-.Sketchbook.-

"Green"

x. Creativity o Old for new o Replacement o Changing o Flexing o Envy .x

-x-x-x-

The girl frowned, doodling aimlessly with a mascara wand on some of the napkins she'd manage to salvage from the restaurant. The cold was burying into her back in a most uncomfortable way, biting into skin and lacing through her spinal column until it felt like it was frozen. She reflected on the past events, and wondered how she'd ended up being stranded in the toilets in the first place, graffiti shouting out at her in big, bold black lines from the powdery-blue walls, toilet paper scattered around at her feet, half the taps faulty and not working, cubicle doors smashed down and locks removed. She wrinkled her nose up in disgust, feeling horribly left out from the circle of teenagers occupying the table out there, talking to each other, but Kairi wasn't included in that equation. Not since Naminé came along, and the ever-transparent Axel began to get a crush on her, and all thoughts of Kairi were decimated, red hair replaced with blonde, pink clothes for white, old for new.

The black lines swooped elegantly along the paper napkin, her small piece of art beginning to shape. It was rather a nice picture, but if the same assignment had been handed to Naminé she would have embellished and improved upon it, because she was atomically better at everything than Kairi in all her friend's eyes. She was small and delicate and petite, and Riku probably thought she needed protecting far more than Kairi did. She was interested in pop, ice-cream and laughing at even the worst bad jokes even if was just to be polite, and Yuffie liked these qualities because she was able to feel actually funny. She was kind, caring and compassionate, and Sora liked this because no matter how stupid he was she wouldn't get mad at him. She was Naminé and Axel liked her because she was an improved version of Kairi.

"Kai? Kai-ri?" asked a timid voice, hearing hands rapping on the door in a soft little symphony. "Kairi? You're not slitting your wrists are you!" the voice continued, now adapting a frenzied sound, and the girl grinned slightly at the evident worry. Well, Sora was still as adorable as a cup-cake or something else sugary or sweet, and he could never replace her, no matter how many new friends he made. "KAIRI! I'M COMING IN TO RESCUE YOU! PUT THE RAZOR-BLADE DOWN!"

Shaking her head, she discarded her drawing into the over-flowing bin, paying no heed as it bounced off the garbage inside and rolled in a forlorn fashion through a puddle of something Kairi didn't want to identify, hitting her shoe. The mascara was running, making it look like the picture was crying.

"Yeah, Sora, it's okay! I'm not slitting my wrists," she reassured, wiping back a few strands of her crimson hair behind her ear and pulling open the door with a dramatic motion. She almost laughed as she saw the sight of a falling-apart Sora, looking ready to don his cape, bad outside and cheesy lines and swoop in and save the day. Of course, he didn't need to, because Kairi was perfectly fine, apart from the fact she had mascara smudged over her hands and her nails were bitten down to stubs. "See. Et voila! No cutter marks," she held out her wrists.

"Oh, that's good," stated Sora merrily, his up-beat attitude returning swiftly as if he'd never thought about the girl lying in a puddle of her own blood on the floor. "Because Naminé told us about this really neat place we can all go and explore if we rent these rafts. Neat, huh?" he asked in chipper tones, not noticing Kairi flinch at the sound of the other girl's name. "Isn't Naminé cool, Kairi? Kairi?"

"Y-Yeah… She's cool…" mumbled the girl in a half-hearted way, like a deflated balloon with only half the helium left in. Sora offered his arm, and Kairi linked hers with his, still seeming like the half-empty cup of water, being drained away until there was nothing left. If Kairi was plain old water, then Naminé was appetiser, far more exotic and sparkly and colourful and cool. "She's real cool..."

