-.Sketchbook.-
"Red"
x. Fire o New Day o Horizon o Beginnings o Dawn o Love? .x
-x-x-x-
"Roxas, stop picking at your food," chastised his mother, however her tones were light and airy, inflicting a sense that she didn't really mind. However, it is widely known that an over-protective mother's favourite hobby is to pick over her son's eating habits and bed-times and various other things. They always say it's so their 'darling' little prince or princess will never get any 'nasty' habits when their older and have a good childhood, but Roxas always thought it was to get in a cheap dig about his hair, under the pretence it was a big issue and she 'cared a lot' about him. If she cared so much she'd let him style it however he wanted, God damnit.
Sighing, the teenage boy speared a piece of fish – always fish, but to more precise, it was haddock – on his pointed fork, and glared down at it in distaste. His eyes with flecked with mutiny, as if he was half-thinking of becoming a rebel and throwing the fork out of the open window. He, however, cared a lot about his mother, Rikku, and didn't want to hurt her feelings like most teenage boys. So he swallowed the piece of fish, a look spreading across his face that made it appear he'd been eating rat poison.
"Good Lord, Roxy, whatever is wrong? You come home late, and you normally inhale your food as if it's in danger of dancing off your plate," said Rikku, her features cracking into a warm smile. "You can't tell me your not hungry – you're a growing boy and you need nutrients and fish is good, healthy brain food."
Living on an island, there was always an abundant supply of fish. And whenever he refused to eat it his mother or father always came up with the witty response: "its brain food". It was so over-used, and it didn't matter how much of the damned stuff he ate, he was still usually placed second-to-bottom in most school tests. He didn't think one more piece of the hateful stuff would turn him into a genius. Nobody could get better scores in any exam than Naminé anyway, no matter how much fish they ate – she was little less than a super-child.
The mention of the blonde haired girl's name made him feel slightly un-easy. She sure had been acting weird today, even weirder than she normally was. It had unnerved him with the wistful looks she shot her 'imaginary' friends. He never thought she was that lonely. Maybe it was worry about Naminé, tinged with a faint feeling of indigestion that made if hard to swallow down the 'delicacy' today. He was her best friend, the one she confided in and spilled out the rambling contents of her head. Like brother sister, but without all the fighting.
"I'm not hungry," he said truthfully, pushing his plate away slowly, like in any second it would grow fangs and bite him, inflicting him with rabies. Worry and indigestion did not create a happy feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was almost as if the dog he feared his plate would turn into was inside him, gnawing at his insides like it was a chew-toy.
Rikku sighed and proceeded to clear the table, not bothering to pursue the argument any longer. She would've put in some more playful digs about his attitude and how dare he blatantly refuse to eat food she'd toiled endlessly to make, but she could tell her son wasn't in the mood. She was a mother, she had an instinct to figure out if Roxas' day had been crappy, worrying or not.
Roxas smiled softly at her in a moment of family bonding, glad that she'd recognised he didn't desire food at the moment, as he got up from his dining room chair and sat in front of the T.V. There were never any good shows on in the afternoon, he thought glumly, starting to play a sport he often took part in when he was feeling lazy 'channel changing'. It wasn't fair, even though they had Sky and Cable half the channels were fuzzy black and white waterfalls of dots and the other half just showed the news, politics, bad soaps and old re-runs of stuff that had probably been good the first fifty times he saw it.
"Following the accident a large influx of families have moved out to…" droned the boring voice of the man with the bad wig, making Roxas frown. On the news everything was so repetitive – somebody died, gang murdered defenceless woman in the street, young girl got raped. Only evil sadists watched the news so they could laugh about the misfortunes of somebody else. And Roxas wouldn't stoop to that level of getting entertainment – he changed the channel.
"And so Jack attempts to design a suitable plan for his living room," said the amazing annoying voice of a bouncy blonde woman. Maybe if Naminé became older and somehow managed to loose her depressed edge she'd end up like that scary woman, thought Roxas with a shudder. No, he liked Naminé as she was now – but maybe it was cruel to want her to stay the same because it made him feel easier around her? Either way, he didn't want to listen to Jack's problems for re-designing his house.
"One thousand words, they'll haunt you forever…" chorused the lovely melodic voice of new super-star Lenne. Just Lenne, for most musical artists didn't bother giving out their last name – it was something do with image. Roxas shifted his position on the sofa, clutching a cushion in his arms. It wasn't music he was meant to like – it was very, very girly. But he didn't care – it didn't have anything to do with death (or maybe it did and death was a subliminal message) and nothing to do with houses. And that good enough for him.
x.o.x
"Stop picking at it," hissed an annoyed female voice, as the groups of people traipsed through the streets in a strange procession, being led by the so-called 'welcome committee'. It was a small party of people, a woman called Aerith shepherding them all forwards, shoes making dull noises on the ground. He'd hoped that it wouldn't be midnight when they arrived – because they were shrouded in darkness it seemed like they were a disgrace and were being smuggled in. But maybe he was just reading into things too deeply. And Aerith had been kind in explaining it would be easier if it was night when they were brought to their new 'home' so they wouldn't disrupt anybody.
