Masigla says, Fun time is quick update time! Normally, I'd do an alternating pattern and update Awkward Silence since I just update this one… but no one cares. xD Haha. I need inspiration for the other one, however for this one… all I need to do is listen to a Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton to get inspired. That song is so perrrfeeeect.

I made changes to the previous chapter – nothing too big, just that it's now Thursday rather than Friday, because this chapter wouldn't make sense if it was a Friday the day they confronted Kairi. That's just about it.

The Art of Love
Masigla

"I'm petrified, Naminé!" She sobbed, "I'm afraid!"

"Of what?"

"I'm afraid of losing my mom!" Kairi cried out.

"Why? What happened?" Naminé held out the Kleenex and Kairi took some, wiping her eyes. Streams of tears rapidly poured out from her blue eyes.

"She… she has cancer…."

Chapter Three
Stitching it Back

"Cancer?" was Naminé's initial reaction. Her family and Kairi's family had grown extremely close—like they were relatives even though they weren't. This was certainly a shock.

"Y-yes," sniffled Kairi as she attempted to stop the continuous steam of tears from her eyes, "colon cancer."

"Cancer of the intestines." Naminé said softly as she remembered biology class. When did this ever happen? Why didn't Naminé know until now? Kairi silently nodded, baffled with tears. "I'm sorry, Kairi."

"All day I've been trying to tell myself," Kairi tried to regain composure, "that it's not a big deal. My mom will get through it. But still… there's the fear, Naminé."

"I understand. Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"I wasn't sure if you guys would understand,"

"Why wouldn't we?" Naminé decided to back down and let Kairi cry. It was no use lecturing her on her simple mistake, although there was now that problem of Selphie forgiving Kairi. Naminé was positive Selphie would forgive and forget once she learned of Kairi's family conditions.

At that instant, someone arrived at Kairi's house by foot. Naminé looked up. It was hard to see or recognize this person because of the dark, but she instantly knew whom it was when the voice spoke.

"Kairi, is everything alright?" it was Sora. Naminé stepped off to the side and let him envelop her in his arms. She repeatedly called out his name in tears, crying into his shirt as she held it with intensity. Naminé smiled faintly—Kairi was lucky to have someone like Sora to help her get through tough times like this. Sora turned his head slowly towards Naminé and gave her a questioning look.

"She told you?" he asked. Naminé replied with a nod of her head.

"I guess I'll leave you two here and get back… my parents might be worried sick. She brushed past the young couple, grabbing her backpack from the porch and slinging in over her shoulders. She walked past them again, however she stopped midway.

"Naminé…" Kairi said, "Thank you."

Naminé jerked her head back to face her with a gentle smile on her face, "You're welcome, Kairi."

' '

"Naminé!" Adeline threw her arms around her daughter as she entered the doorway, "I'm so glad you're safe!"

"Mom…" Naminé hugged her mom back, "I was just at Kairi's house…" Her mother took her by the shoulders and pulled away, looking Naminé straight in the eye.

"Really?"

"Yes…"

Adeline sighed, "What a relief. We called your friends to ask where you were, and no one said they had seen you after school. Riku wasn't answering and Selphie was busy, and the others said they didn't see you. We tried calling Kairi the last, and she said she didn't know and said she would be right back, but she never came back to the phone so we hung up."

"Oh, I see."

"Why didn't you tell us you would be there?"

"It was really spontaneous, mom… but it was really important." Naminé smiled at her mom. Adeline laughed softly.

"Well, at least your back. Hurry and change out of your uniform, we'll be having dinner soon." Adeline instructed, "Oh, Tsukasa! Your daughter is back!"

Naminé stood in silence as her mother received no reply from her father. Sighing, she trudged up the stairs and into her room, where she changed out of her uniform and went back down the stairs, where her family was already at the table. Surprisingly, Hayner was home that night. Naminé sat down at the table, across her brother. Even though it was nice that the family was able to eat dinner together, it felt awfully awkward. It was almost rare that they were all together. If Tsukasa wasn't at home, Hayner would be, and vice versa. There were even times when neither one of them were present.

"So, Naminé," Tsukasa asked his daughter as he picked up a piece of sushi and put it into his mouth.

"Yes, dad?" Naminé responded as she watched her dad chew the food and swallow.

"How has your artwork been?"

Naminé looked down at her plate, finding she couldn't answer it satisfactorily. She hadn't done a lot of art lately, even though her father was a nut for it and wanted her to constantly practice.

"Well?"

"I've… been busy, dad. I haven't had the time—"

"Or do you mean you've just been spending too much time with your lazy friends?"

"Tsukasa—" Adeline tried to intervene, but once Tsukasa got started, he was hard to pull back. Hayner found himself staring down at his plate as well, knowing tension was to rise.