The crumpled up picture doodled in mascara seemed to be echoing Kairi's feelings, as the outline of the sad little girl ran with the water pooling around it, giving the appearance of crying.

x.o.x

Naminé looked around the island with a sense of familiarity running through her, pouring through every vein and fibre of her being, a love most children would provide for their parents or friends or childhood crushes. She can't love her parents no matter how hard she tries, no matter how hard she lies to herself. She can't bring herself to love Roxas, because sometimes when her eyes ghost over his appearance she realises how little she knows about him, how little he knows about her, how little she knows about herself. She can't love a childhood crush because she was too lonely to ever develop such complex feelings for somebody, hiding in the shadows, head bent in solace, her and her drawings. She reserves these feelings for the worlds she creates on paper and places and landscapes familiar to her. She doesn't need to know basic Geography about how the sand beneath her feet was formed to love it or how the secret place came to be, because she goes there so much it became a part of her, filling up an empty gap in her heart. It's more of a home to her than her house would be.

"Isn't it pretty?" declared Sora in merry, exuberant tones, looking around with blue eyes laced with happiness, like a little boy in a candy store. Not knowing what to pick first, whether to opt for the sugar-spun sand and write his name in bold print with a stick, or the green-mint leaves of the palm trees beckoning him to climb them. "I lovelovelove it! You're so lucky Nam, I wish I was born here!"

They're already on pet nickname terms thought Kairi a little sourly, eyes downcast as she stared out the sea. A small corner of paradise, really, isolated from the main land of cinemas and hospitals and cars and satellite television. A child's dream locked away in the past.

"Yeah… It's … pretty nice…" agreed Axel, not one for gushy poetic descriptions of how 'pretty' something was. He couldn't fault Sora's words though; it was a nice place, not linked directly to the main beach, but more hidden-away, excluded. Quieter. It was a little depressing, actually, how it seemed so far away from humanity.

Naminé blushed slightly, a pale pink flush washing gently over her cheeks. She looked like a giggling schoolgirls, and that was a look she rarely adapted, because the school had people like Selphie to fill that role. She was a quiet girl who kept her head bent and didn't babble on about romance, but rather chose to keep out of everybody's way.

"Um… I know something you might want to see…" she said shyly, digging her feet into the sand that spilled out under her pose, radiating nervousness.

"Alone," growled Kairi to herself. It was obvious that she was only inviting Axel to see whatever it was, and she had caught on to this subliminal message. Naminé wouldn't dare suggest she was trying to leave the others out, so Kairi decided she had better be the one who led them away. "Alright, everybody!" she declared, clapping her hands together in a merry way that a food tech teacher might adopt if she wanted to 'spice' up a dull lesson in an attempt to make baking sconces seem mildly interesting. She was trying to drum up interest from Riku, Yuffie and Sora like they were little children who didn't know how to switch on an oven – well, maybe Sora didn't, she didn't even trust him the most basic of food-cooking appliances like microwaves. Not that they had one, all they ate was canned crap and loaves of bread and wrapped-up goods – yet Sora had managed to cut himself with the damned can opener about eight times already. "I'll race you all to that tree and back!" She pointed, indicating the tree jutting out on an isolated island, connected only by a bridge.

"What? Are you kidding?" grumbled Riku, obviously feeling too 'mature' for this child's lark, but Yuffie and Sora seemed excited and happy, needing to exhaust all their energy.

"Nope. Don't be a sore looser, do it for the little people. Ready – on my count!" she called, now dropping the tech teacher role and becoming a P.E. teacher instead. Really, it was a wonder she didn't decided to become a teacher later on in life – but oh yeah, she hated being around those younger than her for too long. It made her brain bleed. "Three … two … one … go!"

The four set of on their merry little gallivant around the island, Yuffie becoming distracted by the pretty seagulls soaring over-head and falling on her ass. She jumped up angrily, not seeming to notice it was encrusted with sand, doubling her pace, yelling at them it 'wasn't fair'.

