AN: Allo once more. I've been mucho busy, so I haven't had time to update this fic in a long time. Consider this an update. Yeah. Whoooo. .

Raine: All right, all right. Get on with it. I'm sick of waiting for you to get off your butt and write.

An: Touche...

When I woke up, Aerith, Yuffie, and Leon were in my room talking quietly in the corner. Apparently, they have never heard of privacy and are accustomed to walking into people's rooms without knocking, nor checking to see if they were awake. It seems they may be more skilled at stealth, or perhaps I was too deep into that dream to be bothered by their presence. Sitting up, I groggily raised a hand to my eyes, rubbing, before glaring at the three of them. Yuffie and Aerith retained innocent auras around theirselves, grinning sheepishly at me almost though I'd caught them stealing cookies from the jar, while Squa-Leon didn't seem to care what I thought about him being in my room.

'What are you three doing in here?' Was my first question. Aerith walked over calmly to sit on the edge of the bed. Instinctively, I moved away from her slightly, eying her warily.

'You were crying and murmuring in your sleep.' Yuffie said worriedly, walking over to stand a couple feet away from the bed. 'Leon came in and tried to wake you up, though you stopped crying as soon as he held you.'

'I thought it was cute.' Aerith said happily, and Leon shot her a death glare from across the room. 'Leon hugged you to calm you down.'

I stared at her, then back to Yuffie, then snorted, throwing the blankets off of me and onto Aerith. The green-eyed woman shrieked as she was buried under the thick covers, and I slid off of the bed, uncomfortable in the white shirt that I wore - scratchy, annoying. 'I need new clothing. Know any places nearby?'

'Oooh!' Aerith's head popped up from the blankets, hair slightly mussed as she clambored out and grabbed me by the arm. 'Tee hee, Yuffie and I are definately helping you with that!'

'Wha...what? Hey, let go-' Yuffie grasped me by the other arm, and I could only attempt to drag my feet along and slow them down. 'Let me go!'

'This is going to be so much fun!'

I have no idea how they got me that far out the door without me slicing them into pieces, burning any extra, and spreading the ashes over the sea to rest. All I know is that shopping with Aerith and Yuffie is going to be your worse nightmare, no matter who, what, or where you are. They'll track you down. I almost sympathize with Leon for having to stay in Traverse Town with them...the shopping...the giggling, the smiling...BAH to it all! We'd made it far enough into the store, and both of them were now dragging me around and cooing over cute outfits that I'd look good in. Aerith suggested pink, and Yuffie suggested a very bright color of pastel blue...insert twitching fit here.

'I'll find my own clothing!' I said desperately as the two held me down, trying to force a rather skimpy shirt over my head. I wasn't cooperating. The like was included with thrashing limbs, them attempting to hold me down, and myself trying to escape. 'I do...not...wear...THIS!'

'You do now!'

'Yes, you do!'

'Noooooooooooo!'

By the end of these little ventures, Aerith had sucessfully made me wear a variety of different items that did not, in fact, go together at all: A pink sweater and a purple pair of pants, a pastel blue pair of pants and that same exact sweater, a black tanktop and those blue pants, and that skimpy little shirt that vaguely reminded me of a simple headband. And by the end of these ventures, I'd threatened to kill them both but they'd both laughed at me, then let me wander off to find my own spare set of clothing in which I could change in to. Thank God I'd gotten away from them - the next thing they'd been thinking of going into was the 'Undergarments' section of the store.

After making my way to one of the further sections of the store away from the two psychos that had forced me through the apocalypse, I relaxed and ended up shifting through the clothing to find something that I'd be capable of wearing without embarrassing myself in the entirety. In a rather small stack, I found some pretty good clothing : the top was hard to describe - it was white and black and zipped up the front, and looked like a vest with a pretty high collar - and from the inside it hooked down onto the pants by two little black strap thingies that Yuffie said looked like suspenders. I coupled that with a pretty tight black tanktop and a pair of baggy black pants. I bought them both with the extra munny Aerith had given me and ended up walking out of the store wearing them. The boots and the gloves to the outfit I'd had on when I first arrived in Traverse Town, I kept on. I kept my hair down, also - it seemed I grew more accustomed to the feeling of hair brushing the back of my neck than I previously thought.

