Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and characters belong to Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura.
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Sketch VII (Travel)
It had begun to rain again.
"Sora..."
"You cold?"
Namine motioned a slight nod, and Sora answered by giving her his jacket. The jacket caressed Namine's small shoulders, and Sora weakly smiled at her miniature posture. He looked up at the darkening sky, cold raindrops falling on his face. Pulling Namine closer to him, the two began to walk.
"Sora...where are we going?" Namine questioned, looking up at the taller figure with shuddering eyes. Sora didn't look down.
"The gummi ship is just down the road. We'll get you on, and then...well, where do you wanna go? I'm sure you haven't even been out of this place!" He didn't mean it in an insulting way, but Namine looked down anyway. It was true; all her non-existent life, she'd been locked up in that white room. Her superiors only wanted her to work with Sora's memories.
It seems that she hadn't fulfilled her duty.
"How about…another town. Surely there's another world like Twilight Town, right?"
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"Is that…fire!" The blonde ran quickly towards the room, where smoke seeped through the bottom of the door. Grabbing the knob, the boy winced. The handle was unusually hot. Ignoring the burning pain in his hand, he turned the knob and pushed the door open.
"Hmm?"
The smoke that was locked up in the room now escaped through the open door, clouding the boy's vision. Waving his arm carelessly in the air as an attempt to whisk the smoke away, the boy searched for the speaker.
"Wha…?" The speaker turned around completely and stared at the boy. By then, the smoke and started to fade away, and the boy's vision cleared. Looking ahead, the boy saw a tall, cloaked figure standing across the room. Switching his gaze, the boy inspected the room. As the smoke cleared, he saw burned papers plastered the ash burdened floor. However, there was one paper in the middle of the room, on a pure white table. The boy didn't bother to ponder why neither the paper nor table burned in the fire. Instead, he turned his glare back to the cloaked figure. Why did he burn the room?
"Roxas?"
The boy, taken aback at the sudden addressee, stepped back. What was that? Did he just say his name?
"Roxas…? Is it really…" The figure unveiled his black hood, revealing vibrant fire red hair, and sharp green eyes, tattoos decorating his face. The boy's eyes widened, and his lips parted.
"...Axel!"
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"This is Traverse Town?"
"Yeah! It's the first world I've traveled to. It's a great place, and the people living there are really nice!"
Sora had decided to take Namine to Traverse Town. He smiled as he looked around the First District, old memories flooding his mind. This was the town where everything started.
"Sora?"
Blinking, Sora turned to Namine, who looked at him with a questionable look. He grinned and grabbed her hand.
"Well then, how about I show you around?"
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They had walked through the First, Second, and Third Districts, and Sora introduced Namine to a new world. Every time he saw that small face light up, Sora's heart leaped. He was glad that he released Namine from her secluded home, and that he could show her a brand new environment. He was also glad that he could spend more time with her.
"Are there other worlds we can see, Sora?" Namine asked, loosening her hold on Sora's hand. She released her grip and turned to face him, a small smile on her face. Sora lightly blushed, seeing the girl's apparent happiness.
"If you want to see them, I'd be glad to show you around!" Sora grinned, and Namine laughed.
"Well, okay then! But Sora..." Namine stopped mid sentence, looking down at her feet. Sora took a step closer to her and frowned.
"Yeah? What's wrong?"
Namine lifted her head, a gaze over her pale blue eyes. "Well, after we see everything...I have to go back."
Sora stepped back, startled. He didn't expect Namine to even be thinking about Twilight Town, and here she was saying that she had to go back! Troubled, he managed a small smile.
"Go back...? You don't mean that, right? You know how horrible that place is! You can't go back, I won't allow it!" Sora raised her voice, causing Namine to flinch. She once more looked away.
"But Sora...if I don't go back, they're going to find out and..." Namine stopped again, shutting her eyes closed. She knew that if she didn't go back to Twilight Town, something terrible would definitely fall upon Sora and his friends. Just like before.
"'They'? ...Namine!" Sora yelled, lowering his head to look down at Namine. She only looked away, unwilling to face Sora. It was bad enough the he remembered everything he was supposed to forget. She didn't want him to learn anything new. She closed her eyes.
"Namine. Hey, are you...crying?" Sora spoke softly, bending his knees to take a better look at Namine's face. Her pale colored bangs hid her eyes, and a trail of water slid down her cheek. Sora, worried that he might have done something wrong, slowly lifted his hand to Namine's face. Skin met skin, and Namine let out a gasp as Sora's slender fingers graced her cheek.
"Hey now. It's okay, don't cry. I'm sorry if I've done anything wrong, okay? So don't cry." Sora's voice reached Namine's ears, and she managed a bitter smile. Her hand traveled to touch Sora's, and she lightly grasped it.
"Thank you, Sora."
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A/N: Chapter 7, up! Summer is finally here, so I'll try my best to get more chapters in. I'm starting to progress with the plot here, so look forward to it!
If you want more, REVIEW! The next chapter will not be posted until I get 21 reviews! And besides, it helps me write :D