Naminé watched them for a few seconds, before turning to shoot a look at Axel. Not a look filled with fear or anger or love … Just a 'look'. With her bright blue eyes wide, she smiled softly. "Coming?"

o.x.o

Drawings were chalked up roughly all over the walls, sprawling across the spaces of grey rock like a living sketchbook. It seemed a bit ironic that a drawing, flesh and blood emerged from paper, was leant against one of the walls emblazoned with a large face.

It didn't seem to fit in particularly well to the rest of the small little island, didn't link the chain of bright lights and happy children and sandcastles. It was quaint, dark and closed off with patterns of mushrooms growing around the walls, choking any other life. A musty, damp smell mingled slightly with the sea breeze that pulled at your clothes and hair invaded Naminé's nostrils. The place held so many memories and secrets; it was a place she visited most often than the others when she was little. She remembered how she had never seemed to fit in with anybody, for reasons she couldn't put her finger on, and so she'd retreat into the comforting arms of darkness and draw. Sometimes she invited Roxas along with her, and a portion of the masterpieces on the stone was his work, but most of them she could claim copyright too.

Was … that how she became such a good artist? Because she was lonely? She had always been pushed out, excluded, labelled 'odd'. A sad, sad girl.

Dreams, hopes, fantasies… They were all shown on that wall, as clearly as if somebody had smashed open the head of little girl Naminé with a rock, picked through the thoughts and plastered them all over for the world to see. Kairi was there, a doodle scrunched up and looking not at all like the girl having a frantic race outside, and there was Sora and Kairi together, and Riku posing, running races against Sora, Yuffie laughing. A shrine to the teens that had become real – although she highly doubted they'd recognise themselves in her child's scrawl.

She drew her fingertips across those old, old pictures, and smiled softly, brushing with the backs of her hands, grazing her pale skin. She moved her touch down lower, until she was brought down to her knees at an empty space where she hadn't embellished. The sunlight from above danced around her features, making her look sweet and innocent, eyes wide and very, very blue, making Axel want to put his arm around her like she was little girl who couldn't sleep and quash any thoughts of monsters living under her bed.

"You can come and sit down here if you want," she said in that voice that was ridden with thoughts and old times and faces and places coming back to haunt her like a daydream. Walking through the haze and fog in her mind to come back to a time a young Naminé was sat there and it wouldn't be Axel there, but Roxas. Her real friend.

She flinched slightly at this thought. What was real and what wasn't? She couldn't decipher dreams from reality anymore, as she walked precariously on the fine line in between. She didn't really believe her drawings could become possessed, could come to life, but they had. Although, she didn't really believe popcorn-flavoured sauce for topping ice-cream was good, although she always found herself reaching out for that bottle because it really did taste nice.

"So Nami, why are we here?" asked the red-head with a note of confusion in his voice. She was very aware of how close he was to her, knelt on the floor beside her, both assembled like little kindergarten children when their teacher instructed them to 'sit on the carpet and if they were really, really good she'd read them a lovely story'. He was tracing the indents of the wall with his finger, watching as the light fell over it in graceful curves and arcs.

"Pick up a rock and I'll show you," she said in peaceful tones, a small smile running across her lips. Ah, it had been his good friend Kairi sat next to him he would probably be poking the life out of her, pushing her like a toddler, bringing him back to the whole 'Kindergarten-children-on-carpet' idea. But she wasn't Kairi, she was Naminé – it was only too obvious by the way he was studying her lips, wondering if they'd feel nice to kiss or not.

Nodding his head in confirmation of her wishes, his hands played about on the mossy floor, scurrying across the dry earth. He clasped onto something warm, closing his hand around the object, looking up into Naminé's eyes. She was blushing softly, the blood whirling around her cheeks in a delicate way like a princess. Maybe she didn't really appreciate him holding her hand, as his thoughts and hand wondered away, finally retrieving a rock, similar to the one in the blonde girl's hand. Dear God, he mentally frowned, was she suggesting they attacked each other like savages for a 'good laugh'? She didn't seem the type, but hell; Yuffie didn't seem the type to have committed the entire 'Raven' poem by Edgar Allen Poe to memory. But she said she liked it, it was dark and gothic, and the name Lenore was really, really pretty.

