Dean's Note : You may have guessed it already, but Chapter 50 will be the last. Then, this shitty :) story will be finished.

To anyone still judging this story by its first few chapters, **** you. Go read a story where Sora is raped by males. That's just super.

Again, let me say thanks to Dilavri. Love ya, girl. I'll make sure the sequel would be much more better than this one. ^_^


Chapter 48 – No More Sorrow

Setting : Daylight Beach

Time : Thursday, 3.19 pm

Daylight Beach, one of the most famous hotspots in Dawn. Since today was a weekday, the place was not crowded with people. Sora brought his girlfriend here, and under Namine's request, the boy also invited his friends, Hope and Yuna, both who live close by. The four teenagers had a pleasant time together, with Hope and Yuna receiving an update on the varying events that have passed.

"I don't know what to say…" Hope said as he walked around the area they have settled down. He really had no idea of the troubles Kairi had been in all these years. Most intriguing was the fact that he and Yuna were in same school with Kairi for a long time, and not once that the two witnessed something that could have hinted the torment Kairi has been suffering.

"I don't think I have the right to pity her… unless I was in the same situation…" Yuna claimed. She remembered the time Kairi bullied her, but quickly dismissed the memory.

Namine understood the state of affairs told to her, being the smart girl she was. Initially, Namine was blaming herself for what had happened, but Sora had convinced her that the worst was behind them now. The flaxen haired beauty also expressed her desire to meet Kairi in person and talk to her properly, and her boyfriend promised that the time for that would soon arrive.

"But it's alright now. Don't worry." Sora said.

"Hence the relaxed Sora." Yuna smiled at him.

Hope looked at his watch. "…sorry, guys. Got some work later on. I'm gotta go."

"No worries. I think that's all to tell you two for now." Sora said.

"I should be going too." Yuna stood up from the stand and swept off the small fragments of sands on her skirt. It was better for the timid girl to return with her best friend and neighbor. "Bye, you two."

Hope and Yuna walked away from the beach after saying goodbyes to the couple.

….

Smiling, Sora stared at Namine who was enjoying the serene scene of the shoreline. He still could not believe the magnitude of Namine's beauty.

Namine turned at the boy. "What?" she asked.

Sora pulled back into reality. "N-nothing. It's just…" he paused for a second and continued with a blush. "… you're so beautiful. You're really lucky, you know that?"

Red tints formed on Namine's cheeks upon hearing his words. Blushing, she quickly turned away and looked at a distant group of children playing near the shore.

"Th-thanks." she timidly answered.

"It's nothing to thank for, you know." Sora said. "Ready to go?"

Namine responded with a nod. Sora stood up and held his hand out for Namine to help her up. Their hands linked together, Sora and Namine walked back to the car. As soon as they entered the vehicle, Sora asked, "Where to next?"

"I don't know…"

"Come on, Nami. You didn't even think about it."

"Anywhere's fine, as long as you're with me." she said, looking down with a blush visible on her pale cheeks.

A devilish smirk emerged from Sora. "How about my room, then?" he said and winked.

"Wh-what!?" Namine was visibly shocked by his thought.

"Relax! Relax! I was just joking!" he moved his hands about showing that it truly was a joke.

Namine placed her hand on her chest. "Sora… don't do that again…" her eyes, they almost looked like they were about to burst out in tears. Sora cursed himself, and God knows how many times he had. He had forgotten that Namine was a sensitive girl when it came to matters such as these. "… idiot."

"Sorry… I never was good with… words, you know?"

Namine's frown disappeared. "It's okay…

Sora calmed himself down. "Well… how about we go to mall? There's still a lot of places there I haven't checked out."

"Sure. The mall it is, then. Come to think about it… I have the perfect punishment for you."

Sora raised an eyebrow in suspicion, and decided to go with it until he found out what apparently was the said 'punishment'.


Setting : The Mall

Time : 3.31pm

Swinging by a book shop in the complex, Namine went inside to grab various books concerning their syllabus at school. The blond haired girl took stacks of books from the shelves, and her boyfriend helped to carry it.

"You don't mind a lot of books, right?" Namine asked whilst checking the contents of a mathematics hardback.

"Nah. I'm free to spend my allowance anyway I want to. But…" Sora steadied the stack in his hand and asked. "… don't you think it a 'lot' of books?"

Chuckling, the flaxen haired girl wearing a blue cardigan answered. "They're not only for me, but for you too."

"W-what?" Sora stumbled, almost losing balance of the load he was carrying.

