolling her eyes. "Let's see if we can get this thing open."

It was heavy—heavier than either of them could have imagined. Naminé supposed magic was regularly used to open it, but they couldn't risk being discovered. Keyblade magic was something they probably wouldn't recognize, or even sense, but surely someone would be scouring the land for spells cast by Naminé. They pulled as hard as they could, their muscles screaming for mercy. Finally, after minutes of heaving the door with as much strength as they could summon, it began to move.

"That's enough!" Naminé gasped, measuring the small gap in the door with her mind. "We can fit through that."

Roxas held the door for Naminé as she slipped through the door, and he followed closely behind her.

The entirety of the iron inside was empty.

"What?" Roxas sputtered in disbelief. "All that for an empty vault?"

"There's definitely something here," Naminé pointed out. With her foot, she tapped on something on the ground.

A manhole, covered with an iron disc.

"Down we go," Roxas sighed.

Now, before we all get mad at Hana, just think about her position in this whole matter. XD

Next chapter will be up soon, review and add the story to your favorites/alert list if you like it!

Thanks for reading,

Lulala