"I used to draw pictures here when I was little… And … Nobody else did really, apart from Roxas. I didn't like letting in other people here, because I saw it as mine. The others … I didn't really fit in with them very well, so I decided to create my own space here where they couldn't boss me around or yell at me if I fumbled a catch in blitzball," she said quietly, as she traced invisible lines over the wall with her rock. "And… I thought it would be nice if you'd draw something here for me, so I wouldn't forget you if you ever have to leave."

She had the multiple drawings thrown across her room to remind her of her new 'friends', but she wanted proof they had walked into her life at one point or another, she didn't WANT to forget they had been real and had spoken to her once. Like a souvenir, a memento.

"How's about I draw you and you draw me, then?" asked Axel, with a grin. "It'd be fun, I guess, and you'd remember me as being your friend, not just some random guy with weird hair."

Naminé giggled slightly. "Nooo… Your hair's not weird. It just looks like… You. It looks like Axel," she smiled, starting to chisel her rock into the wall, making crude marks in the surface. "Y'know."

"Yeah, weird," laughed Axel, starting work on his drawing of Naminé. His idea of fun wasn't really sitting on a damp floor drawing, but sitting at such close proximity to the blonde certainly was. His eyes darted across her pretty little form, smiling as she bit her lip in a cute manner, working on his 'weird' hair. He could keep looking at her like a stalker and she'd mistake it for him looking at her face to get the shape down in his crappy picture – tee hee. Maybe drawing wasn't THAT bad, then…

x.o.x

Yuffie seemed to be the perfect build for a runner, with long springy legs and her tall, slender build. But she had managed successfully to trip over her big feet several times – a side effect of being so tall, she guessed – walk into several trees – a side effect of her clumsiness, she guess – and get her backside all horrible and wet and sandy – from being so uncoordinated, she guessed.

Even SORA was doing better than her, the trio darting forwards, shoving each other playfully as they ran across the bridge, Yuffie really, really far behind. This wasn't FAIR! Nothing was, though, and she half pondered throwing in the towel and stamping her foot on the ground, crossing her hands across her chest and screaming she didn't want to do it. Maybe if she threw a strop they'd feel sympathetic to her plight and fall over and get stabbed on conveniently-placed pointy objects and she'd win. However, if she threw a stop, that wouldn't happen – there were no pointy objects unless you went as far as to stab yourself with a coconut, and Riku, Kairi and Sora would never try to stab themselves anyway. So, it made her even unhappy about how crappy her mental capacity was, as she trudged on.

Although, after a few minutes, everything was going A-OK, she hadn't embraced a tree by slamming her face against the trunk, she hadn't even slipped on the sand underfoot or tripped over her gargantuan feet yet.

Grabbing hold of the edge of the small, wooden shack, she pulled herself up, shoes drumming against the roof – praying to God it held her weight and didn't break, sending her falling … falling … f a l l i n g to her doom – in her frenzied sprinting. H-e-y, she noted as a sudden burst of colour flared up around her, the sea sparkling on all corners as she made her way across the bridge.

I'm catching up with Sora! He's only at that weird, bent-over tree, and I bet if I went r-e-a-l fast I could catch up with him! Thoughts of victory and parades and fan-fares drifted through her merry little mind, as she accelerated, her black hair whipping around her face, chocolate-brown eyes marred with concentration. She WAS going to win – or at least beat Sora. She'd have to hide her head in a paper bag if Sora beat her at anything. Or roll Sora up in a carpet and throw him off a bridge, which would be a shame because she actually sort of liked Sora…

That was, until he doubled back across the bridge after Riku and Kairi who had left him in the dust, making the flimsy construction rattle under his large, butter-yellow shoes. And that was perfectly okay, but what DIDN'T register as 'okay' in the psychotic girl's books was that he had somehow managed to barge into her.