"Don't you remember? The exam season starts as soon as the break is over. And I plan on making sure you don't fail." she said with a firm accent. The girl then placed the book she was just inspecting onto the top of Sora's stack.

"You mean… studying?" he frowningly whined.

"That's right." Namine nodded. "Studying."

Sora sighed. "This is the 'punishment', isn't it?"

Namine chuckled softly. "Partially. But I also care about your studies.

Seeing how he had no choice in the matter, Sora gave up as he sighed. If it means making Namine happy, he was prepared to expend as much time and money on studying. He also did not want to fail in his exams, and in the very least Aqua would definitely not be pleased with that scenario.

"That should be enough."

"Okay. Wait up, I'll go and pay it."

….

Done with their spree in the bookshop, Sora and Namine went to a familiar coffee shop in the ground floor. They sat down at a corner table.

"Judging by the number of books we bought, we have some serious studying to do, huh?"

Namine agreed to his statement. "Don't worry. We don't start until everything's okay with Kairi."

"That's a relief."

A young girl with short, blond hair approached the two with a menu in hand. "Welcome to Richie's." the waiter said with a pleasing smile. "Here you go." She handed Sora and Namine the coffee shop's menu. Taking a moment to decide, both ordered latte and returned the menus to the girl.

"Please wait, we'll have your orders in time." The blonde said and went to the counter.

"She looks familiar… I think I've seen her in school." Namine said.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know… Maybe I'm just mistaken."

Sora shrugged. "You don't go out too much, do you?"

"Putting school aside, no." She had also told him before that the only friend the academic girl used to have was Xion. "So… Kairi's case is settled on … Saturday, is it?"

"That's right. We're positive it'll go well. I mean, it has to."

Namine smiled. "That's good…" she said pleased.

The waiter returned with the drinks ordered by the pair. "Here's your order…" she carefully put down the drinks on the table without dripping a single drop. "Can I get you anything else?"

"Nami?"

"Um, no. That'll be all, thank you."

"Let me know if you change your mind." The blond haired waiter said and left. Having a good look on the girl this time, Namine was sure that they were in the same school. Her thoughts were disturbed when Sora started drinking his latte noisily with his straw.

"Sora, have table manners!" she scolded.

"Mmm… ahhh…" Sora exhaled noisily after finishing up his latte in a single go. "Oh… sorry. Force of habit."

Namine shaked her head left and right. "Don't make me add 'manners' to your study list." she spoke in a motherly manner.

"Yes, maam…" Sora teasingly said.

Namine pouted cutely and drank her latte quietly.


Setting : Young Mansion

Time : 4.40pm

Tranquility reigned over the flourishing mansion. Kairi was in the guest room shared by Paine and Rikku, getting to know the two better. It took the cheerleader squad captain some time to adapt to Paine's ethereal feel and Rikku's happy-go-lucky persona. Eventually, Sora's best friends took a small liking to the crimson haired teen.

Their in-depth conversation began around this morning, and had still not ended so far. The girls were also waiting for Namine's coming, having planned an all night girls chat. Rikku and Paine were returning home on Sunday, right after Kairi's matters at court were to be settled.

"But doesn't it get boring sometimes? I mean, dancing around with a pom-pom, that is?" Rikku asked.

Kairi shrugged. "Well… when you do something for a really long time, you get used to it." the cheerleading idol explained. "To be honest, I was getting fed up with cheerleading. But since Sora is captain of the team…"

"The passion came back?" Paine completed her proclamation.

"That's… one way to put it."

"Must be cool to be a cheerleader… I was gonna try out for our school's squad, you know… few years back." The blonde who had many strands of hair covering her face said. "But Sora didn't want me to."

That certainly took Kairi's curiosity. "Why's that? Does Sora have something against cheerleaders?"

"There's this 'Selene' girl back in our school. She's the cheerleader squad's captain, and always had a thing for Spikes."

"Really… No wonder… He didn't like me at first…" Kairi said, reminiscing Sora's first day in Dawn, during which he and Kairi did not had a very good start. She really had acted in the vein of a

"Don't worry. I know now that not all cheerleaders are assholes."

"Um… T-thanks."

"Waaa…" Rikku cupped her chin with her small hands, looking at Kairi dreamily, "… you must be really popular…" the blonde said, unaware of the fact that she was also a popular. The sole reason for that was because everyone back in Dusk High knew how important Rikku is to Sora.

"You think?" Paine said.