"Why? They're my clothes," he replied snippily, other hushed conversations drifting around them, as not to wake everybody up. Blatantly disregarding his mother's wishes, he began to play around with the loose thread on his jeans again, making her scowl angrily. He was just using it as something to vent out all the worry on – yes, he was worried, even though he never let it show.
"And who pays for them?" snarled back an annoyed voice, sounding like a lion ready to pounce on some poor defenceless zebra and eat it. Wait, did lions eat zebras? The boy idly wondered, as somebody bumped into his elbow.
"Oh, hey, sorry. It's friggin hard to see in all this darkness," apologised a familiar voice, another female, but it was too young and lithe and happy to be linked to his mother. "Man, they really pulled out all the stops to make us feel welcome here, huh? Not our fault we all got shipped to this son-of-a-bitching-rock."
He nodded, but then remembered she obviously couldn't see him in all the darkness rolling around them, and chose to answer verbally. "God, tell me about it, Kai," he grumbled. It was nice to have somebody to complain with who wasn't his mother, grinding her teeth together as he continued to pull away at the dark blue thread.
o.x.o
The early-morning sun glinted around to signify a new day in Destiny Islands, capturing the beach in a blend of colours and splendour, running down to meet the shore line. Down on the beach, a girl decked out in one of her many white sundresses – that he couldn't help thinking was just a little bit too short, not that he had been staring like a pervert at her – walked along, her friend by her side. For once, her sketchbook wasn't in her hand, but a small charm shaped like a papou fruit, that she was swinging around from the chain, smiling as the light caught its yellow surfaces. She didn't look complete with that book, though, thought the boy, like her leg was missing or something. It was almost like an extra body part attached to her.
"Where's your book?" asked the blonde-haired boy curiously, scuffing a line into the sand with one of his trainers as he walked, creating a path. "You always bring it with you."
The girl shrugged, playing around with the strands of her blonde hair in a thoughtful manner. Naminé had done a lot of that lately – thinking, mulling live over. Maybe it was a phase all teenagers went through, but she'd been stuck in that frame of mind … pretty much all her life. "I've got this gut instinct I won't need it today," she explained simply, although it wasn't much of an explanation.
"Oh… Right… So, did you hear about Lenne? Apparently she's going to do a concert here, in our sleepy island. I know you like her music just as much as I do," he grinned, trying to erase that little-lost-girl look from her face. He was trying to amend for his thoughts yesterday that she should be depressed because that's how he was always used to her being, not that she knew this.
"Yeah… I want to get tickets, but my parents probably wouldn't let me go," she replied, the two of them starting to talk aimlessly about life, the universe and everything. The way two good friends would, the blonde haired girl certainly seeming less … mute today. Maybe she was excited about something, thought Roxas idly. Maybe something was going to happen.
"Hey, Rikku told me today she'd heard on the radio some new families had moved here. She didn't get to hear it all, but apparently they'll be staying in the new industrial area part… You know?" Roxas didn't like the 'industrial' area of the island. It was a load of ugly buildings that stabbed up into sky, comprised of bleak cement and stone blocks. It was where most people worked, and the flats had been put there to encourage more people to come to the town. They were vast and large, and many, many people could be crammed into them.
"No… I don't have a T.V and the radio is too upsetting for me… But now you've told me, I'm looking forward to seeing them," she said, staring into the glistening centre of her lucky charm. She didn't buy it for herself, and supposed that some relative must have done a while ago.
x.o.x
"Tell him to stop BREATHING on me," hissed the irritated voice of a girl, voice quiet, as she turned her head with distaste at the boy next to her, snoring softly. It was these small noises he was making that had woken her up in the first place – she was a light sleeper. And now she was in a sleep-deprived bad mood, it had been hard to fall asleep anyway at all the changes going on around them.
"Okay, but I don't think it'll do much good," said a voice from the floor. Really, she could be such a drama queen sometimes. "Hey, you. Quit breathing on the princess." However, as the boy was still asleep, he obviously did not hear those words, and that made the girl scowl further.
"Oh, this is ridiculous. I'm not going to stay here in this cramped room," here she cast her gaze around the messy room the 'welcoming committee' had crammed them into, sleeping bodies scattered around. The buildings were big but there were a lot of them. She sighed, a sour look of distaste on her face. "C'mon, we're going to explore this place. We never got to look around last time, it was too dark."