So it wasn't really Sora that was getting rolled up in a carpet and thrown over a bridge, but Yuffie, minus the carpet. And as she fell, she kissed goodbye to her arms and legs and the world and she knew it and that cool mouldy bread that had made Sora sick because he deserved to be even SICKER at the poor girl's funeral for killing her.

Blue sped around her in a horrible haze, pockets of air ripping around her limp body, as there was a sudden splash as she fell into the sea. The first thing she registered after she fell in was: Oh… I'm not dead. The second thing she registered after she fell in was: Oh, that pretty fluffy cloud up above looks like a candy-floss formed bunny-rabbit. And the third thing she registered after the tumble off the bridge was: Damn… This water is FREEZING!

She sniffed in a rather sad way, spitting out salt-water from her mouth, as Sora looked down at the weird monster-girl that had risen from the deep with her new attire formed of seaweed and wet sand, rivulets of water running down her features. She shivered – I hope I'm not going to catch a cold…

"SORA! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW 'FORE I HURT YOU!" she screamed angrily, shaking her kelp-covered fist at him. Really, damned inconsiderate, pushing-of-bridges kids these days…

o.x.o

"That looks really good, Naminé," said Axel with a smile, observing her adding the finishing touches to her masterpiece with a dreamy sort of look plastered on her face. Not the one Kairi adopted that made her look like she'd had too much crack, but a sweet one that made him want to kiss her. But really, all her expressions were cute and made him want to kiss her. She just had that kissable look, all large eyes and blonde hair a sweet, heart-shaped face.

"Really?" she asked, the little happy expression on her face mirroring his, as she drew away from the wall. "I think it looks sort of crappy…" She said sceptically, looking at her work like a highly advanced art critic.

"'Course it does. It looks crappy because you were drawing me. If you were drawing that pretty-boy Riku I'm sure it would have looked wonderful," snorted Axel, prompting a conspiratorial giggle from Naminé, who hid it behind her hand, eyes sparkling like sapphires, precious jewels. Damn, he was being so metaphorical about his girl … He never compared Kairi's eyes to sapphires, but he wanted to produce a metaphor about her it would involve the word 'dishwater'. Maybe 'as unappealing as dishwater'.

"Stop being mean to Riku…" she grinned in her little girly way, tugging at his arm in a playful manner, seeming to have gotten over her initial shyness about being so close to him. In fact, through her tugging, Axel managed to manoeuvre himself so he was closer to her, making it look as natural as brushing your teeth in the morning. The daily brushing-teeth routine was rather eventful now, what with the cramped conditions he lived in; Kairi singing one of her songs, Riku hogging the shower to apply conditioner to keep it so sleek and shiny, Sora loosing half of his clothes and walking around dressed in his pyjama top and trousers, Yuffie playing about with the mouldy food declaring merrily it was un-fit to eat and all the adults bustling about moaning.

"Why, do you liiikkeeee Riku?" asked Axel in a sing-song tone, reverting back his role of being the almighty one who annoyed the others, shrouded in his cloud of annoying-ness, because he was cool like that. And annoying like that. So annoying he constantly addled around with poor Kairi's vocabulary so all she could do was mutter swear words.

"No! Of course I don't 'liiikkeeee' Riku! Well, he's a nice guy, but I don't have a crush on him or anything," she confirmed, nodding her head in assurance of those words.

"All the other girls liiikkeeee Riku – you should've seem some of the adoring looks he was being shot, until they turned into horror when they saw Sora. They were all practically begging to become his soul-mate in the streets," said Axel, with an eye-roll. "ALL the girls like Riku, I bet you have a soft spot for him somewhere…"

"I do NOT have a 'soft spot' for Riku!" cried Naminé, looking completely scandalised at the idea that Axel was entertaining. "I swear, I don't LOVE Riku!" Her voice was echoing around the walls, and she looked sourly at the drawings that seemed to be staring at her with such intensity, as if all chanting 'You love Ri-ku, you love Ri-ku!' How was it that Axel managed to get all the walls to join in his chant too? It was unfair and playing God! All those drawings were HERS and they were conspiring against her!