They continued talking for some time until Aqua called the three girls down for coffee time.


Time : 5.04pm

Namine opened the mansion front double-door, giving way for her boyfriend to carry inside the things they have bought earlier.

"You sure you can carry them yourself?"

Sora chuckled as they climbed the grand staircase heading to the young sportsman's room. "Please, this is child's play." he quickened up his pace to prove his point. He set down plastic bags at a corner in his room.

"Can I use your bathroom?" Namine candidly asked.

"Eh, sure. Don't worry, I keep it clean at all times." he said. The facilities must be kept hygienic consistently, since it was one of Aqua's strictest rules in the residence. Even so, Sora was a bit skeptical and embarrassed in letting his girlfriend using his bathroom. Also, he did not know why, but Sora felt an foreign reaction from his body, just at the thought of Namine in the bathroom…

"Hey."

"!" Sora quickly turned around to see Roxas casually entering the room."Why do you always scare the shit out of me like that!?"

"Hn?" Roxas lifted an eyebrow as he witnessed his cousin in apparent shock. "Well, what do you expect me to do? Knock? Your door's somehow always open whenever I'm around."

"Guh…" Sora gritted his teeth. He relaxed afterwards and conversed with his spiky-blond haired cousin. "Where're the girls?"

"With your mom, having a great time."

"Feeling lonely, Rox?"

The strong willed genius shot out snobbishly. "Please. Spare me the lecture."

Sora shaked his head in thunderstruck and irritation. "Yeah, well… Sorry for 'caring'.

Namine came back from the bathroom.

"Hi, Namine. How're you doing?"

"Fine, how about you, Roxas?"

Roxas gave her an comforting smile. He then said, "You know, we do have guest bathrooms downstairs, but I suppose your boyfriend didn't tell you…"

"Oookay." Sora pushed his cousin outside of his room. "You're embarrassing me, dude."

"I know, I do it cause I'm good at it." Roxas said. He was a self proclaimed master of teasing, and enjoys doing so.

"Right, right… Go down, we'll join you guys later."

Roxas laughed enigmatically as he walked away from the room. Sora looked at his departing cousin annoyed. 'Unbelievable blonde...' The muscular and nimble boy planned to play a prank on Roxas someday… one day. Nothing too serious though.

Sora then brought Namine to a nearby veranda, where the view of the pool could be seen. Namine leaned against the safety barrier, taking pleasure in the striking scene before her.

"So, uh… Remember what we talked about?" Sora asked his girlfriend, who moved her head up and down in return. "… just go and talk to her. It's important that she talks to a lot of people. Especially you." Sora said, with a strong emphasis on the last spoken word.

"Okay… I'll do my best, Sora. Promise." the once forlorn girl said with self-confidence, as she was about to have a conversation with Kairi. A proper start between the two girls would help Kairi by a great deal.


Time : 5.25pm

After a long time spent on chatting with Rikku and Paine, Kairi came outside to the swimming pool for some quite time. She took off her slippers and sat down by the pool, dipping her long and slender legs in the water. Kairi gradually whirled her legs about making petite waves.

Time passed on, as the cheerleader thought about how her life was changed. The other day was one that she would not forget soon, no doubt. Yesterday, she had a talk with the entire Young Family. It was an emotional discussion, in which everyone told Kairi that they really do want her to join their small family. What happened next was excessive crying, of course.

Aqua promised that she would not let anything happen to her, Terra vowed to be a father-figure to her, Roxas swore to help Kairi in any way he could, and at last, Sora. He gave his word that Kairi soon learn the true implication of the word 'love'. All said and done, Kairi felt like she was home.

The cheerleader felt a presence behind her. She turned back to see a gorgeous looking blonde walking up to her and sitting beside her. The girl was truly shining in the white dress she was wearing.

"Hello, Kairi."

Kairi politely answered. "Namine."

Unbeknownst to the girls was the fact that two spiky haired boys were looking at them from the balcony.

"This should interesting." Roxas said.

"It better work." Sora prayed, this was obviously the first time the girls were about to have an in depth talk, and the idea belonged to none other than Roxas himself. Sora went with the plan since his brother-like cousin was right almost all the time.

"It will. It's just a talk between two girls. Besides, those two are not as stupid as you are."

Sora ignored the usual insult from Roxas as he looked upon the two girls by the pool.

"We've only talked once, didn't we?" Kairi said. It was around the time when the redhead learned of how Sora saved Namine from a rape attempt by Zack. That was a period when Kairi become afraid of how close Sora and Namine were getting.