Aerith, Yuffie, and myself returned home sooner than I thought. They dragged me out of the store once more and back to the house despite the fact that I could have walked back on my own without them having to touch me to do so. Leon simply raised an eyebrow at me as I entered the room, complaining about how my arms hurt from them gripping them so hard. Aerith and Yuffie only countered with, 'Well maybe if you didn't struggle so much, your arms wouldn't hurt.' Bah. I wouldn't have struggled if you didn't have such poor taste in clothing choices, my friends, I would have definately went along with you if you had a better sense of style. But I didn't say that aloud.

Even though this adventure had seperated my mind from the endless thinking that I had been doing, I couldn't help but worry about Haze. I wondered distinctly where he was, and if he was all right...worries that a sister would always have for their brother if he'd been seperated from her. I know that he MUST be safe - after all, I did banish Maleficent to that pit of darkness...Haze was away from her...wasn't he? He'd been on the floor looking up at us...I don't remember him moving. He has to be safe...still in the Obscure Caverns, but at least safe. Heartless couldn't have overrun the place yet...the darkness hadn't even actually manifested itself in there. Hmmm...

When I tried to think of my past, all I drew was a giant blank. Like someone had come in and stole it from me. As I thought, I started to get angry. Why couldn't I remember? It seemed only yesterday that I'd been able to...what had I been able to do? Where had I lived? Did I have any friends there, family? Why is it that I can only remember this one...the one named Sephiroth? Is he my father...? Plopping down on my back on the bed, I stared up at the ceiling. No shadows this time. The light from the lamps cancelled out any shadows...and there was only a clear, smooth white surface. No comfort... Shuddering at the thought, I turned over onto my side, pulling the covers over me, and went to sleep.

Well, let me tell you, I stayed there for much more than a day, my friends. I stayed there in Traverse Town for a year with Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith, though I formed a close relationship, despite our quarrels, with Leon. A brother sister relationship. I can't remember ever sharing that sort of relationship with someone else...or sharing any other relationship at all besides with Haze, in fact. That kind of connection is still a mystery to me...but back to subject. I looked to Yuffie as a sister, and Aerith more like an aunt...they'd become my family, along with the Accessory Shop owner, Cid. He was Pops. That always made Yuffie giggle.

My life seemed regular for once - I had a loving 'sister', 'brother', 'aunt', and a Pops. I'd gotten comfortable with them around, and they'd gotten comfortable as well. Aerith could practically read my thoughts, Leon knew all of my motives and could tell what I was going to do in the next, and Yuffie could actually hug me and I wouldn't kill her. Each of them had earned their respect and carved out a place in my ice block of a heart. Heh. Metaphors, now, Raine? What next? Speaking in the third person...oh wait, I've all ready done that. However, despite all my connections with the others, I was always with Cid. He complained about it, but I think he liked my company in that boring little shop as we discussed gummi business - after I'd gotten sick once and Aerith had to keep me in bed, he'd came over asking, 'Where's the pest?'

And you know, I actually got to have what Yuffie called a 'birthday party'.

That is, until I met her.

What, did you expect my life to drone on like that? HAHAHAHAHA! I don't think so. Apparently change is prone to me...or rather, is like a petulant child tugging at the hand of it's mother, always reminding her that it's there and it will soon be a burden on her if she didn't buy it that special lollipop.