An evil look glittered in Axel's bright green eyes, as he leant forward, reducing the space they had between each other even more, making Naminé's heart thump at a quickened pace, the blood speeding through her body and making her tingle all over with a pleasant feeling. Axel was leaning over her, still with that nasty look all over his face, and she was so sure for one moment that he was going to kiss her … She had visions, of them drawing their lips together, and she blushed at these thoughts…

"So, if you won't admit you have a 'soft spot' for Riku, I guess I'll have to find it myself!" he declared, like a solider declaring war, darting forwards to bring his fingers under her chin, moving around in a such a way that they made her squirm, laughing tearing up her throat. It was a long shot off kissing her – he was tickling her instead, poking about the exposed skin around her collarbone, making her squeal, as she fell back.

"St-stop it!" she giggled in a helpless mess, as the fingers roamed around under her chin. "Axellll, stop t-tickling me!" she tried again in a desperate voice, squirming under his touch, heat flaring up where his fingers brushed against her skin. Somehow, even though he was only tickling her, it seemed wonderfully romantic to the girl…

"What'll you do to get me to stop tickling you?" he asked, poking her in attempts to find this 'soft spot' for Riku he declared she was secretly housing. "What are you gunna do, huh, Nami?"

Her ears were torn apart by the sounds of her own girly squeals to pay much heed to how suggestive his voice sounded, or the compromising position they were in, her on the floor and him somehow ending up on top of her, straddling the innocent little girl. Her blonde hair spilled out over the ground as he continued to tickle her mercilessly, green eyes roaming around her petite form to lock onto her large baby blues. "Anything! Just quit it! Plle … hehe … easse!" she begged.

Axel let his hands roam down, no longer tickling her, as they moved down her shoulders, holding onto them tightly as he bent down, and her heartbeat that was already beating at a frantic pace went even quicker, making it seem like it was going to explode into several pieces. The familiar blush was prompted to surface again in a vast abundance so she resembled an apple. Or maybe Axel's red hair. There was a lot of red, as he drew closer, as Naminé raised her back from the ground slightly so he could wrap his arms around her, so he wouldn't fall and crush her. That wouldn't be very romantic, to go home with a burst lip and explain that this boy was going to kiss her, then he fell and cracked his head on hers'. Shuyin would KILL her, and maybe give her some lovely complimentary bruises.

His lips found her own sugary-sweet ones, as a tidal wave of feelings swept over her. When she had been drawing him she was completely in control, he wouldn't turn out properly if she misplaced a single line, she could erase sections of his face, and she could make him do whatever she wanted. But with real people she couldn't do that – with real people their decisions were influenced by their own minds, what they wanted to do, not what the artist forced them into doing.

He continued to kiss her from his dominant position over her, as she drew her own arms, wrapping them securely around him to keep him from coming up for air, keep him from leaving her or breaking the kiss. Her first kiss, and she was acutely aware of the fact she was getting leaves and twigs in her blonde hair and exactly how dark it was, and she blushed because you could do a lot of stuff in the dark most mothers and fathers frowned upon. But Shuyin didn't give a damn about her…

She let her arms go limp as the red-head drew back, gulping down the air that Naminé had deprived him of, a small smirk crossing his lips. Naminé's eyes were as large as dinner plates, as he moved his hands to toy around with a lock of her blonde hair, spinning it idly around one finger.

"Well, I guess that settles it, huh?" he asked in a rather confusing way, making her blink slowly, making him want to 'squee'. Really, that was so adorable, the way she looked at him from her position on the floor.

"Settles what?" she asked, a little breathlessly.

