Vixen: Finally!

Riku: What took you so long?

Vixen: Stupid writer's block! I couldn't figure out Naminé's story!

Riku: You did get it though, right?

Vixen: Duh! It's up, isn't it?

Naminé-When the Lights Go Down-Naminé

The crossroads were silent at this time of night. Usually. Tonight, there was the soft sound of breathing. A young teen was resting on a smooth rock; her once white dress gray with dust. Her pale blond hair hung in sweat streaked ropes, as she searched the horizon with wide, fearful blue eyes. Her pale lips trembled as she struggled to draw air into her tight lungs.

Slowly, her breath came easier, and her legs stopped shaking. She closed her eyes; seeking to recover some of the sleep she lost. She had been running for two days, trying to shut their laughter out. Why do they have to torture me like this? I can't feel anything; so why do they have to drive that point home? Do they do it to take their minds of the fact that, they too, don't exist? She thought, tears streaming down her pale face. They were tears of exhaustion, not agony. After all, a Nobody cannot feel agony.

She remembered very well the day she was born. She didn't have any of Kairi's other memories; but the night that the Islands were swallowed by the Darkness stood out in her mind like it had happened just yesterday.

(Okay, flashback. Night of Fate should work for this.)

The dark sky was a menacing cauldron of blacks and deep purples as the clouds roiled with suppressed rain and thunder. No person in their right mind would be out on a night like this; so when a fourteen year-old girl went into the pre storm danger, her little boat thrashing in the black sea, you would most likely believe her to be mad. Even Kairi questioned her sanity for doing this. But she felt that she had to go check on the raft that she and her friends Sora and Riku had made. She didn't want it to get swept away by an angry wave before they had the chance to use it to get away from these boring Islands.

She hit the dock running, staying only long enough to tie her small oak boat to a pier. Then she flew to the other side of the island were they had stored the raft, battling the winds that tried to push her back. It was exhausting, but she finally made it. The raft was in one piece.

A soft scratching came from behind her. Kairi spun around, her auburn hair swinging into her face, blocking her blue-violet gaze. But what she saw once her vision cleared terrified her. Seething darkness meet her sight; pinpricks of sick yellow, the only color in this black matter. "Heartless," she whispered, terror stricken. As if on cue, the creatures surged forward to attack. Never pausing to wonder how she knew what the monsters were, she turned and fled, trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and those claws that tore at her skin relentlessly, taking pieces of cloth from her skirt and tank top with them.

She hurried into the Secret Place, for a moment free of the black nightmares. She collapsed at the end of the tunnel by a door that hadn't been there before, gasping for breath. One of those creatures had torn at her chest leaving three long claw marks and a strange, almost unbearable pain behind. Blood trickled slowly from the cuts; Kairi's vision began to grow fuzzy, her strength disappearing from her limbs. And for a while, she spaced out.

Ten minutes or ten hours later, she stood up shakily. But her senses were extremely dulled, almost nonexistent. She heard a muffled pounding from far off; and through a fog, realized that Sora was calling her name.

"Kairi!"

"Sor...a," she said, turning around. But the motion caused her to much. The last thing she remembered was the door blasting open with a gust of black wind, and being hurtled towards Sora's open arms; before her mind and body drowned in the darkness.

(Okay, end of flashback.)

Her eyes snapped open again, her breathing harsh. She knew that it was true that Kairi had lost her heart to the Darkness; the Shadow Heartless had made sure of that. But somehow, instead of becoming a Heartless herself, Kairi's heart had somehow taken refuge in Sora's heart. But even though she hadn't gone over to the darkness, the fact that Kairi had lost her heart had resulted in Naminé; her Nobody.

"Some people would be glad not to be burdened by an emotional heart," Naminé whispered, bringing her hand up to her chest; "But I would give anything to feel one beating." She closed her eyes, imagining the rhythm of a heart; how it would feel to have her own heart thumping against her finger tips. "But let's face it," she whispered to no one. "When it comes to the heart of the matter,( --no pun intended) when the lights go down at the end of the day, I'm just nothing but an empty shell."

Naminé closed her sapphire eyes for a moment, thinking of promises that had been made. They said that they would help her get her heart, but she knew the truth. They wouldn't help her, because they were in the same mess. If they couldn't help themselves, how could they help her, a witch, as Larxene had called her? How could they fulfill an empty promise, when they too, didn't have a beating heart?

"As if it matters," she whispered, true tears falling; "The only one that makes me...feel; he wouldn't want me. Why would he want a shell when he has Kairi, who's truly alive?"

"How touching. Are those actual tears?" An icy voice sneered.

Naminé spun around, looking into the cold, sea-green eyes. "Larxene," she hissed, an unsuppressed show of hatred in her voice. Even though Nobodies couldn't really feel anything, she had always disliked Larxene.

"Hey, if you want to pretend to cry, fine by me. I just think that next time you should cover your tracks better," Larxene scoffed.

"Back off, Larxene," a voice called from behind them. She looked past Larxene's smug face to see Axel's emerald eyes. Naminé smiled slightly. Axel was just as emotionless as everyone else, but her had always been the kindest to her. She could never guess what he was going to do next; but he was still cool in his own way. He was also the one that broke up her fights with Larxene most of the time.

"So, you coming back; or what?" Asked a new voice asked. Naminé's eyes slid over him for a moment, indifferent. Then she did a double take. He looked to be around fourteen; about her age. He also had really cute, spiky blond hair. But the face! The eyes! His eyes were the same bright sky blue pools that Sora had. Even the slight smile on his lips was the same! It pained her to think that such a nice boy had to have a Nobody. And yet, she sensed something different about him; like he was the same as her. The other Nobodies had Heartless somewhere; but she didn't. Maybe, this boy was the same way.

"Hello, earth to Naminé," Axel chuckled, waving his hand slightly in front of her face. "Are you coming with us or not?"

"Uh, yeah; I am," she said, still dazed. She looked up into Larxene's shocked face. "What, didn't think I was coming?"

Larxene frowned. "No, you were going to come anyway. I just expected more of a fight." Then she slid her gaze over to Axel. "I think you should keep Xemnas' pet around. It looks like the witch has taken a liking to him."

They started back on the path, Larxene and Axel a little further ahead on the path; talking about the Organizations's plans. The blond haired kid walking with Naminé, "So," she asked, a little shy; "What's your name?"

He looked at her for a minuet, then smiled. "My name's Roxas."

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Vixen: Okay, hope this turned out okay. If it didn't, I'm going to seriously reconsider my career goals.

Roxas: Chill out Vixen, it'll be all right. If you're in the mood for a sword fight and some trash talking, come around for my chapter.

Vixen: Oh yeah, I've decided that I am going to do more on this story. I'm already working on Naminé's next chapter. And that's a slight problem, considering I haven't even done Roxas' chapy yet.