Princess

Chapter 8: So Much for R&R

The sun dipped low in the sky, casting its rays over the sparkling water. Sitting on a cliff overlooking the water were Sora, Riku, and Selphie. Sora was happily sitting in Riku's lap with the silver-haired boy's arms wrapped around him loosely. Selphie sat as close to them as possible with her knees drawn up to her chest.

"So," Selphie broke the peaceful silence. "I met my family last week. Turns out I have two older brothers and my dad's a star Blitzball player."

"Who?" Sora asked, excited. He had been a fan of the sport ever since one of the other orphans in Traverse Town introduced him to it. "Is it Wakka? I heard he had a kid. Ooo, or that Luca star, whats-his-face?" He suddenly gasped and leaned over to Selphie, his eyes wide. "It's not Jeckt of the Zanarkand Abes, is it?"

Selphie nodded.

Sora's jaw dropped. "No way! That's so cool! Hey, can you get me his autograph? Please? Pretty please?"

Selphie laughed. "Of course. I can get you Tidus's signature too. He's getting ready to join the team and I think he'll be better than dad."

"Tidus is one of your brothers?" Riku asked.

"Yup. He's two year's older than me. Shuyin's the oldest though, he's five years older." She paused a moment. "You know… they may be my brothers by blood, but that doesn't mean they'll ever replace you guys. You'll always be my brothers."

"Well that's good. Otherwise, me and Sora would have to kidnap you until you'd change your mind." Riku joked.

"Looks like you're stuck with us, Sel." Sora said with a smile. "So what's it like living with Jeckt? Is he really cool?"

"It's… interesting. Tidus breaks things a lot when he's goofing off and Shuyin's always locked in his room doing something with computers or out with his fiancé, Lenne. And dad… he teases Tidus a lot, but I can tell he cares. And Shuyin is mom's pride and joy. She spends an unholy amount of time crooning over the prick."

"You and Shuyin not getting along?" Sora asked.

"We… disagree. A lot." Selphie said, looking uncomfortable. "So, Sora, you have two brothers. What are they like?"

Sora shrugged. "Normal, I guess. I mean, you've seen them. Cloud's quiet and likes to cook. Roxas has a bit of a temper. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether he likes Axel or not, but he's going over to Destiny Island with him so I guess he does. And you guys have both met Naminé and Demyx."

"At least your relatives are sane." Riku groused. "But I'll be moving into father's wing of the castle soon and won't have to deal with them every day. And I'll have more free time." He nuzzled Sora contentedly.

"Riku's going to train under Squall!" Sora proudly told Selphie. "Squall's one of the best fighter's we've got. And he'll be my brother-in-law soon! Mom's really excited and Roxas says he's never seen Cloud this happy." He lowers his voice for a moment. "I heard him singing in his kitchen the other day."

"Did you three start gossiping without us?" Kairi asked as she and Pence approached. She sounded more amused than angry.

"Hey, Kairi." Sora greeted. "Or should I say, Princess Kairi. How's it feel to be Axel's new little sister?"

"He's a pain in the neck." She said, sitting down beside Selphie.

Pence was quick to sit down beside his auburn-haired friend and take her hand in a rare show of possessiveness.

"How have you been, Pence?" Selphie asked.

"Fine." Pence said, not giving any details. "I have to go back to Twilight Town soon. My parents are getting worried and I need to tell Hayner and Olette what's going on."

"You'll… you'll come back, right?" Kairi asked hesitantly.

Pence shook his head, already knowing that once he got back home his parents wouldn't let him out of their sight.

"Oh…" Kairi dropped his hand and stood up, walking right up to the edge of the cliff to stare into the sparkling water below. "Then lets make this the best three days we possibly can." She said determinedly. She watched the last few rays of sun disappear over the horizon and then turned around to look at the others. "What do you say? Are you guys up for some fun?"

Sora nodded eagerly. "Yeah! What about you, Riku? Selphie?"