"I've told you this before, Naminé." Tsukasa stated firmly, "You cannot let your talents go to a waste! You must practice your art like it was training for a war. This talent will be useless unless you harness it and use it to your advantage."

"Sorry." Naminé said softly.

"Do I make myself clear? I want you to return home right away from now on. No more of that funny business you pulled today. Don't become like your bro—"

Hayner immediately stood up, his hands hard on the table, "May I be excused?"

"Yes, of course, Hayner…" Adeline sighed. Hayner walked out of the room.

"Why does dad have to be so hard on him?" Naminé thought. Their father-son relationship was in shambles. Tsukasa had thought of Hayner as somehow a failure—for Hayner was not "blessed" with the art talent that he thought would be inherited into all of his children. Sometimes Naminé thought that she was just another try. If Hayner did have art talent, Naminé might not have been born. Tsukasa's apparent dislike for Hayner drove a wedge in between them. Hayner was driven to do rebellious actions because he knew his father wouldn't accept him anyways, so why try?

"May I please be excused as well?" Naminé asked, her gaze still downcast.

"Yes…" Adeline said. Naminé stood up and left, going up the stairs as she could hear her parents having a small argument. As she passed by Hayner's bedroom door in the hallway, she could hear his angered expressions.

"Goddamn bastard," she heard him say hatefully. A shiver ran through her spine. Since when was her family so… dysfunctional? Was there even a time when they weren't? Maybe Naminé had been too absorbed with art until then to notice the tension in her surroundings.

' '

The next morning, Selphie was not there to go to school with Naminé. Today, she sat in the car with Kairi and Olette. Kairi told Olette about her mother's condition, and Olette reassured Kairi that no one would be mad.

"I'm sure they'll understand." The brunette gave Kairi a reassuring smile.

"I hope so," Kairi sighed. She knew they would understand, but it was Selphie that Kairi was truly afraid of. Something deep in her told her that Selphie would forgive her, though. Selphie wasn't the type to hold grudges for long. After all, it wasn't like it was Selphie's foot that Kairi had stomped on.

"Here we are," Matsuzawa announced as he pulled into Destiny High's driveway. The girls thanked him and bade him goodbye before he drove off and they went into the school. Olette went in the opposite direction, to the junior hallway. Naminé and Kairi stopped briefly before turning into the corner, leading them into the sophomore hallway.

"I'll go in first, and see if Selphie's here already." Naminé said. Kairi nodded and bit her lower lip in anticipation. Naminé walked forward and glanced to the side.

"The hallway's empt—"

"Oh, look who we have here."

"Shoot," Naminé thought. Selphie had just arrived and was behind Kairi. The auburn haired girl turned around to find that the brunette had a fierce look on her face.

"How dare you even show your face at this school? Or even go with Naminé?" Selphie said with sass in her voice. Naminé briskly walked towards the two, ready to intervene if anything seriously bad happened.

"Selphie, listen to me—"

"NO!" Selphie lashed out, "I was going to listen to you yesterday, Kairi! But no, you didn't even give us a chance! Instead, you slammed the door in our faces and even hurt one of your best friends physically!"

"Look, Selphie, I didn't mean to, I was going to—"

"Just... just shut up!" Selphie extended her arm across her side and backhanded Kairi. Naminé let out a loud gasp.

"Selphie!" she cried out, "That's enough!"

"What's going on?" Naminé turned around swiftly. Riku towered behind her, his eyes showing no shock, yet his voice was clear and demanding. "What the hell are you doing, Selphie?" He walked past Naminé and towards the brunette.

"Riku! Don't you remember? She stomped on your foot yesterday! Aren't you mad?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because it's a stupid reason to be mad at your best friend."

Kairi's knees gave way, and she fell onto the floor with a thump. She did feel pain in her butt from the impact, but it was nothing compared to the slap Selphie had just given her. Her eyes were wide in shock and tears spilled.

Selphie stood in shock at what Riku said. It was a stupid reason, wasn't it? For all she knew, Selphie didn't even know the real reason behind Kairi's behavior. She didn't even give her a chance to explain herself when she was ready. She looked at the auburn-haired girl who was sitting on the floor, crying.

"Did I really just do that to my best friend?" Selphie thought. At this precise moment, Sora and Roxas had arrived.

"Kairi!" Sora exclaimed, running over to Kairi and embracing her. Roxas ran over as well, stopping beside Naminé to inquire about what happened.

"I'm… not sure…" Naminé answered.

"What did you do, Selphie?" Sora yelled. He was enraged—why would anyone want to hurt someone who was going through such a hard time?

"Sora, calm down." Riku said, "Why don't you all shut the hell up and let someone explain. Care to share, Naminé?"

"M-me?"

"Yeah, you. You know the full story, don't you? Kairi's in no condition to tell us, currently,"

"No shit." Sora said.

"No, you shut up, Sora." Riku rolled his eyes. "Naminé?"