I met her when I was travelling through the streets of Traverse Town, searching for Heartless to prey out. I'd happened to chance upon her - wandering through the streets herself, looking so lost that her aura actually spelled out the word L-O-S-T. I couldn't blame her. Traverse Town was a big town...well, for a town. This girl looked weird, too - she wore an orange hoodie, with weirdly, the sleeves cut off, techically making it a hooded tanktop, two brown things that looked like cuffs of some sort on her upper arms, two frilly white things covering fingerless black gloves, a white skirt, and a pair of sneakers. Her hair was a sort of lighter mahagony and braided back. Her eyes were aquaish and big, framed by long lashes, and her skin was a bit tanner than mine, but not much.

'Yo,' I called out to her, hands in my pockets. As I neared her, I realized that this girl was taller than me...grrr! I AM NOT SHORT! I'm just small-boned. 'You lost?'

She looked like she was trying to see EVERYTHING at the same time. I couldn't blame her. Traverse Town was a big, confusing town to newcomers.

'Y-Yeah,' She turned toward me. 'Uh...where am I?'

What didn't surprise me was that she was shaking and confused, but the fact that she didn't know where she was just struck me as odd all of a sudden. Didn't she know all about it, or had no one told her about it before? This confused me for a moment, and I could only stare at her as she asked that specific question, mouth opening slightly to tell her where she was, then closing as I blinked in almost a stupid way. Didn't she know...anything...?

'Er,' I managed to speak after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. 'Your in Traverse Town. Your world was probably attacked by the darkness, thus the reason why you ended up here.'

'World? Darkness?' She again stunned me into silence with her unending barrage of questions. 'Heh...er...are most people like this when they first come here?'

I laughed at this. She gave me a weak smile. She looked as weak as that smile...she looked tired, weary, like she would collapse there on the street right then. Best get her to a safe place, before she DOES and attracts all the Heartless.

'Don't worry.' I assured her. Most people were like that when they first arrived in Traverse Town - like they'd forgotten everything. 'A lot of people don't know what this place is...but Traverse Town is a gathering place where most people end up losing the world they lived in to Heartless...or the darkness. You might have seen those black things that were attacking people, and somewhere on them, they had a symbol - like this?'

I drew it out - the shape of a heart cut into four pieces? Perhaps. I knew that symbol all too well. I'd been fighting and destroying Heartless as their hunter for years, that was what I knew - from my time with Maleficent to the much more peaceful times here in Traverse Town.

'Oh...' She paused after a moment, and nodded slowly, still just sorta...staring at me.

'What?' I finally asked her, maybe about after three minutes of her staring at me and me trying to avoid her gaze.

'You've got red eyes...'

All right, now she's confusing me here. Out of all the things about me, out of everything else that was currently a trait that I had perhaps inherited from my unknown father or mother, the thing that she noticed most about me was my eyes? I nearly snorted aloud after debating over whether or not I should just hit this girl right here and drag her back to the Inn so Leon and Aerith could deal with her, but then again, I could deal with her. No biggie...

'Uh...yeah...uhm...glad you noticed...?'

'O...Oh, sorry, it's just that no one I've actually met before has the color eyes that you do...' She was one to apologize quickly, was she? I have the sneaking position she isn't the one to forgive so easily, though...so much for hitting her...

'Eh, it's fine,' I shrugged carelessly and then cocked my head slightly to the side. 'You'll need a place to stay while your here, right? Well, they've got a pretty good place around here that you could stay - the Hotel, it's in the District before this one - the 2nd District. They've got rooms that are protected by the Heartless, though usually the barriers don't last until the next morning's afternoon, so I'll probably end up coming to get you...'

'Th...thanks...' She stuttered and stumbled over her own words. She seemed scared - not only of a new place, but possibly of me? I don't know. Am I so scary-looking? 'This...darkness...can you tell me about it?'

'The darkness...' I heaved a soft sigh. 'To most people it is an unknown force beyond the reach of humanity. A long time ago, the world was constructed of light - and the people loved this light. They grew jealous of one another and began to fight for it - thus, darkness was born in their hearts. They destroyed the world that they build before for that light, though once again the light was born in the hearts of children. They rebuilt the world, and this is the world we live in today. Haha...an old wives' tale, though it serves as a guide as of why the darkness is here...'