"I think we could all use some fun." The brunette girl said.

"Then it's settled. For the next three days we will hang out and have fun, just the five of us. No worried." Kairi said.

A month passed before Naminé heard from Rufus again, but even then it was only in coded letter to give her more information on the mystery behind Sora's disappearance as well as to give her a warning.

He's on the move. Watch yourself.

Naminé cursed and stood abruptly from her chair to begin pacing around the room. 'What am I going to do? I can't go directly to aunt or uncle because then I'd have to explain how I know all of this. Then I'd have to explain about making deals with Rufus, which would get both of us in trouble.'

"Damn it." She muttered. "Now what? What the hell do you expect me to do?!" She yelled, wishing that Rufus was there so she could yell at him instead of her empty room.

"I need some help." She decided. "And I know just who to ask." With a smirk, she walked across the room to straighten a photo of her and Larxene. Her eyes glowing with anticipation, she spun on her heel and left the room.

She cut across the hall and opened up a secret panel, slipping inside and closing it just as Demyx came around the corner. She followed the long corridor as it twisted, rose, and fell until she came to the door she needed. She stepped out into a dimly lit section of the library and closed the shelf behind her before quietly walking past the rest of the shelves to a couch occupied by tons of books and a single person.

"Hey, Larx, you feeling bored?"

"Not really." Larxene drawled, glancing briefly up from her book.

By all appearances, it seemed as if Larxene could care less about what Naminé had to say, but Naminé knew otherwise.

"That's too bad. I have some rather interesting information regarding a Shinra Corp scientist, but if you're not interested…"

Larxene snapped her book shut, her eyes narrowed. She regarded Naminé for a moment and then stood. "Follow me."

Naminé followed Larxene to her secured office and began to explain what she had learned. She told how Hojo was the one who had a spy slip something into Sora and Riku's food that would block their memories. The spy then took them outside of the palace to Hojo, who had them taken away by helicopter to Traverse Town. Then he had something similar put into the water supply to make everyone forget exactly how Sora looked or acted.

Larxene listened with a stony look on her face. When Naminé was finished, she stood and paced around the room, processing the information. "Rufus gave you this information?"

"No, it arrived at my room the day after the ball." Naminé said, giving the half-truth.

Larxene snorted. "Right. So, Rufus Shinra wants one of his scientists taken out. How interesting." A deadly smirk crossed her face. "I can take care of this, no problem. Xigbar will help."

"Consider it taken care of?" Naminé asked.

Larxene nodded. "Consider it taken care of."

Another week passed to see Roxas and Axel's return from Destiny Island. Kairi remained behind on the island, having no reason to return to Radiant Garden with Pence back in Twilight Town. Around the time that they returned, an article covering the death of a major Shinra scientist appeared in the newspapers. Despite the strange rumors surrounding the man's death, it didn't take more than a few days for the talk to die down.

Naminé was in a great mood that following weekend. She had plans for a nice, relaxing vacation with her aunt and was looking forward to a little rest and relaxation.

"Naminé!" Demyx yelled, bursting into the art room. Mere seconds later he was tackled to the ground by Sora.

"Gotcha!" The brunet happily yelled. He looked up and gave Naminé a smile when he saw her curious look. "Demyx lobbed a water balloon at Axel and Roxas and was going for me and Riku next."

Naminé set down her pencil. "You guys started a water balloon fight without me?"

"You said not to bother you." Demyx reminded, struggling to get up. "So-ra!" He whined. "Let me up!"

"Only if you engage in fair water balloon combat." Sora said, not moving.

Demyx grinned into the floor. "'Faire' water balloon combat? Okay, sure."

Pleased, Sora let Demyx up and then looked at Naminé hopefully. "Are you going to join us?"

"Of course." Naminé said, sharing a conspiratorial look with her brother. "I would never miss water balloons. I'll change clothes and be out in a few minutes. Don't start without me."

The boys agreed and then left to go fill up some more water balloons.