"Last time I checked, yes. That's right." Namine said. Both girls were not even acquaintances, but still they had fallen for the same person.

"So… you and Sora, huh?"

Namine nodded.

"You love him, right?"

"I do."

"… good enough."

Kairi did not seem to be mad at her anymore, though she was at a time. Mad as crazy.

"Funny… I remember seeing you sometimes… We've been studying in the same schools since… first grade." The cheerleader recalled. Back when Kairi was still not as popular as she was today, she remembered a blonde girl who she was always jealous of. The auburn haired girl was not very attractive back in the days, but Namine 'was' and still is.

"I think I remember too… yes."

Namine thought, should she bring up Kairi's personal issue? Unexpectedly, Kairi did.

"Hey, Namine? Can I talk to you about… me?"

...

"I wish I can be down there…" Sora looked down at the scene of both girls he cared about talking. He was frantically curious on whatever it was the girls were talking about.

Roxas lifted his chin and said, "It's one talk you don't wanna get involved."

"You're probably right…"

Sora suddenly felt two petite arms wrapping around him. He knew who it was.

"Sor…" Before Rikku could shout out his name, Sora secured her lips with his hands.

"!" Rikku gasped.

"Shh."

Sora removed his hand slowly.

"Hm?" Rikku diverted her eyes to what Sora and Roxas were looking at.

"Huh? You two are spying on girls?" she said as if it was nothing, though the boys were not content with the statement.

"What? No, no. More like… uh…"

Roxas left his cousin and his best friend with the word, 'eavesdropping' and vanished from the balcony. The spiky haired boy-genius wanted to go and read a novel rather than what he was just doing.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, that's right. But we have good intentions."

"Hm, hm." Rikku shaked her head up and down. "Ya know… I wasn't expecting things to be serious and all over here…" the long-blonde haired girl said. All she had in mind was coming to watch her still crush's match and spend a few days with him. Her chances might be slim, though.

Sora was still mindful of Rikku, nonetheless. "Hey, you're not feeling… alone… right?" he asked.

Rikku shook her head like a puppy. "Nuh uh. I understand you and Kairi have to deal with stuff for now."

Sora smiled at the girl, who was his very first friend. He 'loved' this girl in a very special way, and Rikku in reality owns a very important place in Sora's heart.

"I see." Namine acknowledged as she listened to Kairi's story about her past life. Getting abused by her mother was one thing, but a quite dark memory in which her mother's boyfriend attempted to... make a move on her when she was alone in the house was worse. Thankfully, at that time, Riku came to visit her.

"Something would've happened… if Riku didn't come pick me up that day…"

"…" Namine remained quiet, reflecting on the narrative by Kairi. Each of the cheerleader's words felt heavy to her, and most important was the fact that Namine was also a girl. So she knew exactly how she would have felt given the blonde was in the same situation.

"Few days later, I told my mom what Nate tried to do. What I got in return… was a slap…" she said as if it was nothing. Perhaps the crimson haired lass had taken beatings too much, she forgot the sour part of it. "She trusts the guy more than her own daughter."

"But why didn't you tell anyone about it? Or at least… report it to the officials?" Namine asked, and she already thought of a possible answer to her question, which was right.

"I couldn't… she's… my mom, Namine. I can't report about my own mother…"

Any chances of Kairi returning to her mother, Veronica, had been all but obliterated by the ever so enigmatic Aqua. It was safe to say that Kairi really was going to be a member of the Young Family. All it takes was a testimony from Kairi.

"Do you think, I deserve this new life?"

Namine placed her hand on Kairi's. "Yes, you do. More than anyone."

"Don't forget. We're all here for you."

A frown would be impossible to make with the sheer kindness and integrity Namine was showing right now. Kairi smiled, and the girls tilted their shoulders together. At this very moment, Kairi felt the same feeling she had when she met Vinia many years ago.

"I hope we can be best friends."

"We will." the flaxen haired beauty answered.

All in the while, a distant Sora was joyfully smiling at the scene before him, the sun setting on those two girls. Next to him was Rikku, who had given up her love for him, having chosen to be his best friend forever.

The same went for Kairi. True, she would never be given of what Namine had. Save for the loving family she was about to be part of.


Dean's Note : Just two more chapters, and a oneshot coming soon. Then, unfortunately, I'll be on hiatus. That time will be spent on the revision of the first My Love, and the drafting of the sequel.

I know many characters are missing out, but they'll be back.