"I guess you're not like the other girls," he continued, un-entangling his fingers from her hair to run them around the curves around her face, circling around her lips and tracing invisible lines. Every touch sent her flying into a happy little dream-land of stars and planets and other glittery glowing things. "I guess you don't have a soft spot for Riku after all. I looked, and I couldn't find one…"

"… I told you I didn't like like Riku, you dummy!" she smiled playfully, as if all they had been doing was really just a childish tickling game. As if nothing 'wrong' had transpired between them, because there wasn't anything 'wrong' with kissing Axel, as far as she was concerned.

"Well, that's sort of obvious," laughed Axel.

Now, normal Naminé wouldn't have liked to be on the floor, being straddled by a boy she didn't really know – the normal Naminé wouldn't have let herself get into a situation like that in the first place. But she had to seize the moment; she wanted it to last forever. Being kissed and kissing back created that wonderful feeling that made her go all light-headed – somebody wanted her. Somebody needed her, for more than Roxas did, because he would never have done that to her. The normal Naminé, the demure little girl in her dress, would never have replied with a flirtatious: "Want me to prove how obvious it is?"

Axel surveyed her with a look of amusement. "Go ahead."

And he didn't really say much else, because that cute little girl who seemed to have been possessed by somebody else grabbed a fistful of his shirt, pulling him down so their lips collided again, locked in a fit of passion.

Naminé, soaring hand-in-hand with angels on her own little cloud nine, obliged to the red-heads wishes and parted her candy-flavoured lips, giving his tongue entry to her mouth, letting them tangle together.

He tasted of sugar, she thought happily. Completely addictive.

x.o.x

"Where were you?" spat an angry voice, as the woman cowered slightly. Not under pounding fists, but a torrent of words spat out of that mouth that could produce so much hatred, drenched in beer and anger. "What the fuck were you doing, Yuna?" he asked again, moving to grab hold of her shoulders, shaking her like a doll. His spittle was landing on her pale cheeks, as she stood there limply and took it all. She'd been absorbing all the violence for years, like a sponge that absorbed pain and hate and blood instead of water.

"I … I was … just out, Shuyin…" she said softly, wincing as her head was smacked against the hard wall, the paper peeling from it in a depressing fashion, exotic shades of 'mushroom'.

"Out? Doing what? Who were you talking to, Yuna! Answer me, BITCH!" he yelled, his voice contained in the small space they were crammed into, pinning her to the wall. He was getting worse, beer fuelling his rage at the world and every human that lived in it. "Where were you!"

"Just … out…" she mumbled. She wondered the sense in her actions, running off to go and see her. But it was to protect Naminé – to protect her little girl from all of this she faced. "Let me go!" she struggled, her hair messed up in some sort of hairstyle that cried out to the world, or all the insects occupying the kitchen, that she was harmed by her husband. Regularly.

"If I find out where you were, you'll regret you were ever born," he yelled angrily at her, tossing her aside, back arching gracefully in a tragic way, slamming against the wall, as her limp body crumpled and fell to the floor. A tear rolled down her cheek, soaking into the hard floor beneath her sprawled figure as she watched Shuyin storm off to get even more drunk. It seemed to be all he lived for.

He said he'd make her wish she was never born, but the truth was… She wished that enough already.

IwanttoDIEIwanttoDIEIwanttoDIEIwanttoDIEIwanttoDIEIwanttoDIEIwanttoDIEIwanttoDIEIwanttoDIE

-x-x-x-

A/N: Yay. I really like how this chapter turned out. So, uh, three reviews for an update? I LOVE ALL YE REVIEWERS, SERIOUSLY! hug Oh, I be trying to improve my fluff as it is all crappy and … crud. My brother got this really annoying teddy bear that keeps SINGING and it's really hard trying to write when a demonic bear is crying: "NINE PLUS NINE IS EIGHTEEN!" or whatever, but I try my best .