Naminé quickly changed into something not white and then hurried off to recruit people for the water balloon fight. Sora wanted it to be a 'Faire' fight, so a 'Faire' fight it would be.

Water balloons flew across the courtyard, smashing into pillars and against walls and the ground. Axel, Roxas, Sora and Riku squatted in hiding behind a wall, trying to come up with a plan for their temporary alliance.

"I say we have someone run out and distract them and then we run out and bombard them!" Axel suggested. "I vote that Sora goes."

"Hey!" Sora protested.

"Axel's the one who suggested it. Make him go." Riku told Roxas.

"It's not like I can control what he does!"

"Okay, okay." Axel said, waving his hands. "New plan."

There was a moment of silence while they looked at Axel expectantly.

"What?" The redhead asked. "I already came up with a plan! Now it's someone else's turn!"

Roxas peeked over the wall to locate Demyx, Naminé, and Xigbar, only to quickly duck back down as three water balloons flew in his direction. "How did they get us cornered so easily?! There's only three of them!"

"Probably because Axel is afraid of getting his hair wet." Sora teased the redhead.

"Just you wait," Axel threatened. "One of these days I'll catch you when Riku isn't around and then you'll regret teasing me."

Sora stuck his tongue out, confident that Axel wouldn't do anything too bad to him. Not unless he wanted Roxas pissed at him.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Riku suddenly asked. "It sounds like yelling." Cautiously, he stood to peer over the crumbling wall.

"What is it?" Axel asked, also standing up to look. "Hey, check it out! Cloud and Squall are bombing the others!"

Roxas and Sora both stood to take a look, and that's when they were attacked from behind by Zack, Aerith, Yuffie, and General Sephiroth.

The four teens slowly turned around, water dripping down their backs.

"You guys should start paying better attention." Yuffie remarked, lightly tossing a water balloon into the air and then catching it. She yelped when it burst in her hand after the fifth toss.

Axel, Roxas, Sora, and Riku took that opportunity to dodge out of their hiding place to run around the corner and duck behind a pillar and a bunch of bricks that had fallen over.

"What are they doing out here?" Riku questioned, keeping a lookout from behind. "Sora, I thought you said that Demyx promised to fight fair!"

"But he did! He told me we'd have a fair fight!" Sora exclaimed.

Roxas groaned and slumped against their temporary fort. "Thanks to Sora, this is a Faire fight, just not the one intended."

Axel also groaned, knowing what happened. "Man, I hate Faire fights. There's no escape once you get involved." He noticed Sora and Riku's confused looks and decided to elaborate. "Your last name, Sora, is Faire. Get it now?"

"Oooh! Oops." Sora said, looking sheepish. "Sorry, guys."

Axel shrugged. "Too late now. Guess we'll have to take them out early, huh Roxy."

Roxas rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored the butchering of his name. "You take Sora and I'll take Riku." He decided after a moment. "Don't mess up this time. It was hard enough to clean up after you the last time when you lost sight of my mom."

"Yeah, yeah," Axel muttered.

As Roxas dragged Riku off in a different direction, Axel unhooked his belt and began removing the small spiky wheels, handing a few of them to Sora. "Alright, these are my mini-Chakrams. We're going to throw them at the balloons so we don't get hit. Got it memorized?"

Sora poked one of the spikes out of curiosity. "Throw spiky things at balloons. Got it."

"Great. Alright, listen. When I say so, we're going to split up and go running around the courtyard. Get rid of whatever balloons you can't dodge. When you can, there are bricked marked by the numeral thirteen; push those in and then get under the cover on the other side."

"No problem." Sora said confidently. "Any other pieces of advice?"

Axel grinned. "Run fast. Now, charge!"

The two leaped over the fallen pillar and into the fray.

Hours later when Sora, Roxas, Axel, and Riku emerged as the victors, everyone traipsed back into the castle, soaking wet. Most of them went straight to their rooms, although Demyx went to hunt down Zexion and give him a hug and Xigbar went to annoy Xemnas and Saix for a while.

The fun lasted through dinner, as everyone congratulated and teased the four winners. It wasn't until an hour after dinner that the fun went away for Naminé.

"Aunt Aerith?" She asked, knocking on the doorway. Peering into her uncle's study, she found both her aunt and uncle near the desk, looking worried.

"Naminé, come in." Aerith said, sounding tired. "We have some news from Shinra Corporation."

Naminé felt like a block of ice had just been plunged into her stomach as she involuntarily shivered. She crossed the room and took a seat, her mind reeling. 'What did he do now? Did he tell about Hojo's meddling? Or did someone find out about our involvement in his death? What is going on?'

"We just received word that the previous president has stepped down, leaving his son with complete control over the company." Aerith said.

"But before he resigned he made sure of one thing." Zack said unhappily.

"What is it?" Naminé asked, trying to quench her fears.

"He made sure there would be a permanent alliance between his company and our family." Aerith said when Zack made no move to speak.

Naminé hesitated, her eyes flickering between her aunt and uncle. Surely they weren't suggesting what she thought they were. She had to ask, just to make sure. "What kind of… alliance?"

For a moment, no one spoke.

"A marriage." Zack quietly said, before repeating it loudly and banging a fist on the desk in anger.

Aerith glided over to him and quietly comforted him.

"A marriage?" Naminé faintly repeated. Not a single tangible thought ran through her brain for the next few seconds. "Me and Rufus?"

"Yes."

Shakily, Naminé stood and left the room without a word. Aerith and Zack let her go, knowing that she was going straight out to the gardens to try and think.

That was where Rufus found her several hours later after arriving at the castle to speak with the King and Queen. Naminé could hear him coming, but chose to ignore his presence.

"Naminé," He smoothly greeted as he took a seat beside her.

Naminé said nothing and just looked up to the night sky. She was for once thankful that Rufus was a very patient man and would wait quietly for her to speak instead of needlessly prodding her.

"You know, on a good day you don't expect anything unusual to happen." She said after a few minutes. "And then it does and you're upset. After that, you look back and say, 'Wow, that was a horrible day'." She sighed and then looked over at him. "Rufus, is there a way out of this?"

"My father was not a stupid man." Rufus told her.

"No, but most of his genius comes from you working behind the scenes, particularly recently." Naminé said. "You never answered my question; is there a way out?"

Rufus shook his head. "No."

Naminé leaned back and tilted her face toward the sky, holding herself up with her arms. "Damn…" She muttered.

"Would it really be that bad?" Rufus asked, ghosting his fingers down her arm. "Being married to me?"

Naminé moved away from him, but said nothing.

Rufus stayed for a while longer, half hoping - wishing - that she would say something else. When she didn't, he stood up and bowed to her. "I give you as long as you may need, my Lady Naminé."

Naminé turned her head to watch him leave and when she thought he was out of hearing range, she whispered, "Thank you."

The END

Yes, you read correctly. That's the end. I really needed to end it before it turned into some really bizarre Rufus/Namine thing, although I guess that happened anyway. I may come back and add a chapter of scenes I ended up not writing. And any questions will be answered now. Feel free to include questions in a review or you can PM me. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.

Do not ask where the whole water balloon thing came from; I have no idea. I was sitting there writing Sora tell Demyx he wanted a fair fight and I giggled a little when I thought, 'Hey, 'Faire' is their last name'. I apologize now for the horrible name pun I used.

So, this one is over and now I can unveil the title of my next fanfiction...

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Kioku no Kusari! The stand-alone sequel to Herutsu no Oukoku that will hopefully be much better than the first. My plans are to pull away more from the KH2 storyline and just kind of wing it. I've already had to re-number the organization members to make room for Mnexina. The first seven are the same, but 8 through number 12 I've had to bump up one number. I'll make things clearer when I begin posting in... one month.

In other news, I graduate from my HS this Saturday! Yaa-hooo!