"I'm way ahead of you, princess," replied the lazy voice, the blurry figure standing up. "I'm getting claustrophobic in here," he complained, running a hand through his hair to tame it somewhat.
"Great. But, one more thing," she said, slipping from the mattress she shared with the other boy – another boy, didn't they CARE if he had bad intentions towards her, although she knew him and he wouldn't – and standing up, making her way over to the door. It was locked, but she could probably pick it with the hairpin skewered into her falling-apart, bed-head style. The responsible 'grown-ups' were entrusted with the keys to get in and out.
"Yes, princess?"
"Please stop calling me that. Please."
"Sure thing, princess."
"Fuck off."
o.x.o
Roxas and Naminé sat companionably in the sand, neither of them appearing to care if they messed up their clothes – who would wear their best outfits if the beach was on their doorstep, anyway? Their gaze was directed towards a ferocious on-land Blitzball tournament between Tidus and Wakka. Naminé wasn't sure how the on-land aspect of it worked, and she had no idea how it could be played with only two people, but she wasn't skilled in the knowledge of their stupid game.
"Oof. That's got to hurt," commented Roxas loosely, watching as Wakka accidentally slammed the ball into Tidus' unprotected face, the impact sending him crashing to the ground. Wakka looked alarmed, his hair seeming to stand on end – but it always looked like that – rushing forwards to help his 'friend in need'.
"Do they even know what they're doing?" asked the girl, her motherly instinct kicking in, as she appeared to want to dart forwards and take the ball off them and tell them not play such rough games.
"I dunno. Tidus says he's really good but I doubt that after he- woah!" cried Roxas, something completely unexpected happening in the game. The ball that a now-recovered Tidus had thrown into the air swooped down, only to be caught by … a complete stranger.
She was wearing tight-fitting clothing, looking rumpled like she'd been wearing them for a long time, pink and white being the main theme of her outfit, long copper hair swirling about her face. And on that face held a look of great triumph, ignoring the stares she was being given by Tidus and Wakka, turning back over her shoulder to look at the teenager beside her. His hair was a similar colour to hers, seeming to explode from his scalp, eyes bright green. He too had the same look of 'bedraggled-ness' about him.
"See, is that something a princess would do?" she asked, her loud voice easily carrying across the where Naminé and Roxas sat. "If I were a princess, I wouldn't afraid of breaking a nail," she proclaimed proudly, tossing the ball back with the air of an expert to Tidus, hitting him in the head, knocking him back into the sand. He'd been too busy gawping, and Roxas suspected he had been trying to (Shock! Horror! Not Tidus!) look up her skirt.
"You don't have any nails to break," said the teenage boy, walking past Wakka and Tidus, lowly and pathetic in their presence. There was almost something menacing about them. "Princess."
"Don't call me fucking princess!" said the girl angrily, storming past her 'friend' who she seemed to be quite pissed off at. "Right, I am plonking my booty here," she said, and, true to her words, she sat down on the sand, not too far away from Roxas and Naminé.
"Alright then, angel."
"Isn't this getting old?" grumbled the girl, her 'friend' bending down to sit next to her. She turned her back on him, tracing intricate patterns in the sand with the tip of one finger, like Naminé did sometimes when she was bored.
Roxas turned his head back to the blonde-haired girl, wondering what her reaction to the very strange strangers were. He guessed it would have been shock, amusement, curiosity, something like that mixed in with a little of his own – a slight feeling of fear. He didn't expect that look on her face. The one took from a horror film, mouth hanging open, blue eyes large; looking like if he popped them with a pin they'd explode and shower him with gunge.
"I … know … them…" she said softly, not daring to tear her gaze away from the light-hearted argument they were having. "I … know … them… They're the people from my dreams, the ones from my sketches! They're my drawings, sitting there…" Her voice was hushed so they didn't hear, didn't think she was insane, but she was beginning to doubt her own sanity at this point, as Roxas waved a hand in front of her eyes, trying to get her attention.
"What are you talking about?"
"I know their names; they're my drawings, come alive! It's … Kairi and Axel. Axel and Kairi – my creations!"
-x-x-x-
A/N: So, we meet Axel and Kairi, and Naminé knows them. What about the large group of people they were travelling with? Are they all drawings of Naminé's? Is it a coincidence or something more? Did they come directly from her sketchbook and were dumped there? Find out in next chapter. Yay, I've got my pairings sort of figured out. I don't think I'll go for AkuRoku after all, but Naminé x Axel, Kairi x Naminé and maybe faint hints of Sora x Kairi, because nobody does Naminé x Axel. And I don't think there's a single chapter fic about them… So, sorry for you hoping for AkuRoku … Roxas is just going to be Naminé's friend and will be mentioned a few times. Popstar Lenne is FFX-2 Lenne, yes. Lovely… Three more reviews for an update, please?