She took a deep breath. Looking at Kairi's tearful eyes, she could sense that Kairi wanted Naminé to say what had happened to get it all over with.

"Kairi… her mother has colon cancer. She was really scared—anyone would be—and didn't know how to tell us, so she avoided us so she could think. She didn't mean any harm."

Selphie gasped, her hand covering her mouth in shock as her eyes started spilling tears as well.

"Oh my God…" she said softly. Roxas and Riku stayed silent. "Kairi… I'm so sorry…. I'm so sorry!" Selphie cried out. Kairi looked at the crying brunette, eyes filled with regret and guilt.

"I'm sorry too, Selphie," Kairi pulled away from Sora and stood up, "I shouldn't have—"

"No, it's my fault! I didn't even think that you would have been going through something like this... I'm so sorry, Kairi!" She ran over and hugged Kairi. Kairi welcomed her reconciled friend.

"It's okay, Selphie."

They all stood in silence as the two cried softly.

' '

"We should get going," Riku suggested.

"Yeah." Roxas agreed. The two girls had calmed down.

"Come on, Kairi." Selphie smiled, her eyes still a little tearful. "Let's go wash our faces… I bet we look soooo bad right now."

This made everyone laugh. For a moment, everything felt normal again. The two proceeded to the restroom while Riku returned to his hallway, and Sora, Naminé and Roxas went to unpack their stuff.

"HEYYY SORA MAN, 'SUP?" Tidus roared from the other end of the hallway.

"Geez, you loudmouth," Sora called out. Naminé sighed. Yep, things were definitely back in order, it seemed.

"Hey Naminé," she heard someone say. She jerked her head up right away and looked to her left. Roxas stood beside her, with a curious look in his eyes.

"Oh, hey, Roxas." Naminé smiled.

"What exactly happened last night?" he asked, "Your parents called my place and said you were missing."

Naminé blushed. "So he had been the one to answer the phone then?" she thought.

"Well," she shrugged, "I was at Kairi's place. Long story."

"I wanna know…" Roxas pouted. Naminé giggled—Roxas looked so funny when he pouted.

"Okay, okay." Naminé stopped laughing and Roxas smiled a cheesy grin much similar to his cousin's, "Riku, Selphie and I went to Kairi's place after school to ask her why she was ignoring us. She didn't want to tell us and even stomped on Riku's foot so he would let her close the door, which she did. Selphie got ticked off and stormed off, while Riku said he would just wait until she wanted to tell him and left too."

"And then, how did you find out?"

"Well, I don't know what came over me, I guess. I think I just did what I did to let Kairi realize that no matter how grave the situation, I'd always be there for her."

"What did you do?"

"I sat on her porch for an hour and a half or so until my mom called her house and she realized I might have been waiting outside. So, she checked, and there I was. It was freezing cold, I swear. Kairi got really touched and told me."

Roxas' eyes widened a tad. "Wow, that's such a… nice thing to do, Naminé."

"Thanks." She smiled at him. He was suddenly a little nervous for some reason. She had smiled at him a number of times before as part of her disposition, but after hearing of how she would hold out in the evening like that just for her friends touched something in him.

He developed a sense of admiration for her.

"Something wrong?" she asked him.

"N…nothing. Well uhh… I'll see you later, Naminé." he said, walking past her.

"Okay." Naminé turned back to face her locker and fixed some things up. Roxas looked back while he walked, watching her as her dainty fingers handled her school materials. She looked so serene, he admitted.

' '

"Hey Naminé," Pence brought up at lunch. Prior to this, Kairi had told the others who didn't know yet about her mother's condition, but encouraged normal conversations again. She didn't want this matter to disrupt their normal activities. "Is Hayner sick or something? He wasn't in any of my classes."

"..what?" Naminé tilted her head in confusion.

"He wasn't in any of my classes, either." Olette added.

"That's weird, I saw him leave before I did."

A moment of silence passed as the group deduced the possible situations.

"…damn." Riku's hand covered his face in frustration.

"I can't believe this," Naminé was on the verge of slamming her head down on the table, "this could only mean he took his car and drove off somewhere!"

"Where could he be, ya?" Wakka asked, his chin cupped by his hands in deep thought.

"I don't know, my brother's unpredictable…" Naminé sighed.

"Here's to hoping he didn't take some girl with him and eloped," Tidus said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did, though." Sora added.

"Why would he run away, though?" Roxas asked. Naminé was hesitant—should she tell them about what happened last night? None of them knew much about the personal relationships within her family.

"…he's just weird, haha…" Naminé cracked a smile and tried to laugh to cover up. Everyone stared at her.

"You know that's not working so well, Naminé." Riku smirked.

"Spill, please 'kay thanks." Selphie said.

Masigla says, oh noes:o Where did Hayner mosey off to?

( click the review button and he'll come back alive, I promise :D )