'So the darkness was created when people began to fight over the light, huh...' She nodded slowly, like it was taking her a long time to process all of this. Huh. It'd take me a long time too if I was in a place I didn't know. 'I see...'

She stayed quiet after that moment as we walked together. Here and there a couple Heartless popped up, and it was a cinch to take care of them, though I could not help but start thinking about this girl. Here she was, lost and confused in a different world, tired as well, though she still seemed to be able to ask questions. Weird. I would have gone to sleep or something. Oh well, it shouldn't bother me as much as it does right now, should it? No. The moment we arrived in the First District, she started asking questions again, though they concerned the town. Apparently she'd forgotten all about the darkness for the moment. Good. Because I'm not very willing to talk about it.

'So, how many different sections does this town have?' she questioned. 'And where can I get a weapon? I'm gonna need one...I'm sort of...searching for someone.'

'This town has 3 different sections we call Districts,' I explained quietly. 'And an underground Alleyway that I frequent to train. Weapons you can get easily enough at the Item Shop, though you can Synthesize them as well. The Moogles can probably help you out with that.'

'Synthesize?' She blinked. Hoo boy, did this girl have a lot to learn.

'Yeah. Combining different objects using alchemy to form a new one?' I supplied an explanation, and she put on the 'ohhhh' face. Yeaaaaah... 'So if you have any items you can bring to the Synthesis Shop right above the Accessory Shop, then you go ahead and do that. If you don't, then I'll give you some free stuff that you can use to make it...'

'Well, I do have some stuff from this little mushroom guys who wanted to play charades with me,' She looked down at me as we neared Cid's shop. As usual, he was outside and smoking a cigarette. Don't know HOW MANY times I've told him to quit. But no. No one listens to Raine... She pulled out a familiar little vial of clear blue liquid. 'Mushroom...goo?'

'Oh, you have Mystery Goo.' I nodded and examined the vial. Hmm. Seemed to be fresh enough. The moogles could do something with it. 'This gives your weapon special properties.'

'Oh...wow. I've got two more of them, too.' I nodded to her in agreement. 'So, these...moogles can help me out?'

'Yep. All you need to do is ask. I'm pretty sure he can help you out too,' I prodded a finger in Cid's general direction, and he looked up as we neared. 'Hey. Told you someone new was in Traverse Town.'

'Don' rub it in, girlie,' Cid snuffed out his cigarette and then crossed his arms over his chest. 'So, where the hell ya from? Maybe we can help ya out while your stayin' here with us. This brat musta introduced you to the general area, though...you know 'bout the districts?'

She nodded. Wow. Cid must have shocked all the speech right out of her. Eheheh...grrr... I really should get him to stop swearing at the new visitors. Usually once they have a way to escape they DO.

'Good.' He nodded. 'Raine'll probably take you down to the Hotel. You'll get a room free o' charge since your new to this town. Clear?'

She nodded again. Oh boy.

This is gonna be fun...

AN: Well, that's the end of the chapter. WHEE FOR MIEMIE OMG! Sorry if I didn't portray her all that good, Alyss. x.x Even know she IS a rockin' character this mun isn't exactly the best at her. OH WELL. Hehehe!

Mie: Yay, I'm finally in the story...but I sound kinda stupid...

Raine: Your not stupid, just confused.

Mie: Thank you Raine! ( hug )

Raine: Stop...touching me... ( twitch and faint, faint blush )

Me: HAHAHAH! Prepare to be friend-ified. And let's hope that the darkness doesn't sweep through Traverse Town. e.e. It ALWAYS does.

Ansem: ( pokes head in doorway ) Heyyyy, Mierie. Didn't know you were here!

Mie: Mr. Ansem! . HI!

Raine: Oh brother. Please, just cut to the next chapter and leave me alone. . ;

Me: Grumpy pants.

Raine: What an adolescant insult...

Me: . ...SHUT UP!

Raine: ( grin and then wanders off to...o.o; do what she does? )