Yeah, yeah, I know. I haven't updated this fic, or any of my fics, for a while. But I have an excuse... again! See, at my school right now, it's almost the end of the trimester. So I have: an end-of-trimester project that I either ace, or fail Language Arts, a mean, weirdish storybook project for my evil science teacher from the Black Lagoon, a typing test for tech (which sucks because we're gonna have a cloth over our hands so that we can't see the keys), some freaky test about migration for Humanities, AND a mega jumbo problem about how many calories of pizza Americans consume every day. Oh, and just so you know, that's 18 ACRES!!!!

So if you flame me right now, you die.

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"AAAAH!"

I jerked away from Namine as fast as I could. She sat up, wide-eyed and blushing, and stared at me. My face was burning.

"Roxas..." she began, her voice shaky. "Please explain to me what you were doing."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Ah... well, you see, I, uh... I was... performing CPR! Yeah! CPR." I grinned sheepishly, hoping Namine would accept my excuse.

She cocked an eyebrow. "CPR. Yeah. Right."

"No, really!" My mind raced as I tried to think of how I could build onto that. "You see, uh, when we were walking in the hallway, down to the apartment, you collapsed. I shook you and yelled your name, but you wouldn't wake up. So I picked you up and brought you here. And, um... a few hours passed... and you still didn't wake up. So I checked on you but you were barely breathing. So I started doing CPR. And then you woke up." I gave a nervous laugh. She was still staring at me, but now her eyes seemed softer.

"Oh... okay." Her voice made it obvious that she didn't believe me. She stood up. "Um... What time is it?"

I checked my watch, then jumped as I realized how late it was. "12:42. AM."

"Wow. Okay, then. I think I'm going to ... go to bed. Yeah. Go to bed. So please don't disturb me. Thanks." Namine went into my bedroom and closed the door.

After a few seconds it opened again. "Oh, and... goodnight, Roxas."

"Good night, Namine."

The door closed again. I stared at it for a moment, then flicked off the light and lay down on the couch.

Okay, fine. It wasn't CPR, alright? I kissed her. I didn't mean to... I was just sitting beside her, staring at her face. She really is cute. And smart. And talented. And...

After I while, I had started to feel restless. She hadn't even moved since she'd collapsed. I'd bent over her and put my hand over her mouth. Yeah, she had definitely been breathing. But when I'd been about to pull my hand away, I'd stopped.

Maybe it was the soft, smooth texture of her mouth under my hand. Maybe it was the fact I'd felt close to her ever since I'd met her. Maybe it was the way we shared a sort of invisible bond. Maybe it was the way she seemed to glow with this radiance that attracted me so that I felt like I was floating whenever I was around her. But whatever it was, I'd suddenly felt an irresistible urge to place my lips on hers.

And I'd done it.

The moment our lips made contact, her eyes had flown open, and looked straight into mine.

And then we both screamed.

Now that I think about it, I'm actually glad that I did it. I never thought that I would have enough courage to do something like that. Okay, so it was mostly acting on impulse. But still.

I rolled onto my side, and stared at the wall. I'd meaning to put a TV there or something, but never got around to buying one. My thoughts turned back to the girl behind my bedroom door.

As I pictured her face, my chest seemed to well up with this strange feeling, like when you're on a roller coaster and are at the very top of the highest slope, when you can see the drop but haven't gone down it yet. At the same time, it felt like the blood had stopped pumping through the veins in my neck. This emotion was one that I had only caught hints of before. It felt like rage, excitement, happieness, and exhileration all rolled into one.

My heart raced as I realized what this new, alien emotion was. It was what had saved Kairi's heart in Hollow Bastion. It was what had kept Sora strong when fighting Xemnas, even when it seemed he would never die. And it was what had compelled me to plant that kiss.

At that moment, I realized that, even though I had only known her for a little while, I was undeniably and unconditionally in love with Namine.

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When morning came, I was woken by a soft voice in my ear. "Roxas... wake up. Come on. Get up."

"Uwah?"

Light giggling. What a beautiful sound. I opened my eyes. Namine was kneeling next to me, her mouth by my ear. I groaned. "Aw, man... morning already?"

"What do you mean, 'already?'" she asked teasingly. "It's 10:00 AM. You've been asleep for long enough."

"No, I haven't!" I yelled equally as teasingly, throwing off the blanket that had been covering me. "I always sleep until I wake up on my own!"

She laughed. "You did wake up on your own."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Well, then what were you whispering into my ear?"

"The story of Little Red Riding Hood."

We both laughed at that. I was surprised she wasn't mentioning last night's... you know...

I stood up. "Hey - I'm gonna go get changed. That alright with you?"

"What? Oh... yeah. Sure."

I stood up and went into my room. Undressing quickly, I grabbed a pair of black pants, a t-shirt, and a pullover. Pulling these clothes on, I looked out my window. People were going to work, and kids were playing in the random vacant lots. I grinned and opened my bedroom door.

An unusual feeling overcame me as I stepped out. the edges of my vision went black, and the last thing I heard before I blacked out was someone calling my name...

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Running down... what? A staircase? If it was a staircase, it was really huge. A huge spiral staircase that seemed to stretch on for miles.

"Riku!" called a voice. I couldn't see his face. It was definitely Sora.

"Go away, Sora." said Riku, who was running ahead of Sora. I had to hurry to keep up.

Sora let out a sigh. "Riku, you can't keep running! It'll get you nowhere!"

"I don't care! I'm the reincarnation of Xenahort - it's like being born from the heart of evil! How would you feel!?"

"Riku..."

"Leave me alone."

Sora's pace slowed, but Riku kept running. I leaned over the edge (there was no railing) and watched Riku run on.

"Riku!" I yelled. I knew he couldn't hear me, but I yelled for him anyway. Sora's memories made me feel close to him.

Sora stared out at him too. "Riku... why are you doing this to yourself?"

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"Ugh..."

"Roxas! You're awake!"

I opened my eyes to see Namine leaning over me, looking worried. "What happened? Did you have another one of those visions?"

"Yeah... Namine, Riku just found out that he's the reincarnation of Xenahort. He hates himself now."

"But just because he's the reincarnation of Xenahort doesn't mean he's not Riku anymore!"

"I know. But-"

Suddenly, a portal to the darkness opened up in the middle of the room. I jumped, and Namine gasped. "What the..."

A black robed figure stepped out of the portal. It stared at us for a long moment, then whipped out a giant scythe. I stared.

"...Marluxia?"

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Read and Review. Or die.

-